WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Episode 23 of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, "Hashira Meeting," available now on Hulu, Crunchyroll and other anime streaming services.
The previous episode of Kimetsu no Yaiba saw Tanjiro Kamado, Sakonji Urokodaki and Giyu Tomioka staking their life on Nezuko -- Tanjiro's sister-turned-demon -- not attacking Sanemi Shinazugawa despite the Wind Hashira stabbing her multiple times and drawing his own blood to tempt her. Not only does "Hashira Meeting" see Nezuko subvert the expectations of the Demon Slayer Corps.' most powerful members, but a meeting between the Hashira and Oyakata-sama reveals Tanjiro might just have a hidden power that's very convenient to the plot.
Thanks to a flashback to her father Tanjuro, Nezuko is able to resist attacking Sanemi. A vision of Tanjuro also came to Tanjiro when the young demon slayer seemed to have completely lost against the Twelve Kizuki demon Rui. In that appearance, Tanjiro tapped into "Hinokami Dance Breathing," which resulted in him very nearly killing Rui, despite the incredible power discrepancy between them.
As Nezuko snubs Sanemi, the Hashira choose to follow Oyakata-sama's earlier directive and accept that she will not attack humans, hence allowing her and Tanjiro to travel together. However, Tanjiro isn't satisfied with this conclusion and attempts to get revenge on Sanemi by headbutting him. He's kept from doing so by several guards and a few well-placed rocks from one of the other Hashira.
As he's being carried away, Oyakata-sama indicates that he knows Tamayo, the demon actively working to reverse the demonisation process. This shocks Tanjiro, who also notices something about Oyakata-sama's voice having a calming effect on him, but the episode doesn't make clear just quite why this might be.
Tanjiro and Nezuko retire to the home of Shinobu Kocho, which also serves as a medical center. There, they find Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira both changed from their near-death experiences on Natagumo Mountain. For his part, Zenitsu is still panicky and whiny in terms of personality, but physically his arms and legs have shrunk as a result of Older Brother Spider's poison. Inosuke, however, has seemingly lost some of the berserker energy he's brought to the series thus far, appearing much more calm and collected after nearly having had his head crushed by Father Spider Demon.
As the younger demon slayers rest, Oyakata-sama gathers together his Hashira. After talking to them about how demons have been doing even more damage lately than in the past, they have a debrief in which the various Hashira offer their thoughts on the current generation of demon slayers. Kyojuro Rengoku thinks Tanjiro "may have the power to draw [demons to himself.]" He then notes how rare it is for even Hashira to encounter Twelve Kizuki demons, despite the fact Tanjiro has basically encountered two in rapid succession, not to mention Muzan Kibutsuji -- the progenitor of demons.
Oyataka-sama expresses his agreement with the idea, though he thinks Rui's actions mean Muzan must not be near Natagumo mountain. He extols his Hashira to succeed in destroying their enemies, and, later, when he's on his own, he swears an oath to bring Muzan down for good.
Although Tanjiro frequently encountering a select group of demons in rapid succession and in a close area seemed like a rather lucky coincidence necessary in order to advance the plot, the meeting seems to imply he might have another hidden ability, as he did with Hinokami Dance Breathing. This one is, of course, incredibly convenient to the plot and might prove incredibly valuable in the Hashira's quest to destroy Muzan and his Twelve Kizuki as well as Tanjiro's quest to collect the blood of various powerful demons in order to help Tamayo reverse the demonisation process.
New subtitled episodes of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba air Saturdays on Hulu, Crunchyroll and other anime streaming services.