How Does Yuji Die? The Tragedy of a Hero

Yuji Itadori is the main character of the anime/manga series Jujutsu Kaisen. Everything started when he decided to swallow one of Sukuna’s fingers. From that time, Yuji had to face many dangerous enemies that he would never think of in his life. After becoming a jujutsu sorcerer, Yuji constantly meets unlucky things and loses. But rather than that, his life is also very fragile.

In fact, Yuji has died a couple of times in the series so far. So, in this blog, we will find out about Yuji’s death and answer the question, how does Yuji die?

When Did Yuji Die? In What Chapter Did Yuji Die?

The exact number of Yuji death in the series so far is two.

The first time was in Chapter 8, when Yuji switches with Sukuna while having no heart in his body. The second time is in Chapter 142. We will dive into the detail now.

And Yuji also faced death many times when becoming a jujutsu sorcerer. That number is a lot.

Who Killed Yuji?

The first person to kill Yuji was Sukuna Ryomen. The second person to kill Yuji was Yuta Okkotsu.

How Does Yuji Die?

Yuji’s First Death

Yuji already had the death penalty from the jujutsu society the moment he ate Sukuna’s finger for the first time. The reason for that was if Yuji died, the monster inside his body would die too.

However, with the support of Gojo Satoru, Yuji can live and learn to become a sorcerer. And when Yuji becomes a sorcerer, his mission is mainly to exorcise the cursed spirits.

In Chapter 6 of the Womb Arc, a cursed spirit was discovered at a juvie. The mission of Yuji’s group was to help the survivors escape. That cursed spirit was predicted to be a special-grade cursed spirit. It’s so strong. The triad should prioritize saving the survivors and escape if they can.

How does Yuji die?

There were no survivors once they had arrived. At that exact moment, the cursed spirit appeared and Yuji’s team separated. Yuji told Megumi to save Nobara and escape from there.

That cursed spirit was so strong. It outperformed Yuji at that time. The only way to solve this problem was to switch to Sukuna.

When Megumi and Nobara had escaped safely, Yuji switched with Sukuna. With his overwhelming power, Sukuna quickly killed that cursed spirit after using Domain Expansion.

But then, Yuji couldn’t switch back with Sukuna. Sukuna wanted some fun so he immediately targeted Megumi.

Sukuna took Yuji hostage by pull Yuji’s heart out. Sukuna can live without a heart, but Yuji can’t. So, if Yuju once again switched with Sukuna, he will die.

How does Yuji die?

The fight between Sukuna and Megumi happened with Sukuna domineering. But the point is that Sukuna didn’t use his cursed technique or something similar. He just used his physical strength, and that was enough to make the fight harder for Megumi.

This is the time Sukuna showed interest in Megumi’s power. He forced Megumi to use all of his power. At that time, Yuji switched with Sukuna and died immediately.

After that, we know that both Sukuna and Yuji were in the Domain of Sukuna. Yuji only dies physically. Sukuna made a vow with Yuji. If Yuji agrees, Sukuna will cure the heart, and Yuji can live once again.

After the talk with them, Yuji arises and continues his life.

Fun fact: According to Gege Akutami, Jujutsu Kaisen could stop in the past. To avoid the stop in between, Gege thought he needed to make a shock and dark. That’s why he let Yuji die in this event. If the series is forced to end, this will be the proper point to close the series.

Yuji’s Second Death

The second time Yuji died was after the Shibuya Arc.

After Gojo was sealed, the death penalty for Yuji was reintegrated. The jujutsu society is afraid no one can stop Sukuna if he revives. So, they decided to kill Yuji before he collected and ingested all twenty fingers in behalf of Sukuna.

The sorcerer who takes the mission to kill Yuji is Yuta Okkotsu – a special-grade sorcerer. He is one of the super-strong sorcerers who would be at the same level as Gojo.

While Yuji and Choso are outside to hunt cursed spirits, they meet Naoya Zenin. He wants to kill Yuji, too. Shortly after, Yuta arrives.

How does Yuji die?

With two people on each side, the fight happened when Yuta chased Yuji away. And Choso stopped Naoya.

Even though Yuta is a special-grade sorcerer, he is surprised by the speed and strength of Yuji.

Yuji even punches a car toward Yuta. But Yuta is super strong. He has a huge amount of cursed energy, so he can easily defend himself from Yuji’s attack. And that cursed energy also could kill Yuji if he gets an attack. The only thing Yuji can do is break the blade of Yuta.

At that time, Rika appeared and held Yuji tight. Our main character couldn’t do anything with that power. Finally, Yuta stabbed through Yuji’s heart.

Yuta stabs Yuji

(Rika is a cursed spirit who always stays close to Yuta, the relationship between them has shown clearly in the movie “Jujutsu Kaisen 0.” You can find and watch the movie to understand more)

But actually, Yuta didn’t kill Yuji.

It was revealed that a month earlier, Gojo came to Yuta to help Yuji if trouble happened. When he knew about the death penalty for Yuji, he took that mission and made the vow to really kill Yuji to deceive the jujutsu society.

The reason Yuji is still alive is that at the moment Yuji died, Yuta used the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal him. That’s why Yuji can come back to life after getting stabbed in his heart.

Yuta did not kill Yuji

Yuji is already dead on paper. However, Yuji has to play a deadly game now where his life is once again in danger – The Culling Game.

Those are only two times Yuji actually died. If we mentioned the time Yuji in a near-death experience, the number is even more.

Will Yuji Die at the End of Jujutsu Kaisen?

By the moment he swallowed Sukuna’s finger, Yuji already knew his destiny. The more fingers Yuji eats, the less time he has. His mental health has also suffered after the Shibuya event because of the people Sukuna kills when he uses his body and because Nanami and Nobara died in front of his eyes.

Yuji feels guilty a lot. If there is no way to pull Sukuna out of Yuji’s body, the death Yuji is inevitable.

And if that ending happens, Jujutsu Kaisen will make a huge surprise in the anime/manga world.

How does Yuji die?

Do you remember the first time we see Yuji with his grandfather?

His last words tell Yuji to help people and when he dies, he will be surrounded by others. And Yuji seems don’t too sad when he talks about his death.

By the way, Akutami is breaking the old order mangaka. He let Yuji die before, he could do it one more time in the future. The only difference is this time, Yuji will be surrounded by his friends.