Chapter Summaries

Rokuya and the Kocho sisters struggled to help Kanao act on her own, so Kanae gave her a coin to guide small decisions. Rokuya accepted the idea as a first step but warned that Kanao also needed the strength to protect herself in a dangerous world.

• Shinobu and Rokuya tried unsuccessfully to get Kanao to eat or respond, and Rokuya explained that her past abuse had erased her will to act.
• Kanae proposed letting Kanao toss a coin to decide whether to do something, explaining that tossing it would help her begin acting independently.
• Rokuya and Shinobu questioned the coin method, but Rokuya agreed it could help Kanao through her current paralysis.
• Rokuya warned Kanae that Kanao was too weak to survive safely without learning to protect herself.

Kanao chose to learn a Breathing Style by tossing a coin, and Kanae took her to study Flower Breathing with her former Cultivator. After Kanae left, Rokuya and Shinobu were alone at the Butterfly Mansion, where Rokuya began to suggest what they could do together.

• Rokuya proposed that Kanao learn a Breathing Style so she could protect herself and awaken her will to survive.
• Kanae let Kanao decide by coin toss, and Kanao flipped heads, choosing to train as a swordswoman.
• Kanae chose Flower Breathing for Kanao and said she would take her to her former Cultivator for training.
• Kanae departed with Kanao, leaving Shinobu in charge of the Butterfly Mansion and warning Rokuya to eat properly.
• Shinobu told Rokuya that only the two of them remained at the mansion, and Rokuya began speaking with a deepened gaze.

After Kanae left with Kanao, Shinobu and Rokuya shared a late-night sukiyaki meal at the quiet Butterfly Mansion. Rokuya asked Shinobu what they were to each other, and she struggled to answer as her feelings and fears overwhelmed her.

• Shinobu and Rokuya joked about having sukiyaki after he asked for ten portions.
• Shinobu cooked while Rokuya ate pot after pot, and he urged her to eat more to build her strength.
• Shinobu watched Rokuya fondly as they ate, then denied looking at him when he noticed.
• Rokuya asked Shinobu what they were to each other, leaving her flustered and unable to answer.

Shinobu called Rokuya family to shield her complicated feelings, and he teased her before leaving the Butterfly Mansion for a mission in Tokyo Prefecture. While caring for injured swordsmen in his absence, Shinobu repeated that they were family and described him as something like an older brother.

• Shinobu declared that she and Rokuya were family, and Rokuya jokingly asked her to bring him more beef.
• Rokuya left the Butterfly Mansion for Tokyo Prefecture after warning Shinobu to stay safe and take charge while he was away.
• Shinobu resolved to manage the Butterfly Mansion and treat wounded Demon Slayer Corps members in Rokuya’s absence.
• An injured swordsman asked whether Rokuya was Shinobu’s boyfriend, and Shinobu said they were family and called him something like an older brother.

Shinobu struggled to deny her growing feelings for Takanashi Rokuno while treating wounded Demon Slayers, then Rokuya used a year of accumulated Gratitude Points to obtain Infinity Edge. The new equipment merged with Shura, and Rokuya drew the blade to test its power.

• Shinobu took out her irritation on a wounded swordsman, treating him roughly and criticizing his weakness as she compared him to a certain someone.
• After the patients were treated, Shinobu realized how deeply Takanashi Rokuno had influenced her and tried to dismiss her feelings by vowing to put extra wasabi in his sukiyaki.
• Another year passed as Rokuya traveled across Japan, slaying demons and earning more than 102,000 Gratitude Points.
• Rokuya spent 80,000 Gratitude Points to redeem Infinity Edge, which added attack and critical-strike attributes and merged into Shura.
• Rokuya drew Shura after the equipment's violent power surged through his body.

Rokuya spent the chapter testing his enhanced power and combining Breathing Styles with Arcana Power to create new techniques. He ended by identifying Wind Breathing’s range and Flame Breathing’s explosive power as the next abilities he needed to develop.

