Chapter Summaries

After finding his village slaughtered and his mother’s mutilated corpse, Chiba Yo attacked the demon responsible. His unusual strength and ability to read the demon’s body let him wound it, leaving the demon frightened and unsure what he was.

• Chiba Yo returned to his village with medicine and found the villagers dead and mutilated.
• Chiba Yo discovered his mother’s scattered corpse and learned from the demon that she had fought to keep living for him.
• Chiba Yo attacked the demon and sent it flying into a tree with a powerful kick.
• Chiba Yo read the demon’s movements, dodged its attacks, and severed its arm with an axe.
• The demon regenerated its arm and recoiled in fear at Chiba Yo’s strength.

Chiba Yo decapitated the Green-Skinned Demon after it attacked his village, then broke down in grief over his mother. The demon regenerated and tried to escape, but Kyojuro Rengoku arrived and killed it before entering the village to look for survivors.

• Chiba Yo cut off the Green-Skinned Demon's limbs, threw his axe into its back, and finally severed its head.
• Chiba Yo returned to where his mother had died and knelt, apologizing through tears for not coming back sooner with her medicine.
• The Green-Skinned Demon regenerated its limbs and head while Chiba Yo grieved, then ran away and vowed revenge.
• Kyojuro Rengoku intercepted the fleeing demon and killed it with Flame Breathing, First Form: Unknowing Fire.
• Kyojuro Rengoku saw the ruined village, hurried inside, and searched for survivors.

After the Green-Skinned Demon slaughtered Chiba Yo’s village, Kyojuro helped bury the dead and accepted Chiba Yo as his Tsuguko. Kyojuro reported to Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who approved the decision, and Chiba Yo waited outside the estate to begin his training.

• Kyojuro summoned the Kakushi and found Chiba Yo grieving over his mother’s remains.
• Chiba Yo buried his mother while Kyojuro helped lay the villagers to rest, then asked Kyojuro about the demon and the Demon Slayer Corps.
• Chiba Yo vowed to destroy every demon, and Kyojuro offered to make him his Tsuguko and train him as a swordsman.
• Kyojuro reported the mission and his decision to Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who approved and noted that Final Selection was only seven days away.
• Chiba Yo waited outside the estate and respectfully greeted Kyojuro as Master Rengoku.

Kyojuro introduced Chiba Yo to Shinobu Kocho and Kanao Tsuyuri, then began training him at the Corps headquarters. During the first exercise, Kyojuro discovered that Chiba Yo had independently developed a Breathing Style and could maintain Total Concentration Breathing: Constant.

• Kyojuro introduced Chiba Yo to Shinobu Kocho and Kanao Tsuyuri at the training grounds.
• Shinobu explained that Kanao would soon take the final selection, and Kyojuro described the seven-day test on Mount Fujikasane to Chiba Yo.
• Kyojuro ordered Chiba Yo to do two hundred push-ups, and Chiba Yo performed them effortlessly while maintaining an unfamiliar Breathing Style.
• Kyojuro recognized that Chiba Yo had achieved Total Concentration Breathing: Constant, though Chiba Yo said he had never been taught a Breathing Style.
• Chiba Yo explained that he had learned to control his breathing as a child to gain strength and stamina, and Kyojuro confirmed that it was an advanced Breathing Style.

After Chiba Yo copied Kyojuro's Flame Breathing First Form after seeing it once, Kyojuro approved him for Final Selection and trained him in sword forms. Chiba Yo and Kanao Tsuyuri set off for Mount Fujikasane, while a red-haired boy prepared to leave Mount Sagiri.

• Kyojuro demonstrated Flame Breathing, First Form: Unknowing Fire, and Chiba Yo immediately reproduced it perfectly.
• Kyojuro reversed his decision and invited Chiba Yo to take part in Final Selection, saying he needed no test.
• Over six days, Chiba Yo developed sword techniques for his own Breathing Style and learned all five Flame Breathing forms and its Ninth Form, Purgatory.
• Chiba Yo and Kanao Tsuyuri departed for Mount Fujikasane with Kyojuro's encouragement.
• Shinobu Kocho questioned Kyojuro's decision, and he explained Chiba Yo's abilities; on Mount Sagiri, a red-haired boy put on a cloud-patterned haori and fox mask and announced he was leaving Mr. Urokodaki.

