Hashira

The Hashira are the highest ranking combatants in the Demon Slayer Corps. As such, they are the organization's most elite and powerful warriors who each serve a pivotal role in their war against Muzan Kibutsuji and the Twelve Kizuki.

Overview
The Hashira are the nine overall most powerful members and combatants in the entirety of the Demon Slayer Corps, and often regarded as the most skilled swordsmen among all Demon Slayers, protecting them against more dangerous threats that cannot be handled by any other Demon Slayer. Therefore, their existence literally sustains the entire organization.

The Hashira, in accordance with their great strength, are the highest ranking members in the organization, second only to the Corps leader, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, and later, Kiriya Ubuyashiki.

The Hashira are all assigned a specific region that they are required to patrol, usually to gather information about the demons inhabiting the said area and to improve their swordsmanship. They are also deployed on missions only if members of lower ranks are unable to complete it.

Each Hashira possesses a distinct and unique Breathing Style, some of which are even created by themselves. Swordsmen who can use the Flame Breathing and Water Breathing have become Hashira in every era, with no exceptions thus far.

Joining
To be a member of the Hashira, a Demon Slayer must be among the strongest combatants in the entirety of the Demon Slayer Corps. There are two known methods that allow one to prove that they are worthy of becoming a Hashira: the first method is to accumulate a demon kill count of at least 50 or slay a member of the Twelve Kizuki as a Kinoe-ranked Demon Slayer. The second and last method is being a Tsuguko of a Hashira, which requires immense talent in of itself, and only takes effect when said Hashira dies or retires.

The effort required to achieve either of these methods requires almost five years worth of training, though, the talented might take only two or so years to do so.

Finding Successors
In some cases, an exceptionally talented Demon Slayer can become the designated successor to one of the Hashira, known as a Tsuguko. To become a Tsuguko, a Demon Slayer can either apply for the position and get accepted, or get scouted by one of the current Hashira.

Hashira Training
The Hashira Training is a special training session conducted by the Hashira and undertaken by numerous lower ranked Demon Slayers. The aim of Hashira Training is to improve all Demon Slayers' physical abilities and overall health and condition, giving the members of the Demon Slayer Corps a better chance of winning the war against demons.

Each of the Hashira oversees a different part of the training program. Known training includes: basic stamina training, flexibility training, quick movement training, sword skill training, pounding training, and muscle reinforcement training.

Hashira Training is extremely strenuous; because of this, a majority of the Demon Slayers view the training session as an everlasting trip in hell, with a few notable exceptions who see the session as a chance to improve themselves.

As a general rule, Hashira must take part in each other's training sessions. It is considered a win-win situation for both the Hashira and the Demon Slayers, as even the Hashira get to improve due to being constantly attacked by wave upon wave of juniors ranked lower than themselves.

This training method has proven to be very effective in the Infinity Castle Arc where the majority of Demon Slayers were able to effectively kill Lower Rank-level demons regardless of their ranking.

Known Members
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Synopsis
After the fight with Lower Rank One, Enmu, the Upper Rank Three, Akaza, shows up. A battle between Akaza and Kyojuro Rengoku occurs, and as a result of the fight, Kyojuro dies from his wounds and leaves an empty Hashira spot, while Akaza flees with his life.

Not long after that, Tengen Uzui takes Tanjiro and his group to a mission in the Red Light District. There, they encounter Upper Rank Six, Daki and Gyutaro. As a result of their fight, Daki and Gyutaro died, and Tengen lost his left eye and arm, forcing him to retire and leave a second vacant Hashira position. However, despite his forced retirement, Tengen (along with his wives) still assist with the Demon Slayer Training Program.

After Muzan Kibutsuji breaks into the Ubuyashiki Manor, he is attacked by Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Hashira, in an attempt to slay him, but Muzan escapes into the Infinity Castle with several other Demon Slayers chasing after them, only for them to be separated by Nakime, the new Upper Rank Four.

Several duels break out in the Infinity Castle between Demons and Demon Slayers. The Hashira and the other Demon Slayers face off against many demons who all have equal strength to that of a Lower Rank. Shinobu Kocho attempted to kill the Upper Rank Two Doma, who was responsible for the death of her older sister. However, she is killed and absorbed by Doma. Shinobu's younger sister, Kanao, and Inosuke then fight Doma immediately after and were able to defeat the Demon thanks to the poison inside Shinobu's body.

Zenitsu runs into the new Upper Rank Six, the other former apprentice of his master, Kaigaku, and engages him in a duel to the death, in which Kaigaku with his Enhanced Breathing Techniques nearly kills Zenitsu, but Zenitsu finally decides to behead Kaigaku with a secret technique he created. The former was saved by Yushiro at the end.

Elsewhere, Tanjiro and Giyu Tomioka are ambushed by the Upper Rank 3, Akaza. After a long battle, Tanjiro beheads Akaza, although the Demon manages to survive this attack, and eventually the battle is won by the Upper Rank committing suicide.

The two Demon Slayers come out victorious, while Muichiro Tokito is separated from Gyomei by Nakime and sent to the room of Kokushibo, Upper Rank One. Later on, Genya Shinazugawa, Sanemi Shinazugawa, and finally Gyomei join the fight ending up winning but at the cost of several injuries and losing Muichiro as much as Genya in the end.

Trivia

 * The word for Hashira has nine strokes, which is said to be the reason for there being nine Hashira at the start of the series.
 * All of the Hashira have Destroyer of Demons engraved on their weapons.
 * Shinobu has Evil Demons engraved on the right side of the blade, and Destruction engraved on the left side due to her sword's structure.
 * Although not fully touched upon, it is hinted that a Hashira can retire whenever they want to.
 * As the Hashira are a seperate group of elite slayers, they have their own symbol on the back of their hand. These symbols correlate to what Breathing Style they are associated with.
 * The Hashira with the biggest appetite is Mitsuri Kanroji, the one with the smallest appetite is Obanai Iguro. Obanai can go about three days without eating.

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