Chapter Summaries

After eight years of hunting demons with little progress, Yaha encountered Tanjiro fighting a Spider Demon on Mount Natagumo and killed it with a single use of Dismantle. He then sensed the demon inside Tanjiro’s wooden box and confronted him for carrying it.

• Yaha sensed Muzan’s blood in a forest clearing and found Tanjiro being pursued by a poisonous Spider Demon.
• Tanjiro used Water Breathing to defend himself but could not escape the Spider Demon’s poisonous web.
• Yaha cut the web and Spider Demon in half with Dismantle, preventing the demon from regenerating.
• Tanjiro bowed to thank Yaha, but Yaha sensed a demon trembling inside the wooden box on his back.
• Yaha accused Tanjiro of parading around with a demon and challenged him.

Yaha discovered that Nezuko had escaped Muzan Kibutsuji’s control and considered her a key to drawing out powerful demons. After leaving Tanjiro and Nezuko, he encountered a Demon Slayer Corps member waiting in the woods.

• Tanjiro defended Nezuko and insisted that she had never eaten anyone.
• Nezuko burst from her box and stood between Tanjiro and Yaha, protecting her brother.
• Yaha recognized that Nezuko’s blood lacked Muzan Kibutsuji’s control and flicked her forehead, knocking her and Tanjiro down.
• Yaha told Tanjiro that no one would babysit him the next time he faced the Twelve Kizuki, then left with plans to use Nezuko to lure out powerful demons.
• Yaha detected wisteria and found a Demon Slayer Corps member perched in a tree, whom he mocked as a venomous bug sent to watch him.

Yaha confronted Shinobu Kocho after she revealed the Corps had investigated his unusual power and demanded an examination. When Shinobu attacked him with her poisoned blade, Yaha dodged easily and caught her by the neck, leaving her at his mercy.

• Shinobu introduced herself to Yaha and questioned him about killing the Spider Demon without using a Breathing Style.
• Shinobu cited reports from eight years earlier and Urokodaki's letter describing Yaha's power, then offered an examination as an alternative to eliminating him.
• Yaha accused Shinobu of planning to stab him before talking, and she attacked with Insect Breathing: Dance of the Bee Sting—True Flutter.
• Yaha dodged Shinobu's thrust without moving his feet, caught her by the neck, and taunted her about her weakness and poisonous blood.

Yaha overpowered Shinobu Kocho, exposed her plan to poison herself so she could kill Doma, and warned her to stay alive. When an urgent call summoned Hashira to Mount Natagumo, Shinobu and Tanjiro saw that Yaha was already heading there.

• Yaha seized Shinobu Kocho, disarmed her with a flick of his finger, and dismissed her reliance on poison as a trick for the weak.
• Yaha revealed that Shinobu had spent years saturating her body with wisteria poison so Doma would swallow her and be poisoned.
• Yaha told Shinobu her plan would only get her killed, then left and threatened to make her a specimen if she tested him again.
• A Kasugai Crow announced heavy casualties and suspected Twelve Kizuki activity on Mount Natagumo, calling for Hashira support.
• Shinobu and Tanjiro learned that Yaha was heading toward Mount Natagumo, where human corpses hung in spider silk.

Yaha followed the scent of Giyu Tomioka’s Water Breathing into Mount Natagumo and found him near death after a fight with Lower Rank Five, Rui. Yaha stopped Rui’s killing attack and confronted him, leaving Rui facing Yaha’s overwhelming power.

• Yaha found a hollow filled with slain Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen and detected Giyu’s faint Water Breathing deeper in the woods.
• Yaha realized Giyu was dying, awakened his demonic markings, and raced toward him.
• Rui trapped the badly wounded Giyu and prepared to kill him when Giyu could no longer raise his sword.
• Yaha crashed between Giyu and Rui, halted Rui’s crimson threads with an invisible force, and destroyed them.
• Yaha rebuked Giyu, identified Rui as Lower Rank Five, and warned him that the last Lower Rank who challenged Yaha had been reduced to ashes.

Yaha arrived just in time to save the gravely wounded Giyu from Rui, then used Dismantle to destroy Rui’s threads and prevent his body from regenerating. He left Rui pinned in the mud and threatened to cut him into pieces.

