Maki vs Sukuna is a battle between raw physical power and overwhelming jujutsu ability. Maki can challenge Sukuna in close combat and seriously threaten him with the Split Soul Katana, but the manga shows that Sukuna ultimately overwhelms her.
Maki’s Heavenly Restriction gives her exceptional physical abilities, while Sukuna has far greater versatility, cursed energy, techniques, and battle experience.
Key Takeaways
- Maki has Heavenly Restriction, giving her extraordinary physical abilities without relying on cursed energy.
- Her Split Soul Katana can damage an opponent at the soul level.
- Maki successfully surprised and injured Sukuna during the Shinjuku Showdown.
- Sukuna later landed Black Flash attacks and overwhelmed Maki.
- Their manga encounter does not establish Maki as stronger than Sukuna.
Maki vs Sukuna: What Is the Difference?
Maki Zenin and Ryomen Sukuna represent two very different approaches to combat in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Maki’s strength comes primarily from her physical body. After fully awakening her Heavenly Restriction, she gained extraordinary physical abilities and perception. She also became highly proficient with cursed weapons, particularly the Split Soul Katana.
Sukuna, meanwhile, combines immense physical ability with enormous cursed energy reserves, powerful cursed techniques, Reverse Cursed Technique, Domain Expansion, and centuries of combat knowledge.
Their clash is especially interesting because Maki’s abilities create a matchup that is different from the usual sorcerer battles.
Maki’s Heavenly Restriction
Maki’s Heavenly Restriction is one of the most important parts of this matchup.
After her complete awakening, Maki possesses essentially no cursed energy, but in exchange, her physical abilities become extraordinary. She can perceive her surroundings in ways ordinary sorcerers cannot and fight using speed, strength, reflexes, and cursed tools.
Her lack of cursed energy also makes her difficult for conventional jujutsu detection methods to track.
This becomes particularly important when she attacks Sukuna unexpectedly.
Sukuna’s Cursed Techniques
Sukuna has a much broader collection of combat options.
His primary offensive abilities include Cleave and Dismantle, allowing him to attack opponents with extremely dangerous slashing attacks. He can also use Reverse Cursed Technique to recover from injuries and possesses Domain Expansion.
That means Sukuna does not need to rely exclusively on hand-to-hand combat.
This difference is central to the matchup: Maki excels when she can get close and use her physical abilities and weapon, while Sukuna can fight at multiple ranges and combine physical attacks with jujutsu.
Maki vs Sukuna: Ability Comparison
| Category | Maki Zenin | Ryomen Sukuna |
| Physical strength | Extremely high | Extremely high |
| Speed | Extremely high | Extremely high |
| Cursed energy | Essentially none | Vast reserves |
| Cursed technique | None of her own | Cleave and Dismantle |
| Special weapon | Split Soul Katana | Multiple jujutsu techniques |
| Healing | Limited compared with Sukuna | Reverse Cursed Technique |
| Domain Expansion | No | Yes |
| Combat experience | Exceptional | Vast |
| Soul-based threat | Split Soul Katana | Powerful jujutsu attacks |
The biggest difference is versatility.
Maki is extremely dangerous in a direct physical confrontation, but Sukuna has considerably more ways to attack, defend, recover, and change the conditions of a battle.
Maki’s Biggest Advantage: The Split Soul Katana
Maki’s most important weapon against Sukuna is the Split Soul Katana.
The sword is dangerous because it can bypass conventional physical durability and target the soul. This makes Maki a serious threat even against an opponent with exceptional toughness.
This is also why her attack on Sukuna in Chapter 251 mattered.
Maki appeared after Sukuna had already been heavily engaged by Yuta and Yuji and stabbed him with the Split Soul Katana. The manga specifically frames the surprise attack as something that would not normally have worked if Sukuna had been fully alert to it.
So Maki absolutely had the ability to hurt Sukuna.
However, hurting Sukuna is not the same as defeating him.
What Happened in Maki vs Sukuna?
The actual manga encounter takes place during the Shinjuku Showdown.
Chapter 251: Maki’s Surprise Attack
Maki enters the battle after Sukuna has already fought Yuta and Yuji.
She uses the opportunity to attack from behind and pierces Sukuna with the Split Soul Katana. The attack catches him off guard and establishes Maki as a genuine threat.
This moment is sometimes used in power-scaling debates to argue that Maki is comparable to Sukuna.
But context matters.
Maki did not simply walk into a fresh fight against Sukuna and overpower him. Her initial attack came during an ongoing battle when Sukuna’s attention was elsewhere.
That distinction is important when evaluating the matchup.
Chapter 252: The Fight Continues
After Maki’s attack, the conflict continues rather than ending immediately.
