Demon Slayers vs Daki and Gyutaro

Demon Slayers vs Daki and Gyutaro was a battle that took place in the red-light district of Yoshiwara, Tokyo. It was a large and extensive battle that focused on the latest confrontation between the Demon Slayer Corps and the dual holders of Upper Rank Six of the Twelve Kizuki, Daki and Gyutaro.

Prologue
For over one hundred years, the Yoshiwara red-light district of Tokyo had been the lair to two very powerful demons: the siblings Daki and Gyutaro. As the holders of Upper Rank Six and living hidden in a large urban population, they have proven themselves to be a great threat to humanity and have killed countless victims. Numerous Hashira have fallen to the two, with Daki and Gyutaro having claimed to have killed 7 and 15 respectively.

In the latest intervention by the Demon Slayer Corps, the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, is tasked with investigating the city for a demonic presence. He had initially sent his three wives, Makio, Suma, and Hinatsuru, to probe about the area and send information back to him. When they suddenly stop informing him and have not been heard from since, he attempted to bring two female Demon Slayers to join him. He is instead accompanied by three Kanoe-ranked Demon Slayers; Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, and Inosuke Hashibira. Disguising, splitting, and assigning them to the three pleasure houses that his wives had been tasked with, they began their own separate investigations. While scanning the rooftops at night, Tengen does not see anything unusual but remains worried and uncertain, believing they may be fighting an Upper Rank demon. Inosuke, inside the Ogimoto House that Makio was in, discovers her room messy and dishevelled, and a demonic presence that moved inside the walls of the building, though he is impeded in his pursuit and failed to track it downstairs in time. Tanjiro, in the Tokito House that Suma was in, detecte an unusual scent that only appeared at night, but he is unable to trace it without appearing suspicious.

Zenitsu, inside the Kyogoku House that Hinatsuru was assigned to, initially struggles to look for evidence; he had failed to detect anything out of the ordinary with his hearing and the recent death of his House's madam caused everyone to remain tight-lipped and afraid. Trying once more, he detects the sound of a young girl crying inside of a broken and messy room. When he tried to ask her for any clues to what had happened, he is suddenly confronted by his House's Oiran, Warabihime. She angrily confronts him for entering her room unannounced but is accosted by Zenitsu when she hurts the girl inside. Warabihime then attacks him with an unexpected punch that knocks him unconscious, though she notes that in the split second before making contact, he had gone into a defensive posture, correctly deducing that Zenitsu is a Demon Slayer. Warabihime, later revealed to be Daki in disguise, then abducts him with her obi whilst he is alone. Inosuke and Tanjiro meet up to share information, only to be dismissed from the mission by Tengen, ashamed that his want to save his wives has led to Zenitsu going missing.

Unwilling to abandon him, they coordinate a plan to re-arm and meet up to fight together. Going his own way, Tengen enters the Kyogoku House and threatens the master for information on the missing Zenitsu and Hinatsuru. The master, holding the kimono of his late wife, who was recently killed by Daki, tells him about Warabihime and Hinatsuru's location in the Kirimise. Tanjiro meets with the Oiran of the Tokito House, Koinatsu; he explains his true purpose in being in Yoshiwara and reassures her that he will save all who has gone missing. They bid each other farewell and Tanjiro leaves, only for Koinatsu to be met by Daki herself wanting to devour her. Inosuke, annoyed that Tanjiro has not followed the plan, decides to take action alone, re-arming himself for battle and continuing his investigation. Running through the halls of the Ogimoto House, he senses something in the floorboards and discovers a hole in the ground. Dislocating his joins to slither through a long tunnel, he finds himself in a large underground chamber. Elsewhere, Tengen locates the Kirimise, where sick prostitutes are housed. He frees and helps Hinatsuru, who had poisoned herself to leave the district but was prevented from doing so by Daki. He leaves her to recover and sprints across the buildings' rooftops to locate the demon.

