Warning: Contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen chapter #259.One of the biggest mysteries of Jujutsu Kaisen over the past few years has been the nature of Sukuna’s Divine Flame technique. It’s been remarked as one of the strongest techniques in Sukuna’s arsenal, but it’s notably removed from the slashing abilities of his Shrine cursed technique, and it wasn’t even properly named until recent chapters, only ever being referred to as “Fire Arrow”.

Jujutsu Kaisen chapter #259 saw the first use of Sukuna’s Divine Flame in almost three years, and with its return came the long-awaited explanation of how it works. Everything that was revealed has been a combination of new information and an expansion on previously established lore, and when it all comes together, Divine Flame easily stands out as one of the most powerful techniques in all of Jujutsu Kaisen.

The way things have played out makes it unlikely that Sukuna will use Divine Flame again, but even with its minimal use, the impact it’s had on the series cannot be understated.

Sukuna’s Divine Flame Technique Explained

Everything to know about Sukuna’s ultimate technique

Jujutsu Kaisen chapter #259 established that, on its own, Divine Flame isn’t that great of a technique. While it has incredible power, Divine Flame is very slow and has a short range, so it usually isn’t that useful in a fight, especially when Sukuna is fighting against multiple opponents. To counter that, Sukuna enacted a binding vow to give Divine Flame devastating synergy when used together with Malevolent Shrine, the drawback being that Sukuna can’t use Divine Flame while outnumbered without first activating Malevolent Shrine.

Thanks to Sukuna’s binding vow, when Sukuna uses Malevolent Shrine, anything caught up in the Dismantle and Cleave attacks of Malevolent Shrine is infused with explosive curse energy. When Divine Flame makes contact with that explosive curse energy, Divine Flame triggers a thermobaric explosion that engulfs everything within the range of Malevolent Shrine, and much like a real-life dust explosion, everything within its range is destroyed and death is all but assured for anyone involved.

The explanation of how Divine Flame works also explains why its usage against Jogo was different from its usage against Mahoraga. Despite being the same technique, Divine Flame caused far less destruction when used against Jogo than when it was used against Mahoraga, but now it’s clear that Divine Flame was so effective against Mahoraga because Sukuna’s Domain Expansion let him trigger a thermobaric explosion. Not only does that highlight how much work Sukuna had to put in to beat Mahoraga, but it also highlights just how powerful Divine Flame is and why it serves as his ultimate technique.

Why Didn’t Sukuna Use Divine Flame Against Gojo?

Was Sukuna holding back against Gojo?

With how powerful Divine Flame is, that begs the question of why Sukuna never used it in his battle against Gojo. Both during and after Sukuna’s fight with Gojo, numerous characters remarked on how odd it was that he wasn’t using it, and with the full explanation of how it works, Divine Flame could have easily been used by Sukuna as a trump card against Gojo. As such, it becomes all the odder that he never used it in their fight, even as he was being pushed to his limits.

Fortunately, Jujutsu Kaisen chapter #259 was quick to explain why Sukuna waited so long to use Divine Flame. One of the key moments in Gojo and Sukuna’s fight was their repeated clash of Domain Expansions, and it’s explained that all the adjustments Sukuna had to make to Malevolent Shrine’s range essentially sealed Divine Flame, as Malevolent Shrine became so small that he couldn’t generate anything worth using on Gojo. After that, the only issue was that Sukuna needed time to recover his Domain for maximum efficiency, and even that was sped up due to the pressure Yuji put on Sukuna.

Can Yuji Use Sukuna’s Divine Flame?

Considering the pairs other traits, it could be possible that Yuji can harness this technique, too

Another interesting theory surrounding this ability is whether Yuji Itadori can use it. Recent chapters have finally capitalized on the old plot point of Yuji gaining Sukuna’s cursed technique, albeit in a slightly different form, so if Yuji has his own version of Shrine, it stands to reason he would develop a unique version of Divine Flame, as well. That being said, it’s been noted that Yuji hasn’t had much time to master Shrine yet, so even if Yuji could use Divine Flame, he’s unlikely to use it during the final battle.

Sukuna’s Divine Flame Confirms A Big Theory About His Cursed Technique

The true form of Sukuna’s power

Divine Flame confirms a major theory about Sukuna’s cursed technique. While Shrine seemed to simply be slashing attacks, it’s been noted that the Japanese names for Sukuna’s attacks can also be translated in ways that relate to cooking; Dismantle and Cleave, for example, can refer to unloading and preparing ingredients, and the kanji used in the second half of Malevolent Shrine can also be translated as “kitchen”. Because of this, it’s been theorized, both seriously and jokingly, that Sukuna’s cursed technique weaponizes cooking as opposed to just being about slashing attacks.

Sukuna’s cursed technique being themed after cooking has gotten a lot of traction recently, and Divine Flame adds even more credence to that idea. The kanji for Divine Flame can be translated as “furnace”, which has very obvious relations to cooking, and as such, Malevolent Shrine embuying things with explosive curse energy before Sukuna ignites everything with Divine Flame can be akin to a chef putting food in the oven after completing all the prep work. That’s far too similar to be a coincidence, so in all likelihood, Divine Flame is the final confirmation of Sukuna’s cursed technique being about cooking.

All of that, of course, is perfectly in line with Sukuna’s character. Sukuna has always been characterized by his utter disdain for others due to how much stronger than everyone he’s been, so Sukuna’s cursed technique of letting him literally treat people like food he can simply mess around with in the hopes of satisfaction, is the perfect extension of his character. Divine Flame’s immense power and thematic usage are just the final point in all of that, and overall, it paints an incredible picture of what Jujutsu Kaisen’s final villain is really like.