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Is Okkotsu Yuta On Yuji Itadori’s Side In Jujutsu Kaisen?

Some pieces of evidence from the internet suggest that Okkotsu might be faking his loyalty to the superiors. Is he just testing Itadoris limits?

The following article contains spoilers from the latest manga chapters of Jujutsu Kaisen. Read ahead at your own discretion.

The Shibuya Incident was a huge mess. Not only did a lot of humans die, but the Jujutsu world suffered great losses as well. It almost felt like an apocalypse. This dire situation demanded a savior, and everyone’s hopes were set on Yuta Okkotsu.

And Gege Akutami delivered. Yuta made a comeback in chapter in 137.

But before we could even say banzai, Okkotsu revealed his true intentions. He wants to kill Itadori Yuji and is very determined to do so. He even went to the extent of stabbing Yuji chapter 141 of Jujutsu Kaisen.

However, as some pieces of evidence from the internet had suggested, the latest chapters of Jujutsu Kaisen revealed a different story!

Is Yuta Okkotsu on Yuji Itadori’s side?

Yes, Yuta is on Yuji’s side. He is looking to save Itadori and not kill him.

We already know how much Gojo hates the upper echelons of the Jujutsu society. Instead of killing the higher-ups, he became a teacher to raise a new generation of sorcerers. These new shamans won’t be a stickler to the rules like the old generation. One student who grew in this ideology is Okkotsu Yuta. So, then why would he trust what the higher-ups say? Especially when their orders concern his sensei, old friends, and his juniors.

Thus, his actions in the recent chapters seemed totally out of character and shocking. In chapter 142, Yuta was dragging Yuji’s “body” and even punched Choso, who was close to killing Naoya. However, in chapter 143, Yuta did a complete 180 and surprised us!

Yuta looked incredibly relieved when Yuji woke up. After making sure Yuji is okay, he revealed his plan!

Yuta1

The jujutsu authorities’ orders had already finalized Yuji’s execution. But, rather than entrusting someone else to save/kill Yuji, Yuta decided to step in. It, of course, would not be easy. As stated before, Gojo and his students are a new generation that has mutual distrust with jujutsu superiors.

To prove his credibility, Yuta had to make a binding vow to kill Yuji with the authorities. All his actions up to the point of stabbing Yuji were an act for the same vow. Things were definitely fishy earlier (keep reading to know what), but he also used a blunt katana to “kill” Yuji. Even he knew Yuji would not die from something so simple.

We can also see his words “this was never going to be easy” in a different light now. Well, but he had to do what he had to. He asked Rika to hold Yuji in place and stabbed his heart. And it seemed that Sukuna was about to take over. But then, in the next chapter, we saw him dragging an unconscious Yuji to Naoya’s battle.

He had thought this act through! It is possible that Yuta waited until a seemingly “credible” shaman (like Naoya) to show up and try to kill Yuji. He let Naoya believe they were on the same side and left him to fight Choso. When he saw his opportunity was close to getting killed, he knocked Choso out.

And under the pretense of “saving” Naoya, Yuta asked him a favour in return. He asked Naoya to personally report Itadori Yuji’s death. This decision was a stroke of genius because it must be difficult to know what the higher-ups would have done to Yuta if they knew he was lying.

Lying? Wait, wasn’t Yuji dead? Sure, Yuta had stabbed Yuji, but he used reversed cursed energy technique to revive Yuji’s heart as soon as it stopped. Thus, he “killed” Yuji to fulfill the binding vow and saved him too! Through Naoya, he made sure that Yuji’s death would become official while being fake for the second time.

And so, Yuji was still alive. But he asked Yuta why he would go to such lengths to protect him. Yuta answered in the most Yuta way ever: the ones he cares about care about Yuji. He had merely acted on the wishes of Gojo and perhaps his friends. They would not want to lose Yuji and trusted him, so he wouldn’t kill Yuji either.

Before the reveal too, a few hints told us that Yuta may be on Yuji’s side after all. Let’s see what they were!

Yuta’s way of calling Yuji

Twitter user kylescouter had pointed out the inconsistent way Yuta referred to Yuji. In the Japanese language, suffixes are an important element. They are useful indicators for tone and even the relationship between two people.

When we first see Yuta in chapter 137, he addresses Yuji by his full name. It figures because Yuji is both the target of Yuta’s anger and his junior. But, here is the interesting part.

In chapter 140, Yuta had completely changed the way he addressed Yuji. He called him “Itadori-kun” instead of just Itadori. As the user also explains, the –kun suffix is usually used between peers or close friends. But we still had a few doubts.

Seeing Yuta’s reactions and thoughts towards Yuji, it seems he truly considers him as his kouhai. Yuta had heard of Yuji from Gojo and most possibly his friends back at the school too. So, he was affectionate about his junior. Moreover, his dialogue with Yuji about unwanted power and responsibility proves that he cares for Yuji.

A piece of evidence that added to Yuta’s side came from the mangaka himself. Gege Akutami gave a very interesting interview for Mando Kobayashi. He talked about the manga’s ending, debunked some theories, and gave us probable hints for the future.

Gege’s hint

The hint Akutami revealed in the interview was quite the surprise. This concerned an event we had all thought was a trivial detail and nothing more. However, Gege pointed out the trip Gojo made overseas before the Kyoto Sister School exchange.

We know that Okkotsu had been studying abroad after the Geto incident in the Parade of the Hundred Curses. Thus, the trip Gojo took before the event was to see him! Well, well. We surely had not seen that coming.

Yuta 2

Yuta confirmed this little trip, which made us believe that Gojo is actually an untouchable genius. He had already seen an event like his capture coming. And his past experiences in the Star Plasma Vessel arc made him take some precautionary steps.

This event is not the first time we have seen Gojo’s actions having an impact after the time skip. His negotiations with Toji and the Zen’in clan made Megumi the clan head in an instant.

Something’s wrong with the stabbing in chapter 141

Fans had noticed the weird way Yuta was behaving. He was choosing quite a roundabout way to kill Yuji, really. As soon as Rika emerged, Yuta politely told her they were playing. We saw Rika’s destructive power in chapter 137 itself. If he wanted to kill Yuji, in one go… well, you know the rest.

Here is where we saw another thing completely off. When we saw Yuta’s katana closely; it was not covered in cursed energy!

On top of that, his apology after stabbing Yuji seemed sincere and void of malice. If he really was as angry to hunt him down, why would he say sorry? It made no sense back then! He even called Itadori “Gojo sensei’s pupil” instead of “Sukuna’s vessel,” unlike other people.

In fact, Yuta was genuinely relieved when he saw Yuji wake up. As said earlier, Yuta was not trying to kill Yuji at all, just put on an act for a while.

Yuta apologizes to Yuji

Now that we know the two best boys are on the same side, we can maybe take a small breath of relief. However, the panel with Sukuna’s smile is haunting us. We had speculated that Yuta was trying to draw him out, but it proved otherwise. So, why was he smiling indeed? We will know soon!

Until then, tell us in the comments if you had thought Yuta was supporting Yuji too!

Translation credits to Twitter users soukatsu_ and kylescouter.

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