Warning: Contains spoilers for chapter #267 of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Summary
With only a handful of chapters left until the manga comes to an end,Jujutsu Kaisen’sfinal battle against Sukunahas kicked into high gear with the return of one unexpected character who has turned the tides in Yuji’s favor one last time. Unfortunately, the latest chapter’s big twist was completely ruined by leaks, highlighting a huge problem.
Chapter #267 ofJujutsu Kaisenreveals thatNobara is aliveand sees her finally use her Cursed Technique, Resonance, against Sukuna’s final finger. Nobara makes her entry at the perfect time, with Resonance preventing Sukuna from opening his domain while also allowing Yuji to land a direct hit on Sukuna with Dismantle.
The chapter explains that Yuta copied Shrine not from Sukuna’s final finger but Yuji’s instead, which is why Yuji is missing another finger in addition to the one Sukuna ripped off in chapter #212. As such, the finger seen suspended at the end of chapter #266 is confirmed to beSukuna’s final finger, which Nobara uses Resonance on.
I Am Loving Jujutsu Kaisen’s Finale, Despite All the Criticism It Gets (for the Wrong Reasons)
Jujutsu Kaisen’s manga has made some controversial decisions while setting up its finale, but recent chapters made me find them beautiful.
Jujutsu Kaisen Always Planned to Bring Nobara Back
Created by Gege Akutami Chapter #267 “Inhuman Makyo Shinjuku Showdown, Part 38”
After leaving her fate ambiguous for hundreds of chapters, chapter #267 has finally confirmed that Nobara is alive and well, though she is missing the eye she lost to Mahito at Shibuya, which is being covered by an eyepatch. In the chapter, Utahime and Gakuganji are seen on the winding staircase leading to where Sukuna’s final finger is being held. Utahime then reveals that ithasn’t been even half an hour since Nobara woke up.
However, despite Nobara’s recent awakening, this does not seem to be a plan put together at the very last minute. As the flashback at the start of chapter #267 reveals, the sorcerers decided to use Yuji’s finger during the month-long preparation for the battle, which is why the wound appears to have healed, as Sukuna notes. In the flashback,Gojo also curiously mentions taking a gamble, which may have to do with banking on Nobara waking up in time to make use of the final finger.
Nobara’s return inJujutsu Kaisen’s latest chapter finally confirms that the person Shoko mentioned in chapter #212 who hadn’t fully recovered yet was in fact Nobara. As such, Gojo knew that there was a chance Nobara could return and thus deliberately chose to preserve Sukuna’s finger as a last resort. If this entire plan was kept a secret from Yuji to prevent Sukuna from finding out, it is possible that Megumi too either lied or was deliberately vague when Yuji asked about Nobara during the Perfect Preparation Arc. All the same, it appears as thoughNobara’s return was a long time coming, but the twist was sadly spoiled by leaks.
Nobara’s Return In Jujutsu Kaisen Was Completely Ruined By Leaks
Early Leaks of Chapter #267 Completely Spoiled the Massive Plot Twist
FromYuji’s unexpectedly awakening Sukuna’s Cursed Technique, to his missing fingers being hidden by his unexplained gauntlets, along with Yuta’s secret lie about Sukuna’s final finger, and Gege Akutami’s continued silence on Nobara’s fate following the Shibuya Arc, Nobara’s return at the eleventh hour has likely been a twistJujutsu Kaisenhas seemingly been building up to for years.
After all, Nobara was thought to be dead until the very previous chapter, and it seemed like the series could end without ever addressing her ambiguous death. However,Gege Akutami seems to have been saving this twist for the very end of the serieswith all these bits of foreshadowing and countless plot details carefully coming together for an epic reveal.
Unfortunately, theyears of planning and foreshadowing that went into this reveal were sadly put to wasteby early leaks of the chapter. While hundreds of other manga are similarly leaked before their official release week after week,Jujutsu Kaisen’sfast-paced writing and cliffhangers that leave readers dying to know what happens next arguably make it one of the biggest, most popular targets.
Readers tend to miss out on nuances, often even being misled entirely by leaks.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s newest chapters have been leaked week after week for almost the entirety of its run, almost to the point of these leaks being normalized. DespiteShueisha’s continuing legal battle against leakers, the problem is that the community sadly thrives on leaks and consuming the story through the brief leaks themselves as early and quickly as possibleinstead of experiencing the story as the author intended.As a result, readers tend to miss out on nuances, often even being misled entirely by leaks.
Nobara’s return inJujutsu Kaisenhas finally brought the issue to light, with many fans being unwillingly spoiled by early leaks. WithJujutsu Kaisen’s final chapterright around the corner, it may be too late for the series' fandom to change at this point, but hopefully, at least some will choose to properly experience the thrilling finale as Gege Akutami intended.
Jujutsu Kaisenis available from Manga Plus and Viz Media.
Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisenis a Japanese anime and manga series created by Gege Akutami. The story is set in a world where Cursed Spirits, born from negative human emotions, prey on humanity. It follows high school student Yuji Itadori as he becomes entangled in the world of Jujutsu Sorcery after swallowing a cursed talisman—Ryomen Sukuna’s finger—and becomes the host for one of the most powerful curses. Yuji joins the Tokyo Metropolitan Magic Technical College to learn how to combat curses while searching for the remaining fingers of Sukuna to exorcise him permanently.
