Tanjiro continues fighting the demons at the mountain, asking them for a method to turn a demon into a human again, though none answer. Tanjiro and three others end up passing the exam, all of whom are assigned the lowest of 10 ranks.

Tanjiro returns to the cabin and reunites with Nezuko, who has awoken from her year-and-a-half long slumber.

Two years have passed since Nezuko's transformation, and Tanjiro leaves for the Final Selection. Before his departure, Urokodaki warns him that a demon's strength is equivalent to the number of humans it has eaten, gifting him a fox mask with a protection spell.

Tanjiro reaches Mt. Fujikasane, where wisteria flowers bloom year-round, creating a prison for demons, and is informed that to pass the test, the applicants must survive there for 7 days.

Over the next 6 months, Tanjiro trains with Urokodaki, improving his physical form and learning how to use a special breathing technique Total Concentration, to accelerate his stamina and speed.

Tanjiro continues to make his way to Mt. Sagiri, carrying Nezuko in a clothed straw basket on his back during the day. On the way they are attacked by another demon which they manage to restrain with their own efforts. Sakonji Urokodaki then appears and orders Tanjiro to kill it, but he hesitates until daybreak, where the sunlight burns the demon to ash. Despite worrying that Tanjiro's kindness and weak resolve could bring his undoing against the demons, Urokodaki brings him and Nezuko to Mt. Sagiri, where he leaves the sleeping Nezuko in his cabin and brings Tanjiro to the peak of the mountain, ordering him to return by daybreak, as a test to see if he is fit to become a demon hunter.

Tanjiro Kamado is a young boy who lives happily with his family until one day he arrives home just to find his mother and siblings slaughtered, except for his younger sister Nezuko, who was turned into a demon herself.