After the fight ended and the anger finally burned itself out, the two of them were made to stand side by side as punishment.
Class formally began inside the classroom. Outside, Getou Suguru straightened his sleeves, only to discover that the straps of his split-toe shoes had snapped as well.
Gojo Satoru puffed out his cheeks in displeasure, yet still had no choice but to listen along with Getou Suguru to the explanation of the exam questions drifting out from the classroom. An ordinary history test would never be this devious—this one had even taken into account the differences in the three students' knowledge bases, deliberately stretching their imagination to the limit.
The moment the first question—"Heavenly Restriction"—was mentioned, Gojo Satoru immediately started complaining, saying that Akiya clearly admired the person involved.
Getou Suguru blinked in surprise and leaned closer. "Go on. Explain."
Gojo Satoru launched into a rapid-fire rant, spilling everything about Zenin Toji in one breath. When Getou Suguru heard that Asou Akiya had jokingly described it as "love at first sight," he couldn't help but laugh. "Next time, let me see your photos from before you were ten." But when he heard the phrase "his taijutsu and mastery of cursed tools stand at the very pinnacle of the jujutsu world," his violet pupils lit up like glowing bulbs. Having never encountered a true taijutsu master before, he said eagerly, "So when are we going to pick a fight? I'll go with you and test his strength."
Gojo Satoru's face fell. "A sorcerer killer is no different from a curse user. Once he goes into hiding, it's basically impossible to track him down, right?"
Getou Suguru turned to face the wall in reflection. "That's true."
Gojo Satoru grumbled, "How can he ignore someone as amazing as me and go admire some outsider instead?"
Getou Suguru bristled at his tone. "Who Akiya admires is none of your business, is it? He doesn't admire me either."
Both of these almost–special-grade sorcerers were deeply displeased. Zenin Toji? Did he even have an official sorcerer rank?
Getou Suguru pondered aloud, "Can someone with zero cursed energy even be considered a jujutsu sorcerer?"
Gojo Satoru rejected the idea outright. "Impossible."
Gojo Satoru continued, "Even if you wear glasses that let you see cursed spirits, even if you use cursed tools, that still doesn't make you a jujutsu sorcerer."
Inside the classroom, Yaga Masamichi's explanation reached the second multiple-choice question…
Master Tengen is female.
Getou Suguru shrugged, while Gojo Satoru showed no remorse at all. "Tch, so it turns out she's a granny."
Getou Suguru replied calmly, "Akiya's notes say she was a beauty."
Hearing that, Gojo Satoru shoved his phone right up in front of Getou Suguru's face, eagerly sharing his latest wallpaper. "Suguru, look—quick."
Getou Suguru's pupils adjusted as he focused. "Ah… isn't that Yuhi Kurenai from Naruto?"
Understanding dawned on him. "So you really like that 'cool older-sister' type."
Gojo Satoru nodded without hesitation. "Her strength's a bit lacking, not really enough to satisfy me, but she's pretty, and she uses genjutsu. Genjutsu is super cool, you know!"
Getou Suguru asked, puzzled, "What about the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade? Doesn't she have a better figure?"
Gojo Satoru wrinkled his nose. "That hemophobic, violent woman?"
He shook his head rapidly. "No thanks. Her personality's awful. I'm not picking opponents here."
Getou Suguru said, "If we're talking about real-life actresses, I'd recommend Kudo Shizuka instead. I appreciate talented women who are independent and strong."
Gojo Satoru stared at him with an expression that clearly said he had never heard the name before.
Getou Suguru laughed and helped him search for photos of the actress. One glance was enough for Gojo Satoru to comment, "Don't like it. She has one of those faces that just looks born to suffer."
Getou Suguru then took out his own phone. "Our tastes in women are different—no big deal. My latest wallpaper is Miss Tomie from a manga. Long black hair, straight as ink, a horror-type JK. Did she scare you? Going to have nightmares tonight, little Satoru~?"
