Episode 15

Mount Natagumo (那田蜘蛛山) is the 15th episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series.

Synopsis
Their next destination is to the north-northeast.

Tanjiro and Nezuko head to Mount Natagumo along with Zenitsu and Inosuke. The mountain is full of spiderwebs and is swarming with spiders...

Leaving behind a frightened Zenitsu, Tanjiro and Inosuke make their way up the mountain, where they encounter a fellow Corps member entangled in spiderwebs.

Plot
After discovering the demon in Tanjiro's box is in fact his younger sister, Zenitsu becomes furious and admonishes him, claiming the Demon Slayer Corps isn't to be joined for fun. He becomes smitten by Nezuko's beauty and chases her around, only for Tanjiro to stop him. Instead, Zenitsu plays nice with him to get close to her and chases him too, while Inosuke sits outside listening to them. The woman caring for them, Hisa, appears next to him and gives him new, clean clothes to wear. She also offers to make them tempura for dinner. Inosuke barges into the room and headbutts Tanjiro in the back. Upon being asked on why, he only laughs in delight and chases him together with Zenitsu.

After a doctor's visit confirms they are all fully healed, Tanjiro's Kasugai Crow appears shortly afterwards. The three are informed they must head north-northeast to Mount Natagumo. As they leave, Tanjiro thanks Hisa for taking them in. Hisa sees them off by striking a kiribi flint to cause sparks. Inosuke becomes annoyed and questions her actions aloud; Tanjiro grabs him in response and Zenitsu tells him she is striking sparks to bid them good luck for their mission. Finally, she tells them to live their lives with great pride and wishes them luck in battle.

As they travel, Inosuke wonders what she means by "good luck" and "luck in battle", shocking Zenitsu with his cluelessness. Tanjiro answers by saying it means one knows their place and behaving in a way to never be ashamed of themselves. Inosuke remains confused and becomes more so when Tanjiro adds that she prayed for their safety, causing him to then ask what is the meaning of "place", "never ashamed", "behave properly" and asking out loud why she would pray for them. Tanjiro is annoyed by his tact rudeness and speeds up to ignore him; Inosuke sees this as a challenge and runs after, while Zenitsu lags behind. As night falls, the three reach Mount Natagumo. Zenitsu becomes frightened and sits on the road while Tanjiro and Inosuke question him. Zenitsu adamantly refuses to enter the mountain and asks if they don't feel creepy vibes from it, as the trio stare at the dark forest-riddled mountainside. They ignore his words and Zenitsu claims they are being abnormal for not being scared. Tanjiro suddenly detects a scent and runs off; Inosuke follows and Zenitsu eventually gets up to join them.

They find an injured Demon Slayer begging for help but witness him suddenly pulled back into the forest, yelling out "They were attached to me, too!" as he is abducted. Seeing this, Zenitsu becomes more frightened but Tanjiro senses the demon scent again, now motivated to enter the forest. Inosuke then cuts him off by claiming that he will lead and Tanjiro can follow. They run into the forest while Zenitsu remains at the forest's border, unwilling to continue. Mount Natagumo's forests are riddled with white spiders, ensnared Demon Slayers and white, spider-like demons. Inosuke and Tanjiro find the forest covered in numerous webs, annoying the former. Unexpectedly, Tanjiro then thanks him; confused, Inosuke is told he is thankful for him joining him in the forest, as the demon scent of earlier had unsettled him. Inosuke suddenly remembers the kind words Hisa said to them and seemingly understands their meaning now. Tanjiro spots something moving in the distance and signals his partner to follow him. They find a anxious-looking Demon Slayer and Tanjiro claims they were sent as back up, then introduces himself and his Mizunoto rank. The Demon Slayer doesn't find comfort in this and claims they should have sent a Hashira instead, stating that adding Mizunotos is pointless. Inosuke suddenly punches him in the face and claims that his existence is pointless instead, criticizing him for his fear. The Demon Slayer informs them that a Kasugai Crow had given orders to head to the mountain and ten of them entered the forest. Not soon after entering, one of them suddenly drew his sword and slashed another in the throat. To his horror, he watches around him as the Demon Slayers suddenly begin killing each other, barely escaping the massacre. Elsewhere, an exhausted Kasugai Crow has reached a man in a shrine and informs him of the massacre. He wonders if they will find the Twelve Kizuki on the mountain and decides to send some Hashira. Behind him are Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu. As they acknowledge his decision, Shinobu asks Giyu about whether demons and humans could get along; Giyu only retorts that it is impossible as long as demons eat humans.

