"What happened four hundred years ago?" Satoru Gojo quickly sorted through what he knew, piecing it together. "Could you mean back when..."
"That's right..."
Naobito Zenin nodded, his expression grave.
"I'm sure you've heard about it from the elders of the Gojo Clan, but the account passed down through our Zenin Clan..."
"Is a different version altogether."
"What?!"
Ze Zenin lost his composure, reacting as though he weren't a member of the Zenin Clan himself.
"Hasn't the story always been that our ancestor flew into a rage... then forcibly dragged the Gojo Clan head into the taming ritual?"
"You little brat!" Naobito Zenin's iron fist came down on Ze Zenin. "Is that any way to talk about your ancestor?"
"But that's what happened..." Ze Zenin muttered.
Naobito Zenin ignored him and continued recounting the records in the clan archives.
"According to our records, the Zenin Clan and the Gojo Clan were extremely close in that generation..."
"?!"
Ze Zenin was stunned. How was that possible?
Extremely close... but hadn't the two clans been bitter enemies for the past several hundred years?
Did I end up in a fake jujutsu world? Is this the Infinite Tsukuyomi?
Ze Zenin sank into deep self-doubt...
"Let me finish, Ze."
Seemingly seeing through Ze Zenin's confusion, Naobito Zenin shot him a glare before continuing.
"The clan head back then was also an extraordinary genius. When he was about your age, perhaps even a year younger..."
"He had already tamed the nine shikigami!"
"He was hailed as the Ten Shadows Sorcerer most likely to tame Mahoraga..."
"What?!"
This time, it was Satoru Gojo's turn to be shocked. They had practically been taking turns saying "what" all day.
"Then wasn't he just like Spiky Hair? Why would he choose to take them both down?"
"That's precisely what I wanted to explain..."
Naobito Zenin sighed.
"Those two were once the closest of friends, yet during their duel before the ruler, they seemed to suddenly become mortal enemies.
Our clan head actually risked mutual destruction to drag the Gojo Clan head into Mahoraga's taming ritual..."
"At the time, people in our clan suspected... that someone might have been secretly driving a wedge between them."
"But as the Zenin Clan investigated, rumors spread within the Gojo Clan that our clan head had acted out of jealousy. Then, as time passed..."
"The relationship between our clans deteriorated, until it became what it is today."
So there was a secret like this behind it...
Ze Zenin narrowed his eyes. They had actually been close friends.
Whether their friendship had been genuine or merely superficial, risking his life hardly seemed like a decision a clan head would make on the spur of the moment.
At that moment, one person came to mind-Kenjaku!
It would hardly be surprising for this thousand-year-old jujutsu sorcerer to have manipulated things behind the scenes. Perhaps he had wanted to eliminate the strongest fighters of both the Zenin and Gojo clans.
He could have devised a scheme to turn the two against each other, achieving some objective of his own...
Although Ze Zenin had a theory, he didn't voice it. After all, someone living for a thousand years was simply too incredible to believe...
"This is exactly what I wanted to warn you two about."
Naobito Zenin looked deeply at Ze Zenin and Satoru Gojo. "You two are the bond through which the Zenin and Gojo clans will mend their relationship in the future. Whatever happens..."
"You must never let things reach the point of fighting to the death!"
Ze Zenin smiled. Just as he was about to reassure the old man, Satoru Gojo spoke first.
"Don't worry, old man. I'm the strongest!"
Ze Zenin: "..."
Just you wait, Gojo. Once I tame Mahoraga, I'll show you!
Satoru Gojo smiled confidently, then suddenly felt a chill down his back, as though someone had set their sights on him.
As they talked, the three returned to the crowd, acting as though nothing had happened.
"Satoru, come here!"
An elder pulled Satoru Gojo over. "Mingling with the Zenin Clan? How disgraceful!"
"Head Elder, I only went over to take a look."
"At any rate, none of the Zenins are any good. Don't play with them!"
The elder then led Satoru Gojo to the most conspicuous spot, where the so-called sparring matches between sorcerers began.
In truth, the Gojo Clan had deliberately arranged this to show Jujutsu Society the power of their Six Eyes.
Satoru Gojo's first opponent was a boy from the Kamo Clan.
"My cursed technique is... Blood Manipulation!"
"Someone already has Blood Manipulation?"
Ze Zenin thought that the butterfly effect really was enormous. All three hereditary techniques of the Three Great Families had appeared in this little hall of the Gojo Clan today.
The boy's name was Kamo Sheng, and he was the same age as Ze Zenin and the others.
"Come at me however you like!" Satoru Gojo said casually. Compared to three months ago, he had now mastered one of Limitless's abilities:
Cursed Technique Lapse-Blue!
Kamo Sheng's gaze sharpened. He brought his hands together and pointed them toward Satoru Gojo, firing a high-speed column of blood that shot forward like a beam of light.
Satoru Gojo raised a hand, effortlessly stopping it outside his Limitless.
Kamo Sheng didn't give up. He had learned about the Gojo Clan's Limitless technique long ago, so besides Blood Manipulation...
He had also drawn inspiration from a cursed tool called the Black Rope, carried by the African sorcerer who taught him, and devised a move that could slightly disrupt an opponent's cursed technique...
He called it True Flow!
Several drops of blood formed behind Kamo Sheng, then shot toward Satoru Gojo together, empowered by cursed energy.
"Again?" Satoru Gojo sounded a little exasperated. "Isn't the Kamo Clan's hereditary technique a bit too repetitive in how it attacks?"
What Satoru Gojo hadn't expected was that the blood wasn't aimed at him, but at the floor beneath his feet!
The blood quickly blasted through the floor, and thick clouds of smoke from the destruction enveloped Satoru Gojo.
Trying to obstruct my vision? Satoru Gojo stood where he was, then pushed his Six Eyes harder, maximizing his perception of Kamo Sheng's cursed energy!
Sure enough, Kamo Sheng appeared behind Satoru Gojo with a cursed-energy-infused fist, using one of Blood Manipulation's abilities-Flowing Red Scale!
By controlling the blood throughout his body and its flow, he enhanced his mobility and accelerated his movements.
At that moment, Kamo Sheng had stopped using his innate technique. Instead, he intended to disrupt Limitless with True Flow, then strike Satoru Gojo's waist to further interfere with his cursed energy control.
"Not a bad idea..." Satoru Gojo seemed to see right through Kamo Sheng's thoughts. "But if you think Limitless is all I can use now..."
"You're seriously underestimating me!"
"Cursed Technique Lapse, maximum output: Blue!"
As Satoru Gojo spoke, an immense force of attraction appeared in the arena. Kamo Sheng immediately lost his footing and toppled toward Blue.
Satoru Gojo seized the opening and punched Kamo Sheng in the body, sending him straight out of the arena with the force of the blow.
"I lost..." Kamo Sheng got up, looking a little disheveled, and wiped the dust from his face.
"You're strong."
Satoru Gojo showed no joy at his victory, speaking with a somewhat aloof air instead. "Among the people I know, at least, you rank second."
"Only second?" Kamo Sheng smiled ruefully. "Who's first?"
"..." Satoru Gojo said nothing, looking instead at Ze Zenin. Only after seeing him nod did he continue.
"The Zenin Clan's Ten Shadows!"
Before you continue