Naoya Zenin

Naoya Zenin

Naoya Zenin was the youngest son of Naobito Zenin and believed himself to be the true heir to the Zenin Family. Naoya was also the head of the elite unit of the jujutsu sorcerer clan, the Hei.

Biographical information

Kanji: Naoya Chino: Zen'in Naoya

Personal description

Species: Human Vengeful Curse (Previous) Age: 27 [1] Gender: Male Male

Professional Status

State: Deceased Relatives: Zenin Clan Naobito Zenin (Father) Unnamed older brothers Ogi Zenin (uncle) Toji Fushiguro (cousin) Maki Zenin (cousin) Mai Zenin (cousin) Megumi Fushiguro (second nephew) Occupation: Jujutsu Sorcerer Chief of the Hei Membership: Zenin family The Hei Qualification: Special grade 1

Appearance

Naoya is a relatively tall and athletically built young man. He has piercing brown eyes and dyed blonde hair accented with dark green roots. He almost always has a cocky smile on his face and believes that he has an appearance worthy of a clan leader, implying that he is much more attractive than other members such as Jinichi. He has three piercings on his left ear, one on the earlobe and two more on top. Naoya wears a traditional outfit similar to most of his clan members. He wears a white, long-sleeved shirt with matching buttons underneath his dark blue kimono. He completes his outfit with light-colored hakama pants and waraji sandals. Vengeful Spirit: Following his reincarnation as a vengeful cursed spirit, Naoya has a much more monstrous appearance, befitting a curse. He no longer has human form, instead his body is large and long like that of a caterpillar. He retains human-like arms, but the face of his worm-like body is covered by a star-shaped mask with six holes. Though barely recognizable, Naoya's human face can protrude from one of these holes. This form was only Naoya's cursed womb state, and it soon evolved. His fully realized cursed form resembles a chrysalis with a skull-like face capable of extending tendrils that come together to function as humanoid limbs.

Personality

From a young age, Naoya was always praised and told by others that he was a genius. He was severely spoiled due to being the youngest and most promising of Naobito's children. He was conditioned to see himself as his father's successor, and as a result, Naoya's arrogance grew to unbridled levels even as a young child. He looked down on everyone he considered weaker than him, which was the vast majority of people Naoya came across. The only person Naoya seemed to have any respect for was Toji. He came to visit him as a child to mock the pitiful man with no cursed energy, but was instantly able to recognize that Toji was extremely strong despite that. [2] This led Naoya to embrace the ideology that the sin of the insignificant is ignorance of true strength. Naoya felt that he was one of the only ones who understood Toji and strived to be as exceptional as him. [3] Naoya confidently pursued strength to the point where he viewed everyone else as inferior to him. He refused to acknowledge anyone's talent, referring to his elders, Jinichi and Ogi, as weaklings despite their experience as senior members of the clan. Naoya's reckless and conceited attitude irritated even his fellow clan members, to the point where Ogi and Jinichi attacked him for being overly pompous.

Raised in an environment that encourages superiority, Naoya developed several sociopathic and narcissistic tendencies and strongly embodied the entire stigma about the Zenin clan. He has no family values ​​beyond trying to surpass everyone to become the head of the clan. He expressed no concern for Naobito, his father, on his deathbed and has said more than once that he hates all of his older brothers as well. Naoya sees women only as wives and casually told Maki and Mai's mother that a woman who cannot walk three steps behind a man should be stabbed in the back. [4] Upon learning that Megumi had usurped his position as clan head, Naoya did not hesitate to plan a way to kill him. Naoya was well aware that his clan mates might prefer Megumi over him, but he cared nothing for their approval. [5] He had no problem attacking Megumi's allies in an attempt to expose him and was willing to kill them to do so. Naoya momentarily put aside his pride to work alongside Yuta Okkotsu, but only did so to achieve his own selfish goals. [6] Even after Yuta checked on him following his loss to Choso, Naoya was irritated at the younger man for belittling him. [7] Dissatisfied with the failure of his plans, Naoya took his irritation out on Maki and repeatedly mocked her when she returned to the Zenin clan estate. He called her scum, mocked her for her scars, and devalued her as a person not only for her appearance but also for her inability to use jujutsu. He called her a lapdog for following Yuta and Megumi around, and threatened to bully her own cousin in the same way he used to bully her in the past. [8]

Upon learning of Jinichi and Ogi's refusal to leave Megumi the family fortune, it was confirmed that Naoya was not the clan's first choice. This irritated Naoya, but he was okay with the plot to get rid of Megumi, Maki, and Mai as long as it served him in the end. [9] Mai sacrificed herself in exchange for granting Maki a body with power comparable to Toji's. As Maki slaughtered her way through the Zenin clan, Naoya did not show the slightest hint of distress for his family members. In fact, he was amused by Maki's power and simply mocked her for being so ruthless. [10] Naoya refused to acknowledge that Maki was on the same level of strength as Toji. That is a title Naoya desired and fought Maki to deny it more than he did to avenge his own clan. Until the moment he was defeated, Naoya remained in denial and referred to Maki as nothing more than an impostor. [11] Even after being brutally defeated by Maki, Naoya mocked her for not finishing him off. The irony of fate came for Naoya in the form of Maki's mother stabbing him in the back, just as he said women deserved. As Naoya was losing his life in such a pitiful manner, all he could do was use his last words to insult his attacker. [12] Naoya retained his ego and the entirety of his arrogant personality when he became a vengeful cursed spirit after death. [13] Dying in such a manner and losing to Maki only fueled Naoya's grudge against her. His only desire was to kill Maki and prove that he was the one to stand beside Toji in terms of strength. [14] [15]

