Letting Someone Else Go First

With one controlled Slayer left to subdue, Inosuke moves to finish the job while Tanjiro urges restraint. Mother suddenly yanks multiple threads at once, snapping the necks of her human puppets, including the captured Slayers. Horrified, Tanjiro grieves at the nearest body while Inosuke fumes that their effort came to nothing. Tanjiro insists they press on, and Inosuke reluctantly agrees.

Following a powerful demonic scent through the woods, the pair find a headless corpse being puppeteered as a weapon. Inosuke charges in recklessly, takes several wounds, and becomes ensnared in webbing as the puppet readies a fatal strike. Tanjiro intervenes, parrying the blows and pushing the puppet back, then insists they fight as a team. Coordinating their movements, Tanjiro evades the attack and Inosuke vaults off his back, severing the puppet's blades before Tanjiro disables its legs with the Fourth Form of Water Breathing. Inosuke delivers the killing blow from above.

Nearby, the defeated Mother slumps on her rock, bitterly blaming Rui, who had pressured her to perform. When Tanjiro spots her and prepares to attack, she realizes that death will free her and opens her arms to accept it. Sensing the shift in her, Tanjiro switches to a gentler technique to give her a peaceful death.

Mother kills her remaining Demon Slayer puppets and deploys her strongest weapon, a headless demon. Tanjiro and Inosuke defeat the puppet by combining their attacks, a turning point in their teamwork. Inosuke, jealous of Tanjiro's skill, throws him into the air in frustration after the fight.

With Inosuke's help, Tanjiro locates the Mother of the Spider Family. Recognizing that she has surrendered and longs for release, he chooses to end her life mercifully rather than violently.

The chapter is part of the Mount Natagumo Arc and was adapted in Episode 16 of the anime. It concludes the fight against the Mother of the Spider Family.

Tanjiro's decision to switch techniques in response to the demon's surrender reflects a recurring theme in the series: his compassion toward demons even as he slays them.