Recaps

Xuan awakened in a morgue in Sendai on November 1, 2018, inhabiting a new body and discovering that his Ten Shadows shikigami taming had reset. After summoning the Divine Dogs, he encountered Ryu Ishigori, who recognized him as an ancient sorcerer and challenged him.

• Xuan woke in a morgue, took clothes and money from Itō Mamoru, and used his shadow to travel into an alley.
• Xuan realized his shikigami were no longer tamed in his new body, then summoned the Divine Dogs and greeted them.
• Xuan recalled his past as a Muromachi-era Ten Shadows Sorcerer who had tamed Mahoraga and decided against returning to the Zenin Clan.
• Xuan sensed a nearby presence and met Ryu Ishigori, who identified him as an ancient sorcerer and expressed eagerness to fight.

Xuan challenged Ryu Ishigori in Sendai, initially asking to avoid a fight before the two discussed their dissatisfaction with their past lives. Their conversation turned into a battle, and Xuan summoned Divine Dog: Totality as Ryu prepared another Granité Blast.

• Xuan asked Ryu Ishigori to keep things peaceful, but Ryu attacked him with a Cursed Energy-wrapped punch.
• Xuan caught Ryu’s fist, wounded it with his Cursed Technique, and revealed that he was Xuan, the strongest jujutsu sorcerer of the Muromachi period.
• Ryu recognized Xuan from a book and learned that Xuan had accepted Kenjaku’s offer because he wanted to prove his strength against Sukuna.
• Ryu described his life as lacking a dessert, while Xuan said he still had not had his main course and suddenly attacked him.
• Xuan struck Ryu with a hook and slashes, while Ryu retaliated with Cursed Energy blasts and Granité Blast.
• Xuan used Divine Dog: Totality to slash through Ryu’s second blast, then raised his hand to summon it again.

Ryu Ishigori trapped Xuan in his Domain, All of Creation, but Xuan maintained Hollow Wicker Basket and overwhelmed him with his Shikigami-based attacks. The fight continued until Ryu landed a Black Flash that shattered the shadows covering Xuan’s arm.

• Ryu Ishigori expanded All of Creation around himself and Xuan, while Xuan maintained Hollow Wicker Basket instead of deploying his own Domain.
• Ryu fired Cursed Energy blasts at Xuan, who countered with Divine Dog: Totality and shadow techniques before striking Ryu and smashing him through the Domain’s buildings.
• Ryu used Granité Blast to attack Xuan, but Xuan blocked the shots with a curtain of shadows and battered Ryu with slashes and shadow-coated blows.
• Xuan explained that his Cursed Technique manifested parts of his Shikigami through Cursed Energy, while Ryu questioned how it differed from the technique described in old books.
• Ryu landed a Black Flash that blasted apart the shadows covering Xuan’s arm, and both fighters staggered back as Xuan smiled.

Xuan fought Ryu Ishigori inside All of Creation, using his light-based technique and Divine Dogs to evade and damage him. After the promised minute passed, Xuan activated his Domain Expansion, and its shadows broke through Ryu Ishigori’s barrier.

• Ryu Ishigori landed a Black Flash, and Xuan challenged him to last a minute without dispelling his domain before Xuan showed his own.
• Ryu Ishigori covered All of Creation with beams from Granité Blast, but Xuan turned into light, appeared behind him, and attacked with Divine Dog: Eight.
• Xuan dodged Ryu Ishigori’s Black Flash and struck him with a Black Flash of his own, then cut through the domain’s incoming attacks with Divine Dog: Totality.
• Ryu Ishigori unleashed a concealed Cursed Energy storm beneath them, and Xuan kicked him into the river before they resumed fighting at close range.
• Ryu Ishigori pierced Xuan with a beam from his pompadour, but Xuan’s body melted into the ground as he announced that time was up.
• Xuan expanded Undercurrent: Eight Fixed Waters, whose surging shadows cracked the barrier of All of Creation.

