Chapter Summaries

As the Corps gathered for Su Chen’s match against Sanemi Shinazugawa, Kagaya Ubuyashiki delivered a speech that captivated the crowd. Su Chen tried to analyze and imitate Kagaya’s persuasive voice, gained Voice Acting Mastery and Vocal Mimicry Mastery, and left Kanao concerned by his strange sounds.

• Tengen Uzui introduced Sanemi Shinazugawa and Su Chen before the match, while the crowd doubted Su Chen could defeat the Wind Hashira.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki appeared with Amane Ubuyashiki and addressed the assembled Demon Slayer Corps members, Kakushi, swordsmiths, and Hashira.
• Su Chen assessed Kagaya’s worsening illness and concluded that he could not yet treat the curse caused by Muzan Kibutsuji.
• While listening to Kagaya’s speech, Su Chen analyzed and imitated his voice, eventually comprehending Voice Acting Mastery and Vocal Mimicry Mastery.
• Kanao asked Su Chen about his strange noises after they returned to his room, and he denied that anything was wrong.

Su Chen received Murata’s report that the village chief had helped a demon feed on villagers in hopes of becoming a demon, and worried that Murata was investigating alone. He sent Kanao back to alert Shinobu and prepare to move the Butterfly Mansion, then promised Kanao he would return safely.

• Murata wrote to Su Chen that he had discovered the village chief had deliberately gathered villagers for a demon and had killed the demon after a difficult fight.
• Su Chen realized Murata had not informed Oyakata-sama and sent him a reply urging him to stay safe and proceed cautiously.
• Su Chen told Kanao to wake Shinobu, report the demon’s presence near the Butterfly Mansion, and urge her to prepare to move.
• Before leaving, Kanao asked Su Chen to come back safely, and they sealed his promise with a pinky swear.

Su Chen faced Shinazugawa in a match at the Ubuyashiki Residence and offered to help him awaken his Demon Slayer Mark. He explained that Shinazugawa needed a brush with death, then suddenly thrust his sword at him.

• Su Chen and Kanao Tsuyuri sealed a promise with a pinky swear before Kanao ran off, blushing.
• Tengen Uzui introduced Su Chen and Shinazugawa as the contestants, while the Hashira and others watched from the crowd.
• When the match began, Su Chen told Shinazugawa that yesterday’s fight had been a draw and offered to help him awaken his mark.
• Su Chen revealed his developed Demon Slayer Mark and explained that raising body temperature was not enough without a trigger.
• Su Chen identified a brush with death as Shinazugawa’s trigger and suddenly thrust his sword at him.

Su Chen and Shinazugawa began a fierce duel, trading Insect, Wind, Overlord Flower, and Blazing Breathing techniques. Shinazugawa unleashed a pair of powerful Wind Breathing forms that filled the arena, leaving Su Chen with his escape routes sealed off.

• Su Chen opened with Insect Breathing attacks, and Shinazugawa countered with Wind Breathing’s Fifth Form, but Su Chen blocked the wind slashes with Overlord Flower Breathing.
• Su Chen told Shinazugawa that fighting in a life-or-death situation was his best chance to awaken his Demon Slayer Mark, and Shinazugawa charged at him with renewed excitement.
• Shinazugawa’s speed overwhelmed Su Chen until Su Chen activated Bullet Domain, the Free and Unfettered Body Technique, and Total Concentration to evade his attack.
• Su Chen used Blazing Breathing’s Sixth Form to strike at Shinazugawa’s kidneys, but Shinazugawa dodged because he had learned to guard the area after Shinobu Kocho stabbed him there.
• Shinazugawa followed with Wind Breathing’s First Form and then its Seventh Form, unleashing fierce winds that sealed off Su Chen’s escape routes.

Su Chen evaded Shinazugawa’s increasingly wide-ranging Wind Breathing attacks and waited for him to close in. He then unleashed Blazing Breathing, Ninth Form-Secret Art: Three Thousand Flame Prison against Shinazugawa’s Idaten Typhoon, leaving their clash unresolved.

• Shinazugawa layered multiple Tengu Wind attacks, but Su Chen dodged them without exposing an opening.
• Shinazugawa switched to Dust Traveler Wind: Cutting Slash and charged into close range.
• Su Chen revealed that he had been waiting for Shinazugawa to approach so he could launch a decisive attack.
• Shinazugawa answered Su Chen’s secret art with Wind Breathing, Ninth Form-Idaten Typhoon.
• Su Chen and Shinazugawa’s Ninth Forms collided in a clash of fierce winds and intense heat.