The battle develops into a much more direct confrontation. Maki’s physical abilities allow her to fight Sukuna at close range, while Sukuna continues adapting to her fighting style.
Maki’s lack of cursed energy makes her unusual even by the standards of the strongest sorcerers. Sukuna becomes particularly interested in the nature of her Heavenly Restriction.
VIZ’s official chapter listing confirms Chapters 251–253 as consecutive parts of this section of the Shinjuku Showdown.
Chapter 253: Sukuna’s Black Flash
Chapter 253 is where the matchup becomes much clearer.
Maki and Sukuna continue fighting through the streets of Shinjuku. Sukuna uses the environment strategically, including debris and vehicles, while Maki continues relying on her perception, movement, and weapon skills.
Sukuna eventually lands a Black Flash on Maki.
The attack sends her through the environment and demonstrates that Sukuna can compete with her even in the close-range physical battle where Maki has one of her greatest advantages.
Maki later returns to the wider battle, but the encounter does not end with her defeating Sukuna.
Could Maki Defeat Sukuna in a True 1v1?
This depends heavily on which version of Sukuna is being used.
The Sukuna Maki fought during the Shinjuku Showdown was already dealing with the accumulated effects of several battles and attacks.
That means comparing Maki’s performance directly with a completely fresh Sukuna can be misleading.
Maki’s chances also improve considerably if she has the element of surprise. Her zero cursed energy and Split Soul Katana make her particularly dangerous against an opponent who does not expect her attack.
But in a straightforward fight where both fighters understand each other’s abilities, Sukuna has far more options.
He can fight physically, use slashing techniques, use Black Flash, recover with Reverse Cursed Technique, and employ his Domain Expansion.
Maki cannot match that overall versatility.
Maki vs Sukuna: Who Wins?
Based on the manga’s actual events, Sukuna wins the matchup.
That does not mean Maki is weak or incapable of damaging him. In fact, her performance demonstrates why she belongs among the most dangerous physical fighters in the series.
Maki successfully surprised Sukuna with the Split Soul Katana and was capable of engaging him directly. Her Heavenly Restriction gave her a fighting style that Sukuna found unusual and interesting.
However, the complete fight shows the difference between threatening Sukuna and defeating him.
Sukuna eventually overwhelmed Maki with his combination of physical ability, cursed techniques, battle experience, and Black Flash. Chapter 253 specifically depicts Sukuna continuing the assault after their direct exchanges and landing a decisive Black Flash.
The manga therefore supports a clear distinction:
Maki can seriously challenge Sukuna in close combat, but Sukuna has the greater overall combat arsenal and wins the matchup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Maki beat Sukuna?
No. Maki successfully injured Sukuna with the Split Soul Katana, but she did not defeat him. Her initial attack was a surprise attack during the larger battle involving other sorcerers. Sukuna later fought Maki directly and landed Black Flash attacks that forced her out of the immediate confrontation.
What chapter does Maki fight Sukuna?
Maki’s major confrontation with Sukuna begins around Chapter 251 and continues through Chapters 252 and 253. Chapter 251 features her surprise attack with the Split Soul Katana, while Chapter 253 contains the major direct exchanges and Sukuna’s Black Flash against her.
Is Maki as strong as Toji?
Maki’s fully awakened Heavenly Restriction makes her comparable to Toji in the fundamental nature of her physical abilities. The story deliberately connects their abilities and physical potential. However, individual combat outcomes depend on weapons, experience, circumstances, and the specific version of each character being compared.
Why can Maki fight Sukuna without cursed energy?
Maki’s Heavenly Restriction trades cursed energy for extraordinary physical abilities. Because she has essentially no cursed energy, she does not fight like a conventional jujutsu sorcerer. Instead, she relies on physical strength, speed, perception, martial skill, and cursed tools such as the Split Soul Katana.
Final Verdict:
Maki vs Sukuna is one of Jujutsu Kaisen’s most interesting matchups because Maki challenges Sukuna without relying on conventional cursed energy.
Her Heavenly Restriction, physical ability, combat skill, and Split Soul Katana allow her to injure Sukuna and make the fight genuinely dangerous.
Still, the manga’s outcome is clear: Sukuna ultimately overwhelms Maki.
The most important lesson from their fight is not that Maki is incapable of challenging the strongest characters.
Instead, it shows just how unusual her fighting style is and how Sukuna’s enormous combination of physical power, cursed techniques, healing, and battle experience gives him answers to threats that most opponents cannot handle.
I’m Ernest Hemingway, the creator and content expert behind EmojiAura.com, a platform dedicated to exploring emoji meanings, digital trends, and creative expression online. I enjoy helping people understand the hidden emotions and messages behind emojis while making online conversations more fun, expressive, and engaging.
