Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: Nobara Was More Than Ronawa Could Handle

Key Plot Points and Events

• Tengen reluctantly agrees to cooperate with Kenjaku, allowing Kenjaku’s plans to cultivate Sukuna and prepare the Culling Game to begin.
• Kenjaku intends to advance both plans secretly and simultaneously:
  • Gather Sukuna’s scattered Fingers.
  • Capture newly awakened jujutsu sorcerers to serve as high-quality vessels for reincarnated sorcerers in the Culling Game.
  • Eventually use Sukuna and the Culling Game together in a war against Ronawa.
• After Ronawa’s massacre in Kyoto, terrifying rumors about her spread throughout the jujutsu world, portraying her as an even more monstrous version of Sukuna.
• Nobara Kugisaki ignores Ronawa’s reputation and visits her the very next day, reminding Ronawa that she had previously invited Nobara to come play.
• Nobara explains that she once lost a close friend because she cared too much about local gossip and social judgment. The experience taught her to follow her own feelings rather than fear public opinion.
• Nobara and the others spend time with Ronawa eating hot pot, though Nobara’s teasing and physical affection quickly overwhelm Ronawa.
• Meanwhile, Gojo investigates the disappearance of dozens of newly awakened jujutsu sorcerers. Investigators sent after them have also vanished, though one managed to report that the victims were being deliberately captured.
• Gojo suspects Kenjaku and his allied Special-Grade Curses. Because he is overwhelmed with the aftermath of the Kyoto deaths and cannot investigate personally, he assigns Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro to look into the disappearances.
• The chapter reveals that Kenjaku is abducting these sorcerers as vessels for the ancient souls who will participate in the Culling Game.
• Tsumiki Fushiguro was originally meant to become one of these vessels, but Ronawa previously severed Kenjaku’s curse affecting her.
• Despite Ronawa’s interference, Kenjaku continues his work cautiously to avoid attracting her attention. Gojo nevertheless discovers evidence of the operation.

Character Developments

• Kenjaku demonstrates patience and strategic planning, coordinating Sukuna’s cultivation and the Culling Game while deliberately remaining hidden from Ronawa.
• Tengen becomes an unwilling or hesitant accomplice to Kenjaku’s scheme.
• Ronawa gains an increasingly terrifying public reputation, but her private interactions reveal that she can be caught off guard and overwhelmed by Nobara’s bold personality.
• Nobara is shown as confident, emotionally independent, and unwilling to let social pressure dictate her relationships. Her willingness to befriend Ronawa reflects her belief in judging people for herself.
• Gojo is burdened by administrative responsibilities after the Kyoto massacre but remains vigilant and perceptive. He recognizes the danger posed by the disappearances and trusts Yuji and Megumi to investigate.
• Yuji and Megumi show increased responsibility by accepting a dangerous investigation into Kenjaku’s activities.
• Tsumiki remains connected to Kenjaku’s plans as a potential vessel, though Ronawa’s intervention has temporarily protected her.

Significant Themes

• Reputation versus reality: Ronawa is viewed as a terrifying monster by society, while Nobara sees her more personally and even considers her cute.
• Independence from public opinion: Nobara’s backstory emphasizes the importance of following one’s own judgment instead of allowing gossip to control friendships.
• Hidden preparation and looming conflict: Kenjaku’s quiet abductions and long-term planning establish the Culling Game and the future confrontation with Ronawa.
• Friendship across boundaries: Nobara’s willingness to befriend a murderous Curse Spirit challenges the rigid divisions between sorcerers and curses.
• Protection and interference: Ronawa’s actions have already disrupted Kenjaku’s plans for Tsumiki, showing that her presence continues to reshape the larger conflict.

Character Interactions

• Ronawa and Nobara: Their relationship is playful and confrontational. Nobara treats Ronawa casually despite her fearsome reputation, while Ronawa is simultaneously touched by Nobara’s honesty and exasperated by her teasing.
• Gojo, Yuji, and Megumi: Gojo briefs the two younger sorcerers on the disappearances and delegates the investigation to them, showing both his trust and his inability to handle every crisis personally.
• Kenjaku and Tengen: Their cooperation is uneasy, with Tengen only half-willingly accepting Kenjaku’s proposal.
• Ronawa and Kenjaku: Though they do not interact directly in the chapter, Ronawa has already disrupted Kenjaku’s plans, forcing him to operate secretly and cautiously.

Chapter Summary: Tiger Heavenly Emperor vs. Mahito

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Gojo orders the Tiger Heavenly Emperor to confront Mahito, Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara investigate the ongoing Sorcerer Disappearance Incident.
• Nobara devises a strategy: instead of searching randomly for missing sorcerers, they follow the route of previous disappearances and identify the next likely target—Junpei Yoshino in Kanagawa.
• Junpei is a recently awakened sorcerer and Yuji’s schoolmate. Though he briefly used his powers against bullies, he remained quiet and law-abiding.
• Yuji explains the situation to Junpei, who agrees to cooperate. The group protects him for several days, but Kenjaku and the Special-Grade Curses do not appear.
• Mahito eventually attacks Junpei’s mother, revealing that Junpei was indeed his assigned target. Enraged, Junpei attacks Mahito but is effortlessly defeated.
• Realizing he cannot win alone, Junpei destroys part of his home to create a signal and draw the others to him.
• Yuji arrives and lands a Black Flash on Mahito, sending him through a building. He then uses Reverse Cursed Technique to save Junpei’s badly injured mother.
• Yuji leaves Junpei to get his mother to safety and joins Megumi and Nobara in battle. The two struggle against Mahito, who vastly outclasses them, but their goal is only to stall until Yuji arrives.

Character Developments

• Nobara Kugisaki: Demonstrates strong strategic thinking by identifying Junpei as the next target and preventing the group from wasting time.
• Yuji Itadori: Shows compassion, courage, and growing combat ability. He protects Junpei, saves his mother, and strikes Mahito with a powerful Black Flash.
• Megumi Fushiguro: Supports the plan and fights Mahito alongside Nobara, though the power gap exposes his current limitations.
• Junpei Yoshino: Begins as a withdrawn, cautious student who uses his power only defensively. Mahito’s attack on his mother awakens intense anger, but Junpei also displays intelligence by using his destructive ability to summon help. He becomes deeply inspired by Yuji and gains someone he wants to emulate.
• Mahito: Revealed as a cruel and calculating Special-Grade Curse. He deliberately attacks Junpei’s mother to provoke him and views Junpei primarily as a potential vessel.
• Kenjaku: Operates from behind the scenes, dividing the Four Calamities among different targets and assigning Junpei to Mahito.

Significant Themes

• Protection versus exploitation: Jujutsu High seeks to protect newly awakened sorcerers, while Kenjaku and Mahito treat them as tools or vessels.
• The importance of human connection: Yuji’s kindness gives Junpei hope and a model to follow, contrasting with Mahito’s manipulation and cruelty.
• Power and helplessness: Junpei’s rage cannot overcome Mahito’s strength, forcing him to rely on strategy and allies rather than brute force.
• Family and loyalty: Junpei’s devotion to his mother drives his actions and becomes the central reason he resists despair.
• Emerging potential: Junpei’s awakening and Yuji’s Black Flash both suggest that characters are entering a period of rapid growth.

