Sukuna vs Meruem

Description[]

Sukuna and Meruem. Born to some incredibly powerful gifts, they have the power to terrorize the very worlds they live in. In fact they are so powerful that even the fighters in their universe can't hold a candle to them, with he only exception being their world's strongest. In this battle, one of them will truly hold the title as "the strongest".

Intro[]

Wiz: Sukuna. The King of Curses.

Boomstick: Meruem. The King of the Chimera Ants.

Wiz: There are some born with miraculously talents, others who put in the time and effort to perfect their abilities, and there are some who have achieved both.

Boomstick: But then you got some who's talent are so unbelievable that they effectively change the world around them, for better or for worse. He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to see who would win a Death Battle.

Sukuna: The Fraudulent One?[]

Popup: This analysis will contain spoilers for all of Jujutsu Kaisen.

Wiz: The world of Jujutsu Kaisen is one that is constantly in danger, without a great majority of humanity even being aware of it. Invisible cursed beings born from negative human emotions constantly threaten humanity with only the Jujutsu Sorcerers being able to stop them.

Boomstick: These curses can take on multiple shapes, which goes double with their power. Some are pissant weak, some are walking disasters. But then you got some who are just unbelievably powerful that they transcend what they are.

Wiz: Atop the hierarchy of Cursed Spirits is the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna. However despite his status, this soon to be cursed monster was born a human man.

Boomstick: Well a f*cked up man to be precise. Even in the womb he devoured his infant twin brother just because he was afraid of starving to death.

Wiz: While most of his early life is shrouded in mystery it is implied that growing up he was shunned and unwanted, though this is sort of a given as seen with his incredibly violent nature. As he grew up he trained to become a Jujutsu Sorcerer and using his newfound powers, he slaughtered countless sorcerers.

Boomstick: Did you know that a majority of a Jujutsu Sorcerer's capabilities is mostly related to their innate potential? Well let's just say for Sukuna, he was probably born with the most luckiest potential for killing people. He was so powerful that entire squads failed to kill him and festivals were hosted just to appease him. But alas, even his immense power still couldn't save him from a human's greatest weakness; getting old.

Wiz: It was there that Sukuna was approached by Kenjaku, who offered him a solution for potential immortality; separate his soul into 20 cursed objects per each of his fingers to be reincarnated later in life. Interestingly, while this process usually involve them not being used for offensive purposes, the power of these cursed objects would build up energy and become more powerful overtime.

Boomstick: Fast forward a thousand of years later and these objects would be designated as Special Grade, with it constantly attracting and harming Cursed Spirits. Should a Cursed Spirit eat one of these they can gain an increase in power, but if a human were to eat these the remnants of previous sorcerer can take over that human's body.

Wiz: In Sukuna's case, his cursed fingers would later be eaten by the high schooler Yuji Itadori in a desperate attempt to save his classmate's life. And after this consumption, Sukuna was reborn. Now in a new age of Jujutsu Sorcerers for him to terrorize.

Boomstick: Well terrorized in the body of a 15 year old. A 15 year old that the Jujutsu society wanted to kill as soon as possible. Because despite his overwhelming power, he was still far from what he used to be. However, thanks to some strings being pulled, Yuji's death was delayed until he ate all the remaining fingers so that Sukuna could fully die.

Wiz: Though in Sukuna's eyes he just saw this as an opportunity to regain his power, as he bids his time trying to take over Yuji's body to make it his own. And whenever Yuji's on death's door, Sukuna can fully take over his body to do as he pleases.

Boomstick: And god the poor souls that have to face Sukuna when he's in control. Sukuna is unbelievably powerful. Possessing speed and power to obliterate most foes in an instant. And remember how I said that a sorcerer's natural talent is what makes them super deadly? Well Sukuna's talent is ESPECIALLY deadly.

Wiz: Sukuna and other people like him are able to utilize a special kind of energy called Cursed Energy. A specialized power source that stems from negative emotions. They have many different uses with most inexperienced sorcerers using them for increased power. But highly skilled Sorcerers can use their Curses Energy to weaponize their innate abilities.

Boomstick: In Sukuna's case his innate technique is called Shrine, which lets him slice through anything coming his way. Simple? Sure. Effective? Don't even get me started.

Wiz: With a mere hand gesture, Sukuna can fire off invisible slashes through the air or slice through specific targets on contact. Thanks to his Cursed Energy he can manifest Shrine in 2 different ways. Normally when he goes up against those who lack Cursed Energy he can use Dismantle. He can slice foes from a distance with a wave of his hand or send out a volley of slashes to dice people to pieces.

Popup: Cursed Techniques in general are normally invisible to the normal human eye. However Sukuna's Shrine Techniques have been shown to be invisible even to Jujutsu Sorcerers and Cursed Spirits.

Boomstick: His second variation of Shrine is called Cleave, which automatically adjusts itself to whatever he's using it on to let him slice through anything with no issue. It's really powerful, but the downside is that he can only use it on contact.

Wiz: Sukuna is incredibly creative in how he can utilize his slashes. He can spread it out through the ground like a spiderweb and can even use it to protect himself against blades with his hands. Though he doesn't always rely on his innate technique to win fights. Through using Cursed Energy he can reinforce his body for extra defense, amplify his punches, and coat himself in a special Cursed Aura that can shield him from other Cursed Techniques.

Boomstick: And since Sukuna's power is separate from his vessel's power, he can transfer mental damages so the vessel can take the pain or he can manifest small parts of himself on his host's body. Like a mouth for chanting or can even fully manifest himself fully to assume his true form.

Wiz: Gaining 2 extra arms and fully healing his wounds.

Boomstick: Speaking of which, my favorite use of Cursed Energy is how sorcerers and curses can use it to heal massive wounds through the Reverse Cursed Technique. From limb dismemberment, to weapons targeting the soul, to restoring his heart being destroyed. One by his opponent and the other by himself, because he just really does not like Yuji.

Popup: Unlike characters like Mahito, Sukuna cannot use the Reverse Curse Technique to regenerate their body past complete annihilation. Kashimo has even stated that completely destroying the brain can permanently kill them.

Wiz: A defining trait between the 2. Sukuna would constantly battle Yuji for control over his body. However on one occasion where Yuji was forced to face a Special Grade curse, the young man will faltered, giving Sukuna full control. Even ripping out his own heart to ensure that Yuji would not switch out.

Boomstick: But thanks to some anime friendship BS, Yuji would swap back with Sukuna back into his body... only without a heart.

Wiz: Though even then, Sukuna can still recover the boy and his body. Via utilizing a special vow, Sukuna can recover his host's body from near death, at the cost of him not being able to forcibly come out anymore unless a specific phrase is said.

Boomstick: Confused yet? Don't worry. It's VERY complicated. And it doesn't stop there. He can impose these vows onto himself for even more power. Hell, even just telling your opponents on how their powers work can greatly increase its efficiency.

Wiz: Though Sukuna doesn't rely on telling people how his powers work. After he uses Dismantle and Cleave, he can use the Divine Flames. An overwhelmingly powerful flame arrow capable of obliterating anything in its path. These flames are powerful enough to overpower Jogo, a Special Grade Cursed Spirit whose powers revolve around pyrokinesis.

Boomstick: And create huge ass meteors that are capable of reducing entire towns to ashes. And he's nowhere near as strong as Sukuna was by the time they fought.

Wiz: As Yuji's journey continued he and his allies would become stronger and stronger, with one of them even catching Sukuna's attention; Megumi Fushiguro. Unlike Yuji, Sukuna saw him as a man with incredible abilities and potential. In fact he considers Megumi a perfect candidate to become his vessel. By using the same method Kenjaku used to turn his fingers into Cursed Energy, he implanted his cursed energy into one of Yuji's fingers and force feed it to Megumi.

Boomstick: That's just gross. And why his fingers?

Wiz: With Yuji no longer his host, Megumi was now left to bear Sukuna's power. Only this time, Sukuna was now in control.

Boomstick: But why Megumi over Yuji you might ask? Well it's because Megumi comes from a special cursed clan called the Zenins and Megumi was lucky enough to inherit the Zenin clan's most infamous power.

Wiz: This was the Ten Shadows Technique. By manipulating the shadows around him, one can summon a Skikigami. Cursed beings that help serve under their masters. Through the Ten Shadows, he can summon several unique beings.

Boomstick: They can take many appearances. Like a pair of dogs to track his foes, a bird that can emit electricity, toads, a giant snake, an elephant that can shoot powerful floods of water, a sh*t ton of rabbits that can throw hands, a deer that can heal wounds, a powerful ox, and a tiger we never get to see.

Wiz: He can even merge these Shikigami together to create entirely new monsters. Like the Divine Dog: Totality, The Well's Unknown Abyss, and the Merged Beast Agito.

Boomstick: And since Sukuna's a Grade Special Alpha compared to Megumi's Grade 2 Beta, his use of the Ten Shadows results in his Shikigami being stronger and more versatile. Heck, one of these Shikigami can even grow to the size of a Kaiju.

Wiz: But there is a Shikigami that completely dwarfs the others; Mahoraga. Not only does he possess an immense amount of positive Curse Energy, but his entire gimmick is the ability to adapt to any and all phenomenon via a special wheel that hovers over him. Allowing him regenerating to any attacks headed his way and adapting any defenses he goes up against.

Boomstick: Mahoraga was so unbelievably powerful that no previous Ten Shadow user could ever tame it. But since Sukuna is "that guy", he tamed the beast while constantly keeping up with his adaptions. All thanks to his most power ability in his arsenal. The power of his Domain Expansion; The Malevolent Kitchen.

Wiz: Actually the correct translation is Malevolent Shrine.

Boomstick: Yeah but Malevolent Kitchen sounds more divine and tastier. He's like the Gordon Ramsay of people killing. Actually I'm pretty sure his Divine Flames was meant to invoke a process similar to a Furnace. If he wasn't devoted to killing people, he'd make a hell of a chef.

Wiz: Well you aren't wrong about the power of his Domain Expansion. Under the influence of a Domain Expansion, users can get an increase to their speed and strength, along with having a sure hit effect on all of their Cursed Techniques. However, Sukuna's Domain Expansion is a bit different. While a normal Domain Expansion encases their foes inside of an inclosed barrier, Sukuna's Domain does not have one. Via a Binding Vow, Sukuna can enable an escape route in exchange for his Domain to encompass an area of 200 meters in Radius.

Boomstick: The effects of this results in him unleashing Dismantle and Cleave unlimitedly within this area. Slicing and dicing anything in the Domain so much that nothing would remain. It's no wonder why Sukuna is widely considered the Strongest Sorcerer in History.

Popup: While in Megumi's body he should be able to use his Domain Expansion as well.

Wiz: He's powerful enough to slice through entire skyscrapers with ease, melt through giant ice structures with a snap of his fingers, and through his divine flames devastated a massive portion of Shibuya... and then later Shinjuku. He's just as fast with far weaker characters like Kinji Hakari being fast enough to dodge lightning from Kashimo and when Sukuna faced him as the Mystic Beast Amber he dodge his electromagnetic waves, which moves at light speed.

Boomstick: There really was no Sorcerer or Curse that could even stand up to him, with most of them dying before they could get a chance. The only person that ever stood toe to toe with the Strongest Sorcerer in History was none other than the Strongest Sorcerer of Today; Satoru Gojo.

