Highlights
- The Hidden Inventory arc introduces fans to the teenage years of Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, showcasing their close friendship and dangerous missions.
- As the arc progresses, it becomes clear that Geto's views on the world diverge from Gojo's, leading to his descent into villainy.
- The tragic events and the loss of Riko and Kuroi shift both Gojo and Geto's ideals, with Gojo embracing the need to protect the weak while Geto develops a fanatical hatred for non-sorcerers.
During the Hidden Inventory arc that was shown in the first five episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2, fans saw what the Jujutsu world was like 10 years before the setting of the main plot. Here, fans were introduced to Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto in their teenage years as two young and aspiring best friends who would always undertake dangerous missions together, never fearing because they had each other by their sides.
However, as the arc progressed, it started to show a shift in the way their views on the world changed. This was when fans would eventually see Geto begin his path as a villain, sacrificing nothing to achieve his goals and constantly bringing him at odds with Gojo as both of them wanted different things. So, let's take a look at Geto's descent into evil and explain why it happened, in one of the most incredible character development arcs ever put to the page!
Hidden Inventory
The Hidden Inventory arc was when fans were introduced to Suguru Geto properly and saw why he meant so much to Gojo. In their teenage years, the period in which this arc is set, both Geto and Gojo were sorcerers who studied in the Tokyo Jujutsu School and were best friends for many reasons. The fact that both of them were originally on par when it came to strength was one of the biggest aspects of why they got along so well in the first place, as they were the only ones who could understand each other due to their similarities.
Gojo's Limitless was not fully realized at the time, due to which Geto's Cursed Spirit Manipulation was powerful enough to keep them both at a relative scale. Due to their strength being on a level far above everyone else, they were both designated as Special Grade Sorcerers, a title which was held by only them and with Yuki Tsukumo. This meant that the most dangerous and difficult mission would be assigned to both of them when the higher-ups would feel that only the strongest sorcerers could handle it.
This is where the Time Vessel Association comes in. In short, Master Tengen is an immortal sorcerer leader who needs to evolve by transferring themselves into a new vessel every so often, or else they could transcend humanity and become a very powerful Cursed Spirit. So, a new vessel is chosen in the form of Riko Amanai, a schoolgirl that Geto and Gojo are tasked to transport and protect from the organization, as the Time Vessel Association worships Master Tengen and sees their merger with a human as impure.
So, this Association then hires the infamous Sorcerer Killer, Toji Fushiguro, is the only person qualified to assassinate Riko and get past her 2 Special Grade bodyguards. Toji ultimately succeeds in his task, killing Riko and defeating both of the strongest Jujutsu sorcerers due to his strategic planning and abilities, and in doing so, he sets forth a chain of events that changed the course of the Jujutsu world.
A Change in Ideals
When the arc began, both Gojo and Geto were characters who, despite being best friends, had vastly different views on the world and their roles within it. Since they were the strongest and knew pure strength better than anyone else, Gojo argued that the role of the strong was to achieve strength and effectively isolate themselves from the weak as no one else could ever understand them.
Geto, however, thought the exact opposite. He stated that the strong exist solely to protect those who can't protect themselves. He said that those born with abilities like theirs had the solemn duty to give a voice and power to the weak and in doing so, also bring up the power and strength of those seemingly beneath them. These views would often lead to both of them being at odds, but never really coming in the way of their friendship until way later.
During their time with Riko and Kuroi, the Special Grades ended up getting very attached to them. However, despite getting close and wanting to protect them, they are still killed by Toji towards the end of the arc. This was an event that caused a shift in both the views of Gojo and Geto, as Gojo now believed what Geto had been saying at the start of the arc by sympathizing with the weak.
Gojo finally realized that the weak also have a role in this world and that their lives are just as important, even if they cannot defend themselves. He changed his thinking and found that he should serve and protect the weak where they themselves couldn't, after getting close to Riko and Kuroi and finding out that his best friend Geto had been right all along. He knew that being strong didn't have to mean staying in isolation, but it could also lead to the fostering of stronger and more capable allies who could then go on to help even more people and change Jujutsu society for the better.
Geto, on the other hand, changed his views in a much more extreme and fanatical way. He had always held the opinion that the strong should protect the weak and that it was their inherent duty to do so. He, too, had grown quite close to both Riko and Kuroi just as Gojo had, due to which he gave Riko the option to escape and live the rest of her life as she wanted without becoming a Star Plasma Vessel for Master Tengen.
Just as she decided to live her life, however, Toji shot her out of the shadows. This was the beginning of Geto's descent because he now began to detest weakness. He thought that if Riko had been strong enough to protect herself, he and Gojo wouldn't be needed and Riko wouldn't have had to die, which in turn wouldn't have made him feel horrible. The events of the Hidden Inventory arc also had a shift in the balance of the strongest, as Gojo was able to realize his full potential by learning and healing from his Reverse Cursed Technique and perfecting his Limitless.
This would end up putting Gojo on a higher level of strength than even Geto. Geto knew that the shift in power meant that his best friend was now the unequivocal strongest sorcerer and no one could match him, which led to Gojo being called and used for special missions just by himself, resulting in the two of them spending even less time together. The toll Riko and Kuroi's death had taken on Geto was great and was further exacerbated when Gojo went to retrieve Riko's body from the Time Vessel Association, where both of the Special Grades were met with deafening applause that celebrated the death of the young girl.
Gojo even told Geto that he could kill them all with a single move, but Geto told him to stop because at this stage, Geto was still trying to hold on to his ideals and did not want to give up the person he was for the person he knew he was becoming. Though Gojo agreed to Geto's request, he said that doing so was meaningless, to which Geto replied by saying that this was still the duty of the strong and they should protect the weak and non-sorcerers, even though he knew those non-sorcerers weren't worth protecting.
Geto was also taunted by his loss to Toji because a self-described 'monkey' with no cursed energy was able to defeat him and Gojo, but unlike Gojo, he couldn't get stronger to get his revenge. When things were looking as bleak as possible for Geto, he came across the third Special Grade sorcerer, Yuki Tsukumo, who told him about her ideal world, one which had no Cursed Spirits. Seeing how these spirits are made from negative emotions from non-sorcerers, it sparked a new plan and hatred for non-sorcerers within Geto.
From here, Geto would start to work towards his plan of creating a world without non-sorcerers. Since he blamed them as if they were the reason why curses and misfortune exists at all, taking them out would be cutting the problem at the root. His hatred blinded him to the point where even his own parents weren't safe from this plan, culminating in his final confrontation with Gojo at the end of Jujutsu Kaisen 0.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available to stream on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
