Oda was an utterly ordinary middle-aged man you could find anywhere.
His mother was a mber of the Zenin main family. That was probably the only trace of noble blood in him. But since his father was just an unremarkable corporate worker, the two more or less canceled each other out, and Oda did not have the nerve to call himself nobility.
Even though his father had absolutely nothing to do with the Jujutsu World, Oda was still, at least in na, a descendant of the Zenin Clan. Relying on those family ties, he entered the Zenin household and buried himself in study with the goal of becoming a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
But the cruel truth was that becoming a Jujutsu Sorcerer had nothing to do with hard work.
To beco a qualified Jujutsu Sorcerer, one had to possess an [Innate Technique].
In the Zenin Clan, where strength reigned supre, once a descendant awakened an [Innate Technique], their future status in the family was determined by the strength of that technique.
Naoya Zenin had awakened the sa [Projection Sorcery] as Naobito Zenin, which was why he was tacitly recognized as the next head of the Zenin Clan.
However, [Projection Sorcery] was not the pinnacle of the Zenin Clan.
Just as the Gojo Clan had the [Six Eyes] and the [Limitless Technique], the Zenin Clan had its own ultimate answer.
That was the [Ten Shadows Technique].
Oda himself had once fantasized that maybe he would hit the jackpot and awaken the [Ten Shadows Technique], leaping straight from a fringe mber of the Zenin Clan to the next heir.
Reality proved, however, that he had simply been born unlucky.
Forget the [Ten Shadows Technique]. He had not awakened an [Innate Technique] at all.
Which was perfectly normal.
After all, his father was an ordinary non-sorcerer, and his mother's lineage was barely there to begin with. It was like soone bragging about royal blood, only for the family tree to show the connection was so distant it was basically aningless.
So the path of becoming a Jujutsu Sorcerer was closed to him.
But from another angle, the path of becoming a glorified cleaner opened right up.
The Zenin Clan, as one of the Three Great Families, was rich and powerful. Even if a clan mber did not have the talent to beco a Jujutsu Sorcerer, they would not simply kick you out. After all, if you got married and had children, maybe the next generation would pull an SSR.
So joining the Kukuru Unit beca his only option.
Oda had always been pretty open-minded about that.
After all, he was not Maki Zenin. He did not have a father who was effectively second-in-command of the Zenin Clan, so he had no real pride to lose in the first place. What was wrong with doing odd jobs for the Zenin Clan?
It was still a prestigious, well-known great family, wasn't it?
Out in the real world, that was basically the equivalent of a Fortune 500 company.
It wasn't like he was going to end up like his father, grinding himself into the ground as an overworked salaryman for so soulless corporation, right?
Exploited by capitalism or exploited by feudalism. Oda thought about it for a long ti, then in the end gritted his teeth, knelt outside Naoya Zenin's door, knocked his head on the ground a few tis, and beca the young master's loyal dog.
Honestly, working for Young Master Naoya was not such a bad assignnt.
The pay was good.
Naoya Zenin paid more than twice the average salary of a Kukuru Unit mber, and he never cared about balancing the books.
The workload was light.
Naoya Zenin never had Oda ddle in Jujutsu World affairs. He only had him run errands, handle chores, and buy things.
No overti.
As Kyoto's young master, Naoya Zenin spent his evenings attending all kinds of upper-class gatherings. A lackey like Oda naturally was not qualified to tag along.
Other than the fact that he had to do everything with his life on the line, you could not find a better job anywhere else in the Jujutsu World.
As long as Oda could bury his conscience and focus on being a proper lackey, life could actually be quite comfortable.
But there was no helping it.
Oda was just that kind of honest, timid man from the countryside. Even if he wanted to change, he never could in this lifeti.
At last, after forcing himself to finish dealing with the sponsorship matter within those three minutes, Oda finally made it back to his front door looking utterly exhausted.
He pinched at his pants, only to realize that area was already soaked through.
"Is that sweat?"
The middle-aged man sniffed it, then said with a look of relief, "So it's piss. I knew it. Facing a villain like Young Master Naoya, there was no way I'd only sweat from fright..."
After all, Oda had worked by Naoya Zenin's side for years. He had seen with his own eyes how skilled the young master was at tornting servants.
So Oda was not pretending.
He really had pissed himself from fear earlier.
"Uncle Oda, you're back?"
A warm voice called out from inside the room.
Oda quickly forced a smile and answered as though nothing were wrong, "Sorry, Ranta. I'm drenched in sweat and stink right now. Let wash up before we eat."
