Nobara Kugisaki is one of the loved characters in Jujutsu Kaisen. So, many fans were devastated when she died in the Shibuya Arc. But, how does Nobara die? The story goes like this.
How Does Nobara Die?
The incident that happened in Shibuya is orchestrated by the band of Special Grade Cursed Spirits led by Kenjaku with the goal of sealing Gojo Satoru. After achieving their goal, they have a split decision regarding how they should deal with Yuji Itadori; whether to kill him or let him live (so that Sukuna can incarnate should the opportunity arise). Mahito is eager to kill Yuji while Jogo wants him alive.
Since Mahito is aware that Jogo will do everything in order to stop him, Mahito splits himself into two identical forms: the original and the body double to escape from Jogo. The original body wanders in the basement and the double wanders above ground with the objective of finding Yuji Itadori. The original body eventually finds Yuji and the double comes across Nobara. The showdown starts off.
Even though Mahito is a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, the body double that Nobara is fighting possesses only a portion of the original’s Cursed Energy. Furthermore, Nobara has experienced exorcising a Special Grade Cursed Spirit (Cursed Womb: Death Painting) in the past. These give her a huge advantage in the fight and with the information shared with her about Mahito, she figures out that her Cursed Technique Resonance which directly hits the soul of the enemy can deal great damage to Mahito who specialized in reforming souls.
She tricks Mahito by pretending to be pushed back to the edge without any plans so that he would let his guard down. Nobara’s plan is successful as she caught him off guard and hit him with Resonance. Nobara hit Mahito’s soul with her Cursed Technique via his body and as a result, the damage is relayed to the original body’s soul. Furthermore, the damage dealt to the original’s soul will be reflected back to the double.
Mahito realizes that Yuji is not the only natural enemy he has but also Nobara who can attack his soul directly. He decides to confront Nobara directly with his original body so he lure her toward the basement to switch places with the double. After turning around the corner, the original body and the double switch places before Nobara could see them.
Mahito makes it so that it will look like he plans to run and ambush her after turning around the corner. The original body makes sure that he blocks the double so as to not let Nobara notice the exchange. And since Nobara is oblivious to the exchange, she lets her guard down thinking that she still has the upper hand and the one who ambushed her is the Double. This creates an opening in Nobara and the Original body manages to touch her face.
Before Mahito starts transfiguring her, Nobara’s past flashes before her. She apologizes to Fumi in her mind and bids Itadori goodbye before punching her own face with her fist imbued with Cursed Energy that left her barely alive.
Who Killed Nobara?
Technically speaking, Nobara killed herself by punching her face with her fist imbued with Cursed Energy that totally removed her left eye. But she did that because she was touched by Mahito on the left side of her face. She is aware that it will only take one touch for Mahito to kill her, especially since the affected part is her face. She will die immediately if Mahito transfigures her head so she decided to remove the affected area by punching it so hard with her own Curse Energy. This results in an empty eye socket and a large open wound in the upper left part of her face.
What Chapter Did Nobara Die?
Mahito touches her face in Chapter 124. Kugisaki Nobara punches her face in Chapter 125.
Is There a Chance that Nobara Survives?
Yes. Arata Nitta, Aoi Todo’s younger brother, has a rather unique Innate Technique called Pain Killer. This allows Nitta to stop any type of injury from getting worse. However, it can’t heal any injury nor apply the technique’s effect to the new wounds after the technique is cast. After Nobara’s fatal injury in the face, Nitta applies Pain Killer on her a few seconds after her vitals stop. After that, there is no physical evidence of her death. So, she could be in that suspended death state for a while until she is transported to Shoko.
Even though Fushiguro relays the news that Nobara is dead to Yuji in Chapter 144, we can’t rule out the possibility that she is still alive. Shoko may have kept it hidden from everyone like what she has done in Itadori’s case for Gojo. So, all we can do now is wait and hope that she is still alive.