Culling Game Arc

The Culling Game Arc is the ninth arc in Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen. It follows Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, and their allies as they enter the Culling Game with the intention of rescuing Tsumiki Fushiguro from participating, freeing Satoru Gojo from Prison Realm, and protecting Tengen from Kenjaku.

Tokyo No. 1 Colony: Angry Man
Yuji and Megumi enter the Tokyo No. 1 Colony in order to track down Hiromi Higuruma and convince him to add a new rule to the Culling Game.

Enter the Culling Game
In addition to incarnated sorcerers from past time periods, Kenjaku has made players out of modern-day people like Hiromi Higuruma as well. Higuruma is a lawyer who awakened his cursed technique during a fit of rage when his defendant, Keita Oe, was unjustly found guilty during his trial. Higuruma eventually became one of just two players in the Toyko colonies to have scored at least one hundred points.

Non-players who begin inside the colonies are given a chance to exit. Such is the case of Yuji's hometown friends, Setsuko Sasaki and Takeshi Iguchi, who were both in Sendai City when the Sendai Colony barrier was formed. The former was escorted out of the barrier by Kenjaku personally. Everyone taken outside the colony met Kenjaku, but Sasaki received special treatment for befriending his son, Yuji. This occurred on November 1, 2018, around 6:00 AM just hours after the Shibuya Incident concluded.

In preparation for entering the Culling Game, Kinji Hakari decides that Yuji and Megumi will infiltrate the Tokyo No. 1 Colony to find Higuruma. Hakari and Panda will take the No. 2 colony to track down Hajime Kashimo and the Angel. On November 12, 2018, around noon, all four of the Jujutsu High students, Yuji, Megumi, Hakari, and Panda, declare their participation in the Culling Game.

Megumi warns Yuji about past sorcerers who desire to fight to the death and they both head inside the Tokyo No. 1 Colony barrier. They're unexpectedly split up once inside, with the barrier transporting players to different parts of the colony by dropping them from the sky. Yuji is ambushed while in mid-air by a player who targets rookies using an airplane hair cursed technique named Hanyu. She's guided through the air using flight batons by the unwilling Rin Amai, a weak player who recognizes Yuji.

Yuji student makes short work of Hanyu and is confronted by her partner, Haba, shortly after. Meanwhile, Megumi clashes with a troublesome girl named Remi who he decides to ask about Higuruma. However, Remi is difficult to deal with and says she'll only help Megumi if he promises to be her knight.

Yuji defeats Haba's helicopter hair technique and meets Rin Amai, who's also from his hometown of Sendai City. Remi informs Megumi that modern-day sorcerers have gone into battle mode after almost two weeks in the Culling Game, meaning he accidentally mislead Yuji. At the same time in different places, Rin and Remi both claim they have information leading to Higuruma. However, Rin tells Yuji he's in Ikebukuro while Rin insists to Megumi that he's in Shinjuku. One of them is being led into a trap laid by a receipt hoarder named Reggie Star.

Rin earnestly leads Yuji to Higuruma's base of operations while Remi leads Megumi into an ambush. This leads to a direct confrontation between Megumi and Reggie where the former is fed up with Remi's antics and summons Divine Dog: Totality to dispatch them both.

Inside a theater Higuruma has been using as his headquarters, Yuji is able to find the former lawyer. Yuji asks to use Higuruma's one hundred points to add a rule that will negate the forced killing of the Culling Game. However, Higuruma isn't in his usual state of mind and has become discontent with the justice system since Keita Oe's trial. Yuji believes he can negotiate with Higuruma because he's someone from the present day who might listen to reason.

However, Higuruma refuses Yuji because he wants to see the rules of the Culling Game lawfully enforced in real-time. When their conversation breaks down, Yuji is forced to demand the points and Higuruma definitely stands against him with his cursed technique activated.

The Trial of Yuji Itadori
Higuruma immediately traps Yuji inside his Domain Expansion, Deadly Sentencing. It is a court-based, non-lethal domain that doesn't permit any violence inside its parameters. It simply forces Yuji to follow the rules of the cursed technique. Higuruma's technique puts Yuji on trial with his shikigami, Judgeman serving as its namesake. Yuji is accused of entering a pachinko parlor underage and is ultimately found guilty after being outclassed by Higuruma's superior skills in a courtroom. Judgeman strips Yuji of his ability to wield cursed energy as a result of the verdict.