Wiz: Gojo and Sukuna's battle threw everyone for a loop with neither side being able to figure out a sure fire counter to the other. During their battle and beyond Sukuna learned how to express his Cursed Energy in even more ways. Including destroying parts of his brain and healing it to replenish his energy, or how to utilize Cursed Energy in microseconds to perform Black Flash for a 2.5 power increase, or use Mahoraga's adaption to expand his Dismantle to the world itself; allowing him to bypass conventional defenses.

Boomstick: Sukuna was pulling out every ass pull he can think of but when he finally found a way to kill Gojo, he couldn't do it unscathed. At the end of their battle when Sukuna came out on top, Gojo had earned Sukuna's respect and thought of him a worthy opponent. In other words any Gojo can do, Sukuna should be able to do so as well.

Wiz: Gojo is unbelievably powerful. He's powerful enough to cause a massive earthquake from 8 Kilometers below sea level, obliterate weaker curses with his Aura alone, and survive his Hollow Purple obliterating a good portion of Shinjuku. On another occasion when the US Government were getting a reading on Gojo's power, they concluded that Gojo's power alone can power an entire country through his self sustaining energy. Boomstick, do you have any idea how much energy this requires?

Boomstick: Enough to get you out of your student loans?

Wiz: Well, less then that, but still an immense amount of energy. Just for context, the largest amount of energy used by the US exceeded about 4 Trillion kWh in a single year. While we aren't given a measurement for how long he can do so, he has been able to keep his Limitless technique up for 19 days. However we do know that through Gojo's Six Eyes, he can reduce the energy he uses immeasurably so it could likely he could do so for much longer. So let's assume a 1 month timeframe for a bare minimum.

Popup: While the energy reducing Six Eyes makes it difficult to justify for Sukuna to scale to, the use of a Domain Expansion greatly drains a Sorcerer's Cursed Energy with Gojo being no exception. Gojo and Sukuna have repeatedly matched each other in multiple Domain Clashes with Sukuna's even destroying Gojo's Domain during their fight.

Boomstick: That would mean that to power a country like that for 1 month, means he could generate power worth over 282 Megatons of Tnt. And Sukuna was tough enough to withstand numerous assaults from him. Including withstanding his strongest attack, Hollow Purple, on 3 separate occasions.

Wiz: But even with Gojo out of the picture, Sukuna has suffered drastic amounts of damage. In fact it was so severe that it gave the Jujutsu society the opportunity they needed to end him once and for all. Still it was no mere task, as several Sorcerers would still fall in an attempt to kill him.

Boomstick: But alas, Sukuna was finally put down by none other than Yuji Itadori himself. It was during his hardship, an immense drive to save Megumi, and wanting to end Sukuna's rain of terror, Sukuna, for the first time ever, took notice of Yuji.

Wiz: By using Sukuna's own power, Yuji was able to impose a Binding Vow that allows him to separate Sukuna and Megumi's souls with his attacks. With aid, Megumi was finally freed from Sukuna's influence; resulting in the King of Curses to perish forever in fear. Ironic. His entire reason for choosing a life of violence and revenge was just because he heavily feared death.

Boomstick: I wanna say that it's for survival of the fittest but really, it just proved that he still had traces that proved he was human. And if he ever comes back in another life, let's just hope he chooses a better life. One that doesn't have him massacre everyone just for the hell of it.

Sukuna: AH! I knew it! Light is best appreciated in the flesh! A Cursed Spirit's flesh is no fun! Where are the people?! The women?!..!?... What a wonderful age this has become! Women and children... spawning like maggots! Marvelous!! It'll be a Massacre!!

Meruem has you on Checkmate.[]

Wiz: In the giant world of Hunter X Hunter, monsters appear in all shapes and sizes. With some being so dangerous, even your typical top tier hunter struggles to keep up. But among the several monsters the world has to offer, none are as deadly as the vicious Chimera Ants.

Boomstick: What the hell is a Chimera Ant? Is it like a lion the size of an ant?

Wiz: Well normally yes, but one such Chimera Ant Queen was rather different, standing roughly 2 meters tall. Though this didn't stop her from beginning to colonize her ant army. As for the Chimera part it likely stems from the Queen's reproducing method called Phagogenesis. In other words, whatever species they consume, their offspring will inherit some of their traits. So like say the queen eats a dragonfly, a mantis, and a rhino beetle. Because of this, the offspring will have traits and features akin to what was consumed.

Boomstick: But since this queen was much bigger than your typical ant, she expanded her palette with other, much larger foods. Like fish, rabbits, penguins, lions, and the tastiest food of all; Human Flesh.

Wiz: Soon her offsprings were able to gain high levels of intelligence, greatly increasing their dangerous nature. In time once she raised a large enough army, she would devote herself to making a son worthy enough to be the king of the Chimera Ants. As she would consume enough humans, she hoped that it would give her son enough for him to lead the Chimera Ants for world domination. And when this King was born, he turned out to exceed every expectation for greatness.

Boomstick: Probably too much of a success. The dude was so eager to get out and see the world he literally ripped himself out of his mother's stomach. This guy delivered himself at birth. Badass.

Wiz: Upon his birth the amount of power the King had was unparalleled; only matched by his immense bloodlust, not caring for the weak and powerless. This would include his very mother. Though the queen didn't mind, only that she had completed her task with giving the Chimera Ants their king. Though she died before telling him, she thought of a perfect name for her son; Meruem.

Boomstick: God that's such an awesome name, and it fits him as he's equally awesome. As the king of the Chimera Ants, he possesses unbelievable strength and speed. He's so strong that he can swing his tail and kill weaker characters with minimal efforts and move fast enough that high ranking Hunters can barely perceive him.

Wiz: And though the Queen's Phagogenisis gave him all the inheritance of what she consumed, Meruem's potential is extraordinary. Especially since on one occasion, the queen would eat a human with a unique power. A power that elevated the Chimera Ants from being incredibly dangerous, to literal hell like demons walking the earth.

Boomstick: Oh boy here we go. Strap in folks cause if you thought Cursed Energy was complicated, then get ready for this one.

Wiz: This is Nen. Special spirit energy that resides in each living individual. Through Nen, one can manifest their own life energy to be used as a weapon, which is expressed depending on what type a Nen user is. This overall comes in 6 categories. Enhancer, Transmuter, Conjurer, Emitter, Manipulator, and Specialist. In Meruem's case, he's an Emission type Nen users. Emisson Nen users are fascinating with them being able to transmute their aura for long range combat.

Boomstick: But unlike Emissions or every other Nen category where they can create new powers and abilities on the fly, Meruem doesn't really do that. Like he doesn't use his Nen to create new powers. Like when you play a game and you have the ability to upgrade your powers and equipment but you don't do it... just because you don't. I mean, it is not like Meruem needs to given his overwhelming power but the potential is still there man.

Wiz: Though that's not entirely true. Likely inherited from his mother's Phagogenisis, Meruem can utilize his signature ability; Aura Synthesis. Thanks to this Meruem can become stronger the more and more people he consumes. And should he happen to consume a Nen user, he can add their Nen quantity onto his own, becoming even stronger than before. And should he eat enough of the Nen user's body, he can add their abilities to his own.

Boomstick: But he wouldn't be such a Nen badass if he didn't know how to use even the basic uses of Nen. Thankfully, Meruem is no chump when it comes to using only the basic Nen principles to win fights.

Wiz: Nen usage is utilized by 4 major principles, along with 7 additional advance principles. These include Ten, which lets one open their aura nodes at all times while simultaneously increasing your physical and mental defenses. Zetsu, closing your aura nodes to conceal your presence. Ren, utilizing your aura to increase physical strength and weaponizing your emotions. And Hatsu, the usage for how one utilizes their aura for various purposes.

Boomstick: Sure these are the basics, but they are super duper important when it comes to how Nen users fight. Example, the usage of Ren to use on hostility and bloodlust to use a power called Nen Crush. To those who lack mental defenses like with what Nen gives you, the malice of a person is giving off the expression of crushing you. Resulting in the victim being overwhelmed by fear and could even result in death.

Popup: While Meruem is never explicitly stated to have Nen Crush, he has showcased using his Aura to achieve similar if not identical results. Even with Nen defenses, Meruem's Nen output has been shown to overwhelm and cause fear in Nen users like Shaiapouf and Welfin.

Wiz: As for the more advanced principles of Nen there is Gyo, where one focuses their aura in mass quantities around a specific body part, with the most notable use of it being to use it on the eyes to help one track invisible aura. In, where one can conceal their aura so that they are invisible to even other Nen users. En, where one can expand their aura in a wide area that lets the user detect anything within 's vicinity. Then there's...

Popup: High level Nen users have been claimed to extend their En up to 50 meters. However other characters like Zeno Zoldyck can have their En extend to 300 meters and Neferpitou having an En radius of 2 Kilometers.

Boomstick: Why do these feel like these are just the main 4 abilities just on a better level?

Wiz: Well for 1, it's because they are... sort of. And 2, it's because some of these Nen usage uses multiple uses of Nen at the same time to achieve their results. Take Shu, which is an advance form of Ten where one can expand their aura onto any objects to increase their toughness. Then there is Ko, a use of multiple Nen factors to concentrate their aura into a single point for offense. Through Ken, one can shroud themselves in aura to protect their entire body's. And finally with Ryu, one can shift different amounts of Aura throughout the body to maintain a balance between offense and defense.

Boomstick: To most people the use of even basic Nen can be incredibly tiring, but we've seen characters maintain constant Nen use from 30 minutes to 3 hours straight. In fact one of his Chimera Ant subordinates, Neferpitou, can constantly use their Nen for up to several days straight.

Wiz: While Meruem hasn't used all of these Nen principles, he does possess an immense understanding of how it works. And through his powers he set off to do what was initially intended for him; world annihilation.

Boomstick: First thing he did outside of an early snack was take over a nearby palace to use it as a forefront for his human Nen factory. Basically he planned on hurdling humans and forcibly awakening their Nen nodes so that when he eats them, he will grow stronger.

Wiz: During this time he would spend his time doing other activities such as playing board games such as chess or shogi. All for the purpose of honing his most powerful asset. A power that surpasses his bloodlust, his power, and his Nen combined. His intellect.

Boomstick: Yep. Meruem is unbelievably smart and uses his intellect to deduce a person's weaknesses and patterns. More specifically by analyzing his target for a certain amount of time, Meruem can deduce their "rhythm". Whatever that means.

Wiz: As he would put it, a person's rhythm is what is used to describe a person's unconscious bias when performing actions. For every time a person would do anything, a person would unconsciously develop a certain pattern for how they would perform later actions. And thanks to Meruem's incredible tactical mind, he's able to use a person's rhythm to his advantage.

Boomstick: Like when he played board games like chess and shogi against the world champions, he was able to deduce their unconscious bias so precisely that he can tell that he was able to win over 20 moves ago. Effectively making him the king of all board games. Not sure if that's a good title but it only elevated how smart the dude was.

Wiz: As he continued to play, the more precise he became. However, on one occasion when he would play a game of Gungi with the world champion, his entire life would change forever.

Boomstick: As in when he saw the world Gungi champion, it turned out to be a frizzled headed, blind, pathetic, snot nosed shorty named Komugi. A sad state that Meruem found disgusting. But the moment he played her, he was in for a wild ride.

Wiz: As they would play Meruem would concoct hundreds, possibly even thousands of different Gungi scenarios, all in a matter of seconds. But no matter what possibility he or Komugi made it all ended with one single conclusion; his loss.

