Highlights
- The long-anticipated fight between Sukuna and Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen did not disappoint, with Sukuna ultimately coming out on top by using his unparalleled knowledge and mastery over Jujutsu sorcery.
- Sukuna's victory was aided by his ability to adapt his cursed technique, Dismantle, after observing Mahoraga's attacks against Gojo's Limitless technique, allowing him to target the space Gojo inhabited rather than Gojo himself.
- Despite his defeat, Gojo's legacy lives on in the Jujutsu world as he has successfully created a new generation of powerful sorcerers to carry forward his ideals and counter Sukuna's philosophy.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen 236, "The South" by Gege Akutami, translated by John Werry, and Lettered by Snir Aharon, available in English from MangaPlus.
Sukuna versus Gojo was the most anticipated fight since the very first chapter of the Jujutsu Kaisen story and was also easily one of the most hyped-up fights in all of modern anime. The build-up was incredible, with over 200 chapters of the manga alluding to the eventual showdown between the strongest sorcerer of the current era and the King of Curses, it was primed to be a fight that was going to be one for the history books. Starting in Chapter 222 and continuing until Chapter 236, this fight did not disappoint.
From continuous back and forths and overwhelming mastery of sorcery from both fighters, both Gojo and Sukuna faced off to the best of their abilities, until Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 235 where we saw Gojo seemingly come out on top. However, it wasn't until the next chapter that we would find out that not only was it Sukuna who won the fight, but he was supposedly not even going all out, defeating Gojo without even unleashing his full strength. Though hard to believe, there are two main reasons why Sukuna came out on top.
How Did Sukuna Win?
First and foremost, Sukuna's knowledge and mastery over everything to do with Jujutsu sorcery is unparalleled. Unlike most other powerful characters within the series, he has been alive for about 1000 years and in that time, he has accumulated a vast repository of knowledge regarding cursed techniques and Jujutsu sorcery in general, something which allows him to fully understand any cursed technique that he sees. This is precisely what he was able to do with Megumi's Ten Shadows technique.
Throughout the entire fight against Gojo, Sukuna seemed to be more on the back foot and hesitant to attack, especially with his own cursed technique, causing him to use Mahoraga to do most of the fighting for him. While much of the fandom used this to make fun of him, Sukuna had his reasons. We would later find out that since his technique could not get past Gojo's Limitless, he essentially used Mahoraga as a template.
This works because Mahoraga is a shikigami with a unique ability in which he can always adapt to whatever he is up against, given enough time. So, when Mahoraga eventually adapted to Gojo's Limitless technique, he could do sufficient damage to Gojo, allowing Sukuna to observe the adaptation and tinker with his own cursed technique, Dismantle, to work the same way as Mahoraga's adapted attacks.
This led to the creation of perhaps the most overpowered ability seen in the series so far, a Dismantle slash that is able to cut through space itself. Since Limitless negates all attacks done towards it, Mahoraga's adaptation let Sukuna know that the only way to bypass the Limitless was not to target Gojo, but to target the very space that Gojo inhabited.
Think of a dot drawn on paper using a pen or permanent marker. Though using an eraser on the dot will not get rid of it, ripping the paper where the dot is will. This level of perception and absolute mastery over sorcery is the first reason why Gojo simply could not reach Sukuna's level, even though Gojo is an unmitigated powerhouse himself.
Sukuna's Philosophy
Gege Akutami has masterfully written characters that have to live in a world where they are unmatched in terms of strength and with this strength, it is natural for such unparalleled beings to experience loneliness. This is a sentiment that is very central to the character arcs of both Gojo and Hajime Kashimo as their strength has left them on a level so far above anyone else that they feel alienated from even their allies.
However, despite being on a level of strength that is above even those two, Sukuna is a character who has never let alienation and isolation define him. In the dream sequence after his battle with Kashimo, Sukuna explains to him that there was one person who tried to teach him about love and why he, of all people, can never experience it. This was a notion that he outright rejected.
He explains to Kashimo that it was selfish of both him and Gojo to feel alienated and that it was their fault for having felt so, limiting their power because of it. Sukuna said that their perspective was skewed and that they never needed anyone to be on their level to know what being loved felt like. Since each of the strongest had fought numerous battles and defeated a great number of opponents, they were loved and respected by those they defeated.
Sukuna goes on to say that they were all loved for their strength, which is why hundreds of people willingly fought against them in hopes of validating their own strength. In fighting the strongest, they were showing love by giving their lives to them, and the feeling is one that Sukuna reciprocated by honoring their wishes to die by his hands, stating if that isn't love then he doesn't know what is.
This is an incredible and poignant defining moment for who Sukuna is as a character. He seeks out strength above all else and never lets any feelings define or limit him. He does whatever he wants which is why his potential to grow and get stronger is staggering.
What Does This Mean for Gojo?
While undoubtedly the second-strongest character in the entire Jujutsu Kaisen universe, Satoru Gojo couldn't ever measure up to the King of Curses. Despite putting up an amazing fight, Gege Akutami made it quite apparent in manga Chapter 236, and beyond that Gojo never really stood a chance as Sukuna was yet to unlock his most powerful form.
Still, however, Gojo's legacy will always live on in the Jujutsu world. Even though he couldn't do what Sukuna did and adopt his philosophy on how he should live, Gojo did something that will inevitably spell the end for Sukuna. Because of the plan that Gojo set into motion from the very start of the series, there is now a new and even more powerful generation of Jujutsu sorcerers that carry forward his ideals.
From the start, Gojo wanted to reshape the entire Jujutsu world by creating extremely powerful allies that would take his ideals and defeat evil wherever they saw it, especially in ways that counter Sukuna's philosophy. With the next generation primed and ready to fight through Gojo's efforts alone, we must wait to see what this means for the King of Curses.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans on the Shonen Jump and Manga Plus apps for free. The release date for the next Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter, Chapter 240, is set to be October 29, 2023.