Chapter Summaries

As the Demon Slayer Corps relocated its headquarters to Swordsmith Village amid the demons’ unpredictable movements, Riezel arrived with Ubuyashiki Kagaya and met the village chief. The chief became fascinated by Riezel’s sword, Hermit, and burned his hand when he grabbed its hilt.

• The Demon Slayer Corps learned that demons, including the Twelve Kizuki, had begun acting unpredictably, and the Hashira prepared to seek greater strength.
• The Corps postponed training and split the Hashira into groups to guide the relocation to Swordsmith Village.
• Riezel arrived with Ubuyashiki Kagaya’s group, and Tetsuji Kawara Chintek welcomed them to the village.
• Tetsuji recognized Riezel as the Corps’ new Chief Instructor, and Riezel explained that he viewed himself more as an adviser than a leader.
• Tetsuji and the swordsmiths admired Hermit’s unusual material and craftsmanship, but Tetsuji burned his hand when he grasped its hilt.

Riezel showed Hermit to the Swordsmith Village smiths, who were awed by its heat and craftsmanship and named it a Divine Blade. As Demon Slayer Corps members and the Hashira gathered in the village to prepare for the final battle, the Hashira arrived at Riezel’s residence and began their special training.

• The Swordsmith Village chief burned his hand on Hermit, then watched Riezel draw the blazing sword as the smiths marveled at it.
• The chief and smiths begged Riezel to sell Hermit or reveal who forged it, but Riezel refused and Ubuyashiki Kagaya intervened.
• Ubuyashiki Kagaya arranged accommodations for the arriving Corps members and ordered preparations for a temporary training ground near Swordsmith Village.
• Corps members and the Hashira gathered in Swordsmith Village as the Demon Slayer Corps prepared for the final battle.
• Smiths and other visitors repeatedly begged Riezel to show them Hermit, which became known throughout the village as a Divine Blade.
• A week later, the Hashira arrived at Riezel’s residence, and Riezel agreed to begin their special training.

Riezel explained the suspected conditions for awakening the Demon Slayer Mark and proposed that the first marked swordsman might make it easier for others to awaken theirs. The Hashira began fighting in pairs to test whether they could meet the required physical thresholds.

• The Hashira debated whether ordinary Demon Slayer Corps members should join the coming battle until Riezel redirected them to their own abilities.
• The Hashira chose to prioritize awakening the Demon Slayer Mark, and Riezel explained that it required a body temperature of thirty-nine degrees and a heart rate above two hundred beats per minute.
• Riezel conjectured that the first person to awaken the Demon Slayer Mark might need to meet an unknown condition, while nearby swordsmen could awaken theirs more easily through resonance.
• Riezel told the Hashira to test the stated conditions in battle, and Sanemi Shinazugawa challenged Rengoku Kyojuro to fight.
• The Hashira paired off to spar as Riezel watched from a distance.

The Hashira paired off for sparring while Riezel watched their battles and noted the differences in their skills and strength. Rengoku Kyojuro and Sanemi Shinazugawa fought with exceptional intensity, but their Demon Slayer Marks still had not awakened despite their elevated body temperatures and heart rates.

• Rengoku Kyojuro paired with Sanemi Shinazugawa, Obanai Iguro with Mitsuri Kanroji, Shinobu Kocho with Gyomei Himejima, and Tengen Uzui with Muichiro Tokito.
• Giyu Tomioka was left without a partner, insisted that he was not disliked, and moved to the side to watch.
• Riezel watched the Hashira spar and observed Obanai Iguro and Mitsuri Kanroji's technical swordplay, while Gyomei Himejima easily defended against Shinobu Kocho's attacks.
• Tengen Uzui and Muichiro Tokito fought with explosive Sound Breathing and elusive Mist Breathing, while Rengoku Kyojuro and Sanemi Shinazugawa clashed at full force.
• Riezel noticed that Rengoku Kyojuro and Sanemi Shinazugawa had not awakened their Demon Slayer Marks despite their high body temperatures and heart rates.

After two hours of intense sparring failed to awaken the Hashira’s Demon Slayer Marks, Riezel used Sun Breathing to awaken his own and confirmed that he could remove the mark. His awakening triggered the Hashira’s marks, and several of them succeeded before the chapter ended.

