Warning! Spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen’s Chapter 192.
While the Culling Game, Jujutsu Kaisen's version of Fight Club, in Chapter 192, the battle between Maki Zenin and the cursed spirit Naoya Zenin officially begins. Even as a cursed spirit, Naoya struggles to fight against Maki and Noritoshi until he turns into a cursed womb and reaches his final form.
Maki and Naoya first fought each other during the Perfect Preparation Arc. In exchange for Mai’s death, Maki’s body becomes incredibly strong with impressive physical abilities (and a presence like Toji Fushiguro). In return, Maki fulfills Mai’s final wish to destroy everything and slaughters the entire Zenin clan. Eventually, she comes face-to-face with Naoya, who fights Maki because he wants to stand among the strong, like Gojo and Toji, but refuses to acknowledge Maki’s power is on that level in Jujutsu Kaisen. When Naoya thinks he has proven Maki is a fraud mid-battle, she surprises him by finishing the fight with a single, destructive punch. Although Naoya survives the battle with his face caved in, he is killed by Maki’s mother when she stabs him in the back. Although he has the upper hand by being a cursed spirit, Maki’s counterattack with the aid of Noritoshi suggests that she has the potential to rid herself of the Zenin clan permanently with her friends’ . On the other hand, Naoya’s metamorphosis into a special grade cursed spirit indicates that his advanced abilities derive from his emotions rather than a birthright or something earned from training.
In Chapter 192, Naoya upsets Maki when he tells her mother she could not finish him off, leading him to return to match Maki's power in Jujutsu Kaisen as a cursed worm. He continues taunting her when he says, “do you think you can beat me when you’re so distracted?” before being brutally beaten by Noritoshi and Maki. Turning their back on Naoya and believing he is dead, their underestimation allows Naoya to turn into a cursed womb and reach his final form, a cocoon-like skeleton with tentacle limbs.
Maki and Noritoshi’s team-up suggests that Maki has overcome the Zenin clan’s antiquated views with the help of her friends, who also happen to have gone through a similar experience with the Kamo clan. Naoya’s final form and special grade status imply that his power originates from a lust for strength, unlike Gojo, born with limitless power, or Toji, who trained intensely to reach a rare level of physical prowess.
As the manga continues the Culling Game’s fights in the Sakurajima Colony Arc, mangaka Gege Akutami deepens Maki’s relationship with the Zenin clan and Naoya’s motivations as a cursed spirit. Jujutsu Kaisen uses Maki Zenin and Naoya Zenin’s fight to prove Maki is worthy and to emphasize how Naoya’s special grade status is not the same as the sorcerers he ires.
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