Chapter Summaries

Teiichi had Nezuko cure Tengen Uzui, then explained that he planned to lure Muzan out by revealing Nezuko had conquered sunlight. Daki contacted Muzan for help, but he abandoned her and Gyutaro, leaving their fate in Teiichi’s hands.

• Teiichi called Nezuko over, and she used her pink flames to cure Tengen Uzui’s poison.
• Teiichi knocked Gyutaro unconscious again and told Tengen Uzui he planned to pass news of Nezuko’s resistance to sunlight to Muzan.
• Daki contacted Muzan, hoping he would arrange for Nakime to rescue her and Gyutaro.
• Muzan refused to save Daki, saying Teiichi was too fast to stop and that Nakime was the only subordinate who mattered to him.
• Muzan resumed his experiment and wondered why he had not yet heard news of Daki’s death.

After the battle, Teiichi and the others moved the injured away from the approaching police and collected blood from Daki and Gyutaro. At dawn, Daki and Gyutaro began swelling, and Teiichi launched them into the air just before they exploded.

• Tengen Uzui reassured Hinatsuru, Makio, and Suma that they had helped during the battle, while Teiichi urged him to rest.
• Teiichi sensed that the police were approaching, so the group relocated to the outskirts and collected blood from Daki and Gyutaro using Suma's flasks.
• The injured rested through the night as Teiichi kept watch, and Daki remained afraid as dawn approached.
• Teiichi noticed Daki and Gyutaro swelling and, unable to think of another way to protect the others, kicked them into the air.
• Daki and Gyutaro exploded above the group.

After Daki and Gyutaro died in the explosion, Teiichi returned to the Butterfly Mansion with the wounded and gave Kanae their blood for research. Days later, Kanae, Shinobu, and Tengen left for the Hashira Meeting while Teiichi stayed behind to train Corps members.

• Teiichi concluded that Muzan had killed Daki and the others, then led the group back to the Butterfly Mansion.
• Kanae and Shinobu treated Tengen Uzui, Inosuke, Tanjiro, and Zenitsu, while Teiichi ate with Suma and the others.
• Kanae told Teiichi about the wounded and eagerly accepted the canteens containing Daki and Gyutaro's blood.
• Teiichi persuaded Kanae to postpone research so she, Shinobu, and Tamayo could rest.
• Several days later, Teiichi stayed at the Butterfly Mansion to train Corps members as Kanae, Shinobu, and Tengen departed for the Hashira Meeting.

While recovering at the Butterfly Mansion, Zenitsu discussed training with Tanjiro and Inosuke and realized he had stayed conscious during his latest fight because he had stopped seeing himself as helpless before demons. He resisted joining their training, but expected he would be made to train once his injuries allowed it.

• Zenitsu called his comfortable recovery at the Butterfly Mansion a dream, while Tanjiro agreed that the nearly empty ward felt unusual.
• Inosuke returned exhausted from training and said he wanted to grow stronger; Tanjiro resolved to train with him once his injuries improved.
• Zenitsu warned Tanjiro not to train before his injuries healed, but Inosuke said Mr. Kato would tailor their training to their condition.
• Inosuke asked why Zenitsu did not want to get stronger, and Zenitsu admitted that training was exhausting.
• Tanjiro pointed out that Zenitsu remembered his latest fight, and Zenitsu explained that he had stayed awake because he had seen himself clearly and was no longer afraid of demons.
• Zenitsu objected when Tanjiro invited him to train, but he expected he would have to do it once his turn came.

At the Butterfly Mansion, Teiichi considered how to inform Muzan that Nezuko had conquered sunlight after his plan involving Daki failed. He decided that Doma might be the easiest Upper Rank to locate, but ended the chapter wondering whether another potential demon would ever become one.

• Teiichi reviewed ways to get news of Nezuko to Muzan and ruled out a direct encounter and newspaper notices as impractical or dangerous.
• Teiichi considered passing the news through a demon’s memories, but Muzan had made Daki explode before she could relay it.
• Teiichi listed the surviving Upper Ranks Kokushibo, Akaza, and Doma and weighed what he knew about their whereabouts.
• Teiichi concluded that Doma, whom Kanae had encountered near Mine City and who led a religion, seemed the easiest to search for.
• Teiichi remembered Nakime and another possible Upper Rank, a senior fellow disciple of Zenitsu, and wondered whether that person would become a demon.

