Yoriichi Type Zero

The second episode of season three, continuing the Swordsmith Village Arc and adapting chapters 102 through 104, opens as the Mist Hashira Muichiro knocks out the boy Kotetsu to seize a key. Tanjiro intervenes, arguing that swordsmith and swordsman depend on one another, but Muichiro dismisses the speech and knocks him unconscious too. Kotetsu later explains that the key activates Yoriichi Type Zero, a centuries-old combat doll with six arms built to mimic an extraordinarily fast Sengoku-era swordsman.

Inspiration and inherited memory

Muichiro's crow reveals he descends from the wielder of Sun Breathing, and Kotetsu realizes Tanjiro's dream may be an inherited memory of an ancestor. When Kotetsu despairs that the damaged doll cannot be repaired, Tanjiro climbs to him and urges that work left unfinished can still be carried on by others, bringing the boy to tears.

Training and an awakening

Muichiro takes a blade from the doll and departs. Kotetsu has Tanjiro train against Yoriichi Type Zero, even withholding food, until Tanjiro collapses and experiences a vision that awakens a pseudo-precognitive sense. He finally lands a decisive strike, and the doll's head breaks open to reveal a sword more than 300 years old hidden inside.

Its title comes from chapter 103. In the source, Tanjiro forcefully smacks away Muichiro's reaching hand, whereas the adaptation softens this to a feeble swat. The squabble between the two crows, the manga's explanation of inherited memory, and the detail that the doll can be configured to exploit an opponent's weaknesses are all absent from the anime. The note that Tanjiro's new ability outpaces the Opening Thread is also omitted.