Getting Stronger and Zen'in Clan

You know, cuddling is awesome. Putting the AC in the lowest temperature and cuddling with your lover, under the covers, while naked is very good.

I always thought that was an overrated normie thing.

I take that back.

While Tsumiki uses my arm as a pillow, thank god I'm durable, I take my Company smartphone to check something and...

Yep. She is part of my retinue now. Love Confession...

But I haven't received any credit because she is a Tier 1. In Intensity game mode (that was locked and the only thing I couldn't change), I receive 60% of the price of the Character when I capture them(and 20% when I sell). As Tsumiki is a normal teenager girl, she costs only 1 credit.

It's okay, the main reason I'm happy, beyond having her, is that now I can do this...

Typing with only one hand I configure her settings and... done.

Now she is sharing my defenses. More importantly... Possession Defense. Now Yorozu can't take over her body.

Another preparation of the plan is completed. Yorozu will be trapped inside her and will be easily captured by me later.

One of the Aditional Objectives of the mission True Sukuna Successor is to capture Yorozu after I defeat and consume Sukuna.

Now will be very easy.

Oh, it's free to share [Body Tune-up]? Nice. The other Talents I need to pay. Defenses are free.

And I can even customize how much my retinue shares my Talents and Defenses.

10 credits for each talent to share? Hm~

With the exception of [Body Tune-up] and [Everlasting], the first is to keep everyone fit and the other is to make everyone immortal, all other talents I need to buy the [Talent Sharing] perk.

Eventually, I will need to share the Athletic, Martial, and Soul Talents too.

And also give my retinue some Templates, to my favorite ones at least.

Well, a thought to the future. I only have 1 credit after all. And I can only see myself earning credits when the plot starts.

The focus now is to train my many abilities. When I am strong enough I can capture all enemies and sell them.

And now the dilemma... The Culling Game. That would be the best moment and place to farm credits. Should I allow it to happen?

In truth, keeping things close to canon can only work to my advantage. Not that I will let Nanami or Nobara die. What's the point of coming live in an anime world if you don't save the characters that you like?

I look at my side, to the form of Tsumiki sleeping... What a dilemma indeed.

Is she already in the grips of Kenjaku? Can I stop him? Should I let things play out?

I already have the assurance of giving her my defenses... And Yorozu being trapped inside her works to my advantage.

I sigh... Truly complicated.

Whatever, I can only live in the present, the best I can do is really train so that I can deal with any curveballs that fate throws at me.

And bully Tsumiki... I smirk before my hands snake around her body and she starts to squirm.

"Me-Megumi~... Not so rough~" She moans my name in her sleep

"Yes, I'm Megumi."

...

"Megumi, we are g-gonna be late..." Tsumiki protests while I don't let her get out the door.

"What is the problem of being late? We should call in sick. It's just one day." I say while pressing one hand on the door and another on her ass.

She has a nice ass. Perky and tight. Me likey.

"N-no, we can't be like that." She tries to admonish me, but is hard to do that when I'm molesting her "Megumi, if you don't let me open the door... I... I... I will get angry!" She pouts and tries to make a scary face.

"Cute..." I laugh at her "But okay, just give me a kiss on the lips and I will let you go."

I'm the one that always initiates intimacy, so she is super embarrassed to do that.

Her eyes dart around while I continue to stare at her, waiting...

Suddenly, she gathers her courage and gives me a fast peck on the lips.

"Now let me go!" She says with her ears red.

"Heh~, after all we have done, you're still embarrassed by something like this?" I whisper in her ear.

"~~~~"

I love teasing her. Why teasing women is so fun?

As promised, I let her open the door and she ran away.

"..." She is cute.

I sigh when I think how things don't go as planned...

When I was making my build, I sincerely just planned to pursue Maki, for real. I thought that having a huge harem was a bad idea, so I should focus on my favorites instead of "catch them all" like a maniac.

I came to this world to learn everything that has to be learned, take Maki with me to the other universes... Now things went in a different direction. Now in real life, I can't see myself abandoning Tsumiki.

I once again sigh when I think that one day I will need to explain to her about the Company and Multiversal Travel. I will probably omit some things.

Tch, a problem to future me again. But now that this topic has been touched...

"I need to meet Maki..." I say out loud while closing the door and walking to follow Tsumiki.

