Sukuna taking over and possessing Megumi in chapter 212 was one of the biggest twists in Jujutsu Kaisen manga. Make it one of the biggest in all of manga.
That single moment turned everything upside down for deuteragonists – Itadori and Megumi. Until that point, Yuji’s whole reason for existing was to make sure that Sukuna and in extension his fingers would be removed from this world.
Now that Sukuna is no longer in his body, Itadori seems to have eaten the cursed wombs.
However, when Sukuna took over Megumi, it changed the dynamics of the end game, and also gave everyone involved in the deal (including us readers) considerable trauma.
Sukuna and Itadori were not a match made in heaven from the former’s POV. So it made sense that he decided to switch to a new host before it was too late.
I mean, we knew from the start that Sukuna had no interest in staying a prisoner forever. He wasn’t going to be the Kurama to Itadori’s Naruto, nope. Akutami ensured that Jujutsu Kaisen, and especially Sukuna, won’t be your run of the mill antagonist-turned-ally cliches that we have seen all too often in popular manga. Let’s see how well this statement of mine ages.
However, the question that might still bug you is this – why Megumi of all people? It is no secret that Sukuna cultivated an interest in Megumi from that time at the Juvenile Detention Center.
Keeping that in mind, let’s try to understand why Sukuna took over and possessed Megumi Fushiguro in Jujutsu Kaisen!
Why did Sukuna take over and possess Megumi?
To answer in short, Sukuna possessed Megumi’s body because the latter had the cursed technique potential and tolerance to withstand Sukuna’s soul inside his body. He revealed this in chapter 213.
Also, Sukuna had planned things in a way that Megumi wouldn’t turn out to be a cage like Itadori.
For starters, Itadori himself stated that even if he consumed all 20 of Sukuna’s fingers, he could probably still be in control. This was definitely not an ideal scenario for the king of the curses.
However, Sukuna possessing Megumi is a move that caught most of the fandom off-guard! And precisely because of that, a lot of people are trying to dig deeper to understand if there is anything more to this move than just being a hostile take-over.
As I mentioned above, Sukuna’s interest in Megumi has been clear since the Juvenile detention centre incident. Naturally, a lot of speculations and theories had surfaced right from then. However, most of these conveniently overlooked the fact that Sukuna could have been interested in Megumi as his next host.
Instead, the majority of these speculations revolved around Megumi’s cursed technique and what use Sukuna could have of it. I won’t fault any of those theories because, frankly, even I was on the same boat.
I mean, when we look at the instances where Sukuna showed a genuine interest in Megumi, it had more to do with the latter’s cursed technique than anything else.
Do not believe me? Check out the examples below!
His interest in Megumi piqued after Megumi divulged the details of his cursed technique. There was no going back from there. When Megumi was about to summon Mahoraga to end the fight, he only ended up making Sukuna even more impressed.
The next time we see Sukuna praising Megumi’s growth is when he manages to successfully use the domain expansion to defeat a special grade cursed spirit under the Yasohachi bridge.
Sukuna’s interest in Megumi was also something that was highlighted by both the narrator of JJK and also Geto while preparing for their attack during the Kyoto Sister School event.
For an extremely self-serving sorcerer like Sukuna to be interested in Megumi, there definitely had to be something that the former stood to gain from the Zen’in prodigy. And everyone assumed that it had everything to do with Ten Shadows cursed technique.
Well, Akutami fooled us into thinking so.
Gege the madlad:
I can’t help but praise the subtlety of how Sukuna possessing Megumi was foreshadowed by none other than Gege himself in the manga.
He certainly left behind clues for us readers. But all of these clues might only make sense for a lot of us in retrospect, but it still goes a long way in proving that Sukuna’s ditching Yuji and going for Megumi was not an a**pull.
The fact that Sukuna planned to use Megumi, and not the Ten Shadows Technique for his greater goal, is first hinted when he forms a binding vow with Itadori. In chapter 3 Sukuna threatened to kill Gojo after completely taking over Itadori’s body.
However, come chapter 11, Sukuna’s plans had changed a bit, especially because he encountered Megumi. This was probably because he understood that it would be easier to take over and possess Megumi rather than Itadori, who was able to control Sukuna’s soul quite well.
The next major clue comes in Shibuya, when Sukuna tells Uraume that he will be free before long. This obviously hinted at Sukuna no longer being under the control of Itadori.
Now read it together with the following instance where Sukuna himself rescued Megumi from a tough spot in Shibuya, by defeating Mahoraga. Not just that, he specifically said that he did not want Megumi to die because there was something the latter had to do for Sukuna.
Not his cursed technique or anything, Megumi specifically had to do something for Sukuna. In retrospect, this perfectly aligns with his goal of taking over Megumi to be free from the jail that was Itadori. No wonder he asked Uraume to go ahead with the preparations to completely submerge Megumi’s soul.
Also, there was the illustration by Akutami with Mahito’s hands on Itadori’s neck and Sukuna’s hands on Megumi. I have come to see that illustration in all new light now (it’s the image above the title in this blog).
And then there is that illustration from chapter 1, where Megumi’s toad had Sukuna’s tattoo on his head. If that is not foreshadowing, then I don’t know what is. Akutami had this plotline in mind since the first chapter. So, it is fair to assume that he is not out of his depth with his.
When we look at these instances, it makes total sense that Sukuna always had his eyes on Megumi as a potential vessel.
I am not saying it was a given that Sukuna would successfully take over Megumi, it was still a gamble. But he was ready to play the dangerous game to free himself from Itadori’s body.
Other possibilities:
I’m going to keep this section short. But before Sukuna possessed Megumi in chapter 212, there were some very good theories about how the king of curses was interested in using the Ten Shadows cursed technique to resurrect himself (here’s another link for you to check out).
This theory drew connection between the ten sacred treasures and especially the jewel of resuscitation, and linked it with Sukuna’s wish to be free of Itadori’s control. However, getting the jewel would involve Megumi unlocking the complete potential of the Ten Shadows technique.
That would explain why he was so invested in Megumi’s growth as a sorcerer.
Now let’s come to the most widely accepted reason for Sukuna’s interest in Megumi – stealing the latter’s cursed technique. This also worked in tandem with other theories that suggested Sukuna ate other people and stole their techniques.
This theory both came true and not true. Because, now that Sukuna is possessing Megumi, the Ten Shadows Technique is as good as his. However, before that happened, the majority of the fandom theorized that he was after the Ten Shadows because it was a CT that could rival the Six Eyes and Limitless.
I mean there was enough precedence. Sukuna’s fight with Gojo was something that was always coming. And Gojo telling Megumi about the fight between the Zen’in and Gojo family heads in chapter 117 only served as more concrete proof for the fact that Ten Shadows was indeed a technique that could go up against the limitless and six eyes.
Interestingly, there were other possibilities that were brought up, and included Sukuna’s mummified body. This included ones that suggested that Sukuna’s body was either stored in the shadows, or he intended to store it in the shadows of Megumi’s technique.
Well, the other possibilities seemed to have been sidelined for now, but do you think we should be completely chucking them out of the window? Not so sure I’d say.
What are your thoughts on Megumi being possessed by Sukuna? Let me know what you think in the comments below!