"Ranta?! You weren't threatened by Young Master Naoya, were you?!"
For a mont, Oda had the urge to go blow up on Naoya Zenin right then and there.
The cold-blooded Zenin Clan might not care much about blood ties, but Ranta was his actual nephew, his own sister's son. He was such a bright, cheerful kid. If his simple kindness had really led him to trust Naoya Zenin by mistake, then even if it cost him his life, Oda was going to snap Ranta out of it.
"Hehe, Uncle Oda, don't get so worked up."
Seeing how flustered Oda was, Ranta only pressed his lips together in a light smile. "I just thought about a possibility you hadn't considered, Uncle Oda."
"What do you an by that?"
Oda froze for a long mont, feeling like his brain had been twisted into a knot. He could barely keep up.
"Didn't you say Naoya-san plans to sponsor Maki-san and Mai-san?"
Ranta spoke with calm deliberation.
"Unlike us outsiders, Naoya-san and Maki-san and Mai-san are cousins who grew up together. Even if Naoya-san's excessive machismo has made their relationship terrible, is it possible that, as an older brother, he just doesn't know how to show goodwill?"
"Huh?"
"The fact that Naoya-san chose to support them, and even did it anonymously, might not be ant as humiliation at all. Maybe he's trying to make up for sothing he did wrong."
The black-haired boy smiled faintly.
"And sponsoring students is definitely a good thing, right? Uncle Oda must have wished for sothing like that before too. If a powerful figure had sponsored you while you were in school, it would have eased the burden on your family."
Those words left Oda a little dazed.
Yeah.
If, back when he was studying, a great aristocrat like Young Master Naoya had been willing to sponsor him, then maybe he would never have had to join the Kukuru Unit.
After all, even in the Jujutsu World, there were Jujutsu Sorcerers without Innate Techniques.
Barrier spells, Shikigami, Cursed Tools...
All of those were things that could be learned later. If he'd had the money back then to choose a different road, maybe he wouldn't have reached middle age with nothing to show for it.
It was just that, over the years, he had co to understand the capital ga behind the sponsorship system, and in the process, forgotten that so students truly did benefit from it, that so really could avoid dropping out because of money.
Even so, Oda still did not know what to say.
His nephew was just too kind.
How could he possibly be this tolerant toward Naoya Zenin?
Ranta had never seen Young Master Naoya grind the Zenin sisters into the dirt with his own eyes. He had no idea what kind of utterly rotten scumbag that man really was!
A guilty conscience. Making up for old sins.
That was all an act!
It was all just a fake persona Young Master Naoya used to fool people!!!
"Wake up, Ranta!"
Making sure no one was nearby, Oda lowered his voice and earnestly tried to reason with his naive nephew. "Young Master Naoya is definitely not a good person. This kind of thing is nothing but hypocrisy from him. What he really wants is for Maki to fully taste humiliation soday!!!"
"Uncle Oda, what are you even talking about?"
Ranta only tilted his head, looking more confused than ever.
"Doing good is still better than doing bad, isn't it? Even if it's just for show."
"Uh..."
Oda was left speechless on the spot.
Ranta's words made the middle-aged man, who had been lecturing him just monts earlier, unable to hide his embarrassnt.
"Maybe Naoya-san really is just pretending to be a good person, and maybe Uncle Oda saw through his true nature long ago."
For the first ti, the usually gentle Ranta spoke in a stern tone, sitting there and lecturing Oda instead.
"But if Naoya-san hadn't taken you in back then, Uncle Oda, would you still be living this kind of good life today?"
"Naoya-san may have done many bad things, and he may have let down many people, but he has never let you down, Uncle Oda."
"You clearly refuse to help Maki and Mai yourself, yet you're so quick to belittle Naoya-san's good deed. I think that's where the real problem is."
Never before had Ranta spoken in such a severe tone.
At least, never as a nephew speaking to his uncle.
"Sorry, Ranta, I..."
Oda scratched his head in sha.
Wasn't this just biting the hand that fed him?
Young Master Naoya might be a thoroughgoing villain, but without his charity, Oda had no idea where he would be doing odd jobs right now.
Oda felt ashad to be associated with Naoya Zenin, but wasn't talking behind his back the sa kind of low behavior?
If he kept doing things with this mindset, sooner or later Young Master Naoya really would have him killed!
Sigh!
He'd lived all these years for nothing, and in the end, he still couldn't see things as clearly as a young man could.
Oda could not help taking a few more looks at his nephew.
Ranta had always been very smart. Back then, Oda had only thought of him as a quick-thinking kid, but ever since he beca a Jujutsu Sorcerer, the things he said had started to feel more and more plain and direct.
Oda suddenly rembered sothing he had heard a long ti ago.
[A Jujutsu Sorcerers do not argue over right and wrong. They only care about what is true.]
Wasn't that exactly the kind of thinking Ranta had just shown, admitting the facts without making pointless excuses, then reasoning his way to the right answer? The very mindset Jujutsu Sorcerers longed for?
Good and evil did not matter.
What mattered was what was correct.
No wonder people always said Jujutsu Sorcerers were crazy.
That inhuman sense of absolute rationality was sothing he could never attain, no matter what.
The middle-aged man secretly glanced at his nephew, who was eating with complete focus, and could not help sighing inwardly.
Ranta was a good kid.
But the Zenin Clan was not a good place.
Sooner or later, Ranta would also do what was right for the family. But in the cold and rciless Jujutsu World, what was right usually ant the strong devouring the weak.
Oda's worries were not baseless.
He had seen that man's strength with his own eyes before.
That existence known as [Toji Zenin].
The tyrant cursed by [Heavenly Restriction], the one who possessed the sa technique as Maki Zenin.
If Maki would one day beco just like that tyrant...
Then who in the Zenin Clan would be able to escape disaster?
Ranta, if only it were really as you said.
If Young Master Naoya truly were a good man who had found his conscience...
Then maybe a world where no one would be hurt could really co to pass...
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