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Later that same day:
After nearly getting nuked by a 10-year-old, Kagenori let all except the guilty go back.
The guilty ones who still had some confessing to do were taken in by Kagenori's bodyguards and were taken somewhere for further questioning.
Now the only ones standing in the field were Kagenori and Naobito. Naoya was sent back to his room to rest and reflect on his actions.
The father and son remained silent. Naobito kept glancing at Kagenori, wanting to guess what the old man might be thinking.
The situation was already quite complex from his standpoint, and Naoya's earlier stunt only made it more complicated. He won't be surprised if every clansman now views him as an enemy.
He was worried about how this would affect his standing, but the thing that preoccupied his already worried mind was the gaze that Naoya looked at him with at the end.
'...What was that look...' thought Naobito.
He had seen Naoya from quite a young age and had seen various expressions on the kid as well, but the one he saw today was a first for him. But the expression wasn't one he didn't know. The expression he had was one Naobito had seen before. Not recently, but quite a while back.
'...He looked like how Big Brother Naotaka looked at Father with that expression,' thought Naobito and looked at Kagenori.
"Naobito."
Hearing his name being called out made Naobito snap out of a trance.
"...Yes, clan head."
"Call the elders, the administrative folk, and the Hei members except Naoya, of course. We are going to have a clan meeting," said Kagenori in a calm tone.
"Ogi and Jinichi should still be inj-"
"Are my orders unclear?" asked the old man coldly and gave a side glance to his son.
"I will call them immediately," replied Naobito hurriedly as a shiver went down his spine.
He could tell.
Kagenori was angry.
Without speaking another word, Kagenori started walking away but halted midway.
"Naobito," called the old man once again.
"Yes, clan head."
"...I know that I have no right to say this, but still, I guess I need to say it to you."
"Naoya doesn't have a mother. Don't make him feel like he doesn't have a father as well... He might be strong, but he is still a kid," said Kagenori and walked away.
Naobito stood still as his eyes widened a bit.
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Naoya, who was supposed to be in his room, descended into his shadow and, silently, without informing anyone in the clan, got out of the estate.
After what happened, he didn't want to stay in the clan for a while.
"I caused quite a big scene back there. Will need to keep a low profile for a while.....where to go now..." muttered Naoya and walked aimlessly around the town.
He first thought of going over to his friend's house, but swiftly dropped that idea.
Satoru was out of the question, considering that going to the Gojo clan after the mess he caused might aggravate his clan even more.
Izumi would be busy helping his family in the bakery.
Misaki's family was going through something, and going there unannounced might be bad.
There were other friends from his class as well, but they were not that close for him to drop by their home.
While pondering, a voice suddenly called out to him.
"Naoya-kun?"
Naoya snapped out of the trance, and his gaze moved towards the person who called him.
"Miyuki nee-chan? Hello," greeted Naoya recognizing the lady who called him.
"Hello~ What are you doing here with such a long face? Something wrong?" asked Miyuki worriedly.
She crouched down to Naoya's level and checked him for any injuries.
Seeing the older sister worry so much about him, Naoya strangely felt happy and chuckled.
"It's alright, nee-chan. I am totally fine. I was think- wait, this ring..." said Naoya, but stopped mid-sentence when he saw a ring on Miyuki's hand.
"Oh...this~" said Miyuki as a beaming smile appeared on her face.
"Toji proposed~" answered Miyuki with an ecstatic expression on her face.
"!!! Really? Nii-san?"
"Really!!! I didn't know he had it in him!!! He went totally on one knee and asked me to marry him!!!"
Seeing her so happy, Naoya held back his question of whether Toji was sober while doing that. To him, it seemed quite unexpected.
"Congratulations, Nee-chan."
"Hehe, thank you. Please take care of me in the future, my little brother-in-law," said Miyuki jokingly.
"Umu. Don't worry. I will do my best. If you want me to beat the crap out of nii-san. Just tell me to do so," replied Naoya assuringly.
At that, Miyuki grabbed Naoya by the cheek and pulled it.
"Now now, that's my fiancée you are talking about. And would you really take my side over his?" asked Miyuki.
"Knowing nii-san, most probably it will be his fault," replied Naoya with confidence.