Teiichi considered how to draw Muzan out and fed Pufferfish while recalling rumors about the Hashira and their favorite animals. At Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, Tengen Uzui recounted the difficulty of fighting Upper Rank Six and revealed that Kato had defeated two Upper Ranks with his fists.

• Teiichi decided that, as a last resort, he could discreetly publish photographs of Nezuko to attract Muzan, and planned to tell Kagaya Ubuyashiki so the Corps could search for Kokushibo and the others.
• Teiichi fed Pufferfish and thought about rumors concerning the Hashira, including their animal companions and preferences.
• Sanemi Shinazugawa and the other Hashira questioned Tengen Uzui about his injuries after fighting Upper Rank Six.
• Tengen Uzui explained that the demons had to be beheaded simultaneously and said he had brought Kato along as insurance.
• Tengen Uzui revealed that Kato had taken down two Upper Ranks with his fists alone.

Teiichi told Kanae he planned to visit the Swordsmith Village to replace his damaged Nichirin Blade, then meet Kagaya Ubuyashiki to discuss Muzan Kibutsuji. Kanae supported his trip, and Teiichi planned for Kanon to oversee the Corps members’ regular training while he was away.

• Kanae returned from the Hashira meeting and told Teiichi that Tengen Uzui had risen to first place while she fell to third, and Sanemi Shinazugawa nearly pushed her to fourth.
• Teiichi said he would leave in a few days, and Kanae worried he was going away to train and travel again.
• Teiichi showed Kanae the cracks in his Nichirin Blade and explained that his Sixth Form damaged it too quickly for battles against Muzan Kibutsuji and Akaza.
• Teiichi said he would visit the Swordsmith Village to get a new heavy sword, while Kanon led the Corps members’ usual training in his absence.
• Kanae asked whether Teiichi had contacted the Master, and he said he planned to visit Kagaya Ubuyashiki in person to discuss Muzan Kibutsuji.

Teiichi visited Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who discussed their shared willingness to make difficult sacrifices to protect others and keep the Demon Slayer Corps going. Kagaya left Teiichi with the admission that he had been happy when Teiichi left the Corps, because he had found someone like himself.

• Teiichi visited Kagaya Ubuyashiki at the Corps Headquarters and made tea for him.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki described Teiichi as gentle toward the people he accepted, and Teiichi admitted he would make the same morally difficult choice again.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki explained that keeping the Demon Slayer Corps alive required sacrifices, including sending members on missions where they might die to hold demons in place.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki coughed badly, and Teiichi moved his tea closer so he could drink.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki said he had been happy when Teiichi left the Corps because he had finally met someone like himself.

Teiichi told Kagaya Ubuyashiki he planned to inform Muzan that Nezuko had conquered sunlight, and they agreed to investigate the remaining Upper Ranks while allowing time for the demon-to-human drug research. Teiichi then traveled to the Swordsmith Village and headed inside to find its chief.

• Kagaya Ubuyashiki questioned whether they should delay telling Muzan about Nezuko until Kanae and the others finished researching a demon-to-human drug.
• Teiichi and Kagaya Ubuyashiki agreed that finding an Upper Rank would be more reliable than waiting for a Lower Rank, and Teiichi shared clues about Kokushibo, Akaza, and Doma.
• Teiichi asked Kagaya Ubuyashiki to arrange investigations into the Upper Ranks and said he also intended to visit the Swordsmith Village.
• Teiichi arrived at the remote Swordsmith Village, where a Kakushi member directed him to the village chief's house.

Teiichi arrived at the Swordsmith Village to have a new Nichirin Blade made and met the village chief, Tecchin Tecchikawahara. The chief learned Teiichi’s former sword had been forged by Tetsumoto Homura, while Okahira came in complaining that someone had frightened Kotetsu by pretending to be a demon.

• Teiichi walked through the village and pretended to be a demon, scaring a boy named Kotetsu into running for help.
• Teiichi met the village chief, Tecchin Tecchikawahara, who introduced himself and jokingly told Teiichi to kowtow.
• Teiichi introduced himself as Kato Teiichi and explained that he needed a new Nichirin Blade because his previous one had broken in battle.
• Teiichi told Tecchin that Tetsumoto Homura had forged his former sword, prompting Tecchin and the man behind him to discuss Homura’s skill.
• Okahira entered and said he had been chasing Kotetsu, who was shouting that a demon had entered the village.