While Yuji can resist Higuruma's early onslaught thanks to his superhuman physical skills, its not long before he's completely overpowered. Higuruma proves to be an elite sorcerer with a genius intellect but his technique has one compensatory weakness. Before he's crushed, Yuji exploits this by demanding a retrial, putting them both back inside the non-violent domain. However, Yuji's second trial accuses him of mass murder during the Shibuya Incident. Still guilty over what happened in Shibuya, Yuji takes responsibility and doesn't deny the charges.

Yuji's admission earns him the Death Penalty, granting Higuruma the Executioner's Sword that can kill a target with one hit. Despite being able to destroy his opponent with a single cut, Higuruma is distracted by Yuji's confession. The proceedings of his technique provide evidence during the trial, which proved that Sukuna was responsible and not Yuji. Higuruma was always a lawyer who fought for innocent defendants regardless of the odds stacked against them. He never closed his eyes to the truth before and he's unable to prosecute an innocent man himself now. Higuruma allows himself to be bested by Yuji by willfully deactivating his cursed technique instead of securing a victory.

Higuruma reveals to Yuji that he was reminded of why he became a lawyer in the first place. Returned to his normal state of mind, Higuruma sits with Yuji and they're able to talk. He asks Yuji why he would take responsibility for what Sukuna did and the Jujutsu High student explains it only happened because he's too weak. Higuruma values that weakness that only exists in humans and realizes there are still more weak people that need help. He agrees to help Yuji by adding his preferred rule to the Culling Game.

By successfully negotiating with the game master through Kogane, Higuruma gets the rule accepted. The new rule, rule ten, allows players to transfer points between one another. This directly affects score calculation for rule eight, which punishes players for stagnating their score with cursed technique removal.

Higuruma gives one of his remaining two points to Yuji so they'll both remain unaffected for nineteen days and begins to leave the theater. Yuji tries to stop Higuruyma and asks for his skills in further combating the Culling Game. However, Higuruma feels he needs to take responsibility for murdering the Judge and Prosecutor from Keita Oe's trial and plans to turn himself in. He also believes being around Yuji would make him hate himself more and decides to depart, leaving Yuji alone.

Sorcerers are Con Artists
Back with Megumi, he threatens his adversaries with Divine Dog's presence but Reggie surprisingly applauds him. He can tell Megumi is strong just based on the shikigami and asks him to join up with his group. He also asks what Megumi knows about the Culling Game. Megumi gives the explanation that Master Tengen provided without mentioning them, but Reggie believes that explanation is a bluff, or at the very least secondary to Kenjaku's main goal. He has solid reasoning to believe that Kenjaku will put a late twist on the Culling Game and it will have served its purpose once only the strongest players remain.

Megumi only agrees to join Reggie's group if they transfer all their points to him and negotiations immediately break down. Chizuru Hari, another player in Reggie's group, tries to ambush Megumifrom behind but he's easily incapacitated. Reggie injures Divine Dog and another member of the group, Iori Hazenoki, bombs Megumi with a surprise attack using his own flesh.

Hazenoki's severed eyes and teeth function as explosive projectiles without any regard for Remi's safety. Megumi avoids suffering any fatal damage but he's worn down and Remi keeps bothering him because she's unable to come to terms with her situation. Hari rejoins the fight and Kogane announces a tenth rule has been added to the Culling Game. It's the rule Yuji added, giving Megumi inspiration to keep fighting. With increased morale, Megumi overpowers Hari and even eliminates him, determined to wave away any difficulties that cross his path.

Remi withdraws from the fight but Reggie and Hazenoki pursue Megumi. Before Megumi has to suffer getting hit by more bombs, a newcomer enters the fray and takes the hit from an explosion for him. The newcomer is Fumihiko Takaba, a player with zero points and a comedic attitude who tries to play off his new injuries by claiming coward's attacks do zero damage.

Takaba decides to help Megumi even the odds but everyone is taken back by his goofy attitude. Thanks to his unexpected strength and determination to entertain, Takaba is able to separate Hazenoki from Reggie. Megumi finally gets Reggie one-on-one and announces that his goal has already been completed in this colony, so he can fight earnestly without holding anything back now. He uses a combination of shikigami that includes Max Elephant in order to try and nullify Reggie's Contractual Re-Creation technique, which manifests items written on receipts. Megumi expends a lot of cursed energy to do so and he's already been worn down the earlier explosions. Reggie manifests a spa treatment to recover his stamina and is confident Megumi doesn't have any big moves that can effectively finish the fight without Divine Dog.