Gojo Satoru shot back immediately, "Suguru, you should be the one worried about nightmares. She can split into a whole bunch of copies, you know!"
Getou Suguru replied bluntly, without missing a beat, "Isn't that even better?"
Gojo Satoru's mouth fell open.
"Right, I forgot—you're a guy raised in a feudal clan," Getou said, pressing his fingers to his forehead when he saw how shocked Gojo looked, conceding his own lapse in judgment. "You've been exposed to far too little. Just pretend you didn't hear that. Otherwise Akiya will say I've corrupted you."
"No!" Gojo protested immediately. He was strangely enthusiastic about acquiring what he considered essential knowledge for youths of the new era. "Teach me."
He even leaned in and whined shamelessly, "Getou~ I really admire how you dare to say what you think and act on it."
A sharp crack rang out in the classroom—the brittle sound of chalk snapping in two.
Both Gojo and Getou flinched at once, the instinctive reverence students held toward their teacher surging up without conscious thought.
Gojo craned his neck, eavesdropping on the commotion. "Damn it, Yaga's scolding me again. He's saying I don't read at home."
Getou recalled the history exam paper, densely packed with annotations, and Akiya's repeated suggestion that Gojo should consult ancient texts. "Gojo," he said seriously, "for the sake of our retake exam next week, I really recommend that you go home and flip through some old books. I genuinely want to know all the correct answers."
"Oh," Gojo replied.
Then, after a pause, "I'll go back when I have time."
Getou corrected him calmly. "Tomorrow—Wednesday this week—sorcerers get a day off."
Gojo searched his mind but failed to recall any related traditional holiday, so Getou prompted him, "Japan's Labor Thanksgiving Day."
As members of the laboring class, sorcerers, too, were entitled to enjoy this legally mandated public holiday.
…
November 23, Wednesday.
The cold war between Gojo Satoru and Asou Akiya had ended the night before, their reconciliation achieved in the simplest possible way: playing video games together.
On Japan's Labor Thanksgiving Day, Gojo Satoru did not notify his family to come pick him up. Instead, he took a taxi from Tokyo back to Kyoto. Throughout the ride, he sat in the back seat playing on his phone, never once lifting his head to look at the driver. Only when they reached intersections did he speak up to give directions, his tone neither sarcastic nor mocking, merely meant to prevent the driver from taking unnecessary detours and extending his travel time.
Compared to the person he had been a year ago, Gojo Satoru felt that he had already improved a great deal in how he treated irrelevant strangers.
He had learned a whole set of "DK skills," such as putting on a polite front and casually toying with people without showing it.
The Gojo estate was so old that it could rival Kyoto Prefecture's Kiyomizu Temple in age. It sat in a secluded location where every inch of land was worth a fortune, though its period of true prosperity had actually been in the late days of Heian-kyo.
The taxi driver confirmed the destination with his passenger several times, secretly astonished, and no longer thought of him as a posturing high school boy addicted to his phone. Watching the back seat through the rearview mirror, he saw the passenger lift his phone and dial a number, speaking in a listless voice. "I'm almost at the front gate. Huh? Has that old tangerine already fallen out of touch with the outside world? It's not winter break yet, so of course I still have classes to attend… I've got a makeup exam next week, so I'm going home to flip through some books. Don't laugh! If you laugh, I'll beat you up!"
The taxi driver did not know whether the person on the other end of the line laughed, but he himself laughed silently in his heart.
A sense of fairness welled up within him.
He thought of his own son. A high school student's main duty was to study properly. It did not matter whether you came from a wealthy family or not—when it was time to fail, you failed all the same, and when it was time to be laughed at by your family, you were just as likely to lose face.
The taxi arrived at its destination.
"How much is it? Keep the change. I don't need small bills," Gojo Satoru said breezily, looking utterly unconcerned with the price of daily necessities as he pulled several ten-thousand-yen bills bearing Fukuzawa Yukichi's portrait from his wallet and stuffed them over.
