Episode 53

Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito (霞柱・時透無一郎) is the 53rd episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series, and the 9th episode of its third season.

Summary
Realizing Muichiro now poses a threat, Gyokko reveal his true form and claims he will now fight seriously. Muichiro, having held a deep rage since his brother's death, also states that he will act seriously as well. Elsewhere, Tanjiro, Genya, and Nezuko are overwhelmed by the wooden dragons of the demon of hatred, who can use the abilities of Urogi, Aizetsu, and Sekido.

Synopsis
As Hotaru continues polishing the ancient blade, Kozo, hidden behind the trees, watches Muichiro confront Gyokko. The demon moves himself high up a tree and demands that the Hashira will not underestimate him. Stating he is not, Muichiro confidently replies that he will behead him, now in top shape but Gyokko claims that he is, spitefully mentioning his young age. The Upper Rank changes position again and appears from the ground behind Muichiro, who mentions that he has no respect for Gyokko whatsoever due to his appearance and voice.

The demon simply claims that Muichiro cannot understand his beauty and mocks his short arms and blade. The Hashira notes that his blade has actually reached his neck and mockingly questions if Gyokko was talking about his own arms. The demon laughs at what he believes is a cheap insult and wonders if he is desperate to win, only for Muichiro to then look at his vase and ask if it is not symmetrical, calling it shoddy workmanship, which suddenly causes Gyokko to become deeply enraged at his taunt. Forming ten vases in his hands, he uses Blood Demon Art: Ten Thousand Gliding Slime-Fish, aiming them at Muichiro and sending countless ravenous fish in his direction. The Mist Hashira backs away and avoids getting hit, before using a tree to launch himself and utilizing Mist Breathing, Sixth Form: Lunar Dispersing Mist, slicing all of them in an extremely fast flurry of slashes. Gyokko watches his attack and becomes stunned by the Demon Slayer’s speed, wondering how his paralytic poison seems to be ineffective. Nonetheless, he remembers that slashing the fish will only release a poison that is fine enough to be absorbed through the skin and will kill him quickly. Muichiro then uses Mist Breathing, Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash and redirects the poisonous cloud away from him. He then suddenly lunges at Gyokko and makes an attempt to behead him, only for the demon to shed his skin and disappear. Now annoyed, Muichiro demands that the demon cease dodging him and climbing into the trees, only for Gyokko to laugh and claim he will now reveal his true form, mentioning he is only the third person to ever witness it. He states that once he is serious, no one will be able to survive him, leading Muichiro to show sarcastic amazement, annoying Upper Five.

Stating that his new transparent scales are harder than diamonds and that he has been refining his form inside his vase, Gyokko demands that the Hashira kneel before his new body, now appearing as a humanoid, serpent-like, merman. Muichiro only stares with an unimpressed expression, causing the demon to angrily yell for him to say something, which the Hashira responds to by noting that Gyokko had told him to be silent earlier. As Muichiro claims that he is not in the least surprised by his transformation, Gyokko suddenly attacks and attempts to punch him repeatedly, forcing the Hashira to evade and leap up into a tree; he then watches as the portion of his uniform touched by Gyokko transforms into fish, as does the impact points by the demon’s fists.

The Upper Rank laughs at his opponent’s turns to hide in the tress but Muichiro claims he only did so to avoid the smell of his fish. Gyokko then reveals that not only can anything he touch become fish, his new body’s flexibility allows him to move in any direction. Watching as Muichiro quietly stares at him, the demon questions if he is now afraid, but Muichiro, with a condescending smile on his face, only replies that even strong attacks are pointless when they fail to make contact.

Recalling the moment when he held Yuichiro’s hand as maggots crawled over his body, Muichiro remembers that they even crawled onto him as he lay in the brink of death. He closes his eyes to die but opens them again when he hears a voice: Amane Ubuyashiki ordering her daughter to treat his wounds. Amane sees Muichiro barely gasping to breathe and she asks her other daughter on Yuichiro’s state, who replies he is drawing his last breath. Amane attempts to remove Muichiro's hand from Yuichiro but is shocked to see he is still maintaining a firm grip, as Muichiro recalls that he would have died had he not been found.

Now patched up from his ordeal, Muichiro trains in the Demon Slayer headquarters amidst the rain. Nichika, concerned as he has not fully healed, attempt to stop him but is prevented from doing so by her mother. Despite his exhaustion, he does not stop training, as Muichiro recalls that even as his memories were lost, his body still maintains a deep boiling rage since that day, one that will not leave him till his death. As the only thing that kept him training even as he vomited blood, Muichiro lands down to face Gyokko as his anger to destroy all demons builds inside him. Gyokko performs Blood Demon Art: Killer Fish Scales and uses his new body to encircle Muichiro in rapid succession, moving too quickly for the Hashira to land a clean hit. The demons asks if he enjoys his movements defying the laws of nature before claiming he will kill him and replace his head with a new fish’s. Watching as Gyokko closes in on him, Muichiro uses Mist Breathing, Seventh Form: Obscuring Clouds. The Upper Rank throws a punch but is shocked to see his fist miss completely. He sees Muichiro behind him and attacks but misses again. Now seeing him in front of him, he throws another punch but once again completely misses. Confused, Gyokko looks all around him and sees mere glimpses of the Hashira moving in and out of his vision, as if he is shrouded in a thick cloud of mist. He sees Muichiro’s head and attacks but fails to hit anything once more. Within the cloud, Muichiro asks a stunned Gyokko if believed he was the only one who was not serious: he makes his way to the demon, aims his blade at his neck, and slashes upwards, beheading Upper Five.

