Chapter Summaries

Naobito Zenin learned that his newborn son was healthy but had not cried since birth, and he went to see the eerily silent infant. He ordered the clan to announce the birth and forbade speculation, leaving the elders' concerns unresolved.

• A servant reported that Naobito Zenin's wife had safely delivered a son who had not cried once.
• Naobito Zenin examined the baby and heard the midwife confirm that the child was healthy despite his silence.
• The infant briefly stirred, and Naobito Zenin sensed an unsettling awareness behind his closed eyes.
• Naobito Zenin ordered the clan to announce the birth and threatened punishment for anyone who speculated about the baby's silence.
• Naobito Zenin dismissed the elders' request to summon an onmyoji and declared that the child's peculiarity needed no further discussion.

Naobito Zenin visited his unusually quiet month-old son and chose the name Naoya Zenin for him. He left the bedroom expecting that his composed son might shape a different future for the Zenin Clan.

• Naobito Zenin went to the infant's bedroom after servants again reported that the boy had not cried since birth.
• Naobito Zenin introduced himself to his son, but the infant silently watched him without reacting.
• Naobito Zenin studied the infant's dark eyes and decided to name him Naoya Zenin.
• Naobito Zenin told Naoya Zenin to grow strong and train in Jujutsu, then ordered the attendants to care for him.
• Naobito Zenin left the bedroom anticipating that Naoya Zenin might bring a different future to the Zenin Clan.

Six-year-old Zhiyan had secretly wielded the Ten Shadows Technique for a year, and Naobito discovered his two Divine Dogs during a visit. After Zhiyan dismissed his drunken father and refused his offer to train, Naobito challenged him to show what his shikigami could do.

• Naobito visited Zhiyan's courtyard and sensed that the black and white dogs were shikigami created by the Ten Shadows Technique.
• Zhiyan pushed Naobito away for smelling of alcohol and revealed that he had awakened the technique on his fifth birthday.
• Zhiyan explained that he had summoned the Divine Dogs without telling Naobito because he did not think he needed to report it.
• Naobito praised Zhiyan's control and offered to help him practice, but Zhiyan said the dogs were no match for him.
• Zhiyan ordered Divine Dog: Black and Divine Dog: White into ready stances, and Naobito prepared to test their strength.

Zhiyan demonstrated how his Divine Dogs combined their wind abilities, and Naobito praised his talent before deciding to announce his Ten Shadows Technique awakening and name him heir. Wana joined them in the courtyard, where Zhiyan promised to teach her Jujutsu when she was older.

• Zhiyan ordered Divine Dog: Black and Divine Dog: White to attack Naobito, who evaded and disrupted their wind techniques while explaining their weaknesses.
• The Divine Dogs coordinated an attack, and Naobito praised Zhiyan's teamwork and potential after countering them without using Projection Sorcery's core ability.
• Naobito told Zhiyan about Satoru Gojo and proposed announcing Zhiyan's awakening and naming him heir at a clan council in three days; Zhiyan accepted indifferently.
• Wana came to play with Zhiyan and asked to learn Jujutsu, and he promised to teach her when she was older.
• Naobito said he would arrange teachers for both children after the council, and the family shared a warm moment in the courtyard.

Zhiyan secured his position as the Zenin Clan's heir after demonstrating his control of the Ten Shadows Technique, while Naobito warned him about Ogi Zenin's resentment. After visiting his mother, Zhiyan headed to a secluded training ground and encountered a dangerous man with no cursed energy.

• Naobito Zenin presented Zhiyan as the future clan head, and Zhiyan impressed the elders with the Divine Dogs' precise offense and defense.
• The elders accepted Zhiyan as heir, and Naobito scheduled his investiture ceremony for three days later.
• Wana Zenin congratulated Zhiyan, and he and Naobito discussed Ogi Zenin's ambitions and agreed to stay alert.
• Zhiyan brought Wana to their mother, who encouraged him not to shoulder the clan's burdens alone.
• Zhiyan went to a secluded training ground to refine his technique and subjugate another shikigami, but a man with no cursed energy blocked his path.

Zhiyan met Toji Zenin, who tested his Ten Shadows Technique and warned him that Ogi Zenin had tried to recruit him against the new heir. After Toji left, Zhiyan recognized the succession struggle was still underway and began training to improve his technique and strength.