Xuan used his Open Domain, Undercurrent: Eight Fixed Waters, to overwhelm Ishigori Ryu, then spared him and shared modern fast food with him. Ishigori accepted his defeat and enjoyed the hamburgers.

• Xuan explained how Undercurrent: Eight Fixed Waters turned him into the Domain’s shrine and could destroy a closed Domain from within.
• Xuan’s shadows overwhelmed Ishigori Ryu, drained his Cursed Energy, and left him unable to fight back.
• Xuan dispelled his Domain and spared Ishigori Ryu instead of killing him.
• Xuan offered Ishigori Ryu a spicy chicken burger, and they sat together eating hamburgers and fries.
• Ishigori Ryu admitted the hamburger was pretty good and took another bite.

Gen tamed Nue and learned that Ten Shadows imposed a cooldown before he could tame another Shikigami. He encountered Kenjaku, who returned a Cursed Tool in exchange for Gen agreeing not to kill Kurourushi outright, and Gen considered how to handle the Special Grade Cursed Spirit.

• Gen summoned and defeated Nue, completing its taming ritual.
• Gen summoned a small Nue and learned that his Shikigami retained their personalities and that taming came with a roughly twenty-two-hour cooldown.
• Gen sensed a cluster of Cursed Spirits and found Kenjaku inside the barrier.
• Kenjaku released Kurourushi and explained that the Cursed Spirit was meant to keep three powerful awakened Sorcerers in check during the Culling Game.
• Kenjaku returned Gen's Cursed Tool in exchange for a Binding Vow that Gen would not kill Kurourushi outright, then left the barrier.
• Gen examined Kurourushi and considered how to deal with it.

Xuan buried Kurourushi to keep it from harming people, then hunted Culling Game players to gain points and pursue travel between colonies. After reaching 45 points, he sensed Uro Takako nearby and stopped to confront her.

• Xuan buried the sleeping Kurourushi, then flew off to earn points so he could add a rule allowing travel between colonies.
• Xuan killed a long-sword-wielding player who was attacking Itō Mamoru and returned the ten thousand yen he had borrowed from him.
• Xuan learned that Itō Mamoru was a Culling Game player and advised him to find his thing soon before flying away.
• Xuan learned he had 45 points and sensed Uro Takako floating nearby.
• Uro Takako distorted the air and asked Xuan how he had noticed her.

Xuan fought Uro Takako after she mistook him for a mindless sorcerer, quickly overwhelming her with speed and lightning. Uro then opened her Domain Expansion, trapping Xuan in an endless azure sky where he began falling at incredible speed.

• Uro Takako emerged from warped space and challenged Xuan, comparing his immense Cursed Energy to Sukuna's.
• Xuan and Uro exchanged attacks, and Xuan used Myriad Jun to strike her with lightning from multiple directions.
• Xuan outran Uro's counterattack, kicked her through a building, and nearly destroyed it with a storm of lightning.
• Uro admitted defeat but then activated her Domain Expansion, A Line Across the Azure Sky, when Xuan challenged her confidence.
• Xuan formed Hollow Wicker Basket as the Domain took hold, but Uro vanished and he found himself falling through an endless azure sky.

Uro Takako gave up her domain’s sure-hit effect to intensify her attacks against Xuan, but he blocked and countered her techniques. After he explained how he tracked her and clarified that he was neither born into the Zenin Clan nor its head, her domain collapsed, leaving Xuan to make a final remark about her appearance.

• Uro Takako used a Binding Vow to strengthen her control over space inside her domain, then accelerated Xuan through repeated Yushouluodan attacks.
• Xuan absorbed one of Uro Takako’s strikes with a shadow wall and used Divine Dog: Totality to cut off her left leg.
• Uro Takako healed herself with Reverse Cursed Technique and hid in the sky, but Xuan explained that he could locate her by sensing the conflict between her Cursed Energy and the domain.
• Uro Takako assumed Xuan was a Ten Shadows user and the Zenin Clan head, but he told her he was an unaffiliated sorcerer who had no interest in leading the clan.
• Uro Takako accepted that they were different, and her domain shattered as she and Xuan descended to a rooftop.
• Xuan looked at Uro Takako and asked whether she really was an exhibitionist.

