Chapter Summaries

Pei Lang abandoned his guns and challenged Rengoku Kyojuro to a samurai duel, using his Blood Demon Art to gain the upper hand. Encouraged by Kanroji Mitsuri, Rengoku unleashed Flame Breathing’s Ninth Form, Purgatory, as Pei Lang tried to shield himself from the killing blow.

• Pei Lang threw away his rotary machine gun, introduced himself to Rengoku Kyojuro, and drew his katana for a proper duel.
• Pei Lang used Blood Demon Art: War Wolf Formation to cloak his katana in shadows and surround Rengoku Kyojuro with shadow wolves.
• Rengoku Kyojuro destroyed the wolves with Flame Breathing’s Fourth Form, Blooming Flame Undulation, then clashed with Pei Lang in a stalemate that gradually favored Pei Lang.
• Kanroji Mitsuri urged Rengoku Kyojuro not to give up, reminding him of their promise to share a meal after the mission.
• Rengoku Kyojuro unleashed Flame Breathing’s Ninth Form, Ultimate Art: Purgatory, at Pei Lang’s neck, and Pei Lang wrapped himself in shadows to block the strike.

Rengoku Kyojuro defeated Pei Lang after his flames burned away Pei Lang’s shadows, then reunited with Kanroji Mitsuri. Rota asked Wind Sickle to train Kyojuro and Mitsuri so they could grow strong enough to face the Upper Ranks.

• Pei Lang’s shadows were incinerated by Rengoku Kyojuro’s flames, and Pei Lang accepted defeat before Rengoku beheaded him.
• Rengoku reflected on how close the battle had been and resolved to train harder, then comforted Kanroji Mitsuri as she cried in his arms.
• Wind Sickle acknowledged that Rota had won their wager on Rengoku’s victory and agreed to pay for Rota and the children in Tokyo.
• Wind Sickle and Rota discussed how Kyojuro Rengoku and Kanroji Mitsuri compared with past swordsmen, including Tsugikuni Yoriichi and Miyamoto Ichiro.
• Rota asked Wind Sickle to train Kyojuro and Mitsuri, and Wind Sickle agreed to help them gain the strength to contend with the Upper Ranks.
• Rengoku assured Mitsuri that his injuries were minor and invited her to join him, Old Heavenly Master, and the others for food.

After the mission, Rota, Wind Sickle, Rengoku Kyojuro, and Kanroji Mitsuri toured Tokyo and talked about the Upper Ranks. Wind Sickle treated the group to food after losing a bet, and the chapter ended with him joking about his depleted wallet and asking Rota for compensation.

• Kanroji Mitsuri invited Rota and Wind Sickle to tour the city, while Rengoku Kyojuro mistook Wind Sickle for a threat before learning he was a former Upper Rank who had left Muzan centuries ago.
• Wind Sickle warned Rengoku Kyojuro not to underestimate the Upper Ranks and to retreat if he encountered one.
• Wind Sickle offered to pay for the group’s food because he had lost a bet with Rota, and Rengoku Kyojuro and Kanroji Mitsuri ate their way along the snack street.
• Rengoku Kyojuro loudly praised each dish, prompting amused and awkward reactions from Mitsuri, Wind Sickle, and Rota.
• After the meal, Wind Sickle lamented how much he had spent and hinted that he would accept substantial compensation from Rota.

Rengoku Kyojuro became the Flame Pillar and received little acknowledgment from his father, then joined the other Pillars for special training arranged by Rota. The chapter ended with Rota revealing that their instructor, Feng Lian, was Upper Rank Two from the Warring States period.

• Kagaya Ubuyashiki formally named Rengoku Kyojuro the Flame Pillar, and the other Pillars congratulated him.
• Kagaya invited the Pillars to an evening event arranged by Rota, and they agreed to attend.
• Shinjuro Rengoku dismissed Kyojuro's news, so Kyojuro reassured Senjuro that he would shoulder the family's responsibilities.
• At the training ground, Rota explained that the event would help the Pillars understand their strength and announced Feng Lian as their special-training instructor.
• Rota revealed that Feng Lian was an exceptionally powerful Upper Rank Two demon from the Warring States period, shocking the Pillars.

Rota arranged for Wind Sickle to test the Pillars’ strength, and Sanemi Shinazugawa fought the Upper Rank demon first. Sanemi escaped Wind Sickle’s Blood Demon Art, but the effort left him exhausted as their trial continued.