Su Chen’s duel with Shinazugawa wrecked the arena, and Su Chen’s Nichirin Blade broke after his fiery attack. Though Shinazugawa emerged badly burned and bloodied, Su Chen realized his opponent’s rare constitution could make him fight even better, leaving the real battle about to begin.

• Su Chen’s fiery sword technique stunned the spectators and impressed the Hashira, while Kagaya said Su Chen could receive a new Nichirin Blade later.
• The dust cleared to reveal Su Chen holding a broken blade, and Inosuke tried to rush into the arena before Zenitsu and Tanjiro stopped him.
• Shinazugawa appeared heavily burned and bloodied, astonishing the spectators and calming Inosuke, who declared that Master Geng was fine.
• Obanai Iguro judged that Su Chen had lost because his blade broke, though he acknowledged Su Chen had injured Shinazugawa badly enough to prove his worth as a Hashira.
• Su Chen assessed Shinazugawa’s wounds and recognized that his rare blood constitution could let him fight more effectively while injured.

Su Chen continued fighting Shinazugawa after his Nichirin Blade broke, then used a hidden paralytic toxin to stop the Wind Hashira's attack. He revealed that he had prepared a Breathing Style called Bee specifically to deal with Shinazugawa.

• Su Chen blamed Haganezuka for his broken Nichirin Blade but refused to surrender to Shinazugawa.
• The spectators and Hashira worried that Su Chen would be badly hurt, while Kagaya Ubuyashiki trusted that he had a solution.
• Shinazugawa unleashed Wind Breathing, First Form-Dust Traveler Wind: Cutting Slash, but his attack stopped when his body began to go numb.
• Su Chen told Shinazugawa that a paralytic toxin had numbed half his body and revealed that he had prepared a Breathing Style called Bee.

Su Chen used poison and Bee Breathing to put Shinazugawa in danger, then gained Hearing Mastery: Clairaudience while fighting through a wind-blinding attack. He located Shinazugawa, but the battle turned uncertain when Shinazugawa countered with a Wind Breathing attack using his leg.

• Su Chen revealed Bee Breathing and explained that his blade rings had been dispersing numbing poison, while the Hashira recognized his talent and discussed his other Breathing Styles.
• Su Chen entered an enlightened state as the poisoned Shinazugawa slowed, then attacked his kidney with Bee Breathing, Eighth Form: Blood Demon Bee Fang.
• Shinazugawa used Wind Breathing, Sixth Form: Black Wind Smoke Haze, to obscure Su Chen's vision, but Su Chen focused on hearing and learned Hearing Mastery: Clairaudience.
• Su Chen located Shinazugawa through sound and attacked, but Shinazugawa blocked the broken blade with his teeth and hand.
• Su Chen tried to use Shadowless Hand, but Shinazugawa countered with his foot and continued into a Wind Breathing attack that made Su Chen sense an approaching deadly threat.

With his sword lost and Shinazugawa pressing him with ranged Wind Breathing attacks, Su Chen entered the Hyper-Memory State and studied Shinazugawa’s movements. He adapted Wind Breathing into a new technique, creating an opening and charging forward as the winds subsided.

• Su Chen spotted his broken, poisoned Nichirin Blade held between Shinazugawa’s toes and retreated as Shinazugawa unleashed Wind Breathing, Fourth Form: Rising Sandstorm.
• Shinazugawa halted the poison’s paralysis and kept Su Chen at a distance with repeated Wind Breathing attacks, while Su Chen dodged and healed his injuries.
• After Shinazugawa’s strike wounded his shoulder, Su Chen recalled his meditation at the Butterfly Mansion and comprehended the Hyper-Memory State.
• Su Chen replayed Shinazugawa’s Wind Breathing movements in his mind, learned how to use the style in close combat, and altered the movements to create a new technique.
• Su Chen used Wind Breathing, Five Swords Form: Black Rope Great Dragon Twister to counter Shinazugawa’s wind, then charged forward with the Free and Unfettered Body Technique.

Su Chen used a barehanded technique to counter Shinazugawa’s attack, then faced the Wind Hashira after Shinazugawa awakened his Demon Slayer Mark. As Shinazugawa pressed his advantage, Su Chen pushed his mind into hypermemory to analyze his opponent’s movements and find a way to survive.

• Su Chen’s No Sword Form: Black Rope Great Dragon Twister countered Shinazugawa’s Wind Breathing technique, impressing the spectators and Hashira.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki and Lady Amane watched Su Chen fight, and Kagaya reflected on his bond with Shinobu and the Butterfly Mansion.
• Su Chen charged Shinazugawa, but dodged another Dust Whirlwind Cutter and discovered that Shinazugawa had awakened his Demon Slayer Mark.
• Su Chen recognized that Shinazugawa’s strength and stamina had increased, and activated Bullet Domain to study his next move.
• Su Chen used Clairaudience, the Free and Unfettered Body Technique, and hypermemory to analyze beastlike movements through thousands of mental simulations, despite bleeding from the strain.

