Chapter Summaries

Kanzaki Kumo killed the Hand Demon after it taunted Makomo about devouring her senior fellow students, and Makomo told him about her past and her grief. The two grew closer and traveled together for the rest of the Final Selection.

• On the third night, Kanzaki Kumo spotted Makomo fighting the Hand Demon and rushed to help.
• The Hand Demon revealed that it had eaten Sakonji Urokodaki's students, enraging Makomo and causing her to attack recklessly.
• Kanzaki Kumo used Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, to sever the Hand Demon's neck and catch Makomo as she fell.
• Kanzaki Kumo led Makomo away from the commotion, and she told him about her slain senior fellow students and her desire to spare Urokodaki further grief.
• Makomo learned Kanzaki Kumo's name, thanked him, and began traveling with him without either of them formally suggesting that they team up.

Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo survived the Final Selection and became official Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen. As they left Mount Fujikasane, Kumo told Makomo he planned to visit Urokodaki and learn Water Breathing to find ways to improve his Thunder Breathing.

• Kanzaki Kumo asked Makomo to remove her mask, and the two teased each other before agreeing to call one another friends.
• Kanzaki Kumo watched Makomo fight demons and considered how Water Breathing might help him address Thunder Breathing’s lack of flexibility.
• Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo waited out the final night, then passed the Final Selection with seven other survivors.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki welcomed the survivors into the Demon Slayer Corps, and Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo each chose tamahagane for their Nichirin Blades.
• Kanzaki Kumo told Makomo he wanted to visit Urokodaki on Mount Sagiri and learn Water Breathing, leaving Makomo astonished by his ambition.

On the way to Mount Sagiri, Kanzaki Kumo told Makomo about his past and why he joined the Demon Slayer Corps while struggling to name his Kasugai crow. Near the mountain, the crow accepted the name Ink Shadow, and Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo arrived at Mount Sagiri.

• Kanzaki Kumo struggled to name his Kasugai crow as he traveled with Makomo toward Mount Sagiri.
• Kanzaki Kumo told Makomo that his parents abandoned him, Kanzaki Keizan adopted him, and Gyomei Himejima protected him at the temple before joining the Demon Slayer Corps.
• Kanzaki Kumo explained to Makomo why the Corps recruited people connected to demons and said he had joined early to learn a Breathing Style and protect himself.
• The Kasugai crow attacked Kanzaki Kumo whenever he suggested names such as Blackie, Black Bean, and Coal Ball, while Makomo and Long Night laughed.
• Near Mount Sagiri, Kanzaki Kumo named the crow Ink Shadow, and it settled onto his shoulder without protesting.
• Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo reached Mount Sagiri.

Kanzaki Kumo met Sakonji Urokodaki after Makomo returned safely from Final Selection and described the Hand Demon’s role in killing Urokodaki’s students. Impressed by Kumo’s unusual talent and Total Concentration: Constant, Urokodaki agreed to teach him Water Breathing the next day.

• Makomo brought Kanzaki Kumo to Mount Sagiri, where Sakonji Urokodaki trained Sabito and Giyu Tomioka.
• Makomo told Sakonji Urokodaki that the Hand Demon had killed his students and that Kanzaki Kumo had saved her during Final Selection.
• Kanzaki Kumo demonstrated that he could copy Makomo’s Water Breathing, performing Water Surface Slash and Flowing Dance after seeing them before.
• Sakonji Urokodaki recognized that Kumo had copied the forms without fully grasping their essence and asked whether he had mastered Total Concentration: Constant.
• Sakonji Urokodaki invited them to eat and promised to teach Kanzaki Kumo Water Breathing the next day.

Kanzaki Kumo discussed his unusual ability to learn sword techniques with Sabito and met Giyu and Makomo during training and dinner at Sakonji Urokodaki’s home. Makomo asked Kumo to help Giyu become less withdrawn, and began to explain Giyu’s past.

• Kumo explained to Sabito that his special eyes let him memorize movements, while mastering a technique’s spirit required deeper understanding and guidance.
• Kumo praised Sabito’s talent, and Sabito and Giyu learned that Kumo was nearly fourteen while they had just turned fourteen.
• Makomo arrived with dinner, teased Sabito for his surprise at her age, and called the others to wash their hands and eat.
• After dinner, Makomo asked Kumo to help Giyu open up because he was unusually quiet, and Kumo agreed to try.
• Kumo asked Makomo to tell him about Giyu’s past, and she began to explain.

Kanzaki Kumo planned to help Giyu overcome his isolation by arranging for Sabito to provoke an emotional breakthrough, then watched Sakonji Urokodaki demonstrate Water Breathing. The chapter ended as Kanzaki began trying the sword forms himself.

