Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko Kamado vs Swamp Demon (2024)

Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko Kamado vs Swamp Demon focuses on the battle between the Demon Slayer Tanjiro Kamado and his accompanying demon sister Nezuko Kamado against the Swamp Demon.

Prologue[]

Every night in the town to the northwest, a young girl disappears mysteriously without a trace. The latest victim, Satoko, is taken unexpectedly whilst she walks with her fiancé Kazumi at night.^[1] He is blamed for her sudden disappearance,^[2] despite his pleas that she had vanished with him knowing.

On his first mission as an officiated member of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tanjiro Kamado travels to the town to investigate the disappearances. There, he meets a grieving Kazumi and believes his statement. Investigating from the afternoon till sunset, Kazumi tries to persuade Tanjiro to hold off and continue in the day, only for Tanjiro to note that demons are only active at night.^[3]

Elsewhere, the demon uses his Blood Demon Art to drag another girl named Tokie from the village, into his swamp dimension. Its scent gets stronger, enabling Tanjiro to track it down to the exact spot where the demon is holding Tokie underground. He stabs his blade into the ground, forcing the pocket portal to open. It spews out murky water, but Tanjiro sees Tokie's kimono and is able to pull her out.^[4]

A morphed demon appears from the bog and screeches at Tanjiro before disappearing again. Kazumi catches up to him and Tanjiro asks him to hold onto Tokie so he can protect them. Tanjiro examines the area and the possible places the demon could appear from. Even when submerged in its own swamp, the demon's scent isn't erased.^[5]

Battle[]

Tanjiro sense the demon is ready to attack and prepares to use Water Breathing, Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought as a counter and rushes to the spot where the portal will appear. However, three bog puddles appear and three different demons sprawl out of the swamp. The young Demon Slayer jumps to avoid their grasp and calms himself as he switches forms. Tanjiro tries to attack all of the three demons at once and uses Water Breathing, Eight Form: Waterfall Basin.^[6]

Due to switching forms mid-strike, his attack is too shallow to cause sufficient damage. He calms himself again, determined to make the demon talk about Muzan Kibutsuji. The Swamp Demon tries to go for Kazumi and Tokie, but Tanjiro protects them with Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel.^[7]

Once again, Tanjiro's attack is too shallow, but he was able to save the others. He takes two more quick swings at the demon and misses, forcing the demon to retreat. The young Demon Slayer cannot chase the demon or take a full swing with Kazumi and Tokie nearby. The two-horned clone is not amused and demands the Demon Slayer back off or else Tokie will lose flavor. The three-horned clone tells his other self to calm down and claims to have eaten plenty of sixteen-year-old girls already. Kazumi demands to know what the demon did with his fiancée, only to find out that they devoured her.^[8]

Enraged, Tanjiro quickly evades the three-horned clone's surprise attack. Its arm cracks the wall next to Tanjiro but he jumps above the demon and slashes its arm off. He considers this a miss and then realizes he has come too close to the wall. Tanjiro twists his body over to avoid the attack and is forced to back up by an attack from underground. The two-horned clone nearly lands a hit by appearing from behind, but Nezuko kicks out of her box and breaks the demon's neck.^[9]

The Swamp Demon questions why a swordsman would be accompanying a demon. The downed two-horned clone fixes its neck and they all fade back into the bog. Under hypnotic suggestion from Sakonji Urokodaki, Nezuko sees all humans as her family, and she will fight to protect them.^[10] She rushes the demons as they appear from the swamp and tries to crush them with a fierce axe kick.^[11]

The demon disappears into the bog in time to evade her attack. They try to lead her away but Tanjiro asks her to return to his side. She runs back to him and one of the demons try to grab her, but she easily flips over him to avoid it. This allows Tanjiro to realize that he can let Nezuko protect Kazumi and Tokie while he focuses on attacking.^[12]

A swamp portal opens beneath them as a distraction while the two-horned clone goes after the girl. Nezuko protects Kazumi and Tokie and keeps the demon back. Tanjiro asks Nezuko to continue protecting Kazumi and Tokie while the young Demon Slayer heads on to confront the other two clones. He descends into the demon's bog dimension, where there is hardly any air and the clothes of many victims float about.^[13]

The two clones inside the swamp believe it must be hard for Tanjiro to move or breathe, and that he is a fool for diving in. They swim at him at high-speed, but the young Demon Slayer declares he is not to be underestimated. On top of Mount Sagiri, where Tanjiro spent over two years training, the air too has little oxygen like the swamp. There, Tanjiro also learned that Water Breathing's forms can only be unleashed to their full potential underwater.^[14]

The demons dart away at a sharp angle just as Tanjiro is about to counterattack, thought he notices that he can wait for them to get close again. They try and rush him from a different angle, but Tanjiro senses the Opening Thread. He uses a technique that can be unleashed with no sure footing, a fierce slicing vortex created by a violent twist of his upper and lower body, Water Breathing, Sixth Form: Whirlpool.^[15]

The slicing whirlpool slashes apart the clones into pieces, killing them instantly. Despite his victory, Tanjiro is saddened by the number of victims that the demons have claimed. He begins to run short of breath and swims back toward the entrance to the swamp. Meanwhile, Nezuko is overpowering the last remaining demon with her bare hands.^[16]

Nezuko weaves through four of the demon's strikes in a row, including a strong hammer fist that crushes the ground. She follows up with a powerful jab into the demon's gut that is strong enough to make him cough up blood. The last clone manages to evade her next punch, but he immediately gets hit by another punch and kick combo. The demon tries to slip back into the bog, but the girl acts quickly and sweep kicks so the demon can't escape. She tries to hit him with a flying kick but he's able to block it.^[17]

Nezuko is too fast for the demon to dive back into the swamp, but he begins to get used to her straightforward fighting style. They exchange a few blows that they are able to either redirect or avoid until the demon narrowly blocks another strong to his head. He is able to block her next combo, confident he can regenerate from anything she throws at him. The demon rushes Nezuko and is able to block her jab, giving him an opening to slash her forehead with his claws.^[18]

The Swamp Demon tries to stab his claws into Nezuko's face, but Tanjiro emerges from the portal in time to save his sister. Tanjiro cuts off the demon's arm, demanding the demon not lay a hand on his beloved sister. He follows up by slicing off the demon's other arm before it can attack again, ultimately defeating the Swamp Demon.^[19]

Aftermath[]

The last clone of the Swamp Demon falls over and realizes its other selves have been killed. Tanjiro tells him he gives off a terrible stench and asks how many girls he's kidnapped. The demon tries to defend its actions by claiming he was killing girls so they wouldn't get old and taste bad. Irritated, Tanjiro cuts out the demon's tongue and moves on to his next question.^[20]

Tanjiro presses his blade close to the demon and forces him back against a fence. He demands to know all the information the demon has on Muzan Kibutsuji. However, Tanjiro is not prepared for the crippling fear of Muzan the demon has. He cowers and trembles down to his bones, claiming he can't say anything.^[20]The scent of fear grows thick and the demon acts out of panic, recalling when Muzan once threatened him to not say anything by reminding him he sees and knows everything he does.

He grows his arms back and lashes out, forcing Tanjiro to cut his head off and end him. He laments at being unable to gather any information and checks up on Nezuko. She has fallen asleep to heal her wounds, so Tanjiro promises to protect her from now on and puts her back inside her box.^[21]

References[]

Navigation[]