Yuji's potential as the next Sukuna, explained

This article contains spoilers for the Shinjuku Showdown arc of Jujutsu Kaisen.

Key insights

• Yuji Itadori gained significant power-ups in the Shinjuku Showdown, including mastery of the Simple Domain technique.
• Although Yuji defeated Sukuna, he is not as strong as him yet, but has the potential to become the next Sukuna with more training.
• As Yuji matures, he will likely become comparable to Sukuna due to his control over cursed energy and his mastery of various techniques.

Yuji Itadori is the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen and certainly an immensely powerful individual. Although Yuji wasn't particularly strong for most of the series, the final arc, Shinjuku Showdown, saw Yuri successively receive a plethora of power-ups that essentially let him reach a very high level.

In fact, Yuji can be said to be the strongest wizard in the world considering both Sukuna and Gojo are now gone. But fans also know that Yuji is not the finished product yet. Yuji still has a long way to go and has many skills and techniques that he must master to become a legendary wizard like his mentor. However, there is already enough basis to believe that Yuji will gain enormous strength and become the next Sukuna JJK.

Yuji's big addition at the Shinjuku showdown

• Yuji trained hard before the showdown in Shinjuku
• Yuji awakened his latent powers

Yuji grew tremendously in the Shinjuku Showdown arc Jujutsu Kaisen. In fact, its growth occurred in two different ways. The first way was the training he did just before the showdown in Shinjuku. Using the body swap technique as well as direct training under his brother Choso, Yuji achieved mastery in many arts. Through the body swap, Kusakabe taught him many powerful skills, such as barrier techniques, and the most important of them was of course the Simple Domain. Yuji learned this technique and it allowed him to protect himself from Sukuna's Domain Expansion and later served as the basis for Yuji's creation of a Domain Expansion. That's certainly not everything. Yuji also trained under Choso after consuming Death Painting #4 to 9. This gave him access to blood manipulation, although his control over it is not yet great.

Did this brat just learn the reverse Cursed technique? –Sukuna

Still, the blood manipulation allowed Yuji to at least heal more efficiently, meaning it increased his strength significantly. Yuji could also use powers such as Convergence and Supernova, but in order to properly use these powers, Yuji had to ask his brother Choso for help.

Unsurprisingly, this isn't all Yuji learned. He also trained with Yuta Okkotsu, improving his overall strength and efficiency with cursed energy. Yuji also trained with Gojo Satoru, but what exactly he learned from this training is still unknown.

Aside from the training Yuji underwent before the Shinjuku Showdown, fans also know that he gained major power-ups in the story arc itself. Showcasing the skills he learned during the timeskip, he was incredibly efficient in the fight against Sukuna. Against the King of Curses, his latent potential awakened, giving him access to the shrine's cursed technology. As fans know, Shrine is a deadly ability that allows one to slice and dice his targets, and this ability also awakened in Yuji, although his version of Shrine was slightly different from Sukuna's.

Yuji used the great power of domain expansion and so the battle against Sukuna ended. Yuji destroyed him in his realm and ripped him out of Megumi's body, essentially getting rid of him forever.

How Yuji can be the next Sukuna

Yuji Itadori has the same potential as Sukuna

Yuji Itadori was very strong in the Shinjuku showdown. There is no doubt that Yuji is currently at the level of a special level wizard. He has many incredible abilities and his instincts in battle are superior to most fans have seen in history.

This must mean that Yuji Itadori has the same potential as Sukuna! – Uraume

After all, he is the wizard who defeated Sukuna. But fans shouldn't be conceited. It should be clear to all readers that Yuji Itadori could not have defeated Sukuna alone. In fact, all the wizards would have died a terrible death if Gojo hadn't drastically weakened Sukuna during his fight against him. Even after that, Sukuna fought against many magicians, who kept him on his toes and allowed Yuji to land a few of his powerful blows. Yuji could have died many times in the Shinjuku Showdown, and if Sukuna had not been thoroughly weakened, Yuji would never have won the fight. This is clear for all fans to see. Right now Yuji is very strong, but he is not as strong as Sukuna.

However, that doesn't mean Yuji can never become as strong as Sukuna. In fact, fans already know that Yuji can become the next Sukuna. When the true connection between Sukuna and Yuji was revealed, Uraume made it clear that Yuji had the potential to be just as strong as Sukuna. This is because Yuji is essentially the son of Sukuna's twin, making Sukuna his uncle, so to speak.

The only difference is that Sukuna consumed his twin and he was then reincarnated into Jin Itadori. There is a connection between these two individuals that transcends time, and this connection, coupled with the fact that Sukuna has taken up residence in Yuji's body, giving him access to his most powerful abilities and deadly moves, results in Yuji becomes one of the most powerful wizards of all time. Apparently, Yuji has all the tools he needs to become as strong as him, and all he has to do is put in the effort and improve drastically.

Yuji's strength as an adult wizard

Yuji Itadori can reach sky-high levels in JJK

At the moment, Yuji is still in high school. But a few years later, when Yuji graduates, he will become an incredibly powerful wizard. By the time Yuji reaches adulthood, his power will have reached a whole new level. Yuji will have improved his physical strength even further, and if that wasn't enough, he would have also improved his control of cursed energy. He would definitely have improved his control over the Reverse Curse technique and increased his efficiency even further. Additionally, fans should keep in mind that Yuji will most likely master blood manipulation by adulthood, meaning that Convergence and all other related techniques would come naturally to him. Yuji would also have mastered Shrine so well that it could potentially be comparable to Sukuna, especially since Yuji has muscle memory due to Sukuna remaining in his body.

Most likely, his control over his domain would also improve, and Yuji would also learn about its powerful abilities, such as domain enhancement and possibly new barrier techniques as well. If Yuji has mastered all of these skills, it is safe to assume that he is at Sukuna's level. Still, Yuji will be the underdog in a true 1-on-1 duel between these two, but at least fans know he has the potential to become the next Sukuna, if only when it comes to power.

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.