Boomstick: This guy straight up pulled a Doctor Strange future vision scenario to multiple different outcomes. Only this time, he didn't win any of those.

Wiz: Though this loss made the king flustered, it also came with a sense of satisfaction. Showcasing that he still had room to improve. As he continued to challenge Komugi to Gungi his tactical prowess would improve greatly. However as he grew, so did Komugi. During their time playing for 3 days straight, Meruem could not defeat her no matter how many times they played.

Boomstick: She even unconsciously awakened to Nen as a result of their games that further increased her Gougi skills. She even figured out that Meruem was using a Gougi strategy that she came up with years ago and was happy when she figured out that someone was playing with her style.

Wiz: Meruem's time playing with Komugi caused his personality to alter. Meruem believed that power was the ultimate might in the world though his time with Komugi made him unable to understand his own emotions. Even after he affirms to himself that power is everything, he still found himself at the mercy of Komugi's frailty.

Boomstick: At this point, Meruem's ideology became shattered. He could not, for the life of him, know why he cared for such a weakling. It changed him to the point where he started to give subordinates actual compliments and started seeing humans as something more than mere food sources. Even implying that he wanted a way to coexist with humans and wanting to eliminate inequality. Too bad the damage was done and the world was after his head.

Wiz: This would force Meruem to go up against the Hunter Association. Resulting in him having to face the Hunter Association's strongest hunter; Isaac Netero. Isaac Netero is incredibly powerful and skilled with him even being considered to be the strongest human Nen users of the modern age.

Boomstick: Which means that he should logically be well above characters like Killua, who can use his Nen to attack and move at the speed of lightning. Or even Phantom Troupe members like Uvogin, who can shatter giant Cliffside with his aura alone.

Wiz: Meruem's battle with Netero proved to be one of his biggest challenges. Despite their combat, Meruem was able to endure thousands of blows from Netero's attacks with only dull damages but Meruem could not land any form of fatal attacks as he concluded that Netero was the only one who can perform actions faster than he can.

Boomstick: But thanks to Meruem and his unconscious rhythm senses, he was able to deduce a weakness in Netero's fighting style and sliced off Netero's limbs. He even withstood Netero's strongest attack, the Zero Hand, walking out with only a few gashes.

Wiz: Though this loss was exactly what Isaac planned and unleashed his secret weapon. When he stopped the beat of his heart, he unleashed the Poor Man's Rose. A nuclear device when, upon detonation, obliterated the nearby mountains and formed a massive crater. Comparing its size to the nearby hillsides and factoring in vaporization energy, this explosion must have been equivalent to 245 Megatons of Tnt.

Boomstick: Craziest part is, Meruem survived this. Least craziest part is, it REALLY messed him up bad. In a desperate attempt to save their king's life, 2 of his Royal Guards Shia Labeouf and Chuthulu decided to give Meruem their power to him in hopes to rejuvenate him. The results, Meruem being reborn much stronger than before.

Wiz: And thanks to his Aura Synthesis, he added both of their power onto himself. From Shaiapouf he gained the ability to sense nearby emotions and even dampen their will through a process called Spiritual Message. Also from him he can use Beelzebub that allows him to shrink and duplicate himself. From Menthuthuyoupi he can use Metamorphosis to create additional body parts to himself, such as wings to fly through the air. But most prominently he gained his ability to use his anger as a weapon. Allowing him to unleash a powerful blast called Rage Blast.

Boomstick: And since Meruem is just "that guy squared", his use of their abilities is far more powerful from when they used it. For example he can use Spiritual Message in combination with his own En to transmute his aura into photons to immediately let him know his surroundings. And as it should be known, photons move around at light speed.

Popup: While it's questionable if Meruem's own reactions should scale to this, Killua's was able to use his Nen to heighten his reflexes to catch a dart stated to require "Light-Speed Reflexes".

Wiz: And when using his Rage Blast, he once generated enough power to destroy a nearby mountain. An immense amount of power rivaled by none. In fact after consuming powers from Shaiapouf and Menthuthuyoupi, Meruem's power was stated to be on a completely different level. With some even suggesting that a state wide military power was needed to kill Meruem.

Boomstick: Meruem was truly otherworldly with his powers, but alas he caught something not even he was expecting. Remember that nuke he survived? Well anyone who knows anything about nuclear weaponry knows that it's not that simple to walk off an explosion like that.

Wiz: While the explosion itself wasn't enough to kill him, the immense amount of radiation poisoning the explosion gave off took effect. By the time Meruem realized this, it was already too late.

Boomstick: So what do you think Meruem did when he learned this information? Take his newfound powers to the world to instill unbelievable fear as to what he has become? Nope. All he wanted was to be by Komugi's side. He'd even get on his knees and beg to be with her if he has to.

Wiz: At the end of it all, he had his wish. Being by the one person he truly, genuinely cared for. And so in those final moments, he and Komugi would play Gougi until they both would die. Both being accepting of their impending doom.

Boomstick: And guess what? He still didn't beat her. Though I'm sure that Meruem wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Wiz: Despite his upbringings, his bloodlust, his nature, his purpose, all of which would mean massive destruction for mankind, Meruem would end his life being more human than monster.

Meruem: I was born to rule this world. At first I did not feel anything more toward you humans than I feel toward livestock. But now I believe there are a few humans who deserve to live. That girl is one of them. I think you may be another. If you lay down your arms now I may still spare you.

Death Battle (Pre Fight)[]

We begin in the city of Shibuya. When looking at the city, one can see a massive amount of monsters roaming the city. These creatures have taken many forms with most of them being humanoid combinations of various animals. One is a walking lion with a blast t-shirt, another being a rabbit with wings, one that is a giant spider, and many more with various designs. Despite all of these creature's looks they all share the same species; Chimera Ants.

Atop of a building we can see one such Chimera Ant looking down at the Chimera Ant's invasion of Shibuya. This was none other than the Chimera Ants' king himself; Meruem. He looks down at the destruction the Chimera Ants are doing to the city. Behind him are his three loyal Royal Guards, Neferpitou, Shaiapouf, and Menthuthuyoupi.

Neferpitou walks up to Meruem to give him a status report.

Neferpitou: Your majesty. A couple of our Squadron have reported having to face many different creatures.

Meruem: Humans?

Neferpitou: There are humans down there yes, but the ones the soldiers are reporting on are unlike anything we've seen before.

Meruem closed his eyes and activated his En. Across a vast distance he could feel the shape of many different creatures that some of the Chimera Ants are facing. Neferpitou's description was accurate as even Meruem couldn't deduce what these things were. These monsters that Meruem was feeling were all having irregular bodies, much like his Chimera Ants but their behavior were much more animalistic ironically. This was a Cursed Spirit. A Grade 1 Cursed Spirit to be exact that 3 of his minions were fighting.

Back on the floor 3 Chimera Ants being Pike, Baro, and Leol were facing the Grade 1 Cursed Spirits. They defeated the creature using a joint attack, not giving the Cursed Spirit the time to retaliate. But as they killed the monster, another 10 of them ranging from Grade 3 to one even being Special Grade were heading their way. From the shadows, an outline of a man can be seen but neither the Chimera Ants or Cursed Spirits notice this man. Before any of them could engaged in battle, they were suddenly sliced to pieces, leaving nothing but a blood pool.

This didn't go under Meruem's attention however but before he could activate his En, the person who did this came out to the opening. He was wearing a black haori with a white kimono and black undershirt underneath tied together with a black belt, white pants, and black sandals. This man looked up at Meruem and gave a devilish smile, before he suddenly vanished.

In an instant, Meruem looked back to see this man standing right behind him and his Royal Guards. The 3 Royal Guards were too slow to keep trace of this man's presence and were caught off guard by his speed. They tried to go in for the kill but Meruem slammed his tail to the ground to signal that he wanted to see who this man might be. They then got to their knees to obey his orders.

Sukuna: Impressive. You were able to keep your eyes on me. Can't say the same for your underlings however.

Meruem: You killed those humans and my minions... are you dumb enough to believe that would be enough to scare me.

Sukuna gave a light chuckle.

Sukuna: Of course not. Though that would be enough for me to believe that you're the one in charge here. Am I wrong?

Meruem remained unfazed.

Meruem: What of it?

Sukuna: You creatures aren't from around here. And whatever you are, you are definitely not like those pesky Cursed Spirits down there.

Meruem: Cursed Spirits?

Sukuna: Those annoying pests down there fighting your army. Comes from negative human emotions. Normally invisible to humans, but as it would seem...

Sukuna looked over the edge to see the Chimera Ants Rammot and Cheetu killing nearby humans as they screamed in fear. Rammot was licking blood off his hands when he made eye contact with Sukuna who was smiling down at him before returning his gaze back to Meruem.

Sukuna: Death's door or not, they are very visible.

Meruem: You suggest that normal people cannot see those "Cursed Spirits" you mentioned. Are you implying there are those who have a rare ability?

Sukuna used this question to get some information out of Meruem.

Sukuna: Yes there are some who have special abilities... but something doesn't feel right.

Meruem: Hm?

Sukuna: Down there. Your minions, they are using a special power as well. But unlike Cursed Spirits or some humans, they are not using Cursed Energy. They're using something different. Something very interesting.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): Cursed Energy? Is he suggesting that he can use something different from the Aura from the rares? If that's so, that would mean his taste would be...

Meruem grew a murderous smile. The 3 Royal Guards did not see it, but the ominous aura emitting from Meruem's body gave them the impression that Sukuna has caught his attention.

Shaiapouf (Thoughtfully): It seems that the mention of this "Cursed Energy" has the King curious. I'll bet he wants to know what these Curse Users taste like.

Meruem's aura extended so it can be seen from the ground. Causing many Curses and Chimera Ants to freeze in fear. He walks past his Royal Guards with them being terrified of his aura. Yet when he got closer to Sukuna, the King of Curses was more interested than afraid as to what this Aura was.

Faster than the eye could see, Meruem swung his tail to finish the fight right then and there. But Sukuna easily blocked the attack and palm thrusted him backwards. The Royal Guards got up to tend to their king, but he still had a smile on his face. He got up pushing his Royal Guards aside.

Meruem: Not a lot of people have been able to block an attack from me. You must be quite full of that Cursed Energy?

Sukuna gave him a smile, confirming his suspicion.

Meruem: Good. By that alone, I can surmise that your reserves of Curse Energy must be far greater than those of a Cursed Spirit?

Shaiapouf (Thoughtfully): I knew it...

Meruem: You... I am looking forward to eating you!

Sukuna: Oh?

Meruem slowly walks towards Sukuna. Wanting to fulfill his role as being one of the 3 Royal Guards to his King, Menthuthuyoupi got up and insisted that Meruem not fight Sukuna.

Menthuthuyoupi: Your highness. Don't force yourself to deal with a mere human like him. I highly suggest you let the three of us...

Before he could finish, he was bitched smacked across the face by Meruem's tail. Neferpitou and Shaiapouf both took a step back and took a knee. Menthuthuyoupi joined them later, right after he was fixing his jaw from Meruem's tail hit.

Meruem: As king of the Chimera Ants, I am in need to eat. Those with a special power, I favor most. Yet here in this city, I learn that there are those with something even different from the Rares. Human, if what you're saying is true, then it is my right to feast on your flesh and learn of what you taste like!!

Sukuna gave a chuckle, knowing that the real fight was about to begin. He took off his haori to give himself proper movement for when they fight. The 2 kings then walked close to each other ready to give the other the fight of their life.

