The trial of Tanjiro and Nezuko

The next morning, an unprecedented tension hung over the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters.

In the center of the spacious courtyard, Tanjiro knelt on the ground, tightly bound. Bruises marked his face, but his eyes were unwavering.

Before him stood a specially made wooden box secured with heavy chains. Inside, Nezuko slept.

The nine Hashira and the Sapphire Star stood like ten silent mountains around the courtyard, looking down at the boy and the box holding his demon sister.

Supported by his wife, Amane, the Master, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, sat beneath the veranda, his gentle, all-seeing presence enveloping the entire courtyard.

"Tanjiro Kamado..." Ubuyashiki's calm voice broke the deathly silence.

Tanjiro jerked his head up, his blazing gaze sweeping across each Hashira.

"Nezuko is my sister! She's never eaten anyone! And she never will! We made that promise the day she became a demon! I swear on my life and my soul! She's different! Please! Believe me! Believe Nezuko!"

"Absurd!"

Sanemi Shinazugawa was the first to erupt. He stepped forward, and a savage blast of wind swept out, leaving Tanjiro barely able to open his eyes.

"A demon is a demon! What do you mean, she won't eat people? She just hasn't gotten hungry enough yet! Naive idiots like you will only get more people killed!" He whipped out his Nichirin Blade and pointed it straight at the wooden box.

"Rather than wait for this monster to lose control, we should finish her off now!"

"Stop!" Giyu Tomioka appeared in front of the box in an instant. His Nichirin Blade was already half an inch out of its sheath as he stared directly at the furious Wind Hashira.

"Tomioka! You still mean to protect them?!" Sanemi roared, wind blades surging wildly along his sword. "What makes you think you can vouch for her?!"

"What I saw with my own eyes." Giyu's voice remained level, but his conviction brooked no argument.

"Your own eyes? Ha!" Sanemi laughed in fury. "Those siblings have already fooled your eyes! Get out of my way!"

Just as the standoff threatened to erupt into violence-

"Wait, don't be so hasty!"

It was the Sapphire Star. Every gaze immediately turned toward her.

"Hear me out, Master, Hashira. I have no intention of interfering in the Demon Slayer Corps' internal affairs! But I was at Mount Natagumo last night too. I don't know whether Tanjiro's sister has ever eaten anyone, but I found no evidence that she had hurt anyone either. And..." Her gaze shifted to Tanjiro.

"At Mount Natagumo, that demon girl did use her own body as a shield to protect the gravely wounded Tanjiro Kamado. I witnessed that myself."

Her intervention made the already strained atmosphere even more delicate.

The Hashira studied her with scrutiny, curiosity, and even a trace of displeasure.

Sanemi Shinazugawa's fury seemed to find a new outlet. He rounded on the Sapphire Star.

"What would a violent outsider who's never seen a demon know?! Demons are far more cunning than you can imagine! You saw it yourself? Hmph! Who knows if it was all an act?!"

The air in the courtyard seemed to congeal into a thick solid, almost suffocating them.

The Hashira's arguments rolled like muffled thunder through the clouds, yet they could reach no agreement.

"Enough!" Veins bulged at Sanemi Shinazugawa's temples, and his scars twisted with his extreme fury.

"All this arguing is pointless! Evidence? Proof? Simple!" He abruptly drew his Nichirin Blade.

Before anyone could react, he shot straight toward the wooden box like lightning.

"Let me show you a demon's true nature!" he roared, thrusting viciously at the box secured by heavy chains.

"Nezuko!!!" The sudden attack filled Tanjiro with sheer terror! His bound body unleashed strength beyond its limits! His bones groaned under the strain, and the tough ropes snapped apart!

Thump!

A dull impact rang out.

Freed from his restraints, Tanjiro hurled his flesh-and-blood body into Sanemi's side as he charged!

His forehead-that forehead that seemed to hold the power of the sun-

Slammed into Sanemi's solid chest!

Boom!!!

Sanemi staggered backward several steps.

Holy shit, Tanjiro! The Sapphire Star cheered him on inwardly.

"You... you little bastard..." Sanemi's voice came between ragged, pain-stricken breaths.

He could not understand how a boy this badly injured could unleash such terrifying strength! And why was his forehead so hard...?

Tanjiro himself curled up beside the wooden box, utterly spent. His forehead was swollen and bruised, blood and sweat streaming down until he could barely open his eyes.

Yet his arms remained locked around the cold wooden box as he glared at the Wind Hashira, whose mouth was stained with blood, with fierce vigilance and resolve.

"Don't... hurt Nezuko..."

"You still won't face the truth?! You insist on protecting that demon?!" Sanemi roared at Tanjiro, at Giyu Tomioka, at the Sapphire Star, and at all the Hashira.

"Then every one of you can see it for yourselves-demons can never resist rare blood! Especially... a demon who's just crawled out of a desperate fight and is mad with hunger!"

Before his words had even faded, Sanemi Shinazugawa reversed his Nichirin Blade and slashed hard across his own arm beneath everyone's stunned gaze!

Slash!

