You’ve seen the memes. You’ve probably seen the "Go/jo" jokes. But honestly, the gap between Satoru Gojo and Ryomen Sukuna is way more complicated than just who ended up on the floor at the end of Chapter 236. Everyone wants a simple answer to the strongest sorcerer of today vs the strongest in history debate, but "who wins" depends entirely on how you define winning.
It’s the classic unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Except in this case, the immovable object can cut through space and the unstoppable force has six eyes that see everything.
The Fraud Allegations and the Truth
Let’s get one thing straight: Gojo Satoru is the strongest sorcerer of today. Period. When he was born, the balance of the whole world shifted. Cursed spirits literally got stronger just to compensate for his existence. He’s the guy who walked into a room and everyone else—friend or foe—immediately became a side character.
Then you have Sukuna.
The King of Curses isn't just a "sorcerer" in the modern sense; he’s a natural disaster from the Heian Era. People call him a fraud because he used Megumi’s Ten Shadows technique to beat Gojo. They say he "needed" Mahoraga to win.
But is that really being a fraud, or is it just being a better sorcerer?
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In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, winning is everything. Sukuna didn't care about a "fair" fight. He cared about a "certain" victory. He basically used the month-long timeskip to build a customized "Anti-Gojo" kit. That’s not cheating; it’s high-level strategy. He knew that to bypass Infinity, he needed a blueprint. Mahoraga provided that blueprint by adapting to the Limitless and showing Sukuna how to target "the world itself" rather than just the person in front of him.
Why the Shinjuku Showdown Flipped Everything
The fight in Shinjuku was basically a chess match played with nuclear bombs.
- Domain Clashes: They opened their domains over and over. Gojo was shrinking his barrier to the size of a basketball to keep it from breaking, which is a level of cursed energy control that shouldn't even be possible.
- The 0.01 Second Gap: There was a moment where Gojo was actually winning. He hit his Unlimited Void 0.01 seconds faster than Sukuna could deploy Malevolent Shrine. That tiny sliver of time fried Sukuna's brain.
- The Hollow Purple Nuke: Gojo set off a remote Hollow Purple that leveled the city and left Sukuna looking like he’d been through a blender.
At that moment, the narrator literally said Gojo won.
But then, the off-screen happened.
We see Gojo in the "afterlife" airport talking to Geto. He admits he isn't sure if he could have beaten Sukuna even without the Ten Shadows. That line alone broke the fandom. It wasn't just about raw power; it was about the fact that Sukuna had a deeper, more twisted understanding of the essence of Jujutsu.
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The Difference Between "Strongest" and "Best"
If you put Gojo and Sukuna in a cage with no prep time and no Mahoraga, it’s a coin flip. Gojo has the better "stats." His efficiency is better because of the Six Eyes. He basically has infinite mana.
Sukuna, though, has the better "skills."
Think of it like this: Gojo is the guy born with a perfect 100/100 stat sheet. Sukuna is the guy who started with a 90 but learned how to glitch the game.
Sukuna's victory came down to the World Cutting Slash. By observing how Mahoraga changed its cursed energy to bypass the Infinity, Sukuna learned how to do it himself. He didn't just cut Gojo; he cut the space Gojo was standing in. You can’t block a hit that targets reality itself.
The Legacy of the Strongest
So, who is the strongest?
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Technically, Sukuna stood over the body. He’s the winner of the duel. But look at what happened next. Gojo’s death wasn't the end of the story; it was the start of a gauntlet. Gojo’s job wasn't just to win; it was to weaken Sukuna enough so his students—Yuji, Yuta, Maki—could actually stand a chance.
He took Sukuna’s Domain Expansion off the table for a huge chunk of the fight. He forced Sukuna to exhaust his Reverse Cursed Technique. He killed Mahoraga, the most dangerous Shikigami in existence.
Without the strongest sorcerer of today vs the King of Curses showdown, everyone else would have been dead in seconds.
Actionable Takeaways for the Fandom
If you're still arguing about this on Reddit or X, here are the actual facts to keep in your back pocket:
- Gojo is faster and more efficient. The Six Eyes make his cursed energy consumption near zero.
- Sukuna has higher "battle IQ." He can replicate complex techniques (like healing a burnt-out Cursed Technique with RCT) just by seeing them once.
- The World Cutting Slash is the ultimate equalizer. It ignores all defenses, including Infinity, because it doesn't travel through space; it severs space.
- Gojo died without regrets. He wanted to be "reached" by someone who understood the loneliness of being at the top, and Sukuna was the only one who could do that.
If you want to understand the true power scale, don't just look at the final blow. Look at the fact that it took the combined effort of every single sorcerer left alive to finish what Gojo started. Sukuna won the battle, but Gojo’s "disciples" won the war.