Highlights

• Sun Breathing is the original and most powerful breathing style, with all other styles derived from it in Demon Slayer.
• The Solar Breathing techniques are divided into 13 forms, each leading into the other perfectly to kill demons efficiently.
• Passed down from generation to generation, the Sun Breathing style is limited to a select few users, making it a rare and powerful resource.

With Demon Slayer With the series approaching an inevitable crescendo in its overall story and an imminent fourth season hitting the screens, it's only fair to explore one of the series' biggest mysteries thus far. One look at Tanjiro, the series' protagonist, and the first question that continually resurfaces would be why he can use multiple breathing styles, a feat that only he can accomplish in the series.

The most intriguing question, however, would be what exactly is Hinokami Kagura – the Sun Breathing Style. Manga readers who have reached the conclusion of the story probably know everything about the technique, but perhaps not all. In that regard, here are some things that only manga readers of the series know about Sun Breathing.

5 The original breathing style

Also known as Hinokami Kagura

Created by the greatest demon slayer who ever lived, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the Sun Breathing style is the first and original breathing style to exist, with all other breathing styles being a subsequent derivation of the style.

The different breathing styles came from him, namely Water, Moon, Flame, Thunder, Stone, Wind, Flower, Snake, Insect, Love, Sound, Beast, Mist. The different breathing styles came about due to the incompatibility of other demon slayers with Sun Breathing, as it takes a heavy toll on the body, among other disadvantages, noticed by Yoriichi when trying to teach it while he was still a demon slayer. In addition to being the first breathing style, it is also the most efficient and versatile against demons, as it imitates the sun and replicates its effect along with the user's movements.

4 The Thirteen Techniques

Of complete harmony

Initially created with twelve techniques, all interconnected, the Sun Breathing was perfected into an unnamed thirteenth form after Yoriichi's confrontation with Muzan, which led Yoriichi to perfect his swordsmanship.

Created to lead into each other, the Sun Breathing style is divided into thirteen forms, which are the Dancing Flash, Clear Blue Sky, Raging Sun, Burning Bones, Summer Sun, Setting Sun Transformation, Solar Heat Mist, Beneficial Radiance, Sunflower Thrust, Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance, Fire Wheel, Fake Rainbow, and Flame Dance. All of these culminate in the thirteenth unnamed technique and ultimately the Hinokami Kagura dance.

3 A gift to the Kamado lineage

An Insurance of Destiny

The Breathing of the Sun, also known as the Hinokami Kagura dance, is a Kamado family ritual passed down from father to son through the generations. However, the Hinokami Kagura dance is not native to the Kamado lineage, as it was a gift from Yoriichi Tsukiguni to Sumiyoshi Kamado, a close friend of Yoriichi and ancestor of the Kamado lineage.

Relying on his keen memory, Sumiyoshi clearly memorized all twelve forms of the Sun Breathing after seeing Yoriichi perform it just once. In addition to receiving Yoriichi's hanafuda earrings as a gift for one of his sons, Sumiyoshi decided to use the movements he memorized from Yoriichi as a dance to honor the demon slayer, whom he considered not only a friend but also family. Sumiyoshi's decision led to the creation of the Hinokami Kagura ritual.

2 Users of Solar Breathing

The Kamado Lineage

Throughout the Demon Slayer Corps' long history, there have been very few known users of the Sun Breathing Style, to the point where the breathing style became something of a lost art due to the rarity of its users. After Yoriichi's death, the breathing style that became the Hinokami Kagura ritual was more of a guarantee of fate that unfolded in due time rather than a deliberate action due to Yoriichi not having any direct descendants or family to pass the style down to - having lived most of his life alone and as a wanderer.

With no known direct descendants of the Demon Slayer Corps, the Sun Breathing style has become more myth than history, with only a few individuals able to recognize and identify the style. Throughout the series, the only known users of Sun Breathing are Yoriichi Tsugikuni, Sumiyoshi Kamado, Tanjuro Kamado, and Tanjiro Kamado, the current and final user. The Sun Breathing style, however, is not limited to the Kamado bloodline, as others can use the style if a member of the Kamado family teaches it to them. Its use, however, will depend on the user's suitability for the style.

1 The Perfect Fencing Style for Killing Demons

The ultimate weapon against Muzan

More than just a breathing style, the Sun Breathing style is a representation of Yoriichi's perfect and unparalleled swordsmanship. Created with twelve interconnected forms, Sun Breathing utilizes its user's most efficient and minimal movements to exert even greater strength and speed, while ensuring that the user never tires of their stamina.

Essentially, the Sun Breathing style represents the highest version that any of the other breathing styles can achieve, as they are all variations derived from the Sun Breathing itself. However, even with twelve forms, the Sun Breathing style still needed to be completed, and was only completed in Yoriichi's battle against Muzan Kibutsuji. By adding a thirteenth form, the Sun Breathing style became the perfect demon-slaying style, created explicitly to kill Muzan Kibutsuji.