While Megumi has been desperately trying to save Tsumiki from the Culling Game, she may have been secretly working with Kenjaku the whole time.
The following article contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 211 “The Ripening,” by Gege Akutami, John Werry and Snir Aharon, available in English from Viz Media.
Chapter 211 of Jujutsu Kaisen jumps forward in time from the previous chapters, bringing the timeline back to the present. It has been two days since the foreign military invasion of the Culling Game, and only hours since the fight between Kenjaku, Choso and Yuki. Maki is now with Yuji’s group, and she informs them of Yuki and Tengen’s fates, which she heard from Choso. It seems the situation with the non-sorcerer soldiers is over, which means Kenjaku’s preparations for the merger with Tengen should be complete.
If the preparations are in fact complete — and there’s no reason to believe they aren’t — it raises the question as to why the merger still hasn’t begun. As things stand, Japan appears to be functioning as usual, apart from some more vulnerable people having fallen ill. Megumi speculates that the reason for this could be because the merger can’t be started for some reason, or Kenjaku simply doesn’t want to do it yet. If it’s the former, it likely means that an important piece of the puzzle is still missing.
Megumi and Tsukimi are Reunited
After discussing everything that has happened, Maki concludes that the only good thing to come out of it for them is that the back of the Prison Realm is still safe. In other words, now that they have Angel on their side, Gojo could be freed very soon, barring unforeseen circumstances. Just over two weeks have gone by within the story since Gojo’s imprisonment, but for Jujutsu Kaisen readers, it has been over two years since the chapter it happened in. Yuki’s demise has proven just how difficult it is to defeat Kenjaku, so freeing Gojo should now be a top priority.
The group decides that their next order of business is to finally add a rule that allows players to withdraw from the Culling Game. With this, Tsumiki won’t have to be a player and can remain safe from the death battles. However, Kogane denies Megumi’s attempt to add that rule. It instead suggests that players may be allowed to withdraw if they invite a new player from outside the colony as a substitute, in addition to spending 100 points. Megumi doesn’t like this because if someone wants to withdraw, they would have to kill at least twenty players to earn those 100 points.
Megumi accepts Kogane’s suggestion since the alternatives are riskier for Tsumiki. Fortunately, they already have more than enough points, and Ijichi agrees to be Tsumiki’s substitute. Interestingly, when Tsumiki enters the colony, she somehow immediately ends up at Megumi and Yuji’s location. This is odd, considering the fact that the barrier transfers players to random locations when they enter. This is why Yuji and Megumi were separated earlier in the arc, after all.
Tsukimi’s True Motives
As if that wasn’t strange enough, when Megumi gives Tsumiki the 100 points she needs to withdraw from the Culling Game, she shockingly orders Kogane to add a rule that allows free entry and exit from the colonies, and it doesn’t decline. Megumi and Yuji are visibly stunned and confused by this turn of events. The chapter ends with Megumi nervously asking Tsumiki who she is, while Tsumiki looks at the group with a devious expression on her face. It’s unclear what any of this means, but there are a few possible explanations.
Tsumiki may be a vessel for an incarnated sorcerer from the past, and that sorcerer is currently in control of her body. Alternatively, Tsumiki may have consciously allied with Kenjaku for reasons yet unknown. Whatever the case, none of this bodes well for Megumi. Everything he has done in the Culling Game so far has been for Tsumiki’s sake, but she may have been an enemy this entire time.