I can't let her meet Yuta. I'm not into netori, even if it's the bread and butter of a contractor. Wait, are MakixYuta really a thing in canon? Or was it simply the fandom hallucinating?

"However, I don't plan on giving up on her." There's one thing I need to do then, to have a headstart. "Visit the Zen'in Clan..."

The best way is asking Gojo to take me there, but I will need some excuses.

Well, let's go for parts... First, I will bring her the topic of...

.....

"Do you want to know about your father?" Gojo tilts her head while looking down at me.

She is sitting sideways on my stomach after kicking my ass in a spar

"Yes... And can you get off me?" I will get a boner.

And she is not even touching me, there's Infinity between us.

"Try shaking me off..." She smugly taunts me

"Impossible... I don't know Domain Amplification yet..." I scoff

"Not better moment than the present to practice." She pats my head condescendingly

Ugh, she is annoying. But a pair of titties can make me forgive her transgressions.

"And about your father... Why the sudden interest? When I touched the subject when we first met you didn't care."

"It's that thing you know? 'Know thyself'... Maybe knowing my origins can help me a little. Didn't you comment something in the past about me inheriting his strength or something like that..." I lie easily. Thanks [Covert Talent].

"Hmmm, true..." Even saying so, I don't know if she is convinced "Your father is a kinda of a special case, and you being physically strong like this is almost a paradox."

"And are those vague answers that make me want to know more..." Damn, I'm good at this

"Alright, alright... Let me explain then..." She finally concedes "Your trash of a father was born with something called Heavenly Restriction. In his case, he was born with great physical strength in exchange of having zero cursed energy..."

And after that, she told me things that I already knew.

But it is a necessary step for my future actions. A cover-up to my knowledge and decisions.

.....

<Time Skip>

It has been half a year since I came to this world.

In these last months, I progressed in a lot of things. The one thing worth more attention is the fact my Templates are raised by a tier, finally reaching Tier 5.

In the Blackbeard powerset, now I can use the Tremor fruit albeit weakly. And my Haki leveled up, now I'm a respectable user. Probably a little short of Post-time skip Luffy.

On the Darkness Devil side... I'm better at creating darkness constructs. That's all, but I'm not dispirited because the Darkness Devil template has a higher ceiling.

Ah! And there's that thing too....

...

Little Flashback

"Your cursed energy is changing, did you notice?" Gojo comments while eyeing my cursed energy , even going as far as raising her glasses

"Kinda... But I thought that is only me infusing the Ten Shadows Technique on it, the 'shadows' part you know?" I said while staring at my hand infused with Cursed Energy. The dark purplish glow is very eerie.

"No. Your cursed energy is fundamentally changing. Qualitatively changing!" She declares with exaggerated fanfare

"..." I only wait for her to finish because she loves hearing her own voice

"Some sorcerers are special and their cursed energy carries a special property. Like the elements: fire, water... The principal of Kyoto School, that old geezer, cursed energy carries the properties of soundwaves by the way. A little at least."

So like Kashimo Hajime with electricity.

"Normally this rare phenomenon happens in three circumstances... First, the sorcerer is born like that. Second, the sorcerer acquired it later through a binding vow. Some people in the past went through gruesome training to change their cursed energy property, like staying in places with extreme climates and even submerged in water for days... Third..." She raises her fingers periodically to illustrate her explanation

I complete "The cursed energy changes by the influence of the Innate Technique. In my case, the Inherited Technique: Ten Shadows." I say, but I think that is the Darkness Fruit, a logia, and the Darkness Devil that are influencing my Cursed Energy.

"Mou~, I want to explain." She pouts

"So, in summary... Is it a good thing?" I ask the thousand dollar question

"Yep. It's very good... Full of advantages. First, it's hard to guard against the extra property with a simple cursed energy reinforcement. It also helps with techniques... It's as good as having an innate technique."

At that moment I thought about the disaster curses. They carry the elements and are full of versatile techniques because of that. Nothing unilateral like most Innate Techniques of the sorcerers.

"The problem is the disadvantage..." Gojo says attracting my attention

"Everything has a counter, right?"

"Yep, a guy with a cursed energy of fire would have trouble fighting in a damp environment or against someone who uses water. Or even someone who simply prepares himself with a bucket. Hahaha. In your case, shadows..." She turns to me more serious

"Light. Or even fire..." I say while looking at my hand surrounded in darkness "Well, you gain some and lose some. And I don't think it as much as a weakness, more like a 'loss of a buff'."