Sukuna: Chimera Ant you say? Well then King, if you desire to feast on my corpse you'll have to kill me.

Meruem: I intend to do just that.

Sukuna: And you say this without even knowing my capabilities.

Meruem: Indeed.

Sukuna: Well... then by all means Chimera Ant King...

The 2 stood about arms reach from the other. Clenching their fists, wanting to eagerly fight their opponents.

Sukuna: ...Go ahead and have a bite. If you can.

Death Battle (Fight)[]

Meruem threw the first punch with Sukuna quickly dodging the attack and countering with his own punch. Meruem blocked this however and threw many different punches with Sukuna parrying and retaliating. They would continue doing this with intense speed and strength. It got so intense that the building they were standing on began to give way and collapse.

The 3 Royal Guards made their escape before the building collapsed, but Sukuna and Meruem were still battling. Meruem then used his tail for Sukuna to intentionally block, which gave him an opening to deliver a punch to Sukuna's guts. The force flung him through the collapsing building and out into the opening.

The building's remains were going to crush Sukuna but he simply pointed his index and middle finger towards it and without any warning, sliced the building into incredibly small pieces. Meruem observed from the sides, witnessing Sukuna's abilities.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): Strange. What he just did must be the use of his Cursed Technique. Seems he must make a hand gesture for it to work.

Sukuna landed on his feet with the dust kicked up from him using Dismantle on the building. Sukuna looked through the dust to see if he could find Meruem but failed. When he was looking back, Meruem moved in the blink of an eye and tried to use his tail to go for Sukuna's head. Sukuna predicted this and ducked at the last second. He grabbed hold of his tail and threw Meruem through some nearby buildings. 3 to be exact.

When he emerged from the 3rd building, Sukuna greeted him from the other side to unleash even more Dismantles. Sukuna waved his hand towards Meruem with the Chimera Ant King reading the hand motion path at the very last second. When he waved his hand, Meruem moved his body out of its movement way and narrowly avoided the attack with only a feint scratch to his left shoulder.

Meruem tumbled to the ground but quickly got back up on his feat. During this, Sukuna applied pressure by engaging back into close quarters combat with the Chimera Ant King. The once again exchanged multiple blows with each other with Sukuna using the force behind his punches to push himself away from Meruem before rushing back in and attacking back. He didn't jump back far however but it was to get him out of range with Meruem's tail.

Meruem during this was analyzing Sukuna's fight pattern to deduce what move Sukuna would do next. Sukuna threw a punch which Meruem caught by the wrist. Sukuna gave a smile and switched his hand from a fist to a finger stance. Meruem knew what he was aiming for and dodged at the last second with Dismantle only grazing his weird earlobe on the right side of his face. Meruem landed a kick which landed directly on Sukuna's stomach but at the same time he placed his palm on Meruem's chest.

Meruem couldn't dodge from that close so he resorted to withstanding it by using his Nen for the first time this fight. He focuses his Nen to the part where Sukuna placed his hand to protect himself from the slashes. This worked but Meruem was still harmed. The slashes extended a little further from where Meruem focused his Nen and caused slash marks to appear on Meruem's body.

Thankfully for the Chimera Ants King the attack didn't hit anywhere vital and he used his tail to knock Sukuna far away from him. The 2 landed on opposite sides of the street with neither one making a move. Instead they were trying to know how each other's powers work.

Sukuna (Thoughtfully): Impressive. That must be his special ability. He focused his aura in that one area to protect himself from being fatally injured. Even some Jujutsu Sorcerers can't do this on a whim, but it seems that he knows how to use his aura.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): I see. So his slashes extend more than how much he swipes with his fingers. But... why can't I see them? Even using Nen to increase my vision, I still am unable to see them. Just what exactly are his attacks?

Sukuna moved first with Meruem being on the defensive. It was during their fight that brought the attention of some Cursed Spirits and Chimera Ants. The Cursed Spirits at the sight of them fighting barely changed their rather animalistic nature but ironically for the more animal Chimera Ants watching, were terrified that there was someone that could stand up to their king.

Sukuna and Meruem matched each other in a punch clash that caused the nearby monsters to be flung back a bit. The 2 were in a deadlock with neither one of them having the strength to overpower the other. They jumped back and continued their hand to hand combat. Sukuna decided on using less of his signature Cursed Techniques and in now using Curse Energy to enhance his attacks. Meruem would do the same, infusing his attacks with Nen.

The 2 were swinging at each other while simultaneously avoiding each other's enhanced attacks. Sukuna threw a punch which Meruem parried with his tail, giving him an opportunity to land a direct punch on Sukuna's face. Meruem slammed him to the ground with enough force to shake the ground itself, sending multiple debris into the air and causing Sukuna's face to bleed.

Meruem spun for a kick with Sukuna blocking it, but the impact caused him to go flying. Meruem followed up on him with Meruem not wanting Sukuna to have a chance to recover. He moved for the kill but Sukuna held out his hand as if he was going to use Dismantle. Meruem used Nen as a way to propel himself away from Sukuna's hand direction.

However no slashes happened what so ever but Sukuna anticipated that he would try to dodge his hand gestures. In doing this Meruem grew closer to Sukuna with the King of Curses grabbing onto Meruem's tail. He pulled him in and hit him with a Cursed Energy enhanced elbow to his face.

Meruem fell down with him easily landing on his feet and close behind him was Sukuna throwing another punch. Meruem dodged with Sukuna crashing to the floor but not before he went back on the offensive against Meruem. He threw many punches with Meruem parrying or matching them with his own punches.

Sukuna then got up close and pointed his fingers right at Meruem with the Chimera Ant focusing his Nen to his facial area. Surprisingly, nothing happened. The King of Curses didn't use his Cursed Technique like Meruem had anticipated. As he was too busy focusing his Nen to his face, this gave Sukuna the opportunity to land a powerful blow to his stomach.

Meruem grits his teeth in pain and in a desperate attempt to get Sukuna away from him, he unleashes a massive amount of his aura. The sheer pressure of it pushed Sukuna back and caused him to crash into some nearby cars.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): So it's not just his hand gestures that makes those slashes happen. This will be difficult.

Sukuna got out of the car and threw some of the rubble at Meruem. At this point, Meruem has decided to use more of his Nen. He unleashed his Nen quantities again; destroying the rubble. He infused even more aura into his hand to increase the strength of his swing. Sukuna got in close with Meruem, matching that by getting him close and encasing his leg in his tail.

Sukuna aimed his hand towards his tail to launch a Dismantle but Meruem stopped this by hitting him in the left arm with his Nen enhanced punch. The sheer impact of it caused Sukuna's arm to explode before being launched into the nearby skyscraper by the attack's shockwave.

Sukuna didn't seem to mind losing his arm and continued to lay the pressure on Meruem. As quickly as he entered the skyscraper was as quick as him getting out. He got into the opening and landed on the streets, only to be met by Meruem going in for another punch. Sukuna dodged again and pointed his finger at Meruem in hoping for him to forcibly dodge.

But surprising to the King of Curses, Meruem did not and it was a good call on the Chimera Ant's part. Sukuna purposely didn't activate it but since he didn't he was forced to be on the defensive. He weaved around Meruem's attack while moving his arm to use Dismantle. This time Sukuna did use Dismantle but the Chimera Ant dodged it once again.

Their fight continued with Sukuna both using and faking out on using Dismantle. Meruem's tactic wasn't perfect as he was still partially hit by some Dismantles but as the fight continued, Meruem adaptation grew. Soon he could get a feeling on when Sukuna was and wasn't going to use Dismantle and, following a certain pattern that Sukuna was making, found an opportunity to take Sukuna's other arm.

Sukuna was now being pressured as Meruem landed a powerful tail slap to his face that made Sukuna go flying down the street. He crashed into many Cursed Spirits and Chimera Ants but he leaped onto a nearby street pool before jumping onto a building's top. Meruem was in hot pursuit, and reached the building's top a split second after Sukuna got there.

The battle stopped for a bit with Sukuna gasping for air while Meruem watched him. Despite losing both of his arms, Sukuna couldn't help but compliment his foe.

Sukuna: Remarkable. You may not be able to see my slashes, but instead of reading my attacks, you are instead reading me.

Meruem: It's not that hard. Creatures, be it human or monster, have a certain pattern to what they do, without even knowing it. I can read these patterns to know what you will do before you even know what you're going to do next.

As he was talking, the 3 royal guards were looking from above a nearby building. They witnessed Sukuna's state and while one would assume that Meruem was at the advantage, they felt as if there was something wrong.

Menthuthuyoupi: Well, looks like someone can hold their own against the king.

Shaiapouf: Yes. Most people would have died within seconds of a fight with him... but...

Neferpitou: But something just doesn't seem right. I can tell by just looking at that human, that he's planning something.

Sukuna noticed the 3 Royal Guards in the air but paid them no mind.

Sukuna: Amazing. It's no wonder you're considered their king. Having me backed into a corner like this is something worth feeling good about.

Meruem: Yes, but it would seem that your hands have caused you to lose your slashing abilities. And trust me...

Meruem's aura grew large.

Meruem: ...The satisfaction of me having you on your knees will pale in comparison to when I have eaten you!!!

Meruem walked slowly towards Sukuna but as he did, the King of Curses laughing. Meruem stopped as it would seem that Sukuna still had some fight left in him.

Sukuna: Make no mistake, Chimera Ant.

Sukuna's arm began to regenerate all thanks to Sukuna using the Reverse Cursed Technique. Meruem jumped backwards to analyze what he was doing. In no time at all, Sukuna had regenerated his lost arms.

Sukuna: Our battle is only beginning.

Sukuna pulled out his newly regenerated arms and moved them. Meruem braced himself for a Dismantle but instead of aiming his hands towards Meruem, Sukuna instead placed them against each other; forming an Enma palm sign with his hands. Despite Meruem not knowing what he's about to do, he can tell something big was going to happen.

Sukuna: Domain Expansion.

With these words Meruem's view of the world goes dark. But a split second after that he could see an image of a Buddhist shrine emerging from a pool of skeleton skulls. On the floor Meruem could see himself no longer standing on a damaged street. Instead he was standing in a pool of blood that was so clear, one could view their own reflections off of it.

Sukuna: Malevolent Shrine.

Meruem had no idea what he was in for but this was when his body acted on his own. Even though he was unaware of the dangers of Malevolent Shrine, his body subconsciously activated Ken at the last second. Even Meruem was surprised by how his body reacted but it was all for good intent.

The moment he activated Ken an overwhelming barrage of Dismantles and Cleaves were cutting into his body. This was the power of the Malevolent Shrine. Within a 200 meter radius, objects were sliced at an alarming rate. Buildings, cars, nearby Chimera Ants, nearby Cursed Spirits, friends, foes, the 3 Royal Guards, innocent civilians, and more were sliced up within the Domain.

Sukuna: To those who possess Cursed Energy, my Cursed Techniques would be a guaranteed hit. Though within my Domain, anyone within my range will be sliced down. Even though you lack Cursed Energy, even you will not walk out of...

As he was talking, Sukuna could see a faint glow from within his Domain. As the buildings were being sliced to dust, Sukuna can see Meruem covering his whole body in Nen to protect himself from the endless slashes. Sukuna couldn't help but compliment his opponent, seeing how even this different power system can shield him from Malevolent Shrine.

Sukuna: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU JUST WON'T STOP FASCINATING ME CHIMERA ANT KING!!!