Chiba Yo entered Mount Fujikasane for Final Selection determined to kill every demon he encountered. After easily decapitating his first demon, he rushed toward a scream and saw the frightened yellow-haired boy defeat two demons with Thunder Breathing while unconscious.

• Chiba Yo greeted Kanao, and the two continued to Mount Fujikasane without further conversation.
• The white- and black-haired children explained that candidates had to survive seven days beyond the wisteria-covered slopes, and Chiba Yo entered the mountain with the other swordsmen.
• Chiba Yo killed a long-tongued demon with a single strike and continued after hearing someone scream.
• Chiba Yo found the yellow-haired boy fleeing two demons, but the boy tripped and knocked himself unconscious against a tree.
• The unconscious yellow-haired boy used Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash to decapitate both pursuing demons before Chiba Yo could reach them.

During Final Selection, Chiba Yo teamed up with Zenitsu Agatsuma, who followed him despite fearing demons. After Zenitsu sensed a nearby demon, Chiba Yo killed it and began burying the dead Demon Slayer, with Zenitsu offering to help.

• Zenitsu Agatsuma woke beside two dead demons and begged Chiba Yo to let him stay with him, unaware that he had killed them himself.
• Chiba Yo introduced himself and set out to hunt demons, and Zenitsu reluctantly followed while asking him for protection.
• Zenitsu heard a demon more than two hundred meters away, and Chiba Yo followed the sound to a massive demon eating a corpse.
• Chiba Yo killed the massive demon with two slashes and prayed over the dead Demon Slayer.
• Chiba Yo began digging a grave, and Zenitsu offered to help.

Chiba Yo, Zenitsu, and Tanjiro joined forces during the Final Selection, though Chiba Yo disagreed with Tanjiro’s pity for demons. They survived the selection together, and Chiba Yo saw that fewer than half of the participants had returned.

• Chiba Yo and Zenitsu followed a fleeing swordsman toward a demon rumored to have eaten fifty people, but found Tanjiro had already killed it.
• Chiba Yo challenged Tanjiro for praying over the demon, and Tanjiro explained that demons had once been human and could be victims too.
• As dawn approached, Tanjiro shared his flatbread with the hungry Chiba Yo and Zenitsu, and the three introduced themselves and became friends.
• For six days, Chiba Yo hunted demons with Tanjiro and Zenitsu, using Tanjiro’s sense of smell and Zenitsu’s hearing to find them more quickly.
• Chiba Yo cleared Mount Fujikasane of demons by the fifth day, and the three left the mountain together when the Final Selection ended.
• Chiba Yo saw that fewer than half of the original participants had returned as the two children welcomed the survivors.

Chiba Yo passed the Final Selection, chose ore for his sword, and parted ways with Tanjiro and Zenitsu before returning to the Corps. He found Kyojuro at headquarters enthusiastically eating while a girl brought him more food.

• The children explained the Corps ranks, sword-making schedule, and Kasugai crows, and Zenitsu received a sparrow instead of a crow.
• When the mohawked boy attacked the white-haired child over the delay in receiving his sword, Chiba Yo stopped him and the other swordsmen condemned his behavior.
• Chiba Yo selected the brightest piece of ore for his sword, and the surviving swordsmen left after choosing their own steel.
• Tanjiro and Zenitsu said goodbye to Chiba Yo and headed back to their trainers, while Kanao had already departed.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki heard that thirteen candidates survived the Final Selection and praised Kyojuro's Tsuguko.
• Chiba Yo returned to headquarters to tell Kyojuro he had passed, but found him eating among piles of bowls as a girl brought more food.

After passing Final Selection, Chiba Yo joined Kyojuro on a visit to the Rengoku estate, where Kyojuro bought him a new kimono and introduced him to Senjuro. Chiba Yo returned to Corps Headquarters alone after Kyojuro received a mission, and ten days later a swordsmith arrived with his completed Nichirin Blade.

• Kyojuro congratulated Chiba Yo on passing Final Selection and invited him to visit the Rengoku estate.
• Kyojuro bought Chiba Yo a white kimono as a congratulatory gift.
• Kyojuro encouraged Senjuro after he lamented his lack of talent for swordsmanship, then introduced him to Chiba Yo.
• Shinjuro insulted Kyojuro's demon-slaying and warned Chiba Yo that a Demon Slayer Mark meant he would die young.
• Kyojuro received a mission, so Chiba Yo returned to Corps Headquarters without him; ten days later, Tetsumaru-yama arrived to deliver Chiba Yo's Nichirin Blade.

