Chapter Summaries

Kokushibo, Doma, and the other Upper Ranks gathered in the Infinity Castle, where Muzan rebuked Akaza for failing to kill a powerful swordsman despite breaking through the limits of demons and mastering the Transparent World. Akaza revealed that the swordsman had told him he was not a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, and Doma laughed at Akaza for believing him.

• Doma greeted Kokushibo and learned from Hantengu that 110 years had passed since the Upper Ranks were last summoned.
• Kokushibo recognized that Akaza had broken through the limits of demons and grasped the Transparent World, while Doma asked to learn the same skill.
• Muzan arrived, and the Upper Ranks knelt before him as he expressed disappointment that Akaza had failed to defeat a Hashira and needed rescuing.
• Hantengu and Doma worried about facing the powerful swordsman, and Akaza told them the man was no longer in the Demon Slayer Corps.
• Doma questioned Akaza's claim, then laughed at him for believing the swordsman's word.

Akaza identified Teiichi as the powerful Wind Breathing Demon Slayer who had defeated him, and Kokushibo volunteered to eliminate him. Muzan rebuked Akaza for challenging his decision and confirmed that Kokushibo would go after Teiichi that night.

• Kokushibo questioned Akaza about losing to the Demon Slayer, and Akaza said he had run out of time before sunrise after mastering the Transparent World.
• Doma recalled meeting a black-haired Wind Breathing Demon Slayer about four years earlier, and Akaza and Kokushibo concluded that he was likely Teiichi.
• Kokushibo offered to eliminate Teiichi, and Muzan approved his request.
• Akaza asked Muzan to let him handle Teiichi, but Muzan accused him of making excuses and reminded him that he was only a tool.
• Akaza apologized under Muzan's oppressive aura, and Muzan confirmed that Kokushibo would deal with Teiichi that night.

After Muzan ordered Kokushibo to deal with a Demon Slayer, the Upper Ranks clashed over Akaza’s treatment of Doma and their place in the hierarchy. The meeting ended with the others leaving Doma alone, and he returned to his role as cult leader to receive a believer.

• Muzan ordered Kokushibo to deal with the Demon Slayer that night and left the Infinity Castle.
• Doma asked Kokushibo to take him along, and Akaza sliced off half of Doma’s head for speaking without Muzan’s orders.
• Kokushibo warned Akaza to respect Doma’s higher rank, and Akaza replied that the warning applied to Kokushibo too.
• Kokushibo left, and Hantengu, Gyokko, and Daki asked Nakime to send them away rather than stay with Doma.
• Nakime returned Doma to his room, where he put on the Eternal Paradise Cult leader’s hat and prepared to receive a believer.

Tanjiro returned home to find his family dead and Nezuko alive but transformed into a demon. As Nezuko attacked him on the way to town, Giyu Tomioka arrived to kill her, and Tanjiro moved to protect her.

• Tanjiro thanked Grandpa Saburo and headed home after selling his charcoal.
• Tanjiro smelled blood, found his family dead, and carried the still-warm Nezuko down the mountain.
• Nezuko woke and attacked Tanjiro, who realized her eyes had become those of a demon.
• Tanjiro pleaded with Nezuko to resist turning into a demon, and she began to cry.
• Giyu Tomioka struck at Nezuko, but Tanjiro pulled her aside, leaving Giyu wondering why he had saved a demon.

Giyu tested Tanjiro’s resolve and prepared to kill Nezuko, but she broke free and protected her unconscious brother. Seeing Nezuko defend a human, Giyu recalled an old lesson and sheathed his Nichirin Blade.

• Giyu told Tanjiro that Nezuko was a demon and said he would kill her, while Tanjiro pleaded that she could be cured and had not eaten anyone.
• Giyu rebuked Tanjiro for kneeling and urged him to get angry and fight, then stabbed Nezuko with his Nichirin Blade.
• Tanjiro threw a stone and charged Giyu with his axe, but Giyu knocked him unconscious with the sword’s hilt before spotting the axe flying at him.
• Nezuko grew stronger, escaped Giyu’s grip, kicked him away, and stood protectively in front of Tanjiro before attacking Giyu.
• Giyu watched Nezuko protect Tanjiro, recalled a black-haired boy’s words about judging by heart and actions, and sheathed his Nichirin Blade.