• Rota introduced Wind Sickle as the examiner and selected Sanemi Shinazugawa to duel him first.
• Sanemi attacked Wind Sickle with Wind Breathing, Third Form, and Wind Sickle took the strike without dodging.
• Wind Sickle’s wounds healed instantly, and he explained that demons used their advantages and that Upper Ranks could regenerate rapidly.
• Wind Sickle trapped Sanemi in his Blood Demon Art, Howling Blood Wind, and swallowed Sanemi’s Fourth Form with the crimson storm.
• Sanemi broke free with Wind Breathing, Ninth Form, but the exertion left him breathing rapidly.

Sanemi Shinazugawa stopped fighting after realizing how far Wind Sickle surpassed him, and Gyomei Himejima stepped forward to test his strength. Their fierce exchange showed Gyomei’s power and left Wind Sickle eager to fight him seriously.

• Sanemi Shinazugawa sheathed his Sunwheel Blade and acknowledged that he still had a long way to go, while Gyomei Himejima told Kanae Kocho to trust him.
• Gyomei Himejima entered the trial grounds and introduced himself as the Stone Pillar, and Wind Sickle recognized him as the strongest among the Pillars.
• Gyomei Himejima struck Wind Sickle with his flail, knocking off his arm, and Wind Sickle regenerated it before asking Gyomei to show more of his techniques.
• Gyomei Himejima used Stone Breathing, Second Form, Upper Smash, forcing Wind Sickle to dodge as the attack cracked the ground.
• Wind Sickle launched Blood Demon Art: Gale Blood Blade, and Gyomei Himejima blocked it with his flail while Sanemi Shinazugawa resolved to catch up.
• Wind Sickle announced that he would get serious, and Gyomei Himejima calmly affirmed his confidence.

Wind Sickle tested the Pillars and Rota announced their grades, with Gyomei Himejima and Shinazugawa Sanemi rated excellent. Wind Sickle revealed that Upper Rank One surpassed him, then reassured the worried Pillars that they lacked the means to fight Upper Ranks for now.

• Wind Sickle attacked Gyomei Himejima with exploding storm spheres, but Gyomei shattered them with Stone Breathing and impressed Wind Sickle with his instincts.
• Giyu Tomioka, Tengen Uzui, Rengoku Kyojuro, and Kanae Kocho each faced Wind Sickle before the trial ended.
• Rota graded Gyomei Himejima and Shinazugawa Sanemi excellent, Rengoku Kyojuro and Tomioka Giyu good, and Tengen Uzui and Kanae Kocho ordinary.
• Wind Sickle told the Pillars he had held back and that only one of Muzan's Upper Ranks was likely as strong as him.
• Gyomei Himejima asked about the Upper Ranks, and Wind Sickle revealed that Upper Rank One was stronger than he was.
• Kanae Kocho worried whether the Pillars could face such an enemy, and Wind Sickle said they lacked the means to fight Upper Ranks for now.

Rota announced three years of special training to prepare the Pillars to fight Muzan, prioritizing Clear World and the Scarlet Blade while warning them against relying on the Demon Slayer Mark. He then told Wind Sickle to watch Kanae Kocho closely, anticipating that she would soon face danger.

• Gyomei Himejima asked whether the Pillars needed to learn the Demon Slayer Mark, Scarlet Blade, and Clear World, and Wind Sickle confirmed those abilities were crucial against the Upper Ranks.
• Rota announced that he and Wind Sickle would train the Pillars during their free time over the next three years, and Kagaya Ubuyashiki entrusted the training arrangements to him.
• The Pillars knelt to pledge their obedience to Rota, who explained that their training would supplement rather than replace their missions and real combat experience.
• Rota instructed the Pillars to focus on Clear World and the Scarlet Blade and to avoid activating the Demon Slayer Mark unless necessary because of its cost.
• After the Pillars and Kagaya Ubuyashiki left, Rota asked Wind Sickle to keep a closer eye on Kanae Kocho, who soon would face a tragic fate.

Rota ordered Wind Sickle to watch over the Kocho sisters after a divination, and Wind Sickle learned that Kanae had been assigned a mission against a Lower Rank Demon. Rota warned him that the mission was extremely dangerous and ordered him to protect Kanae at all times.

• Rota told Wind Sickle to keep watch over the Kocho sisters because of a divination, and Wind Sickle agreed to do so.
• Over the following days, Rota taught the Hashira to cultivate qi while Wind Sickle monitored Kanae at the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters.
• Wind Sickle saw Kagaya Ubuyashiki speak privately with Kanae and suspected she had received a mission.
• Kagaya told Wind Sickle that Kanae's target was a Lower Rank Demon, and Wind Sickle also learned that Tamayo's medicine still needed a crucial herb.
• Wind Sickle reported the mission details to Rota, who declared that it was likely extremely dangerous and ordered him to protect Kanae at all times.

