### Chapter 8: Fushiguro, You Aren't Some Thousand-Year-Old Monster, Are You?
Fushiguro Toji sat opposite Ryota, while Kong Siu took the empty seat beside Fushiguro.
Using chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat and stuff it into his mouth, Fushiguro Toji spoke to Kong Siu while chewing:
"The taste is indeed not bad. As expected, your judgment can be trusted."
"It is, but I'll still be deducting every penny from your next mission's payment."
"..."
Fushiguro Toji acted as if he hadn't heard Kong Siu's words, shifting his gaze to Ryota opposite him in a somewhat topic-changing manner.
"Hey, what's your name, kid?"
"Are you fishing for my information?"
Ryota ate unhurriedly, raising an eyebrow.
"Just a bit strange. When did such a monster appear in the Jujutsu world?"
Fushiguro Toji raised the corner of his scarred mouth provocatively, meeting Ryota's gaze. "What, you don't dare to say?"
"Heh..."
Ryota also revealed a bold and unrestrained smile.
"Before asking for someone else's name, shouldn't you announce your own first?"
"Fushiguro Toji."
Hearing the former state his name without hesitation, a flicker of surprise flashed in Ryota's eyes.
Previously, he had only sensed the hidden, astonishing aura on this man, like a 'tyrant'.
This astonishing power.
If compared to the Cursed Spirit in the Western-style mansion earlier, even dozens or hundreds of them swarming together couldn't pose even a shred of a threat to the man before him.
There was a chasm of difference in their levels.
At the same time, he felt the man before him looked somewhat familiar, but he had no impression of him appearing in the anime he had watched.
This piqued his interest greatly.
Even more coincidentally, the other party had taken the initiative to walk over here, and the person he struck up a conversation with was Ryota himself.
Now, looking at him up close, coupled with that familiar surname.
Ryota's mind whirred.
The tyrant named Fushiguro Toji before him overlapped with the face of a secondary male character in the anime who had a rather feminine name but was male, and was quite active in the plot.
Fushiguro Toji... Fushiguro Megumi...
Comparing the similarity in their features and eyes, it was really hard not to connect the two.
Even going a step further.
Knowing the current time is 2006, which matches the anime timeline quite well...
Could these two be father and son?
Thinking this, a look of interest appeared on Ryota's handsome face.
"Ryota."
"Japanese?"
Hearing Ryota's name, Fushiguro Toji was stunned for a moment. Ryota sounded Japanese enough.
Then, his sanpaku eyes, which originally had a devil-may-care aura, twitched.
"What's with that look?"
He faintly sensed an inexplicable malice from ahead.
Because the Heavenly Restriction on his body made him a complete [Zero Cursed Energy] physique, his athletic talent, physical fitness, and five senses had all received enhancements unimaginable to ordinary people.
This allowed him to even detect ill intentions directed at him from nearby.
Although he felt the guy in front didn't have any murderous or sinister thoughts towards him, it still made him quite annoyed.
Fushiguro Toji's keenness surprised Ryota slightly.
However, Ryota's expression remained calm and natural, waving his hand dismissively in a perfunctory manner.
"Don't worry about such small things."
"It seems..."
Ryota's gaze swept from Fushiguro Toji to the face of Kong Siu beside him, whose left hand had just withdrawn a phone from under the table, brows furrowed and expression somewhat grave.
"I also won't mind if you discuss information about me right in front of me with the person beside you."
"Hmph."
Fushiguro Toji didn't dwell on this matter.
He was indeed curious about what information Kong Siu, whose intelligence work was quite outstanding, would find after knowing this kid's name.
Only, he felt a few degrees more annoyed in his heart.
Clearly just someone who looked like he hadn't even graduated from school, yet he seemed to possess the ability to see through people's hearts.
It was as if when meeting those deep black eyes, his thoughts were all seen through by the kid in front of him.
Moreover, from the beginning until now, he had faintly been led by the nose by this kid...
"Did you find any intel on this bastard?"
Fushiguro Toji looked at his partner.
After a few seconds of silence, Kong Siu, who had a shrewd face, spoke with a slightly complicated tone.
"...Regrettably, I've searched countless intelligence sources in the Jujutsu world. Whether Curse Users or Jujutsu Sorcerers, there has never been any trace of such a person."
"It's as if... he appeared in this world out of thin air."
"?!"
Fushiguro Toji's body froze.
As the most powerful bounty hunter, crowned with the title 'Sorcerer Killer'.
The partner he sought naturally couldn't be a mediocre person.
Or rather, if not for being a guy extremely outstanding in the field of intelligence work, he wouldn't even have the qualifications to catch the eye of this Heavenly Tyrant.
To become a partner, one must be the elite of the elite in the field of intelligence work!
If relying solely on his brain and memory, it would be acceptable for Kong Siu not to have Ryota's intel.
But, that wasn't how Kong Siu operated!
Operating his phone, mobilizing that vast network of relationships and a database that could be called an ocean of intelligence...
Even so, there was still not a single trace of Ryota?!
Fushiguro Toji stared at Ryota with his pair of sanpaku eyes, rubbing his chin with one hand, and said:
"You aren't some old monster who's been hiding for hundreds or thousands of years until now, are you?"