With this treasure I summon…
Summary:
- Ten Shadows is a technique passed down in the Zenin Clan.
- It allows the user to summon ten shikigami.
- They have various levels of strength, but Mahoraga is the most powerful.
The Ten Shadows Technique’s name can already give you some ideas about what it’s like: it has to do something with using shadows, and there are probably ten of them, right?
This technique is an inherited one and is passed down in the Zenin Clan. And as it’s been revealed, Megumi is a descendant of the clan, since he’s the son of Toji, that’s why he can use this technique.
How does it work?
The Ten Shadows Technique allows the user to summon various shikigami, monster-resembling creatures serving as familiars for sorcerers and aiding them in battle. When a sorcerer inherits the technique, they receive two Divine Dogs, and these are the shikigami that you could see by Megumi’s side straight from the beginning of the series.
There are also other shikigami that can be summoned with this technique. As you understand, there are ten of them, including Mahoraga, which is the most powerful. However, a sorcerer must defeat a shikigami to make it submit. That’s why summoning someone like Mahoraga becomes a challenge, as you could see in Season 2.
When a sorcerer succeeds in taking control over a shikigami, they can summon it during battle or whenever they need it, provided the user has enough cursed energy. And the Shadow Technique acts as an intermediary for this process.
If a shikigami is killed or destroyed, it cannot be summoned again. However, their powers can be transferred to another shikigami. For example, if one of the Divine Dogs dies, the other one inherits its powers, and can be summoned in a stronger form.
How powerful is this technique?
As we’ve seen in Jujutsu Kaisen, the Ten Shadow Technique might be quite powerful. The combined abilities of the Divine Dogs are enough to defeat a Special Grade curse or a Grade 1 sorcerer, which is really saying a lot.
Other shikigami might be less powerful, but still very useful. The Serpent, the Elephant, and the Rabbit, for example, can be used to restrict or overwhelm an opponent as well as to escape the battlefield.
However, the strongest of the shikigami is undoubtedly Mahoraga. This being is so powerful that no user of the Ten Shadows has ever been able to defeat and control it.
Even Sukuna had a hard time fighting Mahoraga in Season 2 Episode 17, and if that’s not the best way to describe its power, we don’t know what is.
Mahoraga can be summoned with the incantation "With this treasure, I summon..." and this phrase has become the origin of tons of Jujutsu Kaisen memes for spoilery reasons that we won’t reveal.