"Just a reminder. If you're looking for some 'useless man's wife,' then I suppose I should leave, because my husband is an incredible man."
Onshin had already stood up.
She understood the situation now. If it weren't for the fact that this man might be Toji's father, she would have walked out the moment he opened his mouth.
"Typical woman's view." The man shook his head. He didn't bother arguing over her words but went straight to his real reason for calling her. "I heard you already have a child. Find some time to bring him here so I can take a look."
Ever since Toji had been recognized by the jujutsu world as a special grade 1 sorcerer, he had started scheming again. Although his father's early death had allowed that bastard Naobito to become head of the clan, he still saw a chance to regain power.
That chance lay in Toji and Mukuro's child.
Opposites breed extremes, especially in Toji's case. If he was born without a trace of cursed energy, then his offspring might be the exact opposite, someone born with extraordinary talent and immense potential.
If that turned out to be true, then perhaps he could use that child to overthrow Naobito and take the title of clan head for himself. After all, he was supposed to be the true heir.
But first, he needed to confirm that the child had cursed energy, that he held the promise of power.
Of course, going directly to Toji would have been impossible. He would've slammed the door in his face. So instead, he sent his wife to lure Toji's wife here, taking advantage of Naobito's absence while he and his family were away on vacation.
"I'm afraid if you wish to see the child, you'll need to speak to my husband. As you just mentioned, I'm merely a woman," Onshin replied calmly as she threw his earlier insult right back at him.
"You talk to her!"
The man's forehead pulsed with veins. As a special grade 1 sorcerer, few within the Zenin clan, or even the entire jujutsu world, would ever dare speak to him that way.
His hand twitched, itching to strike her, but fear of Toji's strength and a small sliver of self-control kept him in check.
After barking an order to Sai, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.
"What a disgusting attitude," Onshin muttered under her breath. "No wonder Toji and Mukuro hate this place. You don't have to say another word. I'm leaving."
She grabbed her bag and walked toward the door, not bothering to hide her disgust.
She had been willing to sit and talk out of respect for the man's position as Toji's father, hoping to understand him and maybe ease the rift between father and son. But that didn't mean she would let him disrespect her.
"Onshin, would you like to see something before you go? It's the place where Toji's life changed forever," Sai suddenly said with a faint smile.
"The place where Toji… changed?" Onshin repeated, halting in her tracks.
Her mind screamed at her not to dig into the parts of Toji's past he had never shared, but curiosity gnawed at her. Against her better judgment, she swallowed hard and nodded.
"Then follow me."
Sai turned and led her through several courtyards.
People passed them along the way, but none so much as glanced in their direction. In the Zenin clan, women were nothing more than accessories.
Eventually, the two arrived before a massive structure.
Calling it a "room" was generous. It looked more like someone had hollowed out an entire building, carving deep into the earth below. The entrance wasn't a door at all but a square opening in the wall, surrounded by thick ropes, each one wider than Onshin's waist.
"Come in."
The sight alone made Onshin's skin crawl. Every instinct in her body told her to turn and leave. But before she could, Sai grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled her down the stairs with surprising strength. She tried to resist, but the woman's grip was like iron.
Moments later, they reached the bottom. The air was cold and damp, filled with a suffocating silence.
"This is where Toji Zenin awakened his gift," the woman said coldly. "And where my nightmare began."
She released Onshin's wrist and spread her arms wide, as if breathing in long-lost freedom.
"Toji... he..." Onshin started, but the woman cut her off.
"He was thrown down here to suffer because he had no cursed energy. But instead of breaking, he awakened that monstrous body of his, and escaped."
(As mentioned before, the former clan head forbade members from killing each other, so guards had been posted to make sure Toji didn't actually die in here.)
Sai started laughing bitterly after speaking. She had only learned the full story after marrying into the Zenin clan herself.
That day, Toji had shed his weakness and become something new. His mother, however, overwhelmed with shame, had taken her own life. After that, Sai had been brought in as the new wife to fill that void and bear the weight of the family's cruelty.
"Because of this cursed clan," she said, breaking into tears while laughing, "I went from a bright, innocent girl to a hollow shell that lives every day in fear! Hahahaha!"
Her laughter cracked and echoed across the stone walls, somewhere between madness and grief.
"Toji…" Onshin whispered as she covered her mouth, shaken by the woman's words. She had never imagined this family's darkness ran so deep, nor that her husband's childhood had been filled with such pain.
But something didn't feel right.
"Why are you telling me all this?" she asked, tightening her grip on the small pendant hanging around her neck. Mukuro had given it to her, telling her to break it if she was in any danger.
Sai's face twisted into a terrible smile. "I'll die. You'll die. But that man will die too. And when it happens, the Zenin clan will burn with us!"
Her voice dripped with hatred.
She despised this clan. She despised her cold, unfeeling husband. And she despised Toji, the man who had walked free while she remained trapped.
Now, she wanted to use his wrath as the spark that would set the Zenin clan ablaze.
"What… are you talking about?" Onshin stammered, stepping back.
But then, a sharp, wet sound echoed. Sai's body jerked and a deep wound split open across her abdomen, as if something had pierced straight through her.
Onshin's blood ran cold.
From the shadows, dark shapes began to emerge: cursed spirits, huge, grotesque, and far more terrifying than low-level curses she'd seen before. Their energy radiated pure malice, and she finally realized the woman's true intention.
She'd led her here as bait.
Panicking, Onshin tore the pendant from her neck and slammed it against the ground with all her strength.
When she looked up again, Sai was already being torn apart by the cursed spirits. Yet even as she died, her face showed only relief.
"Roar!"
The remaining curses turned toward Onshin, snarling like starved beasts, and lunged.
"I'm sorry… Toji… Megumi…" Onshin shut her eyes. She knew she couldn't escape.
But before the pain came, something strange happened. A wave of exhaustion hit her like a flood. Her body grew heavy, her vision blurred, and within seconds, consciousness slipped away.
Then, without warning, a thick cloud of smoke filled the chamber.
Boom!
The explosion ripped through the floor. The ground split open, and the cursed spirits were thrown back by a violent surge of power.
From within the smoke came a cold, furious voice. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you filthy bastards?"
As the dust began to settle, a tall figure appeared, his eyes burning with crimson light.
"Sixth Path: Descent of Heaven."
In that blood-red right eye, the number "6" flared brightly.
It was Mukuro.
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