After eating twenty bowls of pork cutlet rice, Teiichi resumed his nighttime patrol despite the bitter winter weather. As the town fell asleep and he walked alone, a biwa sounded again in the mountain woods where he had fought Akaza.

• Teiichi put on his damaged haori and left the inn after sleeping through most of the day.
• Yoshihara and Shiya bet on how many bowls Teiichi could eat, wagering that the loser would walk home with scallions stuck up his nostrils.
• Teiichi ate twenty bowls of pork cutlet rice, surpassing both men's predictions.
• Teiichi rejected the idea of resting and began patrolling the town before planning to search the mountains near dawn.
• Everyone else eventually disappeared indoors, leaving Teiichi alone on the dark, snowy streets.
• A biwa sounded in the mountain woods, where traces of Teiichi and Akaza's battle remained.

Kokushibo confronted Teiichi and led him away from town to question him before they fought. Teiichi denied having a Demon Slayer Mark, the Transparent World, or a Red Nichirin Blade, leaving Kokushibo to conclude that his power came from pure strength.

• Kokushibo arrived at the battlefield where Akaza had fought and tracked Teiichi to the town.
• Teiichi recognized Kokushibo as Upper Rank One and agreed to move their encounter into the mountains to protect the townspeople.
• Kokushibo promised to ask Teiichi only about himself, and the two walked into the mountains.
• Kokushibo asked whether Teiichi had awakened a Demon Slayer Mark, the Transparent World, or a Red Nichirin Blade, and Teiichi denied having each one.
• Kokushibo stopped and concluded that Teiichi relied on pure strength.

Kokushibo told Teiichi about his human life and the fear of seeing a summit he could never reach, while Teiichi revealed what the Demon Slayer Corps recorded about him. The conversation ended with Kokushibo learning that the Corps believed he had murdered an Oyakata-sama and vanished.

• Kokushibo reflected on Teiichi’s strength and told him that a Demon Slayer Mark would shorten his life.
• Kokushibo revealed that he had once been called Tsugikuni Michikatsu and recounted his upbringing as a samurai family’s eldest son.
• As they walked to the site of their previous battle, Kokushibo explained that he became a demon because he could not bear to see the summit of swordsmanship without reaching it.
• Teiichi named Yoriichi Tsugikuni, and Kokushibo reacted with anguish as he remembered his unreachable rival.
• Teiichi described the Demon Slayer Corps’ records of Michikatsu, including the claim that he murdered an Oyakata-sama and then disappeared.
• Kokushibo coldly questioned why the Corps had not considered that he deserted and became a demon.

Kokushibo recounted how jealousy of his gifted younger twin, Yoriichi, led him to become a Demon Slayer and eventually a demon after learning the Demon Slayer Mark would shorten his life. Teiichi refused Kokushibo’s offer to become a demon, and Kokushibo saw in him the same indifference he resented in Yoriichi before demanding that he draw his sword.

• Kokushibo told Teiichi that he and Yoriichi were twins, and that Yoriichi’s innate talent led their father to favor him as heir.
• Kokushibo described how Yoriichi left home, later saved him from a demon, and inspired him to join the Demon Slayer Corps and develop Moon Breathing.
• Kokushibo learned that marked swordsmen would die before age twenty-five, then met Lord Muzan and became a demon to pursue Yoriichi’s strength indefinitely.
• Kokushibo asked Teiichi to become a demon, but Teiichi refused and said future geniuses could preserve or surpass his skills.
• Kokushibo recalled Yoriichi’s belief that others would eventually reach their level, then told Teiichi to draw his sword.

Teiichi faced Kokushibo in a sword fight and struggled to keep up with the Upper Moon’s speed and strength. As Teiichi unleashed Wind Breathing’s Fifth Form, Kokushibo prepared to counter with Moon Breathing.

• Teiichi drew his Nichirin Blade and faced Kokushibo, who drew his flesh-and-blood sword, Kyokokukamusari.
• Teiichi attacked first, but Kokushibo blocked his strikes and countered with fast slashes that forced Teiichi to dodge and defend.
• Teiichi and Kokushibo exchanged a rapid series of sword blows among the trees, with Kokushibo’s Transparent World helping him read Teiichi’s movements.
• Teiichi used Wind Breathing’s Fifth Form, Cold Mountain Wind, and sent a powerful Wind Blade toward Kokushibo.
• Kokushibo read Teiichi’s attack and raised Kyokokukamusari behind him as he began Moon Breathing.