• Yaha stopped Rui’s crimson threads from reaching Giyu and mocked Giyu for nearly losing to Rui.
• Rui unleashed Thread Prison, but Yaha used Dismantle to shred the web and sever Rui’s arm and shoulder.
• Rui’s wounds blackened and crumbled when his demon blood tried to regenerate them.
• Yaha approached the helpless Rui while Giyu realized the attack had surpassed swordsmanship.
• Rui tried to attack Yaha again, but Yaha broke his ribs, pinned him in the mud, and threatened to cut his bones into pieces.

Yaha crippled Rui and destroyed the demons Rui used as shields, leaving Rui to unleash his final Blood Demon Art. As Rui’s red threads closed in, Yaha prepared to show him a more powerful cutting attack.

• Rui’s severed body failed to regenerate as the flesh at his wound burned and turned to ash.
• Yaha advanced on Rui while Giyu watched, and Rui dragged Spider Sister, Demon Mother, and a Mutant Demon out of the forest as shields.
• Yaha sliced apart Rui’s three demons, whose bodies also carbonized when they tried to heal.
• Yaha crushed Rui’s chest under his boot and taunted him about the fear and tyranny behind his supposed family bonds.
• Rui unleashed Blood Demon Art: Slaughterous Eye Cage, Thread Rotation, and Yaha raised his hand and invoked Cleave as the red threads neared him.

Yaha killed Rui with Thread Rotation, destroying his body so completely that he could no longer regenerate, then crushed Rui’s head. His roleplay level reached forty-eight percent, leaving him two percent short of unlocking Domain Expansion, and he ordered the wounded Giyu to gather the Corps members’ bodies.

• Yaha used Thread Rotation to slice Rui, the forest, and the bedrock into cubes, erasing Rui’s ability to regenerate.
• Rui recalled his past and wept as Yaha showed him no mercy and crushed his head under his boot.
• Yaha’s roleplay level rose by fifteen percent to forty-eight percent, two percent short of unlocking Domain Expansion.
• Giyu, badly wounded, recognized Yaha’s power as a natural disaster and asked how far he had gone.
• Yaha told Giyu to pick up his sword and collect the stranded Corps members’ bodies, warning that he would not keep rescuing him.

After Yaha killed Rui, Muzan massacred the Lower Ranks and ordered the Upper Ranks to kill him. Yaha healed Giyu and reassured him, but a Kasugai Crow summoned Tomioka Ye Yu to an early Hashira Meeting.

• Muzan sensed Rui's death, killed Lower Ranks Two through Four, empowered Enmu, and ordered the Upper Ranks to hunt Yaha.
• Yaha healed Giyu with Reverse Cursed Technique after Rui's defeat.
• Giyu asked Yaha if he was still his little brother, and Yaha promised to protect him no matter what.
• A Kasugai Crow announced that the Hashira Meeting had been moved forward and ordered Tomioka Ye Yu to report to Oyakata-sama.

Yaha confronted the Hashira at the Ubuyashiki Estate, where his effortless defeat of Sanemi Shinazugawa exposed his overwhelming power. Kagaya Ubuyashiki appeared before the confrontation could escalate and identified Yaha as a variable outside their predetermined fate.

• Giyu and Yaha traveled to the Ubuyashiki Estate after the Kasugai Crow summoned them to headquarters.
• The Hashira examined samples from Mount Natagumo and argued over whether Yaha should be eliminated as a threat.
• Yaha entered the courtyard and mocked the Hashira, prompting Sanemi Shinazugawa to attack him.
• Yaha caught Sanemi's Nichirin Blade between two fingers and blasted him backward with cursed energy.
• As Yaha prepared to use Dismantle, Kagaya Ubuyashiki arrived and told him he was a variable outside their predetermined fate.

Yaha accepted Kagaya Ubuyashiki’s alliance offer in exchange for access to the Demon Slayer Corps’ intelligence network and authority to pursue the Upper Ranks. As Yaha left the Corps headquarters, a bloodied Kasugai Crow reported a mass demon attack in Blue Stone Town and requested the highest-level support.

• Kagaya asked the Hashira to leave so he could speak privately with Yaha, then revealed that prophetic dreams had shown Yaha changing fatal events and frightening Muzan Kibutsuji.
• Kagaya offered Yaha unrestricted access to the Corps’ intelligence in exchange for an alliance, arguing that Yaha would protect humanity because he cared about Giyu Tomioka and Tsutako Tomioka.
• Yaha accepted the deal and demanded the Upper Ranks’ locations.
• Kagaya declared Yaha innocent and granted him special authority above the Hashira, prompting their resentment.
• Yaha taunted Sanemi Shinazugawa about needing a sturdier blade, then left the courtyard.
• A bloodied Kasugai Crow crashed into the courtyard and reported that demons had captured and mutated thousands of civilians in Blue Stone Town.