"Good. Can you still produce normal cursed energy?"

"It's difficult. It's like it wants to naturally be produced as darkness cursed energy."

"So this will be added to your training! Separate the two ways of producing cursed energy. To avoid being at a disadvantage."

"I don't it will be a problem, really..." I say with a distant gaze while playing with my new type of cursed energy

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, it's not simple shadows... It's darkness. Think for an instant, enough darkness can even swallow light, the natural enemy." I say with conviction "Not even light can escape a Black Hole. Not even all stars in the sky, no... Even with all the stars in the universe, when we look up at the night sky... Most of it is still covered in darkness. It swallows everything..."

"...Wow." She exclaims and then smiles. Uh-oh, I know what that smile means. This fucking smug smile "So Megumi-kyun is in that phase, huh? My right arm... That carries the darkness that can swallow everything..." She makes a show of grabbing her arm and putting on an 'acting cool' expression "I need to control this power... If not... It will swallow even myself... Ugh"

"..." See? This woman is annoying. My blood pressure just went up "I'm not a chuunibyou! How I'm a chuunibyou if powers are real? I was simply training in visualization. Visualization! Isn't it you who said that you need to visualize yourself winning, to have a winner mindset?

Then I was visualizing that my power can't be topped that easily." I explain

I'm working hard here to destroy Megumi's loser mindset, you know?

"It's okay, it's okay... You're a boy. Onee-chan understands. Umu Umu" She nods and smiles at me with fake understanding and pity

"...with this treasure, I summon..."

...

So, for real, my cursed energy is changing thanks to the templates. It's not a cover-up that I made.

Me and Gojo practiced to check what are the "effects" of Darkness Cursed Energy. You know, electricity shocks, fire burns...

For now, it appears that gives more damage because it is heavy. And is very similar to the powers of the Darkness Fruit, like pulling/swallowing things...

Once again I'm surprised by the synergies. It's all about compatibility really.

In the future, thanks to that I will be capable of using the Darkness Fruit freely.

An interesting thought popped into my head... Darkness in games and animes, beyond being the element/attribute that does a lot of damage also has debuffs, right? Negate, devour, erode, curse... It can do those things too, right?

The dark fruit can block other devil fruit powers.

Now with this darkness cursed energy... Will I be able to negate cursed techniques?

Another thought to the future. But it doesn't sound that farfetched. Eletricity has a lot of effects beyond shocking someone if used right... Like increasing the user speed and all that. Having other effects on a high-level element like darkness is reasonable.

But for now, I can only dream.

....

Now I'm in a more rural area, walking in the woods to a secluded place that I researched earlier. I needed to take a bullet train to reach here.

The reason why I'm going so far? Today is the day that I will tame three new shikigamis.

And I need a huge open space to make things easier.

I walk around a little till I reach an open abandoned drainage system. The place is close to a forest too, the forest I will use later.

"Perfect... Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure" I say the incantation and make the handsign to raise a curtain.

Yep, I can do this now. I studied curtains and barriers. Initially, I simply wanted to understand the things I could go against in the future but I discovered that I'm pretty good with curtains.

The reason? I don't know. If I had to guess, I think the whole "blacker than darkness" thing has a good compatibility with me.

And look at this chuuni incantation??? I'm not chuuni! The whole world is chuuni!!

I take a breath to calm myself. That woman... One day I will shut her mouth, with my dick! Or a kiss... I don't hate her, after all.

"Nue..." I summon the flying shikigami and in the next second I change the handsign to summon another "Max Elephant."

With the two shikigamis set, I start the small ritual to tame a new shikigami.

"Escape Rabbit."

With everything done, a swarm of white rabbits stars appearing in front of me... But the thing that is in front of me is the huge hole of the sewer system. So I have the high ground!!

"Now!" I command

Max Elephant releases an incredible amount of water, turning the hole into a small river, and drowning the rabbits.

And that's not all... Nue flaps his wing and releases electricity on the water.

A flash of light and a bunch of rabbits suffering later, the ritual ends...

"Easy victory..." I comment

Escape Rabbit has close to zero offensive ability and defense. They are to be used as a smoke screen and sacrificial pawns.

I watch the water being drained while I prepare the next ritual. I dismiss Max Elephant, but I keep Nue.

I jump on Nue's back, he is bigger than Canon Nue, and we fly high in the air.

