Chapter Summaries

Kokushibo escaped Rasa’s golden-dust restraints by devouring Gyokko, who Rasa then sealed underground. As dawn broke, Kokushibo rushed to help Doma and Akaza, arriving as Minato’s group defeated Akaza and wounded Doma, with the rising sun threatening the remaining demons.

• Kokushibo bit into Gyokko to restore his strength, broke free of Rasa’s gold dust, and forced back the Hyuga Brothers with Moon Breathing.
• Rasa sealed Gyokko beneath the earth, while Kokushibo abandoned the fight and hurried toward the other battlefield as dawn approached.
• Earlier, Akaza fled Minato’s group after being pushed near death, while Doma battled Kyojuro Rengoku, Tanjiro, and the survivors’ defenders.
• Akaza and Doma joined forces against Minato and the others, but gunshots revealed that Rasa’s side had won and gave Minato an opening to cut off Akaza’s head.
• Minato shot off Doma’s legs and pressed his attack, but Kokushibo arrived and struck at him just as the first sunlight reached the battlefield.

Kokushibo and Doma resisted sunlight and escaped after Akaza’s regenerated head let him hold off Minato and the others. As Akaza wept without understanding why, Hoshiryu gave the woman from his memories a physical form, allowing him to see her.

• Kyojuro and the others watched Kokushibo and Doma survive the sunlight, while Hoshiryu realized Muzan might share their immunity.
• Kokushibo and Doma unleashed their ultimate techniques and fled as Minato and the others attacked them.
• Akaza regenerated his head and used his final form to block the pursuit, while smoke covered Kokushibo and Doma’s escape.
• Kushina knocked Akaza down, but he regenerated; Minato and the others stopped attacking when they saw him crying.
• Tanjiro sensed sorrow in the air, and Akaza briefly saw a woman from his memories.
• Hoshiryu gave the transparent woman beside Akaza physical form, letting Akaza see her clearly.

Akaza regained his memories as Hakuji, reunited with Koyuki, and chose to die, but Muzan tried to keep him under control until Hoshiryu freed him. Hoshiryu then continued the squads’ assessment and criticized Kushina for rushing into battle.

• Akaza remembered Koyuki and his past, and she embraced him as Hakuji apologized for failing to protect her.
• Akaza admitted defeat to Minato, then smashed his own head with Annihilation Style and waited for death.
• The Flame Hashira noticed Akaza’s regeneration had only slowed, and Hoshiryu revealed that Muzan was preventing him from leaving.
• Hoshiryu’s killing intent stopped Muzan and freed Hakuji, who left with Koyuki after they thanked Hoshiryu.
• Hoshiryu continued the assessment, and Kushina greeted him eagerly before he criticized her for charging at the enemy without thinking.

After Kyojuro Rengoku was saved with a premium Healing Charm, he invited Minato and the others to meet the Demon Slayer Corps' Lord, and they accepted. The chapter ended with a child in a wealthy family suddenly appearing to cause a gruesome attack on his parents.

• Kyojuro Rengoku collapsed from his injuries, and Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke rushed to treat him.
• Hyuga Hiashi used a premium Healing Charm to stop Kyojuro's bleeding and restore his minor injuries.
• Kyojuro sent news of the Upper Rank demon's defeat to the Lord and invited Minato and the others to accompany him.
• Minato and the others accepted Kyojuro's invitation and began gathering information while he recovered.
• A child at a wealthy family's breakfast stopped moving, then a fleshy whip appeared and smashed both parents' heads.

Muzan struggled with his fear of Hoshiryu, summoned the Upper Ranks to the Infinity Castle, and questioned Lower Two about his visions of a demon overcoming sunlight. At the Infinity Castle, Daki was shocked by the battered Kokushibo and childlike Doma.

• Muzan transformed in terror and rage, destroyed the hall, and ordered Nakime to summon the Upper Ranks.
• Muzan tested sunlight with his arm, then summoned Lower Two and demanded confirmation that a future demon overcame the sun.
• Lower Two reaffirmed that his Blood Demon Art had shown him that future and explained that he had guided Muzan to the Blue Spider Lily.
• Muzan recalled sending four Upper Ranks to capture Nezuko Kamado and resolved to eliminate threats despite his fear of Hoshiryu.
• Nakime reported that the Upper Ranks had arrived at the Infinity Castle, where Daki saw Kokushibo in tatters and Doma reduced to a childlike form.

