Who won? is the sixty-fifth chapter of Koyoharu Gotōge's Kimetsu no Yaiba.
Summary
Akaza barely escapes Inosuke's attack
Seeing an opportunity to defeat Akaza, Tanjirou rushed towards the Upper Moon. Desperate to escape before the sun rose, Akaza struggled to free himself from Kyoujurou's grip, in both arm and abdomen, but the Pillar was equally determined to deny this and decapitate him. Tanjirou urged Inosuke to move for Kyoujurou's sake, and the masked youth complied, attacking the trapped Akaza.
A fleeing Akaza is impaled by Tanjirou's thrown sword
The Upper Moon managed to escape at the last moment, sacrificing both of his arms, with Kyoujurou's blade still stuck in his neck. He fled into the nearby forest to escape the coming sunlight, but Tanjirou hurled his sword at the fleeing Demon, impaling him through the chest. The young Demon Hunter angrily told Akaza not to flee like a coward, causing the Upper Moon to think him an idiot, as he was only running from the sunlight. Tanjirou continued his rant, stating that the Demon Hunters would always hunt Akaza's kind, even at night when they had the advantage, and that they were humans whose wounds wouldn't just heal as readily as the Demons'.
Tanjirou proclaimed Kyoujurou to be stronger and more amazing than Akaza, and the true victor of their battle, before breaking down in tears. An appreciative Kyoujurou gently told him to stop yelling, as dying from his wounds would still count as a loss, and instructed him to come and have a final chat with him. The tearful youth complied, and Kyoujurou began to relate what he had remembered from his flashbacks.
Characters in Order of Appearance
- Kamado Tanjirou
- Hashibira Inosuke
- Rengoku Kyoujurou
- Akaza
- Enmu