• The exhausted Hashira regrouped after two hours of sparring, resolved to keep training, and formed new pairs while Giyu Tomioka was left without a partner again.
• Riezel raised his body temperature and heartbeat through Sun Breathing, awakening a Demon Slayer Mark and startling the Hashira.
• Riezel explained that a Sun Breathing user might need to awaken the first mark to trigger others, and reassured the Hashira that he could remove his own mark.
• With Riezel’s mark awakened, the Hashira raised their body temperatures and heart rates until they began awakening their own marks.
• Sanemi Shinazugawa, Obanai Iguro, and Muichiro Tokito each saw their Demon Slayer Marks appear.

All the Hashira awakened their Demon Slayer Marks, and Riezel removed his own mark before guiding them to awaken Crimson Blades. He then began punishing training to help them reach the Clear World, leaving the Hashira facing a fight against him.

• Shinobu Kocho, Mitsuri Kanroji, Gyomei Himejima, Tengen Uzui, Giyu Tomioka, and Rengoku Kyojuro joined the other Hashira in awakening their Demon Slayer Marks and testing their new strength.
• Riezel erased the mark from his forehead, reassuring the Hashira that the marks could be removed.
• Riezel explained that Crimson Blades were easier to awaken after gaining a Demon Slayer Mark, and the Hashira successfully turned their blades red.
• Sanemi Shinazugawa asked Riezel to teach them the Clear World, but Riezel warned that it required struggle and pain rather than shortcuts.
• Riezel drew his blade and told all the Hashira to attack him together as their special training began.

Riezel concluded that extreme concentration and control of the senses were the keys to opening the Clear World, then trained the Hashira to pursue it through combat. After the Hashira failed to awaken it, Corps members witnessed Riezel overwhelm all nine of them, leaving his strength beyond doubt.

• Riezel reasoned that his own extreme concentration, pain, and understanding of his body's movements had allowed him to open the Clear World.
• Riezel trained the Hashira to open their senses, focus in combat, and discard unnecessary movements, but none awakened the Clear World after a week.
• Swordsmith Village residents grew accustomed to the daily explosions and credited them to Riezel wielding the Divine Blade, while Corps members questioned whether he was training the Hashira.
• When the training ground opened to Corps members, they watched Riezel blast all Nine Hashira across the ground while demanding that they focus and observe with all five senses.
• The Corps members stopped doubting Riezel's strength after seeing him suppress all Nine Hashira.

After seven days of training, Riezel warned the exhausted Hashira that Kibutsuji Muzan might be too powerful for them to defeat and claimed Muzan as his own opponent. As Riezel left, Kamado Tanjiro ran up to him.

• Riezel ended the training session after the Hashira failed to touch him during a week of joint attacks.
• The Hashira discussed Kibutsuji Muzan's strength, and Riezel cautioned that defeating him would not guarantee they could stop him escaping.
• Riezel explained why Kibutsuji Muzan at full strength might approach Lv.6, while even the strongest Hashira would fall short of Lv.5.
• Riezel told the Hashira to focus on the Upper Ranks and declared that Kibutsuji Muzan had been his opponent all along.
• Kamado Tanjiro ran up to Riezel as he was leaving the training ground.

Riezel explained to Tanjiro that the Dance of the Fire God passed down through the Kamado Family was Sun Breathing. He revealed that Tanjiro’s ancestors learned the forms from Tsugikuni Yoriichi, who also gave them the Sunflower Paper Earrings.

• Tanjiro greeted Riezel at Swordsmith Village and told him that Rengoku had sent him there to train; Riezel judged that Tanjiro was nearing Hashira level.
• Tanjiro explained that Zenitsu had left after receiving a letter, Inosuke had gone into the mountains to hunt, and Nezuko was staying in the dormitory away from sunlight.
• Tanjiro asked Riezel about the Dance of the Fire God, describing how he had discovered its resemblance to Sun Breathing and recounting his family’s history.
• Riezel confirmed that the Dance of the Fire God was Sun Breathing, passed down by the Kamado Family after Tsugikuni Yoriichi taught the forms to Tanjiro’s ancestor.
• Riezel explained that the Sunflower Paper Earrings had belonged to Tsugikuni Yoriichi, who gave them to Tanjiro’s ancestor.

Riezel explained how the Kamado Family inherited Sun Breathing and promised Tanjiro he could use Decomposition Magic to restore Nezuko. He went with Tanjiro to meet her and began using the magic while she slept.

• Riezel told Tanjiro that his family had inherited Sun Breathing from Tsugikuni Yoriichi through the Dance of the Fire God and the Nichirin Earrings.
• Tanjiro resolved to defeat Kibutsuji Muzan and restore his sister, and Riezel offered to help turn Nezuko back into a human.
• Riezel explained that decomposing Kibutsuji Muzan's blood might erase a demon's power, and Tanjiro tearfully thanked him.
• Tanjiro led Riezel to the communal dormitory and introduced him to Nezuko, who was sleeping on a futon.
• Riezel placed his hand on Nezuko's forehead and unleashed Decomposition Magic, causing crimson ripples to appear.