Muzan punished Doma for the demons’ defeat, then approved Doma’s proposal to exploit the Demon Slayer Corps’ concern for civilians. A week later, Hoshiryu was still missing while Madara and Hashirama trained Minato, Kushina, and the others, whose conversation with Kyojuro’s group uncovered useful intelligence.

• Muzan crushed Doma’s head in anger, but Doma quickly healed and reattached it.
• Doma proposed exploiting the Demon Slayer Corps’ sense of responsibility toward civilians, and Muzan approved a plan based on the idea.
• A week passed without Hoshiryu appearing, so Madara and Hashirama guided Minato and Kushina in training.
• Madara and Hashirama resumed their fierce sparring while the others watched from the sidelines.
• The three squads chatted with Kyojuro and the others and unexpectedly learned useful intelligence.

Kyojuro taught Minato and the others the Breathing Technique, and the Hyuga Brothers discovered it could amplify their Gentle Fist by combining with natural energy. Meanwhile, Hoshiryu spent time with Hinata as the women watched dramas, and Minato's group reached Demon Slayer Corps headquarters, where a Pillar greeted them with suspicion.

• Kyojuro taught Minato and the others the Breathing Technique, which could absorb natural energy and strengthen its users.
• The Hyuga Brothers mastered the technique first and combined it with Gentle Fist to increase their attacks' power.
• Hoshiryu teased Hinata during her turn on duty, then comforted her as they spent time together.
• Kyojuro took Minato's group to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters for a Pillar Meeting.
• Before the group entered, a skeptical voice questioned whether they had really killed an Upper Rank and mocked their young members.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki intervened when Sanemi Shinazugawa challenged Minato and his companions, welcomed them, and gathered the Demon Slayer Corps' Pillars for an urgent meeting. The chapter ended as Kagaya announced that something extremely important had happened.

• Sanemi Shinazugawa spoke provocatively to Minato and his companions, but Kagaya Ubuyashiki stopped him and asked him to be polite to their invited guests.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki apologized to Minato and his companions, and Sanemi reluctantly obeyed his Lord.
• Shinobu Kocho urged Kagaya to rest, but Gyomei Himejima comforted the group and asked Kagaya to preside over the proceedings.
• Kagaya led Minato and his companions to the meeting room, where the Nine Pillars gathered and bowed to him.
• Kagaya told the Pillars that he had called them together because something extremely important had happened.

The Demon Slayer Corps learned that demons had overcome sunlight and began discussing an alliance with Minato and his companions. Hoshiryu arrived with Madara and Hashirama, and his ability to see the souls accompanying the Pillars surprised the dead and living alike.

• Sanemi vowed that the Pillars would kill the demons with their swords and fire, and Kagaya praised Minato and his companions for defeating two Upper Moons and driving back two others.
• Yaozai considered asking Minato and his companions for further cooperation, while Minato accepted the alliance because both groups aimed to kill Muzan.
• Hoshiryu found Madara and Hashirama after they had started fighting, then reproached them for leaving Minato and the others waiting.
• The Demon Slayer Corps mistook Hoshiryu and his companions for demons, but Minato and Kyojuro explained that they were allies and teachers.
• Hoshiryu saw the souls accompanying the Pillars, including Yuichiro beside Muichiro and the children around the Stone Pillar, and smiled at them.
• The souls realized Hoshiryu could see them and reacted with shock and curiosity.

Hoshiryu revealed the departed souls to the Demon Slayer Corps, allowing the Pillars to reunite with loved ones and bringing them comfort. Kagaya Ubuyashiki considered asking Hoshiryu to defeat Muzan, but Hoshiryu said Muzan’s defeat was Minato and the others’ trial and he would not intervene unless they failed.

• Kanao Kocho approached Hoshiryu as the souls’ representative and asked whether he could sense them.
• Hoshiryu made the souls visible, and Kyojuro reunited with Ruka while Shinobu Kocho embraced Kanao Kocho.
• Gyomei Himejima heard the children he had once cared for tell him they did not blame him, and he wept as other Pillars met their loved ones.
• Mitsuri Kanroji moved closer to Hoshiryu and began chatting with him, while Obanai Iguro accepted her choice.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki considered asking Hoshiryu to eliminate Muzan, but Hoshiryu said he would leave that trial to Minato and the others unless they failed.