Sitting on the road by himself, Zenitsu wonders if Tanjiro and Inosuke actually hate him, believing friends wouldn't leave him behind and would have talked to him into joining them on the mission. Instead, they left him behind to enter the mountain. His sparrow appears next to him and tries to encourage him by chirping that sulking isn't going to help and that his friends need him. Zenitsu dissuades his words, only for the sparrow to begin biting his hand. Annoyed at the sudden change of mood, he criticizes the bird for not being cute, pointing to Nezuko as an example. Suddenly, he remembers that Tanjiro had taken her along and is now in the mountain, motivating him to enter the forest with fury.

A strange rattling travels through the air, unsettling Tanjiro. The Demon Slayer informs him that it was after this sound that the massacre began. As the sound continues, they see emerging from the fog are the dead Demon Slayers, walking towards them. They attack the three but they manage to dodge their blows, with Inosuke scoffing at their inability to understand the taboo of harming them. Tanjiro notices their strange movements and claims they're being manipulated by something. Inosuke decides to slash them all anyway, but Tanjiro claims they're still alive and they can't harm the corpses of their teammates regardless. Angered, Inosuke yells at Tanjiro for denying him each time and headbutts him in annoyance. With the surviving Demon Slayer close to getting harmed, the two work together and pull the attacker off him.

Tanjiro senses a strange sweet scent of their back and slashes near it. His blade manages to slice several threads, dropping the Demon Slayer to the ground. He realizes that the others are ensnared too; thinking quickly, Inosuke rapidly slices above the other Demon Slayers' heads, cutting the threads and releasing them from control. As he looks around for the source, the demonic scent appears again momentarily. He then looks down his arm and sees two white spiders. Something from a distance manipulates the threads, pulling Tanjiro's arm, though he cuts them to free himself. He sees the spiders scurry away and realizes they're the ones attaching threads; as he looks up, he see the freed Demon Slayers under control again. A white female demon is responsible, wishing to control them till their arms and legs fall off and calling them her dolls.

Tanjiro declares that cutting the threads will be pointless if they'll be reattached anyway. As he thinks of a plan, the scent appears again, carried by the wind. He sees the spiders and leaps away from their range, while Inosuke begins stabbing them with his blade. Tanjiro doesn't see this being helpful since they are small and far too numerous to kill at once, stating they must instead kill the demon controlling them. He asks Inosuke if he can pinpoint the demon's location but is stalled by the Demon Slayers continuing to attack him. With the demon scent continually appearing, his sense of smell isn't helpful now. Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer, Murata, continue to hold their attackers off but he suddenly sees something. High in the trees, treading on the threads in a web, a pale child-like demon appears. It threatens them into staying away from their family's peaceful life. As Tanjiro wonders what it means by "family", the demon informs them that "Mother" will kill them quickly. Inosuke attempts to attack the demon but it is too high and far from his range, causing him to miss his swing and fall. Helping him get up, Tanjiro believes the demon is perhaps not the one responsible. Inosuke, having heard his instructions to find the demon, stabs both his blades into the ground, crouches down and spreads his arms. Using Beast Breathing, Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness, he scans the forest to search for the demon, detecting trees, vegetation and the landscape far around him. After looking hard and long enough, he finds a demon sitting atop a boulder in the distance to his left. Atop his webs, the pale demon declares that he won't let anyone get in their way: "The five of us are going to live in bliss as a family", as he draws a spiderweb in his hands.

Anime Notes

 * The manga reveals the identity of the demon controlling the spiders in the sequence of Murata explaining the situation to Tanjiro and Inosuke, while the anime shows it later on when they begin to converge on the three Demon Slayers. Similarly, the controlled Demon Slayers are revealed to be tied to the threads since the beginning in the manga, while the anime does not make it clear until the demon is revealed.

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