"Ten-thousand-yen bills don't circulate much in Japan. Next time you go out, remember to bring bills under one thousand yen," the taxi driver said. In principle, he would not accept such large-denomination bills from passengers, as receiving a counterfeit would mean a heavy loss, but he was willing to take the fare this time, trusting the young master raised by a great and powerful family.
"Wishing you academic improvement, young master, and success in passing your makeup exam."
The taxi driver rolled down the window and waved at Gojo Satoru, who stood frozen after hearing those words.
"I'll… obviously pass."
It was rare for Gojo Satoru to have this kind of exchange with a complete stranger, and in his awkwardness, his voice came out a little quieter than usual.
The gates of the Gojo estate stood wide open. The Gojo family's servants poured out in an unbroken line, front to back, moving at a brisk pace. Every motion was as precise as if measured by a ruler—elegant yet rigid, flawless without a single misstep. The family head, dressed in an old-fashioned kimono, appeared next, followed by a white-clad maid holding an umbrella. The red parasol was as crimson as maple leaves, blazing like fire, shielding them from the slightly harsh autumn sun.
Gojo Satoru slipped one hand into his pocket and cast a cold glance at the scene.
As if unable to maintain his usual composure, the Gojo family head could not hide the smile on his face. He lifted his hand gracefully, took the red parasol from the maid, and personally stepped forward to draw Gojo Satoru beneath his protection.
"Welcome home. Your clan tutor can hardly wait to help you with remedial studies, Satoru-sama."
"My grades are the best in the class. I was only one point short of passing."
"Yes, yes, I understand."
"What is with that tone of disbelief?!"
In his agitation, Gojo Satoru unfolded the history exam paper he had folded in his pocket and slapped it straight onto the face that so closely resembled his own, grabbing at the excuse of the test's difficulty as he said, "Look at how hard these questions are!"
The glaring "59 points" printed on the paper finally broke the family head's composure.
The Gojo family head burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha!!!"
Whether the questions were difficult or not, he did not know, but he did know this much—the Gojo family's upper ranks were going to laugh themselves senseless today.
Heaven truly had eyes.
Lord Gojo, who loved skipping classes, had flunked the exam and was now obediently back home for remedial lessons.
Because Gojo Satoru had openly exposed his own report card, the news spread through the Gojo family's upper echelons in an instant. No one blamed the teaching quality of Tokyo Jujutsu High; instead, they recalled his days in clan schooling, when he would rather lie sprawled over his desk asleep than listen to lessons.
The Gojo clan tutor went before the Gojo family head to beg forgiveness, bearing his guilt as if carrying thorned branches, weeping bitterly as he pleaded, "Please, I beg you to let Satoru-sama stay a few more days. In all my years of teaching, I have never seen a student who could get Master Tengen's gender wrong!"
What was terrifying was that Gojo Satoru had filled in "genderless."
Even more terrifying was the fact that the Tombs of the Star Corridor lay directly beneath Tokyo Jujutsu High—would Master Tengen not be furious to death?
The Gojo family head helped the tutor to his feet, displaying the clan's courtesy toward worthy talent, and said with sympathy, "You have worked hard. Unfortunately, how long Satoru-sama stays is not something I can decide."
The clan tutor left, sighing deeply as he went.
In the archive library, Gojo Satoru did not bother to change clothes, still wearing his Tokyo Jujutsu High autumn uniform. Facing the history exam paper, he began listing his demands one after another: "I want materials on 'Heavenly Restriction,' records from a thousand years ago and five hundred years ago related to Master Tengen's mergers, information on the previous Six Eyes and the Ten Shadows Technique, information on Ryoumen Sukuna, on cursed technique burnout…"
He ordered the servants to retrieve the ancient texts he wanted. What met the eye were shelves filled with the Gojo family's accumulated collections from the past thousand years. A jujutsu family would never suffer fires or the ravages of war, and under the protection of barrier talismans, the sheer volume of preserved books was astonishing.