Gyokko’s severed head falls as he notices everything seems to be upside-down and he cannot sense anything. Finally able to see Muichiro in the open, he realizes he must kill him and report to Muzan, only to touch the ground. The realization of his decapitation finally hits him and Gyokko becomes aghast he has been defeated, as Muichiro walks towards him. The demon exclaims about his fate and his inability to believe it has happened, while the Mist Hashira bids him goodbye and demands he does not reincarnate again. The now livid Gyokko questions how he lost to a human and attempts to regrow his body, all while insulting Muichiro and boasting of his superiority. Now entirely annoyed at his rant, the Hashira silences the demon by slashing the head to pieces, killing Gyokko once and for all and demanding he go to hell.

Muichiro suddenly remembers a moment he had with Kagaya, who spoke about how he cannot be so rigid with his perception of the world, before claiming that he can become stronger once he finds his true unshakeable self. Watch as Gyokko’s remains fade to ash, he realizes his leader was indeed true about finding himself and having the strength to act, and that as long as he knows who he is, all his doubts, hesitation, and frustrations can disappear and no demon can escape his blade.

Kozo approaches the Mist Hashira and thanks him for saving their lives, before asking if he is alright. Muichiro claims he is fine and will now help Tanjiro but the swordsmith does not believe him, noting his pale skin. He replies again he is fine but suddenly begins to tremble and having breathing difficulties, concerning Kozo even more so. The Hashira asks that he check on Kotetsu but suddenly begins frothing at the mouth, before collapsing face first into the ground. Kozo, horrified to see a Hashira fall, calls to Hotaru to help him, but he ignores the smith and continues his polishing. Seeing how useless he was when he was almost killed by Gyokko, Kozo ignores Hotaru and attempts to help Muichiro in any way, though he only panics when Muichiro chokes on the foam in his mouth.

Confused and worried, he is joined by Kotetsu, who instructs him to lay Muichiro on his side. Shocked to hear his voice, Kozo then panics at being visited by Kotetsu’s ghost, only for the young swordsmith to ease his concerns and explains he is not dead. As Muichiro wakes up from the comotion, Kozo asks how he can be alive since he was stabbed in the solar plexus and bled heavily, to which Kotetsu explains that his blood is from his arm wounds; he was protected from a more severe wound when the demon instead hit an object hidden in his shirt. He reveals that Tanjiro had entrusted him with Kyojuro Rengoku’s tsuba, wanting to put in on his new blade. Seeing it reminds Muichiro of the time when Kyojuro had encouraged to give his all as a Hashira.

He then suddenly sees himself surrounded by his family, with his parents holding him and Yuichiro looking at him. His father tells him that trusting in someone has resulted in everything turning out well in the end, as the Hashira becomes emotional to see the faces of his father and mother once again. Yuichiro then kneels down, clutches his hand, and commends his twin for his work, driving Muichiro to tears.

As a wooden dragon hurls him high into the air, Tanjiro narrowly avoids getting crushed and sees that five total heads surround the manifestation of hatred, seeing that they are about 66 shaku in length. He prepares to use Hinokami Kagura: Clear Blue Sky but the demon beats a drum, causing a dragon to then blast Tanjiro with Urogi's sonic shriek, knocking him into the trees. Nezuko sees her brother downed but cannot reach him as two dragons surround her. Another dragon attempts to attack Genya, who blasts the demon with his shotgun but is nonetheless forced to grab and prevent it from biting him, seeing the gunshots heal quickly. He then breaks apart its jaws with his bare hands.

Tanjiro vomits on the ground and realizes the shriek has caused his eardrums to rupture, dizzying him even more than ever. The demon then beats two drums and uses the dragon to summon Aizetsu's powerful winds, crushing Tanjiro's left foot. He beats on two more and the dragon blasts Tanjiro with Sekido's lightning. As he attempts to flee, Tanjiro realizes that the single demon is able to use any of the emotion manifestation's attacks and even more potently that before, as two dragons blast him with the sonic shriek. Nezuko is soon bitten down on the arm and Genya finds himself being constricted in the dragon's coil.

Unable to use his breathing techniques because he has not healed, Tanjiro runs away from the dragons and evades their bites, making it far enough that he believe he is out of range and take a breather. The demon of hatred then beats on his drum and a dragon forms consecutive smaller necks from his mouth, stretching longer than before and allowing it to grab Tanjiro. As he is pulled into its jaws, Tanjiro attempts to slash it but has become too weak to do so and is swallowed whole, shocking Nezuko and Genya as they continue to struggle. Inside the dragon's throat, Tanjiro realizes the situation is hopeless as he is slowly crushed, with the demon declaring their struggle now over.

Without warning, Mitsuri leaps into the air and races along the dragon's neck, slashing it to pieces and breaking its head open to rescue Tanjiro. As the dragon falls to pieces and the demon realizes his new opponent is now a Hashira, Mitsuri hoists Tanjiro on her back and leaps up away from the falling dragon, speaking about her unease to see such a ghastly monster. As Tanjiro calls to her, she asks if he is okay and apologizes for being late. She safely lands to the ground and puts her hands on his shoulders, before happily rocking him back and forth while telling him he can now take a break, though Tanjiro cannot hear her with his burst eardrums.

Taking her blade, she states she will now rescue Nezuko and Genya, as the demon becomes annoyed at her interference. Asking that he now leave it to her, Mitsuri rushes forward as Tanjiro warns her that the demon is an Upper Rank. Three dragons attack the Love Hashira but she wraps her blade around the leading dragon's jaws and pulls taut, enabling her to use its neck to knock down the other two, before making her way to face the manifestation of hatred.