I lost

"Ten Shadows?"

Kamo Sheng smiled bitterly.

He had never expected all three of the Three Great Families' major cursed techniques to appear in this generation.

Kamo Sheng glanced at Satoru Gojo, then walked toward his clansmen. "Sorry, I lost."

"It's all right." The head of the Kamo Clan did not blame him. He patted his head. "There's no shame in losing to the Six Eyes..."

Inside, however, his thoughts churned like a storm. Had the Zenin Clan's inherited cursed technique appeared as well?

"Well?" Satoru Gojo looked back at the crowd. "Does anyone else want to challenge me?"

Naobito Zenin glanced at Ze Zenin, clearly hoping he would go up and test his skills.

"I'll go..." Ze Zenin smiled. He wanted to see just how strong Satoru Gojo was at this point, and warm up while he was at it.

Here he comes... Watching Ze Zenin approach, Satoru Gojo could barely contain his excitement. The boy before him was the only one... who could fight him as an equal!

"You know?" Satoru Gojo did not start fighting right away. "I've wanted to fight you ever since we first met. After all, I've never seen anyone with as much cursed energy as you."

"Is that so..." Ze Zenin smiled faintly, then settled into a fighting stance. "Come on. Show me how strong you are!"

Below the platform, Kamo Sheng stared blankly at the two boys, unable to stop a pang of envy.

It looks like I was born into a fascinating era, with such powerful rivals at my side...

I'll surpass them! Kamo Sheng clenched his fists, silently swearing to himself.

Satoru Gojo attacked first. Using Blue's attraction, he teleported beside Ze Zenin and threw a heavy left punch.

You want to compete with me in taijutsu? Ze Zenin could not help laughing as he recalled the terror of being utterly dominated by Toji. Those two years of beatings had not been for nothing!

Ze Zenin immediately raised his arm across his face. After blocking Satoru Gojo's attack, he countered with a kick. His hands did not stay idle either; he formed a rabbit hand seal.

Satoru Gojo's Limitless blocked the side kick as well, but a swarm of Rabbit Escape shikigami immediately emerged from Ze Zenin's shadow and surged toward him.

"Trying to distract me?" Satoru Gojo smiled confidently. "Blue!"

A blue sphere of cursed energy appeared, drawing in all the rabbits. What Satoru Gojo had not expected was for Blue and Ze Zenin to swap positions in the very next instant!

It's that move that swaps positions! Startled, Satoru Gojo circulated his cursed energy again and formed another Blue.

As though he had already anticipated it, Ze Zenin gathered lightning-aspected cursed energy in his hand.

"Chidori Sharp Spear!"

A bolt of lightning pierced the sphere of attraction Satoru Gojo had sent toward him. Then Ze Zenin activated the Fire Release template within him again:

"Great Fireball!"

A massive fireball burst from Ze Zenin's mouth, crossing the entire arena as it hurtled toward Satoru Gojo.

How does this guy have so many ways to attack?! The sudden chain of attacks shocked Satoru Gojo. Just moments earlier, he had been complaining about Blood Manipulation's limited offensive options.

But before Satoru Gojo could stop the Great Fireball outside his Limitless, an elephant appeared behind Ze Zenin. A torrent of water poured from its trunk. Water and fire collided in an instant, producing a vast amount of steam that blanketed the entire arena in white mist.

Obscuring my vision again? Satoru Gojo hurriedly adjusted his observation through the Six Eyes. This guy isn't Kamo Sheng. I can't handle him the same way!

To Satoru Gojo's surprise, however, Ze Zenin seemingly deliberately teleported behind him and formed another hand seal. A huge, strange shikigami appeared in the arena and slammed a fist toward Satoru Gojo.

"What is that?!"

Satoru Gojo raised his hand, and Limitless immediately stopped the Chimera Beast's fist. Inwardly, he was astonished. Can the Ten Shadows Technique be used like this?

Then Satoru Gojo condensed another Blue in his hand.

"Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson!" Under cover of the thick mist, Ze Zenin quickly retrieved several shuriken from the Ten Shadows space. Wreathed in flames, they rained down toward Satoru Gojo.

Satoru Gojo pushed his Six Eyes to their maximum output, flooding his mind with countless streams of information.

He quickly detected the flaming cursed energy descending from overhead and raised his hand. Limitless blocked the Phoenix Flower Fire attack.

"I'm not done yet!" Red light flashed in Ze Zenin's eyes as his Sharingan evolved to three tomoe. The Amenotejikara granted by the system activated again, teleporting him directly behind Satoru Gojo.

"Lion Combo!"

This was the move Sasuke had learned before the Chunin Ninja Exams by using his Sharingan to copy Rock Lee's taijutsu.

Ze Zenin kicked Satoru Gojo into the air, then flashed behind him, spinning his body repeatedly before gathering his strength into a final kick that drove Satoru Gojo into the ground.

Spiky Hair is so strong!

Satoru Gojo got back to his feet and touched his face. This was the first time in his life that someone his own age had hurt him.