• Makomo told Kanzaki Kumo more about Giyu’s grief over his sister’s death and asked him to help.
• Kanzaki decided Sabito was the best person to reach Giyu and visited him late at night to explain the plan.
• Sabito agreed the idea might work, then tried to threaten Kanzaki for dragging him into a late-night conversation.
• The next day, Sakonji Urokodaki demonstrated all ten Water Breathing forms for Kanzaki.
• Kanzaki praised Urokodaki’s refined swordsmanship and began practicing the movements with a Wooden Sword.

Kanzaki Kumo quickly mastered the first ten forms of Water Breathing, then used a spar with Sabito to guide his technique and set up a plan to draw Giyu out of his shell. After repeatedly disarming Giyu and ordering him to try again, Kanzaki Kumo finally saw anger surface in his lifeless eyes.

• Kanzaki Kumo copied Sakonji Urokodaki’s movements and reproduced the first through tenth forms of Water Breathing.
• Sakonji Urokodaki explained Water Breathing while Makomo, Sabito, Giyu, and Kanzaki Kumo listened.
• Kanzaki Kumo sparred with Sabito, deliberately exposing his openings while holding back enough for him to keep fighting.
• Kanzaki Kumo challenged Giyu and knocked the Wooden Sword from his hands each time he attacked.
• Giyu continued attacking after Kanzaki Kumo ordered him to try again, and anger began to show in his eyes.

Kanzaki Kumo pushed Giyu Tomioka through a harsh training session, provoking him until he fought back and then urging Sabito to confront his despair. Giyu began to emerge from his numbness, while Sabito thanked Kanzaki Kumo and returned to training.

• Kanzaki Kumo taunted Giyu about his sister and dodged his punches, then defeated his Water Breathing attack by breaking his Wooden Sword.
• Kanzaki Kumo signaled Sabito to help, and Sabito checked on Giyu as he lay crying and calling himself trash.
• Sabito slapped Giyu and shouted that his sister had sacrificed herself so he could keep living, training, and becoming stronger.
• Giyu stopped crying and sat up as the lifelessness around him began to fade.
• Sabito thanked Kanzaki Kumo before returning to train, while Makomo and Sakonji Urokodaki also resumed their training roles.

Kanzaki Kumo’s plan helped Giyu Tomioka confront his grief and regain some life in his eyes. Giyu thanked Kumo, then immediately showed that he still struggled to understand how his words affected others.

• Kanzaki Kumo told Sabito that he had devised his plan to reach Giyu in about an hour.
• Giyu stood up after watching the sunset and thanked Kanzaki Kumo, Sabito, and Makomo for helping him.
• Kanzaki Kumo accepted Giyu’s thanks after Giyu repeated it several times.
• Kanzaki Kumo suggested that Giyu practice speaking and making friends, and Giyu asked whether Kumo was good at either.
• Sabito and Makomo apologized for Giyu, but Giyu’s attempt to clarify his question left all three stunned.
• Kanzaki Kumo warned Giyu that people might dislike him, and Giyu replied that he was not disliked.

Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo received their Nichirin Blades and uniforms after training at Mount Sagiri. Their first mission sent them to investigate suspected Demon activity in Matsuda Village.

• Kanzaki Kumo sent Kagaya Ubuyashiki a report about the Hand Demon and his request for a Tang Dao-style Nichirin Blade, and Kagaya proposed using examiners to oversee future Final Selections.
• Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo trained with Sakonji Urokodaki, Giyu, and Sabito for nearly half a month as Kumo improved his Water Breathing and refined his Thunder Breathing.
• Hotaru Haganezuka delivered Kanzaki Kumo's Nichirin Blade, while Village Chief Tetchikawahara Tecchin had forged Makomo's blade.
• Kanzaki Kumo's blade turned white with a lightning pattern, while Makomo's blade became aqua blue with a faint green tint.
• Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo received their Demon Slayer uniforms and were assigned to investigate suspected Demon activity in Matsuda Village.

Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo investigated a series of disappearances in Matsuda Village and killed the demon responsible. On their way back to Mount Sagiri, Kumo told Makomo he planned to leave after saying goodbye to Senior Urokodaki, Sabito, and the others.

• Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo reached Matsuda Village and met the Kakushi, who explained that families with children had been disappearing after the children mysteriously fell ill.
• Kanzaki Kumo watched the marked households from a high vantage point while Makomo patrolled the areas he could not see.
• Kanzaki Kumo spotted a moving shadow, pursued the disguised demon, and beheaded it before Makomo arrived.
• Kanzaki Kumo and Makomo stayed in the village for several more nights, confirmed no other demons were present, and then headed back toward Mount Sagiri.
• Makomo asked whether Kumo was leaving soon, and he said he would say goodbye to the others and return home to visit the little old man.

