Gege Akutami has been a pioneer in quashing all the theories that fans had concocted about Yuji having a cursed technique, starting with the Memory Manipulation technique.
And while Gojo said in the past that Sukuna’s cursed technique will get engraved in Itadori as time passes, the King Of Curses chose to switch bodies before we got any concrete proof of Itadori learning Cleave or Dismantle.
Despite being the MC of the series, Black Flash and peak physical ability were the only attributes that stood out when it came to Yuji. However, in the recent fight against a reincarnated Sukuna, it seems that Akutami has decided to stack Yuji with new powers, especially his onii-chan’s Blood Manipulation technique.
Does Yuji Itadori really have Blood Manipulation?
Before I actually answer the question, let’s understand some context here. For quite some time now, the theories about Yuji having gained, or standing to gain the Blood Manipulation technique has been going on.
It all started when the manga hinted that Itadori had eaten the remaining Cursed Womb: Death Paintings before the fight against Sukuna began.
On top of that, there was a very interesting conversation that took place between Itadori and Noritoshi Kamo (the good boy) in a flashback that was shown in chapter 244.
In the said flashback sequence, Itadori thanked Noritoshi Kamo for “teaching him so much”, and at the same time he noted that Choso “can’t teach for squat.”
Both Kamo and Choso are known users of Blood Manipulation, and naturally, readers speculated that if they taught Itadori something, it could be something related to Blood Manipulation.
And then, in chapter 251, when Itadori was inside Yuta’s domain fighting Sukuna, he made his blood, which was on Sukuna’s face, explode. This technique was similar to Choso’s supernova, adding fuel to the theory that Itadori indeed possessed blood manipulation.
And once Yuta’s domain broke, we saw Choso guiding Itadori on how to make his blood flow through all parts of his body, possibly in a bid to make Itadori gain a better control over his blood flow, a crucial part of being able to manipulate his blood!
The theories were all but confirmed in chapter 256, when he used piercing blood – a trademark move of Blood Manipulation, on Sukuna, albeit with some help from Choso.
These instances all but confirmed that Itadori indeed can use the Blood Manipulation technique or atleast some version of it.
Now, this is where another important question arises, how exactly did Itadori gain the blood manipulation technique?
How did Itadori get the Blood Manipulation technique?
Due to Kenjaku being Itadori’s mother, there were some theories which speculated that Itadori could have inherited the Blood Manipulation technique from the sorcerer.
Why? Because at some point in the past, Kenjaku had also possessed the infamous and notorious Noritoshi Kamo (of the past), and they assumed that he might have decided to keep around Blood Manipulation, just like he kept around Kaori Itadori’s Anti-Gravity.
However, if we remember correctly, Gojo – who had an uncanny ability to unravel cursed techniques thanks to his six eyes, had noted that Itadori did not have the ability to use jujutsu. Meaning he couldn’t have had inherited the Blood Manipulation from Kenjaku.
On top of that, Kenjaku having possessed Kamo sometime in the past, doesn’t guarantee that the sorcerer still carried Blood Manipulation with him at the time he possessed Kaori Itadori. Because Kenjaku’s innate technique was NOT Blood Manipulation.
Now that the inheritance part is ruled out, let’s move on to the next option.
In the same chapter where Gojo said Itadori doesn’t have any innate cursed technique, he also noted that Sukuna’s cursed technique might get engraved on to him over time.
While the question of whether Itadori can use Sukuna’s cursed technique is a discussion for another time, Gojo’s logic can be applied to another development in a bid to understand how Itadori got the blood manipulation technique.
As I mentioned in the previous section, it has been heavily hinted that Itadori has eaten the remaining Death Painting: Cursed Wombs. And it has been established that the cursed wombs, having Noritoshi Kamo (the baddie ofcourse) as one of their parents, inherited the Blood Manipulation technique.
However, the proficiency or purity of the cursed technique whittled down as the Cursed Wombs’ number increased. For instance, the Blood Manipulation in Eso and Kechizu morphed into the Rot and Decay technique. We can assume a similar case with the other cursed wombs numbered 4 to 9.
While the other Death Paintings’ Blood Manipulation might not have been noteworthy or strong individually, Itadori consumed all the remaining six of them, which possibly led to a combined efficiency of the Blood Manipulation engraving itself on to him.
Even if it might not be of the same level as present Kamo’s or Choso’s, Itadori was able to gain atleast a version of Blood Manipulation due to this.
The fact that he couldn’t pull off Piercing Blood without some help from Choso could be pointing to this (or it could be because Itadori is still learning the ropes).
TLDR; Itadori gained the blood manipulation, or atleast a version of it, because he consumed the remaining six Death Paintings. This adds more weight to Choso’s statement of his brothers living through Itadori!
What are your thoughts on Itadori getting the Blood Manipulation Technique? Let me know them in the comments below!