Satoru Gojo formed another Blue in his hand, preparing to use its attraction to clear away all the surrounding mist. Feeling as though he were fighting on someone else's home turf was unbearable.

"You're thinking too slowly, Gojo..."

Ze Zenin rapidly formed hand seals, spewing another Great Fireball. But he had not formed just one seal...

As the Great Fireball burst forth, Ze Zenin moved as well. He swapped positions to appear behind Satoru Gojo, gathering surging lightning-aspected cursed energy in his hand again.

"Chidori!"

Satoru Gojo held one hand in front of him while using the other to block the Chidori in Ze Zenin's hand behind him.

But in a blind spot Satoru Gojo had no time to watch, an enormous bull charged toward him.

The Ten Shadows' Piercing Ox!

By now, Piercing Ox had finished his run-up and was charging straight toward Satoru Gojo's flank.

I'm done for!

Satoru Gojo could not fend off so many attacks at once. Behind him were Ze Zenin and the Chimera Beast's iron fist, while Piercing Ox had almost reached his side.

With a thought, Satoru Gojo used Blue's attraction to instantly pull himself out of the encirclement.

At that very moment, Ze Zenin focused his left eye and appeared beside Satoru Gojo as well.

His hand reached Satoru Gojo's neck, and he asked with a smile:

"Well, Satoru?"

"I give up."

Satoru Gojo sighed helplessly, then raised both hands and said:

"It's bad enough that your taijutsu is so strong... but you can piece together a monster like that with the Ten Shadows Technique too?"

"That's right."

Ze Zenin nodded calmly. "It's an extension of my cursed technique. I fuse shikigami together while preserving their original abilities."

"I'd already thought of it when I used the flames."

Looking at Satoru Gojo, Ze Zenin continued on his own:

"First, I used Max Elephant's water to extinguish the Great Fireball before you could block it.

That produced a huge amount of steam, making you think I was trying to obstruct your vision..."

"But when you used the Great Fireball afterward, you didn't just form one seal. You formed Piercing Ox's seal too, right?"

"You were just copying Kamo Sheng by teleporting behind me. You were betting that my attention would stay focused on you..."

"Your strange teleportation can keep up with mine, and with all those bizarre moves of yours...

Aren't you invincible?"

Satoru Gojo seemed to have realized something, and he teased Ze Zenin:

"I see... I submit."

Ze Zenin shook his head. "If you master an automatic Limitless, this move won't work on you anymore."

"An automatic Limitless?"

Satoru Gojo muttered to himself, then smiled bitterly. "I haven't even learned Reverse Cursed Technique yet."

"Don't worry... you will."

Ze Zenin thought of his teacher Toji's face and smiled mysteriously. "Someone will teach you."

"You'll figure out the automatic mode yourself, but he'll definitely be the one to teach you Reverse Cursed Technique."

"Who? Who?" Satoru Gojo called out curiously.

"I can't reveal heaven's secrets..." Ze Zenin stepped down from the platform, putting on a mysterious air. "You'll find out when the time comes."

"You're so stingy, Spiky Hair." Satoru Gojo pouted.

As the two finished bickering, the silent crowd finally erupted into chatter.

"He's a son of the Zenin Clan..."

"He actually defeated the Six Eyes?"

"Who would've thought the Six Eyes and Ten Shadows would appear in the same era again!"

As time passed after this battle, it was not only the Six Eyes' reputation that grew. The title of Ten Shadows Divine Child also began to spread throughout Jujutsu Society.

Ze Zenin even appeared on the Bounty Board, beginning to catch up with Satoru Gojo.

"It seems it's time to set my plan in motion..."

A man with stitches across his forehead muttered to himself. He was none other than Kenjaku, the thousand-year-old sorcerer Ze Zenin had mentioned.

At that moment, he had infiltrated the Three Great Families' gathering. Having lived for a thousand years, he knew very well what these three clans were capable of, especially the Gojo Clan.

"At just seven years old, he's already learned Limitless and the Cursed Technique Lapse, Blue...

Satoru Gojo, you really are the one who will upset the balance of the world!"

"Still... the Ten Shadows Divine Child?" Kenjaku laughed disdainfully. "Didn't I get rid of the one from four hundred years ago?"

"Even if you fuse the shikigami together, they're still nothing but a rabble. That fellow tried it long ago. He even hoped to tame Mahoraga that way."

Kenjaku recalled those events, his face showing not the slightest pride. "No Ten Shadows user in history has ever tamed Mahoraga, so there's nothing to fear..."

"Your attacks may be varied, but in the end, they're just flashy tricks."

Thinking of those seemingly "harmless" fireballs and lightning attacks, Kenjaku almost wanted to laugh.

Kenjaku smiled coldly. The curse user from last time had merely been a test. He watched the hands of his wristwatch keep turning.

His wariness toward Satoru Gojo gradually grew, while his wariness toward Ze Zenin had diminished from what it had been at first.

And this would become the decision he regretted most. If only he had gone all out and tried to kill Ze Zenin back then...