Chapter Summaries

Giyu Tomioka overwhelmed the three Lower Rank demons after questioning their slaughter of the village, then killed them one by one. With the demons gone, he turned back toward Gyomei Himejima and the Kocho Sisters as dawn began to break.

• Jinhua, Yeshu, and Yuelian confronted Giyu and tried to justify killing villagers and targeting him.
• Giyu’s Water Breathing aura suppressed the demons, and he vowed they would not leave alive.
• Giyu used Water Breathing to expose Yeshu’s shadow escape and beheaded him.
• Giyu cut through Yuelian’s threads and killed her with a swift strike.
• Giyu pierced the weakened Jinhua, whose body crumbled into purple-black embers.
• After killing all three demons within moments, Giyu sheathed Azure Tide and turned toward Gyomei Himejima and the Kocho Sisters.

After the battle, the Kakushi arrived to manage the ruins and record evidence while Kanae and Shinobu discovered their parents had died. Giyu watched the grieving sisters and steadied himself with his duty as a Hashira.

• Fujisawa Kōtarō arrived with the Kakushi and reported that all the Lower Rank demons except Lower Rank Five had perished.
• Giyu ordered Fujisawa to deal with the scene, and the Kakushi split into teams to help survivors, clear the battlefield, and collect evidence.
• Kanae and Shinobu found their ruined home and uncovered their parents’ bodies beneath shrouds.
• Kanae and Shinobu mourned their parents, and Kanae asked where they could go from there.
• Giyu regretted that he had not arrived sooner, then recalled Master Urokodaki’s counsel and resolved not to let sorrow or guilt cloud his judgment.

Giyu and Gyomei helped Kanae and Shinobu bury their parents and learned that the sisters’ relatives would take them in. As the village recovered from the demon attack, Giyu reflected that the battle against the darkness would continue.

• Giyu observed Gyomei healing from his injuries and congratulated him on qualifying for promotion to Hashira after defeating Lower Rank Three.
• Gyomei asked Giyu to help the Kocho Sisters bury their parents, and Giyu agreed after remembering his own sister’s funeral.
• Giyu carried Shinobu while Kanae followed them to the cemetery, where Giyu and Gyomei helped bury the dead.
• Kanae thanked her parents and promised to care for Shinobu and keep living.
• Captain Fujisawa told Giyu that the sisters’ maternal cousins in a nearby county town had agreed to take them in.

After their parents were killed by a demon, Kanae and Shinobu Kocho asked to join the Demon Slayer Corps, and Giyu Tomioka agreed to take responsibility for training them. The sisters followed him toward Sakonji Urokodaki, beginning their path in Water Breathing.

• Kanae and Shinobu thanked Giyu Tomioka and Gyomei Himejima for saving them, then asked to join the Demon Slayer Corps.
• Giyu and Gyomei initially refused, warning the sisters that they were too young and weak for the Corps.
• Kanae and Shinobu explained that they wanted to protect others from demons, and Kanae's words reminded Giyu of why he had joined the Corps.
• Giyu overruled Gyomei's objections and said he would take full responsibility for training the sisters.
• Giyu told Kanae and Shinobu that they would learn Water Breathing from Sakonji Urokodaki, and the sisters agreed to follow him.

Giyu traveled with Kanae and Shinobu toward his master’s home, explaining Breathing Styles and the Demon Slayer Corps as they began to grow more comfortable around him. After Giyu rejected Kanae’s hope that demons could be cured and Shinobu teased him about her sister, the three continued their journey with their distance beginning to close.

• Shinobu urged Kanae to talk to Giyu, and Kanae approached him with her sister to break the silence.
• Giyu explained Water Breathing, Nichirin Blades, and how the Corps used wisteria, then learned that Kanae and Shinobu had studied medicinal herbs with their father.
• Kanae asked whether medicine could turn demons back into humans, and Giyu told her demons could only be stopped by cutting off their heads.
• At a stream, Shinobu asked Giyu what he thought of Kanae; he gave her an objective assessment and said she was pretty, though that would not help in a fight.
• Giyu led the sisters onward toward a mountain pass, while Kanae and Shinobu followed him with complicated feelings.

Giyu brought Kanae and Shinobu to Mount Sagiri to meet his former trainer, Sakonji Urokodaki. They watched Urokodaki train Sabito, then met the pair as Sabito noticed Giyu.

