Maki sat beside Mai's bed and said, "I'll be heading off, okay, Mai?"
Mai lay there and said, "Nee-chan. They stopped sending letters. As soon as I became bedridden, they stopped."
Maki gritted her teeth, thinking, 'Heartless bastards.'
Mai grabbed her arm and said, "Nee-chan... I've known for a long time now why twins are considered inauspicious by Jujutsu Sorcerers. You have to offer something in order to gain something. This goes beyond pacts. The fact that we go through pain to grow stronger follows the same logic. But that balance..."
Mai let out some tears as she continued saying, "Never functioned properly for us. For twins like us. Because Jujutsu views identical twins as the same individual. I was... always holding you back because even if you wanted to get stronger, even if you suffered for it, I refused to get stronger. I-I'm sorry."
Maki's face softened as she hugged Mai and said, "It's alright. It's okay."
"I'm not going to be like that anymore. That's why you're getting stronger. Because I'm not holding you back anymore."
Mai said this as she then said, "The Zenin Clan. I'm done with that Clan. I don't need them to become strong. Whatever you want to do with them, do it. Don't hold back because of me."
Maki's eyes widened before she smiled and said, "Got it. I'll destroy it all."
Mai smiled and said, "All of it, okay? Onee-chan."
Maki smiled as she got up and stepped out the door to see Kiyotaka, who handed her a blunt tool shaped like a Wakazashi and said, "I've been funnelling Cursed Energy into this one since before Shibuya. It's a Cursed Tool now. It's incredibly dense, so it's good for blunt force damage and for blocking attacks or breaking the Opponent's Cursed Tools. I added a Binding Vows so that you have less Cursed Energy and more physical power, you have the more effective the tool will be. I'm giving this to you since, for someone like me who has good reserves, it's worthless. "
Maki held it in her hands and said, "Thanks."
Kiyotaka leaned against the wall and said, "If they don't cooperate, just leave. If they attack you, then exterminate them. After everything they put you and your sister through, that would be a proportional curse, right?"
Maki smiled and said, "Yeah."
Kiyotaka then said, "Naoya's Cursed Technique allows him to plan out 24 frames per second. Be wary of him and don't let him build up speed."
Maki nodded, saying, "Thanks for the advice and thanks for this thing, but since you've got a terrible naming sense, I'm going to name it, alright?"
"Fair enough, but Mai did ask me to name it Null Rod"
Maki sighed, saying, "Her naming sense is as bad as yours, but..."
Maki smiled and said, "It sounds great," as she walked off.
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Maki stood there as Naoya smirked and said, "Look who it is. Those burns didn't do much good for your face. What are you going to do, Maki-chan? But hey, maybe Okkotsu-Kun will still take you as his wife. Nah. Even he'd probably be too disgusted."
Maki's eyes sharpened for a second at this, but she knew that Yuta wasn't the type to judge people off things like that, as she said, "You can recognise women from their faces? I thought you only saw their asses."
Naoya put his foot on the piano as a discordant sound came out, and he said, "I'm asking you what you're going to do. Now answer me, trash. You can't use sorcery. You can't see Cursed Spirits. The looks you had have been stained with scars. No one'll pay attention to you now. How sad. Shall I bully you like I used to? What are you going to do? Cling to the shadow of Okkotsu-kun or Megumi-kun?"
Maki walked off, not wanting to entertain this any longer, as he called out, "Say something trash."
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Maki walked into the vault as Ogi stood there and said, "There are no Cursed Tools here, Maki. We emptied it out in anticipation of your intentions."
Ogi put his hand on his sword and said, "And you won't be leaving here. We'll use your corpse as bait for Megumi-kun. If he doesn't come for you, then Mai will be next"
Maki's face turned into a scowl as she took out Dragon Bone into her right hand, and Null Rod in her left hand, and said, "Alright. Let me curse you proportionally then."
Maki walked over as Ogi put his hand on his sword, crouching into Secret Art: Falling Blossom Emotion as he asked, "Do you know why the previous head of the clan was my older brother, Naobito, instead of me?"
"Because you're an asshole who'd murder his own children, right?"
Maki said this as Ogi drew his blade, only for Maki to swing Null Rod, breaking Ogi's blade in an instant as she swung Dragon Bone, slicing into Ogi's chest as he fell to the ground bleeding out as he thought, 'B-But she's a failure. How?'
Maki stood over him and said, "If it were me from back then, I'd probably have lost, but Mai wants to be strong too, so I'm not going to lose to any of you. This Cursed Tool doesn't actually have a lot of Cursed Energy output, so using defensive techniques against Cursed Energy won't work. It only has enough to prevent Sorcerers from turning into Vengeful Cursed Spirits upon death."
Ogi choked out blood, thinking, 'A Cursed Tool designed to kill sorcerers... ugh... She's... becoming just like... Toji!'
Maki turned around and began walking out as she looked to Null Rod, a weapon Mai had named and said, "Now. Let's go, Mai. Let's destroy everything."