Chiba Yo received his Nichirin Blade from Tetsumaru-yama, but it turned black instead of the red he expected for a Flame Breathing user. Chiba Yo explained that he knew several Breathing Styles, and Tetsumaru-yama left after urging him to care for the blade.

• Tetsumaru-yama presented Chiba Yo with the Nichirin Blade he had forged and eagerly demanded that he draw it.
• Chiba Yo drew the blade, which turned pitch-black, and Tetsumaru-yama became angry that it had not turned red.
• Chiba Yo explained that he knew Flame, Thunder, Water, and Sun Breathing, surprising Tetsumaru-yama.
• Chiba Yo recalled naming Sun Breathing after Kyojuro praised his mastery of Flame Breathing and told him to name his own style.
• Tetsumaru-yama told Chiba Yo to take good care of the blade, then said goodbye and left.

Chiba Yo visited the Butterfly Mansion, where he effortlessly burst training gourds and met the Wind Hashira Sanemi Shinazugawa. He then went to the training grounds, greeted Genya Shinazugawa, and wondered whether Genya and Sanemi were brothers.

• Chiba Yo watched Kanao Tsuyuri burst a large gourd during Breathing Style training with Shinobu Kocho and the three little girls.
• Shinobu Kocho invited Chiba Yo to try the training, and he burst both a small gourd and a person-sized one with ease.
• Sanemi Shinazugawa arrived at the Butterfly Mansion to visit Shinobu Kocho's older sister, and Aoi Kanzaki identified him as the Wind Hashira.
• Chiba Yo went to the training grounds, introduced himself to Genya Shinazugawa, and wondered if Genya and Sanemi were brothers.

Genya reunited with Sanemi, but Sanemi rejected him and told him to leave the Demon Slayer Corps. Genya then told Chiba Yo about his family and began recounting the night his siblings were attacked, ending as he found Sanemi beside their mother’s body.

• Chiba Yo asked Genya whether he and Sanemi were brothers, and Genya rushed to find Sanemi when he learned he was nearby.
• Genya apologized to Sanemi for their past, but Sanemi denied being his brother and walked away.
• Chiba Yo stayed with Genya as he broke down, and Genya began explaining their family history.
• Genya described how his father had abused the family before being killed, leaving their mother and seven children to rely on one another.
• Genya recounted how a dark figure attacked his siblings while Sanemi was away searching for their mother, and how Sanemi rushed in and carried the attacker outside.
• Genya said he went to find a doctor for his wounded little brother, then found Sanemi holding a kitchen knife beside their mother’s body.

Genya told Chiba Yo how he had blamed Sanemi after their mother became a demon and killed their siblings. Chiba Yo suggested Sanemi was pushing Genya away to protect him, and Genya set out to seek Gyomei Himejima as a master so he could grow stronger.

• Genya recounted how he had called Sanemi a murderer after Sanemi killed their demonized mother, and believed Sanemi rejected him because of that accusation.
• Chiba Yo reassured Genya that Sanemi likely wanted to keep him safe from the dangers of the Demon Slayer Corps.
• Genya started to go explain himself to Sanemi, but Chiba Yo stopped him, warning that Sanemi might push him away even more.
• Chiba Yo suggested Genya could reconcile with Sanemi by becoming strong enough to ease his brother's worries, and Genya decided to seek a powerful teacher.
• Chiba Yo told Genya that Gyomei Himejima was the strongest Hashira, and Genya ran off to ask him to become his student.
• Chiba Yo's crow warned him that a demon had been sighted to the southwest and told him to run.

Chiba Yo began his first mission and investigated the disappearance of a boy’s little sister and her friends. As he searched the forest with the boy, a strange hole began eating through a tree.

• Chiba Yo followed the Kasugai crow’s directions and saw Sanemi Shinazugawa gently feeding ohagi to a puppy.
• Chiba Yo reached a forest near a small town and met a boy searching for his missing little sister, Hotaru.
• Chiba Yo caught the exhausted boy when he stumbled and agreed to help him search the forest.
• The boy showed Chiba Yo the scattered bloodstains where the police had investigated the children’s disappearance.
• Chiba Yo heard a hissing sound and saw a hole mysteriously growing through a large tree.

