Chapter 144

is the one hundred and forty-fourth chapter of Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen.
== Summary ==
Reunited for the first time since the Shibuya Incident, Megumi asks for Yuji's strength to help save Tsumiki from the Culling Game. In desperate need of information, an unlikely team catches a dangerous plan to seek answers deep within Jujutsu High. 
== Plot Details ==
With Tsumiki caught up in Pseudo-Geto's sinister Culling Game, Megumi asks Yuji to let go of his transgressions and help save his sister. Reminded of his last grandfather's words asking him to help others, Yuji comes up with a compromise. He asks Yuta to kill him in the event that Sukuna should take over his body again. Yuji believes Yuta is powerful enough to do so and the second-year agrees to do what he can if that ever happens. 
Megumi plans to regroup at Jujutsu High and contact Master Tengen. They need to find out how to unseal Satoru Gojo and what Geto's concrete objectives are for the future. The Culling Game is jujutsu terrorism on a scale never seen before and Megumi believes they need answers to the aforementioned questions. Yuji asks if Yuki Tsukumo would know and Megumi reveals this was her idea. Yuki's hiding at Tokyo Jujutsu High waiting for them to while avoiding the higher-ups. 
Yuta adds that there main issue with contacting Master Tengen is the Tombs of the Star Corridor is closed off. Master Tengen's concealing barrier shuffles over one thousand doors continuously and only one leads to the Tombs of the Star. Yuji interrupts because he can't hold off asking a certain question anymore. He asks what happened to Nobara but only gets an encouraging, saddened look toward the ground as a response from Megumi. Trying to contain his emotions, Yuji leans over and also looks to the ground while repeating "I get it". 
Choso abruptly makes it known that he may know a way past the concealing barrier. He gets a bit too close to Megumi, who's uncomfortable with the interruption but Yuta is glad he was listening. Yuji asks for clarification and Choso reminds them that Mahito stole Sukuna's fingers and the Death Painting Wombs from Jujutsu High in the past. Choso believes they can achieve the same thing. 
Yuji, Megumi, Yuta, and Choso enter Jujutsu High in secret and meet with Yuki and Maki inside the same hidden room where Gojo had Yuji watch movies as training. Maki's appearance has changed significantly, her hair is much shorter, her left eye is covered in bandages, and much of her body is marked with severe burn scars from Jogo's flames. Concerned, Yuta goes up to Maki and asks if it's okay for her to be moving around. Yuki explains to him that not even a reverse cursed technique can prevent burn scars. Maki was able to survive because of her physical durability granted to her through Heavenly Restriction. Resistance to curses wasn't enough to save Naobito Zenin from similar injuries. 
Maki says she wasn't exactly going for it and then asks Megumi about their plan to slip past the concealing barrier. Choso volunteers to inform the group and explains that between the correct door and the tomb is the cursed warehouse where his brothers are being stored. Choso's connection to them will allow him to guide everyone to the correct door. Maki is satisfied with the plan but she needs clarification on exactly who Choso, this random newcomer, is. After a brief silence, Yuji reluctantly tells everyone to just think of Choso as his big brother for now. Choso is shocked and excited to hear Yuji, yelling his name out. Embarrassed. Yuji guides everyone outside the room onto their mission, leaving Choso in the background.
Choso guides the group to the correct door, confident that his brothers sleep beyond it. Yuji is surprised to find there is no solid path beyond the doors, just a massive drop into a forested area filled with tall, old trees. Yuki tells them to move forward and go deeper in so they can locate the elevator that can descend them toward the tomb. The group walks past the cursed warehouse, where Choso stops for a moment. He touches its doors and asks his brothers to wait just a little longer for him to return.
The group takes the elevator down to the Tombs of the Star Corridor and walks down the pathway toward where Tengen resides. Yuji notices bloodstains on the ground and asks what happened. Yuki says it's the remains of what happened eleven years ago when everything in the jujutsu world began to distort, picturing Toji Fushiguro in her mind. The students are unsure of what she means, but Yuki moves on and leads them directly to the main shrine. They walk into nothing but a white void, confusing everyone.
Yuki says Tengen is rejecting them. Tengen normally doesn't interact with the world but Yuki thought the contact was possible now that the Six Eyes have been sealed. She also considers the possibility that Tengen isn't rejecting everyone, just her. Megumi is unsure of what to do and Yuta tells everyone they should head back since Tsumiki doesn't have time to waste.
Suddenly, a voice asks why they're leaving so soon, stopping the group from going. Master Tengen reveals themself and says it's a pleasure to meet the children of the Zenin, Michizane's descendant, the Death Painting Womb, and Sukuna's vessel.
== Character in Order of Appearances ==
== Locations ==
*Tokyo Jujutsu High
**Tombs of the Star Corridor
== Jujutsu ==
Mentioned
*Cursed Womb: Death Painting
*Heavenly Restriction
*Reverse Cursed Technique 
*Six Eyes
== Navigation ==
Category:Chapters
Category:Perfect Preparation Arc Chapters