Perfect Preparation, Part 4 (
Contents
Summary
In exchange for Mai's life, Maki has broken away from cursed energy. Her power now resembles Toji Zenin's but Naoya sees her as nothing more than an imposter. The conflict has escalated past a fight for the Zenin clan, this has become a battle of who will stand beside Toji and Satoru Gojo as the strongest.
Plot Details
Naoya understood Toji's true strength from a young age.
When Naoya was a child, he was constantly coddled and praised by his family members. He was recognized as a genius and many always believed he would grow into the head of the clan after Naobito.
Naoya heard of a black sheep in the Zenin clan who didn't have any cursed energy and went to see how pitiful that person must look. However, Naoya was physically shaken upon seeing Toji's cold, focused, and unconcerned eyes.
Maki has gained strength comparable to Toji's and has annihilated most of the Zenin clan's strongest fighters with it. At the climax of the conflict, she faces Naoya, who sends a series of rapid punches her way within a single second. Maki is able to parry most of them and tries to count the number of movements in that moment, but she's interrupted and grabbed by Naoya, causing her to be frozen inside a frame. Using extreme velocity, Naoya kicks Maki through several large stone structures surrounding the Zenin estate. Naoya is adamant to himself that Maki is not Toji regardless of her boost in power.
Naoya understands that the sin of insignificant people is their ignorance of strength. Everyone misjudged Toji because of his lack of cursed energy and Naoya doesn't believe anyone understood him other than Satoru.
"You are not Toji!!"
Using his cursed technique, Naoya continually builds momentum and overwhelms Maki with one high-speed move after another. Naoya desires to prove that he is the one who will stand with Toji and Satoru as one of the strongest, not Maki. Even with her improved abilities, Maki is hurt by Naoya's attacks and struggles to keep up, admitting the situation is getting bad.
Projection Sorcery doesn't allow the user to egregiously ignore the laws of physics or trajectories. There is also an upper limit on the user's acceleration when they activate the technique as well. However, maintaining activation of Projection Sorcery allows speed to continuously build. Unlike in his fight with Choso, Naoya won't stop building speed this time. He understands that strength equals weight and speed and plans to pierce Maki at max velocity, having already gone supersonic.
Naoya attempts to cement his place among the strongest.
Maki gained a steel body that has broken away from cursed energy in exchange for Mai's life, but she's still injured from her fight with Ogi and the Hei. At a disadvantage, Maki welcomes a head-on collision and takes the stance of the Shiranui-Gata technique. She attempts to take on the brunt of Naoya's supersonic speed attack in order to stop his movements, even if it means sacrificing a few ribs.
Appearing to see through Maki's defensive strategy, Naoya tags her with his palm instead. Doing so forces his cousin to follow the 24 frames per second rule of Projection Sorcery. Failure to do so means being frozen inside a frame for one second.
Maki deciphers the trick to Naoya's cursed technique.
Still moving at top speed and seeing his adversary as nothing more than an imposter, Naoya believes Maki is frozen and prepares to finish her off. However, Maki is not frozen and is even obeying the 24 frames per second rule. Her new body allows her to see that Naoya can move twenty-four times per second and move fast enough to avoid being frozen.
Maki turns around and counterattacks, intercepting Naoya's path with her fist while his face approaches her punch at top speed. Naoya attempts to call Maki an imposter but she smashes his face into the ground with an incredibly ferocious punch that ends the fight. Since Naoya didn't get to finish his statement, Maki asks her bloodied and defeated cousin to repeat that.
Character in Order of Appearances
- Naoya Zenin
- Toji Fushiguro (Flashback)
- Maki Zenin
- Satoru Gojo (Flashback)
- Naobito Zenin (Mentioned)
Battles & Events
Locations
Jujutsu
- Taijutsu Techniques
- Shiranui-Gata
