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A few months had passed by since Kagenori reminded the clan who the real powerhouse of the Zenin was. Although that fight did help tone down the arrogance of many Hei and Zenin clansmen, the prideful Zenins were not daunted at all. Instead, many of the younger clansmen who had not seen the old clan head in action were now even more motivated to reach that level. Among the older members, a sense of nostalgia surfaced upon seeing the old man in action after so long.
Naoya was among the crowd of hard-training members as well; however, he was not doing so out of pride for the Zenin clan, but for his own survival.
During these months, many assassination attempts have occurred on him. From poisoning his food to hiding in his toilet to end him while he let his guard down.
The Zenin family's security was top-notch notch but still some extremely skilled assassins found their way into the compound from time to time. He and Noabito were even guessing someone from the family was slipping in these assassins to end him.
This has brought a lot of changes in Naoya himself as well. He was now familiar with killing humans as well, and although he would like to avoid that if possible, he was not one to hold back from ending a life if it was necessary.
His father also started his poison resistance training by giving him small doses to build up his immunity. Although it didn't help much because of the perks he got from the system rewards. That level of poison was not affecting him, so he started taking a stronger dose of Mr. Hiss's poison.
He also stopped most of the extracurricular activities that he did at and after school to save more time for training. This affected his point grind, but right now, having a better arsenal at his disposal was more important.
Right now, Naoya was in the training ground practising the anti-domain techniques from the clan. He was already proficient in [Simple Domain], and now he was learning the clan's [Secret Art: Falling Blossom Emotion]. Although learning a simple domain took some time, he had to figure out how to use it after assessing Naobito's use of it. For some absurd reason, a binding vow was set up that no one could teach the Simple Domain directly, but others were free to assess and learn it themselves.
He knew that it was to prevent copyright infringement and have every walking mob sorcerer have an answer to domain expansions, but Naoya still felt angered towards the New Shadow school.
Still, better late than never. Although the simple domain was weak and could be broken away by stronger domains, against most domains, the technique worked like a charm. Though he could only test it against Kegenori, since at the moment, he was the only one at the clan who could use [Domain Expansion]. It lasted a full five minutes in his domain, which he considers more than enough to defeat foes. One touch with his projection sorcery active, and it traps the foe in a frame, and with the [Spear of Inverted Heaven], breaking the caster's connection with the domain and ending it there. Since Domains were special techniques that could only be used once a day for most users, he was mostly safe.
It's not like enemies will appear from out of nowhere that can use domains multiple times during a battle.
Moving on to his progress. Some of his personal goals were completed in these few months.
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Name: Naoya Zenin
Title: Body Stealer, Possible Zenin Heir, Busiest Elementary Schooler, Hei Rank 5
Cursed Technique: Ten Shadows Technique (Active) / Projection Sorcery (Active)
Cursed Energy: 16630/16630
STR: 247 (+62)
DEX: 250 (+59)
VIT: 301 (+53)
INT: 261 (+59)
LUK: 140 (+35)
Extra Points: 0
Achievements:
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The 10% chance of having stats increase by 1 each day was a blessing, and it turns out the higher the luck went, the more likely it was to get that 10% chance. Now he can somehow increase LUK in a slightly uniform way as well. As for VIT, it turns out that surviving a strong poisoning repeatedly rapidly increased the VIT stat.
Apart from stats, reaching milestone points in his stats also gave him amazing rewards.
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> Have 3 stats reach 200 (+10% potential increase)
> Have 4 stats reach 200 (+10% potential increase)
> Have 1 stat reach 300 (+10% potential increase)
> Increase STR to 200 (+10% strength while fighting, +10% strength boost when using cursed energy reinforcement, +10% increased muscle quality, +10% defence penetration when fighting, -10% impact recoil, +10% increased bone quality)
> Increase DEX to 200 (+10% mind-body coordination while using equipment, +10% strength boost while using equipment, +10% speed boost while using equipment, +10% movement flexibility, +10% increased precision, +10% increased senses)
>Increase VIT to 300 (+10% resistance to poisons, diseases, status conditions, -10% damage from physical attacks, -10% damage from cursed energy attacks, +10% regenerative power, -10% food requirement to survive, +10% fatigue recovery rate)
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The increased potential buffs were now stacked at 10, meaning he had a total of 100% potential increase, which theoretically meant that his projection srocery now worked at 48 frames per second, and his foes were trapped in the frame for 2 seconds if they failed to match his frame movement. As for the actual speed, he could move at 40 frames per second right now. Reaching 48 will take some more effort.
