I mean, obviously, 90% of the problems in Jujutsu Kaisen wouldn’t happen if Yuji Itadori didn’t eat the cursed object. If that didn’t happen, Jujutsu Kaisen wouldn’t happen at all. But, is there another reason? Aside from upsetting the Jujutsu Society and setting the story in motion, is there any other reason. In this blog, let’s discuss: why does Yuji have to eat the finger? And more importantly, what happens to Yuji?
Why Does Yuji Have To Eat the Finger?
Why Does Yuji Have to Eat the Finger?
The first time Yuji Itadori, the main character of Jujutsu Kaisen, eats the cursed finger is in Episode 1 of the anime (Chapter 1 of the manga). After following Megumi back to school, Yuji gets into a complicated situation. For the first time, he sees cursed spirits and quickly figures out that his friends are in danger.
As a high school boy, all Yuji can do right now is run away from the school as fast as possible.
Megumi thinks the same. He tells Yuji to save his friends and escape. But instead, Yuji grabs a finger – the finger that would cause all the mess in Jujutsu Kaisen – and swallows it.
What are These “Fingers”?
This finger belongs to Sukuna. He had been the strongest person in the Jujutsu Society hundreds of years ago. At present, these twenty fingers contain his soul and power. (There are twenty in total, yup. After all, Sukuna has four arms, ladies and gentlemen).
These fingers contain a massive amount of cursed energy that can turn a random cursed spirit into a special-grade cursed spirit with overwhelming powers. But in reverse, these fingers are super poisonous if ingested by regular people.
What Happens When Yuji Swallows the Finger?
Everyone in Jujutsu Kaisen knows that ordinary people would immediately die if they gave it a try. So, when Yuji swallows that finger into his body, Megumi is petrified.
But with the aura of the main character, Yuji successfully consumes that finger. He does not die because of its poison. He even destroys the cursed spirit that tried to attack Megumi!
This happened: Yuji awakens the deadly powers trapped in those fingers.
The strongest person of the Heian age, the walking calamity, the King of Curses – Sukuna Ryomen.
Yuji became the vessel of Sukuna from that.
What Happens to Yuji After Swallowing the Finger?
At this point, Yuji’s fate becomes directly related to those fingers. After Yuji’s shocking action, the Jujutsu Society meets and resolves that the solution for the awakening of Sukuna is to execute Yuji Itadori.
The Jujutsu Society knows that if Yuji dies, Sukuna also dies. Sukuna is a deadly monster who used to kill for fun. To reduce the potential problems that Sukuna could cause, the Jujutsu Society decides that the best way is to kill him. And to kill Sukuna, they have to kill his vessel – Yuji Itadori.
But just in time, Gojo Satoru volunteers to take care of Yuji and promises to stop Yuji when things get out of hand.
So, Why Does Yuji Have to Eat the 20 Fingers?
This leaves Yuji with two choices: die right now, or become a jujutsu sorcerer. If he chooses to become a sorcerer, he has to collect all the twenty fingers of Sukuna and then die after that. Yuji picked the second choice, so he has to eat the fingers throughout the series.
What Will Happen When Yuji Has Eaten All the Fingers?
Currently, the author, Gege Akutami, is still writing the story of Jujutsu Kaisen. That’s why virtually anything under the sun would have the chance to happen at the end of Jujutsu Kaisen. However, here is a theory that might occur according to the style of Gege Akutami.
The theory is: Yuji dies.
This will shock the anime/manga community when the main character of the series passes away. But there is proof to back this theory up.
When Jujutsu Kaisen was still not as famous as these days, the author always believed that the publisher could stop Jujutsu Kaisen at any time.
So, Gege Akutami did let Yuji die. Once the story stops, that would be the end of the series. That’s when Sukuna switches with Yuji and pulls his heart out in Chapter 8 (Episode 4).
With that said, Akutami’s style is unpredictable. He totally could let Yuji die again at the end of the series when he collects all of Sukuna’s fingers.
Do you remember the choices of Yuji above? Whether he chooses 1 or 2, the final result that comes to him is only death. Even though Yuji is a fast learner, Jujutsu Kaisen has too many overwhelming characters that are stronger than him: Sukuna, Gojo, Yuta, etc.