WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2, Episode 12, "Things Are Gonna Get Real Flashy!!," now streaming on Funimation, Hulu and Crunchyroll.
If it wasn't clear already, it's certainly obvious now that Inosuke Hashibira is the MVP of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's "Entertainment District" arc. The feral, boar head-wearing Demon Slayer briefly brought the world together by making audiences everywhere cringe and say, "that's disgusting," as he successfully located the last of Tengen Uzui's missing wives. Inosuke has been at the top of his game during the second half of Season 2, succeeding where Tanjiro and Zenitsu failed and managing to churn viewers' stomachs along the way.
It's not like the internet to agree on something, but the consensus appears to be that Inosuke's ability to dislocate all of his body's joints is really, really gross. Following Tanjiro's supposition that there must be tunnels between houses that the demon they're hunting travels through, Inosuke tears House Ogimoto apart until he locates a small hole in the earth. Unfortunately, it's too small for the Beast-Breathing swordsman to get through.
However, "Lord Inosuke," as he so often calls himself in Demon Slayer, has never been one to allow logic or physics to stand in his way. Realizing only his head fits inside the hole, Inosuke decides he'll just dislocate every joint in his body -- because of course he can do that. By turning his body into a limp noodle with a series of shudder-inducing popping sounds, Inosuke dives into the hole and worms underground, cackling like a maniac all the while. Mercifully ending the audience's suffering by popping his bones back into place after reaching a large cavern, it's here that Inosuke proves Tengen's mission would never have succeeded without him.
At the start of the episode, Tengen is hunting in the city when something catches his attention on the ground. Ear to the earth, he can hear the sound of someone battling beneath the surface. The story then jumps back in time to "somewhat earlier" when Inosuke discovers the hole beneath the floorboards and locates Daki's "food locker," where he quickly frees Makio, Suma and Zenitsu. The group begins battling the kimono belt demon that appears to be an extension of Daki's will, and the sound of their fighting draws Tengen's attention from the surface.
Inosuke's ability to dislocate his joints -- which, again, ew -- means he's the only one who could have made it to Daki's food locker. Tengen likely wouldn't have located the underground chamber on his own without the sounds made by Inosuke and the others leading the way. If Inosuke hadn’t found them, Tengen's wives, Zenitsu and all of Daki's other victims may well have been lost forever.
It's surprising that Inosuke has had such a standout performance in the Entertainment District, considering he should be the one least suited to operating undercover in a bustling city. Yet of the six people Tengen sent undercover, Inosuke is the only one whose cover was not immediately blown. The first one to encounter Daki and learn that she can travel between the walls, Inosuke was hunting demons as Tanjiro did chores while fooling no one and Zenitsu played the shamisen.
Inosuke has had a string of great character moments in Demon Slayer's "Entertainment District" arc. This trend could be setting him up as the hero of this particular conflict, or it could be his last chance to shine before tragedy strikes. Now that Tengen's wives are safe and accounted for, the group will likely converge on the spot where Tanjiro is currently fighting Daki alone. Considering Inosuke is riding a hot streak of successes, he'll be eager to join the battle. Upper-Six doesn't appear to have revealed her true power yet, which could spell disaster for anyone who might brashly challenge her, as Inosuke is wont to do.
