Chapter 249

Taking Kenjaku's head turns out to be only half a win, because his failsafe lives on in Sukuna's grasp. Shouldering the blame for how perilous the situation has grown, Yuta commits to closing the fight at once, with Rika and Yuji standing beside him.

Boasting that his will would carry on, Kenjaku's headless corpse begins to tremble, and Yuta sees the threat an instant too late. The sorcerer's death severs his grip on Cursed Spirit Manipulation, releasing every spirit he had stockpiled. The horde erupts from the woods toward a bridge, and Rika hurls herself across their path to stop the rush. Back among the trees, a churning dark mass still tethered to Kenjaku's working head lifts him above the canopy. As insurance, he had Kogane add a Culling Game rule giving Megumi the right to set off the Great Merger between Japan's people and Tengen, and Sukuna had already gone through the ritual of succession, so only the merger's originator needed overwriting.

A fetus-like Tengen rests inside an orb within the black mass, then bursts out and shoots toward Sukuna at speed. Yuta leaps and buries his katana in Kenjaku's brain. Smiling, Kenjaku grants that he fell short of a thousand years of fun, but treasured his closing antics in the company of Fumihiko Takaba, and warns Yuta the amusement is now his to enjoy.

In the present, Yuta notices Sukuna's reverse cursed technique climbing back, signaling his domain will soon return. Yuta faults himself for the plan's failure and the loss of Hiromi Higuruma, reasoning that Rika had to handle the loosed spirits. Rika screens Sukuna's vision while Yuta thrusts his blade through her, but Sukuna dodges and grabs the sword, wreathing his hand in tiny chainsaw-like slashes to keep off the edge. After a few clashes, Yuta admits he is only making excuses and resolves to atone by ending Sukuna, opening Authentic Mutual Love.

Sukuna counters the domain at once with Hollow Wicker Basket, killing its sure-hit. Yuta grabs a domain-made katana and lands Thin Ice Breaker, cracking space and hurling Sukuna back. Through Megumi's memories, Sukuna works out that Yuta's innate power is Copy and that the certain hit is probably the Angel's Technique Extinguishment, designed to bind his arms and mouths neutralizing it while Yuta strikes with copied techniques and Yuji pries him from Megumi's body using soul-seizing punches. The chapter sits in Volume 28 and ran in issue 10 of 2024.