• Rokuya’s critical-strike Shura Blade cut through a distant boulder, and he exchanged all his remaining Gratitude Points to raise his four attributes to 50.
• Rokuya used Thunder Breathing and Arcana Power to create Extreme Blade Flash, a high-speed attack that changed direction and severed three trees.
• Rokuya combined Sun Breathing with Arcana Power to use Flying Wheel Sunflare: Modified Phantom Blade Slash, whose hidden crescent attack melted a distant cliff.
• Rokuya infused Returning Blade with Water Breathing, making it follow unpredictable curves as it cut through trees and rocks before returning to him.
• Rokuya concluded that he needed Wind Breathing’s range and Flame Breathing’s explosive power to complete his techniques.

Rokuya visited the Rengoku family and found Shinjuro recovered, Ruka improving, and Senjuro training. He asked to borrow the family’s Flame Breathing guide, and Shinjuro immediately sent Senjuro to retrieve it.

• Rokuya arrived at the Rengoku residence and was welcomed by Senjuro.
• Rokuya watched Shinjuro train a young swordsman and learned that Shinjuro taught swordsmanship daily.
• Shinjuro thanked Rokuya for helping the family, and Rokuya saw that Ruka’s health had improved.
• Rokuya asked to borrow the Rengoku family’s Flame Breathing guide.
• Shinjuro told Senjuro to fetch the locked rosewood box from his study.

Rokuya received the Rengoku family's Flame Breathing scrolls and learned Shinjuro's explanation of Wind Breathing's force generation. After Kyojuro challenged him to a duel, Rokuya effortlessly blocked Kyojuro's powerful attack with a wooden sword, leaving the Rengokus stunned.

• Senjuro brought Shinjuro the Flame Breathing scrolls, which Shinjuro gave to Rokuya along with an explanation of Wind Breathing's tearing force.
• Shinjuro suggested Rokuya study Wind Breathing with Sanemi Shinazugawa, and Rokuya revealed that Sanemi had trained under him.
• Kyojuro returned home, recognized Rokuya, and challenged him to spar; Rokuya accepted to test his strength.
• Kyojuro attacked Rokuya with Flame Breathing, Fourth Form: Blazing Flame Undulation, but Rokuya shattered the strike with a wooden sword and did not move.
• Kyojuro staggered back from the recoil, while Shinjuro watched in amazement at Rokuya's strength.

Kyojuro urged Rokuya to stop defending and show him the view from his summit, so Rokuya unleashed a single strike that nearly killed him and devastated the Rengoku estate. The chapter ended with the strike's destruction revealed and the estate frozen in stunned silence.

• Kyojuro praised Rokuya's skill but pleaded with him to attack so he could break through his limits.
• Rokuya warned Kyojuro that even a wooden-sword strike could be dangerous, then agreed to deliver one blow.
• Rokuya's system activated a boosted lethal critical strike, and Arcana Power enveloped his wooden sword.
• Kyojuro's survival instincts made him crouch as Rokuya swung, causing the strike to pass over him.
• Rokuya's sword shattered, but its silver-blue blade radiance carved through the training hall floor, split the courtyard wall, and uprooted a century-old tree.
• The dust settled over the ruined training hall, and the Rengoku estate fell silent.

After nearly killing Kyojuro during a demonstration, Takanashi Rokuya received the Rengoku family's thanks and went to Sanemi Shinazugawa to learn Wind Breathing's power-generation techniques. Sanemi was left baffled by Rokuya's lofty explanation of why he wanted to learn from him.

• Rokuya accidentally unleashed a powerful slash that destroyed the courtyard wall and narrowly missed Kyojuro.
• Shinjuro praised Rokuya's sword strike, and Kyojuro thanked him for the instruction and vowed to grow stronger.
• Rokuya said he had memorized the theory of Flame Breathing and planned to seek instruction from the Wind Hashira.
• Rokuya arrived at Sanemi's training base and asked him to teach the core power-generation techniques of Wind Breathing.
• Sanemi questioned why someone with Rokuya's strength needed instruction, and Rokuya replied that some learned the Way sooner and each had a specialty, leaving Sanemi unable to understand him.

