4 Chapter 4

The kid is a monster in the making.

He observed with a big grin, while he spectated his little cousin fight from 500 feet up.

A borderline relentless machine in combat.
 A kidney shot landed on the instructor like a cannon. A kick to the side of the knee had black haired man stumble out of his guard.
 He watched as the little figure pirouetted on his feet and slammed a small fist into his instructor hard enough and with enough reinforcement to blow the man backward.

The middle-aged man clad in a traditional style kimono flipped and landed on his feet, only to look up and see a kick whipping towards his face. He raised a guard fast enough to stop it, but the little monster pivoted with the aid of the arm he used to block, to unleash another kick mid-air that sneaked past the instructor's guard and went for his head.

The instructor tucked his head and raised a shoulder up in time to suffer a dislocation instead of a fractured skull.

Using the single grip on his leg, the instructor spun on his feet before slamming the kid on the floor, hard enough to crack the solid slab of stone they fought on.

The follow-up foot slam was dodged as the kid instinctively rolled to the right, to dodge a blow that cratered what was left of the floor of the arena.

It was little things like that that tripped him up.

That made the clan head hide in the shadows of the building to spectate the fight of a seven-year-old child.

That forced the old monsters of the Gojo clan to monitor the fight, That made the other big clans send spies just for the sake of the child.

The mutated six eyes that the clan had grown obsessed with over the past year. While its perception was not on the scale of the six eyes, It had proven to be more versatile. Case in point the predictive ability he seemed to display at odd moments.

Jiki flipped to his feet and dodged a haymaker that was aimed at his head before it was even made, spinning to the back of the instructor in one fluid movement, he buried his elbow just below the rib cage, fracturing already sore ribs before slamming his foot into the back of the instructor and using the force of the attack to flip further back.

Another thing about the kid was the sheer speed he displayed and what Satoru had taken to call killers instinct.

At this age, other clan kids were still being thought how to actually hit an opponent. Where other people hesitated or flinched unconsciously. The kid never did. He skipped that part of hand-to-hand training and moved straight to combat.

The predictive abilities of his eyes coupled with his speed made him hit hard and fast. Which was fortunate cause for all his skill in cursed energy reinforcement, you can't reinforce a glad cup to be as durable as a diamond.

He took the few hits that managed to get past his defense stoically and made sure to reply them with a vengeance.

The three black tomoe in his red eyes spun slowly as he sank into a crouch, his body shaking from the effort it took to sustain such reinforcement and the toll of the fight.

In the eyes of the fifteen visible clan members watching the fight, the kid must have seemed as tranquil as the seas themselves.

But the six eyes laid bare the truth. The kid could not continue any further, yet the clan leader didn't call it to a halt. Despite his hands gripping each other behind his back tightly enough to crush granite.

His face was a mask of aloofness.
He had still not figured out the clan leader's love for the kid. Most people couldn't tell. He hid it well enough with the way he seemed to ignore the kid before he woke his eyes.

The way he pushed him into such grueling training even as a child must have seemed callous to most. Coupled with the choice he gave him in order to save his maid.

But Satoru knew better.

Satoru saw better.

A scared maid stood to the side, he knew her. At least was familiar enough with her over the past six months to say so.

Her trembling was more obvious, the fear and worry in her eyes. In the half aborted movements to Jiki, she made whenever he was hit.
 Yet she was even more powerless.

To change anything. To do anything. The only reason she was even allowed this deep into the clan compound was because of Jiji. On her own, she was powerless.

He stood above them all and contemplated the concept of power. On one side stood a man with enough power to end it, yet could not for duty shacked him. On another side was a woman with no power to truly do anything, change anything.

What was life without the power to live it how you want? and What was the use of power if it couldn't be applied however one wanted?

Satoru wanted to be free. Free of his clan. Free of the pesky higher ups. Free to truly do whatever he wanted. It was one of the reasons he aimed to be the strongest. Yet what use was the title of 'strongest' if he couldn't even do what he wanted?

It was at this moment he came to a conclusion that would make him a menace to the higher-ups in the jujutsu society for years to come. If he was to be the strongest, then was going to take advantage of that title.

If the old man wasn't going to do anything, well-
With the clasp of his hand, he flexes his cursed energy in a variation of his cursed technique: blue, to eliminate the distance between himself and the kid.

He appears beside the kid without a sound, yet the brat lashes out with a sloppy kick at his side. Nothing like his precise attacks from minutes ago. His foot stops an inch away from his spleen due to his application of limitless and he grabs the kid by the scruff of his shirt holding him up.

"This has gone on for long enough" 
With a wide grin on his face, he teleports once more, appearing beside the maid before grabbing her by her waist "I'm taking my cousin on a vacation, see you guys later"

he laughs at the shocked looks on the clan members watching the fight, the frown on the face of the old monsters in the shadows, and the inconspicuous smile on the clan heads face. Before he teleports once more.

TATSUMI POV

He walked out of the shadows leisurely. Ignoring the surprised greetings and bows from the members that saw him.

A quick hand sign sent his fellow hidden spectators ahead of him. Satoru's entrance still had them agitated but he expected. Anticipated it in fact.

