لخّصلي

A young boy, Tanjiro Kamado, carries a visibly-wounded, unconscious girl through a snowy path on his back.The demon describes the strongest student as having peach colored hair and a scar by his mouth, as well as the most agile student as a girl who wore a floral kimono.When Tanjiro asks why she was willing to teach him, she only replies, "we all really like Urokodaki-san," as her catch phrase. Makomo also informs Tanjiro that Sabito and her are not siblings, rather orphans taken in by Sakonji along with many children that are currently watching him. She continues to guide him as he keeps battling against Sabito, though the latter always manages to defeat him. Half a year of training passes, and Sabito finally comes to challenge Tanjiro with a real sword with Makomo as a bystander. A determined and changed Tanjiro tells Sabito that he will win, striking at his opponent before he could react. Tanjiro's blade cuts Sabito's mask in half to reveal a gentle, smiling boy with a scar on his right cheek. Makomo, keeping her promise to witness Tanjiro's progress, tells Tanjiro to win and triumph against "that person," fades away as mist clouds her and Sabito.Upon detecting Tanjiro's hesitation, Sakonji realizes Tanjiro has overflowing empathy and kindness even towards a Demon and berates Giyu in his mind, telling him that this boy isn't a suitable candidate.He bids Urokodaki farewell, entrusting him to care for Nezuko, Sabito, and Makomo while he's away, Urokodaki is left astonished as he reveals that Sabito and Makomo were the deceased spirits of his previous students and that Tanjiro shouldn't have known who they were.Before the demon is able to eat the boy, Tanjiro intervenes by using Water Breathing: Second Form - Water Wheel to slice one of the limbs off of the demon, who glaring back at Tanjiro commenting that "Another of [his] dear foxes has come!" The chapter starts off with Makomo asking Sabito if their intuition to believe in Tanjiro was correct to which he responds, "I don't know but no amount of effort is too much."Sakonji Urokodaki informs a curious Tanjiro Kamado about the Demon Slayer Corps, an organization composed of skilled swordsmen trained to kill Demons, despite not being acknowledged or officially recognized by the government.He utilizes the Water Breathing: Fourth Form - Striking Tide to slice the 'threads' that he smelled, and successfully defeats the demons which boosts his confidence in completing the selection.The boy laughs at Tanjiro's ignorance and declares that as someone who had succeeded in splitting the boulder, he wouldn't be hurt by someone weaker.The scene flashes to Tanjiro completing his training for the Final Selection, and realizing his newly acquired technique of smelling the 'lines of intervals'.Tanjiro invites Hotaru into the home, he explains that the katana he brought was a special nichirin sword, which changes color depending on the wielder, and was eager to see what color Tanjiro's katana would be.

Tanjiro grips onto his blade which begins to glow and transform to a shade of black.Tanjiro's crow interrupts the dispute to inform Tanjiro to disembark on his first mission, to resolve the mystery of girls disappearing night after night in a neighboring town.After Giyu's departure, Tanjiro buries the dead members of his family beside their house while Nezuko looks on. The Kamado siblings take each others' hands and starts on their journey to look for Sakonji.Following Giyu Tomioka's advice to keep Nezuko Kamado away from the sun, Tanjiro Kamado buys a bamboo basket and covers it with a cloth so that he will be able to travel with his sister during daylight.As Tanjiro continues hesitating, the first rays of sunlight appear and instantly burn the Demon to ashes, causing Tanjiro to realize why Nezuko dislikes the sun so much.Sakonji then introduces his role as one of the many 'cultivators', individuals who train and furnish swordsmen with a variety of techniques and skills.After receiving this information from Sakonji, Tanjiro vigorously trains by descending the mountain daily while simultaneously avoiding traps.After having realized that the demon was describing both Sabito and Makomo, Tanjiro lashes out and attacks the demon after he makes insulting remarks regarding Makomo's death.The Ubuyashiki twins proceed to inform the survivors of their ranks as mizunoto demon slayers, as well as gift then an assignment crow known as a kasugai crow.Fifteen days pass after Tanjiro's return and an unexpected guest arrives at the camp, a tall man approaches Tanjiro and introduces himself as Hotaru, the swordsmith who forged his katana.His younger siblings, Hanako Kamado and Shigeru Kamado, overhear him and beg to go as well, but their mother sternly refuses, saying they would only cause him trouble.Tanjiro calls out to his younger brother, Takeo Kamado, and asks him to chop the firewood while he's away, much to the latter's disappointment as he hints that he wanted to chop wood with his older brother.The swordsman appears behind a tree and asks them to look for an elder named Sakonji Urokodaki, who lives at the foot of Sagiri Mountain, and to tell him that Giyu Tomioka sent them.An old man with a tengu mask named Sakonji Urokodaki receives a letter from a crow sent by Giyu Tomioka.Before setting off, Tanjiro receives a hand carved fox mask, similar to the ones worn by Sabito and Makomo, from Urokodaki and says goodbye to a sleeping Nezuko.Having just arrived to the Final Selection at Mount Fujikasane, Tanjiro admires the wisteria flowers glistening the steps as he climbs the stairs.Unfazed by the sudden assault on his sister, the other twin, Kiriya, proceeds to have the participants choose an ore which would be welded into their katanas.As Tanjiro weeps in his sister's arms, Urokodaki comes out and hugs both of the siblings, shedding tears of joy at Tanjiro's arrival.A moment of silence is shared until Hotaru angrily lashes out at Tanjiro for unintentionally producing a black blade instead of a flaring red blade like he had wished to see.One of the villagers cries out to Tanjiro and asks him to take a whiff of a broken vase to figure out who the culprit was.Tanjiro wakes up with tears in his eyes, and Nezuko, with a bamboo muzzle in her mouth to rein her fangs, laid unconscious but alive beside him.The Demon proceeds to force Tanjiro onto the ground with his agility and strength, but Nezuko kicks his head clean off from his neck while Tanjiro watches, shocked over her ability to kill.However, the Demon's body continues to attack Tanjiro despite being beheaded, prompting Nezuko to give the headless body another kick.He also observes that the boy possesses the same particularly good sense of smell as Sakonji and requests Sakonji train him, given he could potentially become the old man's successor.Tanjiro pauses before answering and Sakonji slaps him, reprimanding him for being too hesitant.He instructs Tanjiro that if anyone desires to join the ranks of the Demon Slayers, they must first survive an event known as the Final Selection, held at Fujikasane Mountain.Sakonji tells the boy to continue improving his techniques and challenges the boy to split a huge boulder in half in order to prove his worth and participate in the Final Selection test.Two curators organizing the event, inform the students that the Wisteria flowers seen along the path, serves as demon repellent on the mountain.Back at the Selection, Tanjiro is beginning to face the Hand Demon who informs him of his reign as one of the strongest demons on the mountain, he also reveals that it was Urokodaki who trapped him on the mountain to begin with.Tanjiro continues to evade the demons attacks and persists forth until the demon's life thread finally becomes visible before Tanjiro's eyes.Tanjiro swings his katana and is able to successfully penetrate and slice the demon's neck.Tanjiro thinks of Sabito and Makomo and informs them of his victory, he reassures that they as well as the other dead children, can be at peace and return home to Urokodaki.Tanjiro treks frantically through the snow and begs her to stay alive, vowing he would save her.As he sets off, he runs into Nezuko who is rocking the youngest child, Rokuta Kamado, to sleep.She mentions their younger siblings' attachment to Tanjiro, and they depart.Tanjiro tells him not to worry as his nose can quickly smell out danger, but Saburo insists he take refuge in his house for the night in case of a Demon attack; Tanjiro finally gives in to the persistent man.As Nezuko is the only one with warmth in her body, Tanjiro hurriedly carries her on his back to see a doctor.While Tanjiro is left forlorn, the swordsman stabs Nezuko in the chest, causing her great pain.While the swordsman is distracted, Nezuko rushes to Tanjiro's motionless body.The Demon shoots the siblings a glance and warns them that this is his feasting grounds.Upon seeing the bloodied bodies, Nezuko starts to salivate and Tanjiro falls into a state of shock at his first encounter of a man-eating Demon.He charges at Tanjiro but the boy proceeds to headbutt and pin him onto a nearby tree with his axe handle.Tanjiro tackles the body off the cliff and is narrowly saved by Nezuko, making the headless body fall straight onto the ground below.When Tanjiro approaches the man, he introduces himself as Sakonji Urokodaki.Tanjiro replies that he understands, to which Sakonji responds he should bring Nezuko and follow him for a test.He recalls that Nezuko has always been patiently enduring suffering throughout her whole life.Tanjiro firmly decides that he will turn her back into a human and give everything to her to make up for the things he is unable to do now for his deceased siblings.By adjusting his breathing and concentrating, he attempts to smell out the distinctly different human traps.Through this, he increases his stamina and becomes capable of detecting scents much quicker.Soon after, Sakonji teaches Tanjiro the way of the sword, recovery positions after getting thrown, and breathing techniques.Surprised, Tanjiro observes that the voice came from a person wearing a fox mask who was perched on top of the boulder, a person who did not have a scent nor a presence.The masked boy tells Tanjiro to shut up like a man and attacks him with a wooden blade, which Tanjiro clumsily blocks.The boy notes the extent of Tanjiro's weaknesses, deeming him unsuitable to be a Demon Slayer.The boy with a fox mask challenges Tanjiro to a fight to which he declines, as the stranger is only wielding a wooden sword while Tanjiro has with him a real sword.He proves this by easily defeating Tanjiro, telling him that he does not yet fully understand Sakonji's breathing techniques to be able to utilize them properly.As the masked stranger walks away, a girl with a floral patterned kimono approaches, and the boy tells her to take care of the rest.Over time, Makomo acts as Tanjiro's teacher to aid him in correcting his sword postures and breathing techniques.He meets with Urokodaki who praises his abilities and hard work before giving him his blessing to participate in the selection.They go further on to explain that in order to pass the selection, they must survive for seven nights in the region of the mountain where the Wisteria doesn't bloom, and where the demons roam free.As the children daunt on the stunning claims, the demon begins to taunt Tanjiro by saying that he has eaten many of Urokodaki's students before and that he would be next.In a shocking turn of events, the demon reveals that he has claimed the lives of 13 of Urokodaki's students with two specific ones being the most memorable.Sabito remarks that Tanjiro's emotions are starting to interfere with his focus and he ends up getting momentarily knocked out after being slammed into a tree.In his final moments, the demon curses Tanjiro for defeating him and for looking upon him as something unclean and with a look of disgust, he has flashbacks of his past and how he became a demon after killing and eating his brother.Witnessing this, Tanjiro is overcome with emotion, and holds his hand praying for him to not become a demon when he is reborn in his next life.He remarks that if he had died he also would've returned to Mt. Sagiri to be with him as well as Nezuko.Seven days have passed since Tanjiro defeated the demon and the Final Selection has come to an end, He arrives back to the entrance and is congratulated by the same mysterious twins who welcomed him at the beginning of the selection.The chapter ends with a crow informing a mysterious new character of the admission of not four but five new demon slayers into the Corps.He arrives at the base of the camp where he's stunned to see the comatose Nezuko kick down the door and strut outside.As the New Year arrives, Tanjiro intends to go to town and sell some charcoal in order to have enough food on the table for the holiday.Tanjiro bids farewell to his mother and siblings as they remind him to stay safe.As Tanjiro arrives in the town, everyone is delighted to see him and immediately call him over to buy some of his charcoal.The boy's keen sense of smell is able to detect that it was a cat at fault and not the villager who was being held responsible for it.

As the sun begins to set, Tanjiro begins his journey home.The first thing he sees is a bloodied Nezuko holding Rokuta lying on the snowy ground.Sakonji then subsequently leaves.

A young boy, Tanjiro Kamado, carries a visibly-wounded, unconscious girl through a snowy path on his back. This girl is revealed to be his younger sister, Nezuko Kamado. Tanjiro treks frantically through the snow and begs her to stay alive, vowing he would save her.

The scene cuts to a flashback of events that had occurred the day before. As the New Year arrives, Tanjiro intends to go to town and sell some charcoal in order to have enough food on the table for the holiday. His younger siblings, Hanako Kamado and Shigeru Kamado, overhear him and beg to go as well, but their mother sternly refuses, saying they would only cause him trouble. Tanjiro calls out to his younger brother, Takeo Kamado, and asks him to chop the firewood while he's away, much to the latter's disappointment as he hints that he wanted to chop wood with his older brother.

Tanjiro bids farewell to his mother and siblings as they remind him to stay safe. As he sets off, he runs into Nezuko who is rocking the youngest child, Rokuta Kamado, to sleep. She mentions their younger siblings' attachment to Tanjiro, and they depart.

As Tanjiro arrives in the town, everyone is delighted to see him and immediately call him over to buy some of his charcoal. One of the villagers cries out to Tanjiro and asks him to take a whiff of a broken vase to figure out who the culprit was. The boy's keen sense of smell is able to detect that it was a cat at fault and not the villager who was being held responsible for it.

