The Boss still didn't turn around. His aging voice merely carried a hint of satisfaction. "I am already aware of your performance over the past few years. Good. You have grown quickly and have not disappointed me... though, that was only to be expected."
"After all, you are a member of the Gojo family."
A family connection? This plot direction...
It was surprisingly similar to the nonsense Gojo had made up on the spot years ago.
"Well~ actually, during training on the island, I bumped my head and found that my memory is a bit patchy." The white-haired, blue-eyed youth touched his forehead, his tone making it impossible to tell if he was joking. "It would be better if the Boss spoke more clearly. Otherwise, people who speak in riddles get sent to Arkham by Batman, you know."
Here it is! The classic amnesia trope!
"..."
The old man was momentarily speechless. It had likely been decades since anyone dared to speak to him like that. However, he didn't grow angry; he simply chuckled softly. "Heh... that temper of yours is exactly the same as when you were a child."
Gojo had tested the waters many times before. He knew he was important to the Boss—or rather, he had high utility value. The man wouldn't do anything to him for the time being, so as long as he didn't cross the line, a bit of casual insolence was tacitly permitted.
As expected, the Boss didn't care whether his amnesia was real or fake. He simply spoke in a reminiscing tone, weaving together fragments of the past.
It turned out that the world-building here differed from reality.
It wasn't that the birth of Conan caused the world to become increasingly "scientific." Rather, some people simply ignored the laws of materialism and possessed supernatural talents blessed by the gods. However, the number of such people was incredibly small—so rare they could be counted like giant pandas. Thus, this secret information was known only to the upper echelons of governments and certain clandestine organizations. In the eyes of ordinary people, the world remained business as usual.
And Satoru Gojo happened to be one of those "giant pandas."
The Gojo family was a prestigious clan with a long history in Japan. Developed from a Shinto lineage dating back to the Heian period, the family had produced many Onmyoji and priests. They were allegedly the descendants of the legendary "God of Literature," Sugawara no Michizane. Although feudal superstitions were discarded with the arrival of modern society and the family had gradually withdrawn from the world, they still owned vast dojos and the "Gojo Shrine," while also controlling various shops and industries.
While their fame didn't match mega-conglomerates like the Suzuki or Ooka families, many ordinary citizens had heard of them, and many still visited their shrine to pray.
The reason the Gojo family became a Shinto legend was inseparable from the special trait possessed by the Heian-era head: the "Six Eyes." This pair of eyes was a one-in-a-million supernatural talent. Without exception, every Gojo clan member who possessed the Six Eyes had a photographic memory, supreme physical skills, and the ability to see all hidden information—true "human weapons."
However, the Gojo lineage grew thinner, and talents with the Six Eyes slowly withered away. The family fell into decline. For some reason, not a single Six Eyes user had been born in a hundred years.
Then came this generation. The current Gojo head and his wife—both ordinary people—actually gave birth to a miraculous Six Eyes son. However, bad news followed. First, the wife died in a tragic car accident. Then, because of the Six Eyes, the newborn son became the target of covetousness from many powerful forces. The declining Shinto family lacked the strength to oppose them, so the Gojo head entrusted his only son to his close friend, Renya Karasuma, hoping he would take the boy far from Japan to grow up safely. He named the boy Satoru Gojo.
As for the family head, he fell ill due to the grief of losing his wife and passed away a few years ago.
Satoru Gojo, the last heir of the Gojo family, was taken in by Karasuma as an undisclosed foster son and raised secretly abroad. Later, after witnessing his startling talent firsthand, Karasuma apparently decided to train him as an Organization assassin and sent him to the small island in Italy.
Listening to this, Gojo really wanted to complain to his "cheap" old man whom he'd never met: "Aren't you just throwing your son into a fire pit?"
Pops, did you know your 'close friend' is the Big Boss of an international criminal organization? Though... maybe it was precisely because he knew that he believed Karasuma could protect his son? No, no matter how you look at it, it's weird. Shortly after the son was entrusted to the friend, the father "conveniently" died of illness.
Gojo smelled a hint of a conspiracy.
Perhaps the only silver lining was that although the Gojo family hadn't appeared in public since the head's death, they hadn't collapsed. Many loyal servants were still alive, waiting day and night for the return of the legitimate heir, Young Master Gojo.
According to Renya Karasuma, he had no children of his own, so he had treated Gojo like his own son since childhood.
(Gojo: Look into my eyes and say that again.)
The internal members of the Karasuma Group had also heard rumors of this. The assets under the Gojo family name were temporarily managed by an acting head and the Karasuma Group, with some codenamed members of the Organization helping to handle the industries. As the man running a behemoth like the Black Organization, the wealthy Boss claimed he wouldn't steal the Gojo family's money. When the time was right, he would return everything Gojo deserved.
Sounds... pretty good?
If he thought about it carefully, Gojo hadn't really suffered any grievances in the Winery. Tequila rarely refused his requests, clearly under the Boss's orders. Hmm... besides the "abstract" decision to throw his foster son into an assassin camp, the Boss didn't seem to have harmed him yet.
Gojo wasn't actually brainwashed; he just knew a man like Renya Karasuma couldn't possibly be this nice to him for no reason. There must be something about him worth scheming for.
Was it his incredible combat talent? No, while his strength was exaggerated, the Organization likely had other top-tier talents.
Then... it was his eyes?
The Boss's next words were exactly what Gojo expected.
"The world of ability-users is fascinating... unfortunately, I cannot glimpse its mysteries," the Boss said slowly. "Satoru, there are not many people I trust. The Organization needs capable people to expand its territory. And you—the child I have raised since youth—I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?"
"It is something only you can do..." The old man's voice revealed a trace of longing. "Somewhere in the world, there is a mysterious gem called Pandora. When illuminated by the moonlight, it emits a red glow. It is said that this gem can grant immortality."
"Heh, an old friend of mine... he and the organization he founded are also searching for Pandora's trail. Unfortunately, until now, they have found nothing. Actually, he doesn't know that no matter how hard he looks, it's futile."
Oh, so this is a world merged with Magic Kaito.
Gojo blinked and asked, "Why?"
"This gem is no ordinary stone. It is embedded inside a much larger gemstone, making it invisible to the naked eye. The only ones who can see that inner Pandora are those with the most special eyes—the Gojo family's... Six Eyes."