Kagaya sent Yaha, Kyojuro Rengoku, and Shinobu Kocho to Blue Stone Town, where Muzan had turned thousands of living civilians into flesh-controlled puppets. Unable to attack the civilians or stop the poison-resistant flesh, the team was trapped at the town entrance as Yaha began to unleash his power.

• Kagaya explained that Muzan had made the civilians into living shields to wear Yaha down, and Yaha agreed to go after a reward promised by his system.
• Kyojuro Rengoku led the Special Extermination Squad west with Shinobu Kocho and Yaha, while Rengoku offered Yaha a sweet potato and Shinobu questioned him about Spider Mountain.
• The team reached Blue Stone Town and found it sealed beneath a huge membrane of dark red flesh; hundreds of puppet-controlled townspeople emerged and blocked the entrance.
• Rengoku stopped his blade when he heard the civilians' heartbeats, then took a bite to the shoulder while trying to restrain them without harming them.
• Shinobu's wisteria poison made the flesh break down its host in agony, forcing her to stop; the civilians pressed the team back as a hidden demon mocked them.
• Yaha watched Rengoku and Shinobu struggle, then revealed black Cursed Markings as scarlet light filled his eyes and killing intent engulfed the town.

Yaha rejected the new Lower Rank Four’s moral blackmail and used overwhelming cursed energy to pin the possessed townspeople down. After the system unlocked Domain Expansion, he began forming the hand seal for Malevolent Shrine, leaving Rengoku and Shinobu watching in alarm.

• The new Lower Rank Four sent flesh-thread-controlled townspeople to attack Rengoku and taunted him with the choice between killing civilians and being overwhelmed.
• Rengoku fought without using Flame Breathing, while Shinobu’s wisteria poison triggered a violent reaction in the townspeople.
• The new Lower Rank Four challenged Yaha to cut down the civilians, but Rengoku warned him not to attack.
• Yaha’s power crushed the ground and pinned the townspeople in place before he confronted the new Lower Rank Four.
• The system unlocked Advanced Absolute Law and Domain Expansion after Yaha’s will surpassed the roleplay threshold.
• Yaha formed a hand seal as a blood-red vortex spread over Blue Stone Town, preparing to unleash Malevolent Shrine.

Yaha used Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine to destroy the new Lower Rank Four and its flesh barrier while leaving the townspeople unharmed. After restoring himself, he left Rengoku and Shinobu stunned, and expected the demon’s terror to reach Muzan through their blood connection.

• Yaha summoned Malevolent Shrine, trapping the ruins within its two-hundred-meter domain as Rengoku and Shinobu retreated from its pressure.
• Yaha’s precise slashes stripped the demons’ flesh from the townspeople without injuring them and shredded the barrier above Blue Stone Town.
• The slashes tore apart the new Lower Rank Four, whose damaged soul prevented it from regenerating before it was reduced to ash.
• Yaha dismissed the shrine and secretly used Reverse Cursed Technique to heal the strain on his body.
• Rengoku and Shinobu watched the unharmed civilians and destroyed demon, realizing the scale of Yaha’s power.
• Yaha expected the demon’s final terror to pass through its blood network to Muzan in the Infinity Castle.

After Yaha destroyed the Mutant Demon without harming the townspeople, Rengoku and Shinobu acknowledged his extraordinary power. When a report revealed Upper Rank activity on the Mugen Train, Yaha set out to protect Rengoku.

• Yaha erased the White Bone Shrine and the Mutant Demon, and Rengoku knelt to concede and praise his power.
• The Hidden Corps reported the battle to Headquarters, where Sanemi reacted with anger and Kagaya said Yaha could end their thousand-year fate.
• On the journey back, Rengoku urged Yaha to protect the weak, and Shinobu thanked him as his system unlocked progress toward Flame Arrow.
• At Mount Sagiri, Yaha criticized Giyu and Sabito's sword training and accepted Tsutako's new haori despite insulting it.
• Yaha received a secret report of disappearances and Upper Rank activity aboard the Mugen Train, then took his Nichirin Blade and decided to intervene.

