Lately, Naobito Zen'in had begun to notice that something was very wrong with his son.
He had stopped drinking, stopped smoking, stopped going clubbing. Every day, all he did was run straight to the dojo and bury himself in jujutsu research. The other night, Naobito had gotten up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and from far away he could still see the dojo lights on.
The old man was utterly baffled.
What kind of shock had this kid suddenly suffered?
Was this still really his biological son?
Back in his own youth, Naobito had lived wildly. He spent his days fooling around in bars. Maybe he had not quite reached the level of total degeneracy, but the number of romantic debts he had piled up was impossible to count. At Naoya's current age, his own children would already have been old enough to go out and run errands.
Sigh. His youngest son was good in every way—except for the fact that he did not like women, which was a massive headache.
The boy was already in his twenties!
Forget marriage—he had never even had a girlfriend!
And now he had started staying home all day instead of going out.
Was he turning into a shut-in now?!
Was this what people meant by a failed generation?!
Still...
Hard work was supposed to be a good thing, right?
"—What exactly is your fearless little son up to now?"
That faint hope was utterly destroyed during one perfectly ordinary breakfast.
Zen'in Ogi had finally had enough and went straight to Naobito to complain.
According to the family's second-in-command, a number of servants had lately been listless and drowsy during the day, which was seriously damaging the Zen'in clan's image. Ogi had scolded them harshly several times, but the problem still had not stopped.
At first, he assumed the servants had simply gotten too bold and no longer respected him.
But after a careful investigation, Ogi discovered that the real culprit was Naoya Zen'in.
Have you ever seen the Zen'in clan at four-thirty in the morning?
Naoya was now training until the middle of the night every single day. He was young, and his body could take the abuse. He could hole himself up in the dojo and train until he forgot food and sleep.
But the servants responsible for attending to him were all collapsing.
Because Naoya Zen'in was the young master. If he wanted to sleep all day, he could sleep all day. If he wanted to get up late, he could get up late.
But these servants had to report to work on time!
They still had to attend the Zen'in clan's morning drills on schedule!
What kind of iron man could keep up with endless overtime like this?!
"Naoya lately..."
Even the usually taciturn Zen'in Jinichi sought out Naobito in person and spoke in rare seriousness.
"Does he have something on his mind? He has never worked this hard in his life. Clan Head, I know a decent brain specialist. Should we take him for a look?"
According to Jinichi, Naoya had even begun using Projection Sorcery in everyday life. He would casually blink from one end of the corridor to the other, and even someone like Jinichi—used to all kinds of madness—would occasionally get startled out of his skin when Naoya suddenly appeared behind him and spoke. As for everyone else, it was basically no different from seeing a ghost in broad daylight.
Only then did Naobito come to a profound realization—
When your son suddenly turned into an obsessive grind-addict, that did not necessarily mean something good.
On the contrary, it meant there was probably something wrong with him!
Could this be...?!
That stylish old man immediately thought of a trope common in television dramas these days—
"Naoya."
Naobito patted his son on the shoulder, his face grave.
"If you have any last wish, tell your father. No matter what it is, I will help you fulfill it."
Naoya turned back and stared at this absurdly serious old man in speechless disbelief.
Where had this bargain-bin father even come from?
Was he really that eager for his own son to come down with a terminal illness?
Depression, maybe, but terminal illness?
How about going and killing Sukuna for him instead?
That said, the transmigrator really did have one wish he wanted this cheap father of his to help with—
"Old man, can you teach me Falling Blossom Emotion?"
Falling Blossom Emotion.
That was one of the Zen'in clan's secret techniques.
It was an automatic countermeasure devised over centuries by members of the Zen'in family specifically to deal with Domain Expansions.
Over these many days of training, Naoya Zen'in had thrown himself wholeheartedly into understanding both jujutsu and the body.
And yes—compared with when he had first started, his mastery of Projection Sorcery had improved by leaps and bounds.
At present, the transmigrator could maintain the technique at its limit for thirty full seconds.
In other words, he could successfully activate Projection Sorcery thirty times in a row.
That meant, while continuously accelerating, he could instantly predesign seven hundred and twenty frames of motion in his mind.
It was still nowhere near the true limit of the technique, but it was already an immensely satisfying degree of progress.
What disappointed Naoya, however, was that even after reaching this level of proficiency, he still had not touched the edge of a domain.
No wonder Gojo had once said that innate talent accounted for eighty percent of a sorcerer's strength.
In the cruel world of jujutsu, no matter how hard you worked afterward, you still could not fundamentally change the quality of your power as a sorcerer.
A Domain Expansion was the summit of sorcery.
To reach that realm, what one needed was often a certain trigger.
That trigger might be long years of effort. It might be a burst of insight. Or it might be the crushing despair of standing before overwhelming danger...
No matter how one put it, Naoya burying himself in blind training like this was basically the same as waiting for a roomful of monkeys at typewriters to produce Shakespeare.
He did not have that kind of time to waste.
So the transmigrator chose the next best option and began expanding his technique pool instead.
Falling Blossom Emotion.
A purely defensive technique.
Its effect was equivalent to a Simple Domain or Hollow Wicker Basket—it could neutralize the sure-hit effect of an enemy's domain, at least giving the user a fighting chance.