Rescuing the missing
Inosuke discovers the chamber littered with bones and housing obi with victims absorbed in them, including Suma, Makio, and Zenitsu, before he is confronted by a sentient Obi. He fends it off easily as it is far too slow to prove a threat to him. He begins to slice through the obi across the ceiling, freeing the people in them. The Obi questions how it will bypass his sharp senses when it suddenly spoken to by Daki; she orders it to capture him alive, as well as leaving the ten most attractive humans and letting the obi absorb the rest to strengthen its body.

Inosuke tries to slash the sentient Obi but it bends upon making contact, preventing a clean cut. He tries again with Beast Breathing, Sixth Fang: Palisade Bite but fails to cut through. It then leaves him alone to reabsorb the free victims. Before it does, the obi is pinned down by numerous Kunai, hurled by Suma and Makio. Zenitsu, freed as well, suddenly enters the battle, using Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, Sixfold to slice the ceiling obi apart to free numerous victims. Shortly after, the ceiling of the chamber breaks opens; Tengen had detected the sound of the battle through the ground and has dug through the earth with his Sound Breathing. Emerging from the dust cloud, the Sound Hashira quickly scans the situation, breathes in, and uses his immense speed to slice the remaining obi apart in one attack, before reuniting with Suma and Makio.

"Can I take on an Upper Rank alone?"
Only after just leaving the Tokito House, Tanjiro detects the demonic scent again, returning to Koinatsu’s room to see her getting absorbed into Daki’s obi. He confronts the prideful Daki, who swats him out of the building for talking to her. The attack leaves Nezuko’s box damaged, leading him to set it aside to protect her. Leaping into the air to face Daki, he uses Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide, Turbulent and is met by her numerous obi sashes.

Fighting mid-air, he initially struggles to cut them but succeeds in slicing one off, saving Koinatsu. Daki punches him back to the ground, mildly amused at his efforts to attack her. She then hears a nearby explosion; annoyed, she asks Tanjiro on how many Demon Slayers there are, which he refuses to answer. She offers to spare him, pointing out that their short clash has already damaged his blade. Admitting that his body is simply unsuited to use Water Breathing, he nonetheless decides to continue fighting alone. Remembering Kyojuro Rengoku's encouragement to "set your heart ablaze", Tanjiro uses Hinokami Kagura: Raging Sun and slices Daki's incoming obi, before charging towards her and using Flame Dance, though he fails to make contact. She retaliates by stabbing him through the neck but he suddenly vanishes from view, using Hinokami Kagura: Fake Rainbow to obscure himself. Now behind Daki, he uses Fire Wheel to try and slice her neck. However, Daki effortlessly punches him away and causing him to miss. Still unused to using Hinokami Kagura, he begins to feel the strain on his body in using consecutive forms, giving Daki the chance to charge at him, with her obi dragging across the ground to shred him. Using Recovery Breathing, he narrowly avoids getting hit. Daki then uses her obi in consecutive slashes, leaving him on the defensive. He forces his body temperature to increase by using Hinokami Kagura's breathing pattern, enabling him to utilize it for longer periods. She engages him again, this time, using her obi to parry his swings and charging towards Tanjiro simultaneously to attack him. As they fight, new obi suddenly begins to adhere to her, having escaped from the underground chamber through the hole made by Tengen. Tanjiro then attempts to swing at the Upper Rank, only to miss due to her new speed. Daki is pleased that her obi has given her information regarding a Hashira's presence, as her hair turns white and she retains her full strength once again.

A man then walks out onto the street, angered at the racket happening outside of his House and demanding they leave the district. Tanjiro grows worried that their battle has attracted the attention of civilians. Refusing to answer to a human, Daki retaliates by launching her obis in a rapid and long-range slash, slicing through buildings and causing numerous casualties, as well as cutting Tanjiro in the shoulder. Daki walks away satisfied but is confronted by Tanjiro; dismissing his words and stating he can die and rot with the other casualties, the Demon Slayer seethes with anger and leaps onto the building to stop her from escaping, refusing to let a callous loss of life go unpunished.

