Episode 23

Hashira Meeting (柱合会議) is the 23rd episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series.

Synopsis
Ubuyashiki, the head of the Demon Slayer Corps, finally appears before Tanjiro.

While Ubuyashiki reveals that he’d like to accept Tanjiro and Nezuko to join the corps, the Hashira are unable to accept this decision right away.

Then, the Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa, slashes his own arm and taunts Nezuko with his blood, trying to draw out her true colors as a demon.

Plot
As Sanemi continues to stab Nezuko through her box, Tanjiro yells and begs for him to stop. She emerges from the box, salivating as she stares at the bleeding Hashira. He goads her into attacking him, waving the scent of blood in her face as the rest of the Hashiras watch. Shinobu notices that Obanai is driving his elbow harder into Tanjiro’s back and asks him to ease up, though he claims it is to stop him from moving. She warns Tanjiro not to use breathing techniques while his lungs are being pressed down or his veins could burst; Tengen hears this and happily asks for it to happen: “''I like it! Sounds flamboyant!''”, much to Mitsuri's concern. Gyomei calls Tanjiro a weak, pathetic child and pities his soul.

As Nezuko struggles to hold herself together, to Sanemi’s enjoyment, Tanjiro forces himself to breathe and successfully breaks his restraints, shocking Shinobu and Obanai. As he runs to his sister, Obanai is grabbed by Giyu to stop him from interfering. Knowing he cannot physically stop Nezuko, Tanjiro calls out to his sister.

Nezuko sees herself back in the snowy forest where she transformed, with herself and Tanjiro at Giyu’s mercy. She hears his plea that she is different from other demons. More memories of her family appear and she suddenly hears Sakonji Urokodaki's message to her: “Protect humans”, and she recalls the words as Tanjiro appears in front of her. “''Humans are to be protected and saved. I will never hurt them."'' In front of everyone, Nezuko turns away from Sanemi’s blood and resists the temptation, to his shock and Tanjiro’s relief. The Master, being blind, asks what happened; his aide informs him that Nezuko has rejected Sanemi’s taunting, looking away in disgust, and despite being stabbed three times was able to restrain herself. He is pleased that it is proven she won’t attack humans. Obanai pulls his hand away from Giyu and demands to know what he is doing.

The Master then speaks to Tanjiro; he informs the Demon Slayer that there will be those who will still not accept Nezuko and ask him to prove to them, that he and Nezuko can fight as Demon Slayers. Tanjiro quickly bows down as he hears his words, noting the floating feeling and calming voice of the Master. He tells the boy to defeat a Twelve Kizuki and prove his worth, allowing others to accept and take him seriously. Tanjiro vows that he and Nezuko will defeat Muzan Kibutsuji without fail, though the Master implores him to start small with a Twelve Kizuki, still being ill-equipped. Caught up in his confidence, Tanjiro embarrassedly agrees, to Mitsuri and Shinobu’s laughter.

The Master tells him that the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps are phenomenally skilled and have defied death through hellish training and defeating Twelve Kizuki demons. He states they receive special treatment and kindly asks him to mind his manners when speaking. Tanjiro acknowledges their importance and agrees with his message. Finally, the Master addresses Sanemi and Obanai, gently asking not to torment those weaker than them too much; though hesitant, the two nonetheless agree to his wishes and acknowledge them. With Tanjiro’s trial finished, Shinobu steps up and offers to take both siblings to her house. She signals for them to take them away, though a Kakushi is hesitant to approach Nezuko. Another one quickly bows to the Master and the Hashiras, before grabbing Tanjiro and quickly leaving the scene, with the second Kakushi in tow with Nezuko’s box. As the Hashira meeting is about to commence, Tanjiro unexpectedly interrupts them and asks for the Master’s permission to head butt Sanemi again. The Kakushi pin him down and demand him to be quiet but he wishes to head butt him as many times as he had stabbed Nezuko, reasoning that it isn’t against the Corp rules.

As he continues to struggle against the Kakushi’s hold, three pebbles fly towards Tanjiro without warning, hitting him in the head and knocking him down. Muichiro, who flung them, tells him not to interrupt the Master; the Kakushi repeatedly bow in apology to the Master and Muichiro, while Mitsuri is amazed at him being “so cool”. As Tanjiro is taken away a second time, the Master asks him to “give Miss Tamayo my regards”, stunning the Demon Slayer.

As they run away from the headquarters, Tanjiro tells the Kakushi he heard him mention Tamayo’s name. Instead, the female Kakushi demands him to be quiet and punishes him, frightened from being yelled at by the Hashira. She and the male Kakushi tell him what he has done is unforgivable and demand an apology, leaving him to quietly apologize. The Kakushi eventually reach Shinobu’s house, the Butterfly Mansion, but find no one at the front. They decide to walk to the back; the man carrying Tanjiro tells him to walk on his own, but he responds that his body is still aching. He sees the numerous butterflies giving its name and they eventually see a young girl in the back. The Kakushi see her and realize she is a Tsuguko. Her name is Kanao Tsuyuri; Tanjiro suddenly recognizes her as the sole girl who survived Final Selection. He tells the Kakushi this but he doesn’t believe him, perhaps believing he had forgotten it was Kanao who knocked him unconscious on Mount Natagumo. He tells Tanjiro she is a Tsuguko; a swordsman trained by a Hashira, and that only those with amazing skills and talent get to be chosen.

