Behind

Shinobu cuts Murata loose from the cocoon, reassuring him that the demon is already finished thanks to her poison. The freed slayer is unharmed apart from his dissolved clothing, leaving him flustered.

Elsewhere, an exhausted Tanjiro believes he has triumphed, but the scent of blood rather than ash warns him something is wrong. Rui, having sliced off his own head to dodge the strike, reattaches it to his threads and advances, angrier than he has been in ages and intent on killing both Kamado siblings. Too drained to even lift his sword, Tanjiro is nearly crushed inside a shrinking web before a rescuer steps in.

Shinobu rescues Murata from the acidic cocoon. Rui is revealed to have faked his death by decapitating himself, then resumes his assault on Tanjiro.

Giyu Tomioka arrives and severs the closing web, shielding Tanjiro. When Rui hurls his strongest spinning threads, Giyu answers with Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm, an original technique he developed that dissolves an incoming attack into nothing. The demon is decapitated, and as his head curses the slayer, he begins to recall fragments of his human past and the parents he once had.

This chapter introduces Dead Calm, an eleventh form of Water Breathing that exists beyond the ten taught by Sakonji Urokodaki. Named for a sea so still it mirrors like glass, the technique neutralizes attacks rather than meeting them head on.

It also begins Rui's emotional unraveling, as the sight of Tanjiro embracing Nezuko stirs memories he had long suppressed. The installment corresponds to Episode 20 and appears in Volume 5.