"What do you take life for, exactly?"
Tanjiro furiously confronts Daki about why she would kill humans weaker than her, asking what she found so enjoyable about murder. His rage and appearance causes her to see a vision; an older Demon Slayer asking the same question with the same cold anger. Daki responds that she has forgotten her memories as a human and embraced life as a demon, claiming they can do anything they want. Accepting this answer, he lunges towards the demon, who quickly reacts with Blood Demon Art: Eight-Layered Obi Slash, believing he will be unable to cut through her more powerful interweaving attack. Tanjiro instead uses Hinokami Kagura: Burning Bones, Summer Sun, slicing right through the wave of obi and causing her to feel a burning pain, as well as slowing her healing.

Daki tries using her obi in consecutive slashes again but Tanjiro effortlessly fends them off with his new speed and sharper skills. She leaps to a new building in an attempt to save herself, only for him to chase the demon onto the same roof and lunge towards her, swinging his sword into her neck. He seemingly makes contact and her head falls, only for Daki to reveal that she has turned her neck into an obi, softening his swing and preventing decapitation. Angered at almost dying, she grows more obi to use; Tanjiro realizes that dodging them will cause more destruction, yet is surprised to see them moving so slowly. Daki launches them to slice him apart but he parries them away, causing them to converge on one side and allowing him to pin them down with his blade. He pulls them taut, preventing Daki from manipulating them freely. Despite the obi being pinned down, she claims she can simply take control again as soon as Tanjiro releases his hold, only for the Demon Slayer to pull away his sword and free the obi. He then speeds towards Upper Six and slices through the obi in one fluid attack, Daki now too slow to even react.

Before his blade can reach her neck, Tanjiro begins to tremble and collapses in front of her; he had forgotten to maintain the breathing pattern during his assault and his body experiences the toil of using such power at once. As he struggles to breathe, the Upper Rank mocks him for being so weak, claiming that she is beginning to feel pity seeing such a pathetic sight.

Nezuko vs Daki
Before Daki can decapitate Tanjiro in retaliation, Nezuko appears behind her and destroys her head with a powerful kick. Enraged by her brother's nearly dying and remembering her family's murder, she readies herself to engage Daki, while the Upper Rank sees that she is the demon Muzan has asked her to kill. Nezuko tries to kick her again but Daki slices off her leading leg and cuts into her torso from the other side, severing an arm as well. She hurls her into a nearby house, trapping Nezuko beneath the debris. Daki offers to stop fighting her and instead absorb Nezuko into her obi to instead be killed by the sun, only for Nezuko to free herself and stand up. Daki becomes confused seeing her stand as she was sure her leg was severed; she then grows concerned when Nezuko instantly regrows her severed arm, her regeneration now on par with that of an Upper Rank. Nezuko matures her appearance, growing larger and attaining vine-like markings throughout her body. Nezuko rushes the Upper Rank, leading Daki severs her right arm and leg in anticipation, however, her limbs grow back instantly and she slams her foot into Daki's back, pinning her to the ground and piercing her torso. She then stomps off her arms and repeatedly kicks her face, causing Daki to desperately use her obis in a rapid flurry that slices Nezuko apart, splattering her in blood. Daki backs away and slashes the young demon repeatedly, but Nezuko is able to maintain her form by congealing her blood. The smears of Nezuko's blood then ignite, setting Daki on fire and causing the demon to relive a traumatic moment in her past. The Upper Rank scream in terror as she is burned, while Nezuko heals herself and stares in delight. She leaps into the air and slams her foot down onto Daki, now burnt and unable to heal the damage. She kicks Upper Six down to the ground before launching her away down the street. As she hurtles uncontrollably, the young demon chases her down and kicks her through several houses, Daki now too stunned and traumatized to fight back.