Su Chen developed Dragon Breathing and used feints, a recovered broken blade, and Bee Breathing to bring Shinazugawa down with him. Su Chen managed to stand, but Shinazugawa also got back up, leaving the fight's outcome undecided.

• After ten thousand mental simulations against Inosuke and wild beasts, Su Chen created Dragon Breathing by combining beastly combat methods with his other Breathing Styles.
• Su Chen used Dragon Breathing, First Form: Dragon Soaring Through the Sky, to graze Shinazugawa's ear, then ran off to retrieve his broken blade.
• Su Chen charged Shinazugawa again with the broken blade, but Shinazugawa knocked it away; Su Chen exploited Shinazugawa's expectation that he would retrieve it.
• Su Chen drove three golden blade rings into Shinazugawa's kidney area with Bee Breathing, Ninth Form: Desperate Strike-Break, while Shinazugawa struck Su Chen in the back with his sword hilt.
• Both fighters fell, but Su Chen rose, exhausted, and the spectators cried out when Shinazugawa got up too.

Su Chen defeated the unconscious Sanemi Shinazugawa and was declared the Demon Slayer Corps’ tenth Hashira. After Kagaya Ubuyashiki welcomed him into the ranks, he asked Su Chen and the Hashira to stay for a meeting.

• Su Chen realized Shinazugawa had passed out while still standing, then relaxed his body with Demon Hand Massage and watched him collapse.
• Tengen Uzui declared Su Chen the winner and announced that he would become the Demon Slayer Corps’ tenth current Hashira.
• The crowd, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, Nezuko, and the other Hashira reacted to Su Chen’s victory and praised his strength.
• Lady Amane helped Kagaya Ubuyashiki downstairs, where he welcomed the Corps members and asked them to accept Su Chen as a Hashira.
• Kagaya asked Su Chen and the Hashira to stay for a meeting, while Lady Amane summoned her daughters to help Su Chen change clothes.

Su Chen became the Demon Slayer Corps’ tenth Hashira, the Dragon Hashira, and asked to remain at the Butterfly Mansion as a doctor. The Ubuyashikis accepted his request, though Lady Amane suspected he wanted to stay because Shinobu was there.

• The Hashira welcomed Su Chen, and he responded to their offers before Ubuyashiki Hinaki and Ubuyashiki Nichika led him to receive treatment.
• Su Chen met Kagaya Ubuyashiki and Lady Amane, who explained the Hashira title and powers and said a replacement Nichirin Blade was being forged.
• Su Chen chose Dragon Breathing as the name for his Hashira position, and Kagaya appointed him the Dragon Hashira.
• Su Chen asked to stay at the Butterfly Mansion as a doctor, explaining that its work saved lives and that he had grown attached to the place.
• Kagaya agreed to Su Chen’s request, and Lady Amane asked whether he wanted to stay because Shinobu was there.

Su Chen agreed to become the Butterfly Mansion’s Hashira and share its management with Shinobu Kocho, while clarifying that they were not a couple. Kagaya Ubuyashiki officially named him the Dragon Hashira, and news of his appointment spread throughout the Demon Slayer Corps.

• Kagaya Ubuyashiki agreed to let Su Chen manage the Butterfly Mansion with Shinobu Kocho and continue working as a doctor while she still went on missions.
• Su Chen told Kagaya Ubuyashiki and Lady Amane that he and Shinobu Kocho were only coworkers, though neither believed him.
• After Su Chen left for the Butterfly Mansion, Kagaya Ubuyashiki ordered letters announcing Su Chen as the Demon Slayer Corps’ tenth Hashira, the Dragon Hashira.
• Lady Amane’s letters spread by Dish Crows to the Swordsmith Village, the Butterfly Mansion, the Kakushi, and other Corps members.
• Recipients across the country read the news, reacting to Su Chen’s age, his new title, and his broken Nichirin Blade.

Su Chen learned that he had been appointed a Hashira and received a Dish Crow from Lady Amane. After taming the noisy bird, he headed to the laboratory, expecting Shinobu Kocho to still be asleep after discussing Murata with Kagaya Ubuyashiki.

• Haganezuka broke the Nichirin Blade he was polishing and quietly started polishing again.
• Kiyo, Sumi, and Xiao Caihui told Su Chen that he had become a Hashira, and he read the appointment notice.
• Sumi explained that Lady Amane had visited the Butterfly Mansion and left Su Chen a Dish Crow as a gift.
• Kiyo told Su Chen that the Wind Hashira had apologized for hitting too hard and asked him to remove the copper rings from his lower back; Su Chen told the girls to make him register for surgery.
• Su Chen named the Dish Crow Short-Lived Ghost and trained it by plucking its feathers whenever it disobeyed.
• Su Chen went to the laboratory, expecting Shinobu Kocho to be asleep after discussing Murata with Kagaya Ubuyashiki.