Teiichi visited the Swordsmith Village chief and asked to have Tetsumoto Homura forge his new blade. Tokichi led him to the village workshops and pointed out a nearby hot spring for him to use while he waited.

• Okahira and the village chief discussed Kotetsu’s mistaken search for a demon before returning to Teiichi’s request for a new blade.
• Teiichi told the chief he wanted Homura to forge his blade again, and the chief sent Tokichi to guide him to Homura.
• Tokichi explained that Homura spent his days studying blade forging at the workshops and often forgot to eat unless someone called him.
• Tokichi showed Teiichi a path to the hot spring and praised its many supposed benefits as they continued toward the workshops.
• Tokichi led Teiichi through the busy workshop district and explained that smiths could forge elsewhere if they carried their own supplies.

Teiichi asked Tetsumoto Homura to forge him a new Nichirin Blade, but Homura refused because Teiichi had broken the blade he made. After seeing Teiichi overpower the workshop door, Homura agreed to forge a replacement if Teiichi defeated Kotetsu’s mechanical doll using swordsmanship alone.

• Tokichi brought Teiichi to Tetsumoto Homura’s workshop and explained that Teiichi needed a new Nichirin Blade.
• Tetsumoto Homura refused to forge for Teiichi because he had broken the blade Homura made, despite Tokichi’s protests.
• Teiichi stopped Homura from closing the door, and Homura could not move it against Teiichi’s strength.
• Tetsumoto Homura challenged Teiichi to defeat Kotetsu’s mechanical doll through swordsmanship alone in exchange for a new blade.
• Teiichi accepted the challenge, while Tokichi warned that the doll was extraordinarily strong.

Teiichi stayed in the Swordsmith Village while searching for Kotetsu so he could challenge the puppet and earn a new Nichirin Blade. After learning why Homura refused to forge replacement blades for some Demon Slayers, Teiichi set out alone to find Kotetsu, using Wind Field to search the forest.

• Tokichi and Teiichi searched the forest for Kotetsu but failed to find him before dark, so Tokichi led Teiichi to a quiet house on the mountainside.
• The village chief apologized and explained that Homura had stopped forging replacement blades after a swordsman repeatedly destroyed the blades Homura made and insulted his work.
• The village chief told Teiichi that the swordsman later died on a mission, then left Teiichi to spend the night at the house.
• The next day, Teiichi declined Tokichi's offer to search together and went into the forest alone to look for Kotetsu.
• Teiichi activated Wind Field, sending a gentle breeze through the forest as he searched.

Teiichi persuaded Kotetsu to let him train against the family’s mechanical doll, Yoriichi Type Zero, and carried it into the woods. As Kotetsu worried about the doll’s durability, Teiichi said he might be just a tiny bit stronger than a Hashira.

• Kotetsu tried and failed to catch fish in a stream until Teiichi startled him and approached.
• Teiichi convinced Kotetsu to let him fight Yoriichi Type Zero by promising Kotetsu the chance to see him get beaten.
• At Kotetsu’s quiet family workshop, Kotetsu explained that his parents had died and worried that his lack of forging talent would end his family’s trade.
• Kotetsu showed Teiichi Yoriichi Type Zero, and they carried the doll into the woods.
• Teiichi asked whether the doll could withstand a beating, then claimed he was a tiny bit stronger than a Hashira.

Teiichi tested Yoriichi Type Zero’s swordsmanship and power by fighting the combat puppet in the woods. After discovering that its strength and speed had reached their limit, he wondered how it could understand commands and adapt in battle.

• Kotetsu activated Yoriichi Type Zero and challenged Teiichi to fight it.
• Teiichi and Yoriichi Type Zero exchanged rapid sword strikes as Teiichi recognized similarities and differences between its forms and the Sun Breathing forms Tanjiro had used.
• Teiichi matched the puppet’s strength and speed to avoid damaging it, then increased his own abilities as Yoriichi Type Zero grew stronger and faster.
• Teiichi realized the puppet’s movement was powered by its winding and the gears driven by collisions, and that its components had reached their limits.
• Teiichi judged Yoriichi Type Zero to be as strong as a Hashira and wondered how it could understand commands, seek enemies, and adapt in combat.

Teiichi defeated Yoriichi Type Zero by knocking the wooden swords from its hands, then brought Kotetsu to Tetsumoto Homura to discuss a new blade. He began explaining his unusual requirements by running his hand along his Nichirin Blade.