The female Kakushi approaches Kanao and informs her they arrived under Shinobu’s orders. Upon asking for permission to enter, she is ignored by Kanao not speaking a word. Slightly confused, she asks Kanao if she minds but receives no answer again. Suddenly, a loud voice asks who they are, startling the Kakushi and Tanjiro. The girl who called out to them sees they are Kakushi and directs them into the mansion. Inside the hospital ward, Zenitsu discovers he must take terrible tasting medication five times a day for three months, to the concern of an attendant. Though he knows his arms and legs can heal by taking it, he still demands to know how and why. The girl leading the Kakushi sees him complaining loudly again, while Tanjiro is relieved to see his friend again. The girl angrily reminds him he has been explained numerous times previously to take his medication and threatens to tie him up should he complain again, before walking away. Tanjiro asks if Zenitsu is okay, realizing he truly did enter the forests of Mount Natagumo. Zenitsu loudly retells how he was stung by a spider and is now being yelled at by that girl. Tanjiro looks at him closer and if he had gotten “smaller”; Zenitsu responds by speaking about his near transformation into a spider, as snot hangs from his nose to the Kakushi he had crying on, disgusting him. Tanjiro asks about Inosuke and Murata’s whereabouts. Zenitsu doesn’t know who Murata is but points to Inosuke, who is lying in the bed next to him. Tanjiro gets off the Kakushi’s back, crawls to Inosuke’s bed, and apologizes for being unable to rescue him. Answering in a weak and coarse voice, Inosuke tells him it is fine and not to worry about it. Tanjiro is shocked to hear him speak and Zenitsu answers with how he heard about him losing his voice through being hit in the neck and yelling at the top of his lungs, but remains unsure of the details.

He then states that Inosuke being depressed has made him calm and gentle, to Zenitsu’s delight, leading Tanjiro to ask why he is laughing creepily. Inosuke apologizes for being weak, leading both of them to give words of encouragement, Tanjiro stating that he is happy just to see him alive. Suddenly, Zenitsu worriedly asks if they had seen him take his morning medication, unwilling to taste it again and yelling at his misery.

With him and his friends in bed and resting, Tanjiro speaks of his thankfulness to see them alive. As night begins to fall, he closes his curtains and opens Nezuko’s box, allowing her to walk out of the room she has been provided with. When he attempts to sit on the bed, Tanjiro hunches over in pain, leading him to realize how severely injured he got on Mount Natagumo. He thanks his sister for protecting him, stating it was not just her but Sakonji and Giyu risking their lives for them. As he reaffirms his goal to get stronger, he thinks back to the Master, and how his voice seemed so soothing and made his head feel light. Nezuko eventually falls asleep, and Tanjiro promises to turn her back into a human once more. That night, during the meeting at the Headquarters, the Master, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, meets with the Hashira to discuss the threat of demons; as they have reported, increasing damage caused by them will inevitably lead to human life under threat more than ever. Sanemi comments that the incident on Mount Natagumo has shown that the skill of Demon Slayers has plummeted greatly, deeming most of them useless.

When he wonders whether the trainers could tell if someone could at least be competent, Tengen jokingly reminds him that Tanjiro landed “that flamboyant blow on you”, earning his ire. Shinobu adds that as the human population grows, it would become harder to unify them all. Gyomei states that since only those whose loved ones were killed by demons choose to join the Corps, or have done so through generations, they can’t simply have people without the drive or resolve to do so join them and would be cruel to ask such of laymen.

Kyojuro chimes in that Tanjiro encountering a Twelve Kizuki only months after joining could mean he has the power to draw them, envious since even they rarely get to face them. Kagaya notes that Lower Five’s drastic actions mean that Muzan isn’t near Mount Natagumo, referring to the incident in Asakusa and how he draws attention to cover his tracks. Though frustrated at how demons continue to freely devour humans and get stronger, Kagaya expressed his faith in them, believing he has assembled the strongest Hashiras since the feudal era. One by one, he says the names of all the Hashiras and states he looks forward to their success, addressing the swordsmen as his “children”. After the meeting, left alone to himself, Kagaya swears that he will defeat Muzan Kibutsuji, even if it’s the last thing he’ll do, and that they will bring him down without fail.

Anime Notes

 * Tengen and Mitsuri are shown to be laughing when Tanjiro confidently claims he will kill Muzan Kibutsuji despite being ill-equipped, while in the anime, Shinobu is shown holding back her laugh as well.
 * In the anime, the events which transpire during the Hashira meeting are shown whereas the manga alludes that the meeting began after Tanjiro left, without mentioning what was discussed.

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