Xuan questioned Uro Takako about Sukuna, then left her alive with a warning not to harm ordinary people. As he hunted through Sendai Colony, he spared key players and settled in an empty house, where his concern over his 95 points prompted Nue to challenge his choices.

• Xuan asked Uro Takako what she knew about Sukuna, and she shared details of his Open Domain, Fuga, and Binding Vows.
• Uro Takako asked how Xuan had died, and he claimed he had killed himself with a Cursed Tool after making a deal with Kenjaku.
• Xuan left Uro Takako alive and warned her not to target ordinary people before flying away with Nue.
• Ryu Ishigori killed a player with his newly refined Cursed Energy attack while Xuan's lightning streaked across Sendai Colony and its player count fell.
• Xuan entered an empty house, cooked steaks for himself and his shikigami, and learned from Kogane that he had 95 points.
• Nue questioned why Xuan kept sparing players, and Xuan silenced the bird when it began cursing him.

Xuan woke to Dhruv Lakdawalla’s Shikigami threatening the area and negotiated to spare his life if Dhruv stopped harming ordinary people. After Dhruv asked about Xuan’s Cursed Technique, Xuan began to reveal it.

• Xuan spotted Dhruv’s gigantic Shikigami circling the Gymnasium and identified Dhruv as the Sendai Colony player with ninety-one points.
• Xuan confronted Dhruv, learned that Kenjaku’s Binding Vow required him to maintain his withered body for a third Incarnation, and ordered him not to harm ordinary people.
• Dhruv agreed to restrain his Shikigami until Xuan established a rule excluding ordinary people from the Colony, in exchange for learning Xuan’s Cursed Technique.
• Xuan recalled how he had defeated the sorcerers who hunted him during the Muromachi period and learned that the Zenin Clan head had killed the Star Plasma Vessel.
• Xuan told Dhruv that his Cursed Technique was the Ten Shadows Technique.

Xuan revealed the Ten Shadows Technique and taught Dhruv how Reverse Cursed Technique could control a Shikigami’s size. After Xuan left to collect his final five points, Hajime Kashimo learned that players could travel between Colonies and set out to find the player who added the rule.

• Xuan summoned Nue and explained that converting Cursed Energy into positive energy could control a Shikigami’s size.
• Dhruv tried to imitate Xuan’s method, then began practicing control over his Cursed Energy.
• Xuan told Dhruv he needed five more points and vanished in a trail of lightning.
• Hajime Kashimo learned that General Rule Nine allowed players to travel between Colonies.
• Hajime Kashimo decided to find the rule’s author and leaped toward the nearest burst of Cursed Energy.

Yuji and Choso learned the Culling Game’s rules from Kogane while clearing Cursed Spirits from Shibuya, then saw information about two players in Tokyo No. 2 Colony. The chapter ended with Xuan facing Hajime Kashimo, who recognized Xuan by their Cursed Energy and asked whether they were a man or a woman.

• Yuji and Choso questioned Kogane about the Culling Game after it appeared and warned Yuji to join a colony.
• Kogane explained the game’s rules, including that players earned points by killing others and risked having their Cursed Techniques confiscated.
• Yuji grew angry about the game’s treatment of human lives, but Choso encouraged him to focus on what they could do next.
• Choso checked the player information and found Xuan and Hajime Kashimo, each listed as having added one rule and being in Tokyo No. 2 Colony.
• Yuji and Choso resumed clearing Cursed Spirits in Shibuya.
• In Tokyo No. 2 Colony, Xuan confronted Hajime Kashimo, who recognized Xuan and asked whether Xuan was a man or a woman.