The curtain that I made can't do much like keeping people away. It can only hide what I'm doing but on the plus side... It's big, very big, and consequently very tall.

"Here should be enough... Piercing Ox." I make the ritual to summon the next shikigami.

Piercing Ox special ability is that the longer he charges, the stronger his attack power gets.

So, I will not give him the opportunity to take even one step!

The summoned Shikigami tries to move, but he only finds empty space. He starts to fall to the ground thanks to the work of gravity.

"Follow him, Nue." I command and we dive down too.

Keeping my eyes on the target, I see Piercing Ox hitting the ground, raising a lot of Dust and rocks. The fall destroys trees and creates a crater.

I jump from Nue's back and prepare a Punch.

It's the right decision to not hold back, because I can see Piercing Ox slowly raising himself to his feet. That thing is incredibly durable. Probably my shikigami with the highest defense...

So is the right decision to go all out on exploring his weaknesses.

I use my momentum to deliver a strong punch on him. Not on his head or back, but on his neck. This part tends to be a weak point of any bovidae, some even have a lot of fat stored there to protect it.

*Boom* *Crack*

The impact is impressive, a crack a little bigger than my fist appears in the air where I hit, the space is squeezed and shockwaves spread in all directions. The Tremor Fruit is really incredible.

I can feel Piercing Ox resistance crumbling while he is forced to his knees.

Then I felt that the Ritual was successful and the shikigami disappears.

"*huff* Another one... Now the last of the day."

This open crater will do.

"Divine Dogs... Great Serpent." I summon other two shikigamis. "Jump it when appears." I command and they prepare themselves.

"Round Deer."

Poor thing... The healer of the Ten Shadows had no chance.

Great Serpent coils himself around it, Nue dives down and grabs the deer antlers with his talons, and then the Divine Dogs go straight to the throat.

I almost don't want to watch...

...

I take the bullet train back home.

Now only Mourning Tiger and Mahoraga are left. I will not try to tame Mahoraga for obvious reasons and Mourning Tiger because I lack information.

But it's okay, this weekend I will finally visit the Zen'in clan with Gojo, there I will see the records of the Ten Shadows Technique and understand more about Mourning Tiger.

It took months of asking things slowly to finally be a natural thing to ask Gojo to help me with.

So she will accompany me.

But studying the Ten Shadow records is only the secondary objective, the real objective is to meet Maki.

What better moment to leave an impression when someone is at his lowest point, right?

Damn, I'm a little scummy. But again, I need to meet her before she goes to Jujutsu High, or will be too late.

Now, back to the present, while I watch the scenery out the window I contemplate something. A new discovery.

I can't immediately summon the recently tamed shikigami... That's interesting, you know? Very interesting.

It appears that they're recovering... Or being formed and "imprinted" on my technique.

"Very interesting... So my conjectures are right. The Ten Shadows Technique is much deeper than expected."

Megumi you dumb fuck. How didn't you see that before?

....

"I'm home..." I say while taking off my shoes. The trip was fast. Japan is small and bullet trains are op.

"Oh, just in time for dinner." Tsumiki appears to greet me.

I smile before I decide to mess with her a little.

I sigh exaggeratedly and look at the ceiling "Serious, Tsumiki?"

"Wha-what?"

"More than four months and you still don't get it..." I sigh again and even shake my head in disappointment

"What are you talking a-about?" She asks nervous

"Look how you greet me..."

"What about it?" She is even more confused

"Where is the 'Do you want to take a bath first? Eat first? Or maybe me(wa-ta-shi)~'???" I ask in outrage.

"..." Her faces go a little red and she throws a tower at me "Seriously? And here I was thinking that was something serious!! I'm not doing that!"

"Why?" I cry in shock, acting hurt

"It's... It's embarrassing..." She fidgets "We are not married..."

Well, considering the last months, we are like newlyweds.

"It's not. It's sexy and cute." I approach and hug her

"I'm not doing that. You are a bad, if I give you an inch... Hmpf! I can't let my guard down."

"You hurt my feelings..." I say while molesting her ass

"..." She simply deadpans while pinching the hand mauling her buns and slaping the one going to her chest.

"Okay, okay. Guilty." I concede "Let's eat then."

I pick her up in a princess carry, her "kyah" it's music to my ears.

...

On another day, I am doing my best impression of the Thinker while annoyed by the fact I still can't use Reverse Cursed Technique.