Riezel used Decomposition Magic to remove the demon blood from Nezuko and restore her to human form. He urged Tanjiro to consider withdrawing from the Demon Slayer Corps to protect his sister, then returned to training with the Hashira.

• Riezel carefully decomposed the foreign matter in Nezuko's body for about an hour while she convulsed in pain.
• Nezuko became still, then spoke to Tanjiro as her brother; Riezel left them alone while Tanjiro cried with relief.
• Tanjiro thanked Riezel and declared that Riezel was his big brother, while Riezel accepted the title.
• Tanjiro said he would stay with Nezuko and ask Miss Shinobu to examine her; Riezel advised him to consider leaving the battlefield and going home with her.
• Riezel returned to the training ground, where the recovered Hashira resumed their special training.

Riezel established a training schedule for the Demon Slayer Corps, then learned that Tanjiro had decided to fight alongside everyone rather than leave with Nezuko. Kōtetu asked Riezel to repair the mechanical doll Yoriichi Type Zero.

• Riezel assigned the Hashira to train ordinary Demon Slayer Corps members in the afternoons, despite objections from Sanemi Shinazugawa, Obanai Iguro, Tengen Uzui, and Muichiro Tokito.
• Tanjiro told Riezel that he and Nezuko would return home only after the battle, and that he intended to fight alongside everyone.
• Riezel accepted Tanjiro's decision and wished him the strength to survive and reach the future he hoped for.
• Tanjiro introduced Kōtetu, a boy from Swordsmith Village who had been watching Riezel.
• Kōtetu explained that Yoriichi Type Zero was an aging combat mechanical doll and asked Riezel to repair it.

Kōtetu asked Riezel to repair Yoriichi Type Zero, a centuries-old combat puppet modeled after Tsugikuni Yoriichi. After inspecting it, Riezel had Tanjiro test its combat ability and became interested in the puppet’s construction.

• Kōtetu explained that his late father had been the last person in Swordsmith Village able to repair Yoriichi Type Zero, and he asked Riezel for help.
• Riezel agreed to inspect the puppet and brought Tanjiro and Kōtetu to an abandoned training clearing where it stood.
• Kōtetu explained that Yoriichi Type Zero was modeled after Tsugikuni Yoriichi, prompting Tanjiro to recognize and bow to his family’s benefactor.
• Kōtetu activated the puppet, and Riezel threw Tanjiro into its path to test its movement.
• Yoriichi Type Zero attacked Tanjiro with all six swords, and Riezel judged its strength to be around Lv.4 and became interested in its technology.

Riezel realized he could use Construction Magic to reproduce Yoriichi Type Zero and asked Kōtetu for his family’s inherited Puppet Craft book. As Tanjiro switched from Water Breathing to Flame Breathing and began holding his own against the puppet, Kōtetu returned with the book, which Riezel started to study.

• Riezel reasoned that he could use Construction Magic to copy Yoriichi Type Zero from its blueprints and potentially mass-produce powerful puppet dolls.
• Kōtetu said his family might have preserved the blueprints in an inherited book and went to fetch it for Riezel.
• Tanjiro struggled against Yoriichi Type Zero while using Water Breathing, and Riezel concluded that the technique did not suit him.
• Tanjiro changed to Flame Breathing and struck Yoriichi Type Zero with Flame Tiger, then fought it at a stalemate.
• Kōtetu returned with the ancient Puppet Craft book and handed it to Riezel, who began examining its text and illustrations.

Riezel memorized the Puppet Craft book and Yoriichi Type Zero's blueprints, then created and contracted a more flexible puppet automaton. By dawn, he had finished a new version and prepared to continue experimenting with its materials.

• Riezel read and memorized the ancient book, including Yoriichi Type Zero's blueprints and its creator's wish to recreate Tsugikuni Yoriichi's power.
• Riezel used Construction Magic to create a puppet automaton identical to Yoriichi Type Zero, but removed its key and preset action-mode features.
• Riezel formed a summoning and command contract with the puppet automaton and tested its obedience by issuing movement orders.
• Riezel considered upgrading the puppet automaton's materials while ensuring that changes would not harm its combat ability.
• Riezel stayed up through the night and completed a brand-new puppet automaton by dawn.