Xuan tamed Tiger Funeral in Tokyo No. 2 Colony and learned how its close-combat technique could help him land Black Flashes. After Hajime Kashimo discovered Xuan’s presence, the two fought to test each other, and the chapter left them preparing to begin a more serious battle.

• Xuan summoned Tiger Funeral and defeated it with his Cursed Energy and Eight, completing the taming ritual.
• Xuan learned that Tiger Funeral strengthened his Eight, enhanced his physical power, and helped him time Black Flashes.
• A new Culling Game rule let players view other players’ information, and Xuan and Hajime Kashimo learned that they were both in Tokyo No. 2 Colony.
• Hajime Kashimo recognized Xuan as the famed strongest of the Muromachi period and headed toward him, while Xuan sensed Kashimo’s Cursed Energy and approached in turn.
• Xuan and Hajime Kashimo clashed at the colony’s center, exchanging staff, weapon, and lightning attacks without either gaining a decisive advantage.
• Xuan declared his test of Hajime Kashimo over, and Hajime Kashimo raised his staff and challenged him to meet his expectations.

Xuan and Hajime Kashimo fought through the city, trading weapons, lightning, slashes, and repeated Black Flashes. After their battle brought them into the sewer, Xuan revealed he had been using techniques from his Shikigami and struck Hajime Kashimo into the air with his own Cursed Technique.

• Xuan and Hajime Kashimo exchanged powerful weapon attacks, and Xuan shifted the Caduceus between a blade, scythe, and hammer.
• After their weapons were lost in a building clash, Xuan and Hajime Kashimo fought hand to hand and landed Black Flash, increasing their understanding of each other.
• Hajime Kashimo used delayed traces of his Cursed Energy and a sure-hit lightning attack, but Xuan survived by adapting his defenses and healing.
• Xuan imitated Sukuna's slash with his innate technique, while Hajime Kashimo healed and charged back into close combat.
• Xuan and Hajime Kashimo traded another pair of Black Flashes until the road shattered and they fell into the sewer.
• Xuan said Dismantle and lightning came from his Shikigami, then used his own Cursed Technique to kick Hajime Kashimo into the air and likely break his spine.

Xuan and Hajime Kashimo battled at extreme speed, trading Black Flashes while their lightning-enhanced bodies and Reverse Cursed Techniques kept them fighting. As Kashimo grasped a new way to use his Cursed Technique, Xuan completed a chant and launched a spear of shadow at him.

• Xuan used Cursed Technique Reversal: Light to strike Kashimo from behind, then chased him through the air and sent him crashing into the ground.
• Kashimo enhanced his body with lightning, attacked Xuan with the Ruyi Staff, and used Black Flash to shatter Xuan’s arm before it healed.
• Xuan pulled the Ruyi Staff away with Nue’s electricity, and he and Kashimo began trading rapid blows and Black Flashes across the battlefield.
• As their injuries mounted, Kashimo developed a new way to use his Cursed Technique and recognized that Xuan was chanting.
• Xuan finished chanting and fired a spear formed from shadows with Cursed Technique Lapse: Shadow.

Hajime Kashimo and Xuan continued their battle, trading lightning attacks and close-range blows as Kashimo tested an incomplete Mythical Beast Amber. Xuan completed a Cursed Technique Reversal that sent a beam of light past Kashimo, leaving Kashimo unsure what had happened.

• Kashimo tore off parts of his body to launch lightning attacks, while Xuan countered with Cleave and lightning strikes.
• Kashimo tried to use a charged javelin against Xuan, but Xuan drew it away with an electric sphere and followed with a barrage of attacks.
• Kashimo partially transformed his arm with Mythical Beast Amber, struck Xuan with a Black Flash, and resumed fighting him at close range.
• Kashimo detonated the accumulated charge in Xuan's body, but Xuan blocked the punch with a wing and sent Kashimo crashing into the street.
• Kashimo interrupted Xuan's first incantation with the Nyoi Staff, but Xuan completed another incantation and used Cursed Technique Reversal: Light.
• Kashimo released all of Mythical Beast Amber as the beam grazed his cheek, then realized it had not hit him and that he had not used his own Cursed Technique.

