Why Does Hinata Fight Rimuru Again?

Hinata's second fight with Rimuru is not a simple revenge match. She does not travel to Tempest because she still blindly hates him, nor does she begin the journey with a firm plan to destroy his country.

The battle happens because the Seven Days Clergy manipulate the information reaching both sides.

Rimuru sends Hinata a message intended to open communication and address their previous conflict. Before it reaches her, however, the message is altered into something that resembles a declaration of war or a personal challenge. The official Season 3 introduction explicitly describes the message Hinata receives as a falsified declaration of war.

Hinata consequently believes Rimuru is calling her to Tempest to settle their dispute through combat. She remains suspicious of him because of their previous encounter, but she is also curious about his real intentions. Rather than mobilizing the entire Western Holy Church for an invasion, she initially heads toward Tempest openly and seeks a direct meeting.

Rimuru, meanwhile, learns that Hinata is approaching and later receives reports that Crusader forces have entered his territory. From his perspective, the woman who nearly killed him once is now advancing with elite holy knights after apparently rejecting peaceful contact.

Each side therefore believes the other has escalated the situation.

The official English description for manga Volume 21 summarizes the misunderstanding directly: Rimuru and Hinata both hoped to avoid fighting, yet each believes the other is the aggressor, with the Seven Days Clergy pushing them toward open war.

What Happened Before Their Second Battle?

Understanding the rematch requires separating it from Hinata and Rimuru's first encounter.

Hinata Initially Believed Rimuru Was Shizu's Killer

Hinata first confronts Rimuru after receiving misleading information about him. She is told that Rimuru killed Shizue Izawa, commonly called Shizu, who had been Hinata's teacher.

The claim is technically distorted rather than completely invented. Shizu did die after meeting Rimuru, but Rimuru did not murder her. At Shizu's request, he absorbed her failing body, inherited her appearance, and carried on her wishes.

Hinata does not give Rimuru a meaningful opportunity to explain this during their first battle. She enters the encounter convinced that he is a dangerous monster responsible for Shizu's death. Her anti-monster worldview and her duties within the Western Holy Church reinforce that conclusion.

Rimuru survives only by using a duplicate body as part of his escape.

That unresolved battle leaves both characters with reasons for caution. Rimuru knows Hinata is capable of killing him, while Hinata still lacks the complete truth about Shizu and Tempest.

Rimuru Becomes a True Demon Lord

After the attack on Tempest by Falmuth and the Western Holy Church's forces, Rimuru evolves into a True Demon Lord. He later defeats Clayman and gains formal recognition among the demon lords.

This transformation changes the political stakes surrounding Hinata.

She is no longer dealing with an unusually powerful monster operating a settlement in the forest. Rimuru is now the sovereign of a rapidly developing nation, the ruler of the Jura Forest and a recognized demon lord with powerful allies.

The official Yen Press summary for light novel Volume 7 places this tension at the center of the arc. News of Clayman's defeat alarms the Holy Empire of Lubelius, especially because Hinata had attacked Rimuru shortly beforehand.

An uncontrolled conflict between Rimuru and Hinata could therefore become a war between Tempest and the Western Holy Church.

Hinata Travels to Tempest Hoping to Talk

One of the clearest signs that Hinata does not intend a straightforward invasion is the way she approaches Tempest.

According to the official synopsis for Episode 55, "Saint and Demon Clash", Hinata wants dialogue with Rimuru and travels without hiding herself. During the journey, she sees Tempest's roads, eats ramen created through Rimuru's influence, and observes the society growing around his nation.

These experiences matter because they contradict the image of Rimuru as a mindless enemy of humanity.

Hinata sees evidence that Tempest supports trade, infrastructure and peaceful contact with human communities. She begins to accept that Rimuru may genuinely want humans and monsters to coexist.

That realization makes the aggressive message attributed to Rimuru seem strange. The country she observes does not match the behavior implied by the challenge.

Hinata is therefore conflicted before she ever reaches Rimuru. She is prepared to fight if necessary, but she is also trying to understand why someone building a peaceful nation would deliberately provoke her.

Why Do the Crusaders Enter Tempest?

Hinata initially intends to approach Rimuru without presenting herself as the leader of an invading army. Her subordinates complicate that plan.

The Crusaders are deeply loyal to her and know that she is heading toward the territory of a newly awakened demon lord. From their point of view, allowing Hinata to confront Rimuru alone would be reckless.

Leonard and other holy knights move into Tempest believing they are protecting their commander and preparing for a likely confrontation. Their entry looks like military aggression to Rimuru's forces.

The official Episode 55 synopsis confirms that Leonard leads one hundred Crusaders into Tempest while Rimuru is already uncertain about Hinata's true intentions.

Rimuru cannot safely assume that the soldiers are merely an escort. Hinata has attacked him before, and holy forces previously participated in the campaign against Tempest. He must consider the possibility that Hinata's visible approach is a distraction while other units attack his people.

Once the Crusaders take military action inside Rimuru's territory, Tempest responds defensively. The official Episode 56 synopsis describes Rimuru's side as being forced to fight because the Crusaders begin operations within his domain.

The conspiracy succeeds because it turns reasonable caution into apparent proof of hostility.

Does Hinata Still Want to Kill Rimuru?

By the second battle, killing Rimuru is no longer Hinata's central objective.

She remains willing to use lethal force, and she fights him seriously. However, her goal has changed from the first encounter. She now wants a decisive resolution to their dispute and an answer to the challenge she believes he sent.

Hinata is also a proud and disciplined warrior. Once events make peaceful conversation appear impossible, she does not retreat simply because Rimