Susamaru

## Familial Status

**Susamaru** (朱紗丸, *Susamaru*?), along with Yahaba, was one of the main antagonists of the Asakusa Arc. She was a demon that aspired to join the Twelve Kizuki.

## Etymology

* Susamaru's name is comprised of the kanji for "cinnabar, vermillion" (朱, *su*?), "yarn, silk gauze, gossamer" (紗 , *sa*?), and "round, ball, pellet" (丸, *maru*?). When spoken altogether, it can roughly mean "red silk ball", which is a homage to the temari balls she uses in her fighting style.

## Appearance

Susamaru was a pale-skinned woman with bright yellow eyes with cat-like slits and white horizontal slats with black hair with orange-colored ends. She was taller than Tanjiro. Her hair was styled as bangs at the front.

Susamaru wore a pair of long silver earrings and an orange kimono that matched her hair. She had a black haori on top but took them both off when she entered her battle, revealing a small black sarashi that covers her chest and upper abdomen.

Although she normally had an average build, when fighting seriously, her body became noticeably more muscular. She could also grow two new pairs of arms as well.

## Personality

Susamaru was shown to be rather playful, yet very brash and quite immature while almost always smiling and always enjoys and accepts a challenge. Her pet phrase is "what fun this is" and she will repeat this constantly if engaged in bouts she deems amusing. Her immaturity is a stark contrast to Yahaba's seriousness.

She was fanatically loyal to Muzan and battled to her best ability in the hope of killing Tanjiro and taking Tamayo hostage for her master. When the latter had denounced Muzan as a manipulative coward, she defended his honour and denied her statements vehemently.

In her final moments, it is revealed that Susamaru was really just a girl pushed by the Demon Progenitor with the false notion of being a Twelve Kizuki, and her act of calling out to Tanjiro to play with her last temari caused him to lament her manipulation and blind devotion just to die brutally in the end.

## History

Susamaru was a young girl who enjoyed playing with temaris before she was transformed into a demon. At some point, she encountered Muzan Kibutsuji and was convinced by him that she, along with Yahaba, was a member of the Twelve Kizuki, the most powerful demons in history that serve under him. To this, she became intensely loyal to Muzan and was incredibly proud of her "position" as a Twelve Kizuki.

## Synopsis

### Asakusa Arc

Outraged by the appearance of a Demon Slayer wearing hanafuda-like earrings in Asakusa, Muzan summoned two of his followers to hunt him down. Susamaru and Yahaba walked the streets of the busy city searching for a trail to their next target. Yahaba uses his Blood Demon Art to track the footsteps of a Demon Slayer carrying a large box. Susamaru walked alongside him, bouncing her temari ball as she follows along.

   Yahaba soon found that the Demon Slayer was accompanied by others. Excited to slaughter them all, Susamaru asked how they should go about destroying them. Yahaba replied that of course, they must execute them vindictively for Muzan, much to Susamaru's liking. Susamaru followed her partner to an invisible house hidden behind a fake wall.

Susamaru uses her temari to destroy the seal hiding the building. Having tracked down their enemy, Susamaru agrees with Yahaba that they must kill them all brutally. Using Yahaba's arrows to guide her mari balls, Susamaru tears apart the house piece by piece. Her temari tear through the walls, floor, and roof of the house. After making a large enough opening to see inside the house, Susamaru notices the Demon Slayer with hanafuda-like earrings inside.

   Yahaba scolds Susamaru for her immature approach and for splattering dust on his kimono. Susamaru ignores him and continues having fun, replying only that Yahaba needs to relax and let loose on the enemy. Yahaba falls back and uses his arrows to guide Susamaru's temari at the enemy. The Temari Demon manages to take off Yushiro's head with a single ball.

Susamaru tells the Demon Slayer that it's time to die and darts a mari ball straight for him. He counters by stabbing the ball at an angle, impressing Susamaru. Yushiro's head regenerates and he curses the Temari Demon for ruining his peace with Lady Tamayo. Susamaru claims he's babbling and removes her kimono to grow four more arms. She tells them all that they should be honored to be killed by one of the Twelve Kizuki.

   The Temari Demon prepares six mari balls and asks her opponents to keep playing until they die. She tears up the house and injures the two Demons. Yushiro gives Tanjiro a way to see Yahaba's arrows and then he is effectively able to counter the temari. Susamaru returns her balls and Tanjiro confronts her directly. She tells him that she's going to bring Lord Kibutsuji his head for sure. Meanwhile, Tanjiro's sister Nezuko attacks Yahaba and dispells his arrows.

