Demon Slayer: What Is the Katana Tanjirō Found in the Yoriichi Type Zero Doll?

The third season of Demon Slayer has finally arrived, and the new episodes are providing us with more details about Tanjirō’s adventures in the Swordsmith Village. While in the village, Tanjirō was exploring around and located a strange battle doll called Yoriichi Type Zero. After beating it, he discovered that the doll had been hiding a prize inside, a centuries-old rusted katana that Hotaru would later repair and give to Tanjirō. In this article, we are going to tell you what the katana is, how important it is, and who it belongs to.

The centuries-old katana in the Yoriichi Type Zero doll was actually Yoriichi Tsugikuni’s original Nichirin Blade. Although rusted, it survived for centuries inside the doll, and Hotaru commented on how beautiful and complex it was while working on restoring it. It is a black Nichirin Blade and is one of the most beautiful and strongest ones in the whole series.

The rest of this article is going to provide further information on Yoriichi Tsugikuni and the Yoriichi Type Zero Doll, as well as the katana that was hidden inside it for centuries. 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 Yoriichi, his blade, and his role in Demon Slayer, especially in relation to the doll and Tanjirō’s story during the Swordsmith Village arc.

The Yoriichi Type Zero doll had a valuable prize inside it

A potent and powerful “secret weapon,” which was concealed in the forest close to the Swordsmith Village, was shown to us in the second episode of the third season of Demon Slayer. The “weapon” 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 was named Yoriichi Type Zero because Yoriichi Tsukiguni, the first and strongest Demon Slayer in the history of the Demon Slayer Corps, served as the model for the doll. 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.

After Muichiro Tokito failed to unlock the secret hidden inside the doll, Tanjirō proceeded to train with it, with Kotetsu as his support. Tanjirō ultimately managed to defeat the doll, and then he did. Its face tore apart and revealed the prize hidden inside of it. The prize was a very old and rusted katana that seemed special, but Kotetsu apologized because the katana was unusable due to its state.

At that very moment, a muscular and almost unrecognizable Hotaru – who was officially missing from the village – appeared and took the blade from Tanjirō using force, not explaining his motives. Kozo Kanamori then appeared and tickled Hotaru, who went limp. Kozo then explained that Hotaru had been training in isolation so he could make an unbreakable blade for Tanjirō (which Tanjirō deemed very considerate of him) and that he was happy that Tanjirō kept asking Hotaru for more blades, as Hotaru drove away lot of his client due to his personality. Hotaru would soon wake up and say that he would fix the blade for Tanjirō, despite its rust. And he did.

The blade that Hotaru restored was Yoriichi’s original Nichirin Sword

After taking it, Hotaru put a lot of effort into restoring the blade while praising its brilliance. He was so focused, in fact, that he nearly totally disregarded Gyokko and Hantengu’s onslaught on the settlement. Gyokko bothered him constantly and even assaulted him, seriously injuring him, but Hotaru persisted in his work on the sword until he was able to give it to Tanjirō despite having his mask destroyed, his body hurt, and losing one of his eyes. Given that this blade did not break, it was both his masterpiece and Tanjirō’s final blade.

And while Tanjirō has a history of breaking his katana, there is a very specific reason why this blade never broke, despite being roughly 300 years old. Namely, as Hotaru noticed during the restoration process, the blade was indeed special. It was a black Nichirin Blade that was both powerful and beautiful, seemingly reflecting the skills and abilities of its former owner. But who was the former owner of the blade?

Well, if the doll itself wasn’t a good enough hint, we will confirm that the Yoriichi Type Zero doll guarded Yoriichi Tsugikuni’s original Nichirin Sword inside it. The prize was thus amazing, as it was basically the strongest sword in the whole series. Sure, it needed a lot of work, but Hotaru noticed its strength when the sword managed to endure everything, despite being in very bad condition when he took it.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni was, during the Sengoku Era, a legendary Demon Slayer of the Demon Slayer Corps. Yoriichi is the younger twin brother of Michikatsu Tsugikuni, who later became a demon and joined the Twelve Demonic Moons, serving as Upper First Moon. He was not only the first Demon Slayer in history, but he was also the strongest, being able to defeat both Muzan and Kokushibo on two separate occasions. He also created the Sun Breathing Style, the first Breathing Style from which all the other Breathing Styles were derived. Yoriichi’s blade had a legendary status in the series, which is why the fact that Tanjirō obtained it during the Swordsmith Village Arc was so important.