Character Interactions

• Nobara persuades Yuji and Megumi to abandon their unfocused investigation and pursue Junpei directly.
• Yuji earns Junpei’s trust by honestly explaining the danger and later prioritizing Junpei’s mother’s life over the battle.
• Mahito provokes Junpei by attacking his mother and belittling his strength.
• Junpei strategically summons Yuji, who immediately protects him and his mother.
• Megumi and Nobara hold Mahito back despite being overwhelmed, buying time for Yuji to arrive and turn the confrontation into a larger battle.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Mahito launches an attack, but newly trained Yuji Itadori overwhelms him immediately with immense cursed energy, powerful physical strength, and devastating strikes.
• Yuji sends Mahito crashing through a building and then gouges a long trench through the ground with a follow-up kick.
• Mahito recovers and studies Yuji’s limited fighting style, recognizing that Yuji relies mainly on superior physical stats and elbow strikes.
• Mahito adapts quickly and counters with Black Flash, a technique he learns after witnessing it only once. The attack injures Yuji and shifts the battle’s momentum.
• With Black Flash, superior cursed-energy control, and access to Domain Expansion, Mahito begins overpowering Yuji, who has few techniques beyond his physical attacks.
• Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki intervene when Yuji is close to defeat.
• Megumi summons Mahoraga, the ultimate shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique. Its adaptive ability and Sword of Extermination pose a lethal threat to curses.
• Nobara activates a Death Feather given to her by Ronawa, summoning or invoking Ronawa’s overwhelming presence.
• Mahito senses that Ronawa’s aura could kill him instantly. He abandons the fight and flees, even mutating his body to grow six additional legs for greater speed.
• The chapter ends with Mahoraga turning toward Nobara and roaring, suggesting it may not distinguish friend from foe or may pose an immediate danger.

Character Developments

• Yuji Itadori: Demonstrates extraordinary raw power despite being a newly trained sorcerer. However, his lack of technical variety becomes a major weakness once Mahito analyzes his attacks.
• Mahito: Shows his frightening adaptability and talent. He quickly understands Yuji’s patterns, masters Black Flash almost instantly, and gains the upper hand through technique and experience. His instinctive fear of Mahoraga and Ronawa reveals that even he recognizes forces far beyond his control.
• Megumi Fushiguro: Acts decisively to protect Yuji, resorting to the dangerous summoning of Mahoraga when ordinary intervention is insufficient.
• Nobara Kugisaki: Freely uses Ronawa’s Death Feather to save Yuji, treating it casually because of her confidence in her friendship with Ronawa. Her action has an immediate and dramatic effect on Mahito.
• Ronawa: Though absent, her influence is overwhelming. The Death Feather carries such terrifying power that Mahito views escape as his only chance of survival.

Significant Themes

• Raw power versus technique: Yuji’s overwhelming physical ability initially dominates, but Mahito’s superior skill, adaptability, and broader arsenal gradually reverse the situation.
• Rapid evolution: Mahito’s ability to learn and improve instantly emphasizes his exceptional growth potential.
• The danger of uncontrolled power: Mahoraga is summoned as a desperate measure but may itself become a threat, while Nobara’s careless use of the Death Feather reveals how casually immense power can be wielded.
• Moral opposition: Yuji fights because Mahito destroys lives without remorse, while Mahito sees such cruelty as the natural behavior of curses.
• Fear and survival: Mahito, usually confident and sadistic, is reduced to instinctive flight when confronted with forces capable of killing him outright.

Character Interactions

• Yuji confronts Mahito over his disregard for human life, but Mahito dismisses Yuji’s morality.
• Mahito mocks Yuji’s limited abilities after deciphering his fighting style.
• Megumi and Nobara support Yuji when he is about to lose, showing their loyalty and willingness to risk dangerous techniques.
• Nobara’s use of Ronawa’s Death Feather indirectly causes Mahito’s retreat.
• Mahoraga’s appearance creates tension not only for Mahito but potentially for Megumi and Nobara as well, ending the chapter on a new threat.

Chapter Summary: “Mahoraga? Hajime!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Megumi Fushiguro summons Mahoraga after Mahito flees, leaving Nobara Kugisaki in immediate danger.
• Megumi realizes Mahoraga is uncontrollable and urges Nobara to run, but Mahoraga attacks before she can escape.
• Ronawa arrives through the red cursed energy of Death Feather, still dressed in pajamas, and effortlessly blocks Mahoraga’s attack.
• She tests Mahoraga’s strength by injuring it with the Death Feather Sword and using All Things Die to destroy its arm.
• Mahoraga’s adaptation ability fails against Ronawa’s death-based technique. Its Sword of Extermination also cannot harm her, since Ronawa effectively controls the concept of death itself.
• Ronawa kills Mahoraga instantly once she loses interest in testing it.
• Afterward, she speaks with Nobara and learns that many jujutsu sorcerers have recently disappeared.
• Ronawa deduces that Kenjaku has accelerated his plans, likely because this is his final opportunity to act before Ronawa becomes even more powerful and difficult to oppose.

Character Developments

• Ronawa: Demonstrates overwhelming superiority over Mahoraga and establishes that her authority over death transcends ordinary cursed techniques. She is protective of Nobara but also casual and mildly exasperated by the situation. Her growing power is becoming a serious concern for Kenjaku.
• Nobara Kugisaki: Initially freezes in fear when Mahoraga attacks, but survives because Ronawa intervenes. She also becomes an important source of information about the recent disappearances.
• Megumi Fushiguro: Loses confidence after watching his greatest weapon, Mahoraga, be effortlessly defeated. His reliance on Mahoraga as a last resort is severely undermined, and he begins questioning how Ronawa can exist as an embodiment of death.
• Mahito: Flees rather than confronting Mahoraga, prompting Megumi to condemn him as a coward.
• Kenjaku: Though absent, he emerges as an increasingly urgent threat, accelerating his scheme because Ronawa’s continued growth may soon make his plans impossible.

Significant Themes

• Stats versus mechanics: The chapter emphasizes that powerful abilities and special rules are meaningless when there is an overwhelming difference in raw power. Mahoraga’s adaptation and guaranteed-kill sword cannot overcome Ronawa’s superiority.
• Authority over death: Ronawa is portrayed not merely as a powerful cursed spirit but as an entity that defines or governs death itself. This places her beyond the reach of techniques designed to cause death.
• Shattered expectations: Mahoraga, previously considered nearly unbeatable and Megumi’s ultimate trump card, is reduced to something harmless in comparison with Ronawa.
• Escalating power and desperation: Kenjaku’s accelerated plans reflect the growing threat Ronawa represents and the narrowing window for his enemies to act.
• Comedic contrast: Ronawa’s overwhelming arrival in pajamas and barefoot, combined with her irritation at being summoned for what she considers a minor threat, contrasts humorously with the deadly crisis surrounding Mahoraga.

Character Interactions

• Megumi warns Nobara to flee while criticizing Mahito for running away.
• Ronawa rescues Nobara and questions why Death Feather was used against Mahoraga.
• Nobara explains the circumstances that led to Mahoraga’s summoning and later informs Ronawa about the missing sorcerers.
• Ronawa battles Mahoraga experimentally rather than out of necessity, revealing the enormous gap between them.
• Megumi observes the fight from a distance and is left disturbed by both Mahoraga’s defeat and Ronawa’s nature.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Kenjaku realizes that Ronawa, the Death Curse Spirit, is an unprecedented obstacle to his thousand-year plan to recreate the Mythic Era.
• His goal is to transform Japan’s population into curse spirits, prompting the Balance Mechanism to strengthen sorcerers and restore an age of godlike figures such as Abe no Seimei.
• Ronawa’s overwhelming potential threatens to destroy every powerful sorcerer or curse that might emerge, making the desired golden age impossible.
• Because Ronawa will become completely unbeatable within a few months, Kenjaku decides to accelerate the Culling Game and confront her before she reaches her full power.
• Tengen’s cooperation improves Kenjaku’s chances of launching the Culling Game early, while Kenjaku searches for newly awakened sorcerers to serve as incarnated vessels.
• Ronawa leaves after saying goodbye to Yuji and Megumi, taking Nobara with her and intending to punish her for interrupting her sleep. However, Nobara appears to enjoy Ronawa’s “punishment.”
• Tengen informs Kenjaku that Mahoraga has effectively become Ronawa’s toy, eliminating another potential weapon against her.
• Jinglong Ida, a powerful ancient warrior who was killed by Sukuna a thousand years earlier, has revived through the Balance Mechanism.
• Kenjaku sees Ida as a valuable weapon because Ida destroys curse spirits and corrupt sorcerers indiscriminately.
• The Balance Mechanism is reviving other ancient souls stored in cursed objects as well. Kenjaku hopes these revived heroes and old enemies will unite against Ronawa during the coming Culling Game.

