As the corps battles with Kokushibo, the Upper Rank Demon #1, we dive into his backstory of four hundred years ago. There, we see him and his his twin brother, Yoriichi, who was born with a special mark on his forehead, and who grew up to develop the several breathing techniques for the Demon Slayer Corps. Kokushibo was immensely jealous of his twin’s exceptional skill with the sword, and he spent most of his life trying to learn and catch up to Yoriichi’s skill. In the present battle, Kokushibo goes against Himejima, who must rely heavily on his use of seeing the Transparent World to fight this powerful demon, as well as Tokito, Genya, and Sanemi.
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The goodwill tournament continues between the Kyoto and Tokyo jujutsu schools but it becomes clear very quickly that the Kyoto students have been given orders to kill Itadori. Todo, a strong student from the Kyoto school, takes Itadori on and challenges him to rethink what he knows about how he harnesses cursed energy The students square off against each other instead of fight the demons that have been released around the arena. We learn of Panda’s true nature and what makes him so special as he battles a student from Kyoto who has a similar situation. Maki and Mai come face to face and they use the battle to settle a familial dispute that has been raging for years.
Luffy and his crew finish their fight with the Black Cat pirates, and their reward is a new ship: the Merry Go. Usopp decides that his time being a villager is done, and that he must finally be a pirate sailing the seven seas. Initially content to sail on his own, Luffy invites Usopp to join the crew even thought they disagree on who should be captain. The crew find a few more folks who know Zolo during a cannon practice “accident”, and Nami saves the day with her advanced sea knowledge and knowing the signs of scurvy. The group agrees that they need a cook to do something with all the wonderful stores they have in the hold. One of the new folks help steer the Merry Go towards a floating restaurant that might have a cook Luffy could persuade to join the crew, but a skirmish between a naval officer gets Luffy in hot water immediately upon arrival at the restaurant.
Kanao and Inosuke battle Doma to avenge their families and carry through Shinobu’s master plan for revenge, and Kanao uses a breathing technique that gives her a boost but may cost her in the end. Elsewhere, the Mist Hashira, Tokito, find Kokushibo, the Kizuki's Upper Rank #1 demon, who recognizes Tokito’s ancestors and believes he will be valuable as a demon. He tries to convince Tokito to convert while battling the Hashira and other Demon Slayers. Genya and Sanemi also come to help battle Kokushibo, who uses powerful Moon Breathing techniques despite being a demon. Himejima, the Stone Hashira, also joins the fray as Kokushibo is the most powerful they have all faced to this point.
The band of heroes decide to help Usopp save his village against the Black Cat pirates, who intend to sack the village and kill Miss Kaya for her fortune. Nami, Zolo, and Usopp set a trap for the pirates, but their intel ends up being wrong. The group has to run the other side of the island to intercept the pirates. Luffy runs ahead, assuming he knows the way but gets lost. Zolo and Nami try to stall the pirates on their own. As soon as Luffy rejoins the group, he is sidelined again by the hypnotizing pirate Django who puts him to sleep underneath the destroyed stem post of the Black Cats’ ship. Zolo goes up against the fierce Meowban Brothers, the two pirate ship guards, until Captain Kuro confronts them all and reveals his fierce power.
Tanjiro dives into another memory of a technique his father once taught him called the Transparent World where he can see and sense his enemies’ on a muscular and molecular level, and it gives him an edge in fighting Akaza with Giya. As Tanjiro’s attacks begin connecting, Akaza starts to remember his human life, and his loved ones plead to him from the afterlife. Elsewhere, Kanao takes on Doma, but Inosuke also arrived to join that battle. While Inosuke was ready to show off the product of all his training, it turns out that he has a terrible connection with Doma as well, and he re-enters the fray with a renewed hatred for his foe.
With this volume, we conclude the action of Buggy the Clown and set sail once more. There’s a brief adventure on an almost uninhabited island where the small crew gain some fruit and another lesson about what’s really important in life, and it’s not always treasure. Then, it’s off to another village to hopefully get some real supplies, even though Luffy is sure that he’s lucky enough to not need things like food and water. In this village, they meet Captain Usopp who is captain of nothing but tall tales and a few village kids who like to pretend they’re pirates. Usopp is a favorite of the local well-to-do Miss Kaya, to the chagrin of her butler who thinks it shameful she would associate with the town lowlife. But it doesn’t take long for Luffy and Usopp to uncover a foul plot in this town.
Illustrated by Tsukasa Abe
Frieren and Fern face the final of their three trials for Mage First Class, and it’s a personal test with Serie, the elf mage who trained Frieren’s master, Flamme. The results come out exactly as Frieren predicted, knowing all too well the grudge Serie still bears. Finally, the party can move into the Northern Lands and continue their journey. In this part of the kingdom, there’s no shortage of odd quests and small jobs to be requested of the powerful Demon King-killer, and she continues to happily trade work for spells just as before in her journey. In the great walled city of Heib, Fern and Stark find themselves with some spare time, so Stark jokingly suggests they go on a day-long date. Not to be outdone, Fern acquiesces.
Shinobu, the Insect Hashira, takes on Doma of the Upper Rank Kizuki demons and the demon who murdered her older sister, and her ultimate revenge plot is revealed. In another part of the Infinity Castle, Zenitsu takes on a demon who, in human form, was someone from his past. Tanjiro and Giyu fight Akaza of the Upper Kizuki, and Tanjiro’s training pays off. He can actually hold his own against Akaza, unlike the last time the two came face to face in the fight with Rengoku. But there’s something special about Akaza’s power that allows him to anticipate their every move, and it may have something in line with how Inosuke fights as well.
Luffy, Zolo, and a thief named Nami get tangled up with Buggy the Pirate after Nami steals a map to the Grand Line and pretends Luffy is her boss she stole it for. Luffy is captured, and Zolo inadvertently rescues three of Buggy’s crew who Nami stranded previously. Buggy also has mysterious powers from eating a devil’s fruit, though not the same powers as Luffy. Buggy and his crew have been terrorizing a village and using buildings as target practice for their cannonballs. Luffy tries to convince Nami to become part of his crew after discovering that she is a great navigator, but Nami refuses to become a pirate. Luffy continues to learn what treasure can mean to different folks and creatures as he discovers a dog guarding a Pet Food store for his owner and the mayor who feels the town is his treasure.
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