Kusakabe’s Sword and Cursed Energy Abilities, Explained

Jujutsu Kaisen‘s second-year sensei, Atsuya Kusakabe, has always managed to avoid all danger and keep himself out of harm’s way. The cowardly teacher detests fighting in any capacity, despite being a Grade 1 sorcerer, technically the highest rank achievable. Regardless of clearly having his fair share of battle capability and experience, Kusakabe’s self-preservation comes before anything else, and he’s willing to be deceitful to achieve this.

Despite the sorcerer clearly being a weak link among his peers, JJK manga Chapter 253 surprised fans by suggesting that Kusakabe is actually jujutsu society’s strongest Grade 1 sorcerer. Nanami and Mei Mei, his peers of the same rank, spilled in an interview scenario that they believed him to be the strongest of their grade. Even special-grade Gojo Satoru, previously the world’s strongest sorcerer, agreed. What makes the fearful sorcerer so strong?

Updated on November 7, 2024, by Ajay Aravind: Atsuya Kusakabe is an abject coward when it comes to saving his own life, but the Shinjuku Showdown Arc proved otherwise. Despite displaying the symptoms of nervousness when he senses danger, he remains a sharp-witted combatant. The special thing about Kusakabe is not that he’s the strongest Grade 1 sorcerer, but that he managed to reach that level with pure swordplay. As such, we have updated this article with some more information.

Kusakabe Doesn’t Even Have a Cursed Technique

He Relies Exclusively on Cursed Energy

Many are confused about how Kusakabe could achieve such high praise considering his complete lack of a cursed technique. Mei Mei confirmed earlier in the manga that Kusakabe has no innate power, so it’s not as though a technique reveal is on the horizon. While most powerful sorcerers who may come to mind also have an immensely impressive technique — such as Gojo’s Limitless, Inumaki’s Cursed Speech, or Megumi’s Ten Shadows — Kusakabe is facing opponents with nothing but basic cursed energy. However, this doesn’t necessarily have to rule out Kusakabe as a strong sorcerer. As fans have seen with Yuji Itadori, battles can certainly be won in the absence of a cursed technique. Itadori has survived and progressed throughout JJK without an innate technique and has become one of the few capable of going toe-to-toe with Sukuna.

That said, Kusakabe’s main abilities lie in his swordsmanship, making him a master of the New Shadow Style. He also relies on his physical prowess to compensate for not having an innate technique. This particular style combines the use of multiple fighting styles and anti-domain techniques, such as the Simple Domain. The New Shadow Style can also be used in hand-to-hand combat, but it’s the perfect technique for someone like Kusakabe. On top of being an expert in this ability, Kusakabe also has great levels of cursed energy and impressive control over them. He often imbues his katana with cursed energy, as this strengthens the blow and increases the speed of the blade’s movement. This technique is called Batto Sword Drawing, and it is the fastest technique of the New Shadow Style.

Related

15 Best Jujutsu Kaisen Characters, Ranked

Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen is shaking up the world of shonen, and some of its best characters — such as Aoi Todo — are drawing a lot of attention.

Kusakabe Has Unrivaled Tactical Intellect

He Is Smart and Self-Assured in Battle

While Kusakabe has incredible physical powers and is a master of the New Shadow Style, his real ability lies in his intellect. The second-year teacher knows all there is to know about Jujutsu and can use it to his advantage. Physical ability can only get a fighter so far if they have no clue what’s happening on the battlefield, so in many cases, tactical intellect and analysis are key to winning fights. Kusakabe has a better grasp of this than anyone else. Most notably, Kusakabe kept a running narration of Sukuna and Gojo’s death brawl, consistently explaining the powerful sorcerers’ approaches and techniques.

Even in such a high-stakes position, the sorcerer was educating the surrounding students, preparing them for the battle they could, and did, end up taking over. At this time, he demonstrated to many fans exactly why he is so unexpendable to the Jujutsu sorcerers. His intelligence alone could explain how Kusakabe was able to climb the ranks to Grade 1. His explanations of techniques such as Domain Amplification and Reverse Cursed Technique while watching Gojo and Sukuna were unparalleled, and using this information probably helped Kusakabe in battle.

Knowing exactly how techniques work or how his opponent moves and fights gives Kusakabe the upper hand, as he can pinpoint exactly what will happen and why. Thus, he can act and plan accordingly, potentially countering any attack with ease. Kusakabe is relatively confident in his intellect, as he knows he’ll be successful when he faces someone he knows to be weaker than him. During the Shibuya incident, Kusakabe and Panda ran into two fake Geto followers, and after analyzing their abilities, Kusakabe disposed of them in a flash. However, when Kusakabe’s opponent is of the same rank or higher, issues of cowardice arise.