As for the Ten Shadows Technique, no new shikigami were added to the team just yet, but the usage of the shadows and shikigami has improved during this period.
Now he doesn't need to summon the shikigami as a whole and can summon a part of the shikigami to assist him. This included things like summoning the wolves' heads from his back and torso and having them let out a supersonic boom with their mouth, taking the enemies by surprise. Summoning Nue's wings on his back and flying without riding Sparkles, or summoning the wings around his arm and using them to shoot electricity, etc.
Overall, the technique got even more versatile to use. As for not summoning new shikigami, he decided to stop that for a while. At the moment when many assassins were infiltrating the clan and were trying to kill him, one of them tried to take him off guard during the exorcism ritual.
Although the assassin died, the exorcism ritual failed in the end since no one else apart from him was allowed to take part in the exorcism. So, for now, adding new shikigami was on hold and instead of that, his other jujutsu-related skills were being in progress.
"Naoya-sama."
Naoya, busy concentrating, was interrupted by a servant.
"Hm?"
"Naobito-sama has asked me to inform you about today's clan meeting."
"Understood, I will be there," replied Noaya, and wiped the sweat on his forehead.
He decided to go and freshen up, and once that was done, along with dinner with Kagenori and Naobito, Naoya went to the meeting hall.
His seat has been changed now, since he became Hei rank 5, and now he sits a bit closer to Kagenori's seat, beside Chojuro, and although the man looked a bit weird, he was on good terms with both him and Naobito.
And just like that, the meeting started.
"...We recently got tasked with looking into a cursed activity in Tokyo. Mako, Haruto, Naoya, you three will be on this case," said Naobito sternly.
Although Kagenori was present as well, currently it was Naobito's turn as the acting clan head. The old man was practically looking for a successor and was assessing the prospective candidates.
"It will be your first task as a member of Hei. Although you are not officially a sorcerer yet. It will be a rewarding experience for you. Learn from your elders," said Naobito in a stern tone.
Naoya nodded but raised his hand.
"What?" asked Naobito in annoyance.
"Please change, Haruto-san. He is always after me and pulls out my hair. I fear I will go bald," said Naoya and glared at the man on his other side.
"I need them for my technique. Just let me pluck a few," Haruto said lazily, reaching for Naoya only to have his hand smacked away.
A vein bulged on Naobito's forehead.
Some members chuckled; others frowned.
"Learn to cooperate with Hei members. This kind of behaviour on a mission could get you killed," Naobito warned.
Naoya looked unconvinced by the decision but sighed and nodded in response.
Naobito nodded, and the meeting continued.
.
.
.
"Alright, that's it for today's meeting," said Naobito and looked at the clan's higher-ups.
"Ogi. Go ahead," said Kagenori.
"Yes, clan head." Ogi nodded and continued. "I will be having my marriage this weekend, so keep things under control for a few days. Look out for illegal entrants in the clan compound. Many people from other clans and the jujutsu society will be present here. We cannot have some mishap drag the Zenin name down."
Some of them glared at Ogi but still gave a nod. Internal disputes were one thing, but clan pride was another. And for the Zenins that mattered the most.
"Congratulations, Uncle Ogi," said Naoya with a bright smile.
Everyone turned toward him with strange expressions.
A Zenin… congratulating a family member?
Considering the clan's history, Naoya being friendly always felt out of place. Some wondered whether he didn't understand that Ogi's marriage was mostly political, meant to strengthen his standing as a potential future clan head. Or perhaps the child simply had too much confidence that Naobito's line would win anyway.
But Naoya's congratulations were genuine. The thought of marrying for political gain had never crossed his mind.
Ogi wanted to ask if the boy was mocking him, but Naoya's sincere smile stopped him. Complaining would only make him look petty.
"…Thank you, Naoya-kun," Ogi replied.
Naoya nodded, then noticed something strange.
No one else congratulated Ogi.
Not a single one.
'…Did I mess up?' he wondered, glancing at Naobito.
Naobito stared back and glared.
'…I definitely messed up,' Naoya thought, now even more confused about how the Zenin clan's logic worked.