• Giyu led Kanae and Shinobu through Mount Sagiri and reassured them that Master Urokodaki was strict but kind.
• The sisters heard wooden swords clashing and learned that Urokodaki was training Sabito in Water Breathing.
• Urokodaki corrected Sabito’s Flowing Dance and compared his progress unfavorably with Giyu’s.
• Sabito used Twisting Whirlpool, but Urokodaki found an opening, disarmed him, and knocked him into the sand.
• Kanae and Shinobu hid behind Giyu after laughing at Sabito’s fall, and Giyu told them Urokodaki had already noticed them.
• Urokodaki turned toward the newcomers, and Sabito looked up and met Giyu’s gaze.

Giyu returned to Mount Sagiri with Kanae and Shinobu Kocho, and Urokodaki mistakenly thought Kanae might be Giyu’s romantic interest. After learning the sisters wanted to train as Demon Slayers, Urokodaki agreed to assess their aptitude the next day.

• Sabito greeted Giyu excitedly during training, but Urokodaki struck Sabito for getting distracted.
• Urokodaki welcomed Giyu home and praised him for defeating Lower Rank One in Blue Stone Town.
• Urokodaki mistook Kanae and Shinobu for Giyu’s companions and warmly questioned Kanae about her relationship with him.
• Giyu explained that the sisters’ parents had been killed by four Lower Ranks and that they wanted to learn Water Breathing.
• Kanae and Shinobu confirmed they wanted to join the Demon Slayer Corps, and Urokodaki agreed to assess them the next day.
• At dinner, Giyu told Urokodaki he had no romantic interest in Kanae, making Kanae blush and Sabito laugh.

Giyu woke Kanae and Shinobu before dawn and sent them on a timed run around Mount Sagiri, where Sabito’s traps would test their readiness to become Demon Slayer swordsmen. As the sisters disappeared into the mist, Giyu and Sakonji Urokodaki discussed their uncertain prospects, and Giyu went to hunt a wild boar for their breakfast.

• Giyu woke Kanae and Shinobu and assigned them a run around Mount Sagiri before eight, warning that Sabito’s traps could make them fail and leave the mountain.
• Kanae and Shinobu set off along the misty mountain path to begin the test.
• Sakonji Urokodaki questioned whether the sisters’ frail bodies suited the demon-slaying path, while Giyu argued they had no safe way back and wanted to fight.
• Sakonji Urokodaki suggested that the sisters join the Kakushi Division if they failed, and Giyu admitted he did not know how to teach them himself.
• Giyu vanished to hunt a wild boar for the sisters’ breakfast, and Sakonji Urokodaki marveled at his speed.

Kanae and Shinobu endured Sabito’s trap-filled mountain run and reached the cabin before the deadline. Urokodaki accepted their effort, and Giyu agreed they could call him senior brother Giyu as they followed him to breakfast.

• Kanae and Shinobu struggled up Mount Sagiri, overcoming Sabito’s traps while supporting each other through exhaustion and injury.
• Kanae encouraged Shinobu to keep going by reminding her of their parents, Giyu, and everyone who had risked their lives for them.
• The sisters reached the cabin at 7:58 a.m., passing the test with only five of Sabito’s twelve traps triggered.
• Sabito congratulated them, and Urokodaki told the exhausted sisters to get up and warm themselves.
• Kanae and Shinobu asked Giyu if they could call him senior brother Giyu, and he agreed.
• Urokodaki invited the sisters to wash up and eat breakfast, and Giyu led them toward the kitchen.

Giyu trained Kanae and Shinobu on Mount Sagiri, then demonstrated Water Breathing before leaving for a Hashira meeting. The sisters watched him depart and resolved to become stronger before he returned.

• Kanae and Shinobu completed Urokodaki's increasingly difficult mountain run and trained with Giyu, who corrected their technique and acknowledged their improvement.
• A Kasugai Crow summoned Giyu to a Hashira meeting, and Urokodaki asked him to demonstrate Water Breathing for the sisters before he left.
• Giyu performed all ten forms of Water Breathing, inspiring Kanae and Shinobu to aim for his level.
• At dinner, Giyu delighted in Urokodaki's salmon and daikon, revealing how much he loved the dish.
• Giyu said goodbye to Urokodaki and the sisters and left down the mountain; Kanae and Shinobu vowed to train hard until he returned.