Chapter 72: (Projection Sorcery)^2
[Author Note]
Disc: HrPrTeam
Thoughts on Naoya?
Vote Below.
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Naoya Zenin
Megumi and Maki will grow into exceptional sorcerers, with Naohiro as the one to train them.
The next generation of sorcerers looks promising but is definitely a step down from the previous.
That was due to Satoru Gojo and Naohiro carrying the entire generation, but the point still stands.
I'm strong.
It depends on what you call strong since I am at the highest point a grade-one sorcerer can get. At this point, it's only a matter of time before I reach the special-grade status since I'm almost nineteen years old.
One issue with culling some of the strongest sorcerers in the Zenin clan is that it lowers our overall power.
Father isn't helping at all. I understand that he does politics, but every time I see him, he is either drinking or half-listening to an important message.
We need to have a change in the clan.
I will be the clan head in the future, but something needs to change NOW.
Making up my mind, I walk towards the main hall.
Main Hall: Third P.O.V.
An old voice speaks up as he tilts a jug upside down. "*Yawn* Damn, I'm out."
*slide*
The door opens to an older teenager.
The old man, or rather, Naobito, stretched. "You need something, Naoya?"
Naoya narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I want to talk to you about the state of the clan."
Naobito raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"
Walking towards him, Naoya speaks with an irritated voice. "The Zenin clan is in a tough spot at the moment, and it feels like I'm the only one doing anything."
Placing the jug on the ground, Naobito sits up. "Are you talking about those curses?"
Rubbing his head, Naoya sighs. "*Sigh* It's a pain, but I'm getting them settled in."
A smile appears on Naobito's face. "Good, now, if that is all, I'm a busy man."
Naoya kept his irritated expression. "That isn't all! There has been a loss of power and no interaction between other clans. Am I the only one doing anything?"
Naobito ponders for a moment. "You are doing a good job, right?"
That seemed to get a reaction out of Naoya.
Naoya's eyes narrowed further. "What are you doing for the clan that is more important than these matters?"
Naobito nonchalantly grabbed a new jug that the servants had handed to him. "There is a lot a clan head has to do?"
Stopping right in front of him, Naoya spoke up. "Like what?"
It was Naobito's eyes to narrow. "Why are you here, Naoya?"
Naoya looked straight into his eyes. "Make me the clan head."
...
Naobito blinked before laughing. "*Pft* Hahaha."
His face immediately turned serious and continued. "If that is all you want, get out. It isn't the time for you to become the clan head yet."
Naoya raised his cursed energy. "If that's the case, then I'll make it the time."
Naobito's eyebrow rose, and a smirk appeared on his face. "You brat."
Suddenly, Naobito disappeared from his seat.
*BOOM*
Naobito threw a punch at Naoya's stomach, which was blocked by an X-shaped formation.
His eyes widened. "You can already react to me?"
Instead of replying, Naoya moved in a peculiar way.
Naobito smirked. "Following the 24 frames."
While finishing the movement, Naoya kicked at Naobito's face, but he grabbed his foot.
*Shink*
Naoya gets trapped in a mirror-like structure for one second.
*Crash*
Naobito punches the frame, and a fist mark appears on Naoya's chest.
Recovering quickly, Naoya and Naobito both vanish from sight.
To anyone under the level of grade one, both would look like they were teleporting.
However, they were moving at the speed of sound.
While clashing, Naobito's hand seems to be reaching for Naoya's shoulder, but Naoya manages to use his other palm to touch Naobito's side.
*Shink, Shink*
They hit each other, and both got trapped in a frame since the rule of 24 frames wasn't followed.
As the second ends, both land on their feet, and their speed shoots up higher as Projection Sorcery is used to amplify their speed.
Naobito laughs like a madman while he and Naoya vanish repeatedly. "HAHAHA, when did you get this fast!?"
Naoya doesn't respond as he is focusing on one thing.
...
Taking Naobito's mantle as the third fastest sorcerer.
While Naoya wants to be fast, he is realistic in his goals.
...
This wasn't only a fight to become the clan head. It is a fight to prove that he has surpassed Naobito Zenin.
Naoya becomes slightly behind Naobito's movements as their speed shoots higher and higher.
He was slower.
This was to be expected since he was only eighteen, but he had something that Naobito didn't.
Suddenly, Naoya turned off Projection Sorcery. Naobito wouldn't let this opportunity go since Naoya had shown his skill with Projection Sorcery.
Naobito reached out for Naoya's face to freeze and pummel him.
However, Naoya said something that he never expected as his hands moved together. "[Domain Expansion..."
...
"...Time Cell Moon Palace]."
...
A fleshy, womb-like structure with an eye formed as a black barrier engulfs both of them.
At the last moment, Naoya was able to duck under Naobito's palm, which had previously been aimed at his face.
Inside of a domain expansion, the user's statistics are amplified due to environmental factors.
Naobito quickly speaks up. "[Falling Blos-]"
However, he gets cut off as a reel enters his neck.
Naoya's domain expansion works similarly to Naohiro's in that you must abide by its rules as soon as you get affected by it, even for a fraction of a second.
If the reel enters the one inside the domain, the rules must be followed.
Falling Blossom Emotion can't deflect the sure-hit after it has already made its mark, forcing Naobito to abide by the 24 frames, which are impossible to follow.
He speaks back up. "[Falling Blossom Emotion]."
Contrary to his expectations, he noticed it didn't matter as he started to bleed as he felt what appeared to be a million cuts.
Falling over, bleeding from the domain expansion, he looked up at Naoya, who looked down on him.
A look of pity.
Naoya put his hands in his pocket and turned around as he walked to his barrier's edge. "We're done here."
Naobito kept getting cut repeatedly for ten more seconds before the technique's release shattered the barrier.
Bleeding on the ground, Naobito spoke up. "Fine, take it. Good luck running the clan, you brat."
Naoya is now the head of the Zenin clan.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
JaxWolf4
JaxWolf4 Impossible, Naoya won a fight.
Weekly Power Status
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