Culling Game Arc

is the ninth arc in Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen. It follows Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, and their allies as they enter the Culling Game with the intention of rescuing Tsumiki Fushiguro from participating, freeing Satoru Gojo from Prison Realm, and protecting Tengen from Kenjaku.
==Synopsis==
=== Tokyo No. 1 Colony: Angry Man ===
Yuji and Megumi enter the Tokyo No. 1 Colony in order to track down Hiromi Higuruma and convince him to add a new rule to the Culling Game. 
==== Enter the Culling Game ====
 
In addition to incarnated sorcerers from past time periods, Kenjaku has made players out of modern-day people like Hiromi Higuruma as well. Higuruma is a lawyer who awakened his cursed technique during a fit of rage when his defendant, Keita Oe, was unjustly found guilty during his trial. Higuruma eventually became one of just two players in the Toyko colonies to have scored at least one hundred points. 
Non-players who begin inside the colonies are given a chance to exit. Such is the case of Yuji's hometown friends, Setsuko Sasaki and Takeshi Iguchi, who were both in Sendai City when the Sendai Colony barrier was formed. The former was escorted out of the barrier by Kenjaku personally. Everyone taken outside the colony met Kenjaku, but Sasaki received special treatment for befriending his son, Yuji. This occurred on November 1, 2018, around 6:00 AM just hours after the Shibuya Incident concluded. 
 
In preparation for entering the Culling Game, Kinji Hakari decides that Yuji and Megumi will infiltrate the Tokyo No. 1 Colony to find Higuruma. Hakari and Panda will take the No. 2 colony to track down Hajime Kashimo and the Angel. On November 12, 2018, around noon, all four of the Jujutsu High students, Yuji, Megumi, Hakari, and Panda, declare their participation in the Culling Game. 
Megumi warns Yuji about past sorcerers who desire to fight to the death and they both head inside the Tokyo No. 1 Colony barrier. They're unexpectedly split up once inside, with the barrier transporting players to different parts of the colony by dropping them from the sky. Yuji is ambushed while in mid-air by a player who targets rookies using an airplane hair cursed technique named Hanyu. She's guided through the air using flight batons by the unwilling Rin Amai, a weak player who recognizes Yuji. 
Yuji student makes short work of Hanyu and is confronted by her partner, Haba, shortly after. Meanwhile, Megumi clashes with a troublesome girl named Remi who he decides to ask about Higuruma. However, Remi is difficult to deal with and says she'll only help Megumi if he promises to be her knight. 
Yuji defeats Haba's helicopter hair technique and meets Rin Amai, who's also from his hometown of Sendai City. Remi informs Megumi that modern-day sorcerers have gone into battle mode after almost two weeks in the Culling Game, meaning he accidentally mislead Yuji. At the same time in different places, Rin and Remi both claim they have information leading to Higuruma. However, Rin tells Yuji he's in Ikebukuro while Rin insists to Megumi that he's in Shinjuku. One of them is being led into a trap laid by a receipt hoarder named Reggie Star. 
 
Rin earnestly leads Yuji to Higuruma's base of operations while Remi leads Megumi into an ambush. This leads to a direct confrontation between Megumi and Reggie where the former is fed up with Remi's antics and summons Divine Dog: Totality to dispatch them both. 
Inside a theater Higuruma has been using as his headquarters, Yuji is able to find the former lawyer. Yuji asks to use Higuruma's one hundred points to add a rule that will negate the forced killing of the Culling Game. However, Higuruma isn't in his usual state of mind and has become discontent with the justice system since Keita Oe's trial. Yuji believes he can negotiate with Higuruma because he's someone from the present day who might listen to reason. 
However, Higuruma refuses Yuji because he wants to see the rules of the Culling Game lawfully enforced in real-time. When their conversation breaks down, Yuji is forced to demand the points and Higuruma definitely stands against him with his cursed technique activated.
==== The Trial of Yuji Itadori ==== 
 
Higuruma immediately traps Yuji inside his Domain Expansion, Deadly Sentencing. It is a court-based, non-lethal domain that doesn't permit any violence inside its parameters. It simply forces Yuji to follow the rules of the cursed technique. Higuruma's technique puts Yuji on trial with his shikigami, Judgeman serving as its namesake. Yuji is accused of entering a pachinko parlor underage and is ultimately found guilty after being outclassed by Higuruma's superior skills in a courtroom. Judgeman strips Yuji of his ability to wield cursed energy as a result of the verdict.
 
While Yuji can resist Higuruma's early onslaught thanks to his superhuman physical skills, its not long before he's completely overpowered. Higuruma proves to be an elite sorcerer with a genius intellect but his technique has one compensatory weakness. Before he's crushed, Yuji exploits this by demanding a retrial, putting them both back inside the non-violent domain. However, Yuji's second trial accuses him of mass murder during the Shibuya Incident. Still guilty over what happened in Shibuya, Yuji takes responsibility and doesn't deny the charges. 
Yuji's admission earns him the Death Penalty, granting Higuruma the Executioner's Sword that can kill a target with one hit. Despite being able to destroy his opponent with a single cut, Higuruma is distracted by Yuji's confession. The proceedings of his technique provide evidence during the trial, which proved that Sukuna was responsible and not Yuji. Higuruma was always a lawyer who fought for innocent defendants regardless of the odds stacked against them. He never closed his eyes to the truth before and he's unable to prosecute an innocent man himself now. Higuruma allows himself to be bested by Yuji by willfully deactivating his cursed technique instead of securing a victory.
Higuruma reveals to Yuji that he was reminded of why he became a lawyer in the first place. Returned to his normal state of mind, Higuruma sits with Yuji and they're able to talk. He asks Yuji why he would take responsibility for what Sukuna did and the Jujutsu High student explains it only happened because he's too weak. Higuruma values that weakness that only exists in humans and realizes there are still more weak people that need help. He agrees to help Yuji by adding his preferred rule to the Culling Game. 
 
