Chapter 37

## Broken Blade

**Broken Blade** (折 (お) れた刀 (とう) 身 (しん) , *Ore ta tōshin*?) is the thirty-seventh chapter of Koyoharu Gotoge's Kimetsu no Yaiba.

## Summary

As the newly transformed Spider Demon towers menacingly over Inosuke, he believes he had never felt such pressure seeing an opponent. Believing he will die, he remembers Tanjiro's words to wait for his return. Trying to find the motivation to continue, he remembers when Hisa had told him to live his life with pride and wished him good fortune. Realizing he cannot lose now, he takes a stance and declares he is "*Inosuke Hashibira of the Demon Slayer Corps*" and commands the demon to face him.

He faces the demon head on but is immediately punched so hard, he slams into several trees. Father quickly approaches the downed Demon Slayer to finish him off, but Inosuke avoids the blow and leaps into the air to attack him from behind. He tries to slice the Spider Demon's neck by using his **Beast Breathing, Third Fang: Devour** but his blades break when trying to slice through the thick hide. Father becomes infuriated and once again slams Inosuke into another nearby tree, knocking the wind out of him.

He picks Inosuke up by the throat and squeezes him, yelling once again for him to "*stay away from my family.*" Inosuke refuses to succumb and uses his **Beast Breathing, First Fang: Pierce** as a last ditch effort to escape, but his broken weapons fail to damage the giant Spider Demon.

Father squeezes even harder and crushes his opponent's throat, and life begins to flash before his eyes. Inosuke recalls a memory of a woman coated in blood apologizing to him as an infant, and he also envisions the faces of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Hisa. As he wonders who the woman is, blood begins to pour from his mask.

Father's arm is suddenly sliced off and Inosuke drops to the floor. The Spider Demon squeals in shock as Giyu Tomioka enters the battle. Father quickly regenerates his arm and sprints towards Giyu with extraordinary speed, but the Hashira preforms the **Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide** and dismembers the demon instantly. Inosuke gets up from the floor and stares at Giyu with admiration, becoming excited trying to figure out who he is as the latter nonchalantly proceeds to sheath his sword with the process of **Nōtō** (納 (のう) 刀 (とう) , *nōtō*?).

Elsewhere on the mountain, Rui eerily reveals his intentions to slowly torture Tanjiro to death, but reassures him that if he takes back what he said, he will not prolong his demise. Despite sustaining several wounds, Tanjiro stubbornly refuses to take back his words and goes on to justify his reasons saying that Rui is the one that's in the wrong. Tanjiro braces himself and smells out the threads to avoid them as he approaches Rui.

He uses the **Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash** to slice through Rui's threads, but looks on in shock as his blade is split into two pieces by the thread.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Spider Demon (Father)
* Inosuke Hashibira
* Tanjiro Kamado
* Hisa (Vision)
* Unknown woman (Flashback)
* Zenitsu Agatsuma
* Giyu Tomioka
* Rui

## Events

* Inosuke Hashibira and Giyu Tomioka vs Spider Demon (Father).
* Giyu intervenes, defeating Father and rescuing Inosuke.
* Tanjiro Kamado vs Rui.
* Tanjiro's blade breaks while trying to attack Rui.