Megumi acts like he's fleeing and lures Reggie into a gymnasium only to be quickly overwhelmed by Reggie's uncanny combination of martial arts and re-created items. Reggie knows Megumi is up to something but he's always suspicious because he believes sorcerers are nothing but con artists. Before Megumi loses too much ground, he reveals his trump card and activates Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden. The gym is a perfect fit for Megumi's domain, and by converting the space into Chimera Shadow Garden, he's able to forcibly enclose the barrier and trap Reggie inside. Reggie underestimated Megumi and didn't figure Megumi to be a sorcerer of this level. Megumi tells him that he never admitted to not having any big moves.

The domain doesn't incorporate a can't-miss attack but the Ten Shadows Technique is pushed to 120% of its potential. This is enough for Megumi to overpower Reggie and nearly defeat him. However, Reggie doesn't allow himself to lose and summons three cars that drop into Megumi's shadow. Reggie deduced that Megumi has to bear the weight of anything in his shadow and turns the domain's conditions against him. Megumi counters using the shadows above Reggie to drop Max Elephant right on top of him, turning the fight into a contest of withstanding immense pressure.

Reggie attempts to activate his "ace" while holding up Max Elephant only to fall into the shadows. He falls indefinitely through the darkness until he commands one of the cars he dropped inside earlier to take him back to the surface. Once rescued, Reggie uses his "ace", summoning a small house guaranteed to crush Megumi with its weight. Megumi hides in his shadow and dispels the domain so the house breaks the floor of the gymnasium and sends both fighters falling into the basement pool below. Megumi gets a hold of Reggie and nearly drowns him, forcing the latter to dispel the cars in Megumi's shadow to get rid of the weight.

Both combatants get out of the pool and claim to be unable to use their cursed techniques any longer, agreeing to settle their fight with a physical exchange. Reggie believes Megumi can still summon a shikigami and is still confident it won't be Divine Dog. He tries to pressure Megumi into panicking and summoning a shikigami so he can counterattack at that moment. However, Reggie is dealt a fatal blow from behind by none other than Divine Dog itself. Megumi used the domain and the pool to get his opponent to completely dismiss the shikigami, a mistake Reggie pays dearly for. Collapsed on the ground and bleeding out, Reggie reiterates a sorcerer is nothing but a con artist. Dignified in defeat, Reggie transfers all 41 of his points to Megumi before he dies. In his last moments, Reggie asks Megumi to let fate play with him before he inevitably suffers a foolish death.

Meanwhile, Hazenoki is unable to make any headway while trying to bomb Takaba. None of his explosions seem to have any effect no matter how many times he appears to score a direct hit. Kogane informs Hazenoki that Reggie has been eliminated and the sorcerer gives up fighting Takaba and leaves. Takaba is so powerful because his Comedian technique makes anything he thinks will be funny into reality. It's a technique so strong it could oppose Satoru Gojo, but Takaba is utterly unaware of it. Remi flees the area while panicking about how men have influenced her life. Divine Dog tracks her down and corners her to make good on Megumi's threats, but Tsumiki's voice suddenly dissuades him. Megumi collapses from exhaustion and suddenly the Angel, Hana Kurusu, descends upon him.

Sendai Colony: Semi-Feast
Yuta Okkotsu faces off against the strongest players in the Sendai Colony.

Standoff in Sendai
The battles of the Sendai Colony escalated quickly after the Culling Game began. By the twelfth day, the pure viciousness of the battles far exceeded that of the Tokyo No. 1 Colony. Due to conflicting techniques and personalities, the colony entered a deadlock between four elite players: Dhruv Lakdawalla, Takako Uro, Ryu Ishigori, and Kurourushi.

The standoff was ended by none other than Yuta Okkotsu, who entered the colony more recently as a part of his comrades' plan to combat the Culling Game. Having already scored thirty-five points, Yuta effortlessly cut down Dhruv Lakdawalla and inadvertently put the other players' attention directly on him.

Ryu and Uro watch Yuta from a distance to observe his abilities. Kurourushi, a cockroach cursed spirit, was at a disadvantage against Dhruv. With him out of the way, Kurourushi awakens from a dormant state and begins to feed. A swarm of cockroaches targets the group of civilians under Yuta's protection, bringing him in direct conflict with the cockroach curse. Awakened in a state of starvation, Kurourushi's instincts direct it to devour Yuta.

Aware he's being watched, Yuta attempts to exorcise Kurourushi without using Rika or his reverse cursed technique. He initially holds the advantage against the curse with only his katana and the manipulation of his cursed energy. However, Kurourushi's unchecked power ultimately turns the tables on Yuta. Only when he's cornered does Yuta resort to using reverse cursed energy to exorcise the curse. Uro takes notice of Yuta's ability to use reverse cursed technique and with Kurourushi out of the way, she makes her move next.