By successfully negotiating with the game master through Kogane, Higuruma gets the rule accepted. The new rule, rule ten, allows players to transfer points between one another. This directly affects score calculation for rule eight, which punishes players for stagnating their score with cursed technique removal. 
Higuruma gives one of his remaining two points to Yuji so they'll both remain unaffected for nineteen days and begins to leave the theater. Yuji tries to stop Higuruyma and asks for his skills in further combating the Culling Game. However, Higuruma feels he needs to take responsibility for murdering the Judge and Prosecutor from Keita Oe's trial and plans to turn himself in. He also believes being around Yuji would make him hate himself more and decides to depart, leaving Yuji alone.
==== Sorcerers are Con Artists ====
Back with Megumi, he threatens his adversaries with Divine Dog's presence but Reggie surprisingly applauds him. He can tell Megumi is strong just based on the shikigami and asks him to join up with his group. He also asks what Megumi knows about the Culling Game. Megumi gives the explanation that Master Tengen provided without mentioning them, but Reggie believes that explanation is a bluff, or at the very least secondary to Kenjaku's main goal. He has solid reasoning to believe that Kenjaku will put a late twist on the Culling Game and it will have served its purpose once only the strongest players remain. 
Megumi only agrees to join Reggie's group if they transfer all their points to him and negotiations immediately break down. Chizuru Hari, another player in Reggie's group, tries to ambush Megumifrom behind but he's easily incapacitated. Reggie injures Divine Dog and another member of the group, Iori Hazenoki, bombs Megumi with a surprise attack using his own flesh. 
Hazenoki's severed eyes and teeth function as explosive projectiles without any regard for Remi's safety. Megumi avoids suffering any fatal damage but he's worn down and Remi keeps bothering him because she's unable to come to terms with her situation. Hari rejoins the fight and Kogane announces a tenth rule has been added to the Culling Game. It's the rule Yuji added, giving Megumi inspiration to keep fighting. With increased morale, Megumi overpowers Hari and even eliminates him, determined to wave away any difficulties that cross his path. 
Remi withdraws from the fight but Reggie and Hazenoki pursue Megumi. Before Megumi has to suffer getting hit by more bombs, a newcomer enters the fray and takes the hit from an explosion for him. The newcomer is Fumihiko Takaba, a player with zero points and a comedic attitude who tries to play off his new injuries by claiming coward's attacks do zero damage.
Takaba decides to help Megumi even the odds but everyone is taken back by his goofy attitude. Thanks to his unexpected strength and determination to entertain, Takaba is able to separate Hazenoki from Reggie. Megumi finally gets Reggie one-on-one and announces that his goal has already been completed in this colony, so he can fight earnestly without holding anything back now. He uses a combination of shikigami that includes Max Elephant in order to try and nullify Reggie's Contractual Re-Creation technique, which manifests items written on receipts. Megumi expends a lot of cursed energy to do so and he's already been worn down the earlier explosions. Reggie manifests a spa treatment to recover his stamina and is confident Megumi doesn't have any big moves that can effectively finish the fight without Divine Dog. 
Megumi acts like he's fleeing and lures Reggie into a gymnasium only to be quickly overwhelmed by Reggie's uncanny combination of martial arts and re-created items. Reggie knows Megumi is up to something but he's always suspicious because he believes sorcerers are nothing but con artists. Before Megumi loses too much ground, he reveals his trump card and activates Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden. The gym is a perfect fit for Megumi's domain, and by converting the space into Chimera Shadow Garden, he's able to forcibly enclose the barrier and trap Reggie inside. Reggie underestimated Megumi and didn't figure Megumi to be a sorcerer of this level. Megumi tells him that he never admitted to not having any big moves.
The domain doesn't incorporate a can't-miss attack but the Ten Shadows Technique is pushed to 120% of its potential. This is enough for Megumi to overpower Reggie and nearly defeat him. However, Reggie doesn't allow himself to lose and summons three cars that drop into Megumi's shadow. Reggie deduced that Megumi has to bear the weight of anything in his shadow and turns the domain's conditions against him. Megumi counters using the shadows above Reggie to drop Max Elephant right on top of him, turning the fight into a contest of withstanding immense pressure.
Reggie attempts to activate his "ace" while holding up Max Elephant only to fall into the shadows. He falls indefinitely through the darkness until he commands one of the cars he dropped inside earlier to take him back to the surface. Once rescued, Reggie uses his "ace", summoning a small house guaranteed to crush Megumi with its weight. Megumi hides in his shadow and dispels the domain so the house breaks the floor of the gymnasium and sends both fighters falling into the basement pool below. Megumi gets a hold of Reggie and nearly drowns him, forcing the latter to dispel the cars in Megumi's shadow to get rid of the weight. 
Both combatants get out of the pool and claim to be unable to use their cursed techniques any longer, agreeing to settle their fight with a physical exchange. Reggie believes Megumi can still summon a shikigami and is still confident it won't be Divine Dog. He tries to pressure Megumi into panicking and summoning a shikigami so he can counterattack at that moment. However, Reggie is dealt a fatal blow from behind by none other than Divine Dog itself. Megumi used the domain and the pool to get his opponent to completely dismiss the shikigami, a mistake Reggie pays dearly for. Collapsed on the ground and bleeding out, Reggie reiterates a sorcerer is nothing but a con artist. Dignified in defeat, Reggie transfers all 41 of his points to Megumi before he dies. In his last moments, Reggie asks Megumi to let fate play with him before he inevitably suffers a foolish death. 
Meanwhile, Hazenoki is unable to make any headway while trying to bomb Takaba. None of his explosions seem to have any effect no matter how many times he appears to score a direct hit. Kogane informs Hazenoki that Reggie has been eliminated and the sorcerer gives up fighting Takaba and leaves. Takaba is so powerful because his Comedian technique makes anything he thinks will be funny into reality. It's a technique so strong it could oppose Satoru Gojo, but Takaba is utterly unaware of it. Remi flees the area while panicking about how men have influenced her life. Divine Dog tracks her down and corners her to make good on Megumi's threats, but Tsumiki's voice suddenly dissuades him. Megumi collapses from exhaustion and suddenly the Angel, Hana Kurusu, descends upon him.
=== Sendai Colony: The Height of the Feast ===
Yuta Okkotsu faces off against the strongest players in the Sendai Colony.
==== Standoff in Sendai ==== 
The battles of the Sendai Colony escalated quickly after the Culling Game began. By the twelfth day, the pure viciousness of the battles far exceeded that of the Tokyo No. 1 Colony. Due to conflicting techniques and personalities, the colony entered a deadlock between four elite players: Dhruv Lakdawalla, Takako Uro, Ryu Ishigori, and Kurourushi. 
The standoff was ended by none other than Yuta Okkotsu, who entered the colony more recently as a part of his comrades' plan to combat the Culling Game. Having already scored thirty-five points, Yuta effortlessly cut down Dhruv Lakdawalla and inadvertently put the other players' attention directly on him. 
 
