Dawn Approaches

The chapter opens with Nezuko and Tanjiro ducking as a furious Genya uproots a tree and flings it at Hantengu. Every hurled trunk misses, and Nezuko's swift swipe also fails as the demon darts away. The slayers give chase. Tanjiro, marveling at Hantengu's speed and stamina, refuses to let him win, but his injured leg slows him. Recalling Zenitsu's lesson on Total Concentration, he circulates air through his muscle fibers and the blood in his veins and blasts toward the demon in an instant, startling Genya and Nezuko.

As Tanjiro moves to behead him, Hantengu mockingly asks whether the slayer pities him, then swells in size and seizes Tanjiro by the throat. Genya tries to wrench him loose while Nezuko leaps up and burns the demon with her Blood Demon Art. Genya tears off Hantengu's arms but panics about catching fire, having eaten demon flesh. Hantengu, Nezuko, and Tanjiro tumble over a cliff. Below, the demon rises with Tanjiro's sword lodged in his neck, his regeneration faltering from spent power; he senses villagers nearby and heads for them, dismissing Nezuko as the worst nuisance of the three.

Tanjiro, caught on a branch along the ledge, refuses to let him flee and drops down to pursue, intending to repeat his earlier burst. As he closes in, the blade Hotaru Haganezuka had been sharpening lands before him while Muichiro shouts from above to take it, Hotaru protesting that it is unfinished and Kozo holding him back. Tanjiro thanks Tokito, grips the sword, and ignites it with Sun Breathing, decapitating Hantengu with Hinokami Kagura: Dancing Flash.

The Demon Slayers' battle against Hantengu continues.

Tanjiro uses a Total Concentration burst to overcome the demon's speed.

Tanjiro fells Hantengu with Hinokami Kagura: Dancing Flash, using the blade Muichiro throws to him.

Published in September 2018, this chapter is part of the Swordsmith Village Arc and is collected in Volume 15. Episodes 54 and 55 of the anime adapt its content. The cast includes Tanjiro, Genya, Nezuko, Hantengu, Muichiro Tokito, Hotaru Haganezuka, and Kozo Kanamori, with Zenitsu Agatsuma recalled in flashback.