Chapter Summaries

Ze Zenin and Xuan'an continued their brutal battle, trading devastating attacks while healing from injuries with Reverse Cursed Technique. Ze Zenin briefly gained the upper hand with Amaterasu and Susanoo, but Xuan'an countered with black iron rods and trapped him as the fight continued.

• Ze Zenin and Xuan'an injured each other in a clash, and Ze Zenin realized Mahoraga had temporarily stopped adapting to Xuan'an's power.
• Xuan'an used tiny black rods to pierce Ze Zenin, who healed and counterattacked with a cursed-seal Susanoo and Amaterasu storms.
• Ze Zenin combined Amaterasu with a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, setting Xuan'an ablaze and briefly gaining the advantage.
• Xuan'an struck Susanoo from behind with Great Gate of Heaven, and Ze Zenin dismissed it before Xuan'an pierced him with larger black rods.
• Ze Zenin used Amenotejikara to displace Xuan'an's black rod, then unleashed an Amaterasu pillar that engulfed him.
• Xuan'an restored tiny rods beneath Ze Zenin's feet to full size, stabbing his legs while sneering through the flames.

Ze Zenin and Xuan'an fought with increasingly powerful techniques, each trying to overcome the other's defenses. Their battle ended with both crashing to the ground as iron rods pierced Ze Zenin's heart and four meteors struck the earth.

• Xuan'an increased his speed and attacked Ze Zenin with a kick and an iron rod, but Ze Zenin blocked him with Shinra Tensei and Susanoo.
• Ze Zenin attacked with the Dragon Flame Song Technique, but Xuan'an shrank the flames, escaped his grip, and stabbed him with an iron rod.
• Xuan'an summoned Daikokuten cubes, and Ze Zenin countered with nine Amaterasu-coated meteors and Complete Body Susanoo.
• Ze Zenin and Xuan'an fought along Susanoo's arm with Chidori, Kagutsuchi, sword strikes, and iron rods.
• Ze Zenin used Amenotejikara to strike Xuan'an, who shrank the attack and punched him, causing Susanoo to vanish and both men to fall.
• As they crashed to the ground, Xuan'an pierced Ze Zenin's heart with iron rods, and four meteors also struck the earth.

As Xuan'an and Ze Zenin continued fighting above the Pacific, Ze Zenin was trapped between Great Gate of Heaven cubes and entered the Ten Shadows Technique’s Shadow Space. His shikigami sacrificed their cursed energy and bodies to grant him the strength he needed, leaving him to awaken beneath the crushing attack.

• Ze Zenin and Xuan'an resumed their battle over the ruins of Hokkaido, and Ze Zenin’s left eye faltered from exhaustion.
• Xuan'an used his shrinking Cursed Technique to conceal Great Gate of Heaven, lift Ze Zenin, and pin him with iron rods as another cube fell toward him.
• Ze Zenin entered his Shadow Space and reunited with all ten of his shikigami, including Round Deer and Mahoraga.
• Mahoraga told Ze Zenin that the shikigami would sacrifice their cursed energy and bodies in a Binding Vow to give him the strength he most desired.
• The shikigami said goodbye as their forms faded, and Ze Zenin opened his Rinnegan while lying atop Great Gate of Heaven.

Ze Zenin overwhelmed Xuan'an after awakening new powers and pursued him into an alternate space. He trapped Xuan'an in his domain and unleashed Indra's Arrow and two Kirin, leaving the final strike bearing down on him.

• Ze Zenin shattered Xuan'an's Great Gates of Heaven, powered up in Susanoo Armor, and battered him across the Pacific.
• Xuan'an escaped through a portal into an alternate space, but Ze Zenin followed using his Rinnegan's Space-Time Portal and wounded him with the Kusanagi Sword.
• Ze Zenin returned Xuan'an to the real world and transformed the Ten Shadows shikigami into energy for his Thunder God Susanoo.
• Ze Zenin opened Domain Expansion-All Creation and fired Indra's Arrow as its sure-hit attack, trapping Xuan'an within the domain.
• Ze Zenin summoned two Kirin, which descended with Indra's Arrow toward Xuan'an while Satoru Gojo and the others watched from Shinjuku.

Ze Zenin killed Xuan'an but was pulled through a portal created by Xuan'an’s curse, leaving his friends and Shoko to forget him. The story ended with Shoko finding a photograph that seemed to hold a trace of the person she could no longer remember.

• Xuan'an cursed Ze Zenin to be forgotten and dragged away after his death, while Ze accepted the cost of protecting the people he cared about.
• Ze Zenin combined Indra's Arrow and Kirin to annihilate Xuan'an, devastating the Pacific and nearby regions.
• With his cursed energy exhausted, Ze Zenin fell into the black-and-red portal created by Xuan'an’s curse and vanished.
• Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto forgot Ze Zenin and walked together through the ruined Shinjuku battlefield.
• Shoko chatted with Maki and Mai, then found a photograph of herself alone in her office and wondered who had given her a lollipop.

Ze woke in 2018 believing his memories of a life as Ze Zenin had been a dream, but his boss sent him to places tied to those memories, and he found no answers. He returned to his parents and found comfort in their love; years later, still unchanged by age, he heard his dying father tell him that his parents would always love him.

