What led up to it

A few days earlier.

Unlike usual, Satoru Gojo had come home early that day.

Satoru Gojo had never hidden his visits to the wielder of the Ten Shadows Technique. Everyone in the Gojo Clan knew about them, and at first, the clan elders had all disapproved.

"How can the Gojo Clan's esteemed Child of God keep going to see that Ten Shadows wielder!"

"This is utterly outrageous!"

"Satoru should focus on studying Jujutsu and leave that sickly brat from the Zenin Clan in the dust!"

And so on. They bore an astonishing resemblance to the old fossils of the Zenin Clan.

-They had only quieted down after Satoru Gojo blasted their own meeting room with a Hollow Purple.

Every time they saw the Child of God heading out, there was an eighty percent chance he was going to see that Ten Shadows wielder, and it nearly gave them a heart attack.

Still, since Satoru Gojo completed his assigned lessons every day, they had reluctantly decided to turn a blind eye.

In any case, whenever Satoru Gojo returned, his expression was always calm and aloof. No one could glean anything from it.

Only then could they catch a glimpse of the bearing befitting the Child of God.

But today, not only had their Child of God returned earlier than usual, his face also carried a rare hint of... flustered indignation?

-Wait, what on earth had happened to the Child of God while he was out!

How could he be wearing an expression so utterly unlike him!

The Gojo Clan treasured Satoru Gojo beyond measure, afraid he would break if they held him or melt if they put him in their mouths. They treated his every move with the utmost care.

Seeing him like this, the elders wanted to find out what had happened, yet none of them dared ask. They even started passing the buck.

"I told you we should assign someone to accompany Satoru. Now look, we have no way of knowing what happened!"

"Talk, talk, talk, that's all you ever do! Why don't you go yourself!"

"Satoru himself said he didn't want anyone following him. Have you forgotten that completely?"

"Couldn't you have tried harder to persuade him?"

"With Satoru's personality, does he look like someone who listens to persuasion?"

"...Then what do we do?"

Silence reigned over the Gojo Clan that evening.

In the end, the least senior elder was pushed forward to "persuade" Satoru Gojo and, along the way, discreetly probe into what had happened.

-To his surprise, Satoru Gojo actually listened this time!

Even after returning home, Satoru Gojo still felt strange, along with a belated surge of indignation.

-Damn it, why could Kamu Zenin get such a huge reaction out of me with just one sentence!

She acted like nothing had happened, too. Didn't she realize how overly intimate her words had been?

What did she mean, "the special bond between us"!

When the elder came to question him, the child, not yet skilled at hiding his feelings, stammered and unwittingly let quite a bit slip.

-Oh, so that Ten Shadows wielder from the Zenin Clan was a master of manipulation. Despite her young age, she could stir their Child of God to anger with just a few words!

So calculating at such a tender age. Just what one would expect from the clan with the worst infighting among the Three Great Families.

Well, those were all the elder's conjectures, of course. What Satoru Gojo had actually said was, "She, she actually said..."

Then his face reddened again, and, as though he had suddenly caught himself, he shouted at the elder, "It's none of your business! Stop asking!"

The elder's heart immediately ached for him.

The Child of God was so angry that his face had turned red. He did not even want to repeat what the Ten Shadows wielder had said.

Apparently, the Ten Shadows wielder had been raised by an ordinary mother with no Cursed Energy and had only returned to the Zenin Clan recently. She certainly could not have had much instruction in etiquette and propriety.

So she must have said something vulgar, something Satoru was too ashamed to repeat!

The elder comforted him. "Don't worry, Satoru. I know a way to resolve this."

Satoru Gojo paused. "What?"

The elder said, "Usually, when something like this happens within a clan, someone of higher standing is invited to serve as a witness, and the two parties settle it with a duel."

Settling disputes between juniors this way was a longstanding tradition in Jujutsu Society. This elder happened to oversee such matters and was especially familiar with them.

He had assumed Satoru Gojo would not listen, but to his surprise, the boy actually began to ponder it!

-So that's it!

When something like this happened, you were supposed to duel.

-She wants to fight me!

Satoru Gojo finally understood, then immediately sprang into action.

"I'm going to practice Jujutsu for the next few days. Don't bother me!"

Since Kamu Zenin had gone to such awkward lengths to invite him, of course he had to practice hard, then beat her with a decisive victory!