Muzan, terrified by Yaha’s shrine technique, empowered Akaza and sent him to kill the boy in black. Yaha sensed the approaching Upper Rank, then followed the Mugen Train as it departed with Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Kyojuro Rengoku aboard.

• Muzan recalled the Mutant Demon being minced and corroded by Yaha’s shrine, then ordered Nakime to summon Akaza.
• Muzan fed Akaza his blood and commanded him to find Yaha near the Mugen Train and bring back his head.
• Yaha received a system alert that an Upper Rank was approaching and set out, eager to defeat one for a hidden privilege.
• At the Mugen Train station, Yaha watched Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Rengoku board the train.
• As the train departed, Yaha followed its roof, anticipating Akaza’s ambush ahead.

Yaha rode atop the Mugen Train as he sensed Enmu and the approaching Upper Rank Three, Akaza, and used cursed energy to shatter Enmu’s hypnotic Dream Barrier. As the train neared Akaza, Yaha drew his black Nichirin Blade and prepared to fight.

• Yaha jumped onto the roof of the departing Mugen Train and sensed Enmu’s demonic aura aboard.
• Yaha detected Akaza waiting ahead and recognized him as an Upper Rank Three.
• Akaza sensed Yaha’s deathly presence alongside the Flame Hashira’s fighting spirit and eagerly prepared to face him.
• Yaha’s cursed-energy shock shattered Enmu’s Dream Barrier, leaving Enmu too frightened to investigate.
• Shinobu Kocho sensed the train passing and thought of the boy in black, though she could detect nothing unusual.
• As the train approached Akaza, Yaha’s cursed markings emerged and he drew his black Nichirin Blade.

Yaha waited on the train roof for Akaza while Enmu fused himself with the train, forcing the demon slayers to fight back awake. As Akaza approached, Yaha prepared to unlock a technique that could overwhelm the demon’s martial pride.

• Yaha detected Akaza’s powerful blood and decided to use his essence to strengthen his strained body.
• Enmu, terrified of Yaha, fused himself with the train and threatened its sleeping passengers as human shields.
• Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and Rengoku resisted Enmu’s attack and fought the living train after waking from their dreams.
• The System clarified that Yaha could unlock Open (Flame Arrow) by destroying Akaza’s martial creed with overwhelming force.
• Akaza raced toward the train, and Yaha prepared to meet him with a more powerful flame.

Enmu transformed the train into a mass of living flesh, and Rengoku fought to protect the sleeping passengers while Tanjiro and Inosuke attacked the demon’s core. When both slayers faced imminent death, Yaha ignored the System’s warning and prepared to intervene.

• Enmu spread his demon blood through the train and taunted the Demon Slayers as Yaha destroyed tendrils that reached the roof.
• Rengoku woke, cut through the flesh in all five carriages, and sent Tanjiro and Inosuke to find Enmu’s neck vertebrae while he and Zenitsu guarded the passengers.
• The System warned Yaha that protecting specific targets would reduce his roleplay level, so he stayed out of the fight and watched Tanjiro and Inosuke climb toward the cab.
• Tanjiro resisted Enmu’s hypnosis by repeatedly cutting his own throat in the dream, while Inosuke fought tendrils dragging him toward the train’s wheels.
• With Tanjiro’s blade at his neck and Inosuke nearly pulled beneath a wheel, Yaha crushed the System warning panel and prepared to intervene.

Yaha destroyed Enmu’s flesh and safely stopped the derailing train after Tanjiro and Inosuke severed Enmu’s neck vertebra. A terrifying presence then fell from the sky, and Yaha greeted the arrival of a new nightmare.

• Yaha severed the tentacles dragging Inosuke and frightened Enmu into withdrawing his attacks throughout the train.
• Tanjiro broke free of Enmu’s dream and, with Inosuke’s help, cut through the train’s flesh to sever Enmu’s neck vertebra.
• Enmu tried to overturn the train and kill its sleeping passengers, but Yaha used Dismantle to erase the demon flesh and safely guide the carriages to a stop.
• Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Rengoku emerged with the passengers unharmed and saw that Yaha had destroyed Enmu.
• A mass of blue fire struck beyond the woods, releasing a terrifying presence that made Rengoku, Tanjiro, and Inosuke brace themselves.
• Yaha’s body began to strain under the presence, and he smiled as he recognized the arrival of the true nightmare.