In those last months, my focus was Haki with physical strength and the Ten Shadows.

But I got the basics of everything else at least. From barriers, and curtains, to simple domain and the rest.

Domain Amplification has almost no progress too.

But Reverse Cursed Technique... For some reason, I can't even start.

I feel like I can do it, but it is like a certain piece is lacking... The starting point. Like with Simple Domain. I need to understand the formula first before starting to do the math.

"Ugh... What I'm lacking?"

Is it the natural talent? I don't have a natural talent like Ieiri Shoko. What I have is the [Soul Talent] that guarantees me that I can learn everything from the power system if I have time.

The other thing I'm lacking is... enlightenment.

Gojo learned RCT when she almost died to my father...

Do I need to go through a life-and-death situation to have a breakthrough? Ugh, so unreliable.

"Okay, let's cheat. Let's cheat with metaknowledge!" I clasp my hands together to focus and go back to remember what Gojo said to my father in the anime.

Reverse Cursed Technique... Positive Energy... It's also that moment that Gojo figured out how to make "Red".

Cursed Energy Reversal: Red... Reverse Cursed Technique...

"Blue" is attraction... "Red" is repel...

Cursed Energy is negative energy... It is necessary to produce Positive Energy to use RCT... But the Positive Energy doesn't come from nothing, the Positive Energy comes from Negative Energy. From the Cursed Energy.

Reversal...

Attraction and Repel...

I'm almost there... Almost there...

"Round Deer..." I absentmindedly summon my shikigami.

With an order, the deer bathes me in Positive Energy.

I touch the white motes of energy floating to me...

Positive Energy... Comes from Negative Energy first... it needs to be transformed...

Gojo Cursed Techniques come from something similar to gravity. Like the Fundamentals Force of the Universe.

Attraction becomes Repel... Like when something is compressed to the point where it can't sustain itself and explodes. Like when something is so cold that burns...

That's where her enlightenment came from! When she compressed to the point of repelling because of her imminent death she figured out the trick.

And what about me? My Cursed Energy and Technique...

It's Shadows... Shadows are Darkness... Darkness is heaviness... It's cold... It's the night...

And the opposite of that...? Well, the most basic example and even a child know. The oldest opposites in creation...

To me, Positive Energy is... is...

It's warmth, lightness, sunshine, it's white, day... It's light.

I look again at the motes of light. My mind flashes with the image of Tsumiki's face.

Oh... So simple. Heh~

I dismiss the Round Deer.

But in my hands, the warm light of positive energy remains.

I allow myself to smile... Reverse Cursed Technique learned.

I can do so easily now that is almost a mystery how I had difficulty before.

....

"Uuuuugggghhhhh~" Gojo Satooru groans for the sixth time, just to show how annoyed she is with what are doing.

"You really hate visiting the Zen'in clan, huh?" I ask her while we walk to the huge are where the clan resides

"Yes. Every time I visit those guys that have more status than actual power I get annoyed." She rolls her eyes

"I can go alone..."

"No! I can't let poor and defenseless Megumi-kyun with these wolves! What if they eat you up?? Or worse, marry you!"

"As if that was gonna happen..."

"You would be surprised..." She scoffs "Some people of the Gojo clan tried to marry me with my cousin when I was in High School." She says like is no big deal

"For real?"

"For real, real..."

"Poor guy..."

"Hey! What do you mean by that?? I would be an excellent wife!"

"...then what happened with him?" I ask with a deadpan stare

"... I 'Blue' his crotch..." She says looking away

"..."

"..."

"Like I said, poor guy..."

"Megumi-kyun, your meanie! He was simply not the right guy! I need someone on the same level at least. That can protect me and keep up with my personality..."

"Okay, okay... It's better that you start choosing the name of your cats in the future."

To this, she starts punching me lightly on the shoulder. I mean, it looks like love taps, but hurts like hell. I think it is dislocated now...

After we continue walking and finally arrive at the front of the Zen'in clan. Fancy~

"So you really gave the guy the worst case of 'blue' balls in history, huh?" I can't help myself in joking

She guffaws like a maniac at my joke and even the lady that met us gave her strange looks.

...

Third Person P.O.V.

Megumi and Satooru are guided by the woman wearing traditional Japanese clothes through the Zen'in compound.

