Jujutsu Kaisen: Naoya Zenin Wants to Live! Chapter 62: There Will Never Be Another Zenin

Ogi Zenin?

Yuki Tsukumo froze for a mont in surprise.

Even a slacker like her, soone who spent her days traveling on public funds and never cared much about the petty business of the Jujutsu World, had long since heard of Ogi Zenin's infamous na.

There was no need to say much.

The Zenin Clan simply had too many unbelievable characters.

And among them, Ogi Zenin was the most conservative, the most stubborn, and the most vindictive old fossil of the lot.

In fact, from the undisguised bitterness in Ogi Zenin's tone during their earlier encounter in the courtyard, it was obvious that Yuki Tsukumo had crossed paths with the old man before.

And they had gotten along very badly.

After all, more than ten years ago, Yuki Tsukumo had once gone all out pursuing Toji Zenin.

This Special Grade Sorcerer believed that soone like Toji Zenin, a man born with zero Cursed Energy, was the crucial key to completely breaking through the technical barrier of eliminating Cursed Spirits. So during that period, she waited outside the Zenin Clan gates every single day. Sotis she ca holding ninety-nine roses with a luxury car ready to pick him up. Sotis she hired thugs to hit on her first, then put on the act of a helpless woman and tearfully cried out Toji's na.

In short, she had so many tricks that even the Zenin Clan servants were left dumbfounded.

Yuki Tsukumo had never cared about the rules of the Jujutsu World, much less what other people thought.

One day she would deliver flowers in the loudest way possible. The next day she would squat on top of the wall, swinging her long legs and whistling into the courtyard while calling his na.

The day after that, she would just carry premium sweets and imported liquor to the front gate, swagger to a stop there, and loudly declare that she had co to propose marriage.

She threw the entire Zenin Clan into chaos, and the elders were so furious they were practically spitting fire.

The one who exploded the hardest was Ogi Zenin, that old diehard.

To soone like Ogi Zenin, who treated tradition and family dignity like life itself, what she was doing was no different from grinding the honor of the Three Great Clans into the dirt.

Back and forth, the two of them built up quite a deep grudge.

Ogi Zenin thought Yuki Tsukumo was a lunatic. Every ti they t, he would sneer at her and put on the air of an elder while criticizing her as a woman.

Yuki Tsukumo thought Ogi Zenin was a complete asshole. You're just one of Toji's uncles, so what exactly gives you the right to look down on ?

Originally, their feud was nothing more than mutual dislike. It had not escalated to the point of never being able to coexist.

But Toji Zenin truly could not take Yuki Tsukumo anymore, so he got married at lightning speed, cut ties with the Zenin Clan, and changed his na on the spot to Toji Fushiguro.

Before leaving, however, Toji was worried that this blonde bombshell might be shaless enough to keep harassing a married man, so he casually ntioned to Ogi Zenin's that the twin elder sister Maki Zenin had the sa [Heavenly Restriction] as him.

Okay. That completely sealed the feud between Yuki Tsukumo and Ogi Zenin.

Before, when she was harassing Toji, Ogi Zenin was ultimately just a family elder, so he had no standing to interfere.

But now you're coming to harass my eldest daughter too?!

There was no point talking any further. The two of them started fighting on the spot.

That was why Yuki Tsukumo was one of the very few people in the world who truly understood what kind of sorcerer Ogi Zenin really was.

A man with clearly limited strength, yet arrogance through the roof, soone who sincerely believed he was far stronger than his elder brother Naobito Zenin.

An old fossil that stubborn and set in his ways had actually managed to beco so shrewd he was almost monstrous, deducing Kenjaku's thousand-year plan so sharply from nothing more than a few scattered clues?

"You look surprised."

Naoya Zenin shrugged.

"But my uncle really does have that kind of ability. The Zenin Clan has always dealt closely with the upper levels of the Jujutsu World, and my old man is always drinking and causing trouble, so a lot of the major affairs in the clan are handled personally by my uncle. Calling him the Zenin Clan's master strategist isn't an unfair assessnt."

"…No way?"

Yuki Tsukumo was completely stunned.

"That crusty old man? That absurdly rigid brain of his can really compare to a master strategist?"

"It's true that in daily life, my uncle is overly rigid, an old fossil obsessed with seniority and status. I won't deny that."

Naoya Zenin's tone turned exceptionally serious.

"But it is exactly because he is so ticulous and rigid that his thought process has beco cold to the point of extre rationality. So-called geniuses are often obsessives standing half a step from madness. Sorcerers are already the best proof of that."

"That's… actually true…"

Yuki Tsukumo was starting to get talked into it.

After all, what Naoya Zenin said did make sense.

Ogi Zenin was the Zenin Clan's second-in-command, and ordinarily, there really should be a balance of martial and civil strength.

As the elder brother, Naobito Zenin's power went without saying, so he naturally filled the role of [Martial].

In that case, as the younger brother, Ogi Zenin really should have fallen under [Civil].

