"If you don't agree, I'll stay kneeling until you do."
Maki's voice was firm, her eyes unwavering.
She didn't really understand why her cousin didn't want to teach her—but TV dramas had taught her one thing: if you knelt and bowed enough, they'd eventually give in. And if they still didn't… then it was a test. All she had to do was keep kneeling.
"..."
Jinsuke Zenin couldn't help but laugh.
Just a moment ago, he'd been thinking how mature she seemed—but yeah, no. At the end of the day, she was still just a kid.
"Get up."
"You'll teach me?!" Maki's eyes lit up instantly.
"Teach you? What gave you that idea? You think it's that easy?" Jinsuke crossed his arms, expression serious. "Ever heard of an entrance test?"
"Oh… right." Maki frowned, deep in thought. That did sound about right.
"Then give me the test! I'll pass whatever it is!"
Compared to the power she wanted, any test was nothing.
"Heh… fine." Jinsuke smirked. "My condition's simple. When you can exorcise a grade-one—no, let's make it grade-two—Curse all on your own, I'll teach you how to get stronger."
He'd originally planned to say grade-one, but after thinking about her situation, he decided to lower the bar a bit. No point crushing the kid's hope entirely.
Being able to take down a grade-two Curse by herself—that'd at least prove she had the basics to start.
"Deal! It's a promise!"
Maki didn't even know what a grade-two Curse looked like yet, but she believed that someday, she'd be able to do it.
Having gotten the answer she wanted, she grabbed her still-sobbing sister and left, determined as ever.
Jinsuke chuckled, shaking his head.
The Zenin Clan... they'd destroy themselves with their own arrogance someday.
Not that he cared. He was already planning to hit up that old geezer Naobito for a favor—to score himself a nice, cushy, do-nothing job.
If the clan was going down anyway, might as well milk it while he still could.
By the next morning, Jinsuke was already acting on the plan.
After finishing his morning training, he swaggered right into the Zenin compound like he owned the place—earning a chorus of sour looks from everyone around.
But that was exactly how he liked it.
Their faces twisted in disgust, yet none of them dared say a word. He could practically hear their teeth grinding. You hate me that much? Then come do something about it. Go on.
"Damn it, that guy's way too cocky."
The moment Jinsuke's back disappeared around a corner, the muttering started.
"Shh—keep it down! You want that freak to hear you? He'll lose it again!"
"Come on, he can't really be that strong, right?"
A few of the younger Zenin whispered skeptically. They hadn't been there that day—hadn't seen with their own eyes how Jinsuke, a man with no Cursed Energy, nearly tore through the entire clan by himself.
"That's why they call him a freak. Both those brothers are monsters."
From a shadowed corner, Maki overheard every word. Her conviction only grew stronger—and alongside it, a budding sense of admiration.
So this is what true strength feels like...
All these disgusting cowards could only whisper behind his back.
And she'd be different.
Not far away, another witness was quietly watching too.
Sixteen-year-old Naoya Zenin leaned against a wall, half-hidden from view, his eyes fixed on Jinsuke's back.
Fear and awe flickered in equal measure.
Brother Jinsuke... still that terrifying.
Even more than before.
He'd seen it once, years ago—the day Jinsuke became a one-man hurricane that nearly razed the clan to the ground. From that moment on, Naoya had been hooked. A worshipper of raw power, too scared to get close, but too enthralled to look away.
Across the courtyard, Jinsuke was already standing in front of the clan head.
"Old man," he said bluntly, "get me a job where I don't actually have to work."
Naobito's mustache twitched. He knew immediately—this bastard was here to freeload.
"What's that supposed to mean? With your skillset, you're telling me you're short on cash?"
He didn't dare say yes right away. Jinsuke was the kind of guy who loved to set traps mid-conversation.
"Making money's easy," Jinsuke said casually, "just... a waste of time."
He'd rather spend that time training. Getting paid for doing nothing sounded much more efficient.
It's not like he could live on thin air—this was still modern society. Money mattered.
"Then go teach part-time at Jujutsu High," Naobito said after a moment's thought. "I can pull some strings for that."
A low-effort gig like that? Easy enough to arrange. The clan still had some pull with the Jujutsu Higher-Ups.
As for why he didn't just hand over cash?
Please. Did Jinsuke really think the Zenin Clan was loaded?
In a family obsessed with Cursed Energy and Cursed Techniques, money didn't grow on trees.
Even Naobito himself sometimes had to take exorcism jobs just to pad his wallet.
"What? Teach at Jujutsu High?"
Jinsuke blinked, thrown.
He'd expected a cushy corporate desk job or something. Not... this.
"You're seriously sending a guy with zero Cursed Energy to teach a bunch of sorcerers? What would I even teach them—push-ups?"
"Ahem. It's just a nominal position," Naobito clarified. "You don't actually have to teach. As long as you don't take missions, you'll still get a small monthly paycheck. It's not much, but it's safe and easy. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Teachers at Jujutsu High earned modest base pay, but their real money came from missions—exorcising Curses and the like.
Skip the missions, and you'd be broke, sure... but you'd still be getting paid.
Even Yuki Tsukumo, a Special Grade Sorcerer who barely took any jobs, still got a little something in her account every month.
"Fine, fine." Jinsuke waved his hand lazily. "Easy money's still money."
If there was wool to shear, he wasn't about to pass up the chance.
And if things ever got too tight, he could always fall back on his old trade—make some quick cash on the side.
Either way, one rule stayed absolute: work was off the table.
Satisfied with the arrangement, Jinsuke left.
Naobito sighed and picked up the phone. Using the clan's long-standing connections, he called in a favor from the Jujutsu Higher-Ups, getting Jinsuke's position at Tokyo Jujutsu High approved on paper.
It cost nothing but a bit of face—and face was cheap.
"Maybe now that brat will think a little better of the clan," Naobito murmured.
He'd never treated Jinsuke and Toji like the rest of the clan did. He didn't respect them, sure—but he didn't scorn them either. To him, they were just... Zenin family members, nothing more.
Even when Toji had stolen several of the clan's top Cursed Tools, Naobito hadn't really cared.
Still, in this clan where Cursed Energy and Cursed Techniques were practically worshipped, even Naobito couldn't fully escape that mindset.
But as the brothers' strength kept growing, his indifference had begun to shift.
He wanted to ease the tension between them and the clan.
Maybe they couldn't ever be a real family—but at least they didn't have to be enemies.
If Jinsuke came to him for a favor, that had to mean he still recognized the Zenin Clan, right?
As long as Naobito kept helping him out, Jinsuke would remember that kindness.
That was the hope, anyway.
The reality? Not even close.
Jinsuke Zenin didn't care about family. He was just here to freeload.
If they gave, he'd take.
If they didn't—he'd make them.