"Where is the old man?" Satooru asks rudely while looking around

"I was tasked to take the two esteemed guests to him." The woman answered with a strange expression while sneaking glances at the two

"That old man wanted to talk with you a little in exchange for allowing us to see the records of the Zen'in clan, but you don't need to agree with anything." Satooru says, not caring that she is being heard "If he goes back on his word, we simply need to destroy everything and take what we want." She says with a relaxed smile on her face

"..." The woman is sweating a little now

"He is what mine again? Granduncle?" Megumi asks while looking around like he is searching for something.

"Hmm, I think so..." Satooru tries to remember, but she never cared too much about the Zen'in family tree

On the way, some people of the Zen'in clan also gave the duo some strange stares.

"We are here." The servant woman gestures to a door before addressing the person inside to warn him of their arrival.

"Let them in." An aged, but vigorous, voice comes from inside the room.

After the servant opens the door, the duo enters and the servant closes the door behind them.

Inside, only the actual head of the clan is sitting with a gourd of alcohol. Zen'in Naobito.

"Oh, so this was the boy that you're hiding from me?" Naobito comments while eyeing Megumi and caressing his chin.

"Don't talk like you didn't already know about him, old drunkard." Satooru scoffs

"Haha. You look a lot like your father, boy... Megumi, right?" Naobito addresses him

Megumi's expression doesn't change "I must be more handsome." It's the only thing he says making Naobito laugh harder

"Hahaha. I like you, why didn't you come back to the clan? I can make you the direct heir."

"No, thanks. It sounds like a pain in the ass." Megumi answers immediately

"All right then." Naobito shrugs

"You gave up fast..."

"There's still time." He gives him a knowing look

"..."

"Don't waste our time. You are simply waiting for death to come to pick you up, but we have things to do." Satooru interrupts with an annoyed expression.

"Oya oya, can't an old man talk a little with the new generation? Cultivate a little of familial love..."

"Does the Zen'in clan even understand that?"

"...Indeed, maybe not. Anyway, here is the key to the archives." Naobito shows a big and old key "But before I give to you two, talk with me a little Gojo Satooru... It's important." He finishes with a serious expression.

"..."

"Yew, sounds boring. I'm going sightseeing." Megumi rolls his eyes and starts walking away 'It's probably about me inheriting the position of clan head...' He guesses in his mind "Can I go anywhere?" He asks while crossing the door

"If no one stops you, sure." Naobito answers

"And if they stop me, I can beat them, right? Noted." He nods to himself

"Gahahahaah!"

After Megumi gets out Naobito sighs "What a play of destiny. That he was the one with the Inherited Technique... The son of Toji-kun." He shakes his head

"Play of destiny or karma?"

To this, Naobito can only laugh again bitterly.

...

'Now... where's Maki?' Megumi thinks while looking around, before deciding to go in the direction of an open space he saw earlier.

That's the main reason for him to leave the room.

Now he can only hope to get lucky, but even if not... He can discreetly approach the subject of "Heavely Restriction" trying to make someone comment that another someone, Maki in this case, also has the Heavenly Restriction and he will have the excuse to actively seek her.

No one can find fault in him wanting to meet someone similar to his father, right?

'This place is huge... Ugh, c'mon protagonist luck. Aren't random encounters with important people on the package?'

As he walks he notices the people of the clan giving him looks, but he is not bothered.

He is accustomed to receiving looks. He is handsome and receives the "Sasuke's treatment" from the girls at school/streets and he is scary enough to make the guys recoil in fear.

'Fuck it... Divine Dogs.' He summons his reliable shikigami, but keeps them hidden in his shadow.

He only needs them to share their senses now.

'Maki is a hardworker, so she must be training... Let's follow the sounds of crashes, the smell of sweat and loud voices.' He decides.

And if she is not training, he can only give up.

'This way.'

After walking through some hallways and porches, Megumi finds himself in a scene that gives him mixed feelings.

'The best possible scenario... Maybe I'm really lucky. Or an asshole for being happy in this situation...' He thinks while watching an adult male that is obviously Naoya, stepping on a girl with green hair and a ponytail that can only be Maki.

It's strange to Megumi to watch the scene. He knows about Maki's past, but in his mind, she is a really badass woman. Seeing her vulnerable like that looks out of character.

"That doesn't sound very nice..." Megumi approaches the two with his hands in his pockets.