As Nezuko moves forward to finish off Daki, she smells the blood of an injured girl. She struggles to hold back the urge, but in her new demonic form, she succumbs to the scent of blood and tries to kill her. Tanjiro enters the building and forces his scabbard into her mouth as a muzzle. He apologizes for forcing her to join the fight and begs her to go to sleep. Nezuko leaps to an upper storey of the building, while he struggles to hold her down. Daki appears, still burned and enraged that her opponent was able to use a Blood Demon Art. With bystanders present, Daki now before him, and Nezuko still struggling to break free, Tanjiro is unable to think of a plan.

A new threat appears
Daki prepares to launch her obi to slice everyone apart, only for the Sound Hashira to suddenly enter and slice the incoming attack, saving everyone. Tengen looks at Nezuko and chides Tanjiro for allowing her to transform, in spite of showing her resistance to humans during the meeting with Kagaya. Daki is delighted to see her target in front of her, only for him to refute her threats and claim she is no Upper Rank. Daki is aghast at this but her head suddenly falls off, decapitated by Tengen earlier but unable to register it till now. Though Daki is neutralized, Tengen reminds Tanjiro that the battle is not over, ordering him to calm Nezuko down.

When he jokingly suggests singing a lullaby, Nezuko kicks herself and her brother out onto the streets. Tanjiro remembers something and begins to sing a lullaby that their mother had sang to them as kids. Though Nezuko continues to fight back, she relents and the words get to her, and she remembers a moment she had with Kie. Reminiscing on that time, Nezuko begins to cry and her body shrinks back down to normal, now able to sleep and heal. When Tengen decides to move on, Daki threatens him for having the audacity to behead her. He ignores her threats and tells her to die "unflashy". She confronts him over his statement that she is not an Upper Rank, though he remains unconvinced by seeing her holding her severed head. Daki claims she is Upper Six and will get stronger but Tengen does not listen. With this last denial of her strength, the now emotional Daki begins to cry, whining that she is truly an Upper Rank. Tengen, shocked seeing a demon throwing a tantrum, quickly realizes that she is still alive despite fully beheaded and stays cautious. As she continues to cry and deny that she was defeated, she calls out to her brother. Gyutaro suddenly emerges from Daki's back, forcing Tengen into action; he attempts to swing his blades at the new demon's neck but misses completely. Stunned, he turns around to see Gyutaro comforting Daki, who calms her down and heals the burn on her face. Tengen tries to attack again but the demon dodges his swings and cuts him in the side of the head. Gyutaro compliments his opponent’s looks, claiming that he must receive much attention from women and scratching himself in jealous anger. Angered at the Demon Slayers hurting Daki, Gyutaro hurls his Kamas at the Hashira, narrowly missing his mark to threaten him. The Kamas are seen by Tanjiro; wondering if there is a new demon now, he is joined by Inosuke and Zenitsu, who had lost track of Tengen but detected the sound of the battle to join. Tanjiro takes the chance to take Nezuko away to safety. Learning that Tengen’s looks have garnered him three wives, Gyutaro grows more enraged and unleashes Blood Demon Art: Flying Blood Sickles. Tengen quickly hurls explosive beads and they detonate upon hitting the floor, allowing him to escape the blood blades and free the civilians. Gyutaro then wills his blades to attack the Hashira, forcing him to fight back as they converge on him. Using his hearing, he assess the house for any survivors and finds no one else but the demons; with this, he hurls beads into the air and uses his blades to activate them, destroying the house and knocking the demons back, as well as Inosuke and Zenitsu inadvertently.

“We’re going to win! Us the Demon Slayers!”
Seeing the siblings unharmed, Tengen mutters that this battle will not be easy, while Gyutaro notes that he and Daki are one body. The demons and the Demon Slayer trade barbs over their clashing beliefs, with Tengen refusing to accept their words that he is special over letting lives slip through him. Remembering his brutal past as a shinobi and his acceptance by Kagaya for his difficult path, he becomes reinvigorated with his willingness to do anything for the master. Gyutaro mocks him for acting confident despite being poisoned but the Hashira suddenly charges towards them, separating the two by kicking Daki up. The siblings attempt to retaliate but Tengen releases more explosives to defend himself; Gyutaro dodges them but Daki accidentally hits one, leading her to be beheaded again by Tengen. He tries to behead Gyutaro by extending the reach of his blades but he only manages to slit his neck.

