Chihiro DISARMS Hiruhiko! Kagurabachi Chapter 53 Spoilers!

In the previous Kagurabachi chapter, Hiruhiko pulls off a Mahito and tells Chihiro that they are the same person “made with violence” as Chihiro disrupts a theater performance that Hiruhiko was watching. All to give the little demon an actual friend.

Chapter 53 is titled, “Darkness”

This chapter has 19 pages.

Kagurabachi is featured in the cover of Weekly Shonen Jump for this issue

The first page is a color page showing Hiruhiko and Chihiro looking at each other after Chihiro landed on a theater performance.

Editor says: “Chihiro and Hiruhiko, the way they view the world —” 

Later, we have another text: “For whom do we seek, and wield the Enchanted Blade for..?” 

Chapter 53 is titled, “Darkness”

This chapter has 19 pages.

The chapter begins where we left off but this time, it is young Chihiro slicing the straw dummy cleanly, with Samura impressed by the way Chihiro learned all that from seeing him swing once.

Shiba explains 

However, Samura says that it is too early for Chihrio to be this sharp and he pokes the boy’s eyes with his two fingers, to Shiba’s alarm.

Samura did that to confirm if Chihiro was looking at him with adoration, which he did since Kunishige did tell Chihiro that Samura had the “swordsmanship of a hero”.

However, Samura corrects this mystified view that Rokuhira planted, saying that since Chihiro is a good and well-behaved kid, he should not admire these types of people,

This brings us back to the present, where Hiruhiko brings up the idea that as children “made with violence”, he and Chihiro are the only ones who can understand each other as friends.

Chihiro is confused by this sentiment because earlier, Hiruhiko tried to him.

However, Hiruhiko clarifies that since he has never had a friend before, he thinks this is how friends behave around each other, by trying to take each other’s lives.

Suddenly, Hiruhiko forms a paper wall and runs away.

Chihiro chides him for fleeing but Hiruhiko insists that it makes sense because he would have died if he went against an Enchanted Blade.

Before Chihiro reaches him, someone appears amidst the paper storm and Chihiro tries to swing against him but it turns out to be a civilian from the audience, making Chihiro hesitate

The audience gets entangled by the flying paper, making them all float around Chihiro to conceal Hiruhiko’s presence.

Chihiro recalls Hiruhiko’s abilities. First, he can sense locations with paper, which is how he monitored Chihiro two chapters ago, then his Crane pierces through bodies

Hiruhiko tells Chihiro to stay put as he forms floating cranes with origami paper and also analyzes Chihiro’s moveset.

Hiruhiko wonders if Chihiro’s absorption ability (“Aka” the red goldfish) can make physical objects disappear but notices he has not done it yet, which confirms that Aka can absorb physical objects, including living humans.

Hiruhiko also notices that Chihiro has chosen not to use “Kuro” as that would also endanger the public. As for “Nishiki”, the tri-colored goldfish with the cloak for super speed, Hiruhiko notes that Chihiro is aware that dodging the cranes will mean that the civilians will be hurt too.

Hiruhiko’s strategy is to make Chihiro realize that if he does not remove his restrictions, that is his “humanity”, he will die as helpless as the civilians.

Just then, Chihiro bumps into into one of the paper-entangled civilians, who screams at Chihiro to not touch him,

Hiruhiko tells Chihiro that in their eyes, he is not human, just like the man who has trapped them with paper.

Hiruhiko relays to Chihiro about the play that Hiruhiko interrupted with his scheme.

In the play, there was a scene where the enemy takes hold of a hostage, which preventsSasuke, the main character, from moving and so the enemy escapes.

This is a typical hostage situation and the reason why the bad guy always takes an innocent civilian hostage, as it makes the hero feel helpless and gives the bad guy the opportunity to escape.

Hiruhiko condemns Sasuke for being “worthless”, more than because he allowed his enemy to escape but because “heroes” like Sasuke only worry about killing if it involves weaker people.

Kagurabachi has been testing Chihiro’s resolve to hunt the blades and Hiruhiko is finally making Chihiro recognize that this quest will involve sacrificing the many for a long-term goal.

Yes, the many. Even if there are only a few civilians out of the way, someone like Hiruhiko can use large crowds of ordinary civilians as meat shields.

It is not pure utilitarianism but the question of humanity.

What is the point of being human if you let others steal or take lives without you doing anything about it?

This also ties to Chihiro’s own powerlessness when he lost his father or perhaps the lack of strength in Rokuhira’s part.

Chihiro sees a crane on the ground, then looks at the victims wrapped in the paper, so he activates Nishiki.

This disappoints Hiruhiko as Chihiro has become a “Sasuke” too and so launches several paper cranes on Chihiro.

We go back to the flashback where Samura explains to a young Chihiro about how Samura’s first kill terrified him as he saw how the victim’s cross-section of freshly cut flesh looked like.

Although it is one of the reasons why he chose to blind himself, Samura still sees that haunting memory at the back of his eyelids and therefore he feels like he is no longer human.

Chihiro notes that Samura wields the Enchanted Blade for the sake of the people but Samura rebuffs, saying that because of this duty, he still struggles with his darkness.

Now we see the burden of being “made with violence”, as the Enchanted Blade wielders bear the burden of understanding the weight of every life taken for whatever cause.

Chihiro states that he will respect Samura because of his conviction.

Samura then asks if Chihiro is aiming to be a swordsman, which likely leads to Samura beginning their training.

Returning to the present, Chihiro is still surrounded by the paper as Hiruhiko is monitoring him through the paper, as shown with one eye closed and Hiruhiko wonders if Nishiki increases his body’s defenses.

This approach to sorcery is a pattern as the Sazanami family also need one eye closed or used to perceive with eye-related sorcery powers.

Chihiro thinks about how Kunishige and the wielders fought to protect, which makes them heroes but that none of them gave themselves that title due to their guilt.

Although he understands that they bear a guilty conscience and want Chihiro to follow his own path, Chihiro intends to fight this dark battle together and amidst the darkness, Chihiro has cut Hiruhiko’s arm off, much to the latter’s surprise.

Putting his foot next to him as Hiruhiko is seated in the theater, Chihiro declares that he has accepted being “on the wrong side” since no one would see him as a “human” for killing another human.

However, because he is a non-human, Chihiro will drag a fellow monster like Hirohiko into hell so he could no longer trouble the peace.

Before doing so, he tries to extract information from Hiruhiko about the Hishaku.

Incredible chapter, filled with character building for Chihiro to accept the darkness of being a killer for peace.

Editor’s note: A resolve that had already been decided upon..

Kagurabachi Chapter 54 will be released on October 20, 2024.

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