"Huuh? Who the fuck are you, bra- Did I know you?" Naoya turns around with an annoyed expression. Ready to trash the one ruining his fun, till he sees Megumi's face.

A somewhat familiar face.

"Take your foot off her." Megumi says calmly

"Haha. Trying to be the hero saving the damsel in distress? You can only be a hero if you have the ability, you know? If not, you will only be embarrassing yourself." Naoya says with a mocking grin "And she is no damsel, more like a servant. Almost a female slave..."

"Take your foot off her." Megumi repeats in the same intonation. Naoya's provocation does nothing against him.

"...okay, okay. Geez, kids nowadays." Naoya shrugs good-naturedly while he starts to remove his foot.

But his expression changes to one of viciousness and he suddenly attacks Megumi with a kick.

*Boom*

Megumi meets the attack with his own kick. The soles of the two feet meet in an impasse, creating a shockwave in the courtyard.

"Oh! You reacted to that? You're not a trash then... At least."

"Is simply because your intentions are obvious..." Megumi replies evenly. He saw his intentions with Observation Haki "Low life like you can only act one-dimensionally. Like C-rank villains." Megumi mocks

And it appears that Naoya doesn't have the same resistance to trash talk as Megumi, because a vein pops off his forehead. Maybe is because is used to being spoiled.

He laughs angrily before he restarts attacking with a flurry of punches.

Megumi is ready and intercepts them.

The two continue in a close quarter confront for some time. An implicit understanding between the two to not move from their places.

A matter of pride.

While one attacks, the other blocks, or deflects the strike by slapping the enemy's forearm.

The exchange lasts for some time while the two gauge the other ability. From this "playful" confrontation, they can't really see how good each other is, but they can be sure of one thing.

The other is not a pushover.

The deadlock is finally ended when Naoya decides to take things up a notch. After an attack, he grabs Megumi's forearm.

"!" And Megumi is turned into a 2-D animation frame.

Naoya doesn't waste time and punches Megumi, breaking the animation frame and sending the boy flying at a wall on the other side of the courtyard.

Naoya is smiling to himself, but Megumi will not face a loss easily like that.

Megumi's body is rapidly approaching the wall, almost crashing into it... When his body sinks into the shadow made by himself.

"!!" Naoya's eyes widen in surprise, and his surprise doesn't end there.

Beneath him, his shadow grows some shades darker and expands, three figures are ejected from it at high speed.

"Rawr!" The two Divine Dogs emerge, only their heads, and they bite Naoya's calves, binding him in place.

Megumi emerges fully, going further and being ejected a little higher in the air. In his mind, he laughs, at how he is imitating his father's entrance in Dagon's domain.

Megumi emerges already turning his body and delivering a spin kick on Naoya's head, the older sorcerer can only block with his forearms.

*Boom*

But in the end, he is the one that is sent flying into a wall. Crashing on it without being capable of stopping himself.

"You're the challenger here..." Megumi mockingly smiles while pointing to the hole in the wall where Naoya disappeared.

"..." Maki, on the ground, watched the whole exchange with wide eyes. Someone her age got the better of Naoya who is arguably the second strongest in the clan.

Naoya slowly emerges from the hole filled with debris, his face dark as can get.

"Brat... So you're really Toji-kun's son, huh? The one with the Inherited Technique, the Ten Shadows." Naoya spats.

He doesn't look that hurt, but only he knows that his arms are trembling and he is only talking to bid time to recover himself.

With his personality, and Cursed Technique, he would already have attacked.

Maki once again turns in surprise to the boy that appears her age. She heard rumors rumors about him.

"So you have a brain between your ears. And you're a user of Projection Sorcery" Megumi says back

"Why are you helping a trash like her?" Naoya can't help but ask "If you're interested in her looks, you can simply ask to take her as a pet."

"Shut up, I like helping people selfishly." He declares strongly "I do what I want. I wanted to save her and your face looked really kickable, so... You have it."

Naoya is so angry that he is laughing "Hehe, on behalf of your father, I will teach you a lesson." Naoya rolls his wrists, his arms are much better now, preparing himself.

"Aren't you getting too big for your boots? You are the trash without value in my eyes here... You're simply a lowly casual misogynistic..." Megumi raises a hand and makes a 'come here gesture' to Naoya

'I'm a Contractor! My job is literally to seduce, stamp, capture, slave and sell women. I'm a COMPETITIVE MISOGYNISTIC!!!'

"...We are not the same."