Xuan used Hollow Technique: Chaos to overwhelm Kashimo, whose memories revealed how strength had isolated him and led him to accept Kenjaku’s offer to fight Sukuna in the future. Kashimo awoke in bed on November 3, 2018, with Xuan beside him.

• Xuan combined Shadow and Light into Hollow Technique: Chaos, trapping Kashimo in a space that damaged his mind and soul.
• Kashimo emerged unconscious, and Xuan checked him before Kashimo’s memories recounted his rise to strength and growing isolation.
• After losing his friend and leaving his village, Kashimo kept challenging strong opponents while searching for answers about strength and loneliness.
• Kenjaku offered Kashimo a chance to fight Sukuna in the future, and Kashimo accepted before becoming a Cursed Object.
• On the morning of November 3, 2018, Kashimo woke in bed and saw Xuan, whose Reverse Cursed Technique was fading from his hand.

After defeating Hajime Kashimo, Xuan talked with him about loneliness and how the strongest could still live among ordinary people, then watched him leave. Xuan decided to leave the Colony, retrieve Shikako, and continue navigating the Culling Game while considering his strength against Sukuna.

• Xuan shared meat pies with Hajime Kashimo and explained that Chaos had made him experience three months despite lasting up to a hundred years.
• Hajime Kashimo asked Xuan how the strongest could get along with others, and Xuan urged him to remember that sorcerers were people first.
• Hajime Kashimo wondered whether strength had to mean loneliness, then left after Xuan told him to make more friends and kill fewer people.
• Xuan discussed his next steps with Nue, including leaving the Culling Game Colony and retrieving Shikako to strengthen his Reverse Cursed Technique.
• Xuan flew toward the Colony boundary and considered unlocking Mahoraga before weighing his chances against Sukuna.

Xuan checked the Culling Game players’ points and considered events unfolding across the colonies before meeting Takaba in Tokyo No. 1 Colony. After Xuan cut Takaba in half, Takaba survived through his bizarre comedic power, leaving Xuan laughing.

• Xuan killed the Zenin Clan head who had cursed him, then asked Kogane for several players’ scores and locations.
• Xuan learned that Kurourushi was active in Sendai Colony and speculated that it might encounter Dhruv, while Ryu Ishigori and Hajime Kashimo were in different colonies.
• Xuan visited a manga shop, recalled that Kinji Hakari was likely in Tokyo No. 2 Colony, and thought about the players in Tokyo No. 1 Colony.
• Xuan encountered Takaba, who complained that Xuan had discarded weapons and conjured Cursed Tools from his collection.
• Xuan slashed Takaba in half, but Takaba acted as if he were an anime character and appeared unharmed before falling apart again.
• Xuan burst out laughing at Takaba’s antics.

Xuan fought Fumihiko Takaba and discovered that Takaba's Cursed Technique turned jokes and imagined scenarios into reality, repeatedly trapping them in comedic situations. The battle continued as they transformed into rival heroes and charged at each other in a snowy landscape.

• Xuan attacked Takaba, whose Cursed Technique redirected the damage and restored his shredded clothes.
• Takaba pulled Xuan into a badminton match, where the rules and puns of the scenario repeatedly thwarted Xuan.
• Xuan escaped the court and discovered that the apparent Takaba was a cloth dummy before Takaba appeared with a tank.
• Takaba used a lightning rod to temporarily restrict Xuan's lightning, then claimed to have broken the record for surviving lightning strikes.
• Takaba transformed into Black Kuuga and set Xuan's shoulder ablaze as Xuan's hand turned into white armor and a snowy mountain formed around them.
• Xuan and Takaba charged at each other, arguing about superhero costumes and copyright infringement.