Riezel brought Tanjiro and Kōtetu a new mechanical doll, Type One, which he had built overnight and which surpassed Yoriichi Type Zero in durability. After Kōtetu refused to have the heirloom modified, Riezel began repairing Type Zero and pulled a sword from inside its body.

• Tanjiro and Kōtetu waited for Riezel at the clearing beside Yoriichi Type Zero.
• Riezel arrived with Type One, a humanlike mechanical doll he had created using the ancient book’s techniques.
• Kōtetu examined Type One and was stunned by its construction and Riezel’s achievement, while Tanjiro asked whether it could be used for training.
• Riezel offered to repair and modify Type Zero, but Kōtetu asked him to repair the heirloom without changing it.
• Riezel inspected Type Zero with the Clear World, tore off its head, reached inside, and pulled out a sword.

Riezel repaired Yoriichi Type Zero and revealed that an ancient blade hidden inside it had belonged to Tsugikuni Yoriichi. He restored the blade and gave it to Tanjiro, then hinted that Type One would help surprise the demons.

• Kōtetu and Tanjiro watched as Riezel repaired Yoriichi Type Zero with magic.
• Riezel drew the hidden blade and explained why he believed it had belonged to Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
• Riezel suggested that black-blade Swordsmen were most compatible with Sun Breathing, linking the blade to Tanjiro and his family.
• Riezel removed the rust from the blade and gave it to Tanjiro, while Kōtetu accepted it as payment for repairing Yoriichi Type Zero.
• Riezel turned to Type One and said he hoped it would give the demons a big surprise.

Over the course of a month, six Hashira opened the Clear World while the remaining three struggled, and Ubuyashiki Kagaya told Riezel that demons were preparing for war as he neared death. As a blood-red moon rose, Kibutsuji Muzan declared that the time had come to fulfill his thousand-year wish.

• Gyomei Himejima, Obanai Iguro, Muichiro Tokito, Sanemi Shinazugawa, Giyu Tomioka, and Rengoku Kyojuro opened the Clear World, while Shinobu Kocho, Mitsuri Kanroji, and Tengen Uzui still could not.
• Ubuyashiki Kagaya summoned Riezel and explained that his curse could not be removed while Kibutsuji Muzan remained alive.
• Ubuyashiki Kagaya told Riezel that skilled and violent people had been disappearing, including several thousand residents of an eastern town, and warned that demons were preparing for a final battle.
• Ubuyashiki Kagaya entrusted the Demon Slayer Corps to Riezel if he did not live to see the coming battle, then lost consciousness.
• Riezel examined Ubuyashiki Kagaya, saw that he was close to death, and left while the Hashira gathered at his bedside.
• As a blood-red moon appeared, Kibutsuji Muzan emerged in his castle and said it was time to fulfill his thousand-year wish.

Riezel met Kibutsuji Muzan and confirmed that he had obtained the Blue Spider Lily, the flower Muzan sought to overcome his weakness to sunlight. After revealing that it was the only one left, Riezel refused to hand it over and claimed Muzan’s life.

• Kibutsuji Muzan confronted Riezel, explaining that he sought true immortality so no one could kill him.
• Riezel confirmed that the Blue Spider Lily was in his possession and explained why demons had been unable to find it.
• Riezel opened a specially prepared wooden box and showed Kibutsuji Muzan the Blue Spider Lily.
• Riezel told Kibutsuji Muzan that he had ordered every other Blue Spider Lily destroyed, leaving this one as the only flower.
• Kibutsuji Muzan asked Riezel to give him the flower, but Riezel refused and declared that Muzan’s life was his.

Riezel and the Demon Slayer Corps launched a surprise attack on Kibutsuji Muzan, but Muzan swiftly defeated the Pillars and escaped with Nakime’s help into the Infinity Castle. Riezel pursued him through the castle as Muzan sought time to recover and ordered Nakime to destroy the Corps.

• Kibutsuji Muzan attacked Riezel, but Riezel severed his flesh whip and arm before Muzan could reach the Blue Spider Lily box.
• Every Pillar ambushed Kibutsuji Muzan and struck him down, but he regenerated immediately and blasted them away with flesh whips.
• Riezel revealed that he had taken the box, then fought Kibutsuji Muzan and wounded him in an exploding courtyard.
• Kibutsuji Muzan summoned Nakime, who transported Riezel into the Infinity Castle, where Muzan challenged him to meet at the Jade Throne.
• Kibutsuji Muzan asked Nakime to delay Riezel while he recovered and to wipe out the Demon Slayer Corps.