On top of that, Naobito Zenin really did love drinking, and his personality was eccentric enough to rival even hers. If so major family matter needed handling, then soone as serious as Ogi Zenin probably would be the one to take charge.

Although she looked down on Ogi Zenin, now that she thought about it carefully, that was mostly because she hated his way of doing things.

If Yuki Tsukumo really tried to pick faults with Ogi Zenin, then at least on the level of managent, she had absolutely no standing to criticize him.

After all, this blonde beauty was not exactly good at teamwork, much less running one of the Three Great Clans in an orderly way.

And soone at Ogi Zenin's level really could access many secrets that a person Naoya Zenin's age had no way of reaching.

Looking at it that way, the odds that he had managed to infer Kenjaku's plan were indeed not low.

Yuki Tsukumo just really did not want to admit it.

An old geezer, and he's actually more brilliant than ?

His foresight even puts the entire Jujutsu World a full step behind him!

So Kenjaku's nesis isn't Tengen-sama at all, but so old bastard who likes abusing his daughters?!

Southeast Asian-style parenting. You really won big with that one!!!

"I never thought Ogi Zenin could be capable of sothing like this. I really have to see him in a new light…"

Yuki Tsukumo was completely convinced.

Because if she wanted to refute Naoya Zenin, she would have to reject the entire plan he had just laid out, the one called the [Culling Ga].

But she could not.

Because the [Culling Ga] sounded far too real.

Whether it was the massive Barrier ant to seize Tengen, the Ti Vessel Association bribing Toji Zenin to kill the Star Plasma Vessel Riko Amanai, or the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons launched by Suguru Geto not long ago.

Every last piece of it could be traced. Linked together, they ford an enormous web of conspiracy.

Kenjaku's ultimate goal was to sacrifice all of Japan's humans and create a newborn god!!!

A plan that insane really did live up to the title of Mara.

Yuki Tsukumo simply could not believe Naoya Zenin had made up sothing this detailed on the spot just to fool her.

With his experience, there was no way he could co up with a conspiracy on that level.

Only Ogi Zenin could have thought of it!

The only thing left to worry about now was whether Ogi Zenin might be a mole Kenjaku had planted inside the Jujutsu World.

But...

Even if Ogi Zenin really was Kenjaku's accomplice, the mont he exposed the [Culling Ga], regardless of what his intentions were, it would be a devastating blow to Kenjaku!

Because if no one knew Kenjaku was plotting the [Culling Ga], then Suguru Geto's corpse would be stolen away without a sound, and Kenjaku would use [Cursed Spirit Manipulation] to control Tengen, bringing a catastrophe crashing down in the end!

Did that an Ogi Zenin had already prepared for that day all along.?!

"I heard that back at the eting, you and Ogi Zenin actually ca to blows..."

Cold sweat was practically pouring down Yuki Tsukumo's back.

"Don't tell that was part of the act too. A show put on for Kenjaku?!"

"Exactly."

Naoya Zenin nodded.

"My uncle and I had already planned it out. In order to expose who the traitor in the Jujutsu World was, and who was working with Kenjaku, he deliberately fought during that eting and created the illusion that uncle and nephew were at odds. That way, I could act as my uncle's proxy and carry out every part of the plan in secret!"

"Good! What a ticulous move!!"

Yuki Tsukumo could not help applauding.

Because the move was just too brilliant!

The katana Ogi Zenin held to Naoya Zenin's neck that day was, in truth, being held to Kenjaku's neck!

Because of that, no one would ever suspect Naoya Zenin and Ogi Zenin were actually on the sa side. Outsiders would only think the two had long since grown estranged, and were openly and secretly fighting over the position of next Clan Head!

Then, while openly carrying out the Zenin Clan's orders and constantly sabotaging Kenjaku's thousand-year plan, Naoya Zenin would naturally be marked by Kenjaku as an enemy. And once that happened, Kenjaku would start looking for ways to win over the people around him!

And Ogi Zenin was the perfect target to win over!

After all, Ogi Zenin's resentnt toward his elder brother, and his belief that he should have been Clan Head himself, was already obvious to everyone!

So he had long since shown signs of rebellion. Kenjaku would never suspect a thing, and would instead put heavy trust in that piece on the board!

"No!"

Yuki Tsukumo's cold sweat instantly ca pouring down like a waterfall!

"That's terrifying! Absolutely terrifying! Don't tell ... decades ago, all the way back when Ogi Zenin was young, he had already foreseen how things would turn out today, and that was why he staged this whole act of brotherly discord with his own elder brother over the Clan Head position?!"

"...My uncle really has sacrificed far too much for the Zenin Clan, and for the entire Jujutsu World."

Naoya Zenin lifted his head, his expression impossibly complicated as he let out that heartfelt sigh.

"To contend with the "Mara", to lull even Kenjaku, who has lived for a thousand years, into carelessness. My uncle truly has done everything he possibly could..."

"An elder of the Jujutsu World worthy of that kind of respect... and when I was younger, I actually clashed with him again and again. I'm honestly ashad..."