After an Upper Rank Demon took more than a thousand people hostage in Yoshiwara and demanded Nezuko, Hoshiryu prompted Minato to use ninja techniques to devise a way to rescue them without surrendering her. The group settled on a decoy exchange and a coordinated attack, while Hoshiryu reduced Minato's assessment reward before relenting after Kushina pleaded.

• A Kakushi reported to Yaozai that an Upper Rank Demon had taken more than a thousand civilians hostage in Yoshiwara and demanded Nezuko.
• Tanjiro struggled with the danger to the hostages, while Minato and the others considered how to respond.
• Hoshiryu reminded Minato of the basic ninja techniques, and Minato proposed using a transformed clone of Nezuko as a decoy.
• Hoshiryu lowered Minato's assessment reward for his slow response, but relented after Kushina asked him to be lenient.
• The Pillars and Minato's group planned for the Insect Hashira to take the decoy to the demons while the others moved to rescue the hostages and eliminate the Upper Rank Demon.

As the Demon Slayers headed to the incident, Shinobu Kocho asked Hoshiryu to revive her sister, Kanao Kocho, but he warned that this world’s rules would cause her to die again. Shinobu recalled her sister’s plea to live on, while Hoshiryu struggled with the pain his warning had caused; they left their conversation with Shinobu teasing him.

• The group hurried toward the incident, while Shinobu Kocho kept glancing at Hoshiryu.
• Shinobu asked Hoshiryu to revive Kanao Kocho and offered to pay any price, even herself.
• Hoshiryu explained that the world’s rules would make Kanao die again, and Shinobu remembered her sister’s plea not to sacrifice her life.
• Shinobu steadied herself for the coming battle, and Hoshiryu worried that he had taken away her hope.
• Shinobu teased Hoshiryu about struggling to think and then called the effort handsome.

Shinobu Kocho discovered that the demons still feared sunlight and used Minato's clone to confirm it. As the Hashira prepared to attack the demons and rescue the hostages, a massive ice figure appeared around the clone.

• Shinobu Kocho brought Minato's clone disguised as Nezuko to the exchange, where a swarm of demons demanded that she hand over Nezuko before releasing the hostages.
• Shinobu Kocho noticed that the demons avoided sunlight and suspected they had not overcome their weakness.
• Shinobu Kocho warned Minato's clone that the demons would not honor the exchange and asked him to test their fear of sunlight.
• Minato's clone stepped into the sunlight, then shoved the negotiating demon into it, where the demon burned to ash.
• The Hashira realized sunlight could help defeat the demons, but the demons prepared to attack the hostages.
• A massive ice figure surrounded Minato's clone as the battle began.

The Pillars and Minato’s group fought the Upper Rank Demons while rescuing hostages, but the demons seized Minato’s clone and withdrew with Kokushibo and Doma. Daki was shot down as she tried to escape, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Shinobu Kocho attacked the demons while the Pillars emerged from hiding and destroyed buildings to expose demons to sunlight and rescue hostages.
• Minato’s group struggled against Gyutaro and Hantengu’s hidden forms, while Doma secretly supported the fight.
• Kokushibo burst from the ground, knocked Fugaku and Mikoto aside, seized Minato’s clone, and ordered the demons to withdraw.
• Doma emerged carrying Hantengu’s true body, and the two followed Kokushibo away.
• The Hyuga Brothers shot Daki in half as she tried to flee.

Minato and Kushina defeated Daki and Gyutaro, whose final quarrel led Hoshiryu to reveal their tragic past. After Daki disappeared, Gyutaro apologized to Koume and vanished too, but the chapter ended with both siblings appearing together in a dark place.

• Kushina severed Daki’s head, while Minato cut off Gyutaro’s head and discovered that Gyutaro could no longer regenerate.
• Daki and Gyutaro blamed each other as they faded, and Hoshiryu prompted Gyutaro to remember how he and Koume became demons.
• Hoshiryu showed the others Gyutaro’s memories of protecting Koume, her being burned by a samurai, and Gyutaro choosing demonhood after meeting Doma.
• Koume disappeared, and Gyutaro apologized to her before fading away in grief.
• The images shifted to a dark place where Koume stood restored to human form beside Gyutaro, who remained a demon.

Gyutaro tried to send Koume away from hell, but her plea and their childhood promise led them to face it together. Hoshiryu then questioned the gathered shinobi and Hashira about why Koume and Gyutaro received different afterlives, prompting them to consider how a person’s environment shaped their morals.

