Episode 23

The Origin of Obedience, Part 2 (--) is the twenty-third episode of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime adaptation.

Summary
Megumi is able to exorcise the Yasohachi Bridge Curse, but the threat doesn't end there. Meanwhile, Yuji and Nobara come face to face with the brothers of the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings and are threatened with death by wasp!

Plot Details
While Megumi and Nobara deal with the mole-like cursed spirit, Yuji deals with Kechizu alone. Yuji is able to dodge the blood shot at him by Kechizu, he is able to close the distance between the two and sends Kechizu flying with a single kick. The spirit continues to spit out its blood as Yuji acts quickly and flips the spirit over to avoid it's blood and manages to throw in multiple punches before Kechizu grabs Yuji's arm.

Kechizu comments on how he's gotten the sorcerer. The young sorcerer counters by grabbing the spirit's other arm and lifting his legs into the air before sending Kechizu flying with an improvised dropkick. Yuji notices that the blood that Kechizu spat out earlier is corrosive and has melted the wall behind him. Kechizu says that Yuji is strong and it's no fun.

Elsewhere in the Domain, Nobara tries to uses Resonance on the mole-like-cursed spirit while Megumi uses his black sword to try and kill it as well but the cursed spirit is quick enough to duck back into its hole. Megumi wonders how many there are as Nobara says that they should keep going just like it's whack-a-mole. Megumi agrees with Nobara, asking for her to continue crushing the exists until he can pin it down.

Nobara asks if the curse is unable to retaliate due to its expanded cursed technique, but Megumi is unsure about it. Megumi is surprised to see that the expanded cursed technique, the number of victims and the barrier the curse is using is draining on its main body. He states that they're lucky and will be able to exorcise the cursed spirit quickly. Nobara is then suddenly taken out of the barrier by a third-party as Megumi turns around to try and save Nobara who instead encourages Megumi to continue to try and exorcise the spirit. Megumi continues fighting, unsure of who took Nobara out of the barrier.

Kechizu sensing his older brother's presence quickly runs away from Yuji and exits the barrier as well, leaving Yuji shocked that it fled. Yuji asks Megumi if he should chase after the spirit as Megumi tells Yuji to chase after it because Nobara was also taken out of the barrier and what she is facing off against could be more troublesome than the one inside of the domain. Before leaving, Yuji tells Megumi to come out if things get bad inside.

Outside of the barrier, Nobara is annoyed by the unknown entity for dragging her out of the barrier. She swings her hammer and forces the mysterious man to take a step back. The man is surprised to have gotten his hands on a female sorcerer since she isn't the intended target. Eso and Kechizu are there running "errands" and promise to do no harm to the sorcerers should they retreat. Nobara is confused by Eso's statement as well as his strange anatomy. Being unsure of whether or not he's a curse user and or a cursed spirit. Along with the odd smell that he's emitting. Surprised, Eso comments that he believed the sorcerers were given the same errand as him: to retrieve Sukuna's finger.

Inside of the domain, Megumi continues to fight the mole-like curse and states that it's attack pattern is too simple as it appears behind Megumi, proud of itself. Divine Dog: Totality is able to land the finishing blow on the curse. Noticing that the barrier hasn't been dispelled even after the curse has been exorcised, Megumi is confused and questions what's happening before something comes out of the exit. Megumi is shocked and realizes that cursed victims began dying in June, the same month Yuji incarnated Sukuna. Megumi comes to this conclusion because once again he is faced to face with a special grade finger bearer, identical to the one he ran away from at the Detention Center. Sukuna releasing his cursed energy has caused all of his fingers to resonate, awakening the bridge curse which had hidden one of the fingers.

Megumi takes a defensive stance with his sword as the cursed spirit grins at him. With just one blast of cursed energy, Megumi's sword is broken and the finger bearer blitzes past him and fails to hand a cursed energy infused punch as Megumi's Divine Dog was able to save him just in time. In Divine Dog's arms, Megumi tries to summon Nue but the curses speed surprises him yet again. The finger bearer knocks Megumi back into a stone wall and it cracks from the impact, causing Megumi to bleed profusely from his head. Megumi momentarily falls unconscious causing his Divine Dog to be dispelled.

Megumi recalls training with Gojo sensei as Gojo proclaims him as the victor. Gojo sensei firmly encouraged him to abandon his restrains and think more freely about his potential. For a moment Megumi considers using a summoning ritual that would ultimately sacrifice himself, but decides against that decision. Smiling with a crazed expression, Megumi forgoes sacrificing himself and goes for the win instead. Megumi pictures a future stronger version of himself able to bring forth the deepest shadows and surpass his limits. He activates Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden! Megumi pushes himself, causing his nose to bleed as well, but he's satisfied with the result.

Even if it's incomplete, Megumi believes this Domain Expansion should be enough to win. As the floor of the domain is covered in shadows, several frogs grab onto the curse's legs. It moves to repel them but Megumi takes advance of the distraction and lands a powerful straight kick to his opponent's face. By riding on the frogs and liquid shadow, Megumi increases his mobility and circles the curse. His opponent fires a concentrated arrow of cursed energy through Megumi's head, but imagining more freely, he's able to use a shadow fake to substitute himself from taking a blast through the head. Two Nues cross each other to strike the curse before it decides to blow away all the liquid shadow with a large explosive barrier made of cursed energy.

With the majority of the shadows cleared out and Megumi nowhere in sight, the curse believes it has won. However, it's suddenly stabbed from behind through its chest. Megumi and Divine Dog: Totality appear from the behind curse's shadow to strike it down once and for all. Megumi points out that Divine Dogs claws could even pierce Hanami's hard shell, so this curse was no match. Defeated, the curse fades away and the domain disappears along with it. Megumi notes that he's tired and throws up before falling forward.

In a flashback, Megumi bullied many of the punks around that area and often would be scolded by Tsumiki. When she confronted Megumi about no longer fighting, Megumi merely turned around and as a result, had strawberry milk thrown at him. Much to the surprise of Tsumiki who didn't expect the carton to open and spill on Megumi's head.

When Megumi was in first grade, his father and Tsumiki's mother married each other before disappearing without a trace. That was when Gojo stepped in and had the school support Megumi and his sister instead of having Megumi being sold off into the Zenin Family. Megumi holds onto one of Sukuna's fingers and wonders how to break the news about the finger to Yuji before abruptly falling asleep.

Eso and Nobara both notice the presence of Sukuna's finger has appeared as Eso quickly moves backward away from Nobara, who yells at him to come back, being aware that he's after the finger. Just then, Kechizu and Yuji suddenly appear behind Eso who immediately gets angry he's going to kill them for having looked at his back. Yuji and Kechizu both frantically apologize as Nobara acts quickly and cracks the back of Eso's head with her hammer. Angry, Eso activates Rot Technique: Maximum: Wing King and claims the students will suffer a death by wasp.

Locations

 * Yasohachi Bridge

Battles & Events

 * Megumi Fushiguro vs. Yasohachi Bridge Curse
 * Megumi Fushiguro vs. Finger Bearer
 * Yuji Itadori & Nobara Kugisaki vs. Eso & Kechizu (Started)

Navigation
Épisode 23