Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Entertainment District Arc – 08 – Collecting from the Blessed

Gyuutarou deeply resents Uzui’s talent and lucky lot in life, but that makes Uzui laugh. Not only does he not consider himself talented in the least compared to some of the other amazing Hashira he knows, but he’s one of only two surviving siblings in the Uzui family, and of them, only he decided to live life as a better man and shinobi, not treating his subordinates like pawns or his wives as expendable.

At the end of the day, Gyuutarou isn’t interested in Uzui’s life story, only killing him and continuing to be ridiculously evil, so seven minutes in, the their battle continues. While Uzui’s resistance to potion is impressive, it is not absolute, and he’s definitely at a disadvantage against both Gyuutarou and Daki. So he’s happy when his underlings make flashy entrances all at once.

Inousuke and Zenitsu take on Daki on the roof, with the latter showing off some lightning breathing (there’s nothing flashier than lightning) and the former showing off…well, his usual bluster and confidence. But when Gyuutarou closes one of his eyes below them and it appears as a third eye between Daki’s, the two are suddenly in synch, with his blood slashes and her beefed-up belts packing a nasty one-two punch.

While the brother and sister are fighting in harmony, Uzui’s poisoned state combined with the others’ inexperience mean they’re totally out of synch, a vulnerability Gyuutarou can easily see and is ready to exploit. That said, Uzui, Tanjirou, Inousuke and Zenitsu still have numbers on their side, and are just able to hold of the horrifying flurry of blood and belt attacks.

Their four-on-two advantage becomes five-on-one when the still-hobbled Hinatsuru makes it to a rooftop and fires off a fusillade of wisteria-laced kunai that Gyuutarou cannot escape. Even though Uzui gets hit by some of the blades, the wisteria doesn’t affect him, while it makes Gyuutarou slow and numb.

Hinatsuru’s assist seems to be just the thing to turn the tables in the battle, as now Gyuutarou is as poisoned as Uzui, and has slowed enough that Tanjirou can come within an inch of his neck. Of course, we know that he and Daki can (most likely) only be defeated if they’re both beheaded. But as next week’s episode is “Defeating an Upper Rank”, I imagine one way or another Daki and Gyuutarou are going down, perhaps after one or two more turns of the tide. Should be fun…and flashy.