Even soone as shaless as Yuki Tsukumo was so embarrassed by Ogi Zenin's lofty sense of duty that her face turned red.

So that old bastard really had been pretending to be stupid just to screw everyone over?

Forget the Zenin Clan's Master Strategist.

He was practically the Zenin Clan's Grand Commander!!!

"But I need to warn you of one thing."

Naoya Zenin's gaze suddenly turned cold.

"What is it?"

Yuki Tsukumo no longer dared underestimate Naoya Zenin. She imdiately straightened up and listened closely for what the young man would say next.

"Even though my uncle has already calculated everything, there is still one concern that has always weighed on his mind!"

"What concern?"

"My uncle has never known for sure whether he himself is just one of Kenjaku's pieces!"

"What do you an by that?"

Faced with Yuki Tsukumo's surprise, Naoya Zenin let out a soft sigh.

"You know as well as I do that Kenjaku possesses that monstrous ability to steal soone's body without anyone noticing. My uncle has often wondered whether everything he planned, and that so-called free will of his, might actually just be a trap Kenjaku laid out in advance."

"That's not impossible, given Kenjaku's thods!"

Yuki Tsukumo had heard how terrifying the [Brain Transplant Cursed Technique] was.

The lover you were flirting and bickering with one day could, in the blink of an eye, beco a familiar stranger on the inside.

Kenjaku's most terrifying trump card was his ability to quietly seize soone else's body, then wear that person's skin like a disguise and push his plans forward through them.

That was also why, the mont Yuki Tsukumo heard about the [Culling Ga], she had imdiately concluded that Naoya Zenin was Kenjaku's accomplice.

Because she did not dare gamble on it.

She did not dare gamble on whether Naoya Zenin might be a vessel Kenjaku had set his sights on long ago.

If she took soone like that to et Tengen, would that not be the sa as carrying a living bomb right in front of a crystal?

"But with Senior Ogi Zenin's foresight, he should have already prepared so final contingency for that, right?"

"Exactly."

A trace of sorrow appeared in Naoya Zenin's eyes.

It was the most genuine kind of grief, the sorrow that could only exist between blood relatives.

"That contingency is the final code word."

"The final code word...?"

"Kenjaku can't completely absorb all of a person's mories in a short period of ti, so right after taking over a new body is when it's easiest for him to slip up. At a ti like that, he'll definitely rely on acting to deceive everyone!"

"Kenjaku's acting has been tempered over a thousand years. Even a Hollywood Best Actor winner would be no match for Mara. So how could we possibly tell?"

"That is why this was the final killing move my uncle left behind."

Naoya Zenin enunciated every word.

"If one day my uncle truly stops acknowledging as his nephew, then that will prove Kenjaku has already tampered with his will!"

Yuki Tsukumo instantly understood what that ant.

Because Kenjaku would only trust his own intelligence.

And in the intelligence of that thousand-year-old monster, Naoya Zenin and Ogi Zenin were enemies.

So if Kenjaku seized Ogi Zenin's body, or used so other ans to alter his will, then he would only imitate the Ogi Zenin in his own understanding and keep attacking Naoya Zenin.

Without realizing that all of it was a trap Ogi Zenin had laid out from the start.

In truth, they were an uncle and nephew on very good terms. They had only pretended to be at odds in order to deceive Kenjaku.

So if Ogi Zenin ever truly refused to acknowledge Naoya Zenin, then it could only an one thing.

Kenjaku had exposed a flaw!!!

"Then... what is the final code word?"

"Honey water.."

Naoya Zenin's expression was utterly serious.

"Honey... water?"

Yuki Tsukumo blinked several tis.

"My uncle once said this to . He said that no matter what else he might forget in this life, he would absolutely never forget honey water."

The young man looked out the window.

"As long as you believe the critical mont has co, or you notice even the slightest thing off, you can call out [honey water] to him. If my uncle is still my uncle, then he will definitely respond the right way."

Naoya Zenin drew a deep breath, then his tone turned cold and rciless.

"But if he shows even the slightest hint of confusion, then that proves he is already under Kenjaku's control. My uncle told that if it ever ca to that, then anyone present must kill him on the spot imdiately, without the slightest hesitation!!!"

"...I understand."

Yuki Tsukumo silently clenched her fist, engraving the matter deep into her heart.

In the past, she had always been self-righteous. She had believed this rotten Jujutsu World was beyond saving.

But Yuki Tsukumo would never think that way again.

It was not only Satoru Gojo and Naoya Zenin.

Veterans like Ogi Zenin were the true soul of sorcerers!!!

"Senior, I, Yuki Tsukumo, will never forget your resolve."

If that tragedy ever really ca to pass...

I, Yuki Tsukumo, swear that I will never let Kenjaku defile your noble corpse!!!

…

Note: "'Honey water' is the 's original source, in Chinese slang is now more of a goofy, cute, -coded label than a literal word." "So for Ogi, it can read like 'that pathetic little man' or 'that of a man' in tone