• Teiichi used Wind Breathing: Modified, Second Form: Wind Firmament Wandering Dragon to disarm Yoriichi Type Zero without breaking it.
• On the walk back, Teiichi told Kotetsu he was a little stronger than the Hashira and advised him to activate Yoriichi Type Zero regularly.
• Teiichi and Kotetsu returned Yoriichi Type Zero to Kotetsu's family workshop, then went to Tetsumoto Homura's workshop.
• Tetsumoto Homura asked Teiichi what he wanted for his new blade, and Teiichi said it needed to be heavy and have another unusual quality.
• Teiichi drew his Nichirin Blade and ran his left hand over it while Tetsumoto Homura and Kotetsu watched.

Kato Teiichi asked Tetsumoto Homura to forge him a heavy Nichirin Blade, and Homura measured him to determine its size. Teiichi revealed that his previous blade had lasted eight or nine years before breaking in a battle against Upper Rank One, shocking Homura while Kotetsu asked what Upper Rank One meant.

• Tetsumoto Homura asked Kato Teiichi about his requirements for a new Nichirin Blade, and Teiichi said he wanted one weighing under five hundred jin.
• Homura explained that their ore could produce a blade of its usual shape weighing only two hundred to three hundred and fifty jin, and Teiichi accepted that range.
• Homura measured Teiichi's hand and arm, watched him swing his blade, and recorded the measurements for the new weapon.
• Homura asked when he had forged Teiichi's current blade, and Teiichi said it had been eight or nine years earlier.
• Homura asked when the blade broke and what demon had broken it, and Teiichi answered that it had broken about three years earlier fighting Kokushibo, or Upper Rank One.
• Homura reacted in shock, while Kotetsu asked what Upper Rank One was.

Teiichi encouraged Kotetsu to pursue learning blade forging and mechanical devices while waiting for his Nichirin Blade to be made in the Swordsmith Village. Elsewhere, Kagaya Ubuyashiki ordered a search for information on Kokushibo and the others, and a rain-soaked delivery to Kuroishi Village ended with Watanabe and Shinsuke spotting seven or eight people descending a mountain path.

• Teiichi told Kotetsu that talent was his to judge and urged him to study so he could pursue his dream of making combat dolls.
• Kotetsu hurried off to learn from Tetsumoto Homura and promised to help make Teiichi's Nichirin Blade.
• Teiichi continued training and checking on the blade's progress as Kotetsu worked diligently at the workshop.
• Kagaya Ubuyashiki ordered people to search for information on Kokushibo and the others and told them to report any findings without acting on their own.
• In heavy rain, Shinsuke and Watanabe struggled to haul a cart toward Kuroishi Village, then stopped when Watanabe noticed seven or eight people coming down a mountain path.

Shinsuke discovered that the villagers were hiding where Yuta had gone, and Watanabe suspected the village’s shift in worship might be connected. In Osaka, grieving businessman Takahashi met Yamamoto, who invited him to join his religion for comfort.

• The village chief and villagers helped Watanabe and Shinsuke bring the delivery safely to Kuroishi Village in the rain.
• Shinsuke went to give Yuta a roly-poly doll, but the neighbors said Yuta had gone to stay with relatives.
• Shinsuke told Watanabe that Yuta had said he had no relatives and noted that the village had switched its worship from Inari to the Goddess of Harvest.
• Watanabe warned Shinsuke to act normally and leave the matter alone, then went to check the village chief’s accounts.
• At a business reception in Osaka, Takahashi spoke with Yamamoto, who offered condolences for his wife’s death and invited him to join his religion for solace.

At a banquet, Takahashi questioned Yamamoto about the sect he wanted him to join and initially dismissed it as a group using religion to pursue personal desires. When Yamamoto said the Eternal Paradise Cult had helped his association grow, Takahashi became suspicious and learned the sect’s name.

• Yamamoto invited Takahashi to join his sect and described its optimistic doctrine.
• Takahashi asked how the sect supported its followers, but Yamamoto withheld details during a kabuki performance.
• Yamamoto said the sect’s young leader expected introductions to women, leading Takahashi to assume the group used religion as a pretext for personal desires.
• Yamamoto claimed that his association had grown with the help of the sect’s leader, alarming Takahashi.
• Takahashi asked for the sect’s name, and Yamamoto identified it as the Eternal Paradise Cult.