Character Developments

• Kenjaku: Becomes increasingly anxious and abandons his preferred timetable, accelerating the Culling Game out of fear that Ronawa will soon become impossible to defeat. Despite his panic, he is excited by the prospect of orchestrating a massive battle involving revived legends.
• Ronawa: Remains confident and largely unconcerned by Kenjaku’s preparations. She views the early Culling Game as an advantage because it will give her an opportunity to eliminate him.
• Nobara: Her reaction to Ronawa’s treatment suggests a masochistic or unusually enthusiastic response, turning Ronawa’s intended punishment into something Nobara apparently enjoys.
• Jinglong Ida: Is introduced as a resurrected ancient champion of absolute justice, willing to kill any curse spirit or morally corrupt sorcerer.
• Tengen: Continues observing events and supplies Kenjaku with crucial information about Ronawa, Mahoraga, and the revival of ancient figures.
• Sukuna: Though absent, his old hatred for Jinglong Ida is emphasized, since Ida killed him in the Mythic Era.

Significant Themes

• Fear of an uncontrollable force: Ronawa represents a power that threatens both Kenjaku’s plans and the established balance between humans, curses, and sorcerers.
• The manipulation of history: Kenjaku seeks to recreate the past, while the Balance Mechanism brings ancient figures into the present, allowing history to directly influence the future.
• Power versus strategy: Kenjaku’s long-term schemes and carefully chosen weapons are rendered nearly useless by Ronawa’s overwhelming strength.
• Justice and moral absolutism: Jinglong Ida embodies a rigid form of justice that condemns all curses and evil sorcerers, regardless of nuance.
• Entertainment amid catastrophe: Kenjaku treats the coming conflict as a grand spectacle, revealing his fascination with chaos even while pursuing a serious objective.

Important Character Interactions

• Kenjaku and Tengen discuss Ronawa’s strength, Mahoraga’s failure, and the revival of ancient sorcerers.
• Ronawa says goodbye to Yuji and Megumi before departing with Nobara.
• Ronawa attempts to punish Nobara, but Nobara’s blissful response reverses the intended dynamic.
• Kenjaku plans to exploit Jinglong Ida’s hatred of curses, hoping to direct him against Ronawa.
• Kenjaku anticipates that revived ancient heroes, modern sorcerers, and former enemies may all unite against Ronawa in the Culling Game.

Chapter Summary: Kenjaku’s God-Creation Plan

Key Plot Points and Events

• Kenjaku reveals the true purpose of the Culling Game: not to overwhelm Ronawa with numerous powerful sorcerers, but to exploit Jujutsu Society’s Balance Mechanism to create a single overwhelmingly powerful “god” of jujutsu.
• His plan is to:
  1. Use Tengen’s barrier techniques to spread the Culling Game across Japan.
  2. Have Mahito use Idle Transfiguration to transform Japan’s human population into cursed spirits.
  3. Create a massive imbalance between cursed spirits and sorcerers.
  4. Trigger the Balance Mechanism, which would dramatically empower the sorcerer side.
  5. Time the process so that Sukuna, after fully restoring himself, receives most of this power and becomes strong enough to defeat Ronawa.
• Ronawa, being a cursed spirit, would supposedly be unable to benefit from the mechanism and therefore could not keep pace with Sukuna’s sudden increase in strength.
• Kenjaku emphasizes that the plan must be carried out quickly, before Ronawa grows too powerful for even the Balance Mechanism to counter.
• Mahito and Tengen are both essential: Tengen enables the nationwide barriers, while Mahito transforms humanity. However, once Mahito’s usefulness ends, Kenjaku decides to kill and consume him.
• Meanwhile, Satoru Gojo investigates the disappearances of numerous jujutsu sorcerers and realizes that Kenjaku is responsible. He also suspects someone within Jujutsu Society has been supplying Kenjaku with information.
• Gojo confronts Tengen in the Tombs of the Star Corridor, where Tengen has begun transforming into a cursed spirit. Through Tengen’s unnaturally calm reaction, Gojo confirms his involvement.
• Tengen admits that he cooperated with Kenjaku out of fear of Ronawa and a desire for self-preservation.

Character Developments

• Kenjaku is portrayed as calculating, pragmatic, and ruthless. He views people entirely in terms of usefulness and is prepared to consume Mahito once he is no longer needed.
• Mahito is shown as dangerously naïve and easily manipulated. His inability to distrust Kenjaku makes him disposable.
• Tengen undergoes a major moral decline. Once a revered spiritual leader, he betrays jujutsu society because his fear of death outweighs his principles.
• Sukuna is positioned as the planned “god” who will receive the Balance Mechanism’s power and become humanity’s weapon against Ronawa.
• Satoru Gojo demonstrates intelligence by uncovering Kenjaku’s plot, but he is also deeply disappointed by Tengen’s betrayal. His response reveals his alienation from those who allow fear to justify cruelty.

Significant Themes

• Fear of death: Tengen’s betrayal stems from the universal desire to escape mortality. He argues that death makes all achievements meaningless, explaining why even powerful historical figures sought immortality.
• Power and control: Kenjaku attempts to manipulate the fundamental balance of jujutsu itself, while Tengen fears anything beyond his ability to control.
• The danger of treating existence as a threat: Tengen claims that some beings are considered “original sins” simply because they exist outside established systems. Ronawa represents the frightening unknown that Jujutsu Society wants to eliminate.
• Betrayal and moral compromise: Tengen abandons his role as protector of jujutsu society to preserve himself, showing how fear can corrupt even respected leaders.
• Utilitarian manipulation: Kenjaku’s plan reduces Mahito, Tengen, Sukuna, and the entire population of Japan to tools in a larger strategy.

Character Interactions

• Kenjaku internally judges Mahito as foolish for trusting him and secretly decides to consume him once his role in the plan is complete.
• Gojo confronts Tengen indirectly at first, testing him by asking how Kenjaku obtained information about the missing sorcerers.
• Tengen’s guarded response confirms Gojo’s suspicions and leads to a direct discussion about his betrayal.
• Gojo challenges Tengen’s fear-driven logic, arguing that Ronawa would not attack without provocation and questioning why anything uncontrollable must be destroyed.
• Tengen openly acknowledges Gojo’s criticism, admitting that fear of Ronawa—and ultimately fear of death—is the reason he chose to cooperate with Kenjaku.
• The conversation ends with Gojo expressing profound loneliness, recognizing that he lives in a world where people like Tengen and Kenjaku allow fear and self-interest to dictate their actions.

Chapter 87 Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Satoru Gojo reflects on his attitude toward death. He does not fear dying itself; instead, he fears living or dying without meaning. This explains why he never tried to kill Ronawa preemptively despite knowing her true nature.
• After learning the truth behind Tengen’s actions and his alliance with Kenjaku, Gojo completely loses respect for Tengen and prepares to kill him unless Tengen reveals their plans.
• Tengen avoids a direct confrontation by revealing that Gojo has been standing above a Prison Realm for more than a minute. The cursed tool activates, sealing Gojo before he can escape.
• Kenjaku emerges and takes possession of the Prison Realm. Tengen orders him not to kill Gojo, fearing that Gojo’s death could lead to the emergence of another Six Eyes user and alert Ronawa to their plans.
• With Gojo removed as an obstacle, Tengen and Kenjaku decide to begin their final operation against Ronawa as soon as possible, since Ronawa grows stronger with time.
• Several days later, Ronawa is vacationing at a hot spring with Shoko, Tritium, and Nobara. Nobara receives news that Gojo has disappeared after failing to attend an important meeting.
• Ronawa realizes that Gojo may have been sealed by the Prison Realm again. Nobara and Shoko immediately become concerned, forcing the group to abandon their vacation and return to Tokyo.
• Upon their arrival, they learn that all of Jujutsu High’s stored Sukuna’s Fingers have vanished. Yuji Itadori has also been attacked and feels that something is missing from his body.
• Ronawa deduces that Kenjaku has likely recovered the Sukuna’s Fingers sealed inside Yuji, meaning Sukuna is close to regaining all of his power.

