13 I forfeit

[Author Note]

I know people hate the whole Naoya is fighting Gojo instead of Naohiro, but let me COOK.

I have laid out a plan for the future. I'm not just blindly writing these out. I know more than a lot of people how annoying it can be when the main character takes a back seat, but it's only a few chapters, and Naoya won't be the story's focus.

__________

It was rough, but we got Naoya to be the best he could be with the time we had. Even after a week of working on Projection Sorcery and a new technique, he still wasn't ready.

I like him and will be there for everything, but I know...

...

...

He doesn't stand a chance.

Naoya might be some genius, but Satoru was an entirely different beast.

It pisses me off since I genuinely do like Satoru because he becomes the symbol of sorcerers, but like Toji, different circumstances make this much different.

I tried my best to doubt Naobito's words and find some random anime Shounen power-up for Naoya. However, without a way to bypass limitless, the fact that he has been training for longer and is the greatest genius of this generation, I know he will get destroyed.

I haven't seen Satoru in person, but if the rumors are anything to go by, it isn't looking good for anyone on the opposite side of the ring.

I want to tell him to pull out of the tournament since it wouldn't be the first time. The Kamo clan wasn't even in the running this year. With all the work we put into training for this, he wouldn't back down.

I gave him something I shouldn't have...hope.

Hope that he might be able to stand with the strongest sorcerers of the generation, to have it ripped away in front of him in front of Jujutsu society.

I fucked up, bad.

Theoretically, a small clan can eliminate Satoru from the tournament before he reaches the finals, but God knows there is no way in hell he isn't making it there.

The only two promising clan candidates are Satoru and Naoya, both of whom outclass the rest of the fodder. It wouldn't even be an entertaining fight. The only fight people care about is Naoya vs. Gojo, but it won't be a contest even then.

Tomorrow morning is the big day and the day that I have been dreading, even if I am not the one fighting. It should've been me in there beating Satoru's ass. I could've talked to Naobito about changing me to the fighter instead, but now it's my fault that Naoya will get humiliated.

I wonder if I can adapt to stress.

The Next Day

We are actually at some formal Japanese compound. I wasn't familiar with this place since it wasn't shown in the series, but there was a massive circular arena with seats lined on the edges, sort of like the Roman Colosseum but more Japanese-inspired.

Clans from all over Japan were there, but I didn't recognize a single one. It's fair to say that they didn't win anything or contribute to the story.

Naoya, Ogi, Naobito, me, Chojuro, Jinichi, and a few others that I didn't bother remembering were here. Only a few members of each clan could be present for some reason.

It probably has something to do with the importance of such an event. They needed what essentially was a background check on each person who came into the area.

Ogi was staring daggers at me, but I ignored him since I had bigger problems.

On the left side of the arena was a group of white-haired, noble-looking people. There was a small person in that crowd of people. I couldn't see their face, but I knew who that was.

After a little while, he made his appearance out of the group.

Yep, blue eyes, short white hair, around eight years old. Math and description check out. What startled me was that he was staring straight at me. "So those are the Six Eyes."

I saw him widen his eyes before narrowing them and returning to his group.

It's surreal that the same Gojo we see in the story is this proper-noble right now. I don't know when, but I assume he will change into his goofy persona in a few years. He is more mature now than he was at twenty-eight.

Our group didn't speak to each other while we were here. The atmosphere was rough, even for someone like Naobito.

My thoughts get broken when two people are called down to the arena—both mobs that no one cares about.

A few minutes later and nothing special happened. They were as strong as a high grade three.

After the bout ended, nobody cheered or made noise. The next thing we knew, another pair of clan candidates were called to the arena.

The next three matches were some of the most boring fights I've ever seen. Sakura vs. Ino was more entertaining than these bums.

However, Gojo Satoru was called up to the stage against a random fodder. I watched intently to see what the kid could do at his age.

...

To say it was a massacre would be an understatement. The random kid rushed in just to get smashed into the arena wall. With a neutral face, he walked back up to the stands.

Naoya and Gojo had three more matches to win before they reached the finals.

To no one's surprise, they both cleared them easily.

Now, after training for a long time and both being called geniuses in their own way. Naoya stared down Satoru.

Right before the match began, Satoru had something to say.

...

...

...

"I forfeit."

Huh?

The whole stadium went silent before going insane. Why would the Gojo prodigy forfeit on a match he was almost guaranteed to win?

He continued. "The only reason I came to this stupid thing was to fight Naohiro, not this bum in his shadow. If I'm not fighting him, then I forfeit."

Naoya looked pissed. "I didn't win these fights just to get turned down by you. You scared punk!?"

Satoru didn't seem bothered by Naoya. "I'm not even remotely scared of you. After all, you're pretty weak."

That set me off. I didn't spend my time training someone to have them called weak. I ran past the ledge and jumped down into the arena.

I really don't want to do this. Jumping in to take his spotlight is something an asshole would do, but...I'll worry about that later.

Naoya can hate me all he wants if it means punching this kid. "I promised to bash your face in when we met a Jujutsu Tech, but I guess plans don't work out."

Satoru looked at me and smiled. "Now that's more like it."

Sorry, Naoya, let me take this one.