Episode 39

Layered Memories (重なる記憶) is the 39th episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series, and the 13th episode of its second season.

Synopsis
Furious at Daki's disregard for lives, Tanjiro angrily confronts her, causing her to experience Muzan's memories of an old enemy. His excessive use of Hinokami Kagura soon bring him to his knees in pain. But as Daki prepares to kill him, a new foe emerges; Nezuko, now fully demon and refusing to let her family die again.

Plot
Facing Daki alone, Tanjiro uses Hinokami Kagura: Raging Sun to slice her incoming obis. He charges towards her and evades her frontal attack with Fake Rainbow, before using Fire Wheel in an attempt to slice her neck. Daki sees the incoming attack and hits him away, sending him flying into the dirt. He narrowly dodges getting ripped to pieces by the attacking Upper Rank with Recovery Breathing, due to the fatigue using multiple Hinokami Kagura forms. She then sends blow after blow with her obis, forcing Tanjiro on the defensive.

Daki approaches Tanjiro, as he tries to regain composure and order his breathing again. Angrily calling him an "ugly piece of trash", she sends her obi sashes ripping across the district, forcing Tanjiro to defend her attacks again. Daki leaps into the air and two sashes suddenly connects to her, to Tanjiro's surprise. From the cave, the obi sashes escape out the hole made by Tengen's Sound Breathing and fly into the sky and reattach themselves to Daki. Wondering if they're the sashes he had previously sliced off, he watches as she absorbs them into her body while he tries to compose his breathing. He swings at the demon but Daki vanishes instantly. Reappearing on the rooftops, she exclaims she was right that a Hashira has indeed arrived, as her hair turns white. She proclaims Muzan will now be proud of her. Tanjiro is shocked at her transformation, noting she has grown even more powerful, as well as wondering on Tengen and company's whereabouts.

A man confronts Tanjiro for creating a disturbance in front of his house. Tanjiro becomes nervous as civillians begin to notice the battle between him and Daki. He demands they leave their geisha district as they all follow the rules, telling them a brawl isn't allowed and yelling they leave at once. Daki becomes annoyed at the man's commands and prepares to retaliate. Tanjiro sees this and forces the man back to prevent him from entering the attack's path, yelling for everyone to return to their homes. Without warning, Daki's sashes slice deep into the district, cutting buildings, slashing the ground and murdering civilians. Tanjiro is too slow to react and is cut deep in the shoulder, the man himself loses his hand to an obi slicing it off. Injured. Tanjiro can only watch in horror as the district crumbles to rubble and people become horrified seeing the mangled corpses of innocents lives.

Satisfied, Daki begins to walk away but Tanjiro calls out for her to come back and face him. Annoyed, she asks why he wants to continue confronting her, saying that the ugly don't deserve to live and telling him to die and rot together with them. The survivors try to comprehend the massacre before them, crying as they hold their dead loved ones and pulling the corpses free from the debris. The man weakly calls out, asking everyone to return inside. Daki's insults strike a nerve in Tanjiro, causing his eyes to grow bloodshot and making him seethe with intense rage.

A few days previously, Shinjuro Rengoku writes a letter addressed to Tanjiro, apologizing for his errors and thanking him for mourning Kyojuro's death. He apologizes for the way they first met and adding that Senjuro is now much better. He writes that his own imcompetence was only the start of his downward spiral, as his wife Ruka's death had caused him even more anguish. Drinking himself into a stupor since then, he says there isn't a fool bigger than him. To him, Kyojuro is a fine son unlike himself. Abandoned, Kyojuro instead trained himself into a Hashira, despite only 3 volumes about Flame Breathing. Shinjuro comments he seemed to have more of Ruka's blood than his own and that Kyojuro and Senjuro are fine boys. He then writes that Tanjiro himself is even more impressive as he must be a Sun Breathing user, noting the mark on his head and that Sun Breathing users are born with such a mark.

Tanjiro denies Shinjuro's words about his mark, as his scar came from protecting his brother from being burnt in an accident and an injury during Final Selection, his scar ending up looking the way it is now. He realizes his father was indeed born with a mark on his head but he himself isn't one of those few. Seeing the pain and devastation around him, Tanjiro mutters that despite the odds, there are moments when he cannot back down, as the world has those who lack human hearts and who kill with remorse; Tanjiro refuses to allow such a tyranny to exist and prepares to attack.

As Daki begins to escape, Tanjiro leaps into the air and grabs her leg, preventing her from leaving. He tries to cut her head off but Daki dodges the swing, though he manages to slice off her foot. He furiously confronts her about the lost lives, saying they will never come back. As she heals her foot, Tanjiro demands she answer why they, the demons, kill the far weaker humans. Daki suddenly remembers hearing these exact words and a vision appears before her. Instead of Tanjiro, someone else appears, angrily asking why and what they found entertaining and amusing about taking lives. She realizes the memories are not her own but Muzan's, due to the momories of his cells inside her.