Character Developments

• Satoru Gojo: His fearlessness and willingness to die for a meaningful cause are emphasized. His disillusionment with Tengen transforms into outright hostility, but his confidence also contributes to his downfall when he fails to suspect the trap.
• Tengen: Revealed as manipulative and pragmatic. Rather than fighting Gojo directly, Tengen relies on strategy and deception. He views Gojo as a dangerous obstacle but prefers sealing him to killing him.
• Kenjaku: Takes control of the Prison Realm and prepares to advance the larger plan. His amusement at Gojo’s sealing highlights his confidence and hostility toward Gojo.
• Ronawa: Recognizes that Gojo’s disappearance is unlikely to be ordinary and quickly connects it to the Prison Realm. Her awareness of the original timeline makes her alert to the developing danger.
• Nobara Kugisaki: Although she continues to speak dismissively of Gojo, her immediate concern shows that she genuinely respects him as her teacher.
• Shoko Ieiri: Her long-standing bond with Gojo is reaffirmed as she reacts seriously to his disappearance and joins the investigation.
• Yuji Itadori: Becomes a direct victim of Kenjaku’s preparations, losing the Sukuna’s Fingers sealed within him.

Significant Themes

• Meaning versus fear of death: Gojo’s philosophy is that death is not frightening if one’s life has meaning; emptiness and purposelessness are what truly terrify him.
• Isolation and incompatibility: Gojo’s ideals separate him from the higher-ups and Tengen, leaving him powerful but fundamentally lonely.
• Deception over strength: Although Gojo vastly surpasses Tengen in combat, Tengen defeats him through planning rather than force.
• Manipulation and sacrifice: Tengen and Kenjaku treat Gojo, Yuji, and the wider jujutsu world as pieces in a larger plan.
• The approach of catastrophe: The disappearance of Gojo and the gathering of Sukuna’s Fingers signal that the final conflict with Ronawa—and Sukuna’s possible return to full strength—is imminent.

Character Interactions

• Gojo confronts Tengen, condemning his ideals and threatening him with death.
• Tengen responds by exploiting Gojo’s confidence and sealing him through the Prison Realm.
• Kenjaku mocks Gojo after the sealing and receives the Prison Realm from Tengen.
• Nobara informs Ronawa and the others of Gojo’s disappearance, revealing her concern beneath her usual insults.
• Ronawa, Nobara, and Shoko unite to investigate, while Ronawa interprets the evidence and identifies Kenjaku’s likely role in recovering Sukuna’s Fingers.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Kenjaku has successfully gathered all of Sukuna’s fingers. The final finger was sealed inside Yuji Itadori, who Kenjaku originally intended to use as Sukuna’s vessel.
• Since Sukuna now possesses a more suitable body, Kenjaku no longer needs Yuji. He removes the finger but spares Yuji, possibly because Yuji is his biological child and is not yet a threat.
• The recovery of Yuji’s finger, combined with Satoru Gojo’s disappearance, signals that Kenjaku is preparing a major plan.
• Ronova returns to Tokyo with the others and reunites with Megumi, Yuta, Maki, Shoko, and Nobara. Yuta reveals that Gojo’s last known task involved investigating the Sorcerer Disappearance Incident, which was orchestrated by Kenjaku.
• Megumi adds that Gojo suspected someone within Jujutsu Society was secretly cooperating with Kenjaku. The suspected mole may have been providing Kenjaku with the locations of sorcerers.
• Ronova theorizes that Gojo was sealed using the Prison Realm, a Special-Grade Cursed Tool capable of trapping someone permanently.
• Maki explains that the Prison Realm requires its target to remain still for an entire minute, meaning the culprit likely had both access to confidential information and a close enough relationship with Gojo to catch him off guard.
• The main suspects are narrowed to Yuki Tsukumo, Masamichi Yaga, and Mei Mei. Tengen is another suspicious possibility whom Ronova has already begun watching.

Character Developments

• Kenjaku becomes more threatening as his preparations near completion. His decision to spare Yuji reveals a complicated connection: Yuji is his biological child, though Kenjaku’s mercy may also be practical rather than emotional.
• Yuji Itadori is no longer necessary to Kenjaku’s immediate plans after losing Sukuna’s finger, leaving his future uncertain.
• Ronova demonstrates strong analytical ability by identifying the Prison Realm as the likely method used against Gojo and by recognizing Tengen as a possible suspect. Her blunt claim that only she could overpower Gojo creates an awkward but humorous moment.
• Yuta Okkotsu contributes crucial information about Gojo’s final investigation and confirms Kenjaku’s involvement.
• Megumi Fushiguro reveals Gojo’s suspicion that a mole exists within Jujutsu Society.
• Maki Zenin provides technical knowledge about the Prison Realm, helping the group determine what qualities the culprit must possess.
• Shoko Ieiri and Nobara Kugisaki defend Ronova from suspicion, though Nobara’s description of Ronova as “well-behaved and cute” embarrasses her.
• Yuta and Maki, still traumatized by Ronova’s previous near-exorcism of them, remain uneasy around her despite being grateful for her recent actions.

Significant Themes

• Betrayal from within: Gojo’s disappearance may have been enabled by a trusted insider, emphasizing that the greatest danger may come from within Jujutsu Society.
• Trust and deception: The Prison Realm could only work if Gojo trusted the person confronting him, making personal relationships central to the mystery.
• Family and moral ambiguity: Kenjaku’s relationship with Yuji complicates his otherwise ruthless behavior, raising questions about whether he spared Yuji out of affection, practicality, or both.
• Approaching catastrophe: The gathering of Sukuna’s fingers and Gojo’s sealing indicate that Kenjaku’s larger scheme is entering a decisive stage.
• Information as power: Access to sorcerer locations and confidential knowledge is treated as a key clue in identifying the hidden collaborator.

Important Character Interactions

• Ronova reunites with the group, but Yuta and Maki react awkwardly because of their fear of her.
• Yuta informs everyone about Gojo’s investigation into the Sorcerer Disappearance Incident.
• Megumi expands the discussion by revealing Gojo’s theory about an internal mole.
• Ronova proposes the Prison Realm theory, while Maki confirms its capabilities and explains its activation conditions.
• Shoko rejects the possibility that Ronova harmed Gojo, and Nobara supports her in an overly flattering way.
• The group collectively evaluates possible traitors, while Ronova remains particularly suspicious of Tengen.

Chapter Summary: “Culling Game Starts!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Maki Zenin informs Yuki Tsukumo that Satoru Gojo has been ambushed and has disappeared. Yuki is shocked, insisting that Gojo’s overwhelming strength should have made such an event nearly impossible.
• Yuki briefly suspects Ronova, but Maki quickly dismisses her as incapable of orchestrating the incident.
• Yuta Okkotsu investigates Masamichi Yaga, who is also cleared of suspicion. However, Yaga privately suspects Master Tengen and worries about the enormous implications if Tengen has been manipulating Jujutsu Society for centuries.
• Shoko Ieiri and Nobara Kugisaki investigate Mei Mei, but Mei Mei is ruled out because her obsession with money gives her no obvious reason to target Gojo.
• With the main suspects eliminated, Ronova identifies Tengen as the most likely culprit. Tengen’s enormous barrier network could locate newly awakened sorcerers, and his knowledge of the Prison Realm could have allowed him to trap Gojo by exploiting Gojo’s lack of information.
• The group struggles to accept that Tengen could be responsible because of his revered position in Jujutsu Society. Nobara, however, supports Ronova’s theory and points out that Tengen’s long history and silence about Kenjaku are suspicious.
• Unbeknownst to the investigators, Tengen has been listening to their discussion. Realizing Ronova has uncovered the conspiracy, he contacts Kenjaku and orders him to begin the plan immediately.
• Kenjaku says the preparations will take three days and asks Tengen to delay the others.
• Kenjaku then tricks Mahito into lowering his guard, attacks and severely injures him, and uses Cursed Spirit Manipulation to turn him into a cursed spirit orb.
• Kenjaku swallows Mahito, absorbing him and gaining control of him as one of his cursed spirits. With Mahito’s absorption, the conditions needed to launch the Culling Game are complete.