Ryu and Uro watch Yuta from a distance to observe his abilities. Kurourushi, a cockroach cursed spirit, was at a disadvantage against Dhruv. With him out of the way, Kurourushi awakens from a dormant state and begins to feed. A swarm of cockroaches targets the group of civilians under Yuta's protection, bringing him in direct conflict with the cockroach curse. Awakened in a state of starvation, Kurourushi's instincts direct it to devour Yuta. 
Aware he's being watched, Yuta attempts to exorcise Kurourushi without using Rika or his reverse cursed technique. He initially holds the advantage against the curse with only his katana and the manipulation of his cursed energy. However, Kurourushi's unchecked power ultimately turns the tables on Yuta. Only when he's cornered does Yuta resort to using reverse cursed energy to exorcise the curse. Uro takes notice of Yuta's ability to use reverse cursed technique and with Kurourushi out of the way, she makes her move next.
==== Battle Royal ====
 
Uro attacks Yuta with her innate technique, the ability to manipulate the sky by turning it into surfaces. Rather than continuously fight, Yuta tries to reason with Uro and asks why she's killing so desperately for her own gain. This only serves to annoy Uro and leads her to take out her grudge against Yuta's ancestors on him. Ryu interrupts their squabble with his signature Granite Blast attack, inserting himself into the fight. Yuta decides it's best to deal with him so his attack range doesn't threaten the civilians being protected by Rika. He avoids an array of cursed energy blasts and closes the distance on Ryu, demanding they bring the fight into close quarters. 
 
Before they come to blows, Ryu explains to Yuta about his experiences in his past life. Ryu was never gratified with a proper fight he likens to a plentiful desert. He hopes that Yuta will be able to provide that experience and the two of them clash. Despite Yuta's immense volume of cursed energy, Ryu's overwhelming cursed energy output overpowers him. Uro jumps back into the conflict and hits Yuta as well, irritating Ryu. After Uro redirects a blast back at Ryu, Yuta gets back up and decides it's time to go all out. He wanted to put more distance between the civilians and the fighting but now he's been left without a choice. Ready to unleash his full power, Yuta calls Rika to his side and asks her to give him everything. 
 
Rika comes to Yuta's aid completely manifested. She refills his cursed energy and helps him take back the momentum of the fight. Yuta uses cursed speech on Uro and corners her while Rika duels with Ryu. Yuta tells her that acting selfishly will only get her so far but Uro refuses to hear him out. Ryu decides to ramp up the intensity of the battle and everyone is forced to unleash their domain, creating a three-way domain expansion.
Kurourushi unexpectedly reappears, having reproduced an offspring while it was in a dormant state that inherited its cursed energy. Due to several factors including Kurourushi's intrusion, the three domains collapse before the barriers ever fully form. This leaves the sorcerers in a state where they're unable to use cursed techniques. Yuta targets Uro first because she's distracted by Kurourushi, who she's at a disadvantage against. Unable to defend herself, Uro's arm is severed by Kurourushi. Uninterested in fighting either of them, Ryu takes Uro and Kurourushi out with one shot from his Granite Blast, setting the table for a proper clash with Yuta.
==== Dessert ====
Yuta and Ryu clash cursed energy beams in an exchange where the former decides to indulge his opponent's four hundred years' worth of hunger. Yuta loses the initial exchange but uses the explosion to close the distance while using Rika as a diversion. Ryu blocks Rika's second beam with one hand and aims his own attack at Yuta, only for it to be redirected by Yuta copying Uro's technique. 
Yuta's connection with Rika ends and he enters one final exchange of blows with Ryu, a clash the latter considers to be the dessert he's longed for. Suddenly Ryu's beam comes raining down on him and defeats the sorcerer, with Yuta having redirected it before Rika disappeared. Satisfied, Ryu doesn't lament his defeat and thanks Yuta for helping satisfy the hunger.
After the fighting concludes, Yuta confronts Uro and Ryu to obtain their points. Uro claims Yuta is reaching his limit because the only thing that surpasses great strength is ruthless aggression that disregards everything like a calamity, referring to Sukuna from 1,000 years ago. Ryu refuses to commend Yuta for sparing him, a sentiment Uro shared, both believing that not taking the life of an opponent is pointless. He also asks about the conversations with Uro but Yuta explains that they're unable to communicate because he's been blessed. Following their conversation, Ryu transfers his points to Yuta, giving the young sorcerer a total of 190 points.
=== Tokyo No. 2 Colony: Incredible Luck ===
Kinji Hakari and Panda venture into the second Tokyo colony to track down Hajime Kashimo.
==== A Creator's Despair ==== 
 