Meruem's output of Ken was at full capacity but even then he could still feel the slices trying to cut him. As he was focused on using his Nen for defense, he couldn't find an opportunity to use his Nen for offense. This left Meruem with little options but to continue to fight Sukuna with his raw strength.

Sukuna (Thoughtfully): This guy... he's using his energy to protect himself. Given its presentation I can say that his use of it is similar to the Falling Blossom Emotion. However if that were the case, he is entirely focused on defense without a way of attacking with his aura. Let's see how you deal with this King.

Meruem rushed towards Sukuna with him going for his hands. Sukuna blocked Meruem's attack, showing that he doesn't need to maintain his hand signs in order to keep up the Domain. Sukuna threw a flurry of punches with Meruem countering and dodging them. He noticed that during their exchange that Sukuna's movements were getting faster while his punches seem to have a lot more force behind them.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): He's growing stronger?

Sukuna threw a punch that surpassed Meruem's reflexes and it sent the Chimera Ant King tumbling. This hit also slightly distracted Meruem from outputting Ken to its fullest. Parts of his body were getting slashed with Meruem's right cheek getting a cut about the size of your index finger. As quickly as Meruem's Ken faltered, so did his output of his Ken returned to normal.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): So the Domain is doing more than the slashes it seems.

Sukuna went back on the offense with Meruem adapting to his power growth. It proved to be more difficult for Meruem as he couldn't use any of his offensive Nen options to fight back with. Sukuna landed a powerful blow to Meruem's face but it did not falter the Chimera Ant as he retaliated with a tail swipe that pierced his torso.

Sukuna took this opportunity to grab hold of his tail and deliver an enhanced cursed punch that sent Meruem flying. Sukuna healed his wounds with the Reverse Cursed Technique but now Meruem was a great distance away from him. Meruem was going over several hundreds of different ways for how he could deal with Sukuna. But given his current situation of being within Malevolent Shrine, his chances for victory were incredibly slim, if not outright impossible to pull off.

That was when Meruem saw a building. An untouched building mind you which gave Meruem the knowledge that he was approaching the outer radius of Malevolent Shrine. Sukuna quickly caught on to this and rushed Meruem down. Meruem's defenses made it difficult for him to use Dismantle or Cleave to cut down Meruem. In moments, Meruem escaped the Domain Expansion's range.

Sukuna knew it was pointless to attack Meruem but that was when he saw his next course of action. Meruem, immediately upon escaping the Domain Expansion, shut off his Ken and grew a pair of wings, courtesy of his once loyal ally Menthuthuyoupi. Meruem flew high above the buildings and pointed his arm out and prepared to unleash his Rage Blast.

Sukuna saw this and tried to get out of his range. Meruem fired his Rage Blast with the attack destroying the Domain Expansion, though it wasn't the power of the attack that caused the Domain to fall. In the inside of the Domain, Sukuna tried to avoid the blast but the Rage Blast had a lot more power than he was expecting. The resulting explosion might have missed him, but the power of it was enough to send Sukuna flying throughout the city, crashing into several buildings. Sukuna survived but was left heavily damaged to the point where he could not maintain his Domain Expansion, causing it to collapse.

The Domain heavily drained Sukuna's Cursed Energy reserves, but he wasn't going to throw in the towel just yet. In the air, Meruem activated his En to track down Sukuna. He found him within moments in a dark alleyway and noticed that Sukuna was heavily weakened. Not just physically, but he noticed his energy was weaker too.

Meruem: Seems like his Domain drained his reserves. He's defenseless.

He flew quickly towards Sukuna's location with his speed causing a sonic boom. It was when he grew closer that he felt a sudden shift in Sukuna's energy. It was as if he instantly re energized his once exhausted Cursed Techniques. Meruem didn't know how he did it but he needed to make sure this time that Sukuna was perfectly dead next time.

Sukuna: It'll take some time before my Innate Technique is fully restored. Guess I'll have to use this...

Meruem found Sukuna as he was making another hand gesture.

Sukuna: Surprised it took you this long to find me. I'd expected you to find me in half that time.

Meruem: I don't know how you recovered your lost energy, but you won't get a second chance.

Meruem moved in quickly but from the shadows he got hit by what felt like claws. Turns out his hand gesture wasn't going to summon a Domain Expansion but instead allowed him to summon his Shikigami; The Divine Dogs Totality. This caught Meruem off guard as he didn't know how a creature like that could be summoned without his notice but he was more focused on combat.

The Divine Dogs Totality moved fast with its claws dealing damage to Meruem. Meruem tried to push it back but the Shikigami's size and bulk sent Meruem to the streets. Meruem took to the sky to try to fire off another Rage Blast, but he notices himself being covered by a shadow. He looked behind him and noticed a giant owl like Shikigami with a snake for a tail. This was Nue, and before Meruem could deal with it he was hit by its wings infused with electricity.

Meruem crashed to the ground with the giant Nuke crashing down on top of him. Or so did the beast thought as Meruem was gone from its sights. It looked around but it was then it was revealed that Meruem is behind it and grabbing it from the tail. Meruem used his immense strength to swing Nue around into the nearby buildings before ripping off its snake tail.

The beast cried out in pain but it thankfully stopped thanks to Meruem jumping in front of it and killing the beast in one punch. Down on the floor where Sukuna resides, he felt as if his Innate Technique was finally replenished. He noticed how little damage the Divine Dogs Totality and Nue were against Meruem but it was thankfully enough for him to recharge.

Sukuna summoned Max Elephant above Meruem who dodged the big ass Elephant dropping on top of him. The Max Elephant then unleashed a powerful stream of water from its trunk which Meruem blocked. Once the water stopped, Meruem rushed towards the Max Elephant who attempted to fire back but before it could fire another gush of water, Meruem had unleashed a powerful punch on it.

This sent the Max Elephant crashing into the nearby building before turning back into shadows. This confused Meruem as it did but he noticed that there was another Shikigami rushing right towards him. This time it was the Piercing Ox and it was running right towards Meruem. Meruem held his hands out in order to hold down the beast but he underestimated its strength.

Sukuna had summoned the Max Elephant as a distraction while he summoned Piercing Ox a great distance away in order for it to build up speed and power. The Piercing Ox continued to grow in power as it continued to drag Meruem across the city. To fight back against this Meruem infused himself with Nen and that gave him the strength needed to derail the Shikigami. The Piercing Ox collapsed with it returning into shadows upon failing.

Meruem: Shadows?

As Sukuna was observing from a distance, he knew that despite how much stronger his Shikigami were in comparison to his host, most of them would not stand any chance against Meruem though this did give him an idea. Sukuna jumped above the buildings to get a clean hit off of Meruem and fired off his Dismantles. Meruem noticed him a split second too late but still made an attempt to dodge. He got his wings cut off but his main body was fine.

Meruem rushed in and punched Sukuna to the ground. The fight continued on the streets with Sukuna using his Dismantle once again. Meruem dodged the attempts and landed a blow to Sukuna's stomach, sending him back. Sukuna moved his hands as if he was going to use Dismantle once again but changed it at the last second. As Meruem closed in, he was swarmed with hundreds of rabbits obscuring his view.

Meruem swiped them away but even more of them took their place once they died. Meruem was getting frustrated at this but his rage would soon increase when the rabbits were holding on to his body. Meruem decided to use his rage like a weapon and unleashed an AOE Rage Blast from his body that eliminated the rabbits and the nearby city blocks.

As the smoke cleared, Sukuna was nowhere to be found. Meruem used his En to try to find him but he could not trace his location. He then used his En in combination with another one of his copied Nen abilities, Spiritual Message, to increase the potency of his En. Despite it covering a vast distance and the photons that it is emitting granting him knowledge of every single movement within the area, he still could not deduce Sukuna's location.

Meruem: No sign of him. He's not dead, otherwise I would have felt his dying corpse. Did he run away?

As Meruem was pondering about his foe's location, Sukuna would emerge out of Meruem's sight. Using the same technique that allows him to summon his Shikigami, Sukuna has used his Ten Shadows Technique to hide within Meruem's shadow. Sukuna smiled as he placed his hand on Meruem's leg and used Dismantle to make a cut on the back of Meruem's right leg.

Blood splattered with Meruem feeling the pain. He swung his tail with Sukuna dodging and landing a powerful punch to Meruem's face. This caused Meruem's face to be covered in blood all while he gets sent flying through the battlefield. Meruem recovered, wiping away the blood on his face along with Sukuna wiping Meruem's blood from his face and robe.

Meruem: Those creatures you summoned... They felt different from your slashes.

Sukuna: What? Disappointed that I can summon allies?

Meruem: Hardly. Summoning creatures with power is not uncommon to some of the rares. Utilizing their aura to summon monsters is possible with Conjurers. Frankly I expected for you to have a few more tricks up your sleeves aside from your slashes. You still have yet to showcase all of them have you?

Sukuna: Who knows? Survive long enough and maybe you'll know. In the meantime...

Sukuna summoned the rabbits again but Meruem easily fought back by releasing his Nen. Though this split second gave Sukuna enough time to pull off another Domain Expansion to continue to put pressure on Meruem.

Sukuna: Domain Expansion. Malevolent Shrine.

Sukuna summoned his Domain for a second time with Meruem once again using Ken to protect his body. It was at this moment that Sukuna realized something. Throughout the course of their battle, he realized that Meruem doesn't seem to be faltering when it comes to his Nen output. Sure his body is being damaged but it didn't seem to be slowing Meruem down.

Sukuna (Thoughtfully): What's with this guy? He's been using an insane amount of energy yet he's still fine? After that explosion that destroyed my Domain the first time, the energy required to do so should be taking a toll on him. That and on top of his constant defenses against my attacks and outputs against the Shikigami. Either he's been holding back. Or...

Meruem sprung forward while maintaining his Nen, attempting to damage Sukuna's body a second time. Meruem was starting to see through Sukuna's fighting style and moved in a way that barely gave Sukuna enough time to block.

Sukuna (Thoughtfully): Or his energy reserves are just that great.

Sukuna jumped backwards with Meruem following behind him. The 2 exchanged in hand to hand combat with Meruem's attacks growing more precise. Sukuna at the same time though continued to improve using the increase of his Domain to his advantage. Despite Meruem attacking with his hands and tail, Sukuna's improved stats in his Domain along with him being unable to use Nen for offense continued to be a problem for Meruem.

Sukuna's increased power gave him the upper hand in their fist fight with him punching away Meruem. He continued pressuring Meruem with Sukuna unleashing a flurry of punches and combos before Meruem could fight back. With one last punch, Meruem was knocked away. As Meruem recovers he tries to figure out how he could fight offensively. After some time he had his answer through his Menthuthuyoupi's signature ability. Though he had very little experience in using his guard's power in the way he was hoping, Meruem figured out a possible solution.

He leaped forward towards Sukuna and just before he got up into his face, he sprung up above the radius for Malevolent Shrine and was far above Sukuna to where he could not see him. Meruem sprouted wings to fly even higher before retracting them when he's far above the clouds. He then flew downwards using Metamorphosis to increase the amount of mass that his body had so his reentry would be quicker and stronger.

On the floor, Sukuna thought Meruem would try to unleash a Rage Blast once again. In fact Sukuna believed it was finally time for him to summon his strongest Shikigami, fully prepared for when Meruem destroys his Domain a second time.

Sukuna: You've done well so far Chimera Ant. Though I believe this is where our battle ends.

Sukuna made a new gesture with his hands in an attempt to summon his strongest Shikigami.