Character Developments

• Maki Zenin becomes more suspicious and analytical, actively investigating possible traitors while remaining uneasy about Ronova’s unpredictable presence.
• Yuki Tsukumo is visibly shaken by Gojo’s disappearance, revealing how seriously she views the threat.
• Masamichi Yaga demonstrates that he already suspects Tengen, but he is disturbed by the possibility that Jujutsu Society’s trusted foundation has been a deception.
• Nobara Kugisaki shows strong independent judgment by defending Ronova’s theory when the others hesitate. She refuses to equate Tengen’s status with moral trustworthiness.
• Ronova proves to be an important strategist, identifying Tengen’s opportunity, resources, and possible motive.
• Tengen is revealed as an active conspirator rather than a neutral guardian, working directly with Kenjaku.
• Kenjaku displays his manipulative and ruthless nature by deceiving Mahito, sacrificing him for the larger plan.
• Mahito remains reckless and eager for chaos, but his impatience leaves him vulnerable to Kenjaku’s betrayal.

Significant Themes

• Betrayal by trusted institutions: Tengen’s possible treachery challenges the legitimacy of the entire Jujutsu establishment.
• Appearance versus morality: Nobara emphasizes that prestige, age, and authority do not prove that someone is benevolent.
• The danger of incomplete information: Gojo is defeated because he does not understand the Prison Realm’s mechanics, showing that intelligence and preparation can overcome overwhelming strength.
• Manipulation and sacrifice: Kenjaku treats Mahito as a disposable tool, illustrating how personal ambition overrides loyalty.
• The beginning of catastrophe: The chapter marks the transition from investigation and suspicion to the active launch of Kenjaku and Tengen’s larger plan—the Culling Game.

Important Character Interactions

• Maki questions Yuki, while Yuki reacts with disbelief and briefly considers Ronova’s involvement.
• Yuta probes Yaga, who conceals his suspicions about Tengen.
• Shoko and Nobara investigate Mei Mei and quickly eliminate her as a suspect.
• Ronova persuades the group to consider Tengen, while Nobara reinforces his argument.
• Tengen secretly listens to the group and warns Kenjaku that Ronova has discovered their plan.
• Kenjaku pretends to cooperate with Mahito before ambushing and absorbing him, turning their apparent alliance into an act of betrayal.

Chapter Summary: “Jujutsu High: A School Full of Traitors!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Kenjaku begins a three-day process to strengthen and modify the Culling Game’s barriers across Japan. Until the preparations are complete, he depends on Tengen to keep the sorcerers distracted and protect his plans.
• Tengen realizes that Yuta Okkotsu and the others suspect him and decides to act first. He publicly brands Yuta, Megumi, and the other Jujutsu High students as traitors who supposedly serve Ronova, the Death Curse Spirit.
• Tengen also claims that Satoru Gojo was killed for opposing Ronova, making Yuta and the others accomplices. He orders the entire Jujutsu Society to hunt them and promises to reveal their locations periodically.
• Because of Tengen’s immense reputation, nearly every sorcerer accepts the accusations without question. Yuta and his allies become wanted fugitives and are forced to remain hidden.
• Principal Masamichi Yaga is deeply disillusioned by Tengen’s actions. He concludes that Tengen may never have been benevolent and merely stopped concealing his true nature. Yaga chooses to support his students, knowing that doing so will likely cause him to be labeled a traitor as well.
• Yuta, Megumi, Nobara, Yuki, Mei Mei, Shoko, and the others gather at Shoko’s home to discuss the situation. Yuki argues that Tengen’s rushed accusations are a diversion designed to conceal a larger objective.
• Massive cursed-energy disturbances appear first in Nagoya and then across Osaka, Kanagawa, Kyushu, and other regions. These events signal that the Culling Game is beginning.
• The sorcerers who should be investigating the disturbances are instead pursuing Yuta’s group because of Tengen’s order. This allows Tengen’s plan to proceed largely unchecked.
• Ronova refrains from killing the pursuing sorcerers because they have been deceived and do not truly deserve punishment. She leaves the conflict within the sorcerer society to Yuta and the others.
• Ronova, Shoko, Tritium, and Nobara begin searching for Gojo, who is confirmed to be sealed inside the Prison Realm. Ronova believes her senses may allow them to locate the Special-Grade cursed tool.
• Meanwhile, Hiromi Higuruma completes his training and believes he has reached the peak of his abilities. He leaves his seclusion carrying the blade inhabited by Jinglong Ida, intending to challenge Ronova—but immediately encounters Hanami.

Character Developments

• Tengen: Reveals a ruthless, manipulative side by sacrificing Yuta’s group as scapegoats. His actions suggest he is protecting a larger plan connected to the Culling Game.
• Kenjaku: Demonstrates the scale of his preparations, requiring three days to reinforce every Culling Game barrier and relying on Tengen to create a distraction.
• Masamichi Yaga: Moves from reverence and obedience toward independent moral responsibility. He chooses loyalty to his students over his position and reputation.
• Yuta Okkotsu: Becomes burdened by the sudden betrayal and the danger posed to his friends, remaining too distressed to take comfort in Nobara’s attempt to reassure him.
• Yuki Tsukumo: Shows her strategic insight by immediately questioning Tengen’s motives and recognizing that the accusations are likely meant to divert attention.
• Ronova: Displays restraint and moral judgment by refusing to attack innocent or manipulated sorcerers. She also takes an active role in the search for Gojo.
• Hiromi Higuruma: Emerges from training with heightened confidence and a determination to confront Ronova, setting up a new conflict.

Significant Themes

• Betrayal and misplaced trust: Tengen’s betrayal shatters the faith that characters such as Yaga placed in him.
• Manipulation of public opinion: Tengen uses his authority and reputation to turn the entire Jujutsu Society against Yuta’s group without proof.
• Moral responsibility: Yaga chooses to stand with his students despite the consequences, while Ronova refuses to punish people manipulated into serving Tengen.
• Distraction and hidden agendas: The traitor accusations conceal Tengen and Kenjaku’s larger objectives while supernatural disasters spread throughout Japan.
• Loyalty versus authority: The chapter contrasts institutional obedience to Tengen with personal loyalty and conscience.
• The beginning of catastrophe: The spreading cursed-energy anomalies mark the Culling Game’s imminent activation and the escalation of the wider crisis.

Important Character Interactions

• Tengen and the Jujutsu Society: Tengen exploits his authority to command the sorcerers to hunt Yuta and his allies.
• Yaga and his students: Yaga chooses to defend them, accepting that he may be condemned alongside them.
• Nobara and Yuta: Nobara tries to encourage Yuta by pointing out that they have identified the true mastermind, but Yuta remains overwhelmed.
• Yuki and the group: Yuki challenges the official narrative and directs attention toward Tengen’s suspicious motives.
• Ronova and the sorcerers: Although they are hunting her allies, Ronova refuses to retaliate indiscriminately because they have been deceived.
• Higuruma and Hanami: Higuruma’s planned confrontation with Ronova is interrupted when Hanami appears, creating an immediate new confrontation.

Chapter Summary: Hiromi Higuruma’s Growth

Key Plot Points and Events

• Hiromi Higuruma confronts Hanami, recognizing her as the curse spirit who worked with Kenjaku.
• Hanami is intimidated by Higuruma’s dramatic increase in strength. He is now powerful enough to kill her with ease, thanks to extended training and Jinglong Ida’s guidance.
• Hanami explains that she has come because they share a common enemy: Ronova, the Death Curse Spirit.
• Ronova is feared by both humans and curse spirits because of her overwhelming power and her past slaughter of Japan’s curse spirits.
• Hanami reveals that Kenjaku’s Culling Game will begin in two days. It will bring back powerful figures from the past thousand years, who will supposedly unite to exorcise Ronova.
• Higuruma is intrigued by the opportunity and agrees to participate.
• Although Hanami was involved in the Yokohama massacre, Higuruma spares her because she once saved him. He warns that he will exorcise her if they meet again.
• After Hanami leaves, Higuruma wonders whether the combined strength of the resurrected sorcerers will be enough to defeat Ronova.
• Jinglong Ida privately believes the plan has almost no chance of success. He considers Ronova to be a mythic-level entity who cannot be defeated through numbers alone.
• Ida chooses not to discourage Higuruma, instead intending to continue training him so he can face the coming battle with strength and dignity.
• The Culling Game is only two days away, while Yuta Okkotsu and the others are being pursued.