Kinji Hakari and Panda are separated upon entering the Tokyo No. 2 Colony barrier. Hakari happens upon Charles Bernard, a young aspiring manga creator whose future aspirations have been stolen by the Culling Game. Hakari agrees to ride a functioning ferris wheel with Charles and expresses far more optimism about the future, believing things will return to normal. Charles believes that his reality has been overtaken by jujutsu and things will never be the same. He needs a reason to participate in the killing of the Culling Game and asks Hakari to bring out the requisite hatred in him. Hakari insults his passion for manga and provokes a fight between them. 
Charles's innate technique allows him to conjure G Warstaff, a cursed tool that can grant him foresight into the future of anyone he draws blood from. Charles attacks with G Warstaff while elaborating on his despair. Hakari remains cool-headed and deals with his opponent's abilities accordingly, always holding on to the advantage throughout the battle. He stays in Charles's blindspots to negate his foresight and declares that he has to go all out and utterly break Charles so he doesn't pick a fight with anyone else. Charles gets small doses of Hakari's blood with G Warstaff, enough to see two seconds into his future. Hakari responds and intensifies the battle by activating domain expansion. 
Inside Hakari's pachinko-themed domain, Idle Death Gamble, Charles is instantly informed of the rules and fights while trying to get used to the game flow. He has trouble trying to keep up and see Hakari's future while dealing with his relentless pressure at the same time. When Hakari appears to miss a second consecutive jackpot, Charles uses the motivation and apparent swing in momentum to land a direct hit. Hakari is hurt but his domain reveals that he actually did hit the jackpot. Hakari uses his bonus of infinite cursed energy to defeat Charles in an instant.
==== Bye Bye ====
Panda ends up in a shipping yard after being separated from Hakari. He initially decides to camo as a harmless bear but then decides to try and find the Angel without Hakari. Panda unfortunately happens upon Hajime Kashimo, who uses his Kogane to identify Panda as a rival player. 
 
Hajime effortlessly overpowers Panda and even Gorilla Mode does little to slow him down. Hajime wants to know about Sukuna but Panda refuses to put his kohai in danger. Panda transforms into his sister core's Triceratops mode but Hajime acts faster. He unleashes a bolt of lightning that eviscerates Panda's body, leaving only his head in a pool of the cursed corpse's blood. 
In a vision that represents Panda's relationship with his sibling cores, Gorilla, Triceratops and even their father have to leave Panda behind. This reflects the fact that Panda's sibling cores have been destroyed completely. Hajime interrogates Panda's head but the ladder doesn't reveal any information about Sukuna. Before Hajime finishes Panda off, Hakari arrives to save him while overflowing with cursed energy.
==== Jackpot! Luck VS Lightning ====
Kashimo fights Hakari and is fascinated by his unique abilities. The two of them agree that if Hakari wins, he'll get Kashimo's points. If Kashimo wins, Hakari will tell him about Sukuna. Supercharged with unlimited cursed energy, Hakari proves challenging for Kashimo. Kashimo hits him with lightning, but the cursed energy coursing through Hakari's body during the bonus round doesn't allow his body to break using an automatic reverse cursed technique. Hakari's bonus round ends but he opens his domain right away, something he can do over and over as long as continues to hit jackpot.
Kashimo learns about the rules of the domain and easily overpowers Hakari while he's not unkillable. Hakari hits another jackpot and Kashimo decides to try and kill Hakari during the round instead of waiting it out. Kashimo has always been a sorcerer dissatisfied with his battles and views Hakari as a proper challenge. The only reason he agreed to Kenjaku's terms and agreed to the Culling Game four hundred years ago was to fight the strongest ever, Sukuna. 
To deal with Hakari's healing, Kashimo tries to destroy his heat in one shot. A bolt of lightning hits Hakari's face but he heals while he breaks. With just eight seconds left in the round, Hakari doesn't expect Kashimo to shoot more lightning and goes all in. However, Kashimo has an extra electric charge on his staff and he receives it as electrical feedback through Hakari. The lightning bolt destroys Hakari's lower left midsection just as the round ends. In an attempt to survive the fatal injury, Hakari gambles on expanding his domain again. 
Kashimo doesn't believe Hakari could hit the jackpot before he bleeds out but he does just that. Hakari's domain comes apart and drops them both over the sea. Kashimo finds footing on cursed spirits but Hakari destroys them and knocks him into the sea. Hakari plans on keeping this up until Kashimo is drained but he suddenly falls sick and plummets into the water. Kashimo creates chlorine gas using his electrified cursed energy and uses it to poison the reverse cursed technique user. Hakari unconsciously detoxifies and goes back on the offensive with just five seconds left in the round. Kashimo grabs ahold of him and uses all his remaining cursed energy to unleash a giant steam explosion. 
Kashimo returns to the surface, drained of all his cursed energy, but he believes he's won. However, Hakari resurfaces as well and lands the final blow of their fight. He's missing his left arm but Hakari is alive and is the victor. He survived using a binding vow that sacrificed the arm Kashimo grabbed onto to protect the rest of his body. Hakari cuts a deal with Kashimo to work with him in exchange for fighting Sukuna. Afterward, Hakari visits Charles again and encourages him to continue drawing manga. Momo Nishimiya finds Hakari with Charles and informs him of their group's new plans for the Culling Game.
=== Sakurajima Colony: Ressurection ===
Maki Zenin and Noritoshi Kamo face off with a mysterious yet familiar foe.
==== A Vengeful Curse Descends ====
On November 3rd Noritoshi returned to the Kamo clan's main house several days late after the Shibuya Incident due to the collapsed transportation system. What he returned to was not home as the attendant did not remember him and Kenjaku was already in full control. He revealed that he had his clutches on Jujutsu High already and crushed all Noritoshi's hopes to flush out any traitors. Kenjaku didn't view Noritoshi as a threat and told him to leave the house without resorting to violence. 
On November 16th, Kyoto Jujutsu High students enter the colonies to relay critical information for cooperating for the Culling Game to their allies. Noritoshi enters the Sakurajima colony and meets up with Maki after she defeats the remaining players and cursed spirits. While discussing new developments to the plan, Maki and Noritosho are interrupted when an unknown curse descends into the colony. Something about the situation feels off to Maki and Noritoshi when suddenly the curse flies through the city at high speed. It targets Maki and manages to pin her down, revealing its face as none other than Naoya Zenin, who's been reincarnated as a cursed spirit. 
Maki is surprised to learn that her mother killed Noaya. Noritoshi uses his arrows to help back Naoya off of Maki and they work together to injure Naoya's cursed spirit body severely. Naoya's injury implodes and his body changes into the shape of a cocoon. Maki and Noritoshi recognize that Naoya is a cursed womb and they shoot it with Noritoshi's Piercing Blood to no avail. Naoya evolves to a much more powerful state and nearly takes out Noritoshi with his first attack. He builds up more speed than ever before and even overpowers Maki with an attack three times the speed of sound.
==== Swordsmanship and Sumo Wrestling ==== 
Noritoshi comes to Maki's rescue before Naoya finishes her off. He tries to buy Maki time while she withdraws to recover but Naoya is too powerful and things quickly become dire for Noritoshi. Noritoshi doesn't mind sacrificing himself for Maki or losing the battle because he has nowhere to return to after the fighting. He Feels as if has nowhere to call home whether it be related to the Kamo clan or his mother. Before Noritoshi is killed by Naoya, two newcomers suddenly join the fray. 
Hagane Daido and Rokujushi Miyo are reincarnated players whose passions have lost their popularity and practicality over time. Daido is a peerless swordsman who is obsessed with katanas and Miyo is a sumo enthusiast with no one to wrestle. Maki returns to Noritoshi's side before she's fully recovered and lends her blade to Daido. Despite being a non-sorcerer that can't see Naoya, Daido can slash the cursed spirit and deal serious damage. Daido claims he can see everything else, so there's no difference to him. Maki struggles to understand what she's not seeing and Miyo invites her to participate in sumo inside his simple domain. 
Maki decides she needs to clear her head and blow off some steam so she agrees to Miyo's offer. Sumo is Miyo's great passion and he defeats Maki in their first bout. He can tell she's strong and that something on her mind is holding her back. He offers her advice on what she isn't seeing and explains it to her through sumo wrestling. Through countless bouts of sumo, he teaches Maki to unconstrain herself from her environment and to use those experiences to live freely in the moment. Doing so boosts Maki's mental state and unlocks her full potential, allowing her to perform at her best.
==== A New Demonic Fighter! Maki's Best ==== 
Time moves quicker in Miyo's domain, which allowed for over a thousand wrestling matches in just under a minute. While Maki is performing at her peak, not even Naoya can outmaneuver her. Not only can she perceive subtle differences in inorganic matter, but she uses it to her advantage to overwhelm Naoya. Maki and Daido cut Naoya's cursed spirit body in half, enraging him. A replica of what appears to be his human body erupts from the lower half and casts domain expansion. 
 
