Chapter Summaries

Tetsu no Sosuke arranged for Kanae to rest while they waited to confirm whether she was pregnant, then prepared to leave the Butterfly Estate. When winter began, he stood alone before Tsujimoto Takato's grave.

• Kanae woke before Tetsu no Sosuke returned and teased him about being chased.
• Tetsu no Sosuke wrote a letter telling Master that Kanae might be pregnant and offering to take over the Flower Pillar's duties until they knew for certain.
• Kanae reluctantly approved the letter, and Tetsu no Sosuke sent it before taking her to eat.
• Tetsu no Sosuke saddled Big Hammer, hung the Sunflare Hammer at her side, and left the Butterfly Estate with Kanae and the others.
• When the first snowflake fell, Tetsu no Sosuke stood before Tsujimoto Takato's lonely grave.

Tetsu no Sosuke visited the Storm Pillar’s grave to pay his respects, then took over the Pillar’s estate and named it the Sword Hermitage. He left the Butterfly Estate and Kanae behind for the time being and headed to the dojo, determined to put his time to use.

• Tetsu no Sosuke brought food and sake to the Storm Pillar’s grave and promised to take over from him.
• Tetsu no Sosuke became the new master of the Storm Pillar’s estate.
• Tetsu no Sosuke named the estate the Sword Hermitage, and a young man hung the sign above its gate.
• Tetsu no Sosuke left the sitting room, crossed the estate, and entered the dojo to get something done.

Tetsu no Sosuke used meditation and the Swordsmanship Guide to study his battle with Kokushibo and cultivate an emerging instinct for spotting openings. He repeatedly revised the fight in his mind, gradually surviving more of Kokushibo’s attacks before continuing the exercise.

• Tetsu no Sosuke meditated in the Dojo with sandalwood incense and learned to steady his breathing and clear his thoughts.
• Tetsu no Sosuke reviewed his fight with Kokushibo in detail and sensed an instinct for seeing openings taking root within him.
• Tetsu no Sosuke applied the Swordsmanship Guide to his imagined battle, refining his techniques and reducing wasted movements.
• Tetsu no Sosuke repeatedly tested improvements against an imagined Kokushibo and extended his survival from three strikes to four before beginning again.

During a snowy night battle, the Hammer Pillar arrived to rescue Demon Hunters struggling against a powerful demon. He killed it with a few blows, leaving a wounded survivor stunned by his strength.

• Demon Hunters fought a towering demon outside town and called for the Hammer Pillar to arrive.
• The demon killed a young Demon Hunter and wounded another who could not cut through its arm.
• The Hammer Pillar caught the wounded Demon Hunter and told him to rest.
• The Hammer Pillar shattered the demon's arm with his flaming iron hammer and beheaded it.
• The surviving Demon Hunter stared in disbelief at how easily the Hammer Pillar had ended the battle.

Tetsu no Sosuke arrived after a battle and killed the demon, though the Demon Slayer Corps had already suffered heavy losses. He reflected on the Sword Form he had tested and planned to combine its sequence into the Sixth Form of the Breath of the Sun.

• Tetsu no Sosuke ordered the surviving Demon Hunters to tend to the injured and summon the Hidden to clean up the battlefield.
• Tetsu no Sosuke watched the demon fade and lamented that slow communication had allowed the Corps to suffer heavy losses.
• Tetsu no Sosuke noticed Big Hammer eyeing the demon’s remains, then leaned against the wolf and reviewed his new Sword Form.
• Tetsu no Sosuke recalled how he had used his ability to see weaknesses to cripple and behead the demon.
• Tetsu no Sosuke decided to refine the sequence into the Sixth Form of the Breath of the Sun and considered reproducing Yoriichi Tsugikuni’s Sword Forms from the Automaton Puppet.

Tetsu no Sosuke reflected on the losses from the demon battle and ordered the wounded and fallen to be cared for. He returned home in the blizzard and found the nameplate reading “Hammer Hut.”

• Tetsu no Sosuke decided he needed to develop a style of his own rather than try to become another Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
• A Swordsman reported that thirteen comrades had died, and Tetsu no Sosuke ordered a report, care for the bodies, and transport for the wounded to the Butterfly Estate.
• Tetsu no Sosuke rode Big Hammer away as he thought about growing accustomed to the Demon Slayer Corps' losses.
• Tetsu no Sosuke returned to his home and saw that its nameplate read “Hammer Hut.”

Tetsu no Sosuke received a letter from the Butterfly Estate informing him that Kanae was pregnant, had resigned as Flower Pillar, and would arrive the next morning with Kiyo Terauchi. He panicked over the state of his home and his lack of preparations.

• Tetsu no Sosuke recalled that he had named his home Sword Hermitage, though its sign had become Hammer Hut, and decided not to change it.
• An attendant delivered an urgent letter from the Butterfly Estate to Tetsu no Sosuke.
• Tetsu no Sosuke read that Kanae’s pregnancy had been confirmed and she had resigned as Flower Pillar.
• Tetsu no Sosuke learned that Kanae and Kiyo Terauchi would leave for his home the next morning and likely live there.
• Tetsu no Sosuke paced in alarm because he had prepared nothing and had neglected the grounds.