Sukuna: With this treasure, I summon...

It was then that Sukuna finally saw Meruem. Only this time, his appearance appeared much bigger and his body was on fire on account for his falling speed. In no time at all, he reentered the Domain with the slashes cutting open his extra body parts. But Meruem thought of a way to fight back with offense, and Sukuna caught on as well.

Sukuna (Thoughtfully): I see... By utilizing the same method that granted him wings, he's using it to create another layer for protection. As my slashes cuts through them, he's just as quickly repairing as to not damage his central body. A rather difficult task that grants him offense while simultaneously granting him defense.

Meruem used Nen on his feet to further propel him to Sukuna. He crashed into him with immense force and prevented him from fully summoning his next Shikigami. The impact damaged Sukuna to the point where he once again couldn't maintain Malevolent Shrine causing the Domain to collapse.

Meruem wasn't going to give Sukuna another chance to reignite his lost Curse Energy so using his new bulk he pummeled Sukuna with a barrage of punches. With each blow, Sukuna would lose massive amounts of blood with one of Meruem's punches even breaking off his jaw. Meruem grabbed him with his tail and flung him into the nearby debris.

Sukuna now could barely move but Meruem still would not allow him to heal. He jumped in the air to crush Sukuna but when he came down, Sukuna used the last of his strength to block Meruem's arms aimed at his body. He caught them but the resulting weight of the attack caused the ground beneath him to crater.

Meruem then attempted to finish him off with his tail but just before he could slice Sukuna's head off, it was stopped by another hand. This confused Meruem but he didn't have enough time to think as he was decked in the stomach by another fist. Meruem was pushed back and now he saw what Sukuna had done to himself.

Sukuna: I wasn't planning on doing this so soon, but you've earned it Chimera Ant.

Sukuna appeared bigger, now with an additional 2 arms, pink hair, and his top was destroyed, showcasing another mouth. On top of that, it appeared that his once previous wounds have fully recovered and giving Sukuna an opportunity to reignite his Innate Technique. Sukuna had assumed his true form.

Meruem tried to overpower Sukuna again but his capabilities were much greater than before. Sukuna aimed for his stomach and delivered a powerful punch but something different happened. In the span of a microsecond, an overwhelming surge of Curse Energy fueled the punch, delivering a punch 2.5 times stronger than normal.

This was the result of Black Flash. This power sent Meruem backwards with his additional mass from Metamorphosis becoming undone. Sukuna's newfound power along with Black Flash helped revitalize his Cursed Energy along with entering a zone like state. The 2 entered hand to hand with Sukuna landing another Black Flash that destroyed the final amount of additional mass.

Despite his incredible will, Meruem was starting to flatter physically. The wounds from his battle were starting to take a toll on him as made evident when Sukuna landed another Black Flash. The impact made Meruem cough up blood and launched him through the battlefield. Despite his pain, Meruem refused to give up but as he looked at Sukuna, he noticed a wheel appearing above him along with Sukuna chanting to himself.

Sukuna: With this treasure, I summon...

Meruem (Thoughtfully): What's with that wheel? Another one of his monster's abilities?

Meruem activated his Nen to get a feeling of this new power but as he did, another being from right behind him appeared, revealing itself as another Shikigami from the Ten Shadows Technique. He dodged his assault at the last second and saw what it was. It was a giant white creature with pants and a sword on its right arm.

Sukuna: Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga.

Sukuna then moved his arms to summon another Shikigami for good measure.

Sukuna: Consider this as my appreciation for you King. You've forced me to use my power to its fullest.

Sukuna then summoned another beast that has many qualities of many of his other Shikigamis. This would include an improved Nue to be the base for the merged Shikigami, along with the powers of the Great Serpent, Tiger Funeral, and Rounding Deer.

Sukuna: Nue: Totality - Merged Beast Agito.

Just then a towering and muscular humanoid shikigami with a feathered mane, a mask over its face that resembles Nue's, feathered arms that end in claws, black antlers that protrude from its head, a feminine torso with black stripes, tiger-like feet, and a tail that ends in a snake's head appeared. Oh and this creature also sported pants. This was Agito.

Sukuna: What do you say to this Chimera Ant? Think you have what it takes to face off against my Shikigamis?

Meruem looked at his foes. Blood was dripping down his left eye but he brushed it off. He then examined the blood on his hand, noticing that this is truly the first time he was in such a damaged state. With that, Meruem's resolve was clear. He outputted more Nen than he ever did previously with it causing the ground to shake as a side effect.

It also had another effect. The overwhelming amount of Nen caused Sukuna's body to freeze up. It was as if he was truly feeling the immeasurable bloodthirsty personality that Meruem was feeling at that moment. Meruem took a few steps forward to finish the fight with his full power.

Meruem: Bring it.

Sukuna then gained the will to push through the immense Nen pressure. Mahoraga and Agito raced towards Meruem to engage in combat. Meruem was now facing 2 bigger foes at the same time. When faced with Agito he amplified his Tail by using Ren that sliced through the Shikigami like wet paper. However Agito utilized the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal his wounds and countered back against Meruem.

Meruem was back on the defensive but as he was facing Agito head on, Mahoraga came from behind to slice him with his blade. Meruem was able to fight back by using his tail, this time for defense, to block the blade. Meruem was rapidly shifting between who his targets were in order to maximize his Nen use. From above was Sukuna who fired off waves of Dismantles but thanks to En, Meruem could feel his presence without looking at him.

Meruem then moved Mahoraga in the way to take the hit but it regenerated from the slashes. There was a downside in him doing this however. Even with Meruem's immense Nen skill, he cannot use En alongside his offensive and defensive Nen. Thankfully he was able to multitask with who he needs to focus on.

So he continued to use his En to keep track of Sukuna using Dismantle and as he did, Meruem's movement grew faster and sharper with him now being able to dodge Agito and Mahoraga's swings without needing to look at them. His En allowed him to also keep track of Mahoraga and Agito but he improved to the point to where he no longer needed to keep up En. It gave him an opportunity to use Ko for a pure offensive attack against the Shikigamis.

He landed a direct punch on Agito which caused the monster to explode but due to the Reverse Cursed Technique he was able to recover the attack. It did however launch him back but that was when Sukuna took its place and engaged in combat with Meruem alongside Mahoraga. Meruem tried to focus his attention back onto Sukuna as he predicted that if he were to die, then the rest of the Shikigami would die as well.

Meruem infused his fist with Ko once again to attack Sukuna but Mahoraga took the damage instead by blocking it with his arm. Mahoraga raised its arm before slamming it down but Meruem blocked it with his Tail infused with Nen. Sukuna got behind him and tried to land a Dismantle but Meruem ducked, causing it to hit Mahoraga instead.

By this point Agito recovered from the last attack and was charging at Meruem. Meruem wrapped his tail around Mahoraga's leg and tossed it at Sukuna to temporarily stun him. He focused his attention on Agito while releasing his Nen. When alongside Mahoraga, Agito was able to fight fairly well against the Chimera Ant King. However, by itself Agito did little to no damage to Meruem. Meruem was maneuvering around every attack Agito was doing while hitting it with enough force to cause insufferable damages to it.

The Reverse Cursed Technique helped it heal its wounds but offered little for offense. Meruem rushed in quickly using his Ren to punch through Alito's stomach but this was when Agito had its chance. He grabbed hold of Meruem and used the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal itself with Meruem's arm still stuck inside. With Meruem in its arms he unleashed a way of electricity throughout its body to fry Meruem. The Chimera Ant screamed in pain as he released his Nen in the same fear striking offense as he did previously but Agito's electricity would not stop.

Mahoraga recovered and rushed down Meruem but before he could do that, Meruem used his Rage Blast in the same AOE format as he did previously to destroy Alito's body and caused great pains to Mahoraga. With Agito taken out, he focused his attention back onto Mahoraga. The Shikigami healed its wounds but that was when Meruem unleashed another Rage Blast that made a giant hole in its body.

Mahoraga fell to the ground but that was when Sukuna landed his 4th Black Flash, sending Meruem to the floor. He got up from it but after that hit it was clear that he was nearing his limit.

Sukuna: For someone who seems to lack the ability to heal themselves, it's admirable that you've lasted so long with so many wounds. However... it seems your pain is starting to take effect.

Meruem got to his feet, holding onto the part that got hit by Black Flash. Meruem took a moment to analyze the situation.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): He's right. Though his earlier attacks only left small scratches on my body, given how much he's inflicted since then, those wounds are starting to getting bigger.

The small cut on his face from earlier grew bigger as a result of him pushing his body along with additional damage he was inflicted with. Even the cut on his leg was getting worse. And that's not taking into account the small amounts of cuts he had when he temporarily dropped his Ken against the first Domain Expansion. Meruem's body was truly reaching it's limits.

Though even in this dire time, Meruem's mind remained hyper active as always. He tried to predict what was going to happen in order to minimize his damages.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): Given how damaged I am, my next course of action must either to preserve my body with Nen defenses or try to finish this fight before it's too late. However this man's body doesn't seem wounded. Likely due to his healing ability. If I try to drag out the fight to make him tired he would just recharge his energy, but these wounds would only get worse if I push myself.

Meruem decided on what to do and charged straight at Sukuna.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): Given my current situation, he's likely going to finish me off. So in that case...

Meruem threw his hands infused with Nen at Sukuna who grabbed them. With his other pair he moved them together but before he could do that, Meruem's tail got in the way which was also infused with Nen.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): I can't let him move his hands!

Sukuna, while holding on to Meruem's hands and tail, unleashed Dismantle but the attack didn't pierce the Nen. Sukuna then caught on to what Meruem was trying to do.

Sukuna (Thoughtfully): Impressive. Instead of using his aura for offense he's instead using it for a defensive maneuver. If he's doing that, then he must be trying to prevent me from opening my Domain.

The 2 continued in hand to hand with Meruem now trying not to harm Sukuna, but instead prevent him from using Domain Expansion. His fists and tail are infused with new to protect those body parts to prevent himself from being slashed. Meruem's analytical mind proved effective as he would keep successfully preventing Sukuna from using his Domain hand sign.

Meruem head butted Sukuna, not giving him a chance to retaliate. He's hoping that if he can keep up the pressure on Sukuna, he'll find an opportunity to remove his hands while also not giving him an opportunity to heal them with the Reverse Cursed Technique. Meruem landed a devastating blow to his stomach and followed it up with a Colley of fast punches and tail hits.

This left Sukuna with no opportunities to expand his Domain but he knew that he could still do it but it required him to do something drastic. Meruem once again didn't let his hands touch but that was when he saw Sukuna's upper right hand make a different hand gesture. His index and middle finger crossed each other. A little trick, but an effective move.

Sukuna: Domain Expansion. Malevolent Shrine.

His domain opened once again with Meruem once again going back on the defenses with Ken. This caused him to focus less on attacking Sukuna and more on protecting his body. Meruem was unsure on how Sukuna was able to summon his Domain without using his previous hand gestures. This sudden change caused Meruem to be 0.1 seconds too slow to put up his Ken so his body was getting sliced during that split timeframe.

Meruem: Again? But how?

In order to makeup for not being able to use his regular hand gesture to summon Malevolent Shrine, Sukuna had imposed a Binding Vow onto himself to compensate. The conditions of which was to change his hand gesture that activated his Domain while also changing the effective range of Malevolent Shrine. His Domain, which was once extended to 200 meters in radius, was cut down to a mere 50 meters radius. In exchange for this however it increases the proficiency of his Domain, allowing Sukuna to focus it more on Meruem. The condition also included him to set up the perfect conditions to allow him to fire off his Divine Flames at its fullest capacity.