After leaving Mount Sagiri, Kanzaki Kumo returned to Mount Momiji and reassured Makomo that he would visit because she was there. Back with Jigoro Kuwajima, he began developing a new Thunder Breathing form, but Ink Shadow brought him a new mission before he could finish.

• Makomo asked Kanzaki Kumo if he would return to Mount Sagiri, and he told her he would come back especially because she was there.
• Two days later, Kanzaki Kumo returned to Mount Momiji and accidentally knocked Jigoro Kuwajima over by kicking open the door.
• Kanzaki Kumo told Jigoro Kuwajima that he had learned Water Breathing’s fundamentals and was trying to combine them with Thunder Breathing.
• Jigoro Kuwajima told Kanzaki Kumo he had little left to teach him and offered Mount Momiji as a place to rest whenever he needed it.
• Kanzaki Kumo spent four days working to combine Flowing Dance, Constant Flux, and Thunderclap and Flash into a new sword form, making swift progress.
• Ink Shadow brought Kanzaki Kumo a new mission, interrupting his training.

Kanzaki Kumo learned how the Demon Slayer Corps assigned ranks and why Kagaya Ubuyashiki would give him increasingly dangerous missions. At an abandoned temple, Kumo resisted a demon’s mind-clouding voice, killed it, and left after confirming there were no other demons.

• The chapter explained the Corps’ promotion rules, Hashira requirements, and the dangers swordsmen faced on missions.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki assigned Kanzaki Kumo more dangerous missions after learning his strength could rival that of a weaker Hashira.
• Kanzaki Kumo reached an abandoned temple where people had disappeared and entered to search for a demon.
• A demon disguised behind a Buddha statue tried to subdue Kumo with its powerful voice and attacked him from the shadows.
• Kanzaki Kumo feigned disorientation, killed the ratlike demon with Thunder Breathing, and left after finding no other demons.

Kanzaki Kumo spent half a year advancing in the Demon Slayer Corps, befriending Zenitsu Agatsuma, and preparing for the dangers surrounding the Kamado Family. While visiting Kanzaki Keizan's grave, he received word of a demon nearby and set out to kill it.

• Kanzaki Kumo trained, completed missions, exchanged letters, and rose from Mizunoto to Kinoto in half a year.
• Kanzaki Kumo recruited Zenitsu Agatsuma and took him to Mount Momiji to keep Jigoro Kuwajima company, promising to teach him Thunder Breathing later.
• Kanzaki Kumo traveled to Kanzaki Keizan's grave for his customary visit and recounted his promotion and his unsuccessful searches for a physician named Butterfly and the Eternal Paradise Cult.
• Kanzaki Kumo reasoned that saving the Kamado Family would require acting before Tanjuro died and being strong enough to withstand a likely attack by Upper Rank Three, Akaza.
• Ink Shadow reported a demon to the south-southeast, and Kanzaki Kumo left Kanzaki Keizan's grave to pursue it.

Kanzaki Kumo pursued and killed Lower Rank Three Byōyō while protecting a village girl, but was wounded by poisoned darts. The girl brought him to her family’s Clinic, where he discovered that they were the Butterfly Family he had been searching for.

• Kanzaki Kumo caught Byōyō’s trail and saw the demon flee while another figure slipped into the village as a diversion.
• Byōyō ambushed Kanzaki Kumo with darts, but Kanzaki Kumo dodged and deflected them before wounding the demon and pursuing it.
• Byōyō tried to seize a girl as a hostage, but Kanzaki Kumo used Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Roaming Dragon to behead it and save her.
• The girl noticed Kanzaki Kumo’s poisoned shoulder wound and invited him to her family’s Clinic for treatment.
• Kanzaki Kumo recognized the girl as Kanae and realized that her family was the Butterfly Family he had been searching for.
• Ink Shadow flew to the Demon Slayer Corps to report that Kanzaki Kumo had slain Lower Rank Three.

After saving Kanae Kocho from a demon, Kanzaki Kumo persuaded the family doctor, Butterfly Zemu, to join the Demon Slayer Corps and discussed how the Corps could protect his family. The chapter ended with Kanzaki Kumo and Butterfly Zemu leaving the room to face the waiting Kocho family.