"Ha Ha. Don't be too doubtful of him. He has changed a lot. He even cleans the house and does laundry now....He is becoming too attractive to handle..." said Miyuki while she muttered the last part to himself as a faint blush adorned her cheeks.
Sadly for her, Naoya's senses caught onto what she said at the end, making Naoya look at her with a deadpan look on his face.
"A-Anyway, what happened? What are you doing here all alone?" asked Miyuki, snapping out of her thoughts.
"Ah...I was just walking around. You know, trying to clear my thoughts or something," said Naoya with a soft smile, not wanting to worry his would-be sister-in-law,
"Hm..."
Miyuki stared at Naoya...he was acting shady like Toji did from time to time.
She knew something was going on, but couldn't prove it. If he were anything like Toji, he was not going to answer her anyway.
"Hmmmm.....what to do....Oh! Got it. Naoya-kun! Are you free right now?" asked Miyuki with a smile.
Naoya narrowed his eyes.
He could sense that something was going through the lady's head, but didn't know what.
"...Yes."
"Good. Then would you please help me with shopping for groceries and carry them back home?" asked Miyuki.
"I can," replied Naoya, deciding to go with the flow for now.
"Great! Let's go. I will make a feast today! I wanted to celebrate my engagement with someone!" cheered Miyuki and grabbed Naoya's hands with gratitude and shook him violently.
Affected by the momentum, Naoya was pulled into excitement as well. For a moment, the thoughts that were clouding him earlier vanished.
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Back at the Zenin estate - Clan meeting hall
Kagenori and the rest of the Zenin higher-ups were gathered in the hall.
Some were fine, some were injured by Naoya earlier. The ones with the worst injuries were Ogi and Jinichi, who were in the middle of treatment, but were called because of Kagenori's order.
Kagenori, sitting at the centre of the entire group glance around. There was an odd silence amongst the group.
"Mako"
"Yes, clan head."
"Fix them," ordered Kagenori and pointed towards the injured members of the meeting.
"Yes," replied Mako and activated his technique.
Ogi and Jinichi immediately used the reversed cursed energy to heal themselves, which was soon followed by the elders.
Once they were healed, Mako and the others sat straight and waited for Kagenori to speak.
"First order of business. A major cleanup of the clan will be done. Juro, Kaito, Taichi. You three will deal with those who, the traitors of the clan, are giving information to."
"Understood," replied the three of them and gave a bow to Kagenori.
"Second order of business.....every personnel dealing with the sensitive information regarding the clan affairs, dealings, politics, etc. will need to undergo very stringent binding vows. Chojuro, you will be the incharge of coming up with the conditions of the vow. Make it so that no one in the future even thinks to mess with the Zenin clan."
"I will do so, clan head....Might I ask you to add Naoya-sama to this as well? He came up with a wonderful Binding vow today," asked Chojuro with a smile.
The way Chojuro called Naoya respectfully was not missed by anyone. All of them eyed the strange man and understood that the political power was shifting once again.
"...Ask him if he is interested in helping the clan. With how everyone acted against him today. I hardly believe that he would be very willing to help the clan," said Kagenori and glared at Ogi and Jinichi specifically.
The elders and most of the Hei members clenched their fists in anger.
"On that note, the next order of business....Naoya is being promoted to Hei Rank 1 effective immediately."
The moment he said that, everyone in the room was shocked.
Chojuro was expecting him to be ranked higher than him since he surrendered earlier, but he was ranked 1. That was going to cause quite a stir.
"Clan Head, I cannot accept this!" complained Jinichi.
"Me too! What is the meaning of this? There is a procedure for how these things happen!" added Ogi.
The remaining people turned towards Naobito, waiting for his response, since he was being outranked by someone, too.
But Naobito didn't react at all. He was simply silent, observing everything....and maybe lost in thoughts as well.
"Procedure for these things....Like how you two charged at him without any warning, without any hesitation, with the intent to kill?" asked Kagenori.
This silenced the two complainers. They indeed jumped on a Hei member while he was doing his duty.
"Naoya asked for an official duel earlier, after you both were subdued quite easily by him. Considering how badly you two lost and that he could have annihilated you two, along with the entirety of the Zenin clan, today. I have decided to assign Rank 1 to him."