Naoya's overconfidence only grew as his power increased. After suffering a near-fatal blow as a Cursed Womb, Naoya pretended to feel sorry for hurting other Cursed Spirits only to immediately retract it and evolve into a more powerful state. [16] Once evolved, Naoya claimed he could not remember a time when he was weaker than Maki despite openly acknowledging that he once defeated him. [17] [18] Maki was not the only one he held a grudge against, Naoya also admitted that he hated Blood Manipulation for what Choso did to him and took those transgressions out on Noritoshi. [19] Completely focused on Maki, Naoya treated Noritoshi and everyone else as an afterthought. [20] [21] [22] Naoya also completely ignored Maki's growth throughout their rematch. [23] The more Naoya failed to kill Maki, the more resentful, desperate, and frustrated he became. His speed was unable to overwhelm Maki after she became enlightened, irritating him to the point where he broke out in a tantrum. [24] Once cornered by Maki, Naoya continued to refuse her to be the next Toji and launched into a tirade stating that the one standing next to Toji is himself. [25] Naoya regained his composure after expanding into his domain, but this ended up being to his detriment. His overconfidence in his domain led him to underestimate Maki and completely overlook her lack of cursed energy and how his domain would be unable to locate her. Even when Maki struck him from behind, Naoya believed that his domain could hold her back, directly resulting in his demise. He attempted to call Maki an impostor once more only to be interrupted by her finishing blow.[26]

Skills and Powers

Overall Skill Level: Naoya was a Special Grade 1 sorcerer and the leader of the Hei, the most powerful collective of sorcerers in the Zenin clan. He was considered one of the top talents of one of the Three Great Families, with strength comparable to his father. Naoya considers other strong sorcerers in the clan, such as Ogi and Jinichi, to be weak in comparison to him. Naoya used the cursed technique he inherited from Naobito with great skill. It granted him incredible speed that Naoya took great pride in. He combined his strategic intellect with his prowess in hand-to-hand combat to quickly overwhelm his enemies without taking any damage. Naoya had the same knack for timing as his father and prioritized speed even more than the former leader. In his first encounter with Yuji and Choso, Naoya was able to break through the two exceptional fighters' defenses and land a powerful blow before parrying a counterattack and escaping without taking a hit. It happened so quickly that Yuji and Choso weren't even sure what happened, but they immediately associated this with a cursed technique. Naoya expected to finish Yuji off in one hit and admitted that Sukuna's vessel was sturdier than expected. He confidently added that he could increase its speed even further. [27] In a one-on-one fight against Choso, Naoya was able to quickly master the special-grade Death Painting Womb. Thanks to information on the other sorcerer clans, Naoya was familiar with Blood Manipulation and focused on preventing Choso from controlling the blood outside of his body. His high-speed attacks put Choso at such a disadvantage that Naoya did not even need to divulge how Projection Sorcery works. Naoya believed that his speed could prevent Choso from charging Convergence and launching Piercing Blood, Blood Manipulation's most fearsome move, leaving him certain of victory. [28][29]

Naoya generally does not fight with weapons because he prides himself on being a sorcerer who uses jujutsu rather than armed combat. He considers sorcerers who rely on weapons to be shameful and hides the only knife he uses to keep it a secret. Naoya only resorted to cutting Choso with the knife because he proved to be very resistant to unarmed blows. Naoya believed that there was nothing to fear after Choso's injury and this built up overconfidence led to his downfall. Naoya didn't know that Choso is essentially a curse made flesh and has the ability to bleed much more than a normal human. This took him by surprise and Naoya accidentally turned the tables on him. Despite being drenched in Choso's blood and weighed down by his weight, Naoya still believed he could win through speed alone. However, he relied too heavily on his familiarity with blood manipulation and ran straight into Choso's Supernova attack, a technique unique to him. Naoya proved to be a fighter on par with Choso's power level, but suffered from his own boundless overconfidence. [30] Once Maki achieved a body that escaped the cursed energy, Naoya was the only member of the Hei who could compete with her for more than a few moments. Naoya's ever-increasing speed, combined with his relentless physical attacks, proved to be a problem even for Maki's vastly improved physical prowess. He was able to bombard her with one high-impact combo after another, destroying the terrain around them with each consecutive attack.