Tengen is then joined by Inosuke, Zenitsu, and Tanjiro. The demons mock them for believing they can win with their main strength in Tengen now poisoned, shocking Tanjiro. However, the Sound Hashira proclaims that they will succeed by decapitating them simultaneously, while Gyutaro states that they will fail anyway as numerous Hashira have fallen to them. Daki attacks Tengen with her obi but is intercepted by Zenitsu using his Thunder Breathing, the attack's momentum launches both of them into the air. Tanjiro tries to call out to him but Inosuke states that he and Zenitsu will take on Daki while he and Tengen battle Gyutaro. When confronted for their murders, the siblings, speaking as one, state their belief that they are justified in taking from those better off than them, while Gyutaro implants his right eye into Daki, allowing them to share power and vision. Tanjiro tries to pre-emptively attack Gyutaro but the Upper Rank rushes forward and moves to stab him in the jaw, forcing Tengen to fling Tanjiro back to save him. As the two clash, Daki’s obi begins to punch through the ceiling, forcing Tanjiro and Tengen to defend themselves. Gyutaro, sharing Daki’s vision, uses the obi to hold back the Demon Slayers. She then uses more to fend off Zenitsu and Inosuke; the latter unwittingly taunts Daki into attacking harder, causing her to launch the obi into the house, impeding Tengen from fighting Gyutaro effectively. The Hashira deploys his explosives to stop the onslaught but Gyutaro cuts him twice as they fight.

Gyutaro uses Blood Demon Art: Flying Blood Sickles and launches them at the Sound Hashira, forcing Tanjiro to hold back the blood blades, using Water Breathing’s flexibility for better defence. Tengen then uses Sound Breathing, Fifth Form: String Performance, destroying the blood blades and forcing Gyutaro into the streets. He then decides to assist Daki and launches more blood blades at Zenitsu and Inosuke, preventing them from reaching her, while Tengen and Tanjiro struggle to get close to Gyutaro with his aggressive attacking and Daki's obi intercepting them.

Defeating an Upper Rank
Watching the battle from above, a recovered Hinatsuru uses a crossbow to launch wisteria-laced Kunai at Gyutaro; though he blocks most of the knives with Blood Demon Art: Rampant Arc Rampage, a stray blade hits him in the neck, leaving him unable to heal when Tengen lunges in and cuts off his legs. Tanjiro gets close enough to swing his blade into his neck but the demon forces the knife out of his body, allowing him to regenerate his legs instantly. Gyutaro uses Blood Demon Art: Rotating Circular Slashes, Flying Blood Sickles, forming a spinning wave of blood blades that forces Tengen to shove Tanjiro away to safety. He uses Sound Breathing, Fourth Form: Constant Resounding Slashes to destroy the incoming attack but Gyutaro vanishes. He calls out to Hinatsuru just as obi encircles him; she hurls Kunai at the obi to save him but Gyutaro suddenly appears and grabs Hinatsuru by the mouth. Tengen desperately yells for her to be left alone just as Tanjiro sees the situation. Despite his heavy wounds and exhaustion, he forces himself to move and reach her, utilizing Water Breathing and Hinokami Kagura together to reach the demon. Tanjiro cut off his hand to free her but Gyutaro rushes forward to attack him; Tengen, grateful of the Demon Slayer's actions, joins the clash and swings his blade into the Upper Rank's neck.