After all, he would've been senile if he couldn't sense his own grandson's cursed energy from a paltry 500 feet up. 
It has been 6months since the appearance of the eye that the clan has taken to call, the sharingan.

A mutated replica of the six eyes. Six months since the other clans had been trying to know more about the boy.
 Walking down the paved road to his manor, he considered the eye.

Three black tomoe in a sea of red. There had been mentions of another form, The form that brought about the black flames. That burnt a semi-grade 1 cursed spirit to nothing in seconds. Yet the boy had refused to show them once more, citing blindness from overuse of the technique.

How he knew about the blindness was not certain, but they had concluded it was instinctual. In the same way most people used cursed techniques.
 His musings ended as he got into his manor, taking a side door, he traveled down a rarely used hidden stairway to end up in a chamber deep beneath the clan grounds.

The chamber was barely lit, with shadows that seemed to move the more you looked. There were seven seats in a circle, carved of the bedrock that surrounded them. Six were already occupied, living the seventh one in the middle for him. He claimed it with a lazy stride.

Seating in a leisurely posture with his face resting in his palm. His second palm tapped his armrest lightly and that was the cue to start.

"He's progressing fast" An elder cloaked in a yellow yukata started "Faster than Satoru, and even better mannered" stated said another voice.

The statement brought silence to the chamber.
He knew it would come up. For all Satoru obvious power. He was a… hard person for the elders that rigidly held on to the old traditions to like. Even more so when he started testing the rules. Tuging at his leash like a dog seeking to know how far they would let him.

Unfortunately for them, the length of the leash was way longer than they liked. The teen was bound to be the next clan head with those eyes of his. A calm alternative must have been a heaven-sent for the more traditional members of the clan.

"The Zenin clan sent another envoy to talk about hunting territories, he disappeared during the recess and was caught creeping towards Jiki's house by Satoru" another voice stated in an attempt to move the meeting on.

He let out an unnoticed sigh and wondered how long the meeting would last after the conversation restarted once more. He had a painting that had not yet been unwrapped in his bedroom waiting for him.

SATORU POV

So what do you do for fun, brat".
The kid briefly glanced at him before replying and staring back at a couple taking pictures beside a billboard.

"Painting" the kid said with a soft voice
The contrast between both of them was ridiculous and uncanny. For all their similarities in features, their attitude and mannerism couldn't be further apart.

He removed his glasses and stared at the sky in mirth with the back of his palm on his forehead. Was this how people saw him? His wide grin was straining at this point.

They were in a park in the middle of Tokyo, he held a soda in his other hand while Jiki sipped from his cup of tea with his two hands in a traditional manner, while the scarred maid stood behind him and observed their interaction with a smile.

They had continued the original exploration that was planned for him over six months ago. This time it was free of curses. The location of the maid near death was avoided and ignored, and they ended up here as the day got darker.

The passage of cars, technology, and the clothes people wore seemed to hold the kid's interest more than he did. They had been at it for hours now, him asking questions. Questions that were answered with single words.

"Do you see 360?" He was shocked and quiet for a moment. Not because of the question in itself. After all, it was an easy one and one that had been noted down already.

This was the first initiative the kid had taken all day. Pale gray eyes stared into his eerie blue.

There was no fear, disgust, or inferiority in those eyes while they stared into his. He reminded him almost of Geto at that moment. Even the clan head had some level of greed when he looked him in the eye. Yet there was none from Jiki.

He sat back up, "Are we talking about our eyes now?" His renewed interest in the conversation was replied to with a shrug that had the kid staring at people again. He was about to lose him.

With an exaggerated sigh, he finally replied "Yeah sure, when my eyes are active".
"Do you have a blind spot at the back of your neck? your thoracic vertebrae to be exact?"

The question was not one he had gotten before, which made him actually activate his eyes to be sure. A shake of his head had the kid in an obvious thinking posture.

"What do you live for, Satoru-San"

He raised a well manicured brow in surprise at the rapid change of topic.

"I've heard of your goal to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world. With those eyes, it's more possible than not" Black and red eyes stared into eerie blue. "But power for the sake of power…"

He looked at the kid again and had to reassess him. He had always seemed more mature for his age. Yet he was not the first genius. Satoru had been like him once. Genius. aloof, quiet and withdrawn. Yet never this philosophical.

With a soft frown he looked back at the kid and wondered how different things would've been if they were born together. They could've changed the world by now.

"Look around you" he gesticulated to the gathered people walking around. "what do you think most of jujutsu society think of them" The kids reply was a frown. He had not expected a reply anyway. It was a rhetorical question.

"Subhuman" He spat out the word with annoyance and disgust. "Simply because of lack of power. A lack of ability" with a soft shake of his head he continued "They forget that compared to people like me. Like you, they are the same"

"Yet that is not my biggest grudge with the society. It's the corruption the very foundation of the jujutsu society is flawed. You asked why I wanted to be the strongest? It is to have the power to make change and effect it. Single handedly if I have too"

He finished his rant with a deep breathe. He had never expected to have this conversation, let alone with a kid. When he looked back at Jiki, he noticed a soft smile on his face and his eyes had reverted back to their dull gray.

"I've seen the consequences of unchecked power Satoru-san, yet considering your motivations I don't think you'll go down that road.

Those words gave him more comfort than he had to admit.