Rokuya learned Sanemi’s Wind Breathing technique and returned to the Butterfly Mansion, where he ate Shinobu’s wasabi-laden dinner. He used the system to fuse Flame Breathing into Returning Blade, then began deriving a Wind Breathing upgrade for Blade Tempest.

• Sanemi taught Rokuya Wind Breathing’s muscle-vibration technique, and Rokuya quickly used it to make a wooden stick cut through stone.
• Rokuya returned to the Butterfly Mansion and ate the wasabi rice Shinobu had prepared as a prank.
• Rokuya spent 15,000 Gratitude Points to fuse Flame Breathing’s Flame Tiger into Returning Blade, creating Returning Blade: Flame Tiger’s Roar.
• Rokuya began deriving a Wind Breathing upgrade for Blade Tempest using Veda Heaven Typhoon’s lift and cutting properties.

Rokuya tested his greatly strengthened Blade Tempest and believed he could now defeat an Upper Rank demon. At the Hashira Meeting, Shinobu Kocho was promoted to Insect Hashira, and Rokuya watched her with no knowledge of her hidden feelings for him.

• Rokuya unleashed Blade Tempest · Wind God's Dance, combining Flame Breathing, Wind Breathing, and his enhanced strength.
• Rokuya returned to the Ubuyashiki Estate, where Kanae warned him that someone unexpected would attend the Hashira Meeting.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki announced that Shinobu had slain fifty demons and developed wisteria poison that reduced casualties.
• Kagaya officially promoted Shinobu Kocho to Insect Hashira, and the Hashira congratulated her.
• Shinobu gave Rokuya a composed smile while concealing her feelings for him, since he was Kanae's lover.

Rokuya visited Shinobu’s toxicology research institute after Kanae worried that she was pushing herself too hard. He found her exhausted and struggling to make poison strong enough to defeat Upper Ranks, and after enchanting a batch for her, he heard Shinobu break down over her weakness and resentment.

• Kanae told Rokuya that Shinobu had been overworking herself and asked him to check on her.
• Rokuya slipped into Shinobu’s mansion near Osaka and found her working alone in the laboratory, exhausted and developing poison for Upper Ranks.
• Shinobu greeted Rokuya with her usual teasing smile, but he asked about the poison she had prepared.
• Rokuya used Arcana Power to enchant Shinobu’s poison and offered to enhance future batches for her.
• Shinobu cried and told Rokuya that she hated being too weak to cut through a Demon’s neck while he and Kanae fought side by side.

Rokuya rejected Shinobu’s unspoken romantic feelings by calling her his irreplaceable family and wishing her a future with another man. Shinobu hid her heartbreak behind a composed smile, then collapsed after he left, unsure how to face him again.

• Shinobu confronted Rokuya about his distance and asked what she meant to him.
• Rokuya called Shinobu his most important family and said he hoped she would find a good man after the demons were gone.
• Shinobu accepted his answer, emphasized calling him her big brother, and asked him to leave the laboratory.
• After Rokuya left, Shinobu dropped her test tube, broke down, and resolved that she no longer knew how to face him or her feelings.

Rokuya killed Muzan, then realized that the peaceful life he saw with Kanae and Shinobu was a dream. The chapter revealed that Rokuya, Shinobu, and Obanai had boarded the Mugen Train to investigate a demon, where a conductor’s ticket punch spread a sweet scent that made Rokuya drowsy.

• Rokuya used Blade Tempest: Modified-Sunflare Chakram to destroy Muzan and end the demon progenitor’s life.
• Rokuya imagined living peacefully with Kanae before Shinobu arrived with a boyfriend whose face he could not see.
• Rokuya recognized the perfect scene as a dream and sensed that an intruder had entered his mind.
• Two days earlier, Rokuya, Obanai Iguro, and Shinobu Kocho boarded the Mugen Train after receiving reports of demons and missing Corps members.
• A conductor punched their tickets, spreading an eerily sweet scent that overwhelmed Rokuya with drowsiness.

