Manga spoilers ahead

The anime adaptation of “Jujutsu Kaisen” has given us some insanely good fights so far, but the most controversial scrap of them all has yet to make it out of the manga. Taking place between Chapter 223 and Chapter 236, Satoru Gojo versus Ryomen Sukuna was tantalizingly billed as the Battle of the Strongest, and this long-awaited throwdown certainly lived up to its name. The best jujutsu sorcerer in the world went toe-to-toe with the King of Curses, and the outcome left readers stunned — Sukuna straight-up killed Gojo.

In theory, this outcome shouldn’t have been all that shocking: We’re all very much aware that Sukuna is a top-tier villain. However, Gojo’s reputation as a skilled fighter and tactician led me and countless other readers to expect a different outcome. After all, Gojo got the better of Sukuna during an earlier (albeit very brief) coming together. Of course, the King of Curses wasn’t at full strength at this stage, and his enhanced arsenal ultimately proved to be too much for Gojo.

The question I’m asking here is: Did Gojo really lose? Technically, yes — I mean, he got chopped in half, so there’s little room for debate there. However, I put it to you that Gojo let the fight pan out the way it did as part of a longer term strategy, one that would allow him to save the life of a beloved student and leave Sukuna in a weakened state for their eventual rematch.

Early on in “Jujutsu Kaisen,” Sukuna is reincarnated when protagonist Yuji Itadori consumes one of his cursed fingers to save his friends. Frustratingly for Sukuna, he’s unable to take over Yuji’s body entirely, with the youngster proving surprisingly adept at resisting him. From that point, Sukuna’s goal is to find a new host, and he sees Megumi Fushiguro as the ideal candidate: Megumi is a descendant of the Zenin and therefore inherited the clan’s prized Ten Shadows Technique.

In Chapter 212 of the manga, Sukuna successfully transfers himself into Megumi’s body. Unlike with Yuji, he’s able to take full control of Megumi by going after his sister and breaking his spirit in the process. Of course, Megumi’s mentor is none other than Gojo, so when the latter comes up against Sukuna, he’s essentially facing the prospect of killing his prized pupil — it was previously established that if Sukuna was killed while inside Yuji, then Yuji would die, too.

While he sometimes comes across as a little cold, it’s safe to assume that Gojo didn’t want to kill Megumi, even if it meant ridding the world of Sukuna. Gojo would have considered every outcome in the run-up to his clash with Sukuna, and he certainly had enough time to brainstorm (remember, he agreed to postpone the fight for a month). It seems likely to me that he came into the clash hoping to execute a plan that would weaken the King of Curses without killing his host, and this is exactly what he achieved.

While Gojo was killed by Sukuna, the latter took a real beating during their epic battle. Crucially, Gojo was able to take out Mahoraga, the most powerful shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique. It was Mahoraga that ultimately gave Sukuna the upper hand in his fight with Gojo: The shikigami is able to adapt to any technique or attack, and it did just that with Gojo’s Infinity. That spelled doom for Gojo, but before he was brutally slashed in two, Gojo was able to annihilate Mahoraga with Hollow Purple.

Yes, Sukuna is a formidable foe without the Ten Shadows Technique, but the fact that he can no longer utilize Mahoraga is a significant blow for the King of Curses. To me, it seems very much like getting rid of Mahoraga and making sure that Megumi lived on in some shape or form were Gojo’s two main goals. Allowing himself to be killed may seem extreme, but, as was revealed in Chapter 261, there was a plan in place for him to be resurrected — kind of.

In flashbacks, it’s revealed that second-year Jujutsu High student Yuta Okkotsu asked Gojo if he would be okay with his brain being transplanted into Gojo’s body should Gojo die in battle, to which he agreed. This last-resort insurance policy was triggered following Gojo’s death, and Sukuna is clearly shocked to see Gojo return. With this, the first part of Gojo’s plan came to fruition — Sukuna’s forced to fight him (or a version of him, at least) without the aid of Mahoraga.

As far as his comrades are concerned, yes, Megumi can be saved, and efforts to do just that began in earnest during Chapter 263. With the help of Yuji and the other jujutsu sorcerers, Gojo (now controlled by Yuta) begins his rematch. As the battle rages, it becomes clear that there are two goals — our heroes are of course trying to put an end to Sukuna once and for all, but not before saving Megumi’s soul.

After activating Dismantle, Yuji slashes at the boundary between Sukuna and Megumi’s souls while trying to call out to the latter. When that doesn’t work, the sorcerer Hana Kurusu uses her Jacob’s Ladder technique on Sukuna, catching him by surprise. Again, the goal here is to split Megumi’s soul from Sukuna’s. They haven’t been able to do it yet, but attempts are ongoing — at the time of this writing, we’re up to Chapter 265, and the battle against Sukuna remains in full flow.

So, to address my original question: Did Gojo really lose to Sukuna? Their fight has been the source of much controversy in the fandom, with many people complaining about the delivery as well as the outcome. It’s my opinion that both were part of a misdirect from Gege Akutami, one that will pay off in the coming chapters. We won’t have a definitive answer until the Shinjuku Showdown Arc comes to a close, but it certainly seems like Gojo had an ace up his sleeve. He may have lost the battle, but I strongly suspect he’ll win the war.