Jujutsu Kaisen’s two-week-long break has certainly proven to be worth it, as fans finally got to witness the protagonist of the series, Yuji Itadori, fulfill his potential in this week's chapter. JJK chapter 257 was absolutely incredible, and it is safe to say that this chapter might just have been one of the very best in the entire series, if not the best. The chapter saw Yuji fight against Sukuna, dominating him in moments of battle with rather ease.

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Yuji had already awakened one cursed technique before, however, with his Awakening, he finally gained access to his second cursed technique, which is, the Shrine, or Mizushi, and this technique is one that fans are very familiar with.

How Yuji Awakened New Powers

Yuji's Awakening Was Triggered After The Black Flash

Yuji engaged in combat against Sukuna as soon as the fight between Gojo and the King of Curses wrapped up. As fans know, Gojo ended up losing his life in the battle against Sukuna, and that triggered a raid led by the students against the King of Curses. Of course, during this raid, the chances for victory for the sorcerers were quite low. This was down to the fact that Sukuna was quite powerful and had just reincarnated into his true form. Yuji was always going to be at the forefront of things in the battle against Sukuna, and he played a massive role in the fight, even though he ended up losing to him many times.

While Sukuna did not acknowledge Yuji's skill, what he did acknowledge was the fact that Yuji had a never-say-die attitude. It is this attitude that allows Yuji to get back up again and again and try his luck against Sukuna.

Thankfully, Yuji had gained reverse cursed technique, and this allowed him to heal from damage repeatedly. With the help of all the other sorcerers, Yuji was able to find chinks in Sukuna's armor, and in JJK chapter 256, he finally delivered a powerful black flash to the King of Curses. This black flash was absolutely incredible and it damaged Sukuna tremendously. More importantly, this black flash finally allowed Yuji's hidden potential to be unlocked. Now, for the very first time, Yuji has unlocked his full potential, and he is incredibly powerful at this point in the story.

On top of already having one powerful cursed technique, known as Blood Manipulation, Yuji has now gained another power, and potentially even the ability to hit black flashes at will, all of which combine to be the most significant power-up that fans that thing in Jujutsu Kaisen over the years.

Yuji's Shrine

Yuji Has Awakened Sukuna's Cursed Technique

Yuji certainly awakened the power of blood manipulation a while ago. This was made clear to the fans in the many chapters where he fought against Sukuna. It was explicitly stated that Yuji ended up devouring Death Paintings four to nine, and that ended up giving him access to this cursed technique. However, it was also made clear in the chapter that blood manipulation is not Yuji's only cursed technique.

JJK chapter 257 clarified that Yuji also has access to Shrine, which is a very powerful cursed technique, possibly one of the strongest in the entire series. Shrine is an ability that the fans are very well familiar with. Essentially, the power of Shrine allows Yuji to access slicing and dicing attacks.

Yuji can essentially make use of Cleave and Dismantle, and fans will recognize this ability from Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses. Sukuna uses the very same curse technique and it allows him to chop up his enemies and damage them greatly in battle.

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Now, Yuji has awakened the very same power and it has certainly aided him tremendously in battle. Although he failed to damage him with this ability, he did push the King of Curses on the backfoot. Yuji was able to slice across a pillar with a clean cut of Dismantle, and, at the same time, he later attempted to chop off Sukuna's leg, only for the King of Curses to counter in time to avoid having a limb chopped from his body.

How Strong Is Yuji's Shrine?

Yuji's Shrine Is One Of The Strongest Cursed Techniques

When it comes to the strength of Yuji's Shrine, fans know that it is incredibly powerful. The shrine is an amazing cursed technique, possibly one of the strongest that the fans have seen in JJK. As such, merely awakening the Shrine ensures that Yuji becomes one of the strongest individuals in the entirety of the JJK series. When it comes to how strong is, however, what fans know for now is that the output of his Shrine isn't all that great.

This was confirmed by Sukuna himself in JJK chapter 257. However, the reason for this is simply that Yuji has just awakened this cursed technique. It will take him some time to learn the ins and outs of the Shrine, and then adjust the power of Mizushi accordingly. At the same time, Yuji will learn how to perform his cuts faster, instead of them taking a lot of time and giving the opponent a chance to retaliate, just as Sukuna did in the previous chapter.

Another thing that the fans should keep in mind is that Yuji's Shrine is very different from Sukuna's Shrine. In the case of Sukuna, he can simply launch slashes from distance or do point blank damage. In the case of Yuji, the technique works in a slightly different manner. Yuji is able to touch things and then have scissors form around them. These scissors show Yuji which part of the object to chop, and then the object is subsequently chopped off. According to Sukuna, this cursed technique is slightly different from his own, in the sense that it takes some time to work, and at the same time, the process of cutting things is slightly different. Sukuna believes this is down to the fact that the technique is utilized by a different user and it exists in a different era, both of which affect how a technique is utilized and what it does. Still, the cursed technique is essentially the same.

As Yuji continues his fight against Sukuna, his cursed technique, Mizushi, is most definitely going to get stronger and faster. This means Yuji will chop up Sukuna and deal deadly damage to him as the battle continues. At the same time, fans also need to consider the fact that Yuji will most likely manifest a Domain Expansion at some point later down the line. Right now, Yuji has not showcased the power of Domain Expansion at all. However, that certainly doesn't mean that he will not gain this power in the future.

As JJK continues, Yuji is likely to awaken a Domain Expansion, which will most certainly be similar to Malevolent Shrine. Inside his domain expansion, Yuji can reach an entirely new level of power, hence, potentially defeating the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.

Jujutsu Kaisen is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of JJK, Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 258, is set to be April 28, 2024.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Based on Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen manga, Mappa's battle shonen anime envisions a world where Jujutsu Sorcerers battle against entities born out of Cursed Energy. One day, a teenager named Yuji Itadori is dragged into this conflict when he eats a possessed finger.

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