• Zhiyan restrained his Divine Dogs when Toji Zenin confronted him in an alley and recognized him as the clan’s new Ten Shadows heir.
• Toji challenged Zhiyan’s shikigami, easily deflected their attacks, and criticized his weak cursed energy and poor coordination.
• Toji revealed that Ogi Zenin had offered him half the clan’s power and its cursed tools to help remove Zhiyan, but Toji had refused.
• Toji warned Zhiyan to watch over his little sister and improve before they met again, then left the alley.
• Zhiyan concluded that the succession struggle remained unresolved and headed to the training ground to practice controlling his Wind Blade.

Zhiyan used Rabbit Escape, Toad, and the Divine Dogs to subjugate Nue, adding the powerful shikigami to his Ten Shadows Technique. Afterward, Naobito praised him and warned him to stay alert as Ogi made moves within the Zenin Clan, while Zhiyan resolved to rely on his own strength.

• Zhiyan summoned Rabbit Escape, Toad, and the Divine Dogs at the training ground and called forth unsubjugated Nue.
• Nue attacked Zhiyan with lightning, but Rabbit Escape disrupted its aim before the Toads bound its wings.
• Zhiyan coordinated the Divine Dogs’ attack, and they destroyed Nue’s cursed-energy core.
• Zhiyan placed the Ten Shadows Technique’s contract markings on Nue, turning it into his obedient shikigami.
• Naobito questioned Zhiyan about the training ground’s cursed-energy fluctuations, and Zhiyan confirmed he had been practicing without revealing everything.
• Naobito warned Zhiyan that Ogi was making moves, and Zhiyan returned to studying coordinated shikigami tactics.

After rejecting the conventional instructors Naobito offered, Zhiyan asked Toji Zenin to train him so he could master the Ten Shadows Technique beyond the clan’s rules. Toji agreed to teach him starting the next day, and Zhiyan accepted the risks of their arrangement.

• Naobito sent Zhiyan dossiers on potential instructors, but Zhiyan decided their clan-bound methods could not give him the guidance he wanted.
• Zhiyan recalled Toji’s strength and unorthodox outlook, then went to find him in the western courtyard.
• Zhiyan asked Toji to become his teacher, and Toji challenged him with his price and harsh training methods.
• Zhiyan offered the Zenin Clan’s resources in exchange and explained that he wanted to break free of the clan’s conventions and gain real strength.
• Toji agreed to train Zhiyan starting the next day, and Zhiyan accepted the danger and possible rejection by the clan and Jujutsu Society.

Zhiyan’s choice of Toji as his teacher left Naobito resigned but willing to support him. During their first training session, Toji challenged six-year-old Zhiyan to survive against a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit with three shikigami, and Zhiyan began directing them with his own tactics.

• Naobito learned that Zhiyan had asked Toji to teach him and accepted his son’s unconventional choice.
• Zhiyan confirmed to Naobito that he understood the consequences of choosing Toji and left the study.
• Toji arrived an hour late to Zhiyan’s first training session at the Cursed Spirit Detention Facility.
• Toji set Zhiyan the task of surviving against a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit until an incense stick burned down while using at least three shikigami together.
• Zhiyan summoned Divine Dogs, Rabbit Escape, and Toad, then directed them in a coordinated strategy against the cursed spirit.

Zhiyan adapted his shikigami tactics against a powerful cursed spirit, then recalled them and summoned Nue to destroy it with a decisive lightning strike. Drained and exhausted, he was carried back to his courtyard by Toji, who praised his performance.

• Zhiyan coordinated Toad, the Divine Dogs, and Rabbit Escape to restrain and wound the cursed spirit while Toji watched.
• The cursed spirit launched a lethal spike attack, so Zhiyan recalled the Divine Dogs and recognized that he needed to end the fight quickly.
• Zhiyan recalled his remaining shikigami, summoned Nue, and killed the cursed spirit with a lightning strike before it could self-destruct.
• Toji praised Zhiyan for adapting his tactics and exceeding the training goal, then carried him from the holding chamber.
• Zhiyan fell asleep on Toji's shoulder as Toji headed toward his courtyard.

After Zhiyan returned from defeating a cursed spirit, Toji warned him about the risks of his tactics and Zhiyan said he wanted strength rather than the Zenin Clan’s power or status. Wana welcomed her brother and shared Osmanthus Cake with Toji, whom she called her “Cousin Uncle,” leaving the group together in a peaceful courtyard.