Battle Royal
Uro attacks Yuta with her innate technique, the ability to manipulate the sky by turning it into surfaces. Rather than continuously fight, Yuta tries to reason with Uro and asks why she's killing so desperately for her own gain. This only serves to annoy Uro and leads her to take out her grudge against Yuta's ancestors on him. Ryu interrupts their squabble with his signature Granite Blast attack, inserting himself into the fight. Yuta decides it's best to deal with him so his attack range doesn't threaten the civilians being protected by Rika. He avoids an array of cursed energy blasts and closes the distance on Ryu, demanding they bring the fight into close quarters.

Before they come to blows, Ryu explains to Yuta about his experiences in his past life. Ryu was never gratified with a proper fight he likens to a plentiful desert. He hopes that Yuta will be able to provide that experience and the two of them clash. Despite Yuta's immense volume of cursed energy, Ryu's overwhelming cursed energy output overpowers him. Uro jumps back into the conflict and hits Yuta as well, irritating Ryu. After Uro redirects a blast back at Ryu, Yuta gets back up and decides it's time to go all out. He wanted to put more distance between the civilians and the fighting but now he's been left without a choice. Ready to unleash his full power, Yuta calls Rika to his side and asks her to give him everything.

Rika comes to Yuta's aid completely manifested. She refills his cursed energy and helps him take back the momentum of the fight. Yuta uses cursed speech on Uro and corners her while Rika duels with Ryu. Yuta tells her that acting selfishly will only get her so far but Uro refuses to hear him out. Ryu decides to ramp up the intensity of the battle and everyone is forced to unleash their domain, creating a three-way domain expansion.

Kurourushi unexpectedly reappears, having reproduced an offspring while it was in a dormant state that inherited its cursed energy. Due to several factors including Kurourushi's intrusion, the three domains collapse before the barriers ever fully form. This leaves the sorcerers in a state where they're unable to use cursed techniques. Yuta targets Uro first because she's distracted by Kurourushi, who she's at a disadvantage against. Unable to defend herself, Uro's arm is severed by Kurourushi. Uninterested in fighting either of them, Ryu takes Uro and Kurourushi out with one shot from his Granite Blast, setting the table for a proper clash with Yuta.

Dessert
Yuta and Ryu clash cursed energy beams in an exchange where the former decides to indulge his opponent's four hundred years' worth of hunger. Yuta loses the initial exchange but uses the explosion to close the distance while using Rika as a diversion. Ryu blocks Rika's second beam with one hand and aims his own attack at Yuta, only for it to be redirected by Yuta copying Uro's technique.

Yuta's connection with Rika ends and he enters one final exchange of blows with Ryu, a clash the latter considers to be the dessert he's longed for. Suddenly Ryu's beam comes raining down on him and defeats the sorcerer, with Yuta having redirected it before Rika disappeared. Satisfied, Ryu doesn't lament his defeat and thanks Yuta for helping satisfy the hunger.

After the fighting concludes, Yuta confronts Uro and Ryu to obtain their points. Uro claims Yuta is reaching his limit because the only thing that surpasses great strength is ruthless aggression that disregards everything like a calamity, referring to Sukuna from 1,000 years ago. Ryu refuses to commend Yuta for sparing him, a sentiment Uro shared, both believing that not taking the life of an opponent is pointless. He also asks about the conversations with Uro but Yuta explains that they're unable to communicate because he's been blessed. Following their conversation, Ryu transfers his points to Yuta, giving the young sorcerer a total of 190 points.

Tokyo No. 2 Colony: Great Luck
Kinji Hakari and Panda venture into the second Tokyo colony to track down Hajime Kashimo.

A Creator's Despair
Kinji Hakari and Panda are separated upon entering the Tokyo No. 2 Colony barrier. Hakari happens upon Charles Bernard, a young aspiring manga creator whose future aspirations have been stolen by the Culling Game. Hakari agrees to ride a functioning ferris wheel with Charles and expresses far more optimism about the future, believing things will return to normal. Charles believes that his reality has been overtaken by jujutsu and things will never be the same. He needs a reason to participate in the killing of the Culling Game and asks Hakari to bring out the requisite hatred in him. Hakari insults his passion for manga and provokes a fight between them.

Charles's innate technique allows him to conjure G Warstaff, a cursed tool that can grant him foresight into the future of anyone he draws blood from. Charles attacks with G Warstaff while elaborating on his despair. Hakari remains cool-headed and deals with his opponent's abilities accordingly, always holding on to the advantage throughout the battle. He stays in Charles's blindspots to negate his foresight and declares that he has to go all out and utterly break Charles so he doesn't pick a fight with anyone else. Charles gets small doses of Hakari's blood with G Warstaff, enough to see two seconds into his future. Hakari responds and intensifies the battle by activating domain expansion.