As the sun begins to set, Tanjiro begins his journey home. However, as he begins to ascend the mountain, he is stopped by an elder by the name of Saburo. The man forbids him from going back to the mountains as the sky was turning dark. Tanjiro tells him not to worry as his nose can quickly smell out danger, but Saburo insists he take refuge in his house for the night in case of a Demon attack; Tanjiro finally gives in to the persistent man. Although he dismisses Saburo's words, he remembers that his grandmother said something similar about Demons before she passed away.

Once the sun rises, Tanjiro makes his way back but suddenly smells blood when he nears his home. The first thing he sees is a bloodied Nezuko holding Rokuta lying on the snowy ground. Terrified, he goes to check the house and is shocked to see the ransacked building and bloody mess, everyone in his family presumably dead. As Nezuko is the only one with warmth in her body, Tanjiro hurriedly carries her on his back to see a doctor.

On the way down, Nezuko starts to come to life. She tries to bite her brother with her fangs, but Tanjiro is able to block the attack with his axe handle. Many questions emerge in Tanjiro's mind as he wonders if Nezuko was a Demon and killed their family, despite being born human. He deduces that she did not kill them as she had a different scent from the individual who attacked his family.

As his sister pins him down and her body and strength grow, Tanjiro suddenly feels guilt and remorse for not being there for his family, and even more so for his sister, unable to save her from becoming a Demon. He feels that the new Demon blood would overpower Nezuko and tries to prevent her from taking him as her first victim.

Tanjiro starts attempting to appeal to what is left of his sister's humanity, encouraging her to stop and do her best to hold the Demon blood back. Eventually, she ceases her struggle and starts to cry; upon seeing his sister's tears, Tanjiro cries as well.

Suddenly, a man strikes at Nezuko. Tanjiro rolls himself and Nezuko away to avoid the attack. The katana-wielding man asks why Tanjiro was protecting a Demon. Although Tanjiro tells him that Nezuko is his sister, the man insists on killing her. Tanjiro begs and reasons that Nezuko has not killed and will not kill anyone, and he will find a cure for her. Angrily, the swordsman goes on a tirade, telling Tanjiro that he was too weak to protect himself, let alone his sister. However, deep down, the swordsman feels slightly guilty as he arrived too late to prevent Tanjiro's family from being killed.

While Tanjiro is left forlorn, the swordsman stabs Nezuko in the chest, causing her great pain. Tanjiro immediately throws a rock at him and charges. The man becomes angry over what was merely an emotionally-charged attack. He knocks Tanjiro out cold but notices that he was not carrying his axe. He looks up into the sky and nearly dodges a falling axe attack. Through this carefully-planned assault by the young boy, the swordsman becomes aware of Tanjiro's resolve to protect his sister, sacrificing even his own life in order to save her from him.

While the swordsman is distracted, Nezuko rushes to Tanjiro's motionless body. The swordsman curses for letting his guard down, expecting Nezuko to devour her brother. However, Nezuko instead defends her unconscious brother, using her own body to shield him. The swordsman recalls there was a person who once said their Demon-turned relative would not eat anyone, but in the end, the person was eaten by that very Demon. Demons high up in the mountains would even eat their parents and siblings if they were hungry, but the Demon in front of him did not eat her brother and even defended him, despite her already-starving condition. She charges at the swordsman and he sheathes his sword. Feeling that she was different from other Demons, he knocks her out instead of killing her.

As he is unconscious, Tanjiro dreams that his dead mother and siblings were surrounding him. His mother apologizes for leaving him and tells him that she will be entrusting Nezuko to his care. Tanjiro wakes up with tears in his eyes, and Nezuko, with a bamboo muzzle in her mouth to rein her fangs, laid unconscious but alive beside him.

The swordsman appears behind a tree and asks them to look for an elder named Sakonji Urokodaki, who lives at the foot of Sagiri Mountain, and to tell him that Giyu Tomioka sent them. Before disappearing, he advises Tanjiro to not bring his sister out in the sun.

After Giyu's departure, Tanjiro buries the dead members of his family beside their house while Nezuko looks on. The Kamado siblings take each others' hands and starts on their journey to look for Sakonji.

Following Giyu Tomioka's advice to keep Nezuko Kamado away from the sun, Tanjiro Kamado buys a bamboo basket and covers it with a cloth so that he will be able to travel with his sister during daylight. The basket proves to be too small for Nezuko, however, Tanjiro persuades her to use her Demon blood and transform so her body would shrink and fit. After asking for directions, Tanjiro heads off towards a mountain with the basket containing Nezuko on his back.

As night falls, they both find a small temple hut in the woods and decide to check it out. As they near the hut, Tanjiro smells blood and worries about the possibility of a traveler being injured, rushing into the hut. However, he instead finds a Demon feasting upon the three dead residents. The Demon shoots the siblings a glance and warns them that this is his feasting grounds. Upon seeing the bloodied bodies, Nezuko starts to salivate and Tanjiro falls into a state of shock at his first encounter of a man-eating Demon.

The Demon suddenly realizes that Tanjiro is human and subsequently goes in for the kill. Tanjiro uses his axe to slash the Demon by the neck, but the wound immediately begins to heal. The Demon proceeds to force Tanjiro onto the ground with his agility and strength, but Nezuko kicks his head clean off from his neck while Tanjiro watches, shocked over her ability to kill.

However, the Demon's body continues to attack Tanjiro despite being beheaded, prompting Nezuko to give the headless body another kick. The Demon's head yells at Tanjiro, asking why a Demon would travel with a human. He runs to grab Nezuko, distracting her and Tanjiro while growing another pair of arms from the detached head. He charges at Tanjiro but the boy proceeds to headbutt and pin him onto a nearby tree with his axe handle. Tanjiro runs off to look for Nezuko, finding her under attack from the headless body which continues to kick her. Tanjiro tackles the body off the cliff and is narrowly saved by Nezuko, making the headless body fall straight onto the ground below. Although the destruction of his body causes the Demon great pain, it does not kill him.

The siblings return to the Demon's head by the tree and Tanjiro brings out a small knife, intending to end the Demon's life. However, he hesitates to kill it. All of a sudden, a person wearing a strange mask approaches him from behind and tells him that the knife that he is holding cannot kill the Demon.

An old man with a tengu mask named Sakonji Urokodaki receives a letter from a crow sent by Giyu Tomioka. Giyu states that a young boy whose family was slaughtered by a Demon is on his way to meet the old man. The boy's sister was turned into a Demon, however, Giyu states that he believes she will not harm humans. He also observes that the boy possesses the same particularly good sense of smell as Sakonji and requests Sakonji train him, given he could potentially become the old man's successor.

After this memory, Sakonji now looks at Tanjiro who is about to finish off the Temple Demon with a small knife. Tanjiro notes that he did not notice the man's presence at all as his footsteps were so light. The boy requests Sakonji to tell him how he should go about killing the Demon, to which Sakonji replies that he should figure it out himself.

Tanjiro spots a rock nearby and decides that instead of the knife, he could use the rock to crush the Demon's skull repeatedly till it dies. However, before he is able to act, he feels sympathy for the Demon's suffering and tries to think of a less painful method to kill it in one blow. Upon detecting Tanjiro's hesitation, Sakonji realizes Tanjiro has overflowing empathy and kindness even towards a Demon and berates Giyu in his mind, telling him that this boy isn't a suitable candidate.

As Tanjiro continues hesitating, the first rays of sunlight appear and instantly burn the Demon to ashes, causing Tanjiro to realize why Nezuko dislikes the sun so much. Meanwhile, Sakonji gives the victims a proper burial. When Tanjiro approaches the man, he introduces himself as Sakonji Urokodaki. Before Tanjiro has the opportunity to properly introduce himself and his sister, Sakonji questions Tanjiro what he would do if his sister eats a human being. Tanjiro pauses before answering and Sakonji slaps him, reprimanding him for being too hesitant. He tells Tanjiro that in the event his sister eats a human being, he should kill her and then kill himself—the kind of resolve that Tanjiro needs if he wants to bring along his Demon sister on his journey. Tanjiro replies that he understands, to which Sakonji responds he should bring Nezuko and follow him for a test.

Sakonji's speed makes it difficult for Tanjiro to follow after him. As he is running, Tanjiro feels sorry for Nezuko that she is being jostled around in the basket. He recalls that Nezuko has always been patiently enduring suffering throughout her whole life. For the sake of their siblings, Nezuko had refused to buy new clothes in order to buy more food for them instead. Tanjiro firmly decides that he will turn her back into a human and give everything to her to make up for the things he is unable to do now for his deceased siblings.

They soon reach a hut and Tanjiro breathlessly asks whether he had passed the test. Sakonji tells him that the test has only just begun and orders him to ascend the mountain. Upon hearing these words, Tanjiro is dumbfounded but complies.

After leaving Nezuko in the hut, the pair head up. Tanjiro feels that his legs are tired to the point where he is unable to move them and his head was dizzy. Upon reaching a certain point, Sakonji tells Tanjiro that the test is for him to reach the bottom of the mountain to where his house is, and unlike with the Temple Demon, he will not wait until dawn. Sakonji then subsequently leaves.

Surprised that the test is so simple, Tanjiro believes his sense of smell would make it a breeze and begins following Sakonji's scent. However, just as he takes a step, Tanjiro's foot gets caught in a trap that launches small rocks towards him. He then falls into a hidden pit, and, right after crawling out, triggers another trap that launches a log which hits him from behind.

Tanjiro then realizes that if he keeps getting caught in the traps, he would not be able to reach the foot of the mountain by dawn. Moreover, the air in this mountain is thinner than where he had lived before, causing him to have difficulty breathing. Feeling desperate, Tanjiro wonders if he could truly make it back in time. However, he steadies himself and tells himself that he must make it back. By adjusting his breathing and concentrating, he attempts to smell out the distinctly different human traps. Even so, he is not agile enough to avoid all of them.

Meanwhile, by the foot of the mountain, Sakonji places a blanket over the sleeping Nezuko. He suddenly hears some noise by his door and sees it open to reveal a very battered Tanjiro panting heavily. As he slumps down to the ground, Tanjiro states he successfully made it back.

As the morning sun begins to rise, Sakonji tells Tanjiro that he has now acknowledged him as his student.

Sakonji Urokodaki informs a curious Tanjiro Kamado about the Demon Slayer Corps, an organization composed of skilled swordsmen trained to kill Demons, despite not being acknowledged or officially recognized by the government.

He goes on to tell Tanjiro about some general information regarding Demons, such as that they must eat humans in order to survive and have special abilities, such as being able to regenerate when they're physically injured. The only way they can be destroyed is through exposure to sunlight or by decapitation with a specialized blade. Despite not knowing much about the origin of Demons, the organization of Demon Slayers have continued to hunt them with their mortal bodies across a number of generations.

Sakonji then introduces his role as one of the many 'cultivators', individuals who train and furnish swordsmen with a variety of techniques and skills. He instructs Tanjiro that if anyone desires to join the ranks of the Demon Slayers, they must first survive an event known as the Final Selection, held at Fujikasane Mountain. Sakonji tells Tanjiro that he will be the one to decide if Tanjiro is qualified to participate in the Final Selection.

After receiving this information from Sakonji, Tanjiro vigorously trains by descending the mountain daily while simultaneously avoiding traps. Through this, he increases his stamina and becomes capable of detecting scents much quicker. Soon after, Sakonji teaches Tanjiro the way of the sword, recovery positions after getting thrown, and breathing techniques.

Meanwhile, Nezuko has fallen into a deep sleep while Tanjiro trains for half a year. Sakonji calls a doctor who comes by to look at her, but he finds nothing wrong with the Demon. Worried that she will die soon, Tanjiro steels himself and trains harder.

After a year of training, Sakonji tells Tanjiro that he has nothing else to teach the boy. Taken aback, Tanjiro notes the time that has passed since their arrival. Sakonji tells the boy to continue improving his techniques and challenges the boy to split a huge boulder in half in order to prove his worth and participate in the Final Selection test. Tanjiro starts to panic, as the task at hand seems impossible with a mere blade. From that day onwards, Sakonji ceases to teach Tanjiro new skills.

As another half year passes, Tanjiro is still unable to split the rock no matter how hard he practices. Feeling extremely disheartened, he yells in frustration, to which a voice asks him to silence himself. Surprised, Tanjiro observes that the voice came from a person wearing a fox mask who was perched on top of the boulder, a person who did not have a scent nor a presence. The masked boy tells Tanjiro to shut up like a man and attacks him with a wooden blade, which Tanjiro clumsily blocks. The boy notes the extent of Tanjiro's weaknesses, deeming him unsuitable to be a Demon Slayer.

The boy with a fox mask challenges Tanjiro to a fight to which he declines, as the stranger is only wielding a wooden sword while Tanjiro has with him a real sword. The boy laughs at Tanjiro's ignorance and declares that as someone who had succeeded in splitting the boulder, he wouldn't be hurt by someone weaker. He proves this by easily defeating Tanjiro, telling him that he does not yet fully understand Sakonji's breathing techniques to be able to utilize them properly. Tanjiro is taken aback at the fact that this stranger mentioned Sakonji. After another brief match, the stranger knocks Tanjiro out cold. As the masked stranger walks away, a girl with a floral patterned kimono approaches, and the boy tells her to take care of the rest.

When Tanjiro awakens, he sees the girl and asks her if she had witnessed the fight. He also tells her he wants to be as skilled as the boy someday. The girl replies that he will indeed be able to master those techniques one day, and she will be there to witness his strength. Tanjiro requests for her name, thinking to himself that the girl is cute. She introduces herself as Makomo and the boy with the fox mask as Sabito.

Over time, Makomo acts as Tanjiro's teacher to aid him in correcting his sword postures and breathing techniques. When Tanjiro asks why she was willing to teach him, she only replies, "we all really like Urokodaki-san," as her catch phrase. Makomo also informs Tanjiro that Sabito and her are not siblings, rather orphans taken in by Sakonji along with many children that are currently watching him. She continues to guide him as he keeps battling against Sabito, though the latter always manages to defeat him.

Half a year of training passes, and Sabito finally comes to challenge Tanjiro with a real sword with Makomo as a bystander. A determined and changed Tanjiro tells Sabito that he will win, striking at his opponent before he could react. Tanjiro's blade cuts Sabito's mask in half to reveal a gentle, smiling boy with a scar on his right cheek. Makomo, keeping her promise to witness Tanjiro's progress, tells Tanjiro to win and triumph against "that person," fades away as mist clouds her and Sabito.

When Tanjiro comes back to his senses, Sabito is gone but the boulder in front of him is split in half, just like Sabito's mask.

The chapter starts off with Sakonji Urokodaki giving a bit of background information about defeating demons. He points out that Demon's must be decapitated at the neck and that it can only be done with a special blade called a Nichirin Swords.

The scene flashes to Tanjiro completing his training for the Final Selection, and realizing his newly acquired technique of smelling the 'lines of intervals'. He meets with Urokodaki who praises his abilities and hard work before giving him his blessing to participate in the selection. He pleads with Tanjiro to survive and return back to him and Nezuko alive.

Before setting off, Tanjiro receives a hand carved fox mask, similar to the ones worn by Sabito and Makomo, from Urokodaki and says goodbye to a sleeping Nezuko. He bids Urokodaki farewell, entrusting him to care for Nezuko, Sabito, and Makomo while he's away, Urokodaki is left astonished as he reveals that Sabito and Makomo were the deceased spirits of his previous students and that Tanjiro shouldn't have known who they were.

Having just arrived to the Final Selection at Mount Fujikasane, Tanjiro admires the wisteria flowers glistening the steps as he climbs the stairs. Once he reaches the top, he encounters a large number of swordsmen waiting to participate in the event. Two curators organizing the event, inform the students that the Wisteria flowers seen along the path, serves as demon repellent on the mountain. They go further on to explain that in order to pass the selection, they must survive for seven nights in the region of the mountain where the Wisteria doesn't bloom, and where the demons roam free.

Once the selection begins, Tanjiro immediately encounters two demons who bicker over the rights to kill and eat Tanjiro. He utilizes the Water Breathing: Fourth Form - Striking Tide to slice the 'threads' that he smelled, and successfully defeats the demons which boosts his confidence in completing the selection.

As he takes a moment to pray for the demon's souls, he is caught off guard by a powerful overwhelming smell, and the screams of a swordsman running away. When he turns to face the sound, he is witnesses a large deformed demon chasing the swordsman while carrying a deceased boy by the throat. As the boy runs, the demon suddenly manifests a gigantic arm that grabs the boy by the leg pulling him into the air. Tanjiro stands in fear but wills himself to use his skill to help save the boy. Before the demon is able to eat the boy, Tanjiro intervenes by using Water Breathing: Second Form - Water Wheel to slice one of the limbs off of the demon, who glaring back at Tanjiro commenting that "Another of [his] dear foxes has come!"

The chapter starts off with Makomo asking Sabito if their intuition to believe in Tanjiro was correct to which he responds, "I don't know but no amount of effort is too much."