Kanae Kocho and Shinobu traveled to confront a suspected Lower Rank Three demon while Wind Sickle secretly followed them. Their rest in a small town was interrupted when they saw a burly man dragging and abusing a purple-haired girl.

• Kanae Kocho told Shinobu that she had learned qi during training with the Hashira and explained that their mission target was Lower Rank Three.
• Shinobu admitted that she wanted to become stronger so she could help Kanae, and Kanae comforted her before they continued onward.
• Wind Sickle followed the sisters through the sunlight and reflected on his bonds with his friends and his past as a demon.
• The sisters stopped to rest in a small town, where Kanae teased Shinobu about attracting attention from nearby men.
• The sisters turned toward a burly man who was pulling a purple-haired little girl by a rope and scolding her.

Kanae Kocho and Shinobu rescued a little girl from a human trafficker, with Wind Sickle secretly incapacitating the man and then interrogating him. The trafficker revealed that he had been finding beautiful women for the Eternal Paradise Cult in nearby Jile Town.

• Kanae Kocho insisted on saving the abused little girl, and Shinobu agreed to help her.
• Kanae Kocho offered to buy the girl, but the burly man demanded 10,000 yen.
• Wind Sickle used Suffocating Space to make the burly man faint, allowing Kanae Kocho and Shinobu to take the girl away.
• Wind Sickle used Howling Blood Wind to carry the burly man into a shadowy corner and questioned him after he woke.
• The burly man told Wind Sickle that the leader of the Eternal Paradise Cult in Jile Town had hired him to find beautiful women.

Wind Sickle killed the thug who had told him about Jile Town and headed there, while Kanae and Shinobu rescued a girl, named her Kanao Tsuyuri, and reached the town. Kanae went alone to face the demon on their mission, only to discover that her target was Douma, Upper Rank Two.

• Wind Sickle let the burly thug leave, then killed him with a blade of wind and set off for Jile Town.
• Kanae and Shinobu cleaned up the rescued girl, named her Kanao, and let her choose Tsuyuri as her surname.
• Kanae left Shinobu to care for Kanao and went out at night to hunt the demon in Jile Town.
• Douma, leader of the Eternal Paradise Cult, ordered Lower Rank Three to lure Kanae to him.
• Kanae followed the demon’s trail and discovered that the man awaiting her was Douma, Upper Rank Two, leaving her fearing she might not return to Shinobu.

Kanae Kocho fought Upper Rank Two Douma and sent a Kasugai Crow a warning about his ice-based Blood Demon Art. Wind Sickle arrived just in time to save her and faced Douma.

• Douma attacked Kanae with freezing winds that damaged her lungs and weakened her Breathing Technique.
• Kanae struck Douma with Flower Breathing, Fifth Form, but her slashes barely injured him.
• Douma used Scattering Ice Crystals, and Kanae realized his ice and poison attacks threatened Demon Slayer swordsmen who relied on breathing.
• Kanae sent her information to a Kasugai Crow before Douma attacked her with Lotus Leaf Ice.
• Wind Sickle blocked Douma's attack with Howling Blood Wind, moved Kanae to safety, and confronted Douma.

Wind Sickle confronted Douma and overpowered him, but Douma escaped after recovering and using his ice techniques to cover his retreat. Wind Sickle comforted Kanae afterward, and she questioned how he had arrived so promptly, prompting him to begin explaining.

• Wind Sickle revealed himself as the former Upper Rank Two and easily countered Douma's Blood Demon Art attacks.
• Wind Sickle grabbed Douma by the throat and blasted his head off, then called Kanae over to help finish him.
• Douma recovered his head, created ice puppets, and attacked Wind Sickle and Kanae, but Wind Sickle blocked the attacks with a storm barrier.
• Douma summoned an ice Bodhisattva and used toxic mist to cover his escape while Wind Sickle protected Kanae.
• Wind Sickle reassured Kanae about her performance and told her they were friends.
• Kanae asked how Wind Sickle had arrived so promptly, and he began to explain.

Wind Sickle rescued Kanae from Douma, agreed to give her extra training, and asked Rota to take special care of her. The chapter ended with Rota teasing Wind Sickle about his concern for Kanae.

• Kanae thanked Wind Sickle for saving her and asked him to compare his strength with Douma's; Wind Sickle said he could overpower Douma but could not kill him.
• Kanae asked Wind Sickle for special training, and he agreed while warning her not to overwork herself.
• Kanae introduced Wind Sickle to Shinobu and Kanao Tsuyuri, and Shinobu reluctantly thanked him for saving her sister.
• Kanae explained to Shinobu that she could be grateful to Wind Sickle without forgetting their parents, then went to sleep with Shinobu and Kanao.
• Wind Sickle reported to Rota, who offered him a reward, and Wind Sickle asked him to take better care of Kanae.
• Rota teased Wind Sickle about having grown fond of Kanae, and Wind Sickle denied it.

