Episode 37

Red Scale (赫鱗) is the thirty-seventh episode of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime adaptation and the thirteenth episode of the second season.

Summary
Yuji Itadori makes his way to the Shibuya Station where he's confronted by Choso. Choso unleashes his Convergence and the battle between him and Yuji commences.

Plot Details
After splitting up with Megumi near Shibuya Tower, Yuji runs along the expressway towards the Shibuya Station. While dashing across a bridge, Yuji notices civilians are being attacked by Transfigured Humans down below.

There's a large number of attackers and Yuji is left contemplating whether he should intervene or not since he cannot just do nothing about it, but he also does not have enough time to save all the civilians. Being extremely close to Shibuya Station leaves him even more torn on what he should do. Suddenly, he hears someone say "spiced cod roe", a very familiar vocabulary that gives him some hope. Yuji notices it being Toge, who gives him a peace signed hand gesture. He jumps down asking Inumaki to protect the civilians, Toge responds by saying "Salmon, salmon" and Itadori quickly leaves the scene and heads to the station, deciding it's best to leave it to his upperclassman. Once Itadori leaves, Toge promptly unzips his turtleneck and pulls out what appears to be a megaphone. He then uses his Cursed Speech against the Transfigured Humans.

At 10:10 P.M., Yuji enters Shibuya Station. Unbeknownst to him, Choso awaits inside ready to avenge his brothers. The jujutsu student runs inside and is surprised to see the building is pretty much abandoned. He believed there were supposed to be a large group of people trapped in the station and wonders if he's going the right way.

Yuji stops after going down a set of stairs as he comes face to face with Choso. They're both altered to each other's presence, but Choso is first to act. He recognizes Yuji and is instantly enraged by the thought of his two brothers' deaths. As soon as Choso lays eyes on Yuji he quickly uses Blood Manipulation, Convergence Piercing Blood to attack him. Caught off guard by the Piercing Blood's incredible speed, Itadori tries to defend, but the attack immediately pierces clean through his left arm. Itadori bends his body to the left which prevents the attack from amputating his arm, making the attack shoot upwards and penetrate the ceiling, slicing a sign in two from above instead.

Choso immediately follows up by casting Convergence again, swirling blood and condensing it between his palms. Yuji gets low and rushes toward Choso with great haste whilst avoiding the incoming Piercing Blood simultaneously. Before Choso can attack with more blood, Yuji uppercuts him with his injured arm. Choso blocks the punch with his arm and leg as Yuji winces from the pain. Choso's guard is hit with a double impact, something Choso finds strange.

Choso asks if his younger brothers had any last words before they died but Yuji doesn't know who he's talking about. Choso clarifies that he means the two people Yuji killed and the student says they didn't really have last words but they did cry before they died. Choso is initially shocked and then quickly overcome with rage as he uses Flowing Red Scale. Choso asks Eso and Kechizu to watch over him as he exudes massive volumes of blood behind him that covers the ceiling above him. He then gathers the blood into an orb in his hand. Yuji quickly charges and tries to kick him, though Choso dodges the attack. However, Yuji then grabs and wrestles him to the floor before slapping the blood orb away, causing it to explode on the floor.

Yuji tries to punch Choso in the face, though the latter dodges it and kicks Yuji off of him. Laying on the floor, Yuji quickly rolls to the side as spikes of blood rain down on him. Choso then fires a massive wave of blood at Yuji, blasting him against the wall before drawing the blood back into his hand. Before he could open his eyes after being blinded by the blood, Yuji is punched by Choso, who then sweeps him off his feet and attempts to smash him against the wall with a blood-covered palm. Yuji narrowly dodges the attack, though Choso quickly grabs him by the left arm and successfully delivers a blow to his chest, knocking him away. Choso then regathers all his blood and uses Convergence, preparing to fire another Piercing Blood.

With the gap widened between them, Yuji estimates that he only has a fifty percent chance of avoiding Piercing Blood since it is too fast. He decides to control the timing of Choso's attack by jumping off the ground, baiting him into firing Piercing Blood the moment he lands. Yuji immediately dodges the blood beam by ducking under it and rushes toward Choso. Choso bends the beam to try and hit Yuji, though the latter avoids it again since Piercing Blood isn't as fast after the initial shot and quickly closes the distance, launching a punch at Choso. Unbeknownst to him, there are three floating orbs of condensed blood behind him.

Choso activates Supernova, detonating the orbs of blood which shoot out blood in every direction like a buckshot, severely injuring Yuji's back. The Death Painting follows up by using Blood Edge to stab Yuji's feet with a dagger made of blood. Enduring the pain, Yuji uses his stabbed foot and kicks Choso away. However, Choso quickly recovers and uses Convergence and Piercing Blood again to try and finish Yuji off.

Yuji is launched away by the attack but survives, and Choso admits he was too hasty. The blood wasn't condensed enough and didn't fully pierce Yuji's gut. Still heavily injured, Yuji recognizes that Choso is too strong for him. As Choso transforms the floating blood orbs around him into rings, Mechamaru suddenly starts speaking again through the communication device. Surprising the injured student with his voice, Mechamaru asks Yuji about the situation. Yuji replies with his own question, asking where Mechamaru has been this whole time. Mechamaru claims he is saving energy because there is something he still needs to do. Mechamaru recognizes the Death Painting and tells Yuji that Choso is using Blood Manipulation, the same cursed technique as Noritoshi Kamo.

Choso launches a ring of blood at Yuji, who dodges it and takes cover. Mechamaru further explains that he doesn't know Blood Manipulation's weakness. The inherited technique is prized within the Kamo Family for its overall balance in combat. Yuji doesn't find this info helpful as he narrowly dodges another Slicing Exorcism. Mechamaru advises him to retreat to the bathroom, revealing that he has an idea. However, his plan only has ten percent of success, but it is better than dying gradually out in the open.