The domain, Time Cell Moon Palace. The domain's auto-hit quickly incapacitates Daido and Miyo but Naoya is unable to track Maki at all. Maki retrieves the Split Soul Katana from Daido and uses it to effortlessly kill Naoya. His domain has no way of recognizing or targeting her without any cursed energy to target. Twelve years after his death, a fighter equal to Toji Zenin has been realized in Maki. 
Victorious, Maki returns to Noritoshi's side and informs them that they've won with the help of the newcomers. Noritoshi, Daido, and Miyo are all seriously injured by they survive. While helping Noritoshi walk to safety, Maki learns about his personal issues and having no familial home to return to. Nortoshi shares this with Maki because he knows she can relate and she tells him to try talking to his mother again. Maki admits she may have made the mistake of not talking to her mother again before she died. Unbeknownst to Noritoshi, his mother awaits the day he comes home to her.
=== Offering to the Unknown ===
Kenjaku convinces a foreign military to invade the Culling Game and capture its players under the pretense of studying them to develop an alternative energy source.
==== Direct Talks ====
Megumi wakes up from his fight with Reggie in a hotel room two days later. He was rescued by Hana Kurusu who happened to have met up with Yuji and Fumihiko around the same time. After Megumi gathers himself, Yuji reveals that their senpai gathered more than enough points to rescue Tsumiki. With that objective cleared, they move on to asking about the Angel. 
A mouth appears on Hana's face in a similar fashion to how Sukuna speaks through Yuji. The Angel explains that she shares Hana's body and her goal is to wipe out all incarnated sorcerers. Megumi asks if the Angel could destroy the seal on Prison Realm. While the Angel's innate technique could break any seal, she has one condition: they must eliminate the sorcerer known as the "Disgraced One". At the moment of the Angel's request, Yuji's mind is called into Sukuna's innate domain. 
Sukuna reveals that he is the Disgraced One and Yuji is immediately pulled back into reality. He uses a series of clever and clumsy non-verbal cues to communicate this to Megumi without alerting the Angel. Megumi figured things were going too smoothly and now his main concern is that Yuji will sacrifice himself. Before things progress, the Angel suddenly comments on hundreds of players suddenly entering the colony.
In the months before the Shibuya Incident or the Culling Game, Kenjaku met with numerous national governments and revealed the reality of jujutsu sorcery to them. He presented them with the idea of capturing sorcerers with their militaries in order to study them. As Cyrus Veil of the United States Office of Energy and Environment explained, cursed energy has the potential to become the cleanest renewable resource in history. Kenjaku and Cyrus Veil pressured the President into authorizing the operation. Lieutenant General Garry K. Johnson initially believed a few battalions would be enough to accomplish their goal. Kenjaku displayed the might of a sorcerer against Johnson's soldiers and convinced him they would need hundreds of soldiers to go hunting for sorcerers.
==== The Hunt for Jujutsu Sorcerers ====
The operation begins in the middle of the night of November 14th in the Tokyo No. 1 Colony. The soldiers capture several weak players like Remi but struggle mightily against the stronger sorcerers like Hazenoki. However, the soldiers weren't sent in at night to give them an advantage. In fact, Kenjaku never intended for there to be a clash between the military and the sorcerers. He released cursed spirits into the colonies to perform a one-sided massacre on the soldiers. This will fill the colonies with the requisite amount of cursed energy for the merger with Tengen.
Yuji, Megumi, Hana, and Fumihiko defeat a group of soldiers attempting to capture them. They learn about the operation to hunt and capture sorcerers, as well as figure out Kenjaku's true intentions. Yuji suggests they help the soldiers but the Angel refuses. She argues against putting Hana in unnecessary danger when the Tokyo No. 1 colony has already been filled with cursed energy. They quarrel and Yuji says that he's going to act regardless of the Angel because he never trusted them to begin with. His phrasing makes it unclear if Yuji is talking to Hana as well, irritating her. 
Despite Yuji and the Angel's comments, Hana decides to rescue the soldiers from the cursed spirits. Megumi saved her when they were young and she always believed fate would reunite them. She wants to save people and be someone worthy of standing by his side. Megumi eventually calls Yuji out on his behavior. Yuji explains that was afraid of Hana replacing Nobara. Hana regroups with the boys and gives Yuji the chance to apologize.
=== Blood, Stars, and Oil ===
Yuki Tsukumo and Choso defend Tengen from being seized by Kenjaku. 
==== Death Painting Wombs Fire!!!! ====
During her time in the Tombs of the Star Corridor, Yuki finally got to have the talk she was eager to have with Tengen. Yuki starts off by asking what happened following Riko Amanai's death and she ends up aggravated by Tengen's indifference to the Star Plasma Vessels. As a former Star Plasma Vessel herself, Yuki feels it's her duty to make Tengen feel responsible and refuses to share what the individuals they've merged with are communicating. Unfortunately, their chat is cut short when Kenjaku makes his move and invades the empty barriers above the Tombs of the Star. 
 
