After Naobito Zenin spoke with the Head of the Kamo Clan, he let everyone mingle freely, since the Gojo Clan had yet to arrive.
Tan Man certainly had no fondness for occasions like this. He simply ate in silence in an empty corner.
Even so, he could still hear the Kamo Clan members whispering about him.
Just then, a voice Tan Man hadn't expected rang out beside him.
"You look awful. You were more relaxed when you were killing people. What are you afraid of? If you don't like it here, why not just leave?"
Tan Man looked in surprise at Toji, who had arrived without him noticing. Dressed in casual black clothes, Toji helped himself to the food on the table without a care. Several red marks were still visible on his neck. Among the formally dressed guests, he looked utterly out of place, as if he belonged in a different picture altogether.
Toji could more or less understand how Tan Man felt. After all, he had grown up somewhere like this too. Back when he had no cursed energy, his circumstances had been even worse than Tan Man's.
Tan Man stared at his own bewildered reflection in the gleaming plate. He couldn't quite explain what he was afraid of either.
Was it because a week of training had taught me the true extent of my strength, and now I was afraid of losing too badly against Satoru Gojo?
Or was I afraid that a humiliating defeat would make Naobito Zenin dismiss my worth, forcing me back into a life where my own family despised me?
Tan Man could feel the conflict within himself. At its core, it still stemmed from his own weakness.
Perhaps because Tan Man remained silent, Toji changed the subject, speaking half in jest.
"Don't you want to get your hands on the Zenin Clan? If you can kill that Six Eyes brat today, I bet they'll make you their twenty-seventh clan head tomorrow."
Speak of the devil—the Gojo Clan members arrived, led by the Head of the Gojo Clan and Satoru Gojo.
Even though Satoru Gojo wasn't the focus of today's banquet, the Zenin and Kamo Clan members still found their eyes drawn to the boy who would stand unrivaled in Jujutsu Society for many years to come.
Under everyone's gaze, the Head of the Gojo Clan smiled and said,
"There's no need to pay so much attention to Satoru. Shouldn't everyone be paying more attention to the Zenin Clan's new member?"
Those seemingly modest words immediately prompted everyone to compare the Gojo Clan's Satoru Gojo with the Zenin Clan's Tan Man Zenin.
After all, the members of the Three Great Families present knew perfectly well what today's banquet was for, and that Tan Man was its real "star."
Countless eyes turned toward Tan Man. He could hear the whispers discussing his origins.
"I heard Naobito Zenin brought that young Zenin master back from Kabukicho."
"An illegitimate child? Why would he be in a place like that?"
"That's not all. I heard his mother was, you know, one of those women. That's why the Zenin Clan hasn't released any information about her."
"I heard that too. The Zenin Clan paid quite a price to get involved in that Kabukicho incident. It must have been for this child, right?"
"What a joke. Isn't a child with that sort of background a disgrace? Yet they still parade him around at an occasion like this."
Most of those speaking belonged to the Gojo and Kamo Clans. Though the Zenin Clan members said nothing, their gazes spoke volumes.
Those grating voices made Tan Man experience the feeling he hated most all over again.
The murmurs from that night returned, taking the form of his charred mother in Tan Man's vision. She reached out, covered his ears, and whispered,
"Kill them. Send everyone who hurts you into the great Avici Hell of unending torment. I know you can do it, my precious son!"
In reality, however, Toji, standing beside Tan Man, noticed none of what Tan Man was experiencing.
But he could still tell that something was wrong with Tan Man.
After discussing it, the three clan heads decided to make the younger generation's matches the entertainment before the banquet officially began.
Everyone moved to a clearing in the mountains behind the hotel. Since the matches would involve cursed techniques, designated personnel raised a Curtain to prevent unnecessary trouble.
At Naobito Zenin's instruction, Naoya went first, facing Satoru Gojo in the opening match.
Naobito Zenin knew perfectly well that, with the Six Eyes, Satoru Gojo would expend very little cursed energy even after fighting Naoya.
Even so, Naobito Zenin still made his arrangements carefully, with the goal of defeating Satoru Gojo.
Naoya and Satoru Gojo had met before, but the difference was that Satoru Gojo hadn't bothered remembering him. Naoya, on the other hand, had always remembered Satoru Gojo vividly and classed him as a monster in his mind.
Satoru Gojo looked at Naoya with contempt. "Let's get this over with."
If anyone else had mocked Naoya like that, he would have snapped back immediately. But with Satoru Gojo standing opposite him, he had no desire to do so.
Naoya instantly circulated his cursed energy and activated Projection Sorcery to enhance himself. He raced around Satoru Gojo, attempting to confuse his judgment and find an opening to attack.
Strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong with his choice of tactics: use his superior speed to find an opening, then launch a lightning-fast strike.
Unfortunately, his opponent was Satoru Gojo, who possessed the Six Eyes.
Satoru Gojo didn't even turn his head or move his eyes. He simply stood there impassively with his hands in his pockets. The three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vision of the Six Eyes gave him absolute confidence.
Provoked by Satoru Gojo's arrogance, Naoya was the first to lose his composure.
Does having the Six Eyes mean you can be this arrogant? Even Tan Man doesn't dare ignore me so blatantly when he fights me!
After all, Tan Man was the strongest opponent of Naoya's age he had fought so far, and the one who had left a deep psychological scar on him. He instinctively compared him with Satoru Gojo.
Accelerating to the very limits of his body, Naoya appeared behind Satoru Gojo at astonishing speed. He concentrated his immense momentum and cursed energy into his right fist and punched with all his strength.
But after a single explosive crack, his fist stopped several dozen centimeters behind Satoru Gojo's head, unable to advance even an inch.
Naoya felt that strange sensation. This was his first firsthand experience of Limitless. No matter how thoroughly others had described it before, those descriptions had never given him any real sense of it.
Satoru Gojo simply turned calmly and pulled his right hand from his pocket.
"Blue."
An azure orb of light gathered in Satoru Gojo's right hand. Its immense attraction dragged Naoya's entire body forward, pulling him straight into Satoru Gojo's heavy punch.
With a deafening bang, the powerful impact knocked Naoya unconscious, and he collapsed.
[Normally, this punch would have sent Naoya flying, but Blue held him in place. The opposing forces of the attack and Blue pulled him in different directions, multiplying the damage he sustained.]
"..."
Naobito Zenin remained silent, his expression calm. This outcome had been expected. Without a way to counter Limitless, any effort was futile.
Even if Naobito Zenin himself had faced Satoru Gojo, the result would not have been fundamentally different from Naoya's. Only the process would have varied somewhat.
Satoru Gojo couldn't even be bothered to look at Naoya. He stepped straight over his head and started to leave, only for the Head of the Gojo Clan to stop him.
"What?" Satoru Gojo asked irritably.
"The Zenin Clan has one more person. You'll be finished once you've fought him," the Head of the Gojo Clan explained.
"Seriously? If there was someone else, they should've come at me together. What a waste of time."
As Satoru Gojo spoke, his gaze happened to meet Tan Man's Golden Eyes.
But Satoru Gojo sensed killing intent in Tan Man's gaze, making his brow crease slightly.
Before you continue