START OF VOLUME 2 : RISING
Narrator
Morning arrived, bringing with it the promise of true justice for some… and a slow agony for others.
Zoro stood in front of the main property of the Inagaki clan, his gaze filled with a gentle nostalgia.
Beside him, Toji was also looking at it with nostalgia—but there was something more in his eyes, something deeper… reluctance.
"Zoro, do we really have to leave?"
Zoro turned toward him.
"What, you want to stay?"
"…"
Zoro took Toji's silence as confirmation.
"Weren't you the one who cried last time because you didn't want to leave the cabin?"
A blush appeared on Toji's face, embarrassed.
"I was a kid, and you know it. Back then, it was the only thing we could call home. But now it's different."
Zoro nodded, understanding his reasoning.
"I see what you mean, but that's not the main reason we're going back to Tokyo."
"What do you mean?" Toji asked, turning with a puzzled look.
"Don't you want revenge?"
Zoro's voice and face turned cold as he said that.
Toji felt a wave of unease and hesitation at Zoro's words.
"Y-You're really sure? It's still one of the three great clans…"
It was clear he was using it as an excuse, but Zoro played along and answered his false concern.
"Don't worry. Since the birth of the honored one, their influence has been declining, while the Gojo clan's keeps rising. And besides, we're strong enough now not to worry about such trivialities."
This wasn't arrogance. Zoro was convinced that no one in the Jujutsu world—except Kenjaku—could put them in danger.
'If this keeps going, we won't make it through.'
"By the way, how's your Haki training going?"
The sudden change of topic allowed Toji to regain his composure and return to normal.
"It's going well. My Armament Haki is solid—I mastered infusion six months ago. I'm still struggling with Observation Haki, though. I can't use it as naturally as my regular senses."
Once Toji had stabilized, Zoro resumed his training. He had also asked Kentaro to hire martial artists and assassins to train them.
He delayed Toji's Haki training until the day he managed to "see" cursed energy.
From that point on, the training began. Gaining Haki had been both easier and harder for Toji compared to Zoro.
Or rather, awakening it had been easier—but developing it was harder.
Zoro already knew how to awaken Observation Haki, allowing Toji to unlock it in three months. But that's where things became complicated.
Toji was born with naturally superhuman senses, so he was used to relying on them. As a result, his training was less effective than Zoro's.
However, he excelled with Armament Haki. It only took him nine months to unlock it.
That might seem long, but Toji was still a child, and maintaining the required focus and willpower was far from easy.
He achieved this at the age of twelve and had spent the next three years improving.
"You see? You have everything it takes to be the nightmare of cursed energy users. You're physically stronger, undetectable, and you can nullify their innate techniques. What are you afraid of?"
"You…"
Realizing he had doomed himself, Toji could only shut his mouth and nod.
"Ahh… you're right. But I still think it's a bad—"
"Toji!" Zoro interrupted. "Don't think I don't know that what they did to us left scars on you."
That silenced Toji.
"I hear you waking up in a panic every other day. And your Haki training results clearly don't match your effort or potential."
Zoro looked up at the sky.
"If I want us to take revenge, it's not just out of resentment… it's also so you can move on."
Once Zoro finished speaking, an awkward silence filled the air—until someone broke it.
"Good morning, my lords."
Zoro turned toward the voice.
"Ah, it's you, Kentaro."
He found Kentaro bowing deeply.
"Yes, my lord. I came to bid you farewell."
His tone carried an obvious implication, and his gloomy expression made Zoro sigh.
"Ahh… stop acting like we're not coming back. I'm not leaving for good."
A glimmer of hope appeared in Kentaro's eyes and voice.
"Really?"
"I have a criminal empire ready to fulfill my every desire, and you think I'd abandon it so easily?"
"So that means you accept being my successor?"
Kentaro's question made Zoro frown.
"When has that ever not been the case?"
Zoro's answer made Kentaro laugh heartily.
"It's nothing. Please forget it. I wish you a safe journey, my lords."
"Goodbye, old man. Take care of the clan until I return—and try to go easy on the drug trafficking," Zoro said as he turned away.
"It will be done, my lord."
Zoro gave a small wave before walking off with Toji.
They eventually left the residence and came face to face with a trailer attached to a vehicle.
Zoro spoke as he approached his black-and-gold Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.
"They've already loaded our things. No time to waste."
Toji stepped forward to his own black-and-silver Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R and got on.
Zoro started the engine, and the motorcycle roared loudly.
Toji did the same, but before they took off, he asked one last question.
"Hey, big brother… you really meant what you said?"
Zoro put on a teasing expression.
"Of course. You think I'd give up all this luxury?"
Toji smiled in return.
"Good. That's all I wanted to know. Let's go."
VROOOOM!
"Gas, gas, gas."
---
Naobito
It's already been ten years.
Ten years since the twins escaped.
The clan's image took a serious hit because of that incident, and the Kamo took advantage of it to weaken us.
It took two years to stabilize everything and regain our prestige. Foiling the Kamo clan's schemes wasn't easy—but we succeeded.
Unfortunately, just as we thought we had reclaimed our title as the strongest of the three great clans, another event occurred.
Three years after defeating the Kamo, the Gojo clan challenged us.
And we had no way to fight them.
Not after his birth.
The birth of the future strongest sorcerer in the world.
The child born with the Six Eyes and the Limitless.
Gojo Satoru.
From the moment he was born, everything fell apart.
The Gojo clan—once the weakest among us, even weaker than some lesser clans—became the most influential.
All because of a child who couldn't even speak or walk.
The elders and I discussed assassinating him while there was still time—but finding someone competent enough was another matter.
Every assassin we sent was killed before getting within ten meters of him.
Years passed like that. One assassin after another died, while the Gojo clan's prestige only continued to rise.
Thinking about all this, I couldn't help but sigh.
"Hey!"
A clan member quickly entered the room at my call.
"Yes, Naobito-sama."
"Did you manage to contact Fear and Terror?"
"Yes, Naobito-sama… but they refused to take the job."
'Ahh… it just keeps getting worse. Now even mere mercenaries have the nerve to refuse us. Though, coming from them, I suppose it's not surprising.'
A year ago, a rumor reached us about a duo of mercenaries spreading terror through Kyoto's jujutsu underworld.
Normally, I wouldn't have paid attention—but one detail caught my interest.
They supposedly had no cursed energy.
The moment I heard that, I immediately thought of the twins who had caused us so much trouble.
When I learned their names, all doubt vanished.
Roronoa Zoro and Roronoa Toji.
There were far too many coincidences for it to be one.
It was official.
The two children our clan had mistreated had become top-tier powerhouses.
'As if the Gojo clan wasn't enough already… now we have new enemies ready to destroy us.'
I tried to reestablish contact under the pretense of a mission—but they didn't even bother to respond.
'Ahh… I suppose it's impossible to fix things now.'
As I brooded, a beer can in hand, I heard the sound of a body collapsing.
Clop!
I immediately looked toward where my subordinate was supposed to be—but instead, I saw him unconscious on the ground… with a teenager standing before him.
"It's been a while, old man. As you can see… we're back home."