Mindset of the Strongest
Sukuna: “You should have burned everything you desired to a cinder without thinking to reach the heights of Satoru Gojo and not worry about a future or an identity...” Gojo: “I’m sorry Amanai. I’m not angry on your behalf. I don’t hate anyone. Right now, I can only feel the pleasantness of the world...” Kashimo: “...but that’s how a small fry/loser would think! I’ll kill even an immortal like you.” .............. Now let me preface this by saying, becoming the strongest doesn’t necessarily mean you have to become a uncaring calamity without attachments. It is certainly one way to do, as we see its Sukuna’s philosophy (at base from what we currently know). However, despite the extremities involved, there’s one central concept that makes one become truly strong. Its origin seems to stem from a moment where a sorcerer becomes “detached from all burdens.” Morality, doubt, fear, and reason. For Gojo, he experienced this moment when he gave up on defending himself against Toji (in the first fight) and concentrated on mastering RCT and that was when he touched upon the "core of cursed energy.” The story also tells us in the (Cursed Womb Death Painting Arc) that a jujutsu sorcerer’s growth curve is not linear. In fact, it can take a single moment to turn a weak sorcerer into a strong one. While we don’t know how Sukuna or Kashimo experienced this change in detail, we see that they adopt the overall theme in the manner in which they fight. Kashimo sees an immortal and disregards taking the easier route of waiting for Hakari’s Jackpot reward to end, in favour of risking getting killed in order to lend a profound victory against the impossible. We see Hajime get shocked that Sukuna has a divine Domain Expansion, with an open barrier, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to scrap with the King of Curses still. Sukuna is disappointed in Jogo for not using his inferior domain against his, and views that as weakness. In the same vein (while controversial) we see that Sukuna doesn’t back away from a fight with Gojo even without his full power. Whether at one finger or at 15. He has the unwavering confidence despite what the result could be. Against Yorozu, Sukuna also chose the harder way to deal with her. According to the story, Yorozu’s True Sphere was indeed capable of eradicating Sukuna if he didn’t expand his own Domain, but he instead leisurely put his new powers to use through the fight. Back to Gojo, aside from the moment he awakened, we see that he shares this same STRONGEST mindset in the way (the current fight) he REFUSES to teleport out of Sukuna’s Malevolent Shrine Domain range and instead instigates Domain Clash after Domain Clash until he wins. It doesn’t matter that he is knowingly burning through CE like a mf. He does it anyway, with confidence. A few other notable mentions are Daido and Miyo. I absolutely love these characters because while shown sparingly, they embody the mindset of the Strong too. Daido, in chapter 197 says: “I have no interest in what kind of person I am. I cut what I want to cut. I leave outsiders to decide what kind of person I am.” This can be referred to what Sukuna said to Jogo. Not worrying about an identity. In fact, Daido is a normal human without CE, but this philosophy made him so strong that with Soul Splitter, he carved Naoya in half, something Maki wasn't able to do pre-power up. Miyo is similar. His sole purpose is Sumo and he agrees with Daido in terms of identity and character. He cares for none of it. It's clear that he developed a Simple Domain that stalls time simply because of his ambitions, and in a way, he too has the mindset of the Strong. This is just my interpretation.