"Satoshi, you o up properly today!"

  Takuya woke Satoshi up early in the m. A group of attendaered his room, immediately assisting him in washing up and dressing.

  "What's going on?"

  Still half-asleep, Satoshi looked around in fusion, pletely unaware of what day it was.

  Last night, he had practiced swordpy with Shunichi until te, finally managing to raise his kendo proficy to 80%. He had po push it to the max today and then move on to actual bat training.

  So why was his precious sleep being disturbed so early in the m?

  "I knew you'd fet! I reminded you a week ago, today is the day the Zenin d other jujutsu families are visiting."

  "As direct desdants of the Gojo , you and Satoru must attend. You two are the real reason for the Zenin 's visit."

  "They came here to see the future of the Gojo ."

  As the attendant wiped Satoshi's face with a warm towel, he instantly became more alert.

  So today is the day I meet Zenin Toji?

  A straicipation welled up in his heart. Zenin Toji, the man who would one day bee Gojo Satoru's greatest enemy.

  A person without cursed energy and a person with the Six Eyes, two outcasts in opposite extremes of the jujutsu world. They had never had the eet before.

  But today, in the Gojo 's estate, the only two individuals utterly devoid of cursed energy were finally going to e face-to-face.

  "The Zenin , huh? This should be iing..."

  Satoshi allowed the attendants to dress him as he thought about how to establish a e with Zenin Toji.

  I wonder what kind of mioji has right now. He shouldn't be pletely twisted yet... After all, there's still a long time before he leaves the Zenin .

  If possible, I o prevent him and Satoru from being enemies iure. Satoru only mastered the Reverse Cursed Teique because of his battle with Toji, but that doesn't mean he has to get killed in the process just to learn it.

  If, during that fight, Toji had used the Ied Spear of Heaven to nullify Satoru's teique activation before sshing his throat, Satoru might have actually died. That alone could have ged the eimeline of Jujutsu Kaisen...

  Toji will bee an assassin iure, but right now, the Zenin and Gojo s are not yet enemies. If both sides maintain a good retionship, maybe Toji doesn't have to be Satoru's enemy. Maybe, just maybe, he could even be his friend.

  Most importantly, Toji has no real sense of belonging to the Zenin ! If I could introduce him to a girl from the Gojo , maybe, just maybe... he could bee Gojo Toji instead.

  With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Satoshi was led out of his room by Takuya.

  Outside the smithing hall, Satoru was already waiting.

  "Hmm? Satoru, why aren't you going in? What are you standing outside for?"

  Satoshi looked at him in fusion. Seeing Satoru's delicate features, almost like a por doll, he suddenly remembered, ht, they were still just six-year-old kids.

  "Why would I go in? Just to get manhandled by those women again?"

  Satoru looked at Satoshi helplessly. Seeing that Satoshi was dressed in the same blue kimono as him, a trace of sympathy fshed in his eyes.

  At that moment, Satoshi suddenly recalled the sheer horror of being surrounded and dressed up by a group of attendants earlier.

  He was just a child, yet he had to be washed, dressed, and groomed without any say iter...

  Perhaps that's why he had emptied his mind and thought about the Zenin uch, to distract himself.

  "Satoru, you look way too young in that outfit."

  Satoshi subsciously voiced his thoughts.

  At that, Satoru immediately shot back:

  "And you think you don't? We're literally wearing the same thing! If I look young, so do you!"

  The two exged gnces and then burst into ughter.

  "Young Masters Satoru, Satoshi, we should head out now."

  Shunichi approached them, holding a rge bck paper umbrel.

  Notig it, Satoshi realized, it was snowing outside.

  ---

  At the Gojo 's Main Gate

  A middle-aged man with a sinister expression stepped into the Gojo estate, followed by a group of people dressed in formal kimonos embroidered with the Zenin 's crest.

  This was the delegation from the Zenin , led by Zenin Ogi. Their purpose was to visit the Gojo family and greet the heir of the Six Eyes.

  "Even so, I wonder just how powerful the Gojo 's new Six Eyes really are..."

  Two older youths apanied Zenin Ogi. One had a scar across his face, looking older and mgressive, while the other had an indifferent expression, showing no i in anything.

  "Jinichi, If you wao e here, you could've just e on your own. Why drag me along? I'm not even a sorcerer."

  "This is supposed to be a meetiween jujutsu families. I'm just a normal person."

  Zenin Toji sighed, clearly uhusiastic. Though he was curious about the Six Eyes, he had no real desire to e here just to see them.

  However, since his brother was here, it would've been awkward to refuse.

  Behind him, another young man with a cold, malicious gaze stared at Toji.

  Zenin Shihe most talented of the younger geion in the Zenin . Though o years old, he had already achieved the rank of a Grade 3 sorcerer.

  One of the reasons Ogi had brought this group today was to let their most promising talent withe Six Eyes firsthand.

  However, this visit was destio be anything but pleasant.

  Shinsuke was a firm believer in the Zenin 's ideology, ohat worshipped cursed energy above all else. In his eyes, Toji, who had no cursed energy at all, was nothing but a disgrace to their bloodline.

  But to Toji, Shinsuke's hostility meant nothing.

  Talent? Six Eyes? None of it mattered. Toji had already e to uand the overwhelming strength granted by Heavenly Restri.

  If a fight broke ht now, he was fident, he could take out the Zenin 's "most talented prodigy" in uen minutes.