Ryomen Sukuna is one tough villain to beat in Jujutsu Kaisen. Even after taking some brutal hits, he keeps on fighting hard against the sorcerers in Shinjuku. Sukuna managed to defeat the strongest modern sorcerer and is still going strong despite his injuries.
After Yuji awakened his powers, you’d think Sukuna would be in trouble, but nope! The previous chapter showed Sukuna unleashing a proper domain expansion, even after Gojo fried his brain. This just proves how incredibly skilled the King of Curses really is.
Sukuna’s Malevolent Shrine is No Ordinary Domain
Being the strongest sorcerer ever, it makes sense that Sukuna can create an unbelievable powerful domain expansion. These are the pinnacle of jujutsu sorcery, so of course Sukuna has mastered it to the max level.
In the Shinjuku arc, we saw Sukuna use his Malevolent Shrine domain against Gojo multiple times. But then Gojo used his Unlimited Void to fry Sukuna’s brain, stopping him from using that ultimate technique. See, Malevolent Shrine is an insanely overpowered domain that lets Sukuna slice and dice everything around him.
By making a binding vow, Sukuna can increase his domain’s range up to 200 meters! He did this in Shibuya and likely kept doing it in Shinjuku too. He can also close off his domain if needed, but keeping it open gives him a huge battle advantage that we’ve seen over and over.
Malevolent Shrine’s power is just ridiculous. Pretty much no one can escape certain death inside it under normal conditions. Only a handful of super elite sorcerers could maybe survive the onslaught. This domain really lets Sukuna cut up the entire world with his jujutsu. It’s the total pinnacle of his abilities.
How Sukuna Made an Even Stronger Malevolent Shrine
But in Shinjuku, Sukuna faced a tricky situation with Maki, since she had no cursed energy. Normal domain rules don’t work on her, so she could avoid attacks and enter/exit freely. To counter this, Sukuna made an ultra-powerful, incomplete domain, as Yuji mentioned.
He didn’t use the part of his brain Gojo destroyed but instead tapped into another area thanks to his black flashes. This let Sukuna craft Malevolent Shrine in a new high-level way with no barrier!
An open barrier domain means Sukuna can just attack anything within range and cut it up, even stuff in the real world! His slashes, like Cleave and Dismantle, can target inanimate objects and people without cursed energy like Maki. If he didn’t do this, Maki would be impossible to hit.
The Downside of Sukuna’s New Domain
Of course, this new busted domain isn’t perfect. Sukuna’s extremely drained at this point from nonstop fighting against multiple sorcerers. The narrator says he can only keep this high-level version up for 99 seconds max in his current state before it collapses.
There also seems to be some kind of typhoon surrounding it, but we don’t know why yet. Other than the short time limit, it works just the same as his Shibuya domain, with the same intense range and power.
In chapter 258, the other sorcerers could mostly tank Sukuna’s domain attacks after he unleashed it. But he’s clearly got more vicious tricks coming that we haven’t seen.
Yuji’s Simple Domain and Healing
Chapter 258 was awesome, showing how far Yuji has come. Thanks to a soul swap letting him learn from Kusakabe, Yuji can now use Simple Domain! He protected himself from Sukuna’s assault this way, though his domain did break eventually.
But Yuji has another huge advantage: his incredible healing factor. As mentioned by Choso, after consuming Death Painting numbers 4 to 9, Yuji can heal efficiently like Choso. With that, he can essentially convert cursed energy directly into blood.
So while Sukuna’s domain messed Yuji up, his blood manipulation let him quickly recover from those injuries. Miwa saved Maki too, while the other sorcerers used Simple Domains to endure the onslaught as well.
Sukuna’s Last Gambit – Divine Flames
Just when you thought Sukuna was out of tricks, he starts bringing the heat at the end of chapter 258 – literally! The guy can manipulate insanely powerful Divine Flames from his own personal kitchen stove setup.
We first saw these flames take down Jogo and Mahoraga back in Shibuya. Sukuna’s just been holding back on using them again until his final stand here. The editor’s note says these “flames of death” are closing in on the sorcerers now.
This is clearly Sukuna’s last big move, going all-out with everything he’s got left after the 99-second domain runs out. The Divine Flames will probably cause massive devastation, taking down some sorcerers if they can’t find a way to stop them.
At this point, the only hope is for Yuji to survive Sukuna’s final flaming onslaught. The other sorcerers need to protect Yuji no matter what, even if they get taken out. Or maybe Yuji’s awakened state will let him expand his Simple Domain to clash with Sukuna’s technique.
Whatever happens, it’s coming to an epic climax. Sukuna is throwing everything he has left at the sorcerers in one last-ditch effort with his ultimate abilities. But Yuji’s growth has been incredible, so he may just pull through and finally defeat the King of Curses once and for all as Jujutsu Kaisen nears its end.
The series is on break next week, but when it returns, we’ll likely see the intense conclusion to this ridiculous Shinjuku battle royale between Sukuna and the sorcerers. This is the type of hype finale fans have been waiting for!
