Demon Slayer: Here’s What Mitsuri Said to Tanjirō in Season 3, Episode 1!

Mitsuri Kanroji is a major supporting character in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. She is a Demon Slayer in the Demon Slayer Corps and the current Love Hashira. Mitsuri Kanroji played a large role in the manga, and with the Swordsmith Village Arc finally being adapted into an anime, we can finally expect to see more of her in the anime as well. Mitsuri might seem like a simple character trope, but she had a very interesting and powerful backstory. This article is going to take us back to Episode 1 of the third season of Demon Slayer, to a specific scene where Mitrusi said something to Tanjirō, as we are going to reveal what Mitsuri said to Tanjirō in that episode.

Before leaving the Swordsmith Village, Mitsuri revealed to Tanjirō that there is a secret weapon near the village he could use for training; this was revealed to be the Yoriichi Type Zero doll that would also contain Yoriichi’s old katana. Due to Mitsuri being the Love Hashira and having a very flirty way of speaking, Tanjirō also blushed when she whispered it in his ear.

The rest of this article is going to provide further information on Mitsuri’s talk with Tanjirō and the Yoriichi Type Zero Doll. We are going to answer some questions, and we are going to fully introduce the whole narrative so that you don’t have any dilemmas regarding this dialogue and its role in Demon Slayer, especially related to what happened later and, of course, the doll itself.

Mitsuri talked about a “hidden weapon”

Before we continue, have a look at the scene:

After recovering from the adventure in the Entertainment District, Tanjirō went to the Swordsmith Village to get a new katana from Hotaru. There, he met Mitsuri Kanroji, the Love Hashira, who was also recovering at the village. Mitsuri was quite happy that Tanjirō and Nezuko came to the village, so the three of them hung out; Nezuko was especially happy because she liked Mitsuri, and Mitsuri liked her very much as well. On the other hand, Tanjirō also talked a lot with Mitsuri, which is why they were both sad when she said she was leaving after a nice meal they had together.

Mitsuri complimented Tanjirō on his achievements and, before leaving, revealed that there was a secret weapon in the forest near the village that Tanjirō could train with to become stronger. Seeing how flirtatious she is and how her voice is the same, Tanjirō also started bleeding from his nose but recovered soon.

The gist of it was that there was a secret weapon that Tanjirō needed to find and train with to become even better. At the moment, Tanjirō had no clue what the weapon was, but he would soon set out to explore the surrounding area to find it. In our next section, we are, of course, going to tell you about the weapon and what happened.

The “weapon” was actually the Yoriichi Type Zero training doll

As we have hinted, the “weapon” Mitsuri was talking about was actually a huge battle doll that Kotetsu’s forefathers had made and had, through the years, kept in tip-top shape. It had six arms, each with a katana, and was a huge doll. Only the most expert Demon Slayers could keep up with it because it was so extremely powerful and had a greater fighting capacity than the typical human. The doll itself was named Yoriichi Type Zero, as it was modeled after Yoriichi Tsukiguni, the first and most powerful Demon Slayer in the history of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Although it had more arms and was larger than Yoriichi, while not being able to use his techniques, the doll was still enormously strong and could use a total of 108 different moves that Yoriichi himself could use. It was a very effective training tool in that regard, but it must be acknowledged that, over time, it has undoubtedly substantially weakened due to the passage of time and the damage it has been exposed to.

As revealed in the anime’s third season, the Yoriichi Type Zero Doll also contained a valuable object hidden inside it. Namely, when Mitsuri Kanroji told Tanjirō about a supposed “secret weapon,” the young Demon Slayer rushed to the forest near the Swordsmith Village to find it. After some walking, he found Kotetsu and Muichiro, who were fighting over the fact that Muichiro wanted to damage the “secret weapon”; Muichiro wanted to do it, but Kotetsu, naturally, wanted to stop him. Of course, being stronger than Kotetsu, Muichiro managed to obtain the key to activate the doll by force and fought it.

Muichiro then uses the doll to practice. Kotetsu is extremely depressed after Muichiro breaks one of the doll’s arms and steals one of its swords, partially destroying the doll, but Tanjirō can cheer him up. The two proceed to the doll’s location and test it out; when they see that it is still functional, Kotetsu forces Tanjirō to train vigorously with it, depriving him of food and water for two days. Tanjirō wasn’t given food until he successfully hit the doll for the first time. Kotetsu was a good but cruel motivator.

The youthful Demon Slayer improved steadily. The Yoriichi Type Zero Doll also had a valuable item concealed inside it, which was made clear when he was able to smash the doll’s head. Yoriichi Tsugikuni was the owner of this 300-year-old katana. The reason Tanjirō was able to do it is that, even though Muichiro did damage some of the doll, he was unable to discover its secret and locate the reward inside of it.

Despite being rusty and useless, Tanjirō considered this a significant prize; Kotetsu even apologized for the trophy’s unusability. But, soon after, Hotaru appeared and took the sword, which was full of rust, promising that he would clean it and make it into a sword that Tanjirō could use without being afraid that it would break.

And this is the whole story of Mitsuri, Tanjirō, and the “hidden weapon” the Love Hashira was talking about. As you can see, Mitsuri gave Tanjirō a solid piece of advice and information, something the young Demon Slayer listened to, and it helped him. Not only did he discover the doll, but he also trained with it and, thus, improved his skills and abilities significantly, as the Yoriichi Type Zero doll was a truly challenging opponent; had Kotetsu not replaced its blades with wood, it would’ve killed Tanjirō initially.

This is why Mitsuri’s advice and information were so valuable and why they played an important role at the start of the season, i.e., why a simple sentence merited a whole article. We know that Tanjirō would later get his new katana from Hotaru and that he would use it to defeat Hantengu and all of his future opponents, as Yoriichi’s katana proved to be an invaluable weapon for him that enabled him to unlock his full potential later on.