At the same time, Inosuke and Zenitsu continue to struggle against Daki's overwhelming obi; the former sees Tengen and Tanjiro about to behead their target and tries to rush Daki in desperation, though he is forced back by the obi's sheer number. Zenitsu reminds him what is vital is for demons to be decapitated, not done simultaneously; obi encircles him but he uses his Thunder Breathing to free himself. Using his Kamas, Gyutaro stops Tanjiro's and Tengen's blades from hitting him, adhering flesh to the metal to lock them in place; Tengen swings his second blade but the demon twists his head to bite down onto it. Using Rotating Circular Slashes, he tries to mince the Demon Slayers together; Tengen throws himself and Gyutaro off of the roof, saving Tanjiro and Hinatsuru. They call out to Tengen but are warned by Inosuke as Daki's obi converges on them. He and Zenitsu hold off the obi as Tanjiro, seeing Tengen battling Gyutaro alone, joins in to help them and Hinatsuru retreats to safety. As Daki taunts them for their slowing movements, Tanjiro informs Inosuke that her neck needs to be slice in different directions. Taking this in, he offers himself as the one to do it, while Tanjiro and Zenitsu protect him on his path. The trio regroup to one spot and ready themselves for the attack; with Inosuke in the lead, Tanjiro and Zenitsu fend off the obi in his path. Inosuke strengthens his muscles and uses Beast Breathing, Eighth Fang: Explosive Rush, charging towards the Upper Rank. Tanjiro runs beside him and uses Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance, while Zenitsu uses Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, Eightfold. Together, they move in front of their leading attacker and parry all of the obi to clear his way. Inosuke sprints towards Daki, who tries to hit him with her obi but is unable to make contact as he is moving, ignoring minor cuts to reach her. He swings both his blades into her neck and uses Sixth Fang: Palisade Bite to successfully saw off Daki's head. Inosuke runs off with her head to prevent it from reattaching to her body; the obi attempt to grab him but he evades them and runs across the district, while Tanjiro and Zenitsu move off to aid Tengen. Gyutaro then appears behind Inosuke and stabs him through the chest. Tanjiro grows horrified at his sudden appearance and looks for Tengen, finding him unconscious on the ground with his left hand severed. He freezes in the moment, forcing Zenitsu to push him off the roof as the obi launches a rapid slash that devastates their surroundings. As he apologizes to everyone for his lapse in judgement, he sees a vision of Nezuko, who begs him to stop feeling guilty for anything that doesn't go their way, asking he stop apologizing for everything and to instead look on ahead past it. He awakens from seeing the vision to find the whole of Yoshiwara up in flames, and Tanjiro can only if the residents escaped safely. He is relieved to see Nezuko still asleep and decides he must do what he can, only for Gyutaro to appear before him, amused to see the Demon Slayer still alive. With Daki now healed, Gyutaro points out how unfortunately lucky he is; Inosuke lies in a pool of blood motionless, Zenitsu is struggling to free himself from fallen debris, and Tengen has been defeated by his poison in the end. Deriding the Demon Slayers as disgraceful, he makes a point to torment Tanjiro for being the sole survivor; Gyutaro then sees Nezuko and ask if she is a relative. Tanjiro, terrified and unsure in seeing him standing by without killing him, wonders how he can survive if he cannot even hold his sword. Tanjiro answers that Nezuko is his younger sister, amusing Gyutaro that he is unable able to protect her, angering him; he believes that her being a demon means he cannot protect her as a human, before breaking two of Tanjiro's fingers to drive his point across. Whilst unarmed, he repeatedly insults Tanjiro for being weak and goads the Demon Slayer into killing him. Tanjiro instead runs away with Nezuko's box and feebly attempts to escape, causing Daki and Gyutaro to laugh seeing his crushed spirit. The Upper Rank chases after him and kicks Tanjiro into a burning building, where he narrowly avoids getting crushed by the burning debris. He corners Tanjiro at the end of the street, who throws small pieces of rubble and a sachet at the demon, only to be violently kicked in the stomach, vomiting blood as a result. With Tanjiro at his mercy, Gyutaro points out that he enjoys anything filthy and pathetic, touching the scar on his forehead and admiring its weird appearance. He proposes that he become a demon like him, willing to spare him should he transform and threatening to end his life and Nezuko's should he choose otherwise. Tanjiro looks up in response; Gyutaro believes that humans look to the sky when they grieve to stop their tears from flowing, only for Tanjiro to declare that he had been waiting for this moment, head-butting the demon in the face. Gyutaro laughs at his weak attempt to hurt him but finds he is unable to stand up, surprising him and Daki; he discovers that as Tanjiro hit him, he had also stabbed him in the leg with a wisteria-laced Kunai. Unable to get up, Gyutaro curses Tanjiro for his unyielding resolve in spite of the odds, as he uses Hinokami Kagura once more and brings his blade down, cutting into Gyutaro's neck.