Choso is the first to intercept Kenjaku. When the curse user arrives, Choso is already there waiting for his father inside the barrier. After trading insults to one another, Choso agrees to listen to Kenjaku's plan. Kenjaku manipulates the barrier to show Choso a film of one possibility for his grand scheme. Kenjaku essentially wants to discover the next stage of cursed energy by turning everyone into sorcerers and then conglomerating the citizens of Japan into a new entity. Choso wants to know why Kenjaku wants to do any of this but the maniac simply replies that it sounds fun. Kenjaku even adds says if the conglomeration of cursed energy ended up being a funny face, it would be hilarious. This maniacal attitude infuriates Choso and he immediately attacks his father in an attempt to end his schemes. 
Kenjaku outclasses Choso in battle with contemptible ease, severely injuring him with swarms of cursed spirits. While Choso is down, Kenjaku expresses disinterest in all of his "mediocre" creations, referring mainly to the Death Painting Wombs. When Choso questions Kenjaku's plans for Yuji, he dismisses it as he doesn't have specific ideas for Yuji's future. Kenjaku claims Yuji is a signal fire for a new era and the cycle of curses will never end as long as he and Sukuna are around. Choso refuses to believe that Yuji is responsible for the chain of curses and blames Kenjaku for all the twistedness spreading in the world. He rejects Kenjaku's notions about his brothers and uses their image to push him to get back to his feet. Choso uses unconventional techniques inspired by his brothers to take Kenjaku by surprise, eventually forcing him to unveil a cursed technique other than Cursed Spirit Manipulation. 
==== Rage of a Star ====
Kenjaku has unveiled his ability to manipulate gravity. With one of his formerly hidden cards now firmly laid out on the table, Yuki makes her move. Yuki tags in for Choso, commending her new "big brother" before telling Kenjaku that she likes the rough type of man. Tengen and Yuki formulated a plan to defeat Kenjaku prior to his invasion. Their plan is to force Kenjaku to expand his domain so that Tengen can manipulate the empty barrier to dispel it. Yuki should be able to overpower Kenjaku while his cursed techniques are burnt out from domain expansions. Yuki starts strong and even surprises the ancient sorcerer with her powerful innate technique: Star Rage. 
Kenjaku expands his domain, Womb Profusion, earlier than Yuki expected, quickly after the two fighters finish feeling one another out. However, Yuki and Tengen miscalculated. Kenjaku doesn't incorporate an enclosed barrier around his domain, leaving no outer edge for Tengen to target. While Tengen tries to compensate, Yuki attempts to buy herself time with Simple Domain, but it's ripped apart in seconds. Tengen figures out a way to dispel the domain at the last moment but it's too late, as Yuki is hit by the domain's can't-miss attack and severely injured. Yuki falls to the floor below the dispelled empty barrier, bloodied with mangled limbs, but she keeps fighting Kenjaku. She quickly reaches her limit but just when Kenjaku believes he has her beat, Choso suddenly rejoins the fight to ambush him. 
Choso nearly commits patricide with his surprise attack but Kenjaku narrowly avoids a fatal blow. Yuki and Choso fight together to push Kenjaku into a corner while he can't activate cursed techniques. Choso buys time for Yuki to heal her injuries but Kenjaku replenishes his cursed techniques as well. Choso is immobilized by Kenjaku's gravity attack and Yuki uses this chance to analyze it. She employs a strategy to counter it and appears to overwhelm her opponent. However, just as Yuki goes for the win, Kenjaku reveals he mislead her and deals a surprise fatal blow using a miniature Maximum: Uzumaki. 
Choso can't get up but his last-ditch effort is another blood attack in an attempt to save Yuki. However, Yuki tells Choso to live on and Tengen removes him from the fight, sparing his life instead. Kenjaku uses gravity to bisect Yuki but she refuses to die without fighting until the end. Yuki uses her technique to compress so much density within her body that transforms into a black hole. The black hole's catastrophic potential is quelled by Yuki, only destroying a portion of Jujutsu High. Kenjaku barely survives the black hole using a complex blend of sorcery and finally reaches Tengen's body, completing his goal of seizing his old friend.
=== Fearsome Womb: Recurrence ===
The plan to rescue Tsumiki is upheaved by several unexpected developments that occurr one after the otherand drastically altering the fate of Megumi and his comrades.
==== The Ripening ==== 
The day after the military invasion, Maki rendezvous with Yuji and Megumi in the Tokyo No. 1 Colony. She informs them that Tengen was seized and the preparation for the great merger has been completed. Unable to do anything about this for the moment, Megumi, Maki, and Yuji focus on moving along with their plan to rescue Tsumiki. Megumi negotiates with Kogane to create a rule to leave the Culling Game. The negotiation ends with a new rule where one hundred points can be spent to substitute a player with someone outside the colonies. 
Assistant director Ijichi escorts Tsumiki to the Tokyo No. 1 Colony with Maki. Tsumiki enters the colony and quickly meets up with Yuji and Megumi. After quick introductions, Megumi gives Tsumiki a hundred points and tells her to use them to exit the Culling Game. However, instead of using the points as Megumi directs, Tsumiki suddenly adds a new rule to the game., allowing entry and exit across colony borders. 
Megumi mistakenly assumed Tsumiki was the awakened type of player and never considered she could be an imposter. Completely taken off guard, Megumi is horrified and demands to know who this person is. "Tsumiki" taunts him before revealing she is a sorcerer named Yorozu from the past. She took Megumi's points because he offered them and used them according to her desires. Yorozu expresses wants to choose the place where she'll engage Sukuna in battle. She grows insect-like wings and flies off, leaving Megumi behind without a second thought.
Yuji and Hana attempt to pursue Yorozu but Sukuna suddenly recites the phrase "En Chain". This gives Sukuna control of Yuji's body for one minute, a binding vow the latter was tricked into accepting after his death. Sukuna safely knocks Hana unconscious and divides his soul into one of his fingers. He tears the finger off and takes a moment to celebrate his successful gamble. The binding vow prohibits Sukuna from injuring anyone, but since he still has control over the body, this means it doesn't include self-harm. Sukuna calls Yuji a fool and Megumi tries to initiate an exorcism ritual to summon Mahoraga in response. Sukuna disrupts Megumi's hand sign to prevent him from summoning the shikigami and then force-feeds him the severed finger. This successfully incarnates Sukuna's soul into Megumi's body. Yuji regains control of himself only to see that Sukuna has tragically taken over to his dear friend. 
Paralyzed with despair and denial, Yuji calls out to Megumi. Sukuna responds by hitting him through several buildings and incapacitating him. Maki and Takaba notice the commotion and head to the location but Sukuna sees them coming and summons a much more powerful version of Nue. It strikes the ground with haphazard bolts of lightning that impede Maki and Takaba. Hana suddenly ambushes Sukuna from behind and uses the Angel's technique in an attempt to strip him from Megumi's body. She injures Sukuna with the Angel's light of extinguishment by hitting him with Jacob's Ladder at maximum cursed energy output. Driven into a corner, Sukuna responds by pretending that Megumi has regained control and that he remembers their encounter many years ago. This tricks Hana into letting her guard down and she moves in close to embrace her beloved. Sukuna's ruse allows him to brutally attack Hana once she gets close enough.
Sukuna rips Hana's arm off and tosses her off the side of the building. Yuji is in full view of the assault and watches Hana presumably fall to her death. Irated by the consecutive tragic events, Yuji angrily attacks Sukuna. The King of Curses is caught off guard by Yuji's increasing strength but isn't intimidated in the slightest. Yuji demands to know why Sukuna does nothing but spread misery and he answers by claiming that weaklings who cling to life should spend their time trying to stifle that misery. Yuji challenges his nemesis to take on his suffering and Sukuna welcomes the challenge. He tries to tear Yuji apart with his cursed technique but all of the cuts are shallow, allowing Yuji to walk him down and land his patented right hook. Although he's surprised, Sukuna quickly deduces that Yuji's toughness isn't the reason for the ineffective slashes, but his own output that's low. Megumi proves to be resisting his control from within.
Sukuna remains confident that he can still comfortably slaughter Yuji, but Maki suddenly arrives on the battlefield to back her underclassman up. However, unbeknownst to the sorcerers, Sukuna's allies draw near. Together, Yuji and Maki engage Sukuna in hand-to-hand combat and hold their own against him. They fight with the intent to stop Sukuna even if it means killing Megumi, knowing that it's unlikely Sukuna won't die even if they go all out. Throughout the fight, Maki even impresses Sukuna with her physical prowess and overall toughness. 
Megumi's interference is at its highest when Sukuna attempts to use jujutsu to hurt his friends. Sukuna compensates by targeting the ground with Cleave: Spiderweb on the ground. This destroys Maki's footing and allows Sukuna to push her back. The fight continues to speed up until a newcomer arrives and grabs everyone's attention with their surging cursed energy. The interruption comes from none other than Uraume, who abruptly arrives to support their master. They unleash Ice Formation: Frost Calm at maximum cursed energy output, freezing Yuji and Maki with a massive wave of ice. Uraume focused most of the attack on Maki, allowing Yuji to break free. However, Sukuna summons Nue and it carries both curse users away as they mock Yuji from above. He can only watch in shame as Sukuna escapes with Megumi's body.
==== The Bath ====
 
