Gaiden - Zenin Zoro 9

Riding on Nue, Zoro confirmed the presence of the curses and Sukuna in the distance.

'Fifteen fingers' worth? No, maybe fourteen?'

Even that amount was a sufficient disaster for humanity.

'I wish I had arrived before Sukuna awakened.'

But it seemed like it was too late for that. He could see the curse with the volcano head and Sukuna in Yuji's body. Just in case, he expanded his Observation Haki, but he couldn't sense anyone else.

As Zoro jumped off Nue's back, Nue immediately dissolved into the shadows, canceling the summoning.

As Sukuna stood up and spoke to Jogo, he said,

"Your head is high."

Jogo immediately knelt on one knee. Of course, that wasn't enough.

Slash!

The top part of Jogo's volcano-shaped head was instantly sliced off and flew away. The building's wall split along with it.

Swish, boom!

As Sukuna's invisible slash, "Dismantle," aimed to cut Zoro's upper body in half, Zoro drew his sword and cut through the attack.

Sukuna turned his body toward Zoro, who had blocked the invisible slash.

"Oh, it's you from that time."

The guy who literally fell from the sky during the gathering of insignificant kids.

Zoro's arrival, which had instantly changed a boring situation, had left a strong impression on Sukuna. It was harder to forget because Zoro had shown interest in Fushiguro Megumi.

If Zoro had tried to kill Fushiguro Megumi back then, Sukuna wouldn't have been able to stop him at that time.

'I wonder how it would be now.'

"The exchange event? So, you're the one who killed Hanami—"

As Jogo raised his voice, Sukuna placed his hand on Jogo's body. And then,

Slash!

"Kuh...!"

In contact with the target or within domain expansion, Sukuna's slash "Cleave" deeply cut through Jogo's upper body.

Seeing this, Sukuna's eyes gleamed with interest.

"What is it, curse? You're better than expected."

This level of ability wasn't bad compared to the humans, sorcerers, and curses he had seen a thousand years ago. If the guy in front of him wasn't present, Sukuna might have thought about playing with him for a long time.

"Well, no matter."

This time, I'll send a more serious attack.

Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!

The even stronger "Cleave" cut Jogo's body into small dice-sized cubes.

Seeing Jogo burst into a heap of flesh in an instant, Zoro frowned.

"Wasn't it him who fed you the fingers?"

"Huh? Oh, right."

Normally, Sukuna might have listened to a word or two in gratitude for bringing the fingers, but he disposed of Jogo because he would clearly be a hindrance in the battle with the guy in front of him.

It was also because even now, with a total of 14 fingers, the thought of fighting that guy didn't seem easy.

Zoro narrowed his eyes.

Even though it was a curse, killing the one who restored half of his power like that without a shred of remorse in his actions—Sukuna was still Sukuna, no matter how the world changed. Just like Kenjaku.

"Don't you have any thoughts of binding yourself and going to sleep quietly?"

"Aren't you the one who should be thinking of dying quietly? And stop staring at me."

It's unpleasant. From Sukuna's words, Zoro came to a conclusion.

Talking is impossible.

...In that case, the only thing left is obvious.

...

Crash!

Zenin Toji grabbed Fushiguro Toji by the collar and threw him out the window toward the street below.

Fushiguro Toji smashed into the wall but quickly regained his stance and landed softly on the ground. Zenin Toji wasn't surprised. He expected it.

'Think of him as me before I learned Haki from Zoro, that's how strong he is.'

Though in a possessed state, he didn't seem to be in his right mind.

'Well, back then, I wasn't in my right mind most of the time anyway.'

It didn't matter anymore.

He lived by repeating to himself over and over again that it didn't matter.

Women, jobs, gambling. Those three things were repeated meaninglessly, over and over. He thought that when his tenacious life finally ended, nothing would be left.

No, he knew it wasn't true but chose to ignore it.

...Of course, Zenin Toji's ignorance ended when Zoro smashed his head with a curse bone.

The guy in front of him had no one to knock some sense into him.

That was a bit unfortunate, but...

"You won't do."

Zenin Toji spoke firmly.

"One troublesome father for Zoro is enough."

Zoro had already been through various incidents due to Zenin Toji's history as a sorcerer killer. Zoro never showed it or blamed Toji, but...

'I can't burden him anymore.'

He's already a child carrying a heavy load of responsibilities on his shoulders.

If Zoro had heard, he would have rolled his eyes and asked why his father was being talked about like a burden, and if he looked so weak that he would collapse by taking responsibility for one or two more people. But regardless, that's what Zenin Toji thought.

"..."

Fushiguro Toji, with a face that showed he didn't understand any of this, silently assumed a fighting stance.

"Fine."

That's easier. With a smirk, Zenin Toji charged.

Bang!

In an instant, Zenin Toji's form disappeared and reappeared in front of Fushiguro Toji.

Kicking the ground rapidly more than ten times, moving so fast it looked like he had vanished due to the rebound effect.

It's called Shave (Soru), one of the Six Powers.

The enemies I used to fight used these techniques. There are six in total, hence the Six Powers. Zoro said that when he first taught Toji the Six Powers.

Although Zoro could have quickly picked it up if he had demonstrated it, it took Toji a long time to master all the techniques since Zoro himself couldn't use the Six Powers.

"I might not be able to do it, but someday you will be able to, Father."

Toji still remembered those words that Zoro had said as if they were nothing special.

Wham!

Zenin Toji landed a punch on Fushiguro Toji's chin. Fushiguro Toji didn't back down and quickly launched a counter-punch. Zenin Toji, like a piece of paper blown by the wind, relaxed his entire body and effortlessly evaded the attack.