• Toji carried the exhausted Zhiyan home, and Zhiyan thanked him before entering the courtyard.
• Toji praised Zhiyan’s battle tactics but warned that his victory depended partly on luck and risky decisions.
• Zhiyan said he valued the heir’s training resources but wanted strength to control his fate, not wealth or status.
• Wana rushed to Zhiyan, worried over his exhaustion, and brought him Osmanthus Cake.
• Wana offered Toji cake despite her initial fear, and Toji told her he was her cousin rather than her uncle.
• Wana called Toji “Cousin Uncle,” and Zhiyan joined her in praising the cake as the courtyard grew calm and warm.

Zhiyan underwent brutal hand-to-hand combat training with Toji, who exposed how vulnerable the six-year-old was when opponents got close. After being repeatedly overwhelmed, Zhiyan accepted that close combat was a weakness he needed to overcome and stood ready to train again.

• Zhiyan questioned Toji's plan to spar with him, but accepted the training after Toji explained that real enemies would not go easy on him.
• Toji attacked Zhiyan at full speed, and Zhiyan relied on his reflexes and footwork to dodge before being driven against a stone pillar.
• Zhiyan blocked one of Toji's punches, was knocked across the ground, then charged back and tried to exploit Toji's ankle while continuing to evade him.
• Toji caught Zhiyan and explained that hand-to-hand combat required maintaining his rhythm and sensing an opponent's movements; he then set him down and ordered him to try again.
• Toji eventually laid Zhiyan flat and explained that close combat was a major weakness for shikigami users like him, while Zhiyan recognized the danger of relying solely on his Ten Shadows Technique.
• Zhiyan pushed himself to his feet after the training ended, and Toji warned that their next session would be harsher.

After a month of brutal sparring with Toji, Zhiyan became more capable in close combat and earned Toji’s reserved approval. When Ogi Zenin challenged his training and heirship, Zhiyan refused to back down, and Naobito Zenin assured him that he had his support.

• Zhiyan improved through a month of daily sparring with Toji, learning to dodge, block, and counter.
• Toji praised Zhiyan’s rapid progress and told him not to disappoint him.
• Ogi Zenin confronted Zhiyan about training with Toji and urged him to give up the practice, but Zhiyan defended his choices and challenged Ogi to try to undermine him.
• Ogi left in anger after Zhiyan dismissed him, while Divine Dogs: Black guarded Zhiyan.
• Naobito Zenin heard about Ogi’s visit, affirmed Zhiyan’s response, and told him to keep training without fear.

After Toji suggested merging shikigami and sorcerer cursed energy cores, Zhiyan began testing the idea to overcome the Ten Shadows Technique’s limits. Complete fusion threatened to erase the Divine Dogs, so he attempted a cautious exchange of small portions of their cursed energy sources, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Zhiyan effortlessly exorcised a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit while Toji watched from nearby.
• Toji suggested merging a shikigami’s cursed energy core with Zhiyan’s own to eliminate conversion problems and excessive energy costs.
• Zhiyan returned to his cultivation room and attempted to fuse his core with the Divine Dogs’, but violent repulsion forced him to stop.
• Zhiyan realized full fusion would destroy the Divine Dogs and devised a safer method of exchanging small portions of their cursed energy sources.
• Divine Dogs: Black cooperated as Zhiyan guided their two streams of source energy toward each other, and they began to resonate.

Zhiyan successfully exchanged sources with Divine Dogs, Toad, Rabbit Escape, and Nue, gaining their abilities as part of his own cursed energy and transforming the Ten Shadows Technique into a symbiotic power. He began refining the new abilities, confident that his strength had risen enough to challenge Grade 1 Cursed Spirits.

• Zhiyan completed a source exchange with Divine Dogs, gaining their perception, speed, and combat abilities without needing to summon them.
• Zhiyan exchanged sources with Toad and Rabbit Escape, adding their support and duplication abilities to his own.
• Zhiyan completed the exchange with Nue, bringing all four shikigami sources into a single symbiotic circulation.
• Zhiyan tested his new powers by extending his perception across the Zenin Clan estate, creating a duplicate, and producing wind and lightning.
• Zhiyan returned to training to refine the symbiotic cycle and prepare to master his newly awakened power.