Su Chen read Shinobu Kocho’s diary while she slept, learning how her feelings for him had grown alongside her fears about dying to avenge her sister. The diary also revealed that Su Chen had become the Dragon Hashira and taken charge of half the Butterfly Mansion, leaving Shinobu torn between wanting him to stay and believing the Corps would better serve his future.

• Su Chen found Shinobu Kocho asleep at her desk and picked up her open diary.
• Shinobu’s entries described her growing affection for Su Chen, her plan to die using sixty times the lethal dose of wisteria poison, and her fear after he appeared.
• Shinobu recorded investigating demon traces near the Butterfly Mansion and preparing a relocation plan after Su Chen warned her of danger.
• Shinobu wrote that Su Chen’s injuries healed quickly and that he had achieved a good result in his competition with Shinazugawa.
• Shinobu learned that Su Chen had become the Dragon Hashira and was put in charge of half the Butterfly Mansion, and she worried he was too young for the role.
• Shinobu ended her entries by admitting she was reluctant to let Su Chen leave the Butterfly Mansion.

Su Chen explained that he stayed at the Butterfly Mansion partly because of Shinobu Kocho, leaving her stunned after he lifted her chin. Shinobu had also discovered he had read her diary, while Su Chen continued worrying about her Wisteria poisoning.

• Su Chen closed Shinobu Kocho’s diary after learning she had planned a relocation, then decided to study pharmacology to help treat her Wisteria poisoning.
• Su Chen’s Dish Crow burst into the laboratory squawking that Shinobu would die young, and Shinobu caught Su Chen with her diary.
• Shinobu Kocho demanded to know why Su Chen had joined the Butterfly Mansion and warned she would punish him if his answer was poor.
• Shinobu wondered whether Su Chen was staying because of her, then told him to go learn from Mr. Himejima instead.
• Su Chen said he stayed partly because of Shinobu Kocho and lifted her chin.

Su Chen stopped Shinobu Kocho from poisoning herself to sacrifice her life and told her that Upper Rank Two Doma had killed her sister. He promised to deal with Doma, and the chapter ended with Shinobu asking whether his concern meant he was confessing his love for her.

• Su Chen read Shinobu Kocho's diary and urged her to stop injecting herself with wisteria poison.
• Shinobu broke down over her sister's death and insisted she needed to kill the demon responsible, even if it cost her life.
• Su Chen told Shinobu that Doma, Upper Rank Two of the Twelve Kizuki, had killed her sister and promised to take care of him.
• Shinobu agreed to stop poisoning herself, then comforted Su Chen by rubbing her tears on his clothes as they teased each other about missing his match.
• Shinobu asked Su Chen whether his recent attention to her meant he was confessing his love.

Su Chen expanded his Dragon Breathing into five forms by combining the styles he had mastered. As he settled in for the night, a thin figure appeared in the mist outside the Butterfly Mansion.

• Shinobu Kocho left to discuss relocating the Butterfly Mansion and told Su Chen she had put a new Nichirin Blade in his room.
• Su Chen reviewed his skills and created four new Dragon Breathing forms: Scorching Breath, A Flower Blooms in a Single Thought, Dragon Tail-Sweep Dance, and Wind Rising, Clouds Surging.
• Su Chen wondered why Kamiki Aoi had not come to check the rooms as usual.
• Su Chen heard his Dish Crow cry out, took up his Nichirin Blade, and saw a thin figure emerge from the mist in the courtyard.

Murata returned to the Butterfly Mansion gravely wounded and warned Su Chen that demons with numbers in their eyes were approaching. Su Chen recognized Upper Rank Five, Gyokko, trapped him and Murata inside Gyokko’s Blood Demon Art, then realized Murata had encountered more than one demon.

• Murata collapsed at the Butterfly Mansion and warned Su Chen that powerful demons were at the foot of the mountain.
• Murata urged Su Chen to evacuate everyone, but Su Chen learned that Shinobu was away and questioned how Murata had escaped.
• Gyokko trapped Su Chen and Murata inside his Blood Demon Art and revealed himself as Upper Rank Five.
• Su Chen declared himself the Dragon Hashira, ordered Murata to stay behind him, and prepared to fight Gyokko.
• Su Chen’s Hyper-Memory State replayed Murata’s account, leading him to realize that Murata had seen multiple demons.