Too much brilliance in how things tie up in this manga. I can’t wait to reread this manga over or rewatch the anime, once it’s all over.

I see that some people have a problem with this chapter, but bro JJK is a standard battle shounen manga at the end of the day. It's not this super subversive piece of media. The protagonist gaining a powerup and defeating the villain was always pretty much a guarantee.

I think it would be interesting for the story to end with Yuji dead, but surrounded by loved ones. That's probably what will happen, given his grandfather's conversation.

Trust the process

Sooo what is meant to happen then? because if this isn’t a back and forth then it just meant Yuji out of nowhere beat Sukuna lol I think everyone is basically expecting this because that’s how most fights go in shonen when it’s the mc vs a big bad

Trust the process
first of all I’m trolling second of all ofc that’s what’s gonna happen, we’ll prob get info on the flame open technique in the next few chapters. Or like some said Sukuna gets salty he’s losing and starts the merger idk I’m not gege!

Lightning who does the most accurate translations also confirmed it, Yuji was born with a finger this whole time. This has major story implications up to this point.

twitter.com/lightningclare/status/1782067946795442390

I think Sukuna still was at 20 fingers of strength fighting Gojo though, because even though Yuji had a finger sealed since he was born, Kenjaku undid all the sealing after Shibuya, then Sukuna transferred all the fingers to Megumi. So he may have transferred 16 worth of fingers then got three from Urame. Plus the skull.

Oh my bad lol and I don’t think Sukuna can start the merger until all culling game contestants are dead beside Megumi and Getou, as that is what the rule stated. So he’ll have to still kill a bunch of people. Otherwise Kenjaku could’ve just started it before Sukuna fought Gojo. They have to follow the rules.

Merger is happening but not yet. Somehow Yuji, Hakari, Yuta, Uro, Miwa, Charles, and whoever else is a culling game player would have to die first as stated by the rule.

Or the rule would have to be explicitly broken with what Kenjaku did by creating another rule and causing glitches in the game. With that you need to know how to outsmart the kogane. You can’t just start it.

part of me thinks we still haven’t seen the last of kenjaku but it would be pretty subversive if we did. Idk I’m assuming this fight itself is the second to last arc so the merger has to be the final arc somehow

It's crazy cause in chapter 1 Megumi senses the finger when he passes by Yuji

I am under the belief Kenjaku will re-enter the story and be the final villain in lieu of the merger. He will be in control or watching s\*\*\* go down. I am a huge fan of jjk but not a FAN at all if Kenjaku really died so I’m sticking by this lol he seems to plan so much I’m just waiting for the big reveal

Exactly, and the craziest part is even if Yuji didn’t eat another finger, if the culling games started, Kenjaku undoing the seals on all the cursed objects in reincarnated players would’ve meant Yuji would become Sukuna’s vessel either way. He had no agency from the start.

ngl now that it became relevant I think there is also a real possibility Jin Itadori comes into play too

Yup, and tbh I think we are falling for the narrative. The Merger can only start if Sukuna kills everyone, so Gege made him look as if he really was going to win to fool readers that Sukuna would accomplish that rule, but in reality he’s not. So the merger can’t happen normally but the story was leaning towards that direction. There has to be an intervention now that Yuji (and Hakari to a lesser extent) who was the last hope is winning, and I don’t think it is as simple as Sukuna breaking a rule.

I feel another twist is going to happen. Also feel with this lore bit we got this week, a huge dump in the form of a Heian flashback is possible. Either from Sukuna, Uro, or a revived Kenjaku’s perspective. Either way, I feel as the story progresses it just makes you feel Kenjaku is still up to no good somehow. And we need information on Jin and Wasuke as well. So Jin may appear, and who knows if Sukuna’s twin is actually good, he could’ve went along with Kenjaku’s plan.

The real MC has enter the chat

where’s the gambler

Finally started this

enjoy bro

Idk why the the reveal kinda felt anti climatic. Maybe I need to reread or something

For readers it’s a huge thing and put much more intrigue and questions, with story implications. It’s just that it is conveyed casually by Sukuna who doesn’t give a f\*\*\* about Yuji lol I loved it and I think the nonchalant tone given from Sukuna is because he doesn’t really know what really were Kenjaku’s motives, besides that he wanted a child with the other halve of his soul (but not as to why he did), he simply came to realize after switching bodies from Yuji to Megumi that Yuji was in fact the offspring to Kenjaku. I feel it will be elaborated on more later with more emphasis since Yuji doesn’t know. His origin is just now being revealed but not fully yet.

i think we were expecting him to get a power up so it wasn’t as impactful

The implications are very interesting though

I feel you but there’s also a possibility that all of that isn’t integral to the story and will not be explained. Kenjaku could’ve just killed yuji's dad after getting what he needed. And I’m curious, what is your reasoning for thinking the merger isn’t kenjaku’s goal?

I mean grandpa itadori did begin the story with wanting to tell Yuji about his parents. There was never a confirmation about their death. Its very interesting how both Megumi and Yuji do not know their parents situation. Yujis mom technique already was able to survive a black hole. Yujis dad could very well be a sorcerer too and couldve also went with the plan (maybe for some pure reason like maybe his dead wife always wanted a child and kenjaku made a pact with him). Either way the state of Jin itadori is very interesting and I believe we will still learn more about it