"...with every ounce of strength I have!"
Daki attempts to intervene and sends her obi after Tanjiro, only for Zenitsu to break free from being pinned by debris, using his Thunder Breathing to slice and launch himself off her obi. She tries to hit him but he evades the obi easily and prepares to use Thunder Breathing, First Form. She believes she will be able to attack him after seeing the form numerous times, only for Zenitsu to extend his attack to a new height; Thunderclap and Flash, Godspeed. Using her obi as a launch pad, Zenitsu draws his sword and blitzes Daki, who is completely unable to react to the new attack; she had turned her neck into an obi in anticipation but the blade begins to cut through; Zenitsu, having used Godspeed earlier to escape the rubble, knows this is his only chance to defeat her. Due to its high durability, Tanjiro struggles to cut further into his opponent's neck, while the demon pulls out the Kunai and heals from the poison. He forms blood blades that repel the blade and force Tanjiro back, healing his neck completely. Now entirely enraged, he summons even more blood blades and launches them at the Demon Slayer, while fighting with him simultaneously. Tanjiro is unable to fight back and cannot get close to Gyutaro. As the demon swings his Kama into Tanjiro's eye, it is suddenly blocked by Tengen, before repelling the Upper Rank with an explosive swing of his blade. Confused to see him up despite thinking he was dead, Gyutaro surmises that Tengen had used his muscles to stop his heart, slowing the circulation of his poison. As a still shocked Tanjiro calls out to the Hashira, he proudly states he has now developed his Musical Score technique to allow them to win, before lunging at Upper Six. Gyutaro summons a wave of blood blades to kill Tengen but he uses his enhanced hearing and Sound Breathing to read the attack as a song; he develops a pattern that allows him to overwhelm and destroy the blood blades with precise slashes, as he makes his way to Gyutaro. He then jumps up and swings both blades into the ground, creating an explosion that forces Gyutaro back to save himself. Angered that his attack was defeated by a man with one arm, Gyutaro leaps toward Tengen, who does the same in response. They clash head-on and form a massive explosion, before they race across Yoshiwara while battling each other with their respective weapons. Gyutaro kicks Tengen away from him and generates another wave of blood blades, but they are destroyed nonetheless, as Tengen is now able to read the attack easily. Eventually, they hit a standstill and resort to swinging their weapons at each other in the hope of making contact, speeding up as they attack each other and creating numerous explosions and blood blades that engulfs the city streets.

Tengen and Gyutaro continue to move across the battlefield and fend away the other's blows, while Tanjiro keeps up with them, using his Hinokamu Kagura to speed himself up to their level. Knowing that Tengen will hit his limit first, he realizes that he will eventually need to make a move. Gyutaro then stabs his Kama into one of Tengen's chain links, breaking it and severing the weapon into two, before piercing the Hashira's stomach and slicing up, cutting across his face and eye. Tengen ignores the pain and leaps forward to stab Gyutaro with his last blade, signalling Tanjiro to deliver the final blow. Tanjiro jumps up and tries to reach Gyutaro's neck, but the demon anticipates his move and stabs him in the bottom jaw, believing that his poison will kill them both. He remains defiant and slams his sword into the Upper Rank's neck. With the final remnants of his strength put into his sword, Tanjiro forces himself to push beyond his limits; the scar on his head suddenly becomes a fiery mark. With his new power, he slices deeper into Gyutaro, who curses himself for getting beheaded by him; he nonetheless remains hopeful that he can stay alive given that Daki is somewhere and still needs to be beheaded by them. Daki still remains in the grasp of Zenitsu's blade, racing across the sky with the momentum of his Godspeed. However, he no longer has the strength to cut further; she takes the chance to kill him once more and grows more to slice Zenitsu to pieces. Before they can make contact, the obi is suddenly destroyed by Inosuke, shocking Daki. He warns her not to underestimate his flexibility and the ease in moving his own organs, as well as stating that growing in the mountains has made him impervious to poisons. He joins Zenitsu and brings both his blades onto her neck, while Daki screams and begs for Gyutaro to do something. As his neck is nearly sliced through completely, Gyutaro tries to use Rotating Circular Slashes to stop them. Using the last portion of power put into their swords, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Tanjiro push through and successfully decapitate the dual holders of Upper Rank Six. The demons' head roll along the ground till they stop in front of each other.