Back in the cave, Makio and Suma tend over the unconcious victims, while Tengen ponders on their next move. Inosuke impatiently asks about what to do next, as the obis they were battling had just escaped. Tengen angrily demands he shut up as they have successfully saved everyone captured, telling Inosuke to worship and praise him. Makio instructs Tengen to go after the obis or more destruction might occur, with Suma adding they will be alright. Tengen then grabs Inosuke and Zenitsu in his arms, before leaping out the hold and demanding they follow him. The three run across the rooftops, with Tengen leading. He is far too fast however, and Inosuke and Zenitsu quickly lag behind the speeding Sound Hashira.

Seeing the demon slayer's stare, Daki asks what is on Tanjiro's mind, to which he responds that she was once human too and have shed tears for pain and suffering. At this, she angrily punches the roof and blatantly says that she had forgotten her human memories. As demons don't grow old and need money to eat, they don't get sick and die, demons have nothing to lose. She angrily proclaims that demons can do whatever they want. Tanjiro quietly accepts her words and accelerates towards her. She quickly uses Blood Demon Art: Eight-Layered Obi Slash, ready to cut Tanjiro into pieces. Daki happily states that Tanjiro will die, as her obi is weaved and layered without escape and, with her being whole again with all her obis, she is far faster than before. Tanjiro suddenly uses Hinokami Kagura: Burning Bones, Summer Sun, slicing a fiery spiral into the incoming wave. She squeals in pain as she feels as if she's burning from the slash, then realizes she cannot regenerate as quickly, noting that with deeps wounds, Tanjiro's violent movements would normally rupture his body.

Daki wonders how he was able to slash her in the beginning. Suddenly, she begins to tremble in fear, but realizes it is not her but Muzan who is terrified. Daki tries to overwhelm him again but Tanjiro is now able to rapidly slice and burn her obis. She leaps into the air and onto another house. Tanjiro chases her down and intercepts her incoming sashes. He lands down and rushes towards Upper Six, before slicing her neck. As her head seemingly falls, she mocks him for believing he had decapitated her, her head revealed to be still attached by a sash onto her body. Tanjiro notices that with the sash being soft, it had blunted the slash.

Daki resolves to prevent him from escaping, growing more sashes. He believes that dodging them would create more havoc but becomes shocked at how slow they seem to be. He parries the obis successfully and manages to stab them all at once as they group up in one direction. Pinning them down, he pulls them taut as Daki mocks him for believing he can slice them before she takes control. Without warning, Tanjiro leaps into the air and frees them, before eviserating the sashes before she could manipulate them and making his way to Daki, who is now too slow to react to his immense speed. As his sword nearly cuts into her neck, a vision of Hanako appears and desperately begs him to breathe. Before his blade can make contact, Tanjiro collapses before Daki in agony and struggles to breathe. Daki takes time to mock him for being human, saying they always struggle doing their best and feeling sorry for him. His visions begins to cloud, unable to see anything barely infront of him.

As Daki prepares to decapitate the helpless Tanjiro, someone viciously kicks her head off and sending her body hurtling through the district. Nezuko appears, enraged at the attempt on her brother's life. Tanjiro coughs blood and his deep shoulder wound begins to bleed again. Memories of her family's death cloud Nezuko's mind, infuriating her even more. Daki becomes enraged at Nezuko destroying her head, realizing she is the one Muzan told her about. She recalls when Muzan has visited her in Yoshiwara. As she lies on his lap calmly, he mentions a demon had escaped him, like Tamayo. Muzan instructs her to find and kill the demon, describing her as a girl clad in a kimono patterned with leaves and wearing a checkered belt. Tanjiro eventually collapses from exhaustion. Nezuko prepares to battle her opponent as Daki answers Muzan's wishes to torture her to death.

Nezuko charges ahead and tries to kick her again. Daki anticipates this, using her obi to slice off her right foot and left arm, before cutting deep into her torso and sending her flying into a house. Landing in front of the debris, she mocks Nezuko's weak regeneration, correctly believing she hasn't kill any humans. She instead declares she will stop bullying her for as they are both demon, planning to absorb her into her obi and leaving her in the sun to die. Nezuko emerges from the rubble with a new leg, stunning Daki as she notices her torso is also completely healed. As she watches her arm grow back instantly, she realizes Nezuko's regeneration has reached that of an Upper Rank. Nezuko bites through her bamboo muzzle and enlarges herself for battle. Vines emerge throughout her body and a horn grows on her head. Nezuko faces Upper Six, now emerging fully as a demon. Daki feels intimidated at her new appearance, with the aura of the battle suddenly changing.

As an unconsious Tanjiro lies on the roof, he hears Takeo's voice. Takeo recalls that he and Nezuko are both similar, as they are both gentle but can get scary when angered. He recalls when Nezuko had confronted a rough-looking man for bumping a child, asking in his face to apologize and how scary it felt. He adds that people who get angry for the sake of others tend to overlook their own safety, and that they may lose something precious as a result. Nezuko speeds towards Daki and tries to kick her again. Daki mocks her for only being able to kick and slices her leg and arm off. At that moment, they grows back instantly and she slams her foot down onto Daki, driving her body into the ground. As Daki reels from the shock and pain of the impact, Nezuko stares menacingly at her.