Soon after, the Gojo family head arrived upon hearing the news. "Satoru-sama, some of these materials are not kept in the archive library. They are classified as secret transmissions."
Gojo Satoru clicked his tongue impatiently. "Then just tell me directly."
The Gojo family head looked troubled. "Such matters can only be known after a family head formally succeeds—"
Gojo Satoru grabbed the family head by the ear and barked loudly, "I'm the next family head! Or what, are you planning to pick someone else?"
The Gojo family head said, "What if you change your mind?"
Gojo Satoru replied, "Old tangerine, if you say one more word of nonsense, I won't take the position at all."
The Gojo family head accepted this with a smile.
"Come with me." He led Gojo Satoru out of the archive library, where dust motes floated in the air, and into a tatami room meant for tea. He ordered the servants to keep their distance. On this languid, leisurely holiday, he explained things to Gojo Satoru while calmly preparing tea, pouring himself a cup to moisten his throat. Ancient and truthful history flowed from the Gojo family head's mouth and entered the ears of the next family head.
The matters concerning Master Tengen fell like a thunderclap.
"Me… connected to Master Tengen?" Gojo Satoru exclaimed.
He sprang up from his arrogantly sprawled position on the tatami and sat upright, suddenly looking like a model student.
"Yes," the Gojo family head said, recalling the clan's inherited secrets. "It is said that our ancestors once signed an unknown contract with Master Tengen. Each generation's Six Eyes is born in accordance with fate, and after descending into the world, bears a responsibility: to assist the Star Plasma Vessel in merging with Master Tengen."
Gojo Satoru asked, "Are there consequences for violating it?"
The Gojo family head answered unhurriedly, "If there were severe consequences, our ancestors would not have spoken of it so vaguely. The Gojo family has no descendants of Master Tengen, so there is no question of favoring Tengen."
Gojo Satoru asked again, "What kind of constitution is a Star Plasma Vessel? How do you identify one using the Six Eyes?"
The Gojo family head pointed toward the barrier overhead, smiling with an air of mystery, speaking only part of the truth and leaving the rest unsaid. "I do not know. Five hundred years have eroded too many secrets. For various reasons, the Gojo family did not pass down detailed records of Master Tengen and the Star Plasma Vessel. As for the matter of the Six Eyes, you must uncover that yourself. Those eyes are yours alone; no one has the right to interfere with your choices."
From this, Gojo Satoru received the Gojo family head's implicit message: the Gojo family would not obstruct any decision made by the Six Eyes.
The Gojo family's glory existed because of the Six Eyes.
They understand the importance of power better than anyone else, and they would never confuse what is fundamental with what is secondary.
Gojo Satoru thought for a moment, then asked, "This matter of the Star Plasma Vessel—doesn't it amount to a living human sacrifice, like in ancient times?"
The Gojo family head remained silent. After carefully searching his memory, he finally gave a slight nod.
Gojo Satoru asked, "Then why did the previous Six Eyes agree to it? What benefit did he gain from it?"
The Gojo family head replied, "There were no personal benefits whatsoever."
He continued, "For a thousand years, every person in Japan's jujutsu world has received Master Tengen's protection. Without Master Tengen guarding the foundations of the barriers, there would be no Three Great Families as they are today, and there would be no jujutsu world where everyone can wield barrier techniques. Before the era of Heian-kyo, barrier techniques were an extremely advanced discipline, mastered by only a select few."
Gojo Satoru lay back down on the tatami, staring up at the ceiling, his thoughts unreadable, or perhaps he was indifferently overlooking the brutal truths that had once occurred in history. Inside his white socks, his toes idly traced lines against the floor.
The Gojo family head moved to his side and knelt down, gently pinching Gojo Satoru's toes. Satoru, for his part, did not seem ticklish at all.
"Satoru-sama, do you have anything else you wish to ask?"
"Tell me how the previous Six Eyes died," Gojo Satoru said.
"…He died in battle."
