Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 Unmasks the Strongest Female Sorcerer Orchestrating the Culling Games

Small spoiler heads-up if you only watch the anime: this dives into manga territory. With that out of the way, here’s the deal — if you thought the Culling Game was just Kenjaku being chaotic for sport, Season 3 is about to correct you. The real target has been sitting beneath Tokyo Jujutsu High the whole time: Master Tengen. And yes, the show is finally making her the point of the whole operation.

Tengen wasn’t hiding for fun — she’s the axis the jujutsu world spins on

The anime, the manga, even Jujutsu Kaisen 0 have been dropping hints for years. Season 3 ties them together: Tengen isn’t just immortal and secluded because she likes caves. Her existence literally stabilizes Japan’s cursed energy. That stability is why the system works at all. It’s also why the Culling Game exists in the first place.

Kenjaku’s real plan: corner Tengen, then erase individuality

Kenjaku has been playing the long game since the Nara period, and he figured out something crucial a long time ago: Tengen’s immortality doesn’t freeze aging. Without a Star Plasma Vessel — think Riko Amanai — her mind slowly unravels and she evolves into something not exactly human. That’s the window he wanted.

The Culling Game isn’t random carnage. It scrambles cursed energy across Japan and forces Tengen’s hand. The end goal is ugly: fuse Tengen with humanity and wipe out individuality altogether.

The wild rules detail: Tengen could have ended the Game on day one

Here’s the surprising bit most people gloss over: Tengen could have blown up the Culling Game before it started. If she had used her barrier technique offensively even once — not just as a neutral stabilizer — the whole ritual would have collapsed. She refused. Breaking neutrality would risk the entire cursed energy ecosystem she created, the one that protects Japan. So she stayed the stabilizer and gambled with the world to keep the world running. Not exactly a light call.

She’s not a pawn in this saga; she’s the piece the entire board was arranged around. And yes, in-universe, she’s recognized as the strongest female sorcerer — with the most impossible job.

Season 3 is her season

This is where Tengen finally steps out of the shadows. Expect to see her full form, her actual power, and the weight she’s been carrying. She built the barrier network that keeps society intact; if she falls, civilization takes the hit with her. She has watched generations fight and die without interfering. That changes now.

No, she’s not going to fire off Hollow Purple like Gojo or carve up city blocks like Sukuna. Different lane. But her presence in the room matters more than any flashy matchup because she’s the one who understands the machine — and how close it is to breaking.

• Season 3 digs into Perfect Preparation and then pushes hard into the Culling Game.
• Tengen becomes a central player, guiding Itadori Yuji and the others and laying out Kenjaku’s centuries-long setup.
• The show will finally spell out why the jujutsu world works the way it does — and why Tengen is the lynchpin.
• Stakes check: if Tengen goes down, the safety net under modern Japan goes with her.

So, where does this land?

Season 3 isn’t just the Culling Game arc. It’s Tengen’s arc. She’s the quiet, reluctant god of this universe, and the door everyone’s been afraid to knock on is now wide open. Whether she steps up or slips determines everything that comes next.

Should Tengen have broken neutrality and stopped the Culling Game before it spun up? Drop your take below.

Jujutsu Kaisen Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Crunchyroll if you need a refresher before the chaos starts back up.