Rokuya, Obanai, and Shinobu were trapped in a demon’s dream attack aboard a train. Rokuya and Obanai woke, but Shinobu remained trapped with her spiritual core locked down, leaving Rokuya to find a way to save her without causing further harm.

• Enmu’s intruder entered Rokuya’s subconscious to destroy his spiritual core but could not damage the Magic Dao Armor, and Rokuya drove him off.
• Rokuya woke in the train carriage and cut the ropes connecting him, Shinobu, Obanai, and three controlled passengers.
• Obanai woke and learned that a Blood Demon Art had put the train passengers to sleep and used the passengers as links to their dreams.
• Rokuya stopped Obanai from shaking Shinobu awake and sensed that her spiritual core was locked down, warning that force could leave her mentally incapacitated or brain-dead.

Rokuya blamed himself for Shinobu’s deep nightmare and entered her dream using arcana power to rescue her. He arrived at the Kocho Sisters’ former home and saw a vivid memory of Kanae and Shinobu with their parents.

• Rokuya realized his words had helped open the despair Enmu exploited in Shinobu’s mind.
• Rokuya ordered Obanai to handle the demon and protect the train’s passengers while he entered Shinobu’s dream.
• Rokuya clasped Shinobu’s hand and used arcana power to form a connection between their minds.
• Rokuya arrived at the Kocho Sisters’ former home, where he could not summon the Shura Blade and appeared translucent.
• Rokuya entered the room and saw Kanae cooking while Shinobu and their parents were present.

Inside Enmu’s dream, Shinobu’s longing for her family briefly seemed fulfilled, but she recognized Rokuya as the person missing from her heart. When her parents ignored him and Kanae turned toward him, Rokuya realized the dream was a trap designed to torment Shinobu.

• Shinobu bickered playfully with Kanae while their parents enjoyed a peaceful family meal.
• Rokuya heard Shinobu’s subconscious wonder who was missing from her seemingly perfect family life.
• Shinobu spotted Rokuya, ran to him, and held his wrist, making his translucent body solid.
• Shinobu proudly introduced Rokuya to her parents, but they ignored both of them and continued their conversation.
• Shinobu called on Kanae for help, and Kanae turned her gaze toward Rokuya as he sensed the dream’s cruel purpose.

Rokuya discovered that Enmu had turned Shinobu’s dream of a family reunion into a cruel illusion and then forced her to relive the night her parents died. He appeared in the dream as his younger self’s savior, cutting down the demons as they attacked Shinobu and Kanae.

• Kanae failed to recognize Rokuya and asked him to leave, shattering Shinobu’s belief that her sister remembered him.
• Rokuya realized Enmu had used the reunion dream to hurt Shinobu and watched the false courtyard break apart.
• The dream forced Shinobu to relive her parents’ murder, with young Kanae shielding her from three demons.
• Rokuya summoned Shura and his Arcana Armor, then killed the hulking demon with Extreme Blade Flash.
• Rokuya struck down the one-eyed demon with a second slash as another demon cried out in terror.

Rokuya rescued Shinobu from Enmu’s dream and comforted her as her memories returned. In a new dream, he challenged Shinobu’s despair over lacking the strength to kill demons by showing her how to turn her skill with wisteria poison into an advantage.

• Rokuya killed the last long-clawed demon, and Shinobu’s sealed memories surged back as she recognized him and sobbed in his arms.
• The dream shifted to a dojo where Shinobu successfully performed a Flower Breathing form, but her master told her she lacked the strength to cut through a demon’s neck.
• Shinobu despaired that she could not avenge her parents, and Rokuya interrupted the dream to reassure her.
• Rokuya told Shinobu to use her knowledge of pharmacology and wisteria to poison demons instead of relying on strength to behead them.