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Sequels are often brutal to their original heroes and it’s no secret that we’ve all been hurt before by the sequel nerf where our favorite, god-tier characters suddenly forget how to fight, get sidelined, or are just… weaker (Cough, Naruto).
Modulo seemed to be setting up the perfect excuse for this very thing. By jumping so far into the future, it guaranteed that our favorites would either be dead or ancient. In fact, in the first chapter itself, Modulo confirmed that powerhouses like Maki and Yuta died of old age. It’s a perfect, lore-friendly reason to nerf anyone who did manage to survive.
But… there’s one exception. Yuji Itadori, who was confirmed to be alive in chapter 10 of the manga, is probably not old. And he is definitely not going to be nerfed.
How is Yuji still alive in JJK Modulo?
So, how is Yuji alive when everyone else is gone? The answer has been staring us in the face since Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 220. Remember this panel? It established the fact that Yuji was now something akin to a cursed object. Ieiri’s words, not mine.
What’s so special about being a Cursed Object? Well they’re immortal. They don’t decay. Atleast the special grade ones. Sukuna’s fingers lasted a thousand years without losing an ounce of power. And what did Yuji do? He ate 15+ of Sukuna’s fingers, along with consuming his Cursed Womb: Death Painting brothers towards the end of the series.
On top of that, let’s not forget that Yuji was literally created by Kenjaku to be the perfect vessel capable of containing Sukuna.
You add all that up, and Yuji no longer is your normal sorcerer. As the panel states, his very body, “steeped” in all that cursed energy, has become a Cursed Object itself. In all possibility, time simply doesn’t apply to him in the same way. He’s a living, breathing relic.
No logical reason to nerf Yuji:
To those arguing Yuji Itadori does not boast same level of strength now that Sukuna is no longer inside him — I’m sorry, but that is a terrible take. Did we read the same ending?
First off, let’s not forget his baseline. Yuji was a physical monster with superhuman strength before he ever swallowed a single finger.
Now, add the permanent upgrades he received by the end of Jujutsu Kaisen manga to this. Sukuna’s Cursed Technique, the Malevolent Shrine, is engraved on his brain. He’s had decades to figure out its nuances and master.
He also has the power of the Death Paintings coursing through him, something that was barely explored by the end of the manga. True, he was shown using the Blood Manipulation. But, if Yuji has been training and getting into combats consistently, I am pretty sure he attained mastery of that cursed technique too.
If you remember, Blood Manipulation is a very handy and very flexible CT. If used right, it can do wonders for the user.
We are talking about the guy who was going toe-to-toe with a fully incarnated Sukuna and even unlocked his own Domain Expansion. He was already, by all metrics, one of the strongest sorcerers alive at the end of Jujutsu Kaisen. Now, take that endgame Yuji and remove the factor of aging. There’s no way he can logically be nerfed. Unless Gege decides to pull the rug from under us.
The fact that Yuji is not nerfed is also supported by the higher-up’s decision to call up on him, to stand as a deterrent to the mighty Dabura, who is considered to be a threat on the same level as Sukuna.
Why did Yuji go off-grid:
This is what I find so fascinating. Japan’s higher-ups note that Itadori has to be located. He’s not on their payroll. Neither is he a teacher at some Jujutsu Tech school. Itadori’s completely off the grid. We also know from Takeda’s flashback that he’s been out there fighting curse users, basically making him a vigilante sorcerer.
But then, why would he go rogue?
This brings me to the Gojo Paradox. I feel that Yuji is staying away from the public eye because reliance on a single pillar would breed weakness, as witnessed in Gojo’s case.
But let’s be fair, that argument is flawed. Gojo Satoru didn’t fail to raise a strong generation. Look at the roster: Yuta, Maki, Hakari, and Yuji himself. These were the strongest sorcerers in the verse, and they were direct products of Gojo’s mentorship. He did foster strength.
But while Gojo succeeded as a teacher, the Jujutsu Society failed as a system. And that is where the weakness bred.
They didn’t see Gojo as a person or a leader. Instead, what they saw was an ultimate crutch, a nuclear deterrent that allowed them to stay lazy and corrupt. The moment Gojo was sealed, the Jujutsu Society collapsed because the structure had no integrity without him. Look how easily Kenjaku wormed his way into the higher ups in JJK.
When we look at it like that, Yuji is running from that specific fate. He doesn’t want to go down the same path as Gojo. He knows that if he returns to the fold, the new higher-ups might possibly do the same thing that the old ones did. They will put the weight of the world on his immortal shoulders. They will stop innovating, stop training, and just point Yuji at their problems.
But now, Yuji is probably forging his own path, just like Gojo wanted him to, and finding new ways to be stronger.
That’s not all. While Yuji did come out of his Cog Mentality, he mostly still sees fighting and exorcising curses as his goal, all the while waiting for his one mortal enemy – Mahito!