• Ze reread the ending of Jujutsu Kaisen, then met with his boss, who gave him an extended vacation and marked the Three Gorges Dam, Yanjing Subway Station, and Tokyo Red Well on a map.
• Ze visited the Three Gorges Dam, Yanjing, and Tokyo, glimpsing people who resembled figures from his memories but finding no clear answers.
• Ze told his boss he had found nothing, and his boss suggested he visit his parents because he still had bonds and attachments in the world.
• Ze returned home, embraced his parents, and told them about the hardships and experiences from his dream; they comforted him, and he slept peacefully.
• Ze advanced in his career without aging, while his parents grew old; his mother died, and his father later fell gravely ill.
• Ze's father held his hands and said that he and Ze's mother would always love him, regardless of what he became.

After living a full life with his parents, Ze Zenin recovered his memories and returned to the Jujutsu world, where his absence had left everyone with unexplained gaps in their memories. At Satoru Gojo’s birthday gathering, Shoko finally remembered Ze when he returned to her, and she wished him a happy birthday.

• Ze Zenin left his savings and property to his younger brother’s family, then returned to his former workplace and confronted his mysterious boss.
• Ze recognized the Mangekyō Sharingan and Rinnegan in the mirror, regained his memories, and fell through a Space-Time Portal back to his original world.
• At Satoru Gojo’s thirtieth birthday, Gojo and his friends felt that someone important was missing, while Shoko searched for clues to her forgotten past.
• Shoko found a note on Gojo’s seat that read, “Our story began thirty years ago today, and from this day forward, we will continue to write it...”
• Shoko went to the courtyard, remembered the boy who had once been her partner, and heard Ze tell her he had returned.
• Shoko’s memories came back, and she smiled at Ze and wished him a happy birthday.

The author reflected on writing the novel, explained Ze Zenin’s character and the ending, and thanked readers for their support. The author closed by noting that Ze’s story began and ended on December 7, exactly thirty years apart.

• The author described starting the novel as a first-time writer and credited readers’ encouragement with helping them continue after an earlier work was taken down.
• The author explained that Ze Zenin was conceived as someone who would bear the burden of ending Jujutsu Kaisen’s tragedies, while acknowledging that his trust in the plot led to the Zenin Clan’s destruction.
• The author said Ze’s losses, grief, and efforts to protect Gojo, Geto, and Shoko shaped his character, and described what he meant to each of them.
• The author recalled an alternate ending in which Ze returned to his original world and Gojo, Geto, and Shoko continued their lives without him.
• The author chose instead to end the story where it began, on December 7, 2019, thirty years after Ze’s story started.

Satoru Gojo wrote about his childhood rivalry and friendship with Ze Zenin, his bond with Suguru Geto, and the events that shaped their lives. He joined Ze Zenin, Suguru Geto, and Shoko to welcome the new year in 2020.

• Satoru Gojo recalled meeting Ze Zenin, losing to him, and becoming his confidant after they saved each other during a mission.
• Satoru Gojo recounted becoming friends with Suguru Geto at Tokyo Jujutsu High and escorting Riko with him, before Toji Zenin killed him and he awakened Reverse Cursed Technique.
• Satoru Gojo remembered how Ze Zenin later helped him notice Suguru Geto's growing isolation and encouraged him to stay close to Geto.
• Satoru Gojo reflected on killing Suguru Geto ten years later, then put away his writing as Geto asked what he was writing.
• Satoru Gojo joined Ze Zenin, Shoko, and Suguru Geto in watching fireworks and wishing each other a happy new year in 2020.

In April 1999, Ze Zenin reluctantly agreed to accompany Satoru Gojo on an exorcism mission, leaving the Zenin estate on Nue. As they flew, Ze teased Satoru by making Nue sway, nearly knocking him off.

• Satoru Gojo found Ze Zenin meditating on the mountain and persuaded him to go on an exorcism mission together.
• Naobito Zenin saw the boys heading out but pretended to be distracted by the weather rather than greet them.
• Ze summoned Nue outside the Zenin Clan gates and let Satoru climb onto its back.
• Satoru celebrated the flight as freedom, so Ze made Nue sway and nearly sent him tumbling.

Suguru Geto recalled his years at Jujutsu High, his bond with Ze and Gojo, and the Star Plasma Vessel mission that changed them all. After seeing villagers abuse two young girls with cursed techniques, he chose to become a curse user, while remaining grateful that Ze had stopped him from killing them.

• Suguru Geto described how Masamichi Yaga recruited him to Jujutsu High, where he became close to Gojo, Ze, and Shoko.
• During the mission to protect Riko Amanai, Geto and Gojo escorted her and Kuroi to Okinawa, while Ze was absent.
• An attacker struck Gojo at Jujutsu High, and Geto took Riko and Kuroi to Tengen's altar as Gojo stayed behind.
• Geto found Ze and a battered Gojo after leading Riko out of the Tombs of the Star Corridor, then watched Ze and Gojo grow far stronger as the group drifted apart.
• After Ze showed Geto his dream of a world without cursed spirits, Geto saw villagers abusing two young girls and nearly killed them.
• Ze stopped Geto from slaughtering the villagers, but Geto later chose to become a curse user and expressed gratitude to Ze.

Shoko Ieiri’s diary recalls how she and Ze Zenin grew close at Jujutsu High, while their present-day life shows them happily married with children. Ze reflects that Shoko’s first smile made him fall in love with her.

• Shoko’s diary recounts her first meeting and missions with Ze, and how she gradually came to trust and love him.
• Shoko remembers the end of their first year and misses the carefree days she shared with Ze, Gojo, Geto, and Utahime.
• Ze finds Shoko reading her diary at their seaside home, where they have been married for five years, and kisses her.
• Their young son walks in, and Shoko later goes to soothe their crying daughter, Hikari.
• Ze remembers the night he first told Shoko a story and thinks that her first smile made his heart race.