Far sweeter and more tempting than ordinary blood, and brimming with vigorous life force, his rare blood gushed like a stream, instantly staining his arm and the front of his uniform red.

Everyone's heart leaped into their throat. Their eyes locked on the wooden box Tanjiro was shielding beneath him!

A sudden series of violent crashes erupted inside the box.

Sanemi's face held the cruel satisfaction of someone about to expose the truth. "Look closely! This is..."

But before he could finish his declaration-

Tanjiro summoned the last of his strength and struggled to lift himself. Extending his own bloodstained hand, he gave the violently shaking box a gentle pat, trembling yet utterly resolute.

"It's all right... Nezuko..." His hoarse voice was faint, yet it cut clearly through the chilling whimpers and the dripping blood. "Hold on... trust your big brother... soon... everything will be all right..."

"Your big brother... I'm right here..."

He repeated those words over and over, each pat of his palm carrying reassurance.

Under his gentle, soothing pats... the box's violent shaking actually... began to subside!

The cries of agonized struggle gradually softened into low, aggrieved sobs...

The satisfaction on Sanemi Shinazugawa's face froze completely. He looked at the now-quiet box, then at Tanjiro's blood-soaked hand stroking it with such tenderness...

Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who had remained seated in silence, wore his usual gentle smile. For the first time, it truly deepened.

"Honestly... the pair of you..."

The Sapphire Star could not take it anymore. She reached into her hunter's belt pouch, swiftly pulled out a specially made little leather bag, and flicked her wrist.

Whoosh-

A dense cloud of powder scattered like a miniature galaxy, settling precisely over the gravely wounded Tanjiro and Sanemi, who had been knocked to the ground with blood still seeping from his chest.

The moment the powder touched the air and their wounds, it transformed into a visible, soft glow filled with gentle vitality.

"Ugh?!" Tanjiro and Sanemi groaned simultaneously.

Tanjiro felt the tearing pain in his forehead and the heaviness throughout his body recede rapidly like an ebbing tide.

His bruised, swollen flesh swiftly settled back into place, and a warm current replaced the cold numbness of blood loss.

Around the deep, long wound Sanemi had cut into his own arm, the flesh wriggled like a living creature, gathering toward the center. The bleeding stopped instantly, leaving only a fresh pink scar that faded rapidly, almost disappearing on the spot.

This astonishing healing effect, far beyond anything their era could comprehend, instantly shifted every Hashira's attention from the box to the two men in the courtyard.

Mitsuri Kanroji covered her mouth with an incredulous gasp. Even Gyomei Himejima's fingers paused briefly on his prayer beads.

The Sapphire Star withdrew her hand, tied the little leather bag shut, and returned it to her belt pouch.

"Aw, shucks. Just a little something from back home, nothing worth mentioning. Fully repairing the injuries will still take time." She brushed off the shocking sight as though it were nothing, then changed the subject.

"It's true that, as an outsider, I shouldn't presume to comment on the Demon Slayer Corps' affairs. But from what we've seen today, this demon sister-Nezuko, was it?-can suppress her instinct to eat people through sheer willpower. She didn't give in even when faced with the temptation of rare blood. So..."

She took a deep breath. "I think the question isn't whether Nezuko should stand trial, but whether... demons might not be entirely beyond saving. Could that mean our fellow humans who were unfortunate enough to be dragged into the darkness still have a chance of being 'cured'? Could that be more effective than simply 'exterminating' them?"

Her voice was not loud, yet it stirred towering waves in the silent courtyard. Every word struck like a heavy hammer against the walls of conviction the Hashira had upheld for a hundred years!

The phrase "a chance of being cured," in particular, flashed like lightning through the darkness, illuminating a path no one had ever dared imagine!

Sanemi Shinazugawa looked at the wound on his arm, now reduced to a faint mark. He listened to the Sapphire Star's calm yet revolutionary words and heard the muffled, sorrowful sobs of the demon inside the box. His chest heaved. He wanted to argue, to roar, to tear apart this unrealistic fantasy...

He opened his mouth, his throat working several times, but in the end, no sound came out. He merely stared at the wooden box, his eyes filled with conflicting emotions.

"Exactly! Think about it. We finally have a demon who can break free of Muzan's control and refrain from hurting people. Why aren't we treasuring this opportunity instead of thinking about destroying her?" the Sapphire Star continued.

The other Hashira's expressions were equally grave, fierce and conflicting thoughts colliding in their minds.

Just then, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who had remained seated beneath the veranda, broke into a gentler smile than ever before, like sunlight piercing the clouds.

"Everyone, I believe you have seen the potential within that 'bond beyond reason' to illuminate the darkness. As the Sapphire Star said, Nezuko Kamado's exceptional nature may be a curse, but it is also a ray of hope bestowed upon us by heaven, a chance to tear through our despair. She should be allowed to live."

He slowly raised his hand and pointed toward Tanjiro and his sister.

"Tanjiro Kamado and his sister, Nezuko, will continue carrying out their demon-slaying duties, under the joint supervision of Giyu Tomioka and the Sapphire Star."