"What is Mahoraga?"
"It is the tenth shikigami of the Zenin family's Ten Shadows Technique. It is said that no one has ever been able to subdue it. A white demon god, wielding a sword that can exorcise and kill any cursed spirit—its appearance alone heralds catastrophe."
"Is Mahoraga classified information? Besides you, how many people in the family know about it?"
"It is classified. Very few people are aware of it—two or three at most."
As the Gojo family head finished speaking, Gojo Satoru's toes ground down on the old man's palm.
Gojo Satoru raised two, then three fingers, and after a moment of thought, launched into a wildly unrestrained idea. "Among the old fogeys in the family who are qualified to know this secret, are there any illegitimate children? Say, for example, someone who had an affair with the Kamo family?"
Asou Akiya—black hair, black eyes—fit the defining traits of the Three Great Families, and he also fit the traits associated with the Kamo family.
The Gojo family head answered honestly. "As for illegitimate children, that can't be confirmed. That's the elders' private business; they would never disclose it to me. As for involvement with women of the Kamo family… that's unlikely. There are only a handful of female jujutsu sorcerers among the Three Great Families. Unless it was a woman who had already been expelled from the Kamo family…"
Gojo Satoru grew impatient as he listened, rolled over, and said irritably, "What a mess."
"I didn't want to soil your ears with such things," the Gojo family head said. Toward Gojo Satoru, who had been away from home for many days, his attitude was exceedingly indulgent. No matter how he looked at him, he felt that Satoru was the purest and most immaculate existence among the Three Great Families.
Gojo Satoru suddenly asked, "Do you know Zenin Toji?"
The Gojo family head answered cautiously. "I don't know him personally, but I have looked into him. He was once a member of the 'Kukuru' unit of the Zenin clan and, for reasons unknown, defected from the Zenin clan many years ago. Satoru-sama, within the Zenin family there are three internal organizations. The 'Kukuru' unit is the lowest tier, composed of Zenin sorcerers without innate techniques; they generally only practice physical combat."
Gojo Satoru repeated, "For unknown reasons, he defected from the Zenin family…"
He pushed himself up and smiled brilliantly at the Gojo family head, dazzling him. "The reason was me!"
Heaven knew how badly he wanted to share this piece of gossip and let everyone in the Three Great Families hear it.
The Gojo family head: "?"
Gojo Satoru's lashes fluttered as the Six Eyes activated, his pupils like a cerulean sky veiled in white mist, reflecting the Gojo family head standing before him. With absolute confidence, he declared, "He saw me once and fell in love at first sight. Overwhelmed by inferiority before the Six Eyes, he no longer dared to appear before me, and in the end fled the Three Great Families in sheer panic!"
The Gojo family head really wanted to believe Satoru-sama, but… it was a little too outrageous.
He phrased it tactfully. "That was an adult man, older than you, who had already withdrawn from the jujutsu world many years ago."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the Gojo family head froze, then smacked his forehead. "I remember now why I paid attention to him. It was because of you. After you returned from a clan assembly of the Three Great Families, you mentioned Zenin Toji."
Gojo Satoru wore the same baffled expression as the Gojo family head. "When? Did I ever say that?"
The Gojo family head answered with certainty. "When you were seven years old, at the assembly where you officially made your debut before the Three Great Families."
Before the age of seven, Gojo Satoru had been carefully hidden away, his existence concealed from the jujutsu world. People had heard of him, but no one had seen him. Only the traits of white hair and blue eyes had leaked out, enough to make curse users deeply wary. After turning seven, Gojo Satoru was formally entered into the family registry, no longer a child likely to die young, and he gained the Limitless technique, which could protect him over long periods of time.
"That winter, snow was falling. The Three Great Families were desperate to see you and held a grand clan assembly in your honor."
"After you returned from that assembly, you rested with your eyes closed and said to me—"
"'There was a man with black hair and green eyes standing behind me, and I couldn't sense any cursed energy from him.'"
"'He was like air.'"