Without the guidance of Yahaba's arrows, Susamaru's balls are left open to counterattack and sliced to pieces by the Demon Slayer. Tanjiro uses a flowing dance technique and even manages to slice off all the Temari Demon's arms at once. He swears to Tamayo to extract blood from Demons close to Muzan.

    Amused, Susamaru asks Tanjiro what he is scheming to do with their blood. She refuses to allow him to displease Lord Kibutsuji and challenges him to take on the Twelve Kizuki. She instantly regenerates all six of her arms back and reminds Tanjiro that she'll be taking his head. Yahaba returns to the battlefield and throws Nezuko into her brother. Susamaru tries to kill them both at the same time but they're able to avoid it. Tanjiro takes on Yahaba while the other three deal with the Temari Demon.

Yushiro turns invisible using his Blood Demon Art and brings Susamaru to her knees while telling her to repent for hurting Lady Tamayo. Yahaba recognizes Tamayo's name as Tamayo the fugitive and Susamaru agrees she'll make a good souvenir. Susamaru goes back on the offensive and severs Nezuko's leg before kicking her back into the house. She asks if four heads will be enough for Kibutsuji, but Yahaba claims they're only taking Tanjiro and Tamayo's.

Susamaru kicks up a lot of dust by bouncing six of her balls, creating a smokescreen. Yushiro is able to evade the temari despite the dust and tries to close in on his enemy. The Temari Demon can see him moving through the dust despite his invisibility and throws another ball straight for his head. He's nearly decapitated again but a healed Nezuko arrives in time to kick the ball away.

    The Temari Demon keeps up her attack, but this time Nezuko is able to deflect the balls with kicks. Annoyed, Susamaru calls Nezuko a brat and challenges her. They kick the temari back and forth at incredible speeds where Nezuko proves she's growing in strength by the second. Nezuko is even able to kick the ball back so fast and hard that Susamaru can't even return it.

Impressed, Susamaru decides to go all out against Nezuko but Tamayo interrupts. She asks Susamaru about Muzan, calling him a coward for playing Demons against each other and manipulating them. Enraged, Susamaru tries to defend her master's honor but accidentally says his name out loud. Her brain function was inhibited by Tamayo's enchanting blood, which she secretly cast across the area, forcing Susamaru to tell the truth.

    Horrified, Susamaru runs away and begs for forgiveness from her lord. However, having invoked his name out loud, Kibutsuji's curse takes hold of Susamaru and three demonic arms spawn from her body. The arms crush Susamaru's body completely, leaving only her eye, an arm, and a pool of blood. Tamayo notices her eye isn't marked with a number, meaning she's not actually one of the Twelve Kizuki.

Tamayo takes a sample of Susamaru's blood and Tanjiro notices a faint voice asking for a mari ball. Tanjiro returns her mari and laments how Muzan manipulated Susamaru into thinking she was one of the Twelve Kizuki and compelled to fight until her eventual death. The sun rises and the remains of her arm is completely disintegrated.

## Abilities

### Overall Abilities

Susamaru was a fairly powerful demon, as evidenced by possessing a Blood Demon Art and displaying great proficiency in utilizing it in combat. Most notably, she possessed incredible physical strength which allows her to throw and kick her temaris at extreme speeds and with tremendous force. The temaris were particularly potent when used in conjunction with Yahaba's Koketsu arrows, as its lethality was enhanced by the arrows moving them in impossible directions. Even when Nezuko strengthened herself in order to match Susamaru, Tamayo noted that in a drawn-out battle, the Temari Demon would eventually prevail.

### Demon Abilities

**Flesh Manipulation:** Like all demons, Susamaru possessed the ability to control and alter her flesh to a certain extent. Susamaru briefly uses this ability to grow 4 more arms, allowing her to conjure more handballs, increasing her offensive output.

**Regeneration:** Susamaru, like all demons, possessed powerful regenerative abilities, as shown when Tanjiro had sliced off all her arms and she was able to heal just moments later. However, it was not enough to survive the activation of Muzan's curse, as his absolute control over demons left her unable to heal afterwards, leaving Susamaru to die in the sunlight exposed.

## Fighting Style

### Blood Demon Art

**Hiasobi Temari** (火遊び手毬 , *Hiasobi Temari*?): Susamaru's Blood Demon Art allowed her to conjure Temari handballs at will. She could either throw or kick them, and did so at such intense speed and power, she can completely annihilate any limbs with a single touch. Susamaru used this in conjunction with Yahaba's own Blood Demon Art to increase their lethality and effectiveness.

## Battles

Susamaru Battles

**Asakusa Arc**

* Tanjiro Kamado, Nezuko Kamado, Tamayo and Yushiro vs Susamaru and Yahaba