Naobito Zenin

Naobito Zenin is a supporting character in the Jujutsu Kaisen series. He was a special grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer, the 26th head of the Zenin Family, and the father of Naoya Zenin.

Appearance
Naobito has mid-length, gray hair that is usually slicked back to reach just behind his neck. He has small black eyes with long eyebrows with thick edges. Naobito also sports a long, thin, English-style mustache that extends beyond both sides of his cheeks.

The 26th head of the Zenin Family casually wore a brown yukata with a black sash around his own house. While out on missions, he wears a more layered Japanese-style uniform. This includes a light gray haori over a dark blue yukata with a black hakama, white tabi, and zori sandals.

During the Shibuya Incident, Naobito's arm was lost to Dagon's shikigami and his skin was severely burnt by Jogo's flames.

Personality
Naobito is an arrogant drunk who embodies the twisted, traditionalist values of the Zenin Family. He views his nieces far below their worth as human beings because they were born with a lack of cursed energy. The clan still refuses to recognize Maki despite her skills and actively tries to keep her from getting promoted. Naobito himself threatened to make Mai's life difficult on the day Maki chose to leave the clan.

Additionally, in spite of Satoru Gojo's importance to the world, Naobito has proudly said he wouldn't mind seeing the fall of his clan. Throughout all the battles, he had an arrogant grin the entire mission while taunting his allies and enemies alike.

Naobito is known to be frequently drunk and will even openly ask for "booze". He's often seen with a gourd to drink from and Nanami went as far as to question whether he had been drinking on a mission based on Maki's comment. Regardless, Naobito didn't take part in the beginning stages of the Shibuya Incident, electing to take a nap rather than fighting transfigured humans with Maki.

The special grade 1 sorcerer appeared to only have an interest in stronger opponents like Dagon. There were several exchanges where Naobito engaged in playful banter with the cursed spirit despite being in the middle of a fight.

Abilities and Powers
Overall Skill: Naobito Zenin is a special grade 1 sorcerer with exceptional combat abilities. At first glance, he appears lazy and more interested in drinking than fighting, but this same person can effortlessly overpower a special grade cursed spirit in close quarters exchanges. His innate technique coupled with his capacity for martial arts and knack for strategic timing got Naobito recognized as the fastest jujutsu sorcerer (with the exception of Satoru Gojo).

The head of Zenin Family was chosen to lead a team of sorcerers during the Shibuya Incident. While disinterested at first, Naobito proved invaluable in the early efforts to rescue Satoru Gojo from Pseudo-Geto's Prison Realm. Maki and Nanami couldn't deal any lasting damage to Dagon. Naobito saved Maki from certain death when one of her attacks failed and even outperformed Nanami throughout the early battle.

Naobito was able to read and react to Dagon's growing strength throughout their fight. He recognized Dagon had far more cursed energy and cursed techniques than himself, but Naobito still had him far outclassed in speed. With support from Nanami and Maki, Naobito was able to completely overwhelm Dagon with one crushing blow after another with not even a second in between the attacks. This prevented the special grade curse from unleashing any of his techniques, prompting Dagon to openly recognize that Naobito was his strongest adversary. He openly admitted that Naobito's speed was the reason he couldn't fight back and resorted to using Domain Expansion.

Trapped inside Horizon of the Captivating Skandha, Naobito was the only one on the team able to effectively counter the domain granted automatic hit. Falling Blossom Emotion allowed him to withstand Dagon's shikigami at first. The cursed spirit was forced to adjust seventy percent of his overall strength just for the old man using Death Swarm. Even after finally managing to overpower the old man, Dagon was shocked when he withstood an endless stream of shikigami for over a minute. All his efforts only managed to sever one of Naobito's arms.

Once the domain's guaranteed hit was nullified, Naobito was able to effectively fight back against the curse again. The team chose to attempt to flee and accidentally let in a recently revived Toji Fushiguro on accident. Naobito supported Toji at the end of the fight by not allowing Dagon to escape.

Afterward, the sorcerers were unfortunate enough to happen upon Jogo. Maki and Nanami were instantly set aflame by the curse but Naobito was able to avoid his initial attack. However, he too was blasted by Jogo's flames and defeated, eventually succumbing to his wounds and perishing after the Shibuya Incident. Despite his high cursed energy, his physical body's endurance wasn't enough to survive the heavy burns.

Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Naobito employs the speed granted by his innate technique in tandem with his martial arts ability with masterful skill. He engages adversaries at close combat, crushing his opponents with rapid-fire punches and devastating kicks among other immensely fast attacks.

Coupled with his speed, Naobito's power makes him dangerous as well One strike comes after another in quick succession, preventing his opponents from fighting back. He has great strength that can generate enough force to injure special grade cursed spirits. A single punch forced Dagon to vomit numerous human skeletons. Even after Dagon evolved, Naobito was able to knock him around the room with successive powerful strikes.

Great Tactical Intellect: Naobito is very observant and takes mental notes of the progress of a situation. He stays one step ahead of his opponent by playing to his strengths and applying them appropriately during the fight. When Dagon evolved, Naobito instantly recognized that he was just a cursed womb before. After seeing Dagon's cursed techniques, Naobito instantly came up with a counter-strategy that overwhelmed Dagon with speed in spite of the curse's superior jujtusu. Inside Dagon's domain, Naobito was able to resist counter the domain's automatic-hit within just a few moments of judgment. Despite being the only one to resist Dagon's shikigami, Naobito recognized that the situation still didn't favor him.

Battles & Events
Shibuya Incident Arc
 * Jujutsu Sorcerers vs. Dagon

Trivia

 * Naobito's first name contains the kanji for "honesty, frankness" (直), "help, assist" (毘) and "person" (人).
 * Naobito ranked 75th place in the manga's 1st Character Popularity Poll with 12 votes.
 * According to Jujutsu Kaisen Official Fanbook:
 * His hobby is watching anime.
 * Favorite dish: Alcohol, specifically Japanese rice wine.
 * Least Favorite dish: Pounded fishcake
 * Cause of stress: Gojo Family.
 * The reason he wasn't saving people during the Shibuya Incident is because he has no interest in ordinary people.
 * He didn't get too involved in the Shibuya incident because he doesn’t get along well with Gojo family. Also, he is not interested in normal people (does not have the intention to save normal people).
 * The base of his character is Dali (Salvadore Dali, artist).
 * Special Grade 1 sorcerer is someone who has no relation to the school (someone who can perform as sorcerer but has no grade), who the school deems them equivalent to Grade 1. He was just went to the Shibuya incident to help a little bit when he came to Tokyo (The reward is high), despite living in Kyoto.
 * He became head of the Zenin family simply because he’s a strong sorcerer. If only based on strength, then Toji is also the same, but without cursed tools, Toji can only fights against human (can’t fight against curse spirits).
 * He is knowledgeable about how anime is made because Naobito’s hobby is Akutami’s hobby. From the time it was made, originally that technique is derived from video medium and camera. It is kind of brush up from the 24-frame anime during Naobito’s generation.
 * Naobito is known to have multiple sons. Although it's been stated that Naoya is the most talented of them.