Teiichi and Kokushibo fought through a prolonged exchange of Moon and Wind Breathing forms, with Teiichi growing increasingly exhausted. Their blades locked after a clash of powerful eighth forms, and Kokushibo’s blade sprouted a point-blank branch that cut Teiichi above the brow.

• Kokushibo struck with Moon Breathing’s Eighth Form, and Teiichi countered with Wind Breathing before the two resumed their battle.
• Kokushibo repeatedly sent moon blades and crescents at Teiichi, who blocked or dodged them while conserving his stamina.
• Kokushibo and Teiichi fought at close range, and Teiichi used Wind Breathing’s Third Form to counter Kokushibo’s Sixth Form.
• Kokushibo unleashed the Eighth Form again, and Teiichi met it with Wind Breathing’s Eighth Form, locking their blades together.
• Kokushibo’s sword sprouted several blades, and one cut Teiichi at the forehead near his brow.

Teiichi fought Kokushibo through exhaustion and refused his offer to become a demon, choosing to keep struggling because he still wanted to live. The clash of their strongest attacks ended with Teiichi's Nichirin Blade snapping.

• Kokushibo warned that Teiichi would die if he kept fighting and urged him to become a demon, but Teiichi refused because he could not accept eating people.
• Kokushibo unleashed Seventh Form: Mirror of Misfortune, Moonlit, and Teiichi dodged the crescent blades before resuming their clash.
• Teiichi realized that he still wanted to live as memories of his loved ones and fellow Demon Slayers came to mind.
• Kokushibo attacked with Ninth Form: Waning Moonswaths, and Teiichi blocked the blow with Wind Breathing's Sixth Form: Black Wind Mountain Mist.
• Kokushibo's repeated strikes wore down the same point on Teiichi's Nichirin Blade, and their final collision snapped it.

Kanae woke from a nightmare worried that something had happened to Teiichi, while Teiichi lay gravely wounded after Kokushibo broke his Nichirin Blade. Teiichi awakened the Transparent World and stopped his bleeding, then rose to face Kokushibo with his broken weapon.

• Kanae woke from a nightmare and worried that Teiichi might be in danger, while Shinobu Kocho tried to reassure her.
• Kokushibo broke Teiichi's Nichirin Blade and slashed him, sending him crashing through several trees with a severe chest wound.
• As Teiichi drifted toward unconsciousness, he sensed memories of his past and then opened his eyes to perceive the world in extraordinary detail.
• Teiichi recognized that he had entered the Transparent World and used his control over his body to stop the bleeding.
• Kokushibo questioned how Teiichi could fight while gravely wounded and holding a broken blade, as Teiichi rose and silently apologized to his weapon.

After awakening the Transparent World, Teiichi faced Kokushibo with a broken blade and declared he could fight him with it. He evaded Kokushibo’s attacks until he found an opening and struck toward Kokushibo’s neck.

• Teiichi assessed his exhausted body and broken blade, then told Kokushibo he would fight with what he had.
• Kokushibo attacked with Moon Breathing, Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ringtail.
• Teiichi used the Transparent World to evade Kokushibo’s close-range slashes without striking back.
• After recovering some strength, Teiichi deflected Kokushibo’s downward attack and threw him off balance.
• Teiichi’s broken blade rebounded and went straight for Kokushibo’s neck.

Teiichi used Wind Breathing and a concealed Wind Blade to break through Kokushibo’s defenses, but Kokushibo’s counterattack forced him to abandon the attempt to behead him. As they resumed fighting, Kokushibo questioned why Teiichi had grown so powerful, and Teiichi said talent separated Kokushibo from Yoriichi Tsugikuni by an unbridgeable chasm.

• Kokushibo covered his body with blades, forcing Teiichi to plan how to reach his neck while blocking the blades and Kyokokukamusari.
• Teiichi used Ninth Form: Idaten Typhoon to fill the battlefield with wind and snow, while Kokushibo’s Fourteenth Form dispersed the storm.
• Teiichi struck Kokushibo with a Wind Blade from behind, kicked him off balance, and used Eighth Form: Primary Gale Slash to shatter the blades protecting him.
• Kokushibo released moon blades from his severed body blades, making Teiichi retreat from his attempt to cut off Kokushibo’s head.
• Kokushibo asked why Teiichi’s Transparent World had made him so strong, and Teiichi answered that talent separated Kokushibo from Yoriichi Tsugikuni.

