Chapter 30

## Marionettes

**Marionettes** (操 (あやつ) り人 (にん) 形 (ぎょう) , *Ayatsuri Ningyō*?) is the thirtieth chapter of Koyoharu Gotoge's Kimetsu no Yaiba.

## Summary

Murata calls for Tanjiro and Inosuke to leave him, though Inosuke insults him for his earlier cowardice. Somewhat annoyed by his statement, Murata proclaims that he is still a member of the Demon Slayer Corps and believes he can handle the Demon Slayers, now knowing of their simple movements and knowledge about the spiders and threads. Thankful, Tanjiro grabs Inosuke and they venture deeper into the jungle, though the latter is angry for being unable to hit Murata for insulting him.

As they run, Tanjiro chides Inosuke for his behaviour, who only claims that Murata had insulted him, calling his partner "Monjiro". Suddenly, they encounter a female Demon Slayer who is entangled with threads, who cries out to summon someone of higher rank as she holds the bodies of her teammates.

Elsewhere in the forest, a female demon is seen giggling on a rock with excitement as the Demon Slayers get closer to her, since the threads in her closer proximity are thicker and stronger. Suddenly, a voice addresses her as "Mother"; she turns to see the pale boy, Rui, and becomes nervous. Rui asks if she can win; when she asks if he believes she is taking too long, the boy only warns her that if she doesn't hasten her efforts, he would tell "Father".

Frightened, Mother frantically reassures him that she can protect him. Having received his answer, Rui ominously tells her to hurry before leaving. With a newfound sense of urgency, Mother begins to control the Demon Slayers with more violent jerks. The female swordsman begins to quickly lunge and slash at the boys while her bones twist and crack in unnatural ways. Tanjiro dodges her attacks and sees two other Corps members: one of them pleading to be killed and put out of his misery due to the pain.

Without hesitation, Inosuke agrees and tries to attack them but is told to wait by Tanjiro. He begins to ponder on how to immobilize them without hurting them anymore then they already are. Tanjiro runs in the opposite direction as the female Demon Slayer gives chase, before he sprints and turns back quickly to grab and throw her into the air. The girl gets caught on a branch and remains tangled within the canopy of the tree.

Inosuke stays standing in disbelief and eagerly follows Tanjiro's lead; he grabs a nearby Corps member and successfully throws him into the tree where he stays tangled. He turns to face Tanjiro and tries to mock him by saying that is capable of doing anything that Tanjiro can do. In a comical response, Tanjiro apologizes to Inosuke for not watching what he was doing which angers him.

Seeing that her Demon Slayers are no longer able to move, Mother decides to use "*that doll*".

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Murata
* Tanjiro Kamado
* Inosuke Hashibira
* Ozaki
* Spider Demon (Mother)
* Rui

## Events

* Tanjiro Kamado and Inosuke Hashibira vs Spider Demon (Mother).
* Tanjiro and Inosuke find more controlled Demon Slayers.
* The demon controlling the threads, referred to as "Mother" and the demon boy, Rui, are part of a family. However, Mother appears to be fearful of him and "Father".
* Tanjiro and Inosuke discover a method to stop the control of the demon.