Jujutsu Kaisen: Could Sukuna Have Beaten Gojo Without Mahoraga?

The epic clash between Jujutsu Kaisen’s Sukuna and Gojo was a major moment in the Shinjuku Showdown Arc, and despite the fact that it’s been a while since Gojo’s apparent death has been referenced, that fight is still one of the most talked-about moments in the whole series. This is why we are going to go back to this fight in this article as well, as you are about to find out about an alternative scenario. What if Sukuna never had Mahoraga? Could he have defeated Gojo? This article will analyze this scenario and provide you with a proper answer to this burning and interesting question.

How Sukuna killed Gojo – a recap!

It all seemed fine and dandy. Gojo managed to injure Sukuna severely; the onlookers confirmed his victory, and it all seemed too good to be true. And the next moment, Gojo is sliced in half and is apparently dead. So, what happened? Well, in Sukuna’s own words, this is how he did it:

“When Mahoraga first adapted to your Limitless, it changed the nature of its cursed energy to neutralize and nullify your Limitless. That’s not something I can do, so I chose to wait. I waited for an adaptation to your Limitless that suited me. The second adaptation was exactly what I wanted. It wasn’t a projection of the Slash as I do. Instead, it’s an extension of the cursed technique’s target. The technique’s target isn’t just Satoru Gojo. It’s extended to space, existence, and even the world itself, all of which… it cuts. Limitless doesn’t matter here. As long as you still exist in that space, in this world, your existence will be split in half along with everything else.”

– Jujutsu Kaisen, Chapter 236

This remains a controversial moment, but we have already talked about it in our previous articles, so we’ll just skip to the main question now. You can read about it in our other articles, in case you want more details.

Would Sukuna have killed Gojo without Mahoraga? It is difficult to say, but he wouldn’t have been able to do it then and there

As we’ve explained above, Gojo’s death was something that depended on a literal second, and while it happened as it did for plot-related seasons (which still don’t make much sense, really), it could’ve gone either way. Sukuna was on the brink of defeat – Gojo had outwitted him, and he managed to injure him so badly that even the onlookers proclaimed that Gojo had won. At that moment, it seemed that Gojo was quicker than Mahoraga’s ability and that he had won.

But, as we’ve explained, it turned out that Mahoraga had adapted and that Sukuna was able to use his ability in a new way, killing Gojo. It has been explained by Sukuna himself that he managed to win thanks to Mahoraga and that without Mahoraga’s adaptation ability, he wouldn’t have been able to counter Gojo’s techniques, which implies that Gojo would have won. And that is how the panels were drawn and how it was presented to us, really.

Based on how it all played out, we really do think that Sukuna couldn’t have killed Gojo then and there without Mahoraga; had he been in Yuji’s body, he probably wouldn’t have been able to do it, for example. Sukuna’s victory – as it happened – wouldn’t have been possible without Mahoraga, and we can confirm that here, more or less, as even Sukuna said something similar, as quoted above. But, the situation might not be as clear as we think.

Namely, in the afterlife scene, Gojo himself stated that there was no way for him to defeat Sukuna (which makes little sense knowing Gojo, but until Akutami resolves this in a proper way, we have to take it as a fact), which means that even without Mahoraga, Sukuna could’ve found a way to defeat Gojo. How? We have no clue, but Akutami’s in-universe logic went to Hell with the Gojo vs. Sukuna fight, so he probably would have come up with an asspull-type of solution for Sukuna to win had he intended to do it.

So, long story short, from an objective standpoint, Sukuna wouldn’t have been able to kill Gojo at that moment without Mahoraga’s help, and it seems that Gojo would’ve won; but, sadly, this doesn’t mean that Gojo would’ve really defeated Sukuna in the end, as there is no clear answer about the final outcome due to Akutami’s dubious narrative decisions.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!