Mei Mei and Ui Ui vs The Smallpox Deity
I’ve been excited to witness Mei Mei fighting prowess and while we don’t get to see her fight against Kenjaku, her brief fight against the Smallpox Deity shows her skills on display. Mei Mei unlike Gojo had to struggle with a mediocre Innate Technique; Black Bird Manipulation. Having work hard Mei Mei was able to reach the level of grade 1 sorcerer. In Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 14, Mei Mei deduces that the special grade curse’s technique, first targets the persona with the most curse energy, trapping them in a coffin. Then they’re buried in the ground under a massive gravestone preventing escape, and finally the curse begins a countdown from 3. When it reaches zero, the target will become infected with smallpox.
Mei Mei realizes that if she suffers two more direct attacks she won’t be able to move and face Geto later. She experiments on one of the two crows in the domain, giving it more curse energy, and watching as the crow is imprisoned in a coffin and crushed under the gravestone. She now must use Ui Ui as a distraction so she can freely move and attack the curse. Ui Ui happily agrees to “die” for his sister and begins to increase his curse energy, as his sister suppresses hers. Predictably, Ui Ui becomes the target and Mei Mei takes the opportunity to cut off the arms of the curse preventing it from starting the count. She then finishes off the special grade curse with, Bird Strike.
Dagon evolves
Nanami, Maki, and Naobito encounter Dagon, the only member of the unregistered special grade cursed spirits. Dagon is born from human fears of water based disasters. Before Nanami and Maki could engage, Naobito quickly traps Dagon in his cursed technique. Immobilized, Naobito hits Dagon with a devastating punch. Enraged at the death of Hanami, Dagon “evolves” into a Cthulhu like creature. With a great increase in curse energy, Dagon begins to dominate against Maki and Nanami, however, Naobito is different. His unique cursed technique Projection Sorcery.
I had a hard time comprehending this ability even though I reread it a dozen times. Basically, Projection Sorcery “traces movement at twenty-four frames per second and traps anyone who disobeys that rule inside a frame for one second.” If it’s confusing for us it must be confusing for the characters in the series. This is good for Naobito who can take advantage of his opponents ignorance. Overwhelmed by Naobito, Dagon opens his Domain Expansion; Horizon of the Captivating Skandha. As domains go, Dagon’s feels peaceful, a brightly colored beach with calm water. However, it quickly becomes deadly as fish shikigami devour their prey.
Toji arrives
The old Zenin continues to show that he’s a Jujutsu Sorcerer of a higher grade he uses Secret Art: Falling Blossom Emotion. The technique allows the user to counter the guaranteed hit in a domain. Dagon decides that he must attack Naobito directly, while leaving Maki and Nanami to be consumed by the shikigami. Naobito, Nanami, and Maki suffer damage. With things looking dire, Megumi arrives using his Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden to prevent Dagon’s from using it’s guaranteed hit. Dagon understands this and turns his attention to Megumi. Sending two giant serpents to kill him, Megumi is saved by a injured Nanami.
Megumi is struggling to maintain his domain and must use it to tear a small hole and allow everyone to escape. Nanami calls out to Maki and Naobito. They rush to Megumi and Nanami, as Dagon realizes the plan. He rushes to stop them but before they can escape Toji Fushiguro appears through the hole. While I’m a manga reader I remember reading this chapter and being shocked. I won’t spoil anything but my first thought was which side was he on?
The one time Gojo was outperformed was when he first fought Toji Fushiguro. It’s interesting how the despite Gojo’s physical absence his presence remains. It’s noted that Mei Mei’s Bird Strike technique is impossible to survive for anyone except Satoru Gojo. Later, Naobito Zenin is stated to be the second fastest sorcerer behind Gojo. No matter how impressive these sorcerers are (and they’re impressive) Gojo still outperforms them.