Related

10 Best Yuji Fights in JJK, Ranked

Many of Jujutsu Kaisen’s best fights feature the main protagonist Yuji Itadori and the multitude of curses or sorcerers that wan’t him dead.

Fans Initially Thought That Kusakabe Had an Unrevealed Ability

Kusakabe Got to Fight Sukuna’s True Form

Kusakabe has incredible power for someone with no innate technique, and his intelligence can carry him through most battles. However, this alone wouldn’t help him too much in a match against an immensely powerful opponent, which is the scenario in which Chapter 253 placed him. All opponents previously facing Sukuna had been disposed of — if only momentarily. This left only Kusakabe and Sukuna on the battlefield, so the sorcerer needed to perform a miracle to pull off a victory.

At first, fans believed that Kusakabe would reveal a secret ability against Sukuna. It was argued that the main reason for him to face the King of Curses alone was to highlight some sort of ability or introduce something new to the story. Gojo and Yuta already suspected that Yuji had the ability to use certain Cursed Techniques, so it was entirely possible to imagine Kusakabe giving Sukuna a hard time with something special and unique. This could have been through a Cursed Technique or something related to Cursed Tools, as used by Maki Zenin and Toji Fushiguro. With that said, fans were quite surprised to see what happened in Chapter 254.

Related

13 Best Jujutsu Kaisen Quotes, Ranked

Jujutsu Kaisen is more than just an exciting new formula for modern shonen; it’s also full of great quotes spoken by fan favorites like Satoru Gojo.

What Happened to Kusakabe in the Jujutsu Kaisen Manga

Kusakabe Returned to His Jujutsu Day Job

Kusakabe’s reveal as potentially being the strongest Grade 1 sorcerer came as a shock, but these opinions are merited. The sorcerer is a sensei for a reason, as his intellect and innate knowledge of Jujutsu are unmatched. He passes down his intelligence to the new generation at each chance and can make snappy decisions in battle due to his analytical and tactical skills. Despite not having a Cursed Technique, Kusakabe’s physical prowess blows his opponents away. He has mastered swordsmanship and the New Shadow Style, so he can contend with others of his rank. He also has impressive and precise control of his cursed energy.

Despite having these remarkable abilities, Kusakabe’s battle with Sukuna ended the same way as it did for several others — the sorcerer was completely and utterly overwhelmed by the King of Curses. However, Kusakabe also proved his formidable prowess during this fight. He managed to deflect Sukuna’s Dismantle with Evening Moon Sword Drawing, activating his wide-range Simple Domain without employing a Binding Vow. Kusakabe then unleashed a powerful flurry of sword attacks at Sukuna, wounding the villain until the sorcerer’s katana was shattered.

After convincing himself to fight harder, Kusakabe restored the blade of his Katana with the Hazy Moon technique and prepared to attack Sukuna, only for the King of Curses to casually catch the blade with his bare hands. The next attack left Kusakabe defeated and near death, but he was quickly saved by Ui Ui and Miguel. Kusakabe was next seen in Chapter 268, having recovered fully from his seemingly fatal injuries. With Sukuna defeated and gone forever, Kusakabe can now continue passing the knowledge of Jujutsu society to new students.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Jujutsu Kaisen follows the evolution of Yuji Itadori, a boy who swallowed a cursed talisman – the finger of a demon – and became cursed himself. He enters a special school for sorcerers to learn to control his new abilities and gather the rest of the demon’s parts, so he can consume them and then be eliminated. 

Created by

Gege Akutami

First Film

Jujutsu Kaisen 0

First TV Show

Jujutsu Kaisen

First Episode Air Date

October 3, 2020

Latest Episode

October 2023

Cast

Junya Enoki , Yuma Uchida , Yuichi Nakamura , Asami Seto , Nobunaga Shimazaki , Adam McArthur , Robbie Daymond , Lex Lang (English) , Jun’ichi Suwabe , Kaiji Tang

Where to watch

Crunchyroll

Video Game(s)

Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash

Manga Release Date

March 5, 2018

Manga Volumes

25

Genre

Shonen

Expand

Jujutsu Kaisen

Author

Gege Akutami

Artist

Gege Akutami

Release Date

March 5, 2018

Genre

Adventure , Fantasy , Supernatural

Chapters

221

Volumes

22

Adaptation

Jujutsu Kaisen

Publisher

Shueisha, Viz Media

Expand