"'Very unusual.'"
The Gojo family head helped Gojo Satoru piece together those lingering fragments of memory and continued, "Zenin Toji, the cousin of the Zenin family's young head, an extremely rare existence even among those with a Heavenly Restriction, possessing zero cursed energy and trading innate cursed energy for an overwhelmingly powerful body."
Gojo Satoru exclaimed, "Wow!"
Akiya hadn't lied—he really had seen that man! Black hair, green eyes!
The Gojo family head's expression gradually grew strange. "Could it be that after meeting you at that clan assembly back then, he fell in love with you at first sight?"
Gojo Satoru nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes, exactly!"
The Gojo family head replied coldly, "As expected, there isn't a single decent person among the Zenin family's main line."
Gojo Satoru echoed him without hesitation, "Yes, yes, exactly!"
"..."
The Gojo family head grew suspicious. "Satoru-sama… is it just my imagination, or why are you so excited?"
The Gojo family's only young master, as the sole Six Eyes, absolutely could not have his sexual orientation go astray!
Before the Gojo family head could worry any longer, Gojo Satoru burst out indignantly, "I can't find him, so I'm going to force him out! My most important friend actually thinks Zenin Toji is stronger than me!"
Hearing this reason, the Gojo family head assumed that the "friend" Satoru-sama mentioned was the Cursed Spirit Manipulator.
"Please rest assured, spreading rumors about the Zenin family is something we are very good at."
"That's not a rumor!"
Gojo Satoru cut off the Gojo family head's malice toward the Zenin family, lifting his flawless, youthful face. With the visage of a favored child of heaven, eyes like the sky itself, and snow-white short hair like winter's snow that never melts, forever pure and untouched.
"I—am just this—handsome! I'll make Zenin Toji jealous of me forever!"
Gojo Satoru spread his arms wide in an exaggerated, expansive gesture.
Seeing Satoru-sama so lively and mischievous, the Gojo family head froze. Even the most unruly white-haired child at the height of mischief had never looked this much like a normal human being; those missing traces of humanity seemed to be returning to him little by little.
The Gojo family head sighed with emotion. "Satoru-sama…"
Under Satoru's puzzled gaze, he quickly changed his words. "Do you have a girl you like at school?"
Gojo Satoru laughed mockingly. "Does Tokyo Jujutsu High even have more than ten students?"
Gojo Satoru scoffed. "There's no one for me to like!"
He hated it most when that old fossil made wild guesses like this—what did he take him for, some indiscriminate scumbag who'd accept anyone?
The Gojo family head pointed at his knee. "Shall I clean your ears for you?"
But Gojo Satoru no longer cared to enjoy the warmth of a lap pillow. He shot him an annoyed glare, yanked the door open, and bolted out. "No!"
The Gojo family head was left despondent.
From far away, he heard the voice of the Six Eyes child of heaven, bound to him by blood, shouting back.
"I've already got a friend who helps me with ear cleaning!"
Even without the Gojo family head personally looking after Gojo Satoru, Gojo Satoru was living just fine. He had found good friends at school, and this finally put to rest the last of the Gojo elders' worries about the Headquarters' management of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
A school that could teach Satoru-sama was a school with good teachers, good classmates, and a good youth.
…
Every time Gojo Satoru came home, the Gojo estate's internet signal got upgraded yet again.
The reason: I was sending selfies to my classmates and the signal was unstable—has this old fossil household not only declined, but also turned into some backwater countryside?!
The old fossils who had been stabbed right in the heart could only smile bitterly.
These conservative elders were forced to accept the shock of a new era alongside their young master Satoru, who loved all things new and novel. Perhaps this was precisely what the Six Eyes meant to the Gojo family—to stride boldly forward, never falling behind others, and never being cast aside by the times.
Among the Three Great Families, the Zenin family head was known for having the most open-minded temperament, but it was the Gojo family whose household ethos was the most progressive.
All of it was because of Gojo Satoru.