Maki has the potential to be the ultimate counter to Sukuna right now. Here's how she might play a big role in his defeat.
For ages, I thought Maki was a terrible match up for Sukuna, but after rereading some of the manga, I realised how she could counter almost all of his abilities if the good guys played their card right.
How she can seriously hurt Sukuna:
Sukunas reversed curse technique is so broken that there is almost no way to really damage him, he has more cursed energy than anyone else in the verse and since he was refreshed by incarnating the chances of him running out are pretty tiny.
But there is one thing we know reversed curse technique can't heal. Damage to the soul
It's stated twice in the manga that Sukuna can't heal Mahitos Idle Transfiguration, a technique that attacks the soul directly.
And Maki just so happens to have a weapon that can cut the soul of its target, in fact this is even pointed out in the manga.
Since Gege points this out himself, I feel like there is some real grounds to say Maki might be able to really damage Sukuna.
How Maki would survive Dismantle and Cleave.
Other than the fact we see characters like Kusakabe, Higaruma and Yuji taking hits from dismantle and cleave, (all characters that should be way less durable than Maki).
I think there's solid evidence that Maki could even doge these attacks before they hit her, even though the slashes are invisible we see Mahoraga deflect one, meaning they do travel to hit their target and could be dodged.
How would Maki see them coming?
It's shown that characters like Maki, Toji and Daido can see invisible things by seeing how they affect the space around them, so her seeing Sukunas slashes makes sense.
How would she survive Sukunas domain?
Since Sukunas domain target inanimate objects with no cursed energy as well as sorcerer's, it's one of the few that Maki isn't immune too, so how would she survive?
Well there is one thing we've seen able to dispel domain expansions and can be used freely only by someone like Maki.
The Inverted Spear of Heaven!
Toji dispels this cursed spirit's innate domain by bringing out the Inverted Spear.
No, Tengen says Gojo either sealed it or destroyed it, we don't know which
While Gojo definitely wouldn't want the higher ups to know about a weapon that could counter him, I don't think he would destroy something as unique and valuable as the spear. He probably hid it somewhere, only he could get it.
In the time between Gojo getting unsealed and his fight with Sukuna, I think it's fully possible he would retrieve the spear and give it to Maki, seeing how she had awakened and knowing how well Toji used it.
If he did give it to her, and Sukuna tries to open his domain, it would collapse as long as the blade is exposed to it.
Finally, how would she get close enough to strike?
As much as I love Maki, she is not on Sukuna's level of speed and in a one on one fight she would never get close enough to hit him, but if he was distracted by a bigger target, then she could land a sneak attack since she's basically undetectable.
And who's a better distraction then Yuta Okkotsu, he is constantly described as having overwhelming cursed energy and with Rika manifested that's only going to be more extreme.
Sukuna doesn't have the Six Eyes and remember Gojo was the only person to ever notice Toji when he was standing behind him, I think that while Yuta holds off Sukuna there is a perfect opportunity for Maki to land a clean hit with the Soul Split Katana.
Maki is the only heavy hitter that's been completely absent from the Sukuna fight so far, and I really hope Gege uses her to her full potential here, since he loves Toji comparisons a parallel to this shot would be awesome to see
I don't think Maki will be the one to defeat Sukuna, that has to be Yuji, but I hope she gets to at least do some serious damage that lets Yuji have an actual fighting chance.
Of course Gege could pull some bullshit "I had a perfect counter to this from 1000 Years ago" again, but I hope he doesn't