Chiba Yo rescued a boy from the Corrosion Demon, who turned out to be the boy’s sister, Hotaru. After Chiba Yo killed her, the boy embraced her dissolving corpse and was corroded to death alongside her.

• Chiba Yo found Hotaru hiding in a tree and saved the boy she was attacking.
• The Corrosion Demon used Blood Corrosion against Chiba Yo, who blocked it with Sun Breathing, Fourth Form: Sun Flame Garment.
• The boy disrupted Chiba Yo’s attack and begged him to spare Hotaru, revealing that she was his little sister.
• Chiba Yo recalled the demons’ need to eat humans and Kyojuro’s words, then chose to kill Hotaru as she fled.
• The boy rushed to Hotaru’s corpse despite Chiba Yo’s warning and was corroded as he embraced her.
• Chiba Yo stood frozen after the boy vanished with Hotaru.

Three days earlier, Muzan Kibutsuji turned Xiao Ying into a demon and ordered her to search for the Blue Spider Lily and kill any Demon Slayers she encountered. After Xiao Ying killed her friends and hid from their searching parents, Chiba Yo stood alone in the forest holding the boy’s outer garment.

• While Xiao Ying searched the forest for her friends, Muzan Kibutsuji approached her and transformed her into a demon.
• Muzan Kibutsuji ordered Xiao Ying to search for the Blue Spider Lily and kill any Demon Slayers she encountered.
• When Xiao Ying’s five friends found her, she attacked and killed them under Muzan’s command.
• After the children’s parents came searching, Xiao Ying hid inside a tree with the unfinished corpses and avoided the sunlight.
• Three days later, Xiao Ying emerged after sensing a blood relative, while Chiba Yo stood beneath the moonlight clutching the boy’s outer garment.

After feeling responsible for a boy killed by a demon, Chiba Yo followed a crow’s call to a mountain where Lower Rank Two, Rokuro, was slaughtering Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen. Chiba Yo faced Rokuro and demanded to know why he trampled on human life, leaving their fight about to begin.

• Chiba Yo blamed himself for the boy’s death, swore to kill Muzan Kibutsuji, and set out to reinforce swordsmen fighting a demon to the north.
• Chiba Yo reached a blood-soaked mountain and found scraps of Corps uniforms and Nichirin Blades scattered through the forest.
• Rokuro, Lower Rank Two, taunted a captive swordsman and twisted his body as Chiba Yo rushed in and severed Rokuro’s arm to free him.
• Rokuro killed the rescued swordsman and mocked Chiba Yo, then offered to spare him if he helped find humans to eat.
• Chiba Yo laid the swordsman’s body down, walked toward Rokuro, and demanded to know why demons took human lives so casually.

Chiba Yo confronted Rokuro about the suffering demons caused and overwhelmed him with a Bright Red Nichirin Blade. He asked Rokuro for Muzan Kibutsuji’s location, but Rokuro could only stammer that he did not know.

• Chiba Yo questioned Rokuro about why demons killed humans, and Muzan Kibutsuji’s memories made Rokuro recognize a man who resembled Chiba Yo.
• Chiba Yo drew his Nichirin Blade, which turned bright red as Rokuro’s cells filled him with fear.
• Rokuro attacked Chiba Yo, but Chiba Yo severed all four of his limbs with rapid strikes.
• Rokuro used Blood Demon Art: Windlass Rotation on Chiba Yo’s sword, but the Bright Red Nichirin Blade remained unaffected and prevented Rokuro from regenerating.
• Chiba Yo asked Rokuro where Muzan Kibutsuji was, but Rokuro trembled and said he did not know.

Chiba Yo killed Rokuro, Lower Rank Two, after failing to extract information about Muzan, then buried the Demon Slayers who had died on the mission. A Kakushi informed him that his victory had earned him a promotion to Hashira and that Oyakata-sama had summoned him to a Hashira Meeting.

• Rokuro refused to reveal anything about Muzan and tried to get close enough to use his Blood Demon Art, but he could not regenerate his severed limbs.
• Chiba Yo beheaded Rokuro, who turned to ash while protesting his death.
• Chiba Yo remembered Kyojuro teaching him that the strong had a duty to protect and help the weak.
• Chiba Yo buried the dead Demon Slayers and reflected on the deaths he had witnessed.
• A Kakushi told Chiba Yo that Oyakata-sama had promoted him to Hashira and summoned him to a Hashira Meeting.