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Later that evening, after Toji was thoroughly scolded by Miyuki, the Fushiguros hosted a feast for Naoya's graduation celebration.
After partying with them and helping the reluctant Miyuki to clean the dishes, Naoya and the sisters said their goodbyes and left for the Zenin estate.
Maki and Mai were already asleep, tired from playing around and were being carried by Naoya.
"Well, today was eventful..." muttered Naoya with a soft smile and continued walking.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed, making Naoya snap out of his thoughts.
He made a hand sign as Zankyo emerged from his shadow.
"Show me who's calling."
"Alright."
Zankyo took out the flip phone from Naoya's pocket and opened it, showing that it was Satoru who was calling him.
"Connect it."
Zankyo followed and placed the phone near Naoya's ear, making him tilt his head and hold the phone in place.
Zankyo, finished with his task, descended back into the shadows.
"Moshi Moshi Satoru Gojo desu."
"Wrong number."
"My dear friend Naoya Zenin. What are you doing on this fine day?"
"...Just ate, going back home? Need something?"
"I most certainly do."
"What?"
"Your time. Tomorrow at noon. Now that you are free from school, let's go on a trip," said Satoru.
"Trip? What do you have in mind?" asked Naoya.
"Hm....let's go to Okinawa!"
"In this season?"
"Hey! The less the crowd, the more fun we will have! Let's rent a boat and go on a search for the One Piece! I will be the captain! You can be the vice-captain!"
"What about Maki and Mai?"
"Bring them! They will be the grunts on the ship!"
"...You serious...Whatever, I will ask someone to look after them. So where should I meet you?"
"I will come to your house and kidnap you from there."
"Come around noon. I will have to fix up Maki and Mai's situation first."
"Okay! My time of goofing around with you is finally coming! Once we start Jujutsu High, we will do even more stuff together!!!" declared Satoru.
"Sounds good. By the way, did your clan agree to go out with me?"
"Haha, you are funny. Does anyone in the clan have the guts to stop me?" asked Satoru.
"...Your mom."
"...I swear to god Naoya, stay away from my mom," threatened Satoru.
Naoya didn't say anything. Satoru's mom was a very beautiful lady. She was his first crush, but once Satoru revealed that she was his mom, Naoya felt his heart break. He totally thought she was his elder cousin or something.
"...Satoru, are you sure you don't want to be my son?"
"I will kill you."
"Relax! I am kidding."
"Hmph! I will see to that! Bye! Meet you tomorrow."
"Bye."
After ending the call, Naoya let the phone fall into his shadow, only for Zankyo to emerge with the phone and put it back into Naoya's pocket.
Just like that, he finally reached the clan compound.
The servants greeted him as Naoya gave his empty lunch box to them.
"Ah! No need to prepare one from tomorrow," informed Naoya.
"Was something wrong with the meal, Naoya-sama?" asked the servant.
"No, it was great as usual. Today was the final day of middle school. I won't be going from tomorrow."
"Ah! Understood!" replied the servant in realisation and sighed in relief that nothing was wrong with the food.
"I already ate out, so did the girls. We won't need dinner today."
"Understood, Naoya-sama. The bath is already prepared."
"Thanks."
After putting the girls in their futon and leaving behind Zankyo and the wolves as their guards, Naoya went to take a bath.
"I need to do some packing too... How am I going to convince the kids..." thought Naoya.
He had made plans for a trip with Satoru, and he needed to prepare accordingly.
Money wasn't an issue. He was earning thanks to his jujutsu missions and the salary from the clan that he received. Being a member of Hei and their captain at that, the clan paid him pretty well.
He also had one or two business setups in his name that Kagenori passed down to him.
The old man had too many personal businesses, separate from the clan's, and he had secretly written them to be passed down to Naobito and Naoya in his will.
"That reminds me...today is..." muttered Naoya.
Later that night, Naoya slowly made his way to Kagenori's room and knocked on the door.
"Grandpa? You in?" asked Naoya.
"Come in."
Hearing the reply, Naoya opened the door only to find the old man who looked even older....and weaker.
"So late at night? You were not there for dinner, too?" asked Kagenori.
"Ate out and wasn't hungry. Leaving that aside. Happy Birthday, Grandpa!" exclaimed Naoya with a smile and handed the gift to the old man.
