Demon Slayer: What Happened to the Swordsmith Village After the Invasion?

The third season of Demon Slayer has come to an end, and Tanjiro’s adventures in the Swordsmith Village are now a thing of the past. In one of the series’ best arcs, aside from great character development and epic battles, we also got an expanded insight into the lore of the series, especially when the everyday life of the Swordsmith Village is concerned. The Swordsmith Village was a new location introduced to the series, and we finally got some information on this mysterious location. However, the location of the village was revealed, and the village suffered damage during Gyokko’s and Hantengu’s invasions. So, what happened to it later? In this article, we are going to tell you everything you need to know about what happened to Swordsmith Village after the third season.

The Swordsmith Village suffered some damage in the attack, but it was mostly left intact

The Swordsmith Village is a hidden village where all the swordsmiths reside. To get to the village, a member of the Demon Slayer Corps must be transferred via multiple Kakushi and Kasuagi Crows while blindfolded. The year the village was created has not been specified, but the manga mentions that the village had been there for more than 300 years before the start of the manga.

As the name suggests, the village is home to the swordsmiths who forge the Demon Slayer Nichirin Swords, so it’s well hidden in the forest. The village’s exact location is kept confidential in order to keep it hidden, and travelers must ride around blindfolded and with nose plugs while being carried by several Kakushi. Apart from being a “workshop,” the village also contains several hot springs, which swordsmen commonly use for their healing properties. Village members are often seen wearing variations of hyottoko masks in order to keep their identities hidden, a tactic used to protect them from being tracked.

As you can imagine, the Swordsmith Village is one of the most important locations in the series, and because of its importance, its location is a major secret. Before we actually explain the procedure, we’re quickly going to explain why that is. Namely, the swordsmiths of the Swordsmith Village forge Nichirin Swords, as we have said. These swords are special weapons used by the Demon Slayer Corps to slay demons, and they cannot be forged anywhere else; without these weapons, killing demons would be much more difficult, which is why it is understandable that demons would like to see them gone as well. But this is where the secrecy actually kicks in.

Namely, due to the fact that no one, even the Corps members themselves, knows the location of the village, the swordsmiths are able to work in peace. If that were not the case, they would be under constant attack, making their jobs impossible. This is also why the swordsmiths actually keep their faces hidden.

It is a known fact that the swordsmiths wear masks to hide their identities, which is necessary for survival in a demon-infested world; as they keep helping the Corps, it is only natural that Muzan would want to see them dead. This is why their identities are secret, and the village itself is so hidden, i.e., why no one person knows how to reach it directly.

This is a deep-rooted reason behind their wearing the masks and why they never take them off. As you can imagine, the Corps realized that it was very important for them to keep this secret a secret, which is what they had been able to do until Gyokko found out the location. But let’s get back to the process itself.

How does one reach the village if it is so well hidden? The Kakushi are actually the key to reaching the Swordsmith Village. Namely, several Kakushi are needed to transport a person to the village, and each of them knows only their part of the way, i.e., they do not know how the previous Kakushi arrived at their location, and they do not know where the next Kakushi is going to take the person they are transporting. This was seen and explained when Tanjiro was transported to the village; it is not known how Mitsuri returned to the village so quickly to help the other members of the Corps, but that might be a discrepancy that ultimately didn’t matter. The bigger issue for the village was how Gyokko discovered its location.

Why? Well, Gyokko, of course, reported this to Muzan, and the Demon King ordered his Upper-Rank Five to take Hantengu to the village and destroy it. And they probably would have succeded had the villagers not been lucky enough that Tanjiro, Genya, Nezuko, and Muichiro were in the village while Mitsuri was close by.

So, what happened during the attack? Well, what you might expect from an attack by two Upper Ranks. Gyokko and Hantengu caused a bloodbath, killing numerous swordsmiths before they were ultimately defeated by Muichiro and Tanjiro, respectively (with significant help from Genya, Nezuko, Mitsuri, and some of the swordsmiths as well, who bravely fought). The village itself did suffer some damage, but the damage itself wasn’t that big; some buildings and houses were destroyed or damaged, but the Corps were mostly successful in taking the fight outside of the village, thus saving most of its infrastructure. So this is what actually happened to the village during the fight, but what happened afterward? What happened to the secret village whose location had now been compromised? Allow us to tell you.

