Elder Kiyosuke Zen'in's Perspective
The air in the council chamber was tense, almost solid. The old wooden pillars creaked as if sensing the pressure hanging over the place. Kiyosuke, one of the three chief elders of the Zen'in clan, silently observed those present. They had called this emergency meeting after receiving the full report of Naoya's last mission.
"Time skips?" he repeated quietly to himself as he reread the document for the third time. His face, wrinkled and weathered by years of politics and battle, furrowed even further. This was no simple report, but a warning. Naoya had executed a Grade 2 cursed spirit with a completely new technique, one that didn't align with any known heritage of the clan.
"He's not growing..." he murmured. "He's evolving."
Elder Haruto Zen'in's Perspective
"Don't you see what's happening?" Haruto, the youngest of the three elders, intervened, rapping hard on the circular table. "Naoya is exceeding any limits we've set. That technique is dangerous! It could destabilize the clan hierarchy!"
Kiyosuke looked at him in annoyance.
"Or he could also save us. Or have you forgotten that Satoru Gojo is still alive, and his clan thrives in his shadow? The boy... he could be our counterweight."
Haruto spat out a bitter laugh.
"Do you think Naoya would obey orders when he can barely hide his contempt for us?"
"That's precisely why he's useful. He has no loyalties, only ambition. The kind of ambition the Gojos fear," chimed in the third elder, Retsu, who had so far remained silent. "If Gojo continues to grow, he'll become a god in this generation." No one will be able to face him except Sukuna, Toji Fushiguro… and perhaps this new Naoya.
Everyone fell silent at those words. It was then that the doors to the hall opened.
Naoya Zen'in's Perspective
Naoya strode in with a firm, arrogant stride, as if he were entering his own training room, not the chamber of the elders. He wore his immaculate uniform and held his head high, as if no judgment had the right to touch him.
"Did you call me to flatter me or to understand what you cannot understand?" he said without reverence.
Haruto gritted his teeth, but Retsu raised her hand.
"We want you to explain, in your own words, your new technique. What you call… 'time skip.'"
Naoya crossed his arms and looked at them, one by one, as if he already knew their thoughts before they spoke. Then he spoke, his voice confident, cold, and with a superior smile on his lips.
"It's not a common technique. I don't manipulate external time. I don't rewind or speed up the world. What I do is move my consciousness and body a fraction of a second into the future. Predict it… experience it before it happens. For now, I can only advance 1.5 seconds, and only if I remain fully focused."
Haruto snorted.
"And what use is such a limited technique?"
Naoya ignored him.
"In that small interval, I can dodge, counterattack, kill before the other person even imagines it. Do you know how many times I was killed on that mission… in that second and a half? None."
His voice sounded like a mockery disguised as an explanation. But inside, as he spoke, he was thinking something he would never say out loud:
"At this rate, no one will be able to defeat me. No one… except three: Gojo Satoru, with those cursed Six Eyes; Sukuna, who rewrote the history of the curse; and Toji Fushiguro, the clan slayer… that man should have been born Zen'in. I respect him for what he was… for what he did."
Outwardly, without showing his thoughts, he continued:
"This technique is not an evolution of my mastery. 'Time Cell Moon Palace' is still my space. This… this is something else. A direct extension of my genius."
"What if that arrogance blinds you?" Haruto interrupted.
"Then I'll become a burning star," Naoya replied with a dangerous smile. "But before that… I'll drag down all those who stand in my way."
The Elders' Perspective
Silence once again fell over the room. Kiyosuke, Haruto, and Retsu exchanged glances.
"So what do you think?" Retsu finally asked. "Should we intervene before it's too late?"
Haruto spoke first:
"He's a threat. We won't be able to control him. We should seal him or eliminate him."
Kiyosuke stopped him.
"And who would do that? You? Your apprentices? Who within the clan could stop him now? Would you really prefer to face him in open war rather than use him as a weapon?"
Haruto fell silent.
Retsu closed his eyes for a moment, thoughtful.
"My vote is to use him. At least for now. If Gojo is still alive, if Sukuna is on the loose... we'll need more than seals and formalities."
"Then..." Kiyosuke said, looking at Naoya. "Keep growing, kid. But remember this: even gods fall. Don't forget to whom you owe your name."
Naoya smiled, his eyes narrowed.
"I am the name."
And without another word, he turned around and s
And without another word, he turned around and walked out, leaving behind him a mixture of fear, amazement… and expectations.