All of them were silent. They didn't know that Naoya nearly dropped a nuclear bomb on them, so hearing Kagenori boast about the kid so much and even unilaterally giving him Rank 1 made them angry.
"...Clan Head...Are you doing favouritism here?" asked Ogi.
Every member present in the hall looked at Ogi with shock. They never expected him to be so direct to Kagenori.
"I am," replied Kagenori nonchalantly.
This made all of them even more shocked. The clan head openly claims to be showing favouritism.
"That's unfair for the rest of us?! What do you think will this set a sentiment for the rest of the clansmen?!" asked Ogi.
"Unfair? My favouritism? No. That's not unfair. What's unfair is the clan not supporting a fellow clansman to clean up the traitors of the clan. What's unfair is that the experienced clansmen, instead of guiding the younger generation and protecting them, are trying to kill off these younglings, even directly jumping on the kids to kill them," said Kagenori.
"That's the way of the Zenin clan, Clan Head. The strong survive while the weak stay put or perish if they act up. Going after fellow clansmen in such a manner as to humiliate them in front of everyone while trying to hide behind you. That sets a bad image for the clan. Not to mention Naoya, while being a lower-ranked Hei member, dared to disrespect not only the higher-ranked members but also the elders of the clan. That calls for disciplinary action," replied Ogi.
"Going by that logic, should I kill you since you are being disrespectful to me right now?" asked Kagenori as shadows erupted out of him and aimed towards Ogi.
"...I was only pointing out what was right for the clan..." replied Ogi.
"So did Naoya," replied Kagenori.
A vein popped on Ogi's forehead.
"Tell me...what did the kid say that was wrong? Everyone here. Feel free to enlighten me," said Kagenori and retracted his shadows.
The hall turned silent. They tried to recall what Naoya said back in the field, but none of them could find words that were actually wrong. He insulted and hurt their pride, sure, but factually speaking, his words were not wrong.
"That's the Zenin clan's way.... I have been hearing these words for quite a long time. Ever since I was young, even.... When the Zenin clan first came into existence, it didn't have the Zenin clan's way. Back then, the sorcerers gathered together to form a clan to fight back against the curses that were causing havoc in Japan. Being alone, even while being strong, often resulted in death. That helplessness led to sorcerers banding together and forming a clan," started Kagenori.
"As time passed by, the Zenin clan gained a proper footing and stability. Some more time passed, and our clan became famous. Some more time passed, and our clan was recognised for the exceptional sorcerers we used to produce.... that didn't sit well with other famous clans and that led to rivalry amongst the sorcerer clans all around Japan."
"Somewhere since then, this 'Zenin clan's way' came into existence. Being cold to the weak since they tarnish the reputation of the clan in front of the other clans. Being ruthless to the enemies was a necessity, but soon that transformed into the Zenin nature, so much so that even fellow clansmen began scorning one another and seeing each other as adversaries.....We slowly turned into a clan only in name. No comradeship with one another. The only reason the clan still exists is that we are not yet to the point of killing one another for our own benefit, or arrogance or any god-forsaken reason....But I guess only I was just deluding myself," said Kagenori.
"The ways of a clan might change in times of need and war. I won't deny that I myself have not caused such atrocities. But just because me, you, or our ancestors have walked on a wrong path, doesn't mean the next generation needs to do the same as well. A clan, after all, is not a place where even clansmen, much less kids, live in constant fear of getting killed by the ones with whom they live," said Kagenori in a deep voice.
"..."
The hall was silent. Some gave Kagenori's words a deep thought, some dismissed them altogether.
Kagenori knew that would be the case as well, afterall he could not ask people to change their way of life just because he gave a speech. Change takes time afterall.
"We all are the leading figures of the clan...it is our job to keep the clan's esteem high and the clansmen safe. Today, might be marked in the clan's history as a shame, but how we change the clan from this point on will be what the future generation of the clan will remember us by. Go on, give this a thought. Meeting dismissed. Ogi, don't fret too much. Your marriage is on the weekend. Focus on that for now," said Kagenori and stood up before walking out of the room.
The rest of them remained seated for a while before, one by on,e they too started to walk out as well.