After reporting her defeat by Upper Rank Two, Kanae resolved to grow stronger. Three years later, Tanjiro Kamado began the Demon Slayer Corps selection examination at Mt. Fujikasane, where he killed his first demon and rushed toward a nearby scream.

• Kanae told Kagaya Ubuyashiki that an Upper Rank demon far outclassed an ordinary Pillar-level swordsman, and Kagaya regretted sending her without proper intelligence.
• Kanae told Gyomei Himejima that she felt too weak to deserve the title of Pillar, but he reassured her and she vowed to keep training.
• Three years later, Tanjiro Kamado arrived at Mt. Fujikasane with other candidates and learned they had to survive seven days among the demons.
• Tanjiro killed a demon with Water Surface Slash and carefully planned how to conserve his strength during the examination.
• When Tanjiro heard a nearby scream, he rushed toward it, determined to prevent further casualties.

Tanjiro rescued two examinees and defeated the Hand Demon, learning that it had targeted Sakonji Urokodaki’s masked disciples and killed Sabito and Makomo. After surviving the seven-day selection, Tanjiro returned to find only five participants left and officially joined the Demon Slayer Corps.

• Tanjiro cut the Hand Demon’s arms free from two trapped examinees and learned that it recognized his fox mask as one of Sakonji Urokodaki’s disciples.
• The Hand Demon revealed that it had killed Sakonji Urokodaki’s disciples, including Sabito and Makomo, and Tanjiro charged at it.
• Tanjiro used Total Concentration and a Water Breathing strike to sever the Hand Demon’s neck, then chose to keep the truth about the masks from Sakonji Urokodaki.
• Tanjiro rested at his hiding place and endured the remaining days of the selection, fighting off weaker demons.
• Tanjiro returned to the starting point and found only five survivors; he mourned the dead and officially joined the Demon Slayer Corps.

After passing the Demon Slayer Corps entrance exam, Tanjiro met Kanao Tsuyuri and returned to Mt. Sagiri, where he reunited with the spirits of Sabito, Makomo, and the other children. The chapter ended with Tanjiro learning that Nezuko had awakened.

• Tanjiro and the other four exam survivors chose Kasugai Crows and materials for their Sunwheel Blades.
• Tanjiro approached Kanao Tsuyuri, introduced himself, and agreed to call her Kanao while she called him Tan-Tan.
• Tanjiro returned to Mt. Sagiri and celebrated passing the exam with Sakonji Urokodaki.
• While hunting, Tanjiro saw Sabito, Makomo, and the other children, who thanked him and asked him to greet Giyu.
• Tanjiro returned with two wild boars and learned from Sakonji Urokodaki that Nezuko had awakened, then embraced her.

After Nezuko woke from her three-year sleep, Tanjiro celebrated passing the Demon Slayer Corps examination with her and Sakonji Urokodaki. Giyu visited, and Tanjiro told him Sabito’s message, helping Giyu let go of his guilt and resolve to live as himself.

• Tanjiro told Nezuko he would share his recent experiences with her and planned a feast to celebrate passing the examination.
• Giyu arrived, congratulated Tanjiro, and joined him and Sakonji Urokodaki in preparing the meal.
• Tanjiro told Giyu that Sabito had guided him as a ghost and had asked him to convey a message.
• Tanjiro relayed Sabito’s wish that Giyu live well and stop dwelling in the past.
• Giyu thanked Tanjiro, let go of some of his guilt, and said he was fortunate to have met him.

After becoming a qualified Demon Slayer, Tanjiro planned to stay by Nezuko’s side and sought advice about his nervousness around Kanao Tsuyuri. He learned that Kanao was the younger sister of the Flower Pillar and Insect Pillar, then received a message that she wanted to meet him the next morning.

• Tanjiro told Sakonji Urokodaki and Giyu that he planned to take Nezuko with him on missions, and they agreed to vouch for him before the Master.
• Tanjiro admitted he felt unusually nervous around a new friend, and Sakonji Urokodaki and Giyu told him he was in love.
• Tanjiro revealed that the girl's name was Kanao Tsuyuri, and Giyu explained she was the younger sister of the Flower Pillar and Insect Pillar.
• Kanao Tsuyuri's Kasugai Crow invited Tanjiro to meet outside the examination grounds at ten the next morning.
• Tanjiro hurriedly woke Sakonji Urokodaki to ask where he could get his hair trimmed before the meeting.