Chapter 7

## Spirits of the Deceased

**Spirits of the Deceased** (亡 (ぼう) 霊 (れい) , *Bōrei*?) is the seventh chapter of Koyoharu Gotoge's Kimetsu no Yaiba.

## Summary

In the forests of Mount Sagiri, at the site of Tanjiro's sliced boulder, Sabito and Makomo converse about the boy they have taught. Makomo worriedly asks if Tanjiro will be able to 'do it'. Sabito is unsure and remarks that no amount of effort is to much.

The morphed demon asks Tanjiro what Meiji emperor now sits on the throne. When Tanjiro answers that the imperial family is now the Taisho, the demon roars in anger over being imprisoned for so long, new dynasties have occurred. He curses Sakonji Urokodaki out loud and when Tanjiro asks how he knows of his trainer, it replies it was Sakonji himself who imprisoned him on Mount Fujikasane 47 years ago during the Keio era of the Edo Period. Tanjiro is shocked, with the applicant he saved claiming he is lying, stating that the demons of Final Selection are ones who have only killed two/three people. The demon replies he has survived for so long by eating 50 of them.

Tanjiro suddenly remembers Sakonji's advice that a demon's strength is equal to its number of human victims. It begins to count to 14 and suddenly points at Tanjiro, claiming he is the fourteenth student of Sakonji he has encountered, having devoured the previous 13. He mentions two that he will never forget: one was a boy with peach colored hair and a scar on his mouth, the most powerful student he has faced, and the other was a small girl who made up for her lack of size and strength with extreme agility.

He adds that by knowing the texture of the warding mask they wear, he can identify them as Sakonji's students and devour them in revenge, claiming that he might as well had fed them to him. Finally, he mentions that when he told Makomo this, she flew into a rage and couldn't focus, leading him to rip her apart.

Enraged, Tanjiro lunges towards the morphed demon, slicing away its arms erratically. Sabito, sensing his anguished fighting, tells him to even out his breathing and forget about us. The boy is then struck by a stray arm from the side and slams into a tree, breaking his mask. The applicant he had saved sees him about to die and runs away to escape. Before the demon can grab him, Tanjiro sees a vision of Shigeru begging him to wake up.

He avoids the demon's grasp barely and continues slicing away its arms. He senses a scent from below and leaps up to avoid more arms from grabbing him, surprising the demon. It tries to punch him with a giant arm but Tanjiro headbutts it to deflect the blow. Seeing he has escaped his hold, the demon remains unfazed, remembering that its neck is so tough, even Sabito was unable to slice it.

Tanjiro gets close and senses the Opening Thread. When Makomo fears that Tanjiro will die too, Sabito states that it is not certain if he can win or lose, but what is undisputable is that the boulder Tanjiro had managed to sliced is the largest one anyone has ever managed to accomplish.

Tanjiro uses **Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash** and cuts through the neck of the giant demon.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Makomo
* Sabito
* Tanjiro Kamado
* Hand Demon
* Sakonji Urokodaki
* Shigeru Kamado

## Events

* The Hand Demon is revealed to be the oldest and strongest demon of Final Selection.
* 13 of Sakonji's previous student have been killed by the Hand Demon, including Sabito and Makomo.
* Tanjiro Kamado vs Hand Demon.