Chapter 259

Across the battlefield, Sukuna's killing flames roar to life. Trapped within the blaze, Yuji is saved only because Choso pours out everything he has. A heartbreaking sacrifice follows, and afterward Yuji finds a bond with yet another brother that clears a road to victory.

In an earlier scene during Blood Manipulation training, Yuji asks how Convergence works, but Choso bungles the explanation and irritates him until Noritoshi Kamo cuts in with simple, clear comparisons. Bothered that Kamo gets through where he could not, Choso moves to teach Supernova, only for Kamo to veto it, arguing Yuji has no time for advanced arts and ought to nail the fundamentals first. In the present, a binding vow paired with reworked barrier conditions lets Sukuna's Divine Flame set off enormous thermobaric blasts throughout his domain, an ultimate meant to erase everything within. The moment he fires the burning arrow, Uraume calls the sorcerers finished while Hakari looks on in dread, and a vast column of flame rises over Shinjuku.

When the dark settles, Yuji comes upon a badly scorched Choso. With his body falling apart, Choso says he is sorry for being such a poor mentor. A dreamlike scene built from Choso's invented memories follows: seated together at a picnic bench, Choso tells Yuji how proud he is that the younger brother grasped reverse cursed technique sooner than he ever managed. Yuji brushes off the praise, chalking his speed up to Sukuna's lingering influence rather than his own talent. Choso says sorry again for leaving Yuji on his own, yet Yuji insists his brother already gave plenty simply by standing beside him through the worst of it. Back in reality, the ruined Choso offers his gratitude to the little brother at his side, and in answer Yuji finally speaks the words and calls Choso his older brother. With Choso gone, the dome of blood that had been guarding Yuji gives way.

Looking over the burned ground, Yuji feels his resolve start to slip as Sukuna walks out of the smoke. Then a second figure steps forward; it turns out to be Aoi Todo, bandages binding his left hand. A flashback to before December 24 shows Mei Mei and Todo working out a plan to trade the sorcerers caught inside Sukuna's domain for her crows posted outside. Unsure whether he could stretch his technique without his left hand, Todo trusted he could still sense the beat of Boogie Woogie, and he asked that Yuji be left uninformed so his residual resonance with Sukuna would not leak the plan. Once the story snaps back to now, Todo says sorry for the secrecy yet promises the others are most likely fine, reviving Yuji's drive. As he peels the bandages away, the two brothers face Sukuna side by side, the curse momentarily barred from his technique after the domain's fall.

Part of Volume 29, the chapter ran in issue 24 of 2024. It delivers the death of Choso and the striking comeback of Aoi Todo, whose Boogie Woogie anchors Mei Mei's covert rescue plan. Noritoshi Kamo, Gojo, and Kusakabe show up in flashback or by reference.