Kanao Tsuyuri

Kanao Tsuyuri (カナヲ) is a Demon Slayer, the adoptive sister of Kanae Kocho and Shinobu Kocho and Shinobu's former Tsuguko.

Appearance
Kanao is a young girl of short stature, with large, gentle eyes of a pink-lilac color that are framed by thick eyelashes. She has thin black hair that appears to fade into a warm pink color at the tips in the manga, worn tied into a ponytail on the right side of her head which is fastened by a pink and green butterfly ornament that once belonged to her adoptive sister, Kanae Kocho, possessing a straight fringe and two chin-length strands that protrude from above each of her ears.

She wears a slightly purple-tinted version of the standard Demon Slayer uniform, just with a knee-length pleated skirt rather than the usual hakama. Over this, she wears a short white cloak, fastened on one side by a dark pink triple knot, also sporting knee-high lace-up white boots with tan soles, heels and toes.

Personality
When she is first introduced, due to the abuse she endured before meeting the Kocho sisters, Kanao is an indecisive and quiet girl. She became unable to make decisions by herself and repressed her emotions as a defense mechanism, so to help rectify this, Kanae Kocho gave her a coin to flip to decide which path to follow when she didn’t know what to do.

Between Kanae's death and the Functional Recovery Training Arc, she recovers slightly but still relies on her coin to make decisions. She displays a somewhat mechanical response in conversations; when Tanjiro Kamado approaches her to bid to her farewell, she repeats "goodbye" when he attempts to continue the conversation. However, he eventually manages to start bringing her out of her shell, and she starts to make her own decisions; as well as gaining the ability to speak unambiguously.

Kanao gradually becomes able to express her emotions and wants more openly, as seen when Tanjiro recovers from his injuries and she displays relief, when she tells Shinobu that she wishes to train alongside her and when she expresses shock and distress at Shinobu's plan to defeat Doma.

In her battle against Doma, Kanao takes uncharacteristically sadistic glee in pointing out his own lack of emotions. Fueled by hatred and spite due to her sisters' deaths by his hand, she attacks him verbally to the point where he drops his normal carefree demeanor. Kanao also demonstrates extreme determination and a deep care for her family, crying for the first time in the wake of Shinobu's death, and expressing that she had wished to go home together with her elder sister.

History
Kanao lived an impoverished lifestyle before she was taken in by Kanae and Shinobu Kocho. Her parents were incredibly abusive towards her and her siblings, beating them and drowning them if they did anything they disliked. She broke psychologically, becoming an empty shell who was sold off into slavery.

As she was being led off, tied around the waist by a rope held by her purchaser, they were approached by the Kocho sisters. After confirming she was a slave, Shinobu distracted the man by flinging money in the air. When he released the rope in surprise, she grabbed it and the sisters escape with Kanao to the Butterfly Estate. Soon after, the sisters discover the extent of her trauma, which makes Shinobu view her as useless, if not potentially dangerous. Kanae, unperturbed, gives Kanao a coin and instructed her to flip it if she ever needs help making a decision.

After Kanae was killed by Doma, Kanao was at her grave with the rest of the members of the Butterfly Estate. Although she was disturbed by her own inability to cry at her beloved sister's death, nobody judged her for it.

Final Selection Arc
Kanao appears as one of the nearly twenty participants in the Final Selection, and is one of the five to survive. She says nothing in her appearances, merely gazing at a butterfly and ignoring the commotion around her.

Natagumo Mountain Arc
As Shinobu's Tsuguko, Kanao accompanies her and Giyu Tomioka to Natagumo Mountain on Kagaya Ubuyashiki's orders. She pursues Tanjiro and Nezuko Kamado when they attempt to flee from Shinobu, successfully catching up and knocking an injured Tanjiro unconscious after he tells Nezuko to run. She catches up to Nezuko as well and tries to cut her head off, but Nezuko dodges by shrinking into child-size and continuing to run. The chase continues as Kanao fails to land her subsequent hits, and through all of it, Nezuko doesn't attempt to fight back. Though Kanao is left baffled at the idea of a Demon not attacking humans, she decides not to ponder on it since her orders were to kill any and all Demons. Once she receives orders by a kasugaigarasu to capture the siblings, she immediately stops attacking and asks the Demon if she is Nezuko.

It is implied that she somehow restrained Nezuko and placed her back in her box, as she is next seen ordering the Kakushi during the clean-up while Zenitsu Agatsuma watches.