• Gyutaro told Koume to leave him and head toward the light, but she clung to him and reminded him of their promise never to part.
• Gyutaro remembered protecting Koume from the cold when they were children, and the siblings walked together into the sea of flames.
• Kushina and Shinobu Kocho reflected on the siblings’ fate and on the possibility of demons living peacefully with humans.
• Hoshiryu gave the gathered shinobi a make-up question about why Koume and Gyutaro had different endings despite both being demons who ate people.
• Minato suggested Koume’s age might explain the difference, but Hoshiryu said it was not the main reason and asked how a child would view murder if raised around it.
• Kushina realized that a person’s surroundings could shape their understanding of right and wrong.

Kushina and Pakura discussed why Koume avoided hell, prompting Hoshiryu to question whether humans and demons could coexist. In Infinity Castle, Minato’s clone detonated Exploding Tags to escape Muzan, who punished Doma for the failed plan before hearing his proposal to exploit the Demon Slayer Corps’ concern for human lives.

• Kushina explained that Koume did not consider eating humans wrong, and Hoshiryu praised her before noting her analysis was incomplete.
• Pakura suggested Koume’s brother had shaped her understanding and that her childhood and struggle to survive might explain why she avoided hell.
• Shinobu Kocho asked whether humans and demons could coexist, and Hoshiryu replied that Muzan would soon be gone and demons would cease to exist.
• Muzan recalled the demons to Infinity Castle, where his flesh whip attacked Minato’s clone; Minato’s clone detonated hidden Exploding Tags and disappeared in the blast.
• Muzan found no remains and blamed Doma for the operation’s failure, beating him before allowing him to recover.
• Doma told Muzan that the Demon Slayer Corps risked itself to save humans and proposed transforming high-ranking humans to help capture Nezuko.

Muzan accepted Doma’s plan to infiltrate humanity’s upper ranks and find the Demon Slayer Corps. At the Pillar Meeting, Minato outlined a strategy to seal Muzan and demonstrated the initial version of the Flying Thunder God.

• Muzan asked how Doma would locate the Demon Slayer Corps, and Doma proposed turning humanity’s leaders into demons to use their subordinates as informants.
• Muzan assigned Doma to carry out the plan and warned him not to return if he failed.
• Minato and the Demon Slayer Corps gathered to discuss their next steps, and Minato explained that Kushina and Rasa would use Sealing Techniques to trap Muzan while the Corps held off the other demons.
• Minato showed the group a special kunai, then used the initial version of the Flying Thunder God to teleport beside it.

Minato revealed that a Flying Thunder God Kunai had been planted near Muzan, then warned the Pillars that they were not strong enough to face Upper Rank Demons without intensive training. Hoshiryu introduced Yoriichi Tsugikuni as their teacher and led everyone to the training grounds.

• Minato explained that his clone had left a Flying Thunder God Kunai near Muzan so he could locate him for the final assault.
• Hoshiryu urged Minato to speak honestly about mission risks, and Minato told the Pillars that only the Stone Pillar could likely hold out against an Upper Rank Demon for long.
• Sanemi challenged Minato with his sword, but Minato caught his wrist and convinced him that the strength gap was real.
• Hoshiryu encouraged the discouraged Pillars by announcing that he had found them a teacher.
• Yoriichi Tsugikuni entered, revealed his identity, and was recognized by Kagaya Ubuyashiki as the swordsman who had once cornered Muzan.
• Hoshiryu told everyone to follow him to the place where they would train over the next few days.

At the new training ground, Yoriichi Tsugikuni told the Demon Slayer Corps Pillars that awakening the Demon Slayer Mark would let them grow stronger but shorten their lives. The Pillars accepted the cost, and the chapter ended with Hoshiryu beating Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha in a sparring match.

• Hoshiryu showed Minato and the Demon Slayer Corps the training ground that Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had built, enhanced by abundant natural energy.
• Yoriichi Tsugikuni explained that the Pillars could greatly increase their strength only by awakening the Demon Slayer Mark, which would make them die before age twenty-five.
• Sanemi Shinazugawa, Kyojuro, Shinobu Kocho, Tengen Uzui, and the other Pillars declared that they would accept the shortened lifespan to defeat Muzan.
• Moved by the Pillars' resolve, Yoriichi remembered his brother Michikatsu Tsugikuni and hoped he might finally be laid to rest.
• Minato and the others trained harder, while the Demon Slayer Corps watched Hoshiryu, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha fight using only taijutsu.
• Hoshiryu pinned Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha and beat them until neither sought another match with him.