Demon Slayer: Is Tanjiro’s Exploding Blood Sword faster than his Mixed Breathing technique? Explained

The protagonist of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is known for setting a new milestone every time he faces an opponent, who tries to corner him to a tight spot, inadvertently pushing him beyond his limits. So far, in his journey as a Demon Slayer, Tanjiro has learned a lot through his peers, mentors, and even his opponents about how to turn the tides of a battle in his favor.

After creating a stir within the fandom with his Mixed Breathing attack against Gyuutaro in the Entertainment District arc, Tanjiro is back with a whole new technique in the Swordsmith Village arc. Imbuing Nezuko’s Exploding Blood in his Nichirin sword, Tanjiro has become the first-ever Demon Slayer to combine Blood Demon Art with Breathing Style.

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Exploding Blood Sword has an advantage in speed and strength over the Mixed Breathing technique in Demon Slayer

Although there is no definite explanation regarding the speed difference between the two techniques in the original manga, the difference can be deduced from analyzing the battles. In the Entertainment District arc, Tanjiro, for the first time, made a last-minute call by combining Water Breathing with Sun Breathing to save Hinatsuru from the grasp of Gyuutaro, a unique technique never used before in the history of Demon Slayers.

With Tanjiro being exhausted and not having enough strength to execute a Sun Breathing technique, he resorted to combining it with Water Breathing to move faster enough to outsmart Gyuutaro. Although Mixed Breathing is considered one of the unique and fastest moves, it is inferior to Tanjiro’s new Exploding Blood Sword.

In comparison to Mixed Breathing, Tanjiro’s Exploding Blood Sword, executing the Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance, decapitated Urogi, Karaku, and Sekido, the three forms of Hantengu, in a flash. As the blinding speed of this technique was imperceptible to the clones of Hantengu, it simply became his fastest technique so far in the series.

So, in a nutshell, the Exploding Blood Sword has the upper hand over the Mixed Breathing technique in all aspects. Moreover, Nezuko’s Blood Demon Art played a pivotal role, as it amplified the technique by slowing the regeneration of the demons. In addition, it left a lasting impact on all three demons, where all they could feel was the excruciating pain of being burned alive.

Gyuutaro and Daki, the Upper Moon 6, are far inferior to Hantengu, the Upper Rank 4, next to Akaza in the 12 Demon Moons’ hierarchy. Although the Mixed Breathing outplayed Gyuutaro, it wouldn’t have been strong enough to decapitate either him or Daki, as it was a last-resort move for Tanjiro to save Hinatsuru.

Although the technique indeed gave a significant boost to Tanjiro, it lacked the strength to cut off Gyuutaro’s head. Exploding Blood Sword turned Tanjiro’s Nichirin blade from pitch black to crimson red and gave him massive enhancement to perform the Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance technique, one of the most difficult Sun Breathing forms, perfectly.

While Mixed Breathing will come in handy when dealing with inferior opponents, the Exploding Blood Sword being used in conjunction with any of the Sun Breathing forms can give multiple opponents a run for their money. As the story progresses, Demon Slayer will see more of Tanjiro’s incredible achievements that will add up to his growth as a warrior and as a human being.