It was another technique from the Six Powers, Paper Art (Kami-e).

Zenin Toji recalled what Zoro had once said.

"The Six Powers and Haki work well together. When used together, they can produce even more amplified effects."

Like this, for example.

Flash!

Zenin Toji's right leg turned black with Armament Haki.

Sensing something unusual, Fushiguro Toji quickly tried to distance himself, but Zenin Toji caught up using Shave (Soru).

From his swinging right leg, a black slicing wave emerged. Not from a sword or blade, but a flying slash generated by the powerful force of his leg, creating a whirlwind.

It was Tempest Kick (Rankyaku) from the Six Powers.

Bang!

"Ugh...!"

Fushiguro Toji coughed up blood as the Tempest Kick struck him squarely in the stomach. His body flew toward a building wall, carried by the force of the slash.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

After smashing through three buildings, Fushiguro Toji's body finally came to a stop against a wall.

"..."

Fushiguro Toji's body twitched for a moment before going limp. He had lost consciousness.

Zenin Toji approached and crouched down to check his condition. He hadn't intended to kill him, but knowing the resilience of a sorcerer killer with zero cursed energy, he hadn't held back much either.

Thud, thud. Toji nudged him with his foot in various places before standing up from his crouched position.

"Knocked out."

With a clinking sound, he took out a set of special restraints for sorcerers from his arsenal and secured them. Although Fushiguro Toji was unconscious now, there was no telling when he might wake up and start rampaging again.

The problem was what came next.

'I don't want to carry him.'

Zenin Toji's back was reserved for his children. But leaving him here wasn't an option either, as the area was so dangerous that even a sorcerer killer with zero cursed energy could get killed.

As Zenin Toji pondered, the weapon storage cursed spirit moved slightly. It seemed intrigued by the man who looked just like its master and slithered over to poke Fushiguro Toji's face with its tail.

"!"

Zenin Toji's face lit up as if a lightbulb had appeared above his head. He lightly kicked Fushiguro Toji's face.

"Alright, this will do. Swallow this."

[What the...?]

The weapon storage cursed spirit's slitted eyes opened wide in surprise.

...

As soon as Zenin Megumi sensed the reverse summoning of Nue, he formed a deer-shaped hand sign.

"Round Deer."

A giant deer shikigami emerged from the shadows.

"If you touch your wounds to the Round Deer, it will use reverse cursed energy to heal you."

Zenin Naobito looked at his severed right arm with interest.

"My right arm too?"

"No, unfortunately, the reverse cursed technique of the Round Deer isn't strong enough to regenerate severed limbs."

It can only heal wounds at best. But that alone was a great help. As evidence, the four sorcerers were instantly healed by simply touching their wounds to the Round Deer.

"Thank you, Megumi."

"Thank you, Zenin."

"...Thanks."

Zenin Naobito looked at Zenin Megumi differently than the other three sorcerers.

Because of the chaos during the exchange event, the Zenin family had learned that parallel worlds existed and that people from those worlds had briefly visited this one.

One of them introduced himself as a special-grade sorcerer with the surname Zenin.

'It seems to be the green-haired one, though.'

From the perspective of the Zenin family, who value the Ten Shadows Technique, Zenin Megumi was more desirable.

Of course, Fushiguro Megumi was also a Ten Shadows Technique user, but due to a contract with Gojo Satoru, the Zenin family couldn't claim him unless Gojo Satoru was incapacitated or dead.

Just as Naobito was about to speak to Zenin Megumi, Zenin Toji appeared like the wind and stood between Naobito and Zenin Megumi.

"Old man, don't mark someone else's son."

During the short time he was away. Toji's killing intent flared.

"Didn't I destroy that cursed family once? Is it different here?"

"..."

"So I did destroy it. If you don't want to see that again, stay quiet."

Toji held no resentment, interest, or anything else for the Zenin family.

'I already got my revenge in the original world.'

To the point where the name Zenin Toji no longer bothered him.

So, he remained calm. But if they touched Megumi, he would destroy this world's Naobito and the Zenin family without hesitation.

'Zoro might think differently.'

Not that Zoro would stop Toji. Rather, Zoro might want to destroy this Zenin family regardless.

Why?

'Because my body appeared as a resurrected one here.'

For resurrection techniques, one needs the entire body or a part of the person to be resurrected.

In other words, for Toji's body to be resurrected, the entire body or parts of it had to fall into the hands of the resurrection sorcerer.

'If the Zenin family here had my remains, then either they lost them, didn't properly handle and bury them, or willingly gave them to the resurrection sorcerer.'

All three were somewhat possible. Toji had always been treated poorly by the Zenin family. If it was a dead body that couldn't resist, it wouldn't be surprising if it was mistreated.

'I don't have any thoughts of revenge on this world's Zenin family for that...'

But Zoro might think differently.

As always, Zenin Toji wouldn't stop Zenin Zoro from doing what he wanted.

Seeing the other father earlier made Zenin Megumi curious, so he asked.

"What about him?"

Zenin Toji tapped the mouth of the weapon storage cursed spirit with his finger. Understanding the gesture, Zenin Megumi's eyes widened in shock.

"Are you out of your mind? Storing a living person in the cursed spirit?"

"Strictly speaking, he's not alive. He died and was resurrected."

Though unconscious, Toji made sure to bind him with many restraints before having the weapon storage cursed spirit swallow him. He knew his own strength, so he took these precautions.

...

[Author's Note]

Vote with your power stones, it motivates me to keep posting chapters.

If you're interested, you can read 20 advance chapters on my Patréon.

patréon.com/fumiaki