"Huh? My birthday? Today?" asked Kagenori.
"Yup! The first one to wish you, as usual, is this one and only Naoya."
"Haha. I guess it must be today. I don't remember those things much."
"Don't be like that. You are a 112-year-old birthday boy. If not for your diabetes, I would have brought cake too," said Naoya and sat down near the old man and placed the gift in front of him.
Kagenori sat up with a bit of difficulty. Age was finally catching upto him.
Naoya helped him sit up as the old man traced the gift with his hands.
"Thank you," replied the man with a soft wrinkly smile and patted Naoya.
"Open it. Open it," cheered Naoya with a smile.
The old man nodded as shadows emerged from him and started unwrapping the gift.
Inside the wrapping, a brand new kimono, along with a new calligraphy set.
Kagenori had a hobby of doing calligraphy, and though he had many sets, a new one never hurt, especially one from his grandson.
"Isn't red too much for an old man like me?" chuckled Kagenori.
"What are you talking about? Wear this and go for a stroll. 10 out of 10 grannies will definitely check you out and catcall you," replied Naoya with mock shock.
Kagenori stared at his grandson before a shadowy fist smacked Naoya.
"Don't make fun of your elders."
"What? I am telling the truth, you know."
"Want me to hit you again?"
"Nope."
"...Anyway? How are you doing these days? How old are you now?" asked Kagenori.
"I am doing fine. Busy with taking care of the kids and Hei duty. School's finished as of today, so I have some free time. I am 15 now."
"15 huh....around time for you to join Jujutsu High... Where are you going? Tokyo or Kyoto?"
"Don't know. I have not got any news regarding that. Still, there's time," replied Naoya with a shrug.
"...My time is coming too..."
"Stop that depressing talk."
"What's true is true...people can feel when their deaths are approaching them...."
"..."
Naoya didn't speak. He simply looked down.
"When the time comes for me to be exorcised with jujutsu....don't hesitate, okay."
"...I cannot do that, Grandpa...not to you."
"What needs to be done should be done. You all won't be able to take me on if I return as a Vengeful Cursed Spirit," replied Kagenori with a chuckle.
"Still...that's not something I can do....why not ask someone else?"
"...I don't want to die at someone else's hands. You and Naobito are the only ones....Seeing another one of my kids try to kill me, I don't think I would be able to bear that. That only leaves you..." said Kagenori and ruffled Naoya's hair, who was looking down.
"You are a good and brave kid, Naoya. Because of you, the clan is finally improving a bit. I know that you will become a great sorcerer. Maybe even the strongest one there is. But you need to learn to steel your heart. Tough decisions will always come at you, and you cannot always run away from them," said Kagenori.
"...Just because I am strong doesn't mean I don't care about people I love. You are too cruel to ask me to kill you when you yourself can't have your son kill you....there should be another way."
"No other way, boy. Sorcerers with cursed energy need to be killed with cursed energy, or their immense cursed energy might turn them into vengeful cursed spirits. In my case, I am a Special Grade Sorcerer with too much cursed energy. Too dangerous to be allowed to turn into a cursed spirit."
"So, the cursed energy is the issue. Is there no way to get rid of it permanently?" asked Naoya.
"No traditional way, one can release cursed energy out of them, but it will generate within them again, to permanently get rid of it....I don't think there is a safe way for that."
"How about a binding vow? Can't you like vow to get rid of your energy in exchange for something?"
"If there was such an easy way out, then such a custom of killing sorcerers with cursed energy would not have existed....vast amounts of cursed energy when it enters the world might give birth to more and stronger cursed spirits and even make the cursed spirits stronger. Just like how the world became different when the Gojo boy was born. The only possible ways are either making me a cursed object and have my cursed energy stored in it or giving away my energy to another vessel and have them be cursed," explained Kagenori.
"What do you mean by have them be cursed?"
"If a huge amount of cursed energy is given to someone their is a high possibility that they will be cursed and can change into a curse."
"...So you are telling me that there is a chance that they won't change to cursed spirits?" asked Naoya hopefully.
"Small chance....wait, what are you scheming?" asked Kagenori.
"Make a binding vow with me. Have your cursed energy transfer to me! I already have a lot of it, so I might not be too affected by it. I am also very lucky."
"Did you even hear me?! You might turn into a cursed spirit!"
