Hearing Yukio say that, something lightly hit Toji’s heart.
He snorted and turned his face away, “We’ll talk about it later.”
“At least here, we don’t need to worry about food, clothes, or a place to stay for now.”
“If we leave now, how are we supposed to survive?
Can’t exactly send you off as child labor, right?”
Yukio froze for a moment, then said as if it were obvious, “Eh?
Isn’t it supposed to be you working to make money and raise me?”
Toji looked like he’d heard a joke and waved his hand.
“Work?”
“No chance I’m working in this lifetime.”
He quickly changed the subject and pointed at Yukio.
“Speaking of which, what’s the point of all those push-ups and squats you do every day?”
“Fancy nonsense.”
Yukio immediately put on the look of a lonely master and raised his chin proudly.
“Foolish onii-chan, this is where you don’t understand.”
“Training the body depends on persistence!”
“When you reach my age, you’ll understand my deep foresight!”
Bang!
A fist that wasn’t too heavy landed on Yukio’s head.
“Ow!”
Yukio covered his head in pain.
Toji pulled his hand back and spoke seriously as if educating him, “Foolish kid, let me tell you a cruel fact.”
“People only grow older.
They don’t grow backward.”
“You’re underestimating Heavenly Restriction too much.”
He looked at Yukio, more seriousness appearing in his eyes.
“The level of training you’re doing is too ordinary.”
“What Heavenly Restriction gives you is unmatched physical potential and limits.
What it needs is extreme tempering, squeezing everything out, even…”
He didn’t finish, but the meaning was obvious.
Those childish exercises didn’t do much.
“When your body develops more, you’ll naturally understand.”
Yukio blinked.
“Then why don’t you teach me now?”
Toji raised a fist the size of a sandbag and showed a “kind” smile.
“Because…”
“I still haven’t figured out how to teach you in a way you can understand without accidentally ruining your body.”
Yukio looked at the fist, then thought about his big brother’s simple and violent style at certain times.
He immediately followed his instincts and shut his mouth.
That topic temporarily ended.
The two walked the whole way without speaking, just quietly hurrying along.
On the way, they passed lively food stalls several times.
Yukio stared eagerly at the fragrant oden and takoyaki.
But every time, Toji cruelly rejected him with the cold and heartless words, “No money.”
This really wasn’t because Toji was stingy.
The budget for this “trip to observe the Six Eyes” was the tiny amount of travel money approved by the family.
It definitely didn’t include “snacks.”
After several transfers and a long trip, they finally arrived near the Gojo family estate.
The atmosphere here was obviously different from the Zenin family.
More solemn, and also more… expensive.
They didn’t get close, only stood far away in an unnoticed corner to watch.
Right then, the grand gates of the Gojo family opened.
A small figure with dazzling white hair was being led by an elder of the family, seemingly heading out, or maybe just returning.
Gojo Satoru.
Even from a distance, even at such a young age, that unique aura that seemed naturally above all others was still obvious.
Suddenly…
Just as he was about to enter through the gate, Gojo Satoru abruptly stopped and turned his head, accurately “looking” toward where Toji and Yukio were hiding.
He opened his eyes and looked over, revealing a pair of eyes like the purest sky itself, reflecting endless heavens.
His gaze first swept over the highly noticeable Zenin Toji.
Then it shifted slightly and met the eyes of Zenin Yukio, who was also curiously looking back from afar.
For a moment…
Then both looked away.
Gojo Satoru showed no expression.
He blinked and followed the elder inside.
Toji, who had been lazily watching the whole time, suddenly laughed quietly.
His smile carried excitement and the eagerness of meeting a worthy opponent.
“What a ridiculous little brat.”
It was the first time he had been discovered so precisely while completely hiding his battle intent and killing intent, simply by watching.
And the other side was just a child.
“Yukio,” he patted his younger brother’s head, his tone complicated, “looks like being called ‘trash’ suddenly feels… a little more reasonable?”
Being born in the same era as a monster like that really was stressful.
Yukio curled his lips, pulling back his gaze, clearly annoyed.
“Tch, what’s so amazing about him.”
“He’s just… a kid with white hair!”
He smoothed his own black shiny hair and puffed out his chest.
“Look at me.
Aren’t I handsome too?”
“And that guy looked right at me just now!
Was he trying to fight me?”
Hearing that, Toji seriously lowered his head and examined his younger brother’s childish face.
Then he gave an extremely objective evaluation, “Not as handsome as me.”
“As for fighting…”
He grinned, showing white teeth.
“If he really fought you, you’d probably get hung up and beaten.”
Bang!
This time, Yukio angrily kicked Toji in the shin.
“Is there anyone who kills their own little brother’s confidence like you do?!”
Yukio puffed out his cheeks.
“I’m hungry!”
Toji laughed and scooped up the sulking little bean, throwing him onto his shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re hungry again.”
“That stomach of yours that gets hungry nine times a day, who’d you inherit that from?”
Yukio wrapped his arms around his neck and answered confidently, “I’m growing!
Eating a lot is normal!”
[Inside The Gojo Family Gates]
The woman holding Gojo Satoru’s hand bent down and gently asked, “What’s wrong, Satoru?
What were you looking at just now?”
Gojo Satoru slightly raised his head.
His azure eyes seemed to pierce through layers of buildings as he looked into the distance again.
He lightly shook his head, his voice calm and emotionless, “Nothing.”
Maybe because Yukio had brought Toji feelings he had never experienced before during these years.
Another word for it would be family affection.
Toji understood more clearly than anyone that once Yukio’s cursed energy test confirmed the result, the pressure and everything he would face were not things someone his age should bear.
Even if Yukio showed intelligence and emotional maturity far beyond kids his age, in Toji’s eyes he was still just a little brat.
How much pressure could a kid handle?
Instead of that, it would be better to let that brat Yukio eat some good food and have some fun before it happened.
Consider it giving him a mental preparation.
Yukio held snacks in both hands, so happy he was practically glowing.
“Bro, how come you suddenly have money again?
Don’t tell me you picked some up somewhere.”
“After buying all this food, do we still have money for the trip back?”
Toji spread his hands and admitted it openly, “Gone.”
Yukio stopped chewing, “…”