After the battle, the Swordsmith Village was moved to a new, unknown location

As you might understand, the village’s location was now compromised. The identities of the villagers were mostly intact, and the village itself, as we’ve said, suffered no major damage. The villages that survived the attack included:

• Tecchin Tecchikawahara, the current village chief, an old and short man who greeted Tanjiro when he first came to the village and who took care of everything inside it; he was also in charge of securing that the swordsmiths did their job. He also designed Mitsuri’s unique long whip-Nichirin katana, and Shinobu’s thin rod-like Nichirin stinger with poison.
• Hotaru Haganezuka, the moody yet skilled swordsmith who worked with Tanjiro and designed all of his blades. Hotaru Haganezuka actually had a lot of skill, but the guy had such a difficult personality that he lost most of his clients (although he was actually a good guy) over the years; this is why Kozo was so happy when Tanjiro said he would remain with Hotaru. Hotaru also took Yoriichi’s old blade and made it look new for Tanjiro, a process during which he almost lost his life. His identity and face are the only ones that have been revealed in the series.
• Kozo Kanamori, Hotaru’s friend, and another skilled and reliable swordsmith. He was saved by Muichiro during Gyokko’s assault. He is much calmer than Hotaru and knows how to calm him down when he is angry. He crafted the dual standard Nichirin katanas with gashes on the edge for Inosuke and replaced Tetsuido as Muichiro’s swordsmith, crafting his standard Nichirin katana.
• Kotetsu, the young orphaned swordsmith who helped Tanjiro train, was in charge of the Yoriichi Type Zero Doll. Muichiro first attacked him, but the two of them eventually became friends, and Muichiro saved his life when Gyokko attacked them; Kotetsu would later help save Muichiro when Gyokko trapped him in his Water Pot Prison.

A lot of other swordsmiths also survived, but their identities remain unknown. So, what happened to them and the village? The Swordsmith Village Arc did not reveal this information, but the following arc, The Hashira Training Arc, revealed what happened to the village after this incident.

There were, as you might assume, two major issues here. First, the village suffered some damage. Sure, as we’ve said, the damage wasn’t extensive, and rebuilding and repairing the damage would not have taken too much, so it was doable in that aspect. The lives lost could not be brought back, but just like the Corps members, the swordsmiths knew the perils of their jobs. So, repairing the village was a first necessity, but it was not the biggest issue here, as the second major issue was a much bigger problem for both the Demon Slayer Corps and the swordsmiths as well.

What was it? Well, the location of the Swordsmith Village was ultimately compromised! The village took pride in its secrecy, and we have told you why that secrecy was important. From that perspective, you can understand how big of an issue this was. Gyokko was dead, sure, but the village’s location was now known, and there was no doubt that Muzan and his demons could reach it with more ease now. This is why some radical measures had to be taken to protect the village and the wordsmiths, and the beginning of the Hashira Training Arc finally revealed what happened.

Namely, the Ubuyashiki family and the Corps decided to relocate the village. Rebuilding it wouldn’t have been an issue, but with the location compromised, a new one had to be found. As the series revealed, this was nothing unusual. Sure, the surprise attack caused some trouble, but that was not the first time that the village’s location had been compromised, so the swordsmiths actually had a backup plan, which makes absolute sense if you ask us. Namely, as it was confirmed in the series, there were several potential locations already prepared to house the swordsmiths.

Namely, knowing that their location could be compromised, the Ubuyashiki family and the swordsmiths already prepared several locations around Japan to house them. They were mostly abandoned villages, so no one would come looking for them there, but they were well-hidden villages as well, which is why they were good locations in that aspect. That is why they did not rebuild the original village, although it wouldn’t have been a problem for them; they simply moved everything to a new location quickly. This is where they would be safe from the Demons and could once again work in peace, without fear that they would be surprised by Demons.

This is why Swordsmith Village changed its location after the Swordsmith Village Arc. Where? Well, it wouldn’t have made much sense for the new location to be known, wouldn’t it? We do not know where it was moved, as the new location was, as you’d expect, kept a secret once again, but we know the whole mechanism now.

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