Functional Recovery Training Arc
As Tanjiro and Nezuko arrive at the Butterfly Estate, Kanao is seen standing quietly in one of the gardens, surrounded by butterflies. When the Kamados' escorts asks her if they can enter the estate, she simply stands there silently, a vacant smile on her face, until Aoi Kanzaki comes over to let them in.

During Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke Hashibira's daily recovery training at the estate, Kanao takes turns with Aoi to play the cup game with each of them, a game of speed in which the aim is to throw sour medicine over your opponent before they do you, as well as a simple game of tag, and she beats her opponents every time in both games. Her winning streak continues until Tanjiro begins training his total concentration breath techniques to increase his speed and stamina, after which he is able to win both games against her. In later training, it's stated that the two had a fairly even streak of wins and losses to each other as they continued to play.

After the trio had make a complete recovery and begin to prepare to leave the Butterfly Estate, Tanjiro finds Kanao sitting alone in one of the gardens, and walks over to her to thank her for all her help with their training. Kanao smiles up at him, but says nothing, even as he goes on to praise her for her strength and status as a Tsukugo. After more silence, Kanao reaches into her pocket and takes out her coin, flipping it high into the air. It lands on tails, and, after seeing the result, she looks back up at Tanjiro and says that he needn't thank her since she just followed her instructor's orders, and waves him goodbye. An amazed Tanjiro asks what the coin was and why she flipped it, to which she replies that it's something she uses to make decisions when nobody's ordering her. Confused, Tanjiro askeds why she needed to do this, wondering what happened to make her like this, and Kanao just dismisses him, saying that it doesn't matter. After some thought, Tanjiro asks her if he can borrow her coin, and, after receiving it, flips it high into the air and says that the result will determine whether or not she'll listen to her own heart from then on, instead of just following instructions. He calls that it will land on heads, which it does, and Tanjiro cheers, grabbing Kanao's hands and telling her that she's now free to live how she desires. Before Kanao can reply to this, Tanjiro waves her goodbye and runs off over the garden. Kanao calls after him, asking why it had landed on heads since she didn't notice him using any tricks, and Tanjiro turns, smiles at her, and says that it was totally by chance, before continuing his exit.

Dimensional Infinity Fortress Arc
During the raid on Muzan's fortress, Kanao fights Doma in the wake of Shinobu's death, having previously been told of Shinobu's plan to defeat Doma; the plan required that Shinobu be killed and consumed by Doma in order to deliver a lethal dose of wisteria poison to the Upper Moon in order to weaken him.

After Shinobu is consumed by Doma, Kanao rushes in and begins her portion of the fight. Fueled by rage at the death of her sisters at Doma's hands, she taunts and jeers at him, affecting him to the point that he has to drop his usual, cheerful facade and tells Kanao that he has never met such an unkind girl. After a number of back and forth attacks, Doma grabs Kanao's blade from out of her hands and plants it in the ground beside him, leaving her unable to use her attacks and at the mercy of his Blood Demon Techniques. As he sends his Scattered Lotuses at Kanao, Inosuke bursts into the room, and provides support for Kanao. He grabs back her sword as he attacks Doma, and together, the two are able to stall him until Shinobu's poison begins to affect his body.

As he dissolves, Kanao and Inosuke attempt to slice Doma's head off, but are driven back by his most powerful Blood Demon Technique, Rime-Water Lily Bodhisattva, Kanao uses the final form of the Breath of Flower; "Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye,"  and manages to evade the attack, but takes severe damage to her right eye. As she moves in for the final strike, Inosuke helps her slice through Doma's neck, decapitating him.

After successfully defeating Doma, Kanao searches the ground for Shinobu's lost hairpin, and realizes that Kanae's has broken. She recalls that when Kanae died, she was unable to cry, but no one judged her for it. Kanao remembers how Kanae had advised her to value her comrades, and wonders if she did so correctly this time, as she cries for Shinobu. Once she finds Shinobu's hairpin, Kanae and Shinobu's spirits assure her that she has done well.

Tanjiro Kamado
Due to Tanjiro's optimism and desire for her to open her heart, Kanao starts showing more emotion and decisiveness. After their initial interaction, she even begins to speak in complete phrases and sentences; at least towards those close to her. It is implied in an extra chapter that she may also have a crush on Tanjiro.

