Chapter 2

## The Stranger

**The Stranger** (見 (み) 知 (し) らぬ誰 (だれ) か, *Mishiranu Dare Ka*?) is the second chapter of Koyoharu Gotoge's Kimetsu no Yaiba.

## Summary

Following Giyu's advice to keep Nezuko away from the sun, Tanjiro opts to buy a basket from a nearby farmer to protect her in the day. The farmer offers to give it for free since it is damaged but Tanjiro insists on paying. Again, he refuses money and adds that he can take the straw and bamboo for free. Tanjiro stubbornly wants to give him the money and the farmer annoyedly denies payment. Tanjiro slaps coins into his hand and thanks him, while the farmer yelps in pain. After repairing it, Tanjiro finds Nezuko has dug herself into a dirt tunnel; her scared expression showing her great reluctance to let sunlight touch her.

Unsure if she can fit, or even understand, Tanjiro slowly asks if she could shrink herself similar to how she previously grew in size. Eventually, Nezuko does as Tanjiro asks and fits inside. With the basket on her back, Tanjiro sets out to Mount Sagiri. He finds a woman and asks for directions. She tells him the mountain is across another but is worried since it is now dark. Tanjiro reassures her that he will be safe.

As night falls, Tanjiro and Nezuko find a small temple hut in the woods and decide to check it out. As they near the hut, Tanjiro smells blood and worries about the possibility of a traveler being injured, rushing into the hut. However, he instead finds a demon feasting upon the three dead residents. The demon shoots the siblings a glance and warns them that this is his feasting grounds. Upon seeing the bloodied bodies, Nezuko starts to salivate and Tanjiro goes into a state of shock at his first encounter with a man-eating demon.

The demon suddenly realizes that Tanjiro is human and rushes out of the temple to kill him. Tanjiro uses his hatchet to slash the demon by the neck, fending him away, but the wound immediately begins to heal. The demon proceeds to outspeed the boy and pins him onto the ground with his agility and strength. Before Tanjiro can be killed, Nezuko, fighting the urge to eat the bodies, comes to her brother's aid and kicks his head clean off from his neck while Tanjiro watches, shocked over her ability to kill.

However, the demon's body continues to attack Tanjiro despite being beheaded, prompting Nezuko to give the headless body another kick. The severed head yells at Tanjiro, asking why a demon would travel with a human. He runs to grab Nezuko, distracting her and Tanjiro while growing another pair of arms from the detached head. He charges at Tanjiro but the boy proceeds to headbutt and pin him onto a nearby tree with his hatchet handle.

Tanjiro runs off into the forest to look for Nezuko, finding her under attack from the headless body which continues to kick her dangerously close to a cliff's edge. He tackles the body off the cliff and is narrowly saved by Nezuko, making the headless body fall straight onto the ground below. Although the impact from the fall of his body causes the demon great pain, knocking him unconscious, it does not kill him.

The siblings return to the demon's head pinned by the tree and Tanjiro draws out a small knife, intending to end the demon's life. However, despite knowing that it will save the lives of others, he hesitates to kill it. Enough time in his hesitation passes for a person wearing a strange mask to approach him from behind and tells him that the knife that he is holding cannot kill the demon.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Tanjiro Kamado
* Nezuko Kamado
* Temple Demon
* Sakonji Urokodaki

## Events

* Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko Kamado vs Temple Demon.
* Tanjiro and Nezuko have their first encounter with Sakonji Urokodaki.