Xuan and Takaba traded jokes inside Takaba’s reality-altering technique, which let their comedy distort the stage and affect Xuan directly. After Takaba’s tropical-fish gag filled the set with fish, Xuan cut them apart with Dismantle and found himself alone on a rooftop.

• Xuan realized Takaba’s imagined attacks could hurt him, while Takaba remained unharmed and could heal without Reverse Cursed Technique.
• Xuan and Takaba appeared on a variety-show stage and traded jokes as Takaba’s technique rapidly developed.
• Xuan listed numerous illnesses and fictional afflictions, prompting the audience created by Takaba’s technique to laugh.
• Takaba told a joke about tropical fish being eager to lend a hand, and a flood of fish and laughter subtitles appeared onstage.
• Xuan sliced the fish apart with Dismantle, then found himself on a rooftop with Takaba gone.

Xuan and Takaba finished their variety-show battle by promising to fight again, with Xuan agreeing to become Takaba’s comedy partner if Takaba beat or drew with him. Back in Shibuya, Yuji and Choso faced Naoya when a huge surge of Cursed Energy heralded the arrival of a new fighter released by Rika.

• Xuan realized he was still on the variety-show stage and used his cables to slice Takaba’s neck, only to crash into a wall and wake up in a hospital scene.
• Takaba accidentally shocked Xuan with a defibrillator, and Xuan healed himself with Reverse Cursed Technique before they resumed their comic exchange onstage.
• Takaba reflected on whether he was funny or merely thought he was, and Xuan encouraged him and promised to become his comedy partner if Takaba beat or drew with him in a future fight.
• Xuan checked that his Cursed Energy and Ten Shadows Shikigami technique had returned after Takaba’s Superhero technique ended.
• In Shibuya, Yuji and Choso assessed Naoya’s speed and prepared for another fight before all three sensed an overwhelming surge of Cursed Energy.
• Rika opened her huge white hand and released a newcomer, whose voice addressed Yuji Itadori.

Yuta agreed to pursue Yuji Itadori while Choso held off Naoya Zenin, and Xuan continued hunting players in Tokyo No. 1 Colony to reach 100 points. The chapter ended with Hiromi Higuruma confronting Xuan and activating Deadly Sentencing.

• Naoya Zenin told Yuji Itadori and Choso that Yuji had been sentenced to death, then met Yuta and asked him to delay reporting Yuji’s death so he could lure someone out.
• Yuta agreed to Naoya’s request, and Choso stayed behind to face Naoya as Yuta and Yuji fled.
• Xuan killed another player, bringing his score to 95 points, and decided to keep hunting rather than seek out Hiromi Higuruma.
• Kogane announced that Xuan had been located, and Hiromi Higuruma appeared before him.
• Hiromi Higuruma activated his Domain Expansion, Deadly Sentencing.

Hiromi Higuruma trapped Xuan in his domain and accused him of stealing food from a KFC, leading to a guilty verdict and the confiscation of Xuan’s cursed energy. As the domain broke apart, Higuruma attacked with an enlarged gavel, and Xuan blocked it with a sword summoned from the Kogane.

• Hiromi Higuruma explained that he had tracked Xuan’s points and accused him of killing more than 35 people, while Xuan questioned Higuruma about his judgment and doubts.
• Higuruma’s domain revealed that Zenin Xuan was charged with stealing food and drinks from a KFC in Sendai on November 1, 2018.
• Xuan claimed he had only borrowed the food and left an IOU, but Higuruma presented photographs showing Xuan taking it with his Divine Dogs.
• Judgeman found Xuan guilty and confiscated his cursed energy.
• The domain cracked apart, and Xuan drew a sword from the Kogane to block Higuruma’s enlarged gavel.