Inside Hakari's pachinko-themed domain, Idle Death Gamble, Charles is instantly informed of the rules and fights while trying to get used to the game flow. He has trouble trying to keep up and see Hakari's future while dealing with his relentless pressure at the same time. When Hakari appears to miss a second consecutive jackpot, Charles uses the motivation and apparent swing in momentum to land a direct hit. Hakari is hurt but his domain reveals that he actually did hit the jackpot. Hakari uses his bonus of infinite cursed energy to defeat Charles in an instant.

Bye Bye
Panda ends up in a shipping yard after being separated from Hakari. He initially decides to camo as a harmless bear but then decides to try and find the Angel without Hakari. Panda unfortunately happens upon Hajime Kashimo, who uses his Kogane to identify Panda as a rival player.

Hajime effortlessly overpowers Panda and even Gorilla Mode does little to slow him down. Hajime wants to know about Sukuna but Panda refuses to put his kohai in danger. Panda transforms into his sister core's Triceratops mode but Hajime acts faster. He unleashes a bolt of lightning that eviscerates Panda's body, leaving only his head in a pool of the cursed corpse's blood.

In a vision that represents Panda's relationship with his sibling cores, Gorilla, Triceratops and even their father have to leave Panda behind. This reflects the fact that Panda's sibling cores have been destroyed completely. Hajime interrogates Panda's head but the ladder doesn't reveal any information about Sukuna. Before Hajime finishes Panda off, Hakari arrives to save him while overflowing with cursed energy.

Jackpot! Luck VS Lightning
Kashimo fights Hakari and is fascinated by his unique abilities. The two of them make an agreement that if Hakari wins, he'll get Kashimo's points. If Kashimo wins, Hakari will tell him about Sukuna. Supercharged with unlimited cursed energy, Hakari proves challenging for Kashimo. Kashimo hits him with lightning, but the cursed energy coursing through Hakari's body during the bonus round doesn't allow his body to break using an automatic reverse cursed technique. Hakari's bonus round ends but he opens his domain right away, something he can do over and over as long as continues to hit jackpot.

Kashimo learns about the rules of the domain and easily overpowers Hakari while he's not unkillable. Hakari hits another jackpot and Kashimo decides to try and kill Hakari during the round instead of waiting it out. Kashimo has always been a sorcerer dissatisfied with his battles and views Hakari as a proper challenge. The only reason he agreed to Kenjaku's terms and agreed to the Culling Game four hundred years ago was to fight the strongest ever, Sukuna.

In order to deal with Hakari's healing, Kashimo tries to destroy his heat in one shot. A bolt of lightning hits Hakari's face but he heals while he breaks. With just eight seconds left in the round, Hakari doesn't expect Kashimo to shoot more lightning and goes all in. However, Kashimo has an extra electric charge on his staff and he receives it as electrical feedback through Hakari. The lightning bolt destroys Hakari's lower left midsection just as the round ends. In an attempt to survive the fatal injury, Hakari gambles on expanding his domain again.

Kashimo doesn't believe Hakari could possibly hit the jackpot before he bleeds out but he does just that. Hakari's domain comes apart and drops them both over the sea. Kashimo finds footing on cursed spirits but Hakari destroys them and knocks him into the sea. Hakari plans on keeping this up until Kashimo is drained but he suddenly falls sick and plummets into the water. Kashimo creates chlorine gas using his electrified cursed energy and uses it to poison the reverse cursed technique user. Hakari unconsciously detoxifies and goes back on the offensive with just five seconds left in the round. Kashimo grabs ahold of him and uses all his remaining cursed energy to unleash a giant steam explosion.

Kashimo returns to the surface, drained of all his cursed energy, but he believes he's won. However, Hakari resurfaces as well and lands the final blow of their fight. He's missing his left arm but Hakari is alive and is the victor. He survived using a binding vow that sacrificed the arm Kashimo grabbed onto to protect the rest of his body. Hakari cuts a deal with Kashimo to work with him in exchange for fighting Sukuna. Afterward, Hakari visits Charles again and encourages him to continue drawing manga. Momo Nishimiya finds Hakari with Charles and informs him of their group's new plans for the Culling Game.

Sakurajima Colony: Ressurection
Maki Zenin and Noritoshi Kamo face off with a mysterious yet familiar foe.