Maki walked off as Ogi looked at her, thinking, 'Ah... that is... my child... I see... she has quality' as he choked on his own blood and died.
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The Kukuru unit gathered around Maki as she stood in the room, and they shouted, "There she is! In the Ton Room!"
One of them arrived in front of her and called out, "Visual confirmation of two unidentified Cursed Tools!"
She walked into the room, looking at Null Rod and thinking, 'It's starting, Mai.'
She walked onto the see-through floor as the Kukuru unti shouted, "Surround her! Surround her!"
The Kukuru unit surrounded her as one of them shouted, "Get her!"
They scream out, rushing towards her as she swung Null Rod, snapping their blades in a wide arc as their faces went pale, and Maki used Dragon Bone to slash through their throats as they clung to their necks, trying to hold in the gushing blood and fell to the floor.
Another rushed in from behind as Maki turned and slammed the tip of Null Rod into him as a hole appeared in his gut from the force, and he was sent flying backward, crashing through the wall as Maki thought, 'This thing is amazing.'
The other members of the Kukuru Unti stepped back in fear for a second before rushing in again. They yell out, swinging their swords from every direction at the same time to try to catch Maki, but she's faster, swinging Dragon Bone to cut into their guts and then Null Rodd to finish them off.
She stops letting them attack first as she walks up to them, slashing one and slamming Null Rod into another and sending him flying into a crowd of them, toppling all of them. One comes up from behind, but she kicks out her leg into his stomach as she falls to his knees, bleeding from his eyes and nose due to the pure force of the attack. She cuts off his head as the others grip their swords tighter, tension filling the air.
Maki looked to them as they rushed in, and they panicked for a second, and several of them were killed in an instant. Flesh was parted, bones cracked, and blood pooled on the floor as Maki flipped through the air, killing them with both weapons as they desperately tried to get a hit in.
An older man rushed in with a staff, swinging at Maki, who blocked using Null Rod, the staff shattering on impact, and she simply stabbed him in the throat, tearing it out as he sliced through it.
Maki continued killing her way through the Kukuru Unit with both weapons, as a katana was sent flying as it embedded itself into another member's head. Yet they still rushed in, slashing and slashing at her as she decapitated them with Dragon Bone and vaporised their heads with a single blow from Null Rod.
One tried to stab her, and she did a limbo to dodge it. Her eyes tracked the man, and use broke the Null Rod to break the blade and cut him down the centre in half with Dragon Bone. Another tried to use Kunai as Maki tossed up Dragon Bone and grabbed them out of the air and threw them back, killing the man.
Dragon Bone released energy from the hilt, flying as it began slicing through more and more of them as Maki continued using Null Rod to slam into more of them with one hand.
She jumped up, dodging attacks from all sides as she landed on the upper level, as the Kukuri Unti in front of her shook his head in fear as Maki smashed through the horde of units with Null Rod while running past them.
She dropped back down to the lower level and slid on the blood limbo's underneath another blade as she front flipped and slammed Null Rod into the man's legs, breaking them instantly as he fell to the floor.
She slid on the blood again, arriving in front of another unit who stood there accepting his fate as Maki used a one-inch punch on him, sending him flying back. In the next minute, the rest of the Kukuru Unit were all dead.
Someone walked in from the upper level, asking, "Hey, how's it coming along?"
He looked shocked, saying, "She went for the jackpot."
Suddenly, here yes widenned as an old man was in the next room, his Cursed Energy flaring up as earth rose up from underneath her in the shapes of two hands.
Maki escaped the clasping hands as the Hei had arrived. She threw a rock, barely missing the man from before, as she rushed in as he tried to block Null Rod, only for his blade to shatter and for Null Rod to slam into his gut for him as he spat out blood, thinking, 'What? How?'
The old man Chojuro rushed in, trying to slam his leg into her, only for Maki to gouge out his throat with ease.
Suddenly, a pair of eyes appeared above Maki, and she froze in place.
A young boy then shouted, "Jinichi-San!"
Jinichi shouted, "Hold here, there, Ranta!"
Jinichi walked up towards Maki, who began resisting the paralysis as Ranta shouted, "I-I can't keep holding her! Forget about me, Jinichi-San!" as he bled out of his eyes and shouted, "The current Zenin Clan only exists thanks to the whim of Toji-San! You must have realised it! Maki is now the same as that man! Do it here! And now! Kill her!"
Jinichi prepared and attacked as gigantic fists appeared in the sky and rained down on Maki's location, destroying the pillar of earth Chojuro had made.
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Ranta was on his hands and knees on the bridge, bleeding from his eyes, ears, and nose, unable to see, hear or smell anything as he said, "You did it, Jinichi-San."
Suddenly, a thud sound came from beside him as Maki walked over. The thud was from Jinichi's decapitated and mangled head, which she promptly kicked off the bridge and into the water. There were a few shallow cuts from rubble slicing her skin, but her healing factor was already dealing with them, and her growth throughout the battle brought her closer and closer to the level of Zenin Toji.
Naoya stood on the bridge with a smirk, saying, "How cruel. Don't you have a human heart?"
