Inhuman Makyo Shinjuku Showdown, Part 20

Hope seems gone when the Executioner's Sword gambit fails and Hiromi Higuruma's life runs out. Yuji Itadori's unyielding will pushes Sukuna to accept Kenjaku's failsafe and resolve to crush that very spirit, just as Yuta Okkotsu arrives to confront the King of Curses directly.

Sukuna dodges Yuji's strike at the last instant, and Higuruma falls as the Executioner's Sword loses its glow and crumbles. Allowing no time to grieve, Sukuna pummels Yuji, kicks him off, and follows with two Dismantle slashes. Staring at his regrown hand, he notes that Higuruma's death did not return the confiscated Kamutoke, and that Yuji's torso, shredded earlier by Cleave, has fully mended. He spots Kirara Hoshi carrying Higuruma's body and Ui Ui holding a sheet; the pair teleport away, and Sukuna deduces Ui Ui's power also retrieved Satoru Gojo's corpse, doubting the bodies are bound for Shoko Ieiri since her healing pales beside his or Gojo's.

Watching Yuji mend himself with Reverse Cursed Technique learned over the past month, Sukuna feels not excitement but irritation. He wonders if Higuruma's death disappointed him, denies it, and restates his belief that he needs no one. Yet he cannot explain why the sight of others devoted to an ideal, especially one bent on killing him, now displeases him when it never did a thousand years ago. He realizes Yuji changed him: having shared the same body, he knows Yuji's unbreakable spirit intimately, and the notion that someone weaker could rival him through sheer will is what truly grates, since his own power freed him from ever needing goals.

Laughing, Sukuna vows to destroy the sorcerers and their ideals. An orb of light appears overhead, and Yuji's Kogane announces Culling Game Rule fifteen: Megumi Fushiguro holds the authority to trigger the Great Merger between Tengen and humanity, which Sukuna inherits by proxy through Megumi's body. Atsuya Kusakabe recognizes Kenjaku's backup plan, confirming Yuta's ambush worked. Swallowing the orb, Sukuna declares he will slay the sorcerers, then the remaining players, then the merger monster itself. The ground gives way as Yuta Okkotsu appears, apologizing for his delay; when Sukuna threatens those Yuta loves, Rika slams him into a building, and the King of Curses smiles in greeting at the Queen of Curses.

This Shinjuku Showdown Arc chapter continues Jujutsu Sorcerers against Sukuna across Shinjuku in Tokyo. Featured powers include Sukuna's Shrine with Dismantle, Ui Ui's teleportation, Yuta's Rika, and Reverse Cursed Technique used by both Yuji and, in mention, Shoko Ieiri. The chapter marks Sukuna gaining merger authority through Megumi and the arrival of Yuta and Rika for a fresh confrontation.