Kanae Kocho
Kanae took an interest in Kanao when she saw her being led away as a slave on the bridge. Along with her sister Shinobu, they purchased Kanao from her master and trained her within the Butterfly Estate. Kanae defended Kanao when Shinobu worried about her indecisiveness and said that if given time, Kanao's heart could blossom. She was the person who gave Kanao the coin she uses to make decisions whenever she is unable to decide things for herself. After Kanae's death, Kanao found herself unable to cry at the funeral, but wears one of Kanae's hairpins as a memento of her. She remembers Kanae's advice in times of trouble, and thinks highly of her. She expresses deep remorse at the fact that she could not cry during Kanae's funeral.

Shinobu Kocho
Shinobu was the one who snatched Kanao away from the slave driver and, along with Kanae, rescued Kanao from her captive lifestyle. Despite being the one to impulsively buy her, she quickly became frustrated when Kanao could not make her own decisions, declaring that she was dangerous to herself and others. Over time however, Shinobu warmed up to her, eventually even making Kanao her Tsuguko. She is very happy when Kanao expresses her wish to train beside her, and the two have a strong sisterly relationship. Before the decisive battle in the Dimensional Infinity Fortress, Shinobu entrusted Kanao with avenging Kanae's death while she used herself as a sacrifice. Even though their revenge goes as planned, Kanao is nonetheless filled with hatred and spite towards Doma. After she and Inosuke kill Doma for good, she fishes through the water to find Shinobu's hairpin as a keepsake of her departed sister. Kanao cries for the first time in the wake of Shinobu's death.

Doma
Much like Shinobu, Kanao held strong resentment and hatred towards the Upper Moon Two for killing Kanae. This grudge grew even deeper after Doma devoured Shinobu following their duel, even if it was part of their plan for revenge. Kanao takes immense pleasure and satisfaction at calling Doma out on his inner "emptiness" and non-existent emotions, taunting him by asking him why he was even born and why he continued to bother living if he couldn't feel anything like a normal person would. She eventually killed him with the help of Inosuke and Shinobu's poison.

Natural Abilities
Kanao is the Tsuguko of both Kanae and Shinobu and has been personally trained by the both of them in the art of combat. As such, Kanao possesses superhuman physical skills, abilities and prowess that potentially marks her as a future member of Demon Slaying Corps' Pillars. Tanjiro, another promising candidate, even states that, during their first meeting together, he could already sense that Kanao was the closest to the Pillars out of the existing Demon Slayers, just by smelling her scent and feeling her aura, which further confirms her skills.


 * Superhuman Eyesight - Kanao possesses extremely sharp eyesight, being able to accurately predict her opponent's next attack and movements by simply observing the subtle shifts of their muscles, joints and the slight movements of their eyes. This allows her to make effective counterattacks and dodges and stay ahead of her opponents. The Upper Moon Two, Doma, comments on this feat and remarks that due to this skill, Kanao may be more skilled than Shinobu.
 * This ability is enhanced with her Final Form: Scarlet Spider Lily Eyes Breath of the Flower technique.
 * Full Focus Breath Style - As noted by the other residences of the Butterfly Estate,Kanao has already fully mastered the ability to remain constantly focused in using her Breath Style and was able to master the ability to remain constantly in full focus for over 24 hours.

Swordsmanship
Breath of Flower (の) is a breath style derived from the Breath of Water, taught by Kanae, the former Flower Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps. Her sword skills were then further developed by Shinobu, the former Insect Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps.
 * First Form:
 * Second Form: Plum Spirit (ノ) - A defensive techniques that deflects attacks using rotating sword slashes.
 * Third Form:
 * Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo (ノ) - A single sword slash that curves and twists.
 * Fifth Form: Peony of Futility (ノ の) - A graceful flurry of nine consecutive attacks that flow and weave in on themselves.
 * Sixth Form: Swirling Peach (ノ) A technique used after or during evasion, the user spins around moving with their body weight to deliver an attack.
 * Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye (ノ) - A focusing technique that raises the users kinetic vision to its maximum, while using this technique the user perceives the world as if it were in slow motion. Usage of the technique however is highly dangerous, as the tremendous strain caused to the eyes ruptured blood vessels and could cause partial or complete blindness.

Trivia

 * In the first character popularity poll, Kanao ranked 8th with 712 votes.
 * Her birthday was decided to be May 19th, the day Kanae and Shinobu adopted her, since her actual birthday is unknown.
 * Kanao's main hobby is blowing soap bubbles.
 * Her favorite drink is Ramune and she enjoys all of Aoi's cooking.
 * According to Goto, Kanao has been slaying Demons since childhood.
 * Kanao keeps the coin given to her by Kanae in a memory box, which was also made by Kanae.

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