Character Development

• Hiromi Higuruma: His growth is emphasized through his overwhelming presence and combat ability. He has become a ruthless but principled force of justice, willing to kill anyone—human, sorcerer, or curse spirit—whom he considers intolerable. Despite knowing the danger, his determination to personally defeat Ronova remains unwavering.
• Hanami: Hanami shows fear and desperation for the first time in the encounter. She relies on diplomacy and shared interests to survive, demonstrating that even curse spirits instinctively fear death.
• Jinglong Ida: Ida acts as Higuruma’s mentor and understands both his immense potential and his inability to abandon his ideals. Though he doubts Higuruma can survive, he respects his resolve and plans to prepare him as best he can.
• Ronova: Although she does not appear directly, her reputation grows. She is portrayed as an almost unbeatable, mythic-level threat feared by virtually every faction.
• Kenjaku: His influence remains central through the creation of the Culling Game, suggesting he may possess a hidden strategy for dealing with Ronova.

Significant Themes

• Justice versus survival: Higuruma refuses to spare Hanami simply because she is useful, but honors his past debt by postponing her execution.
• The limits of strength and numbers: The chapter questions whether even the combined might of history’s strongest fighters can challenge an entity on Ronova’s level.
• Fear of death: Both humans and curse spirits are united by their instinctive terror of Ronova and the possibility of annihilation.
• Conviction in the face of certain defeat: Higuruma chooses to fight despite the overwhelming odds, while Ida accepts that courage may matter even when victory is impossible.
• Growth and mentorship: Higuruma’s transformation reflects prolonged training and Ida’s guidance, though his moral convictions remain unchanged.

Important Character Interactions

• Higuruma and Hanami: Their conversation shifts from confrontation to uneasy cooperation. Hanami survives by presenting the Culling Game as Higuruma’s best chance to defeat Ronova.
• Higuruma and Ida: Their unspoken exchange reveals Ida’s concern for Higuruma and his decision not to crush Higuruma’s determination with the truth.
• Higuruma and Ronova: Though they have not met in this chapter, Higuruma’s decision to join the Culling Game establishes his direct goal of confronting her.
• Kenjaku and the wider conflict: Through Hanami’s explanation, Kenjaku’s Culling Game becomes the setting for the coming struggle against Ronova and the resurrection of powerful figures from history.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yuta Okkotsu and the Jujutsu High sorcerers are being hunted across Japan by former allies who have been misled by Tengen. Because many pursuers are acting under false information rather than genuine malice, Yuta’s group is reluctant to fight them at full strength.
• Their situation worsens as Kenjaku’s preparations for the Culling Game near completion. Yuta hopes Ronova can locate and rescue Satoru Gojo, believing Gojo’s return would give them the authority and strength needed to oppose Tengen.
• With only one day remaining before the Culling Game begins, Yuta’s group is surrounded by Kinji Hakari, Aoi Todo, and other Kyoto students. Instead of attacking, Hakari demands an explanation for why Yuta’s group has been branded traitors and targeted by Tengen.
• Yuta and the others explain Tengen and Kenjaku’s conspiracy. Hakari accepts their account, partly because he already distrusts Jujutsu Society’s leadership and partly because Principal Masamichi Yaga has publicly supported Yuta’s side and opposed Tengen.
• Hakari and his allies join Yuta’s group. Todo also reunites with his teacher, Yuki Tsukumo, and immediately supports her after learning about the plan to save the world. Their alliance highlights how personal loyalty and trust can overcome Tengen’s manipulation.
• Meanwhile, Ronova, accompanied by Shoko Ieiri and others, travels to a deep trench in Tokyo Bay where Kenjaku hid the Prison Realm containing Satoru Gojo.
• Ronova detects the Prison Realm’s faint cursed-energy signature despite its concealment more than four thousand meters underwater. Using her spatial abilities, she retrieves it instantly through a spatial rift.
• The chapter ends with Ronova confidently preparing to open the Prison Realm and free Gojo, implying that the supposedly unbreakable seal poses little difficulty for her.

Character Developments

• Yuta Okkotsu remains cautious and burdened by the need to fight former allies, but he continues working to expose Tengen’s deception and stop the Culling Game.
• Kinji Hakari demonstrates his independent judgment. Rather than blindly following the people hunting Yuta, he listens to the explanation and chooses to support the side he believes is just.
• Masamichi Yaga emerges as an important moral authority by publicly vouching for Yuta and challenging Tengen, earning Hakari’s trust.
• Aoi Todo reaffirms his deep loyalty to Yuki Tsukumo. Their master-disciple relationship proves stronger than Tengen’s attempts to manipulate Jujutsu Society.
• Ronova displays overwhelming confidence and power. Her ability to sense cursed energy and bypass distance makes her uniquely capable of finding and opening the Prison Realm.
• Satoru Gojo remains sealed throughout the chapter, but his potential return is presented as the key hope for resisting Tengen.

Significant Themes

• Truth versus manipulation: Tengen has deceived many sorcerers, but the conspiracy begins to unravel as more people hear the truth.
• Trust and loyalty: Personal bonds—between students, teachers, and former classmates—prove more reliable than official authority.
• Resistance to corrupt institutions: Hakari’s distrust of Jujutsu Society’s leadership and Yaga’s rebellion emphasize the conflict between institutional power and individual moral judgment.
• Hope through unity: Formerly divided sorcerers begin joining forces against Tengen and Kenjaku.
• The limits of control: Tengen can manipulate people temporarily, but cannot maintain control once they communicate and discover the truth.

Character Interactions

• Yuta and Hakari: Hakari confronts Yuta’s group but chooses dialogue over violence, eventually becoming an ally.
• Hakari and Yaga: Yaga’s public support strongly influences Hakari’s decision to trust Yuta.
• Todo and Yuki: Todo affectionately reproaches Yuki for not informing him sooner, then immediately pledges his support.
• Ronova and the Prison Realm: Ronova treats the powerful sealing artifact with casual confidence, contrasting its fearsome reputation with her own extraordinary abilities.

Chapter Summary: Culling Game Begins, the Strongest Sukuna Is Born!

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ronova uses her technique to effortlessly dismantle the Prison Realm, freeing Satoru Gojo.
• Gojo is overjoyed to regain his freedom and reveals that he trusted Ronova to rescue him. After learning that Tengen had sent sorcerers to hunt Jujutsu High’s allies, Gojo becomes furious and decides to confront Tengen.
• Before Gojo and the others can reach the Tombs of the Star Corridor, Tengen escapes and joins Kenjaku. The empty tombs confirm that Tengen has manipulated and deceived the sorcerers.
• Tengen allows Kenjaku to consume him through Cursed Spirit Manipulation. Kenjaku thereby obtains Tengen’s abilities, enabling him to expand the Culling Game across Japan, as well as Mahito’s Idle Transfiguration.
• Kenjaku activates the Culling Game. Japan’s sky turns blood-red, cursed energy spreads nationwide, and Idle Transfiguration begins transforming more than one hundred million ordinary humans into cursed spirits.
• The sudden explosion in cursed-spirit power disrupts the balance of the jujutsu world. The Balance Mechanism responds by massively strengthening sorcerers.
• Kenjaku calls on Sukuna, who swallows his final finger and is fully restored as the King of Curses. Because Sukuna has been reborn in a body fused with the Six Eyes and limitless potential, he receives an enormous enhancement from the Balance Mechanism and may rise to mythic-level power.
• To prevent Ronova from killing Sukuna before his transformation is complete, Kenjaku releases numerous prepared incarnated vessels. Ancient supreme sorcerers return through them and enter the Culling Game as players, each also benefiting from the Balance Mechanism.
• Kenjaku announces that he has fulfilled his promise to provide these resurrected powerhouses with worthy opponents, identifying the Death Curse Spirit as a mythic-level challenge.