Naoya learned from his mistake against Choso and did not stop accelerating against Maki. He planned to tear through her body using the strength wrought by his weight and subsonic speed together. When she tried to goad him into a direct attack, Naoya did not rise to the bait. Naoya's skills and intellect were undeniable, but his arrogance often clouded his judgment. His plan was to trap her, but she was able to obey the 24 FPS, something he found inconceivable because she refused to acknowledge his strength. [31] Naoya was even more powerful as a vengeful cursed spirit who retained his innate technique. Even as a cursed womb, Naoya's speed increased exponentially. He could fly through the air at supersonic speeds, so fast that Noritoshi could not even keep up with his movements. Despite his exceptional physical prowess, Naoya even immobilized Maki with his initial high-speed attack. [32] Naoya fought both Maki and Noritoshi at the same time and survived several direct hits from both, holding them off long enough to evolve into a new state. [33] Naoya, who was gifted with a cursed spiritual body created for speed, nearly defeated Maki's steel body by striking her while moving at Mach 3. [34] Noritoshi saved Maki, but was no match for Naoya in this form and could only buy time by using Blood Manipulation. [35] Naoya would have likely beaten Maki and Noritoshi one-on-one, but they protected each other and the newcomers aided them during the battle. Noaya injured Noritoshi to the point where he was unable to participate in the rest of the fight once the newcomers joined in. Naoya took on multiple opponents at the same time and even unlocked the ability to use Domain Expansion. Naoya's Domain effortlessly defeated Hagane Daido and Rokujushi Miyo, but was unable to detect Maki, leading to Naoya's defeat. [36]

Master of Hand-to-Hand Combat: Much like his father, Naoya employed the speed granted by his innate technique in combination with his martial arts skills as his primary combat style. He did so with masterful skill, striking his opponents with powerful blows before fading away and then striking them again before they could react. Naoya demonstrated elite-level hand-to-hand combat skills by primarily delivering different types of strikes such as chops, back fists, elbow strikes, uppercuts, or similar combinations in quick succession. His defensive discipline was also sharp, allowing him to predict his opponent's attacks and parry them with precision. Amplified by the speed of his cursed technique, a single blow to Naoya's body slammed Choso into a stone pillar with enough force to shatter it. [37] Naoya took pride in defeating his opponents unarmed, and relied on bolstering his physical attacks with jujutsu. [38] Naoya's fighting style remained intact even after becoming cursed. He would use his tendrils to create makeshift arms with which to strike his opponents, or use extreme speed to charge at his targets. Great Tactical Intellect: Since childhood, Naoya has always been considered to have a genius-level intellect. He shared the same talent for strategy as Naobito, allowing him to calculate his opponent's moves in every strategy he adopted.

While working together with Yuta to kill Yuji, Naoya accurately foresaw that Choso would attempt to block his path. As soon as Yuji began to flee, Naoya prevented Choso from blocking Yuta and engaged him one-on-one. Naoya saw Choso use Blood Manipulation before their fight and knew that his best course of action was to counter Piercing Blood from the start. [39] Even while obeying Projection Sorcery's 24 FPS rule, Naoya takes into account the possibility of his opponent counterattacking. When Choso adapted to Naoya's speed using Flowing Red Scale: Stack, Naoya quickly recognized that this was able to prevent Choso's counterattack by accurately predicting his movements. [40] Against Maki's Shiranui-Gata, Naoya deduced that it was a trap and wisely decided to avoid a direct confrontation, choosing to continue gaining speed and hold on to his advantage. [41] As his ego remained after becoming a curse, Naoya's intellect far surpassed that of most other cursed spirits. He used clever maneuvers to avoid Maki's attacks and accurately analyzed Noritoshi's abilities while fighting both of them at the same time.

Cursed Techniques

Inherited Technique: "Projection Sorcery": Naoya inherited his father's innate technique, which allows him to convert a second into 24 frames and map out a predetermined set of movements using his field of vision as the viewing angle. While the technique is active, anything that touches Naoya's palm must adhere to the technique's 24 FPS rule or it will freeze for one second within an animated frame. "Projection Sorcery": Naoya retained his innate technique and greatly enhanced it thanks to his cursed spiritual physiology. Combined with the ability to fly, Naoya's body could reach speeds far exceeding those of when he was a sorcerer. [44] Physiology of the cursed spirit: Acceleration Mode - Naoya's body inhaled air through intakes while flying and used thrust pressure and cursed energy to expel that air to increase propulsion. By flying in circles to increase his speed, Naoya reached Mach 3. [45] His body hides its tentacles within its shell and coils up when accelerating towards its maximum speed so that that same speed will not destroy it. Coiling up increases Naoya's toughness, but a binding vow prevents him from being durable outside of this mode. [46]

"Territorial Expansion: Moon Palace Time Cell": Naoya's domain took the form of a womb-like environment with a giant eye in place of a womb. [47] The domain's unmissable attack are movie lines that enforce Projection Sorcery's 24 FPS rules at the cellular level.

Equipment

Conventional Weaponry: Naoya carried a tanto-style knife which he kept hidden in his clothes. He did not like to use it openly and only used it for sneak attacks. [49]