However, because of Meruem's previous assault on him along with Sukuna not having the time to heal himself with Reverse Cursed Technique beforehand, he cannot maintain his Domain for as long as before. Given his damages, Sukuna deduced that he has a little under 2 minutes before his Domain collapses.

Meruem: Your condition gives off the impression that you cannot keep this up for as long as you did previously. Even as I am now, I am more than capable of holding out until this area collapses.

Meruem jumped into the air in order to destroy the Domain for a 3rd time, but Sukuna had thought of a backup plan.

Sukuna: Make no mistake, Chimera Ant. As you've fought me and learned how to counter my techniques, I too have learned from our battle. Which is why...

Sukuna gave a devilish grin.

Sukuna: You won't be escaping this time.

Meruem was nearly at the top of the Domain but before he could escape, something was behind him. Meruem only got a mere glimpse of who it was but even in that split second of him seeing who it was, it was none other than Mahoraga. The Shikigami raised its arm and slammed down on Meruem, knocking him to the ground.

Meruem recovered with Mahoraga still pressuring him. Mahoraga raised its blade to slash Meruem, but the Chimera Ant heightened his Ken to protect him from both him and Malevolent Shrine. Unfortunately even with this added defenses, the blade pierced right through it and sliced off Meruem's left hand.

Meruem was in immense pain but he couldn't afford to let it slow him down. He jumped back with Sukuna right behind him. Meruem swung his tail with Sukuna catching it while chanting.

Sukuna: Dragon Scales... Repulsion... Paired Falling Stars...

Sukuna used a Dismantle that cut right through Meruem's Ken and sliced off his tail, leaving only a foot long remaining of it. Sukuna and Mahoraga both jumped Meruem and punched him to the ground and across the Domain. Meruem still had his Ken up but he was starting to feel exhausted. In his mind, he tried to make sense out of what just happened.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): What's going on? My Nen is failing. That beast... I thought I took care of it. Wait...

Meruem noticed that Mahoraga was still getting slashed by Malevolent Shrine, but that was when the wheel above it turned. Mahoraga was now healing from the Domain while still having its body being slashed at. And this gave Meruem the knowledge of the Shikigami.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): Don't tell me... that thing's ability is to constantly adapt to whatever attack comes it's way? That can explain how he's able to pierce my defenses. And it looks like he can borrow that thing's adaptability to increase his slashes. But how did it have enough time to...

Meruem thought back to when he hit Sukuna in the second Domain Expansion. Sukuna uttered words that would allow him to summon Mahoraga. Meruem noticed that before he hit Sukuna, the shadow beneath him grew larger. It was then that Meruem knew.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): Back then, he tried to summon it before I stopped him completely. Even if it was only for a moment, it must have still experienced his power beforehand. He also withstood that slash from when I was fighting the other monster. But that also means that he must have withstood my Rage Blast from earlier. In other words...

Mahoraga was walking menacingly towards Meruem as he came to a conclusion.

Meruem: I was playing into his hands from the start.

Meruem was on the losing side of the battle and Sukuna knew this. Meruem was starting to lose his balance on account for all the blood that he had lost. This also hindered his concentration on using Ken, as small cuts were starting to appear on his body. Meruem for the first time was starting to feel tired and worn out. Seeing his foe on his last leg, Sukuna decided that it was about time that he ended the battle once and for all.

Sukuna: You've done well to survive this long. You have already surpassed my expectation of you and have easily earned my respect. However, I believe this is where our battle must conclude.

Sukuna gripped his hands as he prepared his final attack before his Domain collapses.

Sukuna: Open.

Sukuna's hands are now generating fire. As he moved it, it formed a fire arrow with Sukuna holding it back with his right arm while using his left arm to aim. This was the Divine Flames. And since Sukuna had 2 sets of arms, he chanted again with the mouth on his stomach to have his other set form another Divine Flames. The air around them was starting to feel hotter as well. All the dust and destroyed matter were turning into thermobaric explosives that will ignite once Sukuna releases his Divine Flames. He intends to finish things off there and then.

20 seconds remain before the Domain collapses and since the Divine Flames lack speed, he orders Mahoraga to subdue Meruem. Mahoraga was unleashing multiple different punches that passed through Meruem's Nen defenses like they weren't even there. At this point, Meruem's body was so damaged that he couldn't escape from the Domain, not with Mahoraga around. But it was when he saw the Divine Flames that a plan began to turn.

Meruem (Thoughtfully): Those flames. This might be my only chance. This beast has not experienced it. Given how he looks like he intends to use it to subdue me, he must be willing to sacrifice this thing in order to kill me. But in order to do so, I must somehow make him target his own monster. But considering how damaged I am I cannot do so without getting hit. If his attack is truly meant to kill me, then the upcoming explosion must extend at least beyond this area. Furthermore, this beast is likely now immune to most of my Nen abilities, so I can't use Rage Blast on both it and him. If I need his fire to attack the monster AND for my next attack to kill him, my next attack must kill both of them at once.

Meruem got up with a strong resolved look on his face. He knows what he must do in order to win. Sukuna sees this and grins in wanting to know what Meruem would do next. With 10 seconds remaining, Mahoraga charged at Meruem with Meruem dodging his attacks. Mahoraga threw a strong right hook with Meruem dodging and shifting his use of Nen from Ken to Ryu. This allowed Meruem to shift his body's use of Nen to focus on specific body parts protected by Nen while having his fist infused with the most amount of Nen he could muster.

Sukuna (Thoughtfully): Amazing. Even when he's on death's door he can still muster up that much energy? And that's not even compared to his body. It seems that he is shifting the use of his aura to certain parts of his body. His hands seems to be generating the most while keeping the use on the rest of his body to a minimum. However if he were to do this given how bad his body is, then the slashes from Malevolent Shrine will cut into his body in a matter of seconds. It seems he's hellbent on finishing me here and now. Don't disappoint me Chimera Ant.

Meruem punched straight through Mahoraga and aimed his arm directly at Sukuna with the intent of firing one last Rage Blast. Unfortunately for Meruem, the parts of his body less protected by Nen when using Ryu caused those parts to become sliced off. It began with his legs being sliced open and it reached up onto his body and then to his face. Meruem did not care for the pain he was in and then focused all of his Nen into his Rage Blast.

5 seconds remained before the Domain collapsed and with one last battle cry, Meruem fired his Rage Blast with Sukuna laughing with joy as he fired his Divine Flames. The 2 attacks collided and the resulting explosion encompassed everything inside the Domain and far beyond it. Sukuna, Meruem, and Mahoraga were all encompassed by the explosion as the blast extended to the far reaches of Shibuya and damaged the far away buildings.

A massive fireball cloud extended above the clouds that pushed it away before finally slowing down. Massive smoke covered the area with no one alive left to witness who had survived, if anyone survived that is. It was hard for anyone to see what happened but eventually the smoke did die down and one could see the aftermath of what had just happened.

When the smoke cleared, there was barely anything left of Shibuya for miles. The floor had been reduced to a charred and destroyed wasteland, similar to the Shibuya Incident of October 31st, 2018 only this time with much worse results. From a nearby collection of rubble, something emerged. It was Ryomen Sukuna, having miraculously survived the explosion but not without any scars to show it.

Sukuna's left side had been completely destroyed, with him using his 2 right hands to cover up his wounds. Sukuna had exhausted his Cursed Energy. So much so that he felt that he would fail if he were to try to reenergize himself by using the Reverse Cursed Technique exploit and use it to heal himself afterwards. Sukuna limped towards the battlefield as he did not know if Meruem had survived or not.

After some time searching, he noticed the destroyed remains of Maharaja's wheel, suggesting that the Shikigami had been destroyed. He walked over to it and as he did, he saw something that made him smile.

Sukuna: Pretty risky what you did there. Wouldn't you agree King?

Sukuna was now looking at what remains of Meruem, who also survived the explosion. But unlike Sukuna, he suffered far worse injuries as a result of if their battle. Meruem's body was completely blacked out as a result of the fire, but he also lost the lower half of his body; rendering him unable to move. For his upper half, Meruem lost his whole left arm and his right arm was getting worse. His hand, which is what allowed him to use Rage Blast, was disconnected from his arm, rendering him unable to use Rage Blast again.

Meruem opened his eyes but was unable to move. If he were to move his body in any way shape or form, it would result in his body being reduced to ashes. Even then, Meruem wouldn't stay alive forever as he only had a few moments before his body would give way. Sukuna walked over to him but instead of putting him out of his misery, he took a seat in front of him.

Meruem: Looks like you won. Had I known about that thing’s adaptation abilities, I would have focused on evasion rather than defense.

Sukuna: Yes, maybe. But that's not all. Had your powers been centered more around Cursed Energy and if you were to know the advanced applications of it, our situation might be reversed. Hell, had you had an ability to heal yourself, our last confrontation might have benefited you.

Meruem: Maybe. Though I'd imagine it would be just as bad for me if your Cursed Energy was more akin to my aura.

Sukuna: That aside, I was surprised by your last attempt. You knew that Mahoraga adapted to your defenses and that blast of yours, yet your focus was on me. Why not just aim for it before dealing with me?

Meruem: I took a gamble. I figured out that you had that monster adapt to both mine and your abilities. That way when you unleashed that shrine of yours for a third time, you had something capable of keeping me in it despite its reduced range. I guessed that if I killed you, both your shrine and that thing would perish too. In the end, I lost that gamble.

Sukuna: I envy your mind. It knows how to process information. Though I believe that even if you were to kill me then, Mahoraga would have fully adapted to your powers.

Meruem: So many unpredictable factors that I didn't know of.

Sukuna chuckled as he got up. He took a step closer to Meruem and extended his lower right arm. With his upper right arm, Sukuna ripped off the lower hand's pinky and hovered it over Meruem's mouth.

Sukuna: To reward you for your efforts, you may eat this.

As he hovered his pinky in front of Meruem's mouth, Meruem extended his tongue to bring it into his mouth. He took a few bites to savor the taste before swallowing it. He smiled.

Meruem: It tastes like shit.

Sukuna gave out a laugh, not expecting that kind of response.

Sukuna: Hahahaha. Guess those with Cursed Energy do not taste the same with those with that aura.

Sukuna turned around and began to walk away. But before long he asked Meruem a question.

Sukuna: Before you die, Chimera Ant. Tell me. What is your name?

Meruem took a moment to respond, knowing that he had only a few seconds left to live.

Meruem: It's Meruem.

Sukuna: Meruem. Light that illuminates all, huh?

Sukuna turned back at his once great foe.

Sukuna: Know this Meruem. While the world will not know of your immeasurable power and those who do will try to forcibly forget you, know this. For as long as I live, I will never forget the fight you had with me.

Sukuna turned away and continued to walk away. Meruem was exhausted and so he closed his eyes, ready to accept death. When the wind picked up, his body dissolved into dust. Before it reached his face however, he gave a smile. He may have lost the battle but he wasn't upset, rather he was more satisfied if anything else. This reminded Meruem of his Gougi matches with Komugi. Having played several matches against her despite him losing, yet still causing Meruem to be satisfied. Even though he may not have a rematch against Sukuna, Meruem accepted his loss with pride. And with that, the once King of the Chimera Ants has fallen to the King of Curses.

Sukuna: Farewell... King.