Meaning that if Sukuna suddenly revived right now and unleashed Malevolent Shrine, then in the face of those endless slashes, Naoya Zen'in could at least avoid dropping dead on the spot by using Falling Blossom Emotion.
"Teaching you Falling Blossom Emotion is no problem..."
Naobito stroked his beard and sized up his son, but a mischievous idea suddenly crossed his mind.
"Still, Naoya—since you've been training so seriously lately, have you considered going to Jujutsu High for some proper tempering?"
At his father's suggestion, Naoya's brow twitched.
Jujutsu High?
That was exactly what the transmigrator had wanted.
As long as he could enter Jujutsu High, he could escape the fate of being a villain and start getting connected to people like Gojo and the protagonist side.
Based on his knowledge of the original plot, it might even be possible for him to reach Yuji ahead of time and stop him from swallowing Sukuna's finger.
And honestly, he truly did need to go to Jujutsu High.
Because as a transmigrator, Naoya Zen'in possessed a wealth of precious jujutsu knowledge and information, yet had almost none of the actual fundamentals.
He knew about Reverse Cursed Technique, Technique Reversal, and other advanced applications. He even understood their principles.
But he had no idea how cursed energy itself ought to move, nor how to manipulate it properly so that the invisible force could truly become his own.
It was like knowing countless forbidden spells in a game without understanding how magic power itself was refined and used. If you lacked the basics, all that knowledge meant nothing.
Those fundamentals were exactly what Naoya needed to learn systematically as a new student at Jujutsu High.
"Perfect. I've been irritated as hell staying at home lately anyway. I may as well go have some fun messing with those weaklings at Jujutsu High."
Without a second thought, Naoya accepted his father's suggestion.
What the transmigrator failed to notice, however, was the faint, mysteriously wicked smile curling at Naobito's lips—
Heh heh. Plan complete.
At last, he had tricked this brat into leaving the house!
Now get out there and find yourself a girlfriend already! Stop staying home and tormenting the rest of us!!!
And so, a few days later, when Naoya Zen'in arrived at Jujutsu High for the first time to report in, he fell completely silent.
"...Wasn't I supposed to be going to Tokyo Jujutsu High?"
The young master of the Zen'in clan slowly lifted his head and looked at the school sign.
Written on it in bold letters were—
Kyoto Jujutsu High!!!
What the hell.
So in the end, he was still far away from the protagonist group?!
-------
April Special Days *Sale 20%*
patreon.com/RuneA
-------
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (261 Chapter) (Ending)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (130 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (80 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (130 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (120 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (78 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (189 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (135 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (145 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (102 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty...then Who Am I? (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (59 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (65 Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (90 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)
From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (70 Chapter)
Lord Shadow Descends on DanMachi (90 Chapter)
Fuse with Me, Exusiai! (41 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail — After I Die, I Forge Their Madness (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Last Zeus Familia (95 Chapter)
Endfield: Arknights Heroic Spirit Summoning (75 Chapter)
Toyokawa Family Finances (105 Chapter)
Starting From DanMachi to Become Stronger (90 Chapter)
DanMachi: My Familia Is Made Up Entirely of Heroines from Every World! (75 Chapter)
Arknights: My Intel Refreshes Daily (110 Chapter)
Digimon : I Never Meant to Do Evil, Even Though I Wasn't Chosen (40 Chapter)
Miss Holmes Could Never Be the Losing Heroine! (40 Chapter)
Takayama Gamu at Tracen Academy (40 Chapter)
Legendary Trainer Takes on MYGO (40 Chapter)
Arknights : Yandere Game: The Operators Have Come Knocking (100 Chapter)
Arknights: This Dating Sim Is Seriously Wrong! (120 Chapter)
Arknights : Ch'en Hui-chieh, I'm Done Being the Good Guy! (50 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Wasn't This Supposed to Be a Family Simulator? Why Am I the Family Heirloom? (40 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail : The Trailblazer Only Wants a Peaceful Life (45 Chapter)
Arknights: The Unlucky Dad? But I've Got the Chronicle of Time! (55 Chapter)
The Wheelchair War God Is Speedrunning Hogwarts (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Elemental Blaster of Orario (45 Chapter)
Playing Honkai in Star Rail (30 Chapter)
As an Alien, I'm Solo Leveling in Warhammer 40K (30 Chapter)
Arknights: A Symbiote's Survival Guide (70 Chapter)
My Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Is Built Entirely from Stuff I Picked Up (30 Chapter)
I Can Hear the Thoughts of Uma Mutsume (30 Chapter)
Dead-Men Chat Group: Winning the Resurrection Bracket (40 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero: Saving the World While Falling in Love! (40 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: My Breathing Techniques Can Be Leveled Up (50 Chapter)
Type-Moon Age of Gods: Starting with a Simulation as Heracles (10 Chapter)
Terra Love Trap: They All Want Me to Themselves (30 Chapter)
Dimensional Ranking: Top Ten Saviors (30 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen: Naoya Zen'in Wants to Stay Alive! (30 Chapter)
Bleach: This Everyday Multiverse Is Seriously Falling Apart! (30 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it