Back at the Selection, Tanjiro is beginning to face the Hand Demon who informs him of his reign as one of the strongest demons on the mountain, he also reveals that it was Urokodaki who trapped him on the mountain to begin with. As the children daunt on the stunning claims, the demon begins to taunt Tanjiro by saying that he has eaten many of Urokodaki's students before and that he would be next.

In a shocking turn of events, the demon reveals that he has claimed the lives of 13 of Urokodaki's students with two specific ones being the most memorable. The demon describes the strongest student as having peach colored hair and a scar by his mouth, as well as the most agile student as a girl who wore a floral kimono.

After having realized that the demon was describing both Sabito and Makomo, Tanjiro lashes out and attacks the demon after he makes insulting remarks regarding Makomo's death. Sabito remarks that Tanjiro's emotions are starting to interfere with his focus and he ends up getting momentarily knocked out after being slammed into a tree.

The child initially hunted by the demon decides to escape while Tanjiro is attacked, abandoning him for dead. Tanjiro remains knocked out and is about to be killed by the demon when Shigeru appears in his dreams begging him to wake up to which he immediately responds by slicing the demons arm off. Tanjiro continues to evade the demons attacks and persists forth until the demon's life thread finally becomes visible before Tanjiro's eyes.

Picking up from the last chapter, Tanjiro leaps up into the air and begins his assault on the Hand demon. Right before he is able to swing his katana, the demon has a sense of nostalgia at the familiarity of this scene and even believes that he is fighting Urokodaki.

Tanjiro swings his katana and is able to successfully penetrate and slice the demon's neck. In his final moments, the demon curses Tanjiro for defeating him and for looking upon him as something unclean and with a look of disgust, he has flashbacks of his past and how he became a demon after killing and eating his brother.

As his body disintegrates, holds out his hand as if trying to reach for his brother when he was a child. Witnessing this, Tanjiro is overcome with emotion, and holds his hand praying for him to not become a demon when he is reborn in his next life. The demon begins to shed tears of sadness and is ultimately reunited with his brother in the afterlife.

Tanjiro thinks of Sabito and Makomo and informs them of his victory, he reassures that they as well as the other dead children, can be at peace and return home to Urokodaki. He remarks that if he had died he also would've returned to Mt. Sagiri to be with him as well as Nezuko.

Seven days have passed since Tanjiro defeated the demon and the Final Selection has come to an end, He arrives back to the entrance and is congratulated by the same mysterious twins who welcomed him at the beginning of the selection. He is accompanied by only 3 out of the 20 initial participants and notices that the boy he tried to save was not present.

The Ubuyashiki twins proceed to inform the survivors of their ranks as mizunoto demon slayers, as well as gift then an assignment crow known as a kasugai crow. Before proceeding, one of the students assaults the moderator pulling her by the hair to demand a katana. Tanjiro intervenes and threatens the student to release her or he'll break his arm. The student, Genya, tests Tanjiro and ultimately has his arm fractured.

Unfazed by the sudden assault on his sister, the other twin, Kiriya, proceeds to have the participants choose an ore which would be welded into their katanas. The chapter ends with a crow informing a mysterious new character of the admission of not four but five new demon slayers into the Corps.

The chapter begins with Tanjiro returning back to Urokodaki's camp with feelings of regret, after failing to gather information on how to turn Nezuko back into a human.
He arrives at the base of the camp where he's stunned to see the comatose Nezuko kick down the door and strut outside. He frantically rushes out to her but loses his footing and falls into Nezuko's arms where he begins to cry. As Tanjiro weeps in his sister's arms, Urokodaki comes out and hugs both of the siblings, shedding tears of joy at Tanjiro's arrival.

Fifteen days pass after Tanjiro's return and an unexpected guest arrives at the camp, a tall man approaches Tanjiro and introduces himself as Hotaru, the swordsmith who forged his katana. Tanjiro invites Hotaru into the home, he explains that the katana he brought was a special nichirin sword, which changes color depending on the wielder, and was eager to see what color Tanjiro's katana would be.

Tanjiro grips onto his blade which begins to glow and transform to a shade of black. A moment of silence is shared until Hotaru angrily lashes out at Tanjiro for unintentionally producing a black blade instead of a flaring red blade like he had wished to see.

Tanjiro's crow interrupts the dispute to inform Tanjiro to disembark on his first mission, to resolve the mystery of girls disappearing night after night in a neighboring town.