Why Yuji's shrine is better than Sukuna's, explained

Yuji Itadori is the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen and a character that fans have always been interested in seeing further developed. Just like the vast majority of shonen protagonists, Yuji was given a power right at the beginning of the story, and in his case it was Ryomen Sukuna. However, Sukuna was more of a burden to Yuji than anything else. Sukuna had his own goals to fulfill and had no problem living in Yuji and waiting for the right time, but in doing so he also ended up giving Yuji some great abilities, most of which came to fruition in the Shinjuku Showdown arc of the story.

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It was here that Yuji finally awakened the power of Shrine and fans were completely mesmerized by the performance he showed in this phenomenal climax to the story. However, Yuji's shrine was not fully developed at the end of the story, meaning he still has potential to fulfill it even after the end JJK and fans are still curious about that.

How Yuji Itadori Awakened the Shrine

• Yuji's body was bathed in Sukuna's cursed energy

• Yuji Awakened Shrine in the Shinjuku Showdown Arc

Yuji Itadori gained a lot of incredible powers in the Shinjuku Showdown Arc Jujutsu Kaisen. However, it's pretty obvious that Yuji's initial powers were rather boring in a world where techniques of all kinds exist. At the start JJKAll Yuji could do was harness cursed energy at a basic level and use Divergent Fist to deliver delayed physical blows to his enemies, making it a double strike. It wasn't the prettiest technology and certainly not the flashiest. But in most cases it served its purpose. Yuji Itadori continued to work on the Divergent Fist as Jujutsu Kaisen continued, and it's safe to say that while this power grew stronger, its lackluster nature remained. Therefore, the author had to come up with better powers for the protagonist, and he definitely did it with style.

Ever since Yuji and Sukuna shared bodies, fans knew it would benefit the former in some way or form. This idea was proven correct when Gojo Satoru, the strongest modern wizard, clearly stated that Yuji Itadori was actually bathed in Sukuna's cursed energy. According to Gojo, Yuji would eventually learn Sukuna's technique. This is the prerequisite for Yuji to gain an incredibly powerful ability at some point later JJK has already been stated by the author. Shoko reiterated this idea at some point later, and this was the author's way of letting fans know that this plot point exists.

While many readers believed that Yuji would eventually gain the power of the shrine, many still doubted this idea. Luckily, Yuji eventually gained this power and this development occurred in the Shinjuku Showdown Arc of JJKat the very end. When Yuji fought against Sukuna and was instrumental in the raid against him, fans saw Yuta, Miguel, Larue, Maki and others collaborating. Here, Yuji managed to land his first Black Flash hit against the King of Curses, and this strike proved to be a turning point. Due to the Black Lightning, Yuji Itadori awakened and this led to him being able to harness the power of the cursed technique called the Shrine, previously used by none other than Sukuna himself.

The differences between Yuji and Sukuna's shrine

• Yuji Itadori's shrine is safer

• Sukuna's shrine is destructive

Enthusiastic readers of Jujutsu Kaisen will know very well what the Shrine Technique is. This allows Sukuna to use two types of cutting abilities: Cleaving and Dismantling. The former is used by Sukuna to knock down an enemy in one hit, and its strength can be adjusted based on the enemy's toughness and the cursed energy used. It also usually activates on contact.

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Dismantle is a projectile strike that cuts through everything in its path, making it truly dangerous in combat. Sukuna also has access to the power of Furnace, a thermobaric combustion attack that he can only use after using both Cleave and Dismantle against his enemies. This technique, to put it simply, can completely burn the enemy and reduce them to ashes. Sukuna's technique is fairly indiscriminate in how it works. In Shinjuku, for example, the violent nature of his technique was clearly evident. However, Yuji's technique is completely different.

Yuji Itadori is also a user of the shrine and it is safe to say that his shrine is just as overpowering, but the difference lies in the safety of the technique. From the first moment Yuji used the shrine, fans could see that scissor marks were left in the spot he planned to cut down. These scissor marks appear every time Yuji wants to cut something, and only that specific part of his enemies is damaged. According to Sukuna, this is probably due to the different personalities and technology that existed in a completely different time. Regardless, Yuji's technique doesn't cause any more damage than necessary. Yuji cuts what he wants and doesn't even scratch what isn't important to him. Sukuna chops everything up at once.

How Yuji's shrine can surpass Sukuna's shrine

Yuji Itadori's shrine can hit souls

On paper, Yuji Itadori and Sukuna's Shrine should be similar in terms of power output. Both Yuji and Sukuna should be able to use Cleave and Dismantle on their enemies, with the only difference being the security level of the technique. Although Yuji has not been seen using the Furnace Technique, there is absolutely no reason to believe that he does not have access to it, especially since they have the same power. In adulthood, Yuji would most likely have gained control of this power as well.

What gives Yuji's technique the edge is the power to hit souls. Yuji can damage his enemies' souls with each strike, and when these soul-damaging strikes are combined with Cleave and Dismantle, it's game over for even the strongest enemies. Soul damage hits harder than anything else in JJKand the biggest plus point? This damage cannot be healed even by using the Reverse Cursed Technique. The only way to heal soul damage is to know the outline of the soul, which hardly anyone can do and even Sukuna could only do because he had two souls in one body. Any other character would have fallen much quicker. Therefore, Yuji sacrifices the indiscriminate nature of the technique and takes a safer approach, but in return gains the power to deal durability-nullifying damage that cannot be healed from. Overall, his version of Shrine would be significantly superior if Yuji mastered every technique of Sukuna and combined them with Soul Damage like he did.

The final chapter of Jujutsu Kaisen, JJK 271, was finally released on September 29, 2024. Fans can read the series on the Manga Plus and Shonen Jump apps.

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Jujutsu Kaisen

Release date

October 3, 2020

Creator

Against Akutami

Number of episodes

47