• Butterfly Zemu treated Kanzaki Kumo's poisoned shoulder, and Kanzaki Kumo explained that he had killed a demon while saving Kanae Kocho.
• Kanzaki Kumo recalled meeting Butterfly Zemu at a temple nearly two years earlier and offered him a place in the Demon Slayer Corps.
• Butterfly Zemu agreed to join after Kanzaki Kumo promised the Corps could protect his family.
• Kanae Kocho told Kocho Delia and Shinobu Kocho how Kanzaki Kumo had killed the demon and saved her.
• Kanzaki Kumo and Butterfly Zemu finished discussing the Corps and its arrangements for the family, then left the room together.

Kanzaki Kumo brought Butterfly Zemu and his family to the Demon Slayer Corps Medical Department, then attended a Hashira Meeting after killing a Lower Rank. At the meeting, he met Kagaya Ubuyashiki, Gyomei Himejima, and Shinjuro Rengoku, who praised his strength and talent.

• Kanzaki Kumo left the Butterfly home and returned to Kanzaki Keizan's grave, where he told his grandfather about defeating a Lower Rank and saving a girl.
• Ink Shadow told Kanzaki Kumo to bring the Butterfly family to the Medical Department and then attend the Hashira Meeting; the Kakushi addressed him as Lord Rumble Hashira.
• Kanzaki Kumo escorted Butterfly Zemu, Delia Butterfly, Kanae Kocho, and Shinobu Kocho to the Medical Department, where the family settled into prepared quarters.
• Kanzaki Kumo stayed overnight at the Medical Department and went to the Ubuyashiki Estate the next day for the Hashira Meeting.
• Kanzaki Kumo introduced himself to Kagaya Ubuyashiki, Gyomei Himejima, and Shinjuro Rengoku, who praised his achievement and talent.

Kanzaki Kumo joined Gyomei and Shinjuro at a Hashira Meeting, where the Corps assigned him territory and renamed its Medical Department the Butterfly Mansion. After he described the Lower Rank Three he had killed and his new Thunder Breathing form, he arranged to visit Shinjuro to learn Flame Breathing.

• Kagaya Ubuyashiki announced Kanzaki Kumo's inheritance of the Rumble Hashira title and opened discussions about territory and Corps matters.
• Kanzaki Kumo chose to guard the Medical Department's boundary area and proposed renaming it the Butterfly Mansion to retain the Butterfly Family and recognize Butterfly Zemu's medical skills.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki approved the name change and assigned Kanzaki Kumo a territory slightly larger than those of Gyomei and Shinjuro.
• Kanzaki Kumo described Lower Rank Three's speed, doubles, and poisoned darts, then explained that he had killed the demon with his new Seventh Form: Dragon's Roam.
• Kanzaki Kumo asked to visit Shinjuro's home for instruction in Flame Breathing, and Shinjuro welcomed him.

After becoming the Rumble Hashira, Kanzaki Kumo arranged for the Medical Department to become the Butterfly Mansion and told Kanae Kocho he would live there. He returned to Mount Momiji, where he accidentally knocked Zenitsu down with the door and promised to support him as he grew more confident.

• Kagaya Ubuyashiki and Amane watched the three departing Hashira and hoped all nine would gather again.
• Kanzaki Kumo thanked the two elderly physicians, relayed Kagaya's message, and saw them retire under Kakushi escort.
• Kanzaki Kumo told Kanae Kocho that the Medical Department would be renamed the Butterfly Mansion and that he would live there as the Rumble Hashira.
• Kanzaki Kumo ran to Mount Momiji to tell Jigoro Kuwajima he had succeeded him, but accidentally knocked Zenitsu down by kicking open the door.
• Kanzaki Kumo apologized to Zenitsu, encouraged him to stand up for himself, and promised to look out for him as a Hashira.

After becoming the Rumble Hashira, Kanzaki Kumo visited his former teacher and friends before returning to the Butterfly Mansion, where he found Makomo wounded. Makomo revealed that her apparent farewell had been a prank born from fear that Kumo had become distant, and Kanae was left to explain her part in it.

• Kanzaki Kumo asked Kuwajima for a reward for becoming a Hashira, and Kuwajima praised him despite his gruff manner.
• Kanzaki Kumo visited Sabito and Giyu on Mount Sagiri, where Giyu’s awkward remark dampened Kumo’s pride and delighted Sabito.
• Kanzaki Kumo returned to the Butterfly Mansion and rushed to ward two after learning Makomo was there injured.
• Makomo pretended to be near death, making Kanzaki Kumo fear for her, then admitted she had been teasing him and was happy to see him.
• Makomo explained that she had feared Kumo’s new status had made him distant, and Kanzaki Kumo asked Kanae why she had joined the prank.