Wake Up

The chapter clarifies how Enmu's rope works: tying it to a sleeper lets the user enter that person's dream. Each dream is a bounded sphere with the victim at its center, and past its edge lies an unconscious realm that houses the spiritual core, which appears as a glass-like orb. Destroying that core leaves the victim an empty shell. The girl assigned to Kyojuro tears through the border with a bone awl and reaches into his fiery inner realm, only to be choked by an invisible grip as the sleeping Hashira seizes her throat through sheer instinct.

In Tanjiro's dream, his worry over Nezuko being in sunlight unsettles his family. He spots Nezuko's box, which vanishes when he looks again, then sees his own panicked reflection in the river. The reflection drags him under and warns him that he is dreaming and under attack, urging him to wake and fight.

Enmu's recruits bind themselves to the slayers and enter their dreams, intending to destroy their spiritual cores. Kyojuro's intruder is stopped because his instincts let him grab her even while asleep, though his vow not to kill humans leaves him locked in a stalemate.

Tanjiro gradually recognizes he is trapped in a dream but cannot force himself awake. On the train, Nezuko climbs from her box, tries to rouse him by tugging and head-butting him, and finally triggers her Exploding Blood, engulfing Tanjiro in flames in both the waking world and the dream.

This chapter is part of the Mugen Train Arc and is adapted in Episode 29. It explains the mechanics of Enmu's technique and demonstrates the strength of Kyojuro's honed instincts.

Nezuko's use of Exploding Blood to alert her brother becomes a key turning point that aids Tanjiro's struggle to escape the dream.