"Yeah, I do. She's resting peacefully at Jujutsu High."
Maki said this as she pointed Null Rod at Naoya and said, "And since you scum are aiming your swords at my heart, I'll be aiming mine at yours."
Naoya smiled as he rushed in shouting, "That's fine! Let's Curse Each Other, Maki-chan!"
Naoya started throwing punches at Maki, who started blocking them, her eyes tracking each and thinking, 'Ayanokoji told me it was 24 frames per second. I need to track or at least predict his moves.'
Naoya grabbed her arm, freezing her in place and thinking, 'You!'
He slammed his fist into her thinking, 'You...'
Naoya pulled off a kick, thinking, '... ain't Toji-kun!' as Maki was kicked through a block of stone.
Naoya let momentum propel him forward as he thought, 'The sin of the insignificant is the ignorance of strength.'
He began running towards Maki, thinking, 'No one was able to understand Toji-Kun...' as he began a combo of punches that hit Maki, making her grit her teeth, and Naoya thought, '... Save maybe Satoru-Kun. Maybe Ayanokoji-Kun would have understood him too.'
Naoya dashed to the sid ena d slammed his fists into her again, thinking, 'You ain't the one. The one to stand among them... is me!'
He flung her across the battlefield as she thought, 'This is bad. I'm taking damage from all of those hits,' and she crashed into a stone as she felt Null Rod in her hand and thought, 'Let's try using this again.'
Naoya rushed in, thinking, 'That stance. Is she planning to throw it? How stupid can she be?'
He planned his next movements as Maki threw Null Rod like a javelin and Naoya reached out thinking, 'I'll just dodge it, you stupid bit-'
Suddenly, Maki was in front of him as she slammed her fist into his side, and he groaned in pain and was sent flying into the stone, impacting against it.
Maki walked over to Null Rod and picked it up as Naoya got up and said, "You dirty bitch. How dare you?"
Maki held on to the Null Rod and said, "Did I hurt you? Sorry, but making it painless isn't something I said I'd do."
Naoya gritted his teeth, rushing forward as Maki swung Null Rod and a wave of air was generated, knocking Naoya back and freezing him as Maki used her free hand to slam into Naoya, pushing him back as he felt a crack in his bones and thought, 'You can't be serious. You're joking, right? Even after I applied that much Cursed Energy to block her punch?'
Maki held Null Rod and said, "This Cursed Tool responds better the less Cursed Energy you have and the more physical power you have. Guess I'm strong enough to generate wind from my swings, though the tool's probably helping a lot with that."
Maki got into a stance, preparing another swing as Naoya gritted his teeth and rushed in, thinking, 'I'll teach this woman not to look down on me!'
He decided to circle Maki, but Maki's swing was an arc around her in a full rotation as Naoya got hit by that same gust of wind and froze in place, thinking, 'I can't see the wind before it hits me! Damn it!'
Maki then used her free hand to slam into Naoya as he was sent flying back, and he landed on his feet, thinking, 'I doubled the protection that time,' and saying, "It only tickles. As if you could ever beat me. Hehe.'
Naoya deluded himself with this thought, ignoring the fact that he had just used an enormous amount of his Cursed Energy in a single block.
Maki looked to him and said, "You're using a lot of energy to keep that 'tickle' from hurting, aren't you?"
"I won't need much Cursed Energy to beat you anyway."
Naoya said this as he thought, 'I'll do that now. I'll crank up the speed.'
Maki looked to him, thinking, 'It's working. I'm starting to get a feel for the timing of his 24 frames per second movement', as she got into a solid Sumo Stance.
Naoya began running all over the estate to pick up speed via consecutive uses of f Projection Sorcery, thinking, 'She wants a head-on fight, huh?'
Maki stood there still and said mockingly, "I'll give you a hug."
Naoya raced through the estate thinking, 'I'll punch through her at top speed!'
Naoya ramped up his speed even more, thinking, 'She was probably planning to take my attack and stop my movement, even if it broke her ribs. Like I'd fall for such obvious bait! You really are an imposter!'
Naoya came in behind her as Maki turned around, thinking, 'Got you.'
Naoya looked up at her and shouted, "You impo-"
Maki slammed Null Rod into Naoya's face as his head caved in instantly despite his Cursed Energy Reinforcement by the pure force of the swing, and his brain matter splattered across the ground, and his body rolled on the ground for a kilometre due to the momentum he had built up.
Maki swung Null Rod once to get rid of the blood and said, "Sorry... say that again?"
Maki then walked off thinking, 'We really destroyed it all.'
Maki walked out of the Zenin Clan Estate with both Dragon Bone and Null Rod in her hands, as evening hadn't even arrived yet. The Slaughter was quick and final. Thus, the end of one of the three great Jujutsu Families, the Zenin Clan, was set in stone.
Casualties: The Zenin Clan's Entire Military Force.
Jujutsu Society: Making plans to remove the Zenin Clan from the Big Three Clans due to their lack of military might.
Maki's Punishment: None. Not worth the lives that would be lost.
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Chapter?
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