Aftermath
Suma, Makio, and Hinatsuru watch the demons' decapitation from a building's roof; Suma is overjoyed at the demons' defeat and asked Hinatsuru to look, believing she is dead, much to Makio's chagrin. However, Hinatsuru remains uncertain of the outcome. Tengen, struggling to breathe, suddenly sees that Gyutaro's body is about to form blood blades. He warns Tanjiro of the danger but he cannot hear him, with Gyutaro's poison causing his vision to blur and his hearing to weaken. The Sound Hashira yells for everyone to run but the demon's body suddenly releases an enormous burst of Rotating Circular Slashes, catching everyone in the epicentre and destroying the city of Yoshiwara. However, Nezuko's box is thrown into the air by the attack and she uses her Blood Demon Art to burn the blood blades away. Later, Tanjiro awakens to find the city is nothing more than a pile of debris, before reuniting with Nezuko. They hear Zenitsu calling for help in the distance; Tanjiro, now too weak to even stand up, is carried by Nezuko to take him there. Zenitsu, who is now awaken and terrified to find his body is racked with pain, then leads them to Inosuke. Seeing him dying to the poison and with no help available, Tanjiro laments that his own life was spare, only for Nezuko to burn away the poison with her blood. Inosuke wakes up asking for food and Tanjiro tearfully embraces him. Elsewhere, Tengen slow dies of the poison, surrounded by his wives. He tries to give his last words but is drowned out by Suma's wailing and Makio's attacking her in annoyance. Nezuko interrupts their mourning and touches Tengen, setting him on fire to burn the poison and saving the Sound Hashira. Knowing to finish off the demons, Tanjiro and Nezuko set out to find them somewhere among the remains of the city. They find a pool of Gyutaro's blood and he takes a sample for use in Tamayo's research. Her cat then appears to retrieve the blood before vanishing. Eventually, they hear yelling coming from Daki and Gyutaro in the distance, who are blaming each other for their own defeat by the Demon Slayers. The fight gets personal when Daki accuses Gyutaro of being too ugly to be related to her and he retaliates by claiming that she would have been long died without him since she is too weak. Tanjiro, hurt to see them arguing in their last moments, rushes over to stop their fight, begging them to reconcile before they die. As she fades to ash, Daki begins to cry and begs for Gyutaro to save her, causing him to call out to her with her human name, Ume. Before his own death, Gyutaro reminisces on their lives and how they came to be, before eventually reconciling with Daki as they enter Hell.

The Serpent Hashira, Obanai Iguro, arrives after the battle, sarcastically praising Tengen for defeating an Upper Rank, though making emphasis that Upper Six is still the lowest of the Uppers. He wonders what Tengen will do next having lost an eye and hand, only to be told that he intends to retire. With mounting losses and less-skilled new Demon Slayers, Obanai orders Tengen to retain his role as the Sound Hashira but is ignored; Tengen instead claims that Tanjiro has shown great potential in replacing him, surprising the Serpent Hashira. In an unknown location, Kagaya receives the news of Upper Six's defeat and is overjoyed, praising the Demon Slayers who fought in the battle and believing that Muzan's own defeat is close. Elsewhere, in the Infinity Castle, Akaza has been summoned to the dimensional space and immediately realizes that an Upper Rank has been killed.