Tetsu no Sosuke rushed through the snow to meet Kanae after learning she was on her way. He found her traveling with Shinobu Kocho and Kiyo Terauchi, and Kanae said she had come because she could not wait to see him.

• Tetsu no Sosuke worried that Kanae and Kiyo Terauchi might be unprotected on the road and set out for the Butterfly Estate on Big Hammer.
• Tetsu no Sosuke encountered three women traveling through the snow and recognized Kanae and Shinobu Kocho among them.
• Shinobu Kocho teased Tetsu no Sosuke for arriving covered in snow and revealed that she had secretly sent him a letter.
• Tetsu no Sosuke took Kanae's umbrella and asked why she had not waited for warmer weather.
• Kanae told Tetsu no Sosuke that she could not wait any longer to see him.

Tetsu no Sosuke brought Kanae to Hammer Hut, where she began settling into her new home. The support staff welcomed her, though they wondered why the Flower Pillar would live there instead of at the Butterfly Estate.

• Kanae and Kiyo Terauchi noticed the nameplate reading “Hammer Hut,” and Shinobu Kocho laughed at it.
• Tetsu no Sosuke carried Kanae inside and introduced her to the support staff as his wife, who would live there from then on.
• The support staff bowed to Kanae and wondered why she was settling at Hammer Hut rather than the Butterfly Estate.

Tetsu no Sosuke welcomed Kiyo Terauchi to the estate and worried over Kanae, but a mission summons interrupted their reunion. He and Shinobu Kocho were ordered to investigate a suspected member of the Twelve Demon Moons, leaving Tetsu no Sosuke wondering why Shinobu had been assigned to help him.

• Tetsu no Sosuke introduced Shinobu Kocho and Kiyo Terauchi to Shinjiro and Koizumi Reiko, who welcomed Kiyo as a colleague.
• Tetsu no Sosuke showed Kanae her room and asked Kiyo to help care for her while he was away on missions.
• Tetsu no Sosuke questioned Kanae about her health, but a Kasugai Crow summoned him to investigate a suspected member of the Twelve Demon Moons sixty kilometers south.
• A second Kasugai Crow summoned Shinobu Kocho to assist Tetsu no Sosuke, and Kanae encouraged them both to go together.
• Tetsu no Sosuke wondered why Shinobu had been assigned to help investigate a suspected member of the Twelve Demon Moons.

Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho traveled through the night to answer an assignment, stopping at a Wisteria House to rest. After breakfast, Tetsu no Sosuke arranged to sleep behind Shinobu Kocho on Big Hammer, leaving her awkwardly aware of how close they would be.

• Tetsu no Sosuke left Kanae in Kiyo Terauchi's care and set out with Shinobu Kocho on Big Hammer.
• Tetsu no Sosuke, Shinobu Kocho, and Big Hammer traveled through the dark, snowy mountain paths until morning.
• Tetsu no Sosuke spotted a Wisteria House and suggested that they rest there.
• Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho ate breakfast while Big Hammer recovered his strength.
• Tetsu no Sosuke asked to sleep behind Shinobu Kocho as they rode, and she realized the position would make him seem to have his arms around her.

Tetsu no Sosuke told Shinobu Kocho that their mission might be a test of her ability to become the next Pillar after Kanae stepped down. He urged her to fight any Twelve Demon Moons they encountered herself while he supported her, leaving Shinobu to take the mission seriously.

• Shinobu Kocho traveled with Tetsu no Sosuke and let him sleep through the morning.
• Tetsu no Sosuke woke with an aching neck, caught a rabbit, and ate lunch with Shinobu Kocho.
• Tetsu no Sosuke warned Shinobu Kocho to give the mission her best and said he would support her if they encountered a Twelve Demon Moon.
• Tetsu no Sosuke explained that Kanae had stepped down as Flower Pillar and that Shinobu Kocho might be tested as her successor.
• Tetsu no Sosuke praised Shinobu Kocho's strength and promised to stay out of her fight unless her life was in danger.

Tetsu no Sosuke warned Shinobu Kocho that she might soon have to shoulder greater responsibility, and she began to accept the prospect of becoming a Pillar. After eating, they rode Big Hammer onward through the snowy woods.

• Tetsu no Sosuke told Shinobu Kocho to focus on her mission and not assume a Twelve Demon Moon would appear.
• Shinobu Kocho joked that Tetsu no Sosuke might have rare blood that attracted the Twelve Demon Moons.
• Shinobu Kocho said she looked forward to becoming a Pillar and standing on equal footing with Tetsu no Sosuke.
• Tetsu no Sosuke finished eating, took Shinobu Kocho onto Big Hammer's back, and continued their journey.

Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho killed an unusual demon that had seemed to defeat the swordsmen sent after it. Afterward, Shinobu counted her kills and considered whether she could become a Pillar by reaching fifty.

• Shinobu Kocho revealed that she had struck the demon with her sheathed Nichirin Blade, leaving it unaware it had been wounded.
• The demon tried to attack Shinobu, but poison spread from its puncture wounds and killed it before it could move far.
• Tetsu no Sosuke suggested they head back, and Shinobu agreed that the demon was not one of the Twelve Demon Moons.
• Shinobu counted her kills and said she had killed forty-something demons, though she felt becoming a Pillar that way would be unimpressive.
• Tetsu no Sosuke praised Shinobu, and Big Hammer held out a paw in admiration.

Tetsu no Sosuke saved Shinobu Kocho from a sudden, unseen attack that pierced a tree, but the threat vanished before they could identify it. With the forest silent and the demon’s body reduced to ash, Tetsu no Sosuke closed his eyes and used Concentration to search for what was hidden.

• Tetsu no Sosuke sensed danger and threw Shinobu Kocho into the air just before a glimmering attack pierced a tree trunk.
• Shinobu Kocho landed and saw the hole in the tree, while Tetsu no Sosuke said the threatening presence had disappeared.
• Shinobu Kocho watched the silent forest with her hand on her Nichirin Blade as the demon’s corpse disintegrated into ash.
• Tetsu no Sosuke closed his eyes and used Concentration to bring hidden truths to the surface.

Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho faced a demon concealed in the snow, and Tetsu no Sosuke lured it into revealing itself. He struck the emerging demon with Big Hammer, but its fate remained unclear beneath the flying snow.

• Tetsu no Sosuke sensed a demon hiding in the snow and struck the ground with Big Hammer, drawing blood.
• Tetsu no Sosuke warned Shinobu Kocho that the demon could be anywhere beneath the snow and might be waiting to attack.
• Tetsu no Sosuke took Shinobu Kocho's hand and threw her aside as the snow-covered demon rose from the ground.
• Tetsu no Sosuke hit the emerging demon with Big Hammer, sending it out of sight beneath a burst of snow.

Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho faced an unseen female Upper Rank Six demon who attacked with blade-like snow. Tetsu no Sosuke decided to wait her out, but strange mounds began rising from the snow.

• Shinobu Kocho rushed to protect Tetsu no Sosuke as the snow turned into blades, but his hammer afterimages melted the attack.
• Shinobu Kocho spotted the demon's Upper Rank Six mark and searched for her after she vanished.
• Tetsu no Sosuke explained that the demon could neither hide from him nor flee safely, and proposed waiting for her to attack or for dawn.
• Mounds began bulging up through the snow around Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho.

Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho destroyed the snowmen that surrounded them, but the weak decoys concealed a lethal snowflake attack. Unable to locate Upper Moon Six as they remained under threat, Shinobu asked Tetsu no Sosuke how he could see her.

• Tetsu no Sosuke used Breath of the Sun, Form Seven: Omnidirectional Wheel, to destroy the snowmen around him and Shinobu Kocho.
• Shinobu Kocho also cut down the snowmen, then realized they were too weak to pose a real threat.
• Shinobu Kocho leaped away as hidden snowflakes turned into blades and riddled the ground where she had stood.
• Shinobu Kocho could not find the concealed Upper Moon Six and asked Tetsu no Sosuke how he could see her.

Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho devised a plan to trap the snow-hiding demon by drawing a prison in the snow. They began executing it, with Shinobu drawing a circle as Tetsu no Sosuke kept the demon occupied.

• Tetsu no Sosuke explained that the demon never lifted its feet from the ground and suggested Shinobu Kocho's poison-forged Nichirin Blade could counter it.
• Tetsu no Sosuke cleared a bare patch of snow and whispered their plan to draw a prison on the ground.
• Tetsu no Sosuke attacked with Breath of the Sun, Form One: Gale Sun, and defended himself from the demon's snow blades with Form Seven: Omnidirectional Wheel.
• Tetsu no Sosuke called out a spot twelve meters to the left, and Shinobu Kocho drove her blade into the snow and ran around it to draw a circle.
• The demon's ice blade suddenly shattered as Shinobu Kocho continued drawing the circle, and Tetsu no Sosuke saw the plan proceeding as expected.

Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho trapped a snow-merging demon in a poisoned boundary and attacked her. The demon blocked Shinobu Kocho’s piercing strike with a shield of snow.

• Tetsu no Sosuke struck the ground with his hammer, forcing the white-haired demon to emerge from the snow.
• The demon merged back into the snow, but Shinobu Kocho completed a purple-tinged sword mark around the area and stopped her escape.
• The demon summoned hundreds of snow blades and sent them toward Shinobu Kocho.
• Shinobu Kocho used her speed to evade the blades and thrust at the demon with a stinger-like strike.
• The demon formed a shield of snow beside herself, and Shinobu Kocho’s blade struck it with a clang.