Character Developments

• Gojo: Returns to the world with renewed confidence and immediately becomes fiercely protective of his students. His anger toward Tengen shows that betrayal and threats against his allies have crossed his personal limits.
• Ronova: Demonstrates overwhelming power by freeing Gojo with ease. Her potential threat is so great that Kenjaku considers her the main obstacle to Sukuna’s rebirth.
• Tengen: Abandons the Tombs of the Star Corridor and allies with Kenjaku, sacrificing himself to provide Kenjaku with the abilities needed to launch the Culling Game.
• Kenjaku: Reaches the culmination of his long-term plan by combining Tengen’s power with Idle Transfiguration. He orchestrates a nationwide catastrophe and summons powerful sorcerers from previous eras.
• Sukuna: Fully regains his original status as the King of Curses after consuming his final finger. His newly enhanced body gives him unprecedented potential, possibly surpassing even the strongest figures of the Mythic Era.

Significant Themes

• Betrayal and retribution: Tengen’s betrayal provokes Gojo’s desire for revenge, while Kenjaku exploits Tengen for his own plans.
• Balance through catastrophe: The Balance Mechanism strengthens sorcerers only after cursed spirits become overwhelmingly powerful, suggesting that stability is maintained through escalating destruction.
• Resurrection and the return of the past: Ancient sorcerers are brought back into the modern world, allowing former legends to influence the present.
• Power escalation: The chapter presents a dramatic transformation of the world’s power structure, with ordinary humans, cursed spirits, Sukuna, and resurrected sorcerers all becoming vastly stronger.
• Manipulation and long-term planning: Kenjaku’s preparation of incarnated vessels and his use of Tengen’s and Mahito’s techniques reveal the depth of his centuries-long scheme.

Character Interactions

• Gojo reunites with Ronova and the others, expressing gratitude and trust in her.
• Gojo reacts violently when Ronova tells him that Tengen targeted Jujutsu High’s people.
• Tengen meets Kenjaku and voluntarily allows himself to be consumed, transferring his power.
• Kenjaku summons Sukuna and instructs him to consume his final finger.
• Kenjaku awakens the ancient sorcerers through incarnated vessels and addresses them collectively, promising battles worthy of their strength.

Chapter Summary: “Entering the Culling Game, Hajime Kashimo Charges In!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Kenjaku announces the existence of the mythical Death Curse Spirit, exciting the reincarnated sorcerers and cursed beings participating in the Culling Game. Because they were the strongest figures of their respective eras—and had been further empowered after resurrection—most are confident they can defeat it.
• The Culling Game has become far more dangerous than in the original timeline. While Ronova is powerful enough to handle the situation, the modern sorcerers face overwhelming opposition from the enhanced historical players.
• Ronova joins Satoru Gojo, Yuta Okkotsu, and the other sorcerers, and they decide to enter the Culling Game to stop Kenjaku and Tengen’s plan.
• Japan’s ordinary people have begun transforming into Curse Spirits as part of the ritual. If the Culling Game is destroyed quickly, the transformation can be stopped; if not, more than one hundred million people could become Curse Spirits and potentially devastate the entire world.
• Ronova is not motivated by saving the world itself. Her main goals are to kill:
  • Kenjaku, whose usefulness ended once the Culling Game began and Suguru Geto’s soul was awakened.
  • Tengen, who repeatedly manipulated the Jujutsu authorities against her and was involved in the Yicheng Shen incident.
• Because the ritual is spread across Japan, the group divides its forces among four important nodes:
  • Tokyo: Ronova, where Kenjaku is located and cursed energy is strongest.
  • Kyoto: Gojo.
  • Osaka: Yuki Tsukumo, Kinji Hakari, Aoi Todo, and others.
  • Sendai: Yuta, Yuji, other Jujutsu High members, Shoko Ieiri, and Tritium.
• Ronova uses Distance Kill to instantly transport the others to their assigned locations before entering the Tokyo node alone.
• The Culling Game’s interior resembles the real world because it is a massive barrier rather than a separate dimension. Ronova recognizes familiar shops from her past with Shoko.
• The reincarnated players detect Ronova and begin converging on her. Hajime Kashimo arrives first, insults her appearance, and doubts that she is truly powerful.
• Kashimo attacks Ronova to test her strength. Ronova kills him instantly, demonstrating the enormous gap between her power and that of even the strongest reincarnated sorcerers.

Character Developments

• Ronova: Becomes more openly decisive and ruthless. She enters the Culling Game primarily to settle personal grudges with Kenjaku and Tengen, showing that her motivations remain personal rather than heroic. Her effortless defeat of Kashimo establishes her as overwhelmingly superior.
• Satoru Gojo: Continues to be regarded as one of the strongest beings in the conflict, capable of handling a Culling Game node independently despite the enhanced reincarnated players.
• Yuta Okkotsu: Retains responsibility for the Sendai node, though he will not be able to repeat his original solo victory. His allies, including Yuji and Tritium, are expected to support him.
• Hajime Kashimo: Maintains his arrogance and confidence as a warrior who expects worthy opponents. His tendency to judge Ronova by appearance leads directly to his death.
• Kenjaku and Tengen: Their plans have created a crisis threatening all of Japan and possibly the entire world, while their past actions have made them Ronova’s targets.

Significant Themes

• Arrogance versus overwhelming power: The reincarnated players believe themselves unbeatable, but Kashimo’s death reveals that their confidence may be misplaced.
• Personal revenge versus universal salvation: Gojo and the others fight to save Japan and the world, whereas Ronova participates mainly to eliminate those who have wronged her.
• The danger of unchecked ambition: Kenjaku and Tengen’s ritual threatens to turn Japan’s population into Curse Spirits, illustrating the catastrophic consequences of their schemes.
• Appearance versus reality: Ronova looks harmless and cute, causing Kashimo to underestimate her, but she possesses power vastly beyond his comprehension.
• Teamwork and strategic division: The heroes must split up to attack several crucial ritual nodes simultaneously, balancing individual strength with coordinated action.

Character Interactions

• Ronova reunites with Gojo, Yuta, and the others, and they collectively agree to oppose Kenjaku and Tengen.
• The group discusses and organizes the division of forces, assigning each major sorcerer to a different Culling Game node.
• Ronova and Shoko’s past connection is indirectly emphasized through Ronova’s recognition of places they used to visit.
• Kashimo confronts Ronova, mocks her unimpressive appearance, and challenges her to prove her identity as the Death Curse Spirit.
• Ronova responds not with an argument but with immediate violence, killing Kashimo the moment he attacks and establishing the terrifying reality of her strength.

Plot points and events

• Hajime Kashimo challenges Ronova but is killed instantly, apparently by a single look. The other ancient fighters, recognizing the enormous gap in power, abandon any idea of fighting her and seek opponents elsewhere.
• Kenjaku’s plan to use the Culling Game players to delay Ronova fails. He then sends Suguru Geto, whose former friendship with her he hopes will buy him time.
• Geto meets Ronova. She chastises him for dying recklessly and leaving his body available for Kenjaku to use.
• Geto, now aware of what happened after his death, admits his ideals and past choices were misguided. He thanks Ronova for correcting the consequences of his mistakes and asks her to save the world. Ronova agrees, since that is already her purpose.

Character developments

• Ronova is shown to be overwhelmingly powerful and committed to stopping the crisis. Though she scolds Geto, she accepts his request.
• Geto has gained perspective after learning how events unfolded. He recognizes the harm he caused, takes responsibility, and seeks to make amends.
• Kenjaku becomes increasingly desperate as his expectations collapse; neither the ancient fighters nor Geto can provide the delay he needs.
• The ancient fighters prove more pragmatic than proud, choosing viable battles over a hopeless confrontation with Ronova.

