Jujutsu Kaisen: Sukuna’s Domain Expansion May Hold a Deeper Meaning Even Gojo and Yuta’s Domains Can’t Surpass
Jujutsu Kaisen has become one of the most popular franchises of the 21st century. The series’ feature-length film, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, made almost $200 million at the international box office, while Jujutsu Kaisen was the best-selling manga of both 2021 and 2022. However, none of this would have been possible had it not been for Ryomen Sukuna, Jujutsu Kaisen‘s iconic antagonist, who has proven to be an incredible villain. Not only did he get rid of the strongest sorcerer in the modern world, but he continues to be a threat even now.
After becoming the strongest jujutsu sorcerer several centuries before the main events of Jujutsu Kaisen, Sukuna transformed into twenty different cursed objects, which allowed him to be reincarnated within the body of Jujutsu Kaisen’s protagonist, Itadori Yuji. Although Yuji is able to resist Sukuna’s will most of the time, Sukuna still poses a huge threat. Sukuna’s strength is evident as early as in the Fearsome Womb arc, where he effortlessly destroys a Special Grade-level Curse, revealing his powerful technique: Domain Expansion, Malevolent Shrine.
Ryomen Sukuna’s Domain Expansion: A Domain Unlike Any Other
Given that Domain Expansion is the pinnacle of Jujutsu sorcery, it should not surprise anyone that Sukuna has perfected this art. In the Shinjuku Showdown Arc, Sukuna manifested his domain multiple times against Gojo Satoru. However, Gojo used his Unlimited Void to fry Sukuna’s brain, and thus he lost this power. This meant that Sukuna could not use Malevolent Shrine, his strongest power, which allowed him to slice and dice almost everything in his vicinity.
In Shinjuku Showdown, Sukuna would have a lot of trouble dealing with Maki, simply because she doesn’t have any cursed energy and requires to be tracked consciously. If Sukuna were to complete his domain, he would have been at an even bigger disadvantage because the rules of a normal domain do not work on Maki. She can easily walk in and out of a domain unscathed and even avoid the sure-hit effect of a domain expansion due to not registering as a person with cursed energy.
To counter that, Sukuna created an immensely powerful domain. He managed to create an incomplete domain, as mentioned by Itadori Yuji. Thanks to his black flashes, Sukuna gained the ability to use the other part of his brain to create a Malevolent Shrine, allowing him to craft a high-level domain. As this domain did not have a barrier, Sukuna could attack just about anything in effective range and slice up everything. This meant that Sukuna’s domain, using techniques such as Cleave and Dismantle, could target things in the real world outside of his barrier, including people with no cursed energy, like Maki.
Ryomen Sukuna’s Domain Expansion is a Merger Of Multiple Domain Expansions
Unlike other domains that create a spherical barrier, Ryomen Sukuna’s Malevolent Shrine manifests into reality, like painting a canvas in the real world, and as far as jujutsu sorcery goes, it is the most advanced technique in the series. Malevolent Shrine takes the shape of a demonic Buddhist shrine adorned with ghastly decorations of skulls.
An X user, @JotheoriesJJK, pointed out that Sukuna’s Domain Expansion is the merger of Domain Expansions, including something related to Master Tengen. The user noticed similarities between Sukuna’s Domain Expansion and the foreshadowing of the merger in Chapter 202, particularly those that look like small bricks and hands.
Similarities between Sukuna’s DE and the foreshadowing of the merger in ch. 202: particularly those that look like small bricks and hands.
Another reason why I think Sukuna’s DE is the merger of multiple DEs including something related to Tengen.
Prefiguration of the merger? pic.twitter.com/LDygueCgAb
— Jo 🪷 (@JotheoriesJJK) May 8, 2024
Since Sukuna had to reroute the path of Domain Expansion in his brain, it would make sense for Megumi and Tengen’s Domain Expansion to be used at least partially to bridge the gap required to manifest the Malevolent Shrine. Moreover, Tengen, Fushiguro Megumi, and Sukuna have been linked to the merger, so it wouldn’t be surprising if this was a sneak peek into it.
