Tanjiro Kamado vs Sabito is a fight between apprentice demon slayer Tanjiro Kamado and the lingering spirit of Sabito.
Prologue
After a year of training, Sakonji Urokodaki stops teaching Tanjiro and leaves him one last trial. Sakonji will only allow Tanjiro to participate in the Final Selection after successfully slicing through a large rock with his sword.
Even after six months, Tanjiro is unable to split the stone. Displeased, Tanjiro cries out in agony. A mysterious masked boy, later revealed to be Sabito, appears and manages to escape Tanjiro’s sense of smell. He tells Tanjiro that a man shouldn’t whine before jumping on him. Tanjiro blocks a blow from Sabito’s wooden sword, but he’s unprepared to land a quick kick.
Sabito states that Tanjiro is slow, weak, and immature. He thinks none of these traits suit a man. Tanjiro frantically asks why he was attacked, but the boy in the fox mask simply responds by asking why his opponent is still down.
Tanjiro gets up and Sabito asks him to come to him, but the former gets worried as Sabito wields a wooden sword. Amused, Sabito laughs at Tanjiro’s gesture. He taunts Tanjiro who fears his opponent will be hurt.
Battle
In a flash, Sabito lunges at Tanjiro and immediately puts pressure on his defense with a firm strike. He claims to be more powerful than Tanjiro because he’s already sliced through that rock. Sabito turns around on the side of a tree and jumps on Tanjiro from behind. The latter barely manages to parry the strike in time and struggles to follow his opponent who is jumping from tree to tree.
Soon after, Sabito knocks Tanjiro to the ground. He scolds him for only memorizing the regiment rather than mastering the forms of Water Breathing. Tanjiro is surprised to learn that Sabito knows the Sakonji and the breathing technique. Tanjiro’s muscle memory doesn’t know what to do and Sabito believes he has to punch him in the flesh.
The masked swordsman attacks with a flurry of rapid blows, each representing the strength Tanjiro must work with to drive Sakonji’s lessons into him. The tired defender says he has tried hard to learn every day but can’t improve. Sabito says a man has to push himself and move forward no matter what. He demands to see what Tanjiro is capable of and easily dodges his next attack.
Sabito knocks out Tanjiro with a quick and powerful uppercut from his woody blade.
Continuation of the fight
A masked girl appears behind Sabito, and he asks her to complete Tanjiro’s training. Tanjiro eventually wakes up and tells the girl that he wants to be able to fight like Sabito one day. She replies that he will succeed one day, now that he is under her direction.
