WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2, Episode 16, "Defeating an Upper Rank Demon," now streaming on Funimation, Hulu, and Crunchyroll.
Well, that episode title was a lie. Things are worse than ever in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba after the not-aptly named episode "Defeating an Upper Rank Demon," saw two beloved Demon Slayers severely wounded if not outright killed. Gyutaro, Upper-Rank Six of the Twelve Kizuki, personally saw to it that all hope of defeating him was unequivocally erased by skewering Inosuke Hashibira to retrieve his sister's head after dismembering and disabling Tengen Uzui. Now, an exhausted Tanjiro Kamado and a surprisingly competent Zenitsu Agatsuma are the only ones left to stop the Upper-Rank demon siblings.
Demon Slayer's "Entertainment District" arc has been Inosuke's time to shine. Trusting Tanjiro and Zenitsu to run interference, Inosuke charged forward to take on Daki himself, impressively using his Beast-Breathing techniques to saw her head clean off. He intelligently grabbed Daki's head and made a run for it, but unfortunately, didn't make it very far before Gyutaro appeared behind him and drove one of his Blood Sickles through the feral Demon Slayer's chest. Even if Inosuke survived such a direct blow to his heart, Gyutaro's poison might just finish him, considering even Tengen struggled to fight off its effects.
Gyutaro's attack on Inosuke was surprising, because last time the episode checked in on the demon, he'd had his hands full fighting Tengen Uzui. The Sound Hashira seemed to have been fighting the Upper-Rank demon on almost equal footing, and though it's unclear exactly what happened, the mighty Tengen was now unmoving on the ground with his dismembered hand lying next to him. Considering Uzui was the only one who could even react to Gyutaro's speed, that he is down with evidence that Gyutaro's poison is spreading throughout his body does not bode well for the possibility of Upper-Six actually being defeated.
Upon realizing that Daki had been beheaded, Gyutaro defeated Tengen, crossed the battlefield, and stabbed Inosuke in a matter of seconds. Similar to how Akaza toyed with Kyojuro Rengoku during the "Mugen Train" arc, it seems as though Gyutaro was also playing down to his competition. Simple math would indicate that Upper Six shouldn't be nearly as powerful as Upper Three, but Gyutaro is starting to look equally as unbeatable. The first clue to Gyutaro's obscene strength should have been that he decided he didn't even need both his eyes to fight a Hashira, instead, he gave Daki his eye in order to keep an eye on her own fight.
Now that Tengen and Inosuke are wounded, it's up to Tanjiro and Zenitsu to defeat Daki and Gyutaro. Defeating just Daki would be doable, as Tanjiro noted that intense speed is needed to decapitate Daki, something that Zenitsu excels at. Tanjiro's hybrid Breathing Style of the Hinokami Kagura and Water-Breathing surprised Gyutaro with its speed and actually wounded him, so all hope is not necessarily lost even though 50% of the protagonists are down for the count. Tanjiro has been hard on himself in an effort to actually be useful against an Upper-Rank this time around, and now is not only his chance to prove himself, but he has no other choice.
Say what you will about Gyutaro, but he's a good brother. Riding to Daki's rescue every time she is decapitated, and that they both need to be decapitated for either to die, Tanjiro and Zenitsu have a tough task ahead of them. Even with the possibility of Tengen's wives providing backup, a miracle is certainly going to be needed for the Demon Slayer Corps to defeat an Upper-Rank demon for the first time in over 100 years. If there's one thing about Tanjiro that can be counted on, it's that he learns from his mistakes. If he can't prevent any more sneak attacks from Gyutaro, he might just live long enough to find a way to win.