Muzan turned a surviving man into the new Lower Rank Two, Rokuro, before learning that Kokushibo had failed to defeat Teiichi. As dawn approached, Kokushibo returned to the Infinity Castle, while Teiichi decided to leave the woods and postpone returning to the Butterfly Mansion because of his chest wound.

• Muzan found a man had survived the dose of blood he had given him, named him Rokuro, and watched as Rokuro attacked the two corpses in the cabin.
• Nakime told Muzan that Teiichi had become strong enough to match Kokushibo and that dawn was approaching.
• Muzan ordered Kokushibo and the other Upper Ranks back to the Infinity Castle.
• Kokushibo obeyed Muzan’s summons and left through Nakime’s doorway without Teiichi trying to stop him.
• At sunrise, Teiichi recovered the broken pieces of his blade and decided to leave the area, delaying his return to the Butterfly Mansion until near New Year because of his chest wound.

Gyokko and the Upper Ranks learned that Kokushibo had failed to kill the Demon Slayer, who had also mastered the Transparent World. Muzan ordered all six Upper Ranks to hunt him together the following night, and they later searched the town and its outskirts without finding him.

• Gyokko guessed that Kokushibo had turned the Demon Slayer into a demon, but Kokushibo arrived alone and silenced him with a cold look.
• Muzan appeared and announced that Kokushibo had failed to kill the Demon Slayer, then ordered all six Upper Ranks to go after him the next night.
• Kokushibo confirmed that the Demon Slayer had comprehended the Transparent World, and he reassured Daki that he would hold him off while she hid with her brother.
• That night, Akaza, Doma, Hantengu, Gyokko, Kokushibo, and Daki searched the town and outskirts but found no trace of the Demon Slayer.
• Kokushibo reunited with Akaza, Doma, Hantengu, and Gyokko while leading Daki, and the Upper Ranks continued their search in three teams.

The Upper Ranks returned to Infinity Castle after the Demon Slayer escaped, and Muzan reprimanded them for their failures. He ordered all six to hunt the swordsman together, while Akaza requested a Rank Replacement Blood Battle.

• Akaza rejected Gyokko’s suggestion to kill townspeople, and Kokushibo warned that conspicuous actions would anger Muzan.
• At Infinity Castle, Muzan condemned the Upper Ranks for failing to destroy the Ubuyashiki Clan, find the Blue Spider Lily, and stop the Demon Slayer.
• Muzan ordered all six Upper Ranks to find the Demon Slayer and report to him rather than confront the swordsman alone.
• As Muzan prepared to leave, Akaza asked to hold a Rank Replacement Blood Battle.

Akaza fought Doma in a Rank Replacement Blood Battle, using his newly gained strength and Transparent World to batter him despite Doma’s massive ice bodhisattva. Kokushibo believed Akaza could win, but warned the battle might last until dawn.

• Muzan asked Kokushibo whether Akaza could defeat Doma, and Kokushibo said Akaza’s chances had improved since he comprehended the Transparent World.
• Doma’s ice bodhisattva attacked, and Kokushibo explained that its size and power were not especially dangerous to an opponent of equal strength.
• Akaza decided to wear Doma down and smashed the ice bodhisattva’s arm with Destructive Death: Annihilation Style.
• Akaza reached the top of the ice bodhisattva and struck Doma with Destructive Death: Disorder, breaking half his face despite Doma’s attempts to block with his fans.
• Doma repeatedly chatted while fighting, and Akaza kept landing wounds that Doma’s demonic body quickly healed.

Akaza defeated Doma in their Rank Replacement Blood Battle, driving him into sunlight and nearly burning him to death. Muzan declared Akaza Upper Rank Two and demoted Doma to Upper Rank Three, while Kokushibo cut away Doma’s sun-scorched flesh so he could regenerate.

• Akaza destroyed the ice Bodhisattva and continued fighting Doma until dawn.
• Akaza sent Doma into sunlight, where Doma endured severe burns while using his ice Blood Demon Art to reach the shade.
• Akaza prepared to throw the exhausted Doma back into sunlight, but Muzan arrived and ordered him to let Doma live.
• Muzan declared Akaza the winner, promoted him to Upper Rank Two, and demoted Doma to Upper Rank Three.
• Kokushibo sliced away Doma’s burned flesh, and Doma slowly regenerated before complaining that Akaza had treated him cruelly.