Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 157 and 158: Hakari joins and new players are revealed

In Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 157, Megumi Fushiguro manages to subdue Kirara. He quickly release Kirara and bows. Megumi begs to be heard. Suddenly, Yuji Itadori is knocked outside. Yuji tells Panda and Megumi to not “interfere.” Kinji Hakari begs wailing on Yuji who’s decided that it’s best to take the hits, so Hakari will accept him. Hakari agrees to “listen to his spiel,” as long as Yuji can remain standing. Yuji compares Hakari’s punches to being “hit with a serrated bat.” Jujutsu Kaisen has established Gojo as the standard. However, Gojo himself has suggested that Hakari, Yuta, Megumi, and Yuji have potential to surpass him. Hakari was never going to use the power Gojo suggested but like Yuta we get a small glimpse of it through Yuji’s eyes.

Hakari accuses Yuji of being a tool for Jujutsu High. Yuji agrees. He says that he’s a “cog.” He sees himself as a tool to eradicate curses. Hakari unsurprisingly isn’t impressed. He calls Yuji “boring” and knocks him into the wall. Hakari tells Panda and Megumi to leave, but Yuji has other ideas. Despite being hit three times unguarded, Yuji gets up. Impressed, Hakari agrees to “cut a deal.” In Chapter 158, Hakari is shocked to hear of Gojo’s sealing. Panda casually mentions the death of the Principal. Hakari agrees to help with the culling game. In exchange he wants Jujutsu Regulations changed. Megumi tells him he’s the head of the Zenin clan, even though we know (they don’t) that he and Maki are the only ones left.

Two new players are introduced

It’s likely Maki and Megumi will have to prove the Zenin clan still matters, but I doubt either will want to. Regardless, Hakari and Kirara are on board. Suddenly, a Kogane appears announcing the new rule added by Hajime Kashimo. A Kogane is a “liaison between players and the game,” and is assigned to specific players. This one is assigned to Yuji, which Megumi notes is strange. Yuji shouldn’t be counted as a player yet. Since Kenjaku (pseudo Geto) claimed he “had” Yuji ingest cursed objects (Sukuna’s finger) Yuji is automatically included in the game. Megumi still thinks it’s strange considering Yuji “ingested Sukuna’s finger of his own free will.”

I immediately thought of Aizen’s manipulation of Ichigo in Bleach, which always struck me as implausible. Is Kenjaku capable of that kind of planning? Hajime Kashimo adds a new rule granting players access to a players name, points, rules they add, and current location. They had scored 200 points prior to adding the new rule. Hajime is at least 400 years old considering they suggested Jujutsu Sorcerer’s were “tougher 400 years ago.” Kenjaku has implied that sorcerers were stronger in the past as well. Megumi asks for a list of player with 100 points or more. There’s only one other than Hajime, Hiromi Higuruma, Megumi hopes he can force them to create a rule to free his sister. If they add a rule allowing players to spend points to get out of the game with the condition that a substitute player be brought in.

If Megumi can use himself as the substitute it might work. However, trying to control Hajime or Hiromi seems unlikely. To amass that many points mean they’ve killed a lot of people. I doubt they will have much compassion for Megumi. Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 158 sets up the culling game well and I’m excited for the upcoming chapters.