Results[]

Announcer: KO!!!

Boomstick: You know fights should really stop happening in Shibuya. Nothing good every happens there.

Wiz: This battle was unbelievably close. In fact just talking about how close this battle is wouldn't do it justice as a minor slip up for either fighter could result in instant death.

Boomstick: No joke. If these 2 were to fight a hundred times, both fighters would end up with a nearly even score.

Wiz: But at the end of the day, only one of them had a better chance at winning. So let's discuss the many different categories in order to deduce who would win. Starting with strength.

Boomstick: Both were insanely powerful. For Sukuna we can compare him to Satoru Gojo who was was stated to have enough power to power a country. For Meruem, we can compare his strength to the Poor Man's Rose bomb that he survived. Both clocked in at over 200 Megatons of Tnt. Though Gojo's output was 40 Megatons more than the Poor Man's Rose and Meruem barely survived that bomb whereas Sukuna shrugged off Gojo's strongest attacks with better results. So shouldn't Sukuna have the edge?

Wiz: Well at first yes but that was before Meruem absorbed the powers of Shaiapouf and Menthuthuyoupi. After absorbing their power he became astronomically stronger, with characters like Knuckles believing the only thing that can kill Meruem at this point was military power at the state level and his guards believing he could win battles with his sheer Nen output alone. Meaning Meruem's power after that would likely exceed that of the Poor Man's Rose and should make him capable of matching Sukuna in power.

Boomstick: It doesn't stop there though. Both of them had many ways to further amplify their base strengths in different ways. Whether it be from Domain Expansions, Hatsu, Black Flash, Ren, you get the point. But since their base power were already so similar, any power up these 2 gives each other would likely results in them being near equal in power regardless. Strength is more or less a tie.

Wiz: Now onto speed. Both were impressively fast with both of them being far superior to lightning timers like Kashimo and Killua. Taking things a step further for when Sukuna fought Kashimo he was able to dodge his attacks as the Mystic Beast Amber, which produced electromagnetic waves. And Sukuna was able to dodge these waves while heavily weakened.

Boomstick: Meruem may not have done anything like that but he still had some light speed arguments. Like how he can transform his En into photons to feel out his area. Heck other Nen users like Killua have even used their Nen to move their body at the exact time something entered his En space. So Meruem should be able to do the same but better.

Wiz: Granted these light speed arguments are more or less high balled estimates with little to no additional feats that could help make these speeds consistent. However even with their lower ends, with both being massively faster than lightning timers, these 2 would still be in the same range of speed regardless of the interpretation.

Boomstick: So speed is once again another tie. But who needs numbers for these 2 when they are more known using their heads over their muscles?

Wiz: That's right. Sukuna and Meruem were both incredibly crafty. Especially since in each of their worlds, intelligence plays a high factor when winning fights. Sukuna and Meruem are both extraordinary geniuses when it comes to using their respective power sources, and they've used their minds to win against seemingly unwinnable fights.

Boomstick: Both are incredibly adaptable when they fight. For example, Sukuna's battle with Gojo proved he can improvise on the fly. Even learning how to recover his exhausted Cursed Energy by witnessing Gojo doing it. He's even learned ways on how to bypass Gojo's broken Infinity and how he could counter his Domain Expansion so long as he touches him.

Wiz: Meruem is easily just as brilliant with his battle against Isaac Netero proving it. During his battle he was forced to go up against Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva, a giant Nen Buddha possessing 100 arms and ferocious speed and power. In combination with Netero's intellect, Meruem deduced that the defensive capabilities might as well be infinite.

Boomstick: And yet Meruem's own mind was able to figure out a weakness in Netero's pattern, allowing him to pierce through the defenses. You could make an argument that either one has the more impressive brain, but Meruem should take the edge here given how he's been able to adapt and learn at a faster rate. The same can't be said about experience however.

Wiz: Now Meruem is by no means inexperienced when it comes to fighting, but Sukuna has been around and fighting for much longer. He's faced foes with incredible versatile abilities and is incredibly efficient with how he deals with them.

Boomstick: Even against Mahoraga, a beast who's entire ability is to adapt to anything, Sukuna was able to match and overwhelm the monster. Against someone like that, Sukuna should be capable of holding out against Meruem until he figures out a plan. Especially given Meruem's inexperience.

Wiz: While Meruem is an incredibly smart and powerful fighter, compared to his world, he's a big fish in a small pond when it comes to fighting foes on his level. His only real battle was against Netero with everyone else not being able to fight back. Sukuna on the other hand is more reliant on drawing out his opponent until he get's an opening. Whether it's against Mahoraga or Gojo, Sukuna has always kept up against opponents with seemingly unwinnable chances at winning just like Meruem with Netero.

Boomstick: So Sukuna takes experience but Meruem takes intelligence. In other words, we're right back to square one.

Wiz: Given their incredibly similar capabilities, the only true way we can truly figure out who'd win is to analyze their abilities. But before we can dive into that, we need to discuss one more thing. Cursed Energy and Nen compatibility.

Boomstick: Now you're probably asking "why does this even matter?" Well seeing if they're compatible is necessary to figure out whether or not Meruem's Aura Synthesis can benefit from Cursed Energy.

Wiz: Especially when both Cursed Energy and Nen are very similar to how they are used. Both energies are normally invisible, users can augment themselves to make themselves stronger, they can be focus to specific parts of the body for offense or defense, both can be influenced by emotions, spreading their energies onto objects to make it tougher, and both can use their energies to create unique attacks.

Boomstick: Even down to the more obscure abilities like making vows and rules on your power to make them stronger that can really screw them up if they break it. So they are pretty similar on a surface level.

Wiz: But to truly deduce a massive difference we must look at the roots of their power, and thankfully there is a clear difference. In Jujutsu Kaisen, Cursed Energy is repeatedly stated to originate from negative emotions with Jujutsu Sorcerers being able to summon Cursed Energy by using even the faintest signs of negative emotions. Nen in Hunter X Hunter is rather different. Instead of it being powered by emotions, Nen is more or less described as life energy that Nen users can manipulate to gain better control over their bodies. The series makes heavy emphasis on how a person's life force plays a big factor into one's Nen, with one of the 4 major principles, Ten, even being used to help one's own life and body.

Boomstick: You can even see this with characters like Gon Freecss and Isaac Netero's use of Nen. With them both overusing Nen to the point where their bodies rapidly age and become much stronger or weaker as a result. The same can't be said about Cursed Energy, where overusing that power doesn't have any fatal consequences like with Nen aging the body.

Wiz: Try thinking of Cursed Energy and Nen like Math with Cursed Energy being 2x2=4 while Nen is 2+2=4. 2 different method that achieve the same results but the method for how they got there was still different. And that difference is their power systems source.

Boomstick: Oh god you had to bring in math into this very simple difference.

Wiz: This life energy that powers Nen is what likely powers up Meruem during Aura Synthesis. Because of this difference in Cursed Energy and Nen, Meruem's Aura Synthesis likely would not benefit from any Cursed Energy he might consume. So with the comparisons out of the way let's move on to the last category; Powers and Counters.

Boomstick: While their power systems differences mean that Meruem could benefit from Cursed Energy, it also meant that some of Sukuna's defenses were also just as pointless.

Wiz: When it comes to special defenses, Sukuna's techniques like Domain Amplification and Hollow Wicker Basket were specifically designed to counter other Cursed Techniques and opposing Domain Expansions. Against someone who's power system is different, these defenses serve little purpose.

Boomstick: But they didn't hold Sukuna back like it does with Meruem. Case in point; Healing.

Wiz: Meruem's pain tolerance is unbelievable but even he feels pain, with some of his more grievous wounds requiring outside help from Shaiapouf to recover those wounds.

Boomstick: So when Sukuna loses an arm and a leg he can just heal it back with his Cursed Energy, but when Meruem loses an arm and a leg it stays that way.

Wiz: Meruem's Nen Crush is an incredibly dangerous attack against the psyche, but Sukuna has dealt with similar mental attacks before. Most notable in a way to briefly withstand Gojo's Unlimited Void, which overloads one's mind with infinite information, Sukuna was able to transfer some of it's data input into Megumi's soul while briefly withstanding 10 seconds of exposure to Gojo's Domain which can incapacitate other people even if their exposed to 0.2 seconds of it. And in addition to Mahoraga's adaptation, Meruem's Nen Crush wouldn't last forever.

Boomstick: So the true loser here was Megumi. Poor guy. Speaking of the Big Raga, his ability adapt to any phenomenon meant that given enough time, he would eventually adapt to Meruem's Nen and bypass his Nen defenses. It's how he's dealt with other defenses like Gojo's Infinity so adapting to his Nen defenses would result in the same. And factoring in Sukuna's World Slash, which is a slash based on Mahoraga's adaption, he also had ways to fight back without his adaptive Shikigami.

Wiz: Though Meruem's Nen defenses certainly came in handy against Sukuna's attacks. Despite their differences they can produce similar results. Nen principles like Ken can help shroud his body for extra protection, similar to Cursed Techniques like the Falling Blossom Emotion, which coats the user in energy to protect against other Domains.

Boomstick: Which meant that Meruem could actually defend against Sukuna's slashes, even if he were to go up against Malevolent Shrine. Unfortunately this doesn't offer much in terms of offense so Meruem would only be delaying the inevitable if he were caught in Sukuna's Domain.

Wiz: Despite the many Nen principles it is incredibly difficult for one to use multiple different principles at the same time, especially with the Advance Principles. And while Meruem may have an incredible amount of Nen quantity, it's not unlimited and he will eventually run out.

Boomstick: Granted the same can be said for Sukuna's Cursed Energy, especially after using a Domain Expansion. But his battle with Gojo showed he can make a loophole around this by using Reverse Cursed technique to recharge his brain to refuel himself. Meruem couldn't really do this.

Wiz: But let's go back to the Cursed Energy and Nen compatibility. There are certainly good arguments that could say that they are compatible and that Meruem's Aura Synthesis would benefit from Cursed Energy. Even if Meruem could consume some of Sukuna's body parts, it is very likely that he will not be able to fully copy his abilities.

Boomstick: We can compare this to Yuta Okkotsu who's signature ability, Copy, works nearly identical to Aura Synthesis by needing to eat some part of his opponent in order to copy their power.

Wiz: According to Yuta himself, the more vital of a body part his Shikigami Rika consumes, the more effective it is for him to use that power. But if that body part were to be regenerated, the value of that consume body part would lose it's value. Considering Meruem must eat a large quantity of the opponent to fully copy their power and factoring in Sukuna's experience and intellect, Meruem would not have a good opportunity to feed off of any of Sukuna's body parts to where he can get strong enough to turn the tables.

Boomstick: And speaking of eating, that's like the last thing anyone would do if they were to face Sukuna. Since he can always transfer his soul onto another person's body by feeding them his body parts. This is exactly what happened when he transferred his soul from Yuji's body to Megumi's. And if they were compatible then that would mean that Domain Amplification can be used to nullify some of Meruem's techniques. So compatible or not, it would benefit Sukuna more than it would to Meruem.

Wiz: Meruem was an unbelievably powerful foe with his might and intellect proving to be an unimaginable challenge to Sukuna, but the King of Curses greater experience, versatility, and counters gave him the perfect tools to end the reign of the King of the Chimera Ants once and for all.

Boomstick: Sorry Meruem, it "Suck"una to be you but you just didn't make the "cut".

Wiz: They winner is Ryomen Sukuna.