"Young Master Satoru, Zenin Toji is trash. Someone without cursed energy is not worth knowing!"
"As the Six Eyes heir of the Gojo family, someone with Heavenly Restriction isn't qualified to be your friend."
Shinsuke's face twisted in dissatisfaction.
He couldn't understand why the Rokugan of the Gojo family would bother with someone like Toji.
To him, Toji was nothing more than a failure, a man without cursed energy, utterly useless in the world of sorcery.
On the other side, Satoshi's expression darkened, his irritation growing at being interrupted yet again by Shinsuke.
Shunichi, standing guard at Satoshi's side, now wore an openly hostile expression.
Shinsuke had been spouting insults about Toji, but in doing so, he was also indirectly insulting Satoshi.
Did this fool not realize that he was speaking to someone who also bore Heavenly Restriction, someone who also lacked cursed energy?
Shunichi was about to step forward and act, but Satoshi stopped him.
First, he needed Toji's acknowledgment.
He wasn't sure why Toji remained indifferent, allowing Shinsuke to openly insult him , but at the moment, he himself had not been directly offended.
As a member of the Gojo family, he couldn't act on impulse.
Unfortunately, his silence was completely misinterpreted by Zenin Shinsuke.
"Young Master Satoru, you must be thinking the same thing as me, right? People without cursed energy have no place in the world of jujutsu."
"The sorcerer world belongs to sorcerers. We are part of the Three Great Families, the pinnacle of jujutsu society. Surely, you understand that, right?"
Seeing Satoshi remain quiet, Shinsuke took it as agreement.
His expression grew more arrogant, his insults toward Toji becoming more blatant.
"In the world of sorcery, Heavenly Restriction is only given to trash!"
A sudden burst of cursed energy flared between Satoshi and Shinsuke.
"Heavenly Restriction is trash?"
Satoru's voice was calm, yet chilling. His piercing blue eyes locked onto Zenin Shinsuke.
"What qualifications do you have to say that?"
His voice rang through the hall, sharp and commanding.
As a direct descendant of the Gojo family and the strongest Six Eyes user of his generation, his words carried an undeniable weight.
The entire venue fell silent.
Ieiri Shoko, Okkotsu Yuto, Zenin Ogi, Gojo Kumaen...
Everyone turned toward Satoru.
Those outside the Gojo clan didn't fully understand why he was so enraged, but the members of the Gojo family knew immediately.
Shinsuke's words had struck a nerve.
Satoshi was a bearer of Heavenly Restriction.
To insult Heavenly Restriction was to insult him.
Shinsuke stiffened, taking two involuntary steps back under the sheer pressure of Satoru's aura.
His face was filled with shock.
He knew how powerful the Six Eyes was.
But he had never expected to be so thoroughly oppressed by the presence of a six-year-old child.
He had made a mistake.
He had assumed that the child before him was Satoru.
But no—this was Gojo Satoshi.
And in that moment, Shinsuke understood everything.
He now knew why Satoshi had approached Toji.
He now knew why Satoru was furious.
He now understood why Kumaen had barely introduced Satoshi at all, why it seemed like the clan was trying to ignore him.
"Gojo Satoshi, you're also a bearer of Heavenly Restriction!"
Zenin Shinsuke's exclamation sent a ripple of shock through the entire hall.
Ieiri Shoko, Okkotsu Yuto, Zenin Ogi.
All eyes turned toward Satoshi.
Heavenly Restriction.
The other Six Eyes user of the Gojo family...
Was born without any cursed energy.
It sounded absurd, yet, under the Gojo clan's treatment of him, it all suddenly made sense.
Toji's eyes flickered with realization.
Now, he understood why he felt a sense of familiarity toward Satoshi.
Both born into one of the Three Great Families.
Both raised in clans that valued cursed energy above all else.
Both discriminated against by their own blood.
The six-year-old boy before him... had recognized this similarity.
That's why he had sought him out.
A rare smile appeared on Zenin Toji's face.
He looked at Satoshi silently, waiting to see how he would handle this situation.
How would this boy, who bore both the Six Eyes and Heavenly Restriction respond?
Would he simply endure the humiliation?
Or would he fight back?
Toji wanted to see it.
"Gojo Satoshi..." he murmured, too quiet for anyone else to hear.
"...You should be able to do it."
"Excuse me... Zenin Shinsuke, was it?"
Satoshi's voice cut through the tension, light and almost playful.
"You mistook me for Satoru just now, didn't you?"
He smiled at Shinsuke, his tone laced with amusement.
"Yes, I'm Gojo Satoshi. I'm not a genius sorcerer like Satoru. I have no cursed energy. I am a bearer of Heavenly Restriction, just like the trash you were talking about."
Satoru and Shunichi frowned at Satoshi's self-deprecating words, but he raised a hand to stop them.
He had no intention of letting this slide.
Gripping Sode no Shirayuki at his side, he took a step forward.
"Zenin Shinsuke, do you really think I can't defeat you just because I lack cursed energy?"
"Do you really believe that you represent the younger generation of the Zenin family?"
His voice turned cold.
"What you just said is a direct provocation to me."
"The dignity of the Gojo family cannot be trampled upon. Not even by the Zenin clan."
He tightened his grip on his sword.
"Allow me, a so-called loser, to shatter your shallow beliefs."
"Zenin Shinsuke, I challenge you to an Imperial Duel!"
The Imperial Duel, a long-standing tradition of the Three Great Families.
To avoid unnecessary loss of powerful sorcerers, disputes between members of these clans could be settled through this formal duel.
Once the duel was concluded, the results would be final, no further hostilities would be permitted between the involved parties, ensuring continued cooperation between the clans.
And Satoshi had seized this chance.
If he could crush Zenin Shinsuke in the Imperial Duel, it would serve as both a lesson and a form of retribution.
Not just for himself.
But for Zenin Toji as well.
Even though Toji hadn't outright expressed displeasure at Shinsuke's words, there was no way he was fine with them.
Consider this my way of proving that Heavenly Restriction isn't something to be looked down upon.
"Imperial Duel!?" Gasps erupted throughout the hall.
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