As Choso destroys his cover with Piercing Blood, Yuji darts across the hallway and towards the bathroom. Choso attempts to stop him by destroying the ceiling above and floor below him, but Yuji nevertheless makes it towards the bathroom. The Death Painting finds the action foolish, as there is only a bathroom and an elevator in the hallway Yuji ran into. As he walks after Yuji, Choso hears noises coming from the area and remembers that Yuji defeated his brothers, so he's no fool. Though he intends to be cautious, Mechamaru's voice calls out to Choso, taunting him by calling him a coward just like his brothers. This angers Choso, who runs into the bathroom where he finds Mechamaru's communication device attached to the opposite wall amidst a bathroom with its sprinklers and faucets destroyed to continuously spray water. Mechamaru says the three Death Painting brothers are full of love full each other and so easy to manipulate. Using Piercing Blood, Choso destroys the puppet, and Yuji suddenly appears behind Choso and attacks. Choso slides further into the bathroom after blocking and crushes a remaining piece of Mechamaru's device with his hand.

Choso prepares to use the condensed blood floating around him to finish the fight, but the water splashing around the room abruptly dispels Convergence, causing the blood orbs to explode. This is because Blood Manipulation normally stops blood from clotting. For that reason, it dissolves easier in water. Due to these specific circumstances, Choso is unable to manipulate blood outside his body. Choso doesn't quite understand what happened, but he decides to use Flowing Red Scale: Stack, focusing on controlling the blood within his body. Yuji doesn't get the logic either but he does understand that they're fighting where's he's comfortable now, in close quarters.

The two combatants take a moment to face off and assume their fighting stances while water violently breaks the appliances and floods the room from every direction. They engage in a quick exchange of physical blows, with Yuji gaining the upper hand. However, just as Yuji gets the advantage, Choso compresses the blood in his hand to the limit and reinforces it with cursed energy in order to fire a Blood Meteorite straight into Yuji's liver. Yuji is taken off guard because he thought Choso was out of projectiles thanks to Mechamaru's water trick. Yuji immediately recognizes he's been hit in a vital organ and considers the thought of losing and dying. However, he stomps on the ground and regains his focus.

Yuji converts his fear into cursed energy and clears his mind of all distractions. Yuji knows his role, he must do his best to help save Gojo sensei even if it costs him his life. He doesn't have to be the one to save him and Yuji is ready to die if that's what it takes to bring down Choso.

At the same time, Choso laments about much damage he's taken. Yuji has only landed three significant strikes, yet Choso is moderately injured. He knows using another surprise attack with Blood Meteorite won't work. Generally, Blood Manipulation isn't used to harden blood. Blood Edge creates a blade by rotating the user's blood into a cutting shape. Choso hides a tooth in his right fist and hardens his entire fist and much of his forearm using the blood inside his body. He's at risk of spontaneously developing thrombosis, but Choso determines that Yuji is a more severe threat.

Yuji and Choso exchange blows once again, during which Choso uses the hidden tooth as a feint against Yuji and lands a solid punch to his face. The two continue their attacks, with Choso using his technique to temporarily create bladed weapons, such as a dagger or claws attached to his fist to attack Yuji, and dispelling them when Yuji blocks them to blind him. On the other hand, Yuji lands a few powerful kicks that decently damage Choso. Eventually, Yuji locks his legs around his opponent's head and throws him with a flying scissor legs takedown. While Choso is staggered, Yuji closes the distance and punches with his right hand as a decoy. He believes Choso thinks his left arm is useless after suffering a direct hit from the first Piercing Blood and uses it to land a hard left blow to Choso's body. However, something doesn't feel right to Yuji and Choso abruptly cracks his collarbone with a violent hammer fist to the right shoulder. This leaves a giant dent where Yuji's shoulder should be, leaving him vulnerable to Choso's next attack. The Death Painting finishes the fight with a crushing blow to Yuji's stomach that sends him flying across the room and crashing into the wall.

Choso lifts his robe and reveals that he protected the part of his body Yuji attacked with hardened blood. Yuji falls unconscious but is still barely breathing. Choso prepares to finish him off and tells the jujutsu sorcerer to ask for his brothers' forgiveness on the other side. Sukuna watches from his innate domain, disappointed with Yuji's performance. He calls the jujutsu student worthless and can't believe he lost to such an inferior opponent.

However, it turns out that Choso punched the wall next to Yuji instead. The wall crumbles and Yuji falls to the floor as Choso stumbles out of the bathroom, abruptly stricken with a headache. A memory of a past event that never happened appears inside Choso's mind. He "recalls" eating peacefully at a picnic table with all his brothers, somehow also including Yuji. They were both eating with Eso and Kechizu as well as the other six brothers still sealed in constraints as Cursed Womb: Death Paintings. Yuji even fed him some spaghetti and called Choso "big bro". When the memory ends, Choso is seen spitting up blood. He is confused about why Yuji was apart of that recollection as he stumbles away. Mimiko and Nanako then appear and find the unconscious Yuji, and begin to do something to him.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Yuji Itadori
 * Toge Inumaki
 * Choso
 * Kokichi Muta (Proxy)
 * Megumi Fushiguro (Flashback)
 * Nobara Kugisaki (Flashback)
 * Kento Nanami (Flashback)
 * Maki Zenin (Flashback)
 * Panda (Flashback)
 * Satoru Gojo (Flashback)
 * Sukuna (Silhouette)
 * Kechizu (Fantasy)
 * Eso (Fantasy)
 * Nanako Hasaba
 * Mimiko Hasaba

Locations

 * Shibuya
 * Shibuya Station

Battles & Events

 * The Shibuya Incident
 * Yuji Itadori vs. Choso