5 Library

"So that's what happened," Maki says while calming down.

"If you listened to me, you would have known," Megumi remarked pettily.

"Oh, really, mister, I put your sister in the infirmary." Maki snarked back.

"Fine, whatever," Megumi mutters, limping away. He promised to stay away from them to avoid more problems in the future, as he was still reeling from the last punch.

"HEY, DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME WHILE I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Maki shouts at Megumi's retreating figure.

"Leave it, Maki," Mai says while looking disappointed. "We've caused enough problems as it is."

Maki looked exasperated at her sister.

"Fine, but if he ever hurts you, I'll punch him till he cries," Maki says.

Mai just shook her head in dismay.

***

"I won't exercise today, at least not physically," I thought as I glanced at the entrance of the Zenin Clan Library.

Jinichi gave me an introduction to the Zenin facilities three weeks prior. From what he told me, they keep all their knowledge of Cursed Energy in this library.

The knowledge of the Cursed Techniques of the other clans is also inside those walls because of the many conflicts between them throughout history. The Zenin Clan knew most about the Gojo clan because they had the most fights with them. They should also have records about the Ten Shadows Technique here.

Of course, it is difficult to enter the library because of all the above reasons. Only high-ranking Zenins can enter, except for me.

I walked past the guards stationed in front of the entrance. They all knew who I was and didn't cause me any trouble.

What I saw inside was disappointing. The number of books here was not much, but that was understandable. Jujutsu Sorcerers are selfish. Giving up knowledge of Jujutsu would not be their priority.

No, it was the state of the library itself. Cobwebs covered every corner. The books had thick layers of dust and looked like they could fall apart at any moment. It looked like no one had been here for a long time. Perhaps the library was dusty because the servants couldn't enter.

I saw some brooms in a corner. I decided to clean up the place before studying. A tidy workspace would help me think better.

"Divine Dogs!" I shouted while making the hand signs to summon my dogs.

They came out of my shadows. I asked them to help me clean the place by grabbing brooms and cleaning the ground.

My dogs looked at me with an expression that screamed, 'Really, dude?'.

They still got to work and started cleaning the place. I cleaned the shelves and books to help me know where every book was.

There are many books about using cursed energy. But there is only one thin book on reverse cursed techniques. I'd read them at a later time.

'Huh, a manual on the New Shadow Style. The Zenin Clan probably stole it, as it was from the Ashiya clan. The Ashiya also didn't want to teach it to outsiders. Or the Zenin Clan could have just found it, as the Ashiya aren't around anymore.

I need to read this manual so I don't have to rely too much on my summons. Simple Domain would also be useful for countering Domains and developing my Domain Expansion.

I looked around and saw that a lot of books were preaching about the Zenin Clan's philosophy. Most of it was 'Women are weak, non-sorcerers not humans.'

I'll throw those books into the farthest corner of the library. Of course, I checked if they had any useful information by quick reading, but nothing stood out to me.

When I went to the back of the library, I saw shelves full of books. The books were all titled "Icha Icha" by someone named Jiraiya. He probably wasn't a Zenin, but he must have been someone important to have this many of his books on the shelves.

I wanted to open one up to see what they were about, but I felt a tug on my leg.

Behind me, I saw my dogs, who had finished cleaning, and they wanted me to follow them. I put the Icha Icha book down and chased my dogs.

They brought me to an empty shelf with scratch marks on the floor.

I looked at my dogs. They looked at me and pointed their heads towards the empty shelf.

'Huh, a suspiciously empty shelf with scratch marks on the floor. I wonder what it could be.'

I went to the bookshelf and pushed it aside. Behind it, I found a room with a chair and a table.

On the table, there was a book called "The Three Great Clans.".

'Nice, just what I was looking for. I'll have to give my dogs some treats later.'

I looked around the room to check for traps. I wanted to make sure nothing would happen if I touched the book or sat on the chair.

Seeing no thin wires or pressure plates, I made my Divine Dogs go into the room to find any traps I may have missed. After all, their senses were better than mine because they were dogs.

They walked around for a bit and came back to me. They both shrugged, like, "We couldn't find anything.".

I finally picked up the book and got a closer look at it.

'This doesn't have any dust on it, so someone must have entered this room and read this book not too long ago.'

I unsummoned my dogs and opened up the book to read the first pages.