Significant themes

• Power and fear: Ronova’s effortless victory makes clear that some opponents are so far beyond others that resistance seems pointless.
• Responsibility and consequences: Geto’s death and mishandled body enabled Kenjaku’s plans, linking one person’s choices to widespread suffering.
• Regret and redemption: Geto cannot undo his past, but he acknowledges his culpability and asks Ronova to repair the damage.
• Idealism versus reality: Geto abandons his dream of a world where sorcerers never suffer, recognizing that the world—and its institutions—cannot be made so simple.

Character interactions

• Ronova’s blunt reprimands expose Geto’s past recklessness, while his rueful agreement shows he no longer clings to his old justifications.
• Geto approaches Ronova not to fight but to thank her and entrust the world’s survival to her.
• Kenjaku tries to exploit their history, but the meeting ultimately becomes an opportunity for Geto to confess his responsibility rather than a reliable way to stop Ronova.

• Geto finds closure and dies: Ronova tells Suguru Geto that his daughters are safe, have been brought back, and are living in his old house. Relieved, Geto accepts death, having let go of what once tied him to the Culling Game. Ronova grants his wish, believing his good intentions cannot excuse his many crimes; she gives him a quick, final death.
• Kenjaku gives up: Ronova confronts Kenjaku, whose elaborate plans—including the Culling Game, involving Tengen, and gathering powerful fighters—have all failed against her overwhelming strength. He accepts that resistance is pointless and lets her kill him, treating even his death with detached curiosity.
• A new confrontation begins: With Geto and Kenjaku dead, Ronova turns to ending the Culling Game ritual. She identifies Sukuna as her next target and prepares to attack while he is transforming. Higuruma intervenes, declaring that he wants to kill Ronova rather than merely stop her. Ronova fires a Death Feather Sword enhanced with Black Flash; Higuruma counters with the longsword containing Jinglong Ida.
  Character developments and interactions: Geto’s conversation with Ronova brings him peace and allows him to face death willingly. Kenjaku accepts defeat with a calm, almost familiar manner toward Ronova. Higuruma, by contrast, appears with unmistakable killing intent, setting up the chapter’s cliffhanger.
  Themes: The chapter distinguishes good intentions from moral innocence, emphasizes acceptance and closure in the face of death, and contrasts elaborate schemes with overwhelming force.

Plot points and events

• Ronova’s basic attack sends Higuruma crashing through buildings and leaves him badly injured. He and his teacher, Jinglong Ida—whose soul resides in Higuruma’s sword—survive only because Ida made a Binding Vow that sacrificed his continued existence.
• Ida and Higuruma recognize that they cannot defeat Ronova, but believe Sukuna’s completed transformation may be their only chance to stop her. They attack again to buy him time.
• Ronova uses All Things Die, erasing Higuruma and the sword containing Ida. With no one left to protect him, Sukuna cuts his transformation short and emerges.
• Sukuna returns in his complete, four-armed, two-faced form, now possessing Gojo’s Six Eyes and Limitless. His power has reached mythic proportions: he is described as the equivalent of the vast number of Cursed Spirits created during Kenjaku’s Culling Game.

Character developments and interactions

• Higuruma remains determined despite understanding the overwhelming gap between himself and Ronova. His concern is first for Ida’s survival, and he ultimately gives his life trying to protect Sukuna’s transformation.
• Ida accepts that he is likely doomed but chooses to fight on, both to support his student and to give Sukuna time. His willingness to risk himself for Sukuna is striking because they were once bitter enemies.
• Ronova demonstrates absolute dominance, effortlessly defeating Higuruma and Ida and turning her attention toward Sukuna.
• Sukuna emerges as a newly transformed, unprecedentedly powerful sorcerer. His appearance marks the story’s last possible chance to challenge Ronova.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and duty: Ida and Higuruma knowingly face death to protect the possibility of stopping Ronova.
• The limits of individual strength: Against Ronova’s overwhelming power, courage and effort cannot produce a miraculous victory.
• Reversed alliances and fate: Former enemies, Ida and Sukuna, become connected by a desperate common cause.
• Balance and power: Sukuna’s strength is presented as a consequence of the world’s balance reasserting itself after Kenjaku’s actions.

Key plot points and events

• Sukuna completes most of a transformation, though not its final stage, and marvels at his newfound strength. He believes he has surpassed every sorcerer in history, including his former Mythic-Era self.
• To test his power, Sukuna casually fires a Dismantle at Ronova. It cannot harm her, but it tears a vast chasm through Tokyo and shakes the tectonic plate, revealing the catastrophic scale of his strength.
• Ronova and Sukuna recognize each other as their only meaningful rival. Ronova attacks first with All Things Die, which bypasses Sukuna’s Limitless defense by disregarding the usual constraints of space and time.
• Despite the technique’s near-absolute nature, Sukuna’s enormous reserves and the potency of his Cursed Energy let him endure it.
• Sukuna cannot damage Ronova either: she can “kill” his attacks, including his slashes and an enormous Hollow Technique: Purple.
• The fight settles into a stalemate. Neither combatant can fatally harm the other, but their clash devastates the surrounding world.

Character developments

• Sukuna becomes convinced he has reached an unprecedented, godlike level of power. His confidence is tested by discovering that even his overwhelming strength cannot overcome Ronova’s ability.
• Ronova confronts, for the first time, an opponent whose raw power vastly exceeds her own. Though her technique remains nearly unbeatable, she must contend with the limits imposed by the gap in strength.
• Kenjaku’s role is acknowledged through the monstrous power he created in Sukuna; Ronova bitterly reflects that he deserved his death.

Significant themes

• Raw power versus technique: Sukuna’s immense strength can resist Ronova’s otherwise absolute ability, while her technique can nullify his attacks.
• Limits of invincibility: Both fighters possess defenses that seem unbeatable, yet neither can secure victory.
• Catastrophic power: Their personal contest threatens the world around them, turning the battlefield into a wasteland.

Character interactions

• Sukuna challenges Ronova to fight with everything she has, and she responds with the respect she gives a worthy enemy.
• The two exchange attacks but quickly discover that their powers cancel out: Sukuna can survive her technique, while she can eliminate his attacks.
• With words no longer useful and neither able to gain the upper hand, their interaction becomes a prolonged battle of endurance and destruction.

Plot points and events

• Ronova and Sukuna’s battle leaves Tokyo utterly devastated: the city is reduced to vast chasms and exposed lava, while the sky is darkened and torn apart. The destruction is compared to Earth before life began.
• Both fighters recognize that ordinary attacks cannot fatally harm the other, so they each activate a Domain Expansion.
• Sukuna opens Malevolent Shrine, filling the world with a blood-red landscape and relentless slashes. Ronova opens Between Existence and Nonexistence, a domain that lets her decide whether anything within it exists.
• Ronova’s domain overwhelms Sukuna’s. She makes his slashes cease to exist, and its open-domain range leaves him no viable escape. She can also prevent him from using a Binding Vow to gain power.
• After taunting Ronova with a rude gesture, Sukuna is erased completely. Ronova wins the battle.

Character developments

• Ronova demonstrates that her power is not merely greater than Sukuna’s: it can override the attacks and rules he depends on. She remains confident and amused even as she delivers the final blow.
• Sukuna moves from overwhelming confidence to helpless frustration. He recognizes the unfairness of Ronova’s ability and, ironically, calls her a cheater—much as his own past opponents likely viewed his brute strength.

Significant themes

• Ability versus raw power: Sukuna’s immense force proves insufficient against Ronova’s reality-altering domain.
• The reversal of perspective: Sukuna experiences the frustration he once inflicted on opponents who could not overcome him.
• Absolute power and its consequences: Their fight has consequences on a near-planetary scale, emphasizing how far beyond ordinary sorcerers both combatants have risen.

Character interactions

• Ronova and Sukuna silently choose to escalate their duel by opening domains at the same time.
• Sukuna laughs in anger and insults Ronova’s advantage, while Ronova allows him a moment to vent because she already has control of the fight.
• Their final interaction ends with Ronova calmly erasing Sukuna from existence.