Very soon, Oda had changed clothes, buried all his worries deep inside, and went to face his nephew in the best state he could manage.
Ranta Zenin.
Like Oda, Ranta was also a distant relative of the Zenin Clan. But unlike him, Ranta had been lucky enough to awaken an [Innate Technique], and his talent as a Jujutsu Sorcerer was exceptionally outstanding. He was already a Special Grade 1 Sorcerer and had beco an executive of the [Hei] organization.
The [Hei] organization was the Kukuru Unit's nominal superior and one of the Zenin Clan's core pillars. Ranta was not only young and accomplished, but even more rare was the fact that he had never picked up the arrogance of the Jujutsu World. He was still the sa boy who had co from the countryside, gentle and polite in daily life, and on excellent terms with the Kukuru Unit. Whether the other person was a Jujutsu Sorcerer or not, he called everyone uncle or auntie. He was the kind of good kid everyone loved the mont they t him.
"Uncle Oda, is sothing bothering you?"
At the dinner table, Ranta deliberately placed a piece of at into Oda's bowl and asked with concern.
"...Why do you ask?"
Oda forced a calm smile.
"Do I look that bad today?"
"Is it because of Naoya-san?"
Ranta really was sharp. There was no way Oda could hide anything from him.
"...Yeah. Sothing happened today."
Oda fell silent for a mont, but in the end he still nodded.
He set down his chopsticks, rubbed at his brow, and exhaustion was written all over his face.
"Young Master Naoya specifically asked for the freshman roster from Jujutsu High today. At first I thought it was just a passing whim, but who would've thought he still wasn't willing to let it go? Turns out he was trying to dig into Maki and Mai's situation!"
Ranta's brows drew together slightly.
He had heard a little about Maki Zenin and Mai Zenin too.
After all, as Ogi's daughters, they should have inherited an [Innate Technique] no matter what. What the Zenin Clan had never expected, though, was that the children born would be twins...
In the Jujutsu World, twins had always been seen as an ill on.
In ancient tis, if twins were born, one of them would inevitably be drowned, and only one would be allowed to live.
Ogi had originally intended to do the sa, but Maki and Mai's mother had refused to yield even at the cost of her life, fighting with everything she had to protect the twin sisters.
And sure enough, sothing strange did happen with those twins.
The younger sister, Mai, was fine. She awakened [Construction Technique]. Her Cursed Energy was a little weak, but she was still a sorcerer in the end.
But the older sister, Maki, awakened the legendary [Heavenly Restriction]...
[Heavenly Restriction] took away all of Maki's Cursed Energy, leaving her unable to see Cursed Spirits at all, but in return it greatly strengthened her body and gave her trendous physical power.
In the Zenin Clan, where Cursed Energy was everything, even soone like Oda, who had not awakened an [Innate Technique], still possessed a respectable amount of Cursed Energy.
And yet the daughter of Ogi Zenin, the Zenin Clan's second-in-command, had no Cursed Energy at all?
That in itself was already a complete humiliation.
Not to ntion that the last Zenin to awaken [Heavenly Restriction] had been the sinner of the Jujutsu World, Toji Zenin, who was personally killed by Satoru Gojo.
With all those ominous signs piled together, Maki Zenin had been bullied in the Zenin Clan ever since childhood. Anyone could co along and kick her while she was down. In the end, Maki left ho in a fit of anger, pushing everything into an even more extre direction.
"What is Naoya-san trying to do?"
"He specifically ordered to give Maki sponsorship money! And he even insisted on using an anonymous thod, the kind where Maki won't know who the sponsor actually is!"
The more Oda thought about it, the angrier he beca.
Before Maki left the Zenin Clan, she had even been exceptionally allowed to join the Kukuru Unit despite being a woman. Back then, Oda had thought she was a very serious and hardworking girl. It was just a pity that this inhuman Zenin Clan had driven her half mad.
Maybe it was because Naoya Zenin was finally nowhere nearby, but the middle-aged man found the courage to slap the table in indignation.
"Ranta! What the hell kind of situation is this?! Making that girl use sponsorship money from her enemy just to go to school. When the truth finally cos out, I can't even imagine what kind of despair will show on Maki's face!!!"
In stark contrast to Oda's anger, Ranta's expression turned thoughtful.
Then the black-haired boy with a ponytail spoke softly, and what he said nearly scared Oda to death.
"I think what Naoya-san did was actually a good thing."
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