Sukuna uses the Bath to submerge Megumi's soul in evil and negate any further resistance. The Bath was prepared by Uraume, who talks with Kenjaku about ending the Culling Game while Sukuna is using it. Kenjaku admits that, despite what he told Choso, the merger with Tengen can't be performed until the Culling Game is ended. The Culling Game was only established in the first place because Kenjaku took on a binding vow to "end what is permanent". 
Sukuna emerges from the bath after Uraume explains the whole process to Kenjaku. To ensure that Megumi drowns in the darkness completely, Sukuna goes to the Sendai Colony to kill Yorozu, and by extension, Tsumiki. Ryu Ishigori and Takako Uro immediately recognize when the King of Curses arrives in the colony. Uro cowers in fear and Ryu doesn't pass up the chance at another satisfying battle. He confronts Sukuna but is effortlessly dispatched by his overwhelming power. After killing Ryu, Sukuna meets Yorozu to engage in the clash she's been waiting a thousand years for. 
Yorozu is obsessed with showing Sukuna the true meaning of love and ending his isolation. She wants to marry Sukuna if she can beat him and this motivation drives her to fight the death. However, Sukuna is only interested in staining Megumi's soul with the blood of his sister. He uses the Ten Shadows Technique instead of his Shrine to further ensure Megumi's resolve is crushed. Yorozu is offended by Sukuna's underestimation of her abilities and brings out the pinnacle of her Construction technique. 
A thousand years ago, Yorozu was a fearsome sorcerer who overcame her technique's inefficiencies with precise creations. This included her insect armor and the liquid metal she wields. Her strength bested the Five Empty Generals and earned her a place within the Fujiwara clan. Yorozu's fighting style gets the better of Sukuna in a few exchanges but it isn't long before turns the tides. Using the full might of the Ten Shadows Technique, Sukuna overpowers Yorozu. Despite having her armor crushed, Yorozu remains determined to show Sukuna her love and constructs the "shape of her heart". 
Sukuna and Yorozu first met in the aforementioned Heian Era and for a thousand years, she has resolved to end his isolation. Yorozu constructs her trump card and greatest creation: True Sphere. She also expands her domain to ensure that True Sphere hits. Sukuna uses Mahoraga's adaptation to crush Yorozu's true sphere and her domain. In the end, Yorozu is happy Sukuna acknowledged her in some capacity by thoroughly analyzing her techniques. She leaves Sukuna a parting gift and accepts her demise. With Tsumiki's end, Megumi's soul drowns within Sukuna.
=== Satoru Gojo's Comeback ===
The Jujutsu High sorcerers regroup and free Satoru Gojo from Prison Realm. Satoru's return marks the start of a climactic final conflict against Kenjaku and Sukuna. 
==== Gain and Loss ====
Kenjaku threatens to destroy the pure barrier at Mt. Hida as leverage to force two rules onto the Culling Game that will lead to its conclusion. The first closes off the game to new players and the second makes it so the event ends when every player dies except Kenjaku and Sukuna. The sorcerers of Jujutsu High learn of these new rules and prepare themselves for the coming final clash with the pair. 
 