"I won't! Trust me! To become a cursed spirit, there is also a factor of having a lot of negative emotions. We won't have that."
"That only matters when the cursed energy transferred is small. Not as much as mine. Cursed energy is inherently negative. With the amount I have, forget it. Just kill me when the time comes," said Kagenori and used his shadowy arms to push Naoya out of the room.
"Grandpa! I am warning you, I won't do it or let anyone else exorcise you, either. Form a binding vow with me," said Naoya, and broke free from the shadows.
"Brat. When did you get so defiant? Just do as you are told. This is for your own good."
"Yeah. Killing my own grandpa. So much good for me," snorted Naoya.
"I swear, I will remove you from my will," threatened Kagenori.
"Use that threat on someone else. I am not nice to you because of your money."
"Tch. Such a thick-headed kid...." muttered Kagenori and clicked his tongue.
"Let's set up the binding vow...If it looks like it is failing, we will cancel the vow. Mutual cancellation won't be too bad."
Kagenori looked at Naoya and wanted to hit him hard, but the look on the kid's face made him stop. He was looking at him with worry, and that wavered him a bit.
"Naoya....you have a whole life ahead of you....you have to take care of the clan....there is Maki and Mai too, right?"
"True...but I have a 112-year-old man to take care of, too, you know. If I know that there was a chance that you could have avoided being killed by someone, and had to be exorcised because I was too much of a wuss to do so....I don't think I will ever be able to overcome that regret."
"Time is a heartless thing. With time, you will overcome-"
"Did you overcome Grandma's and Uncle Naotaka's loss?" asked Naoya.
Kagenori stopped talking as his arms trembled a bit. Sadness started creeping into his mind when, suddenly, he felt a warm touch on his hand.
"I too won't be able to. So please....if not for you, then for me. And who knows, if this vow works fine, then I will have your energy along with mine. I will be unstoppable..." said Naoya with a smile.
Kagenori looked at the soft smile on his grandson and sighed, raising his hand.
"We will cancel the moment it turns dangerous..."
Hearing those words, Naoya's smile widened.
"I, Naoya Zenin, vow to take in all of his cursed energy in entirety."
"I, Kagenori Zenin, vow to give all of my cursed energy in entirety."
The cursed energy within both Naoya and Kagenori burst out, sending everything within the room flying.
Invisible chains descended upon them and pierced their souls.
The cursed energy within Kagenori started leaving his body and moved inside Naoya's, and immediately Naoya felt the surge as well as the pain that came along with it.
"Agh!"
A pained expression came on Naoya's face, but he gritted through the pain.
[Round Deer]
Naoya's shadow darkened, and the deer came out of it and immediately started healing Naoya, making Naoya's expression ease up a bit.
"See, it's totally fINE!!!!" spoke Naoya, but suddenly screamed when he felt the cursed energy within him starting to act up.
"Naoya! Let's sto-"
"Shut it! Let me focus!" scolded Naoya and tried to stabilise his energy.
The rampaging energy calmed down a bit, but he was still being hurt by the energy. At the moment, he could not use RCT on his own, and Senzu was his only form of healing at the moment.
10 minutes later:
After enduring for 10 minutes, the process finally ended, and Kagenori collapsed from exhaustion.
Naoya looked at the old man and tried to help him, but the moment he took a single step, blood came out of his mouth.
"Crap..." muttered Naoya as he felt pain and exhaustion.
He also felt the surrounding cursed energy trying to corrupt his weakened body. The cursed energy he gained was still not stable and was trying to rip him apart.
From the accumulated negative energy, the surrounding cursed energy also gathered and tried to curse Naoya.
"As if....Senzu."
The deer, on being called, glowed brightly, and the surrounding cursed energy got pushed away.
Senzu's positive energy was too effective against cursed energy and could even kill a Grade-2 spirit in a matter of seconds.
Ding~
>[Perform a sacrificial binding vow] [1 point] [Collect]
>[Survive a sacrificial binding vow] [1 point] [Collect]
>[Gain three cursed techniques] [1 point] [Collect]
"Huh?" muttered Naoya before he fell unconscious and made a final set of hand signs.
[Great Sperpent] [Funeral Tiger] [Rabbit Escape]
Three more sets of shikigami emerged out of his shadow and surrounded Naoya and Kagenori protectively.