After three years of training, Zhiyan took his eight-year-old sister Wana into the city, where he subdued Curse Users who ambushed them. At a dessert shop, Wana met Shoko after Shoko gave her the last Cherry Blossom Snow Daifuku, and the three agreed to share a meal.

• Zhiyan agreed to take Wana outside after she pleaded with him, and he arranged for Zenin sorcerers to accompany them.
• While Zhiyan and Wana explored the city, he sensed Curse Users targeting them and ordered Wana to close her eyes.
• Zhiyan incapacitated the Curse Users with Wind Blades, and his accompanying sorcerers bound them for delivery to Jujutsu Headquarters.
• At a dessert shop, Shoko gave Wana one of her two servings of Cherry Blossom Snow Daifuku.
• Wana invited Shoko to a meal as thanks, and Shoko accepted.

Wana went on her first outing with Zhiyan and befriended Shoko Ieiri, who was visiting with her parents from Kanagawa. After sharing lunch and promising to write and meet again, Wana returned home with Zhiyan, excited about their new friendship.

• Wana met Shoko Ieiri at a dessert shop, and the girls bonded over daifuku and their families.
• Wana invited Shoko and her parents to lunch, and Zhiyan took them to Maple Kaiseki.
• Wana and Shoko chatted through the meal and promised to write to each other and meet again in Kanagawa.
• Shoko left with her parents, and Zhiyan reassured Wana that they could visit her again.
• Wana fell asleep in the car, and Zhiyan carried her into the Zenin Clan estate.

After Shoko Ieiri began seeing fly heads, Wana and Zhiyan visited her in Yokohama and discovered she could heal injuries with Reverse Cursed Technique. Shoko chose to enter the Jujutsu Society alongside Wana, while Zhiyan advised her to keep her rare ability secret until she could protect herself.

• Wana showed Zhiyan Shoko's letter describing the strange creatures she could see, and he recognized them as fly heads.
• Zhiyan agreed to take Wana to visit Shoko, and Wana prepared handmade gifts for her friend.
• At Shoko's home, Zhiyan confirmed that she could see cursed spirits and explained that she had jujutsu talent.
• Shoko revealed that she had unconsciously healed a wounded sparrow, and Zhiyan identified her ability as the rare Reverse Cursed Technique.
• Zhiyan warned Shoko that people in the Jujutsu Society might try to use her and advised her to conceal her technique until she could protect herself.
• Shoko chose to become a jujutsu sorcerer so she could stay with Wana, and the girls shared lunch with Shoko's family.

Zhiyan brought Shoko to the Zenin residence for a visit and told Naobito that she could heal other people with Reverse Cursed Technique. Naobito proposed that Zhiyan marry Shoko to secure her place in the clan, leaving Wana excitedly telling Shoko about the idea and Zhiyan embarrassed after overhearing them.

• Shoko agreed to stay in Kyoto with Wana, and her parents saw her off.
• Zhiyan took Shoko to the Zenin residence, where she joined Wana in her room.
• Zhiyan told Naobito that Shoko, a nine-year-old from an ordinary family, could use Reverse Cursed Technique to heal others.
• Naobito argued that the Zenin Clan could only fully protect Shoko if she became family and suggested she marry Zhiyan when she grew up.
• Wana overheard their conversation and told Shoko, who said she was only nine while blushing slightly.
• Zhiyan overheard Wana matchmaking for him and Shoko, turned away with reddened ears, and left as Naobito laughed.

Zhiyan checked on Shoko at Wana’s courtyard and learned that Shoko knew about his father’s marriage proposal. Shoko accepted that marrying Zhiyan could protect her from people seeking her rare Cursed Technique, leaving Zhiyan flustered but smiling as he returned to his quarters.

• Zhiyan overheard Wana asking Shoko whether she had thought about him because they were going to marry, then entered and stopped Wana from teasing her.
• Zhiyan joined Shoko and Wana for breakfast and reassured Shoko that she could come to him if she needed anything.
• Shoko revealed that Wana had told her about the proposed marriage and said she would be willing to marry Zhiyan when she was older for protection.
• Shoko complimented Zhiyan’s looks and said he would look better if he smiled, making him blush.
• After breakfast, Shoko told Zhiyan to go to bed early, and he left the courtyard smiling and hopeful he would sleep well.