Maki discusses the new rules with Ui Ui and Yuji speaks with Rin while Yuta and Shoko Ieiri finish treating Hana's wounds. Hana survived her injuries from Sukuna thanks to Rin and Takaba. The Angel reveals to Yuta that she can't move between bodies like Sukuna and that Hana's role ends when Gojo is unsealed. All of the sorcerers allied with Gojo gather and Yuji receives Yuki's notes on the soul from Choso. Shoko watches everyone and recalls Gojo's dream about gathering strong allies. Among a room full of the comrades he has always desired, Shoko believes it's time for Gojo to return. 
 
After the Angel discourages unsealing Gojo indoors, Yuji and the others take the back of Prison Realm to a Jujutsu High training grounds with more open space. Hana destroys it with Jacob's Ladder but there's no sign of Gojo. However, there is an earthquake that's too timely to be a coincidence. Unsealed at last, Satoru Gojo immediately confronts Kenjaku in the ruined remains of one of the wards of Tokyo. Gojo doesn't mince words and attempts to kill Kenjaku but Sukuna steps in to stop him. The three of them ultimately agree to delay their showdown until December 24, 2018. Gojo is confident he will not only kill Kenjaku but the King of Curses as well.
==Jujutsu Battles & Events==
==Chapters==
==Characters Introduced==
==Terminology Introduced==
==Setting==
	
	Tokyo No. 1 Colony: One of two Culling Game colonies located in Tokyo. It spans a far wider area than Shibuya, including Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. Yuji and Megumi mostly operated in Ikebukuro, an area with a lot of supplies, while searching for Higuruma. Higuruma and Reggie both had bases in the area, a theater and residential building respectively.
	Tokyo No. 1 Colony: One of two Culling Game colonies located in Tokyo. It spans a far wider area than Shibuya, including Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. Yuji and Megumi mostly operated in Ikebukuro, an area with a lot of supplies, while searching for Higuruma. Higuruma and Reggie both had bases in the area, a theater and residential building respectively.
	Sendai Colony: A barrier colony covering Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture. By November 12, twelve days into the Culling Game, fighting in the Sendai Colony escalated beyond the violence of the Tokyo colonies. Yuta's conflicts with the other players on November 12th mainly took place in one area of the city close to a large stadium. Dhruv used this space as his base until Yuta slayed him and used it to protect civilians. Sukuna and Yorozu also fought in this stadium on November 16th.
	Tokyo No. 2 Colony: The second of of two Culling Game colonies located in Tokyo. A large section of it is made up of the Sea which carries many cursed spirits. Hakari met Charles in an amusement park with a functioning ferries wheel. Not too far from that is a shipping yard where Panda and Hakari fought Kashimo.
	Sakurajima Colony: A colony inthe Kagoshima Prefecture. Maki wiped out most of the cursed spirits and players in Kagoshima City and battled Naoya Zenin as a vengeful spirit.
	Tombs of the Star Corridor: Yuki spent time inside the Tombs of the Star with Tengen, including their conversation about the Star Plasma Vessels. There is a labyrinthine barrier above the Star Corridor made up of interconnected empty barriers. This is where Kenjaku battled Yuki and Choso befoe it was destoyed.
==Trivia==
*The Culling Game Arc is currently the longest arc in the Jujutsu Kaisen series. This is both in publication duration (lasting for 583 days from September 18 of 2021 to April 23 of 2023) and the total amount of chapters (63).
==See Also==
Volume 18.png|Vol. 18: Fever
Volume 19.png|Vol. 19: Tokyo No. 1 ColonyーAngry Manー
Volume 20.png|Vol. 20: Sendai ColonyーThe Height of the Feastー
Volume 21.png|Vol. 21: Tokyo No. 2 ColonyーGreat Luckー
Volume 22.png|Vol. 22: Sakurajima ColonyーResurrectionー
Volume 23.png|Vol. 23: Stars and Oil
Volume 24.png|Vol. 24: Fearsome WombーRecurrenceー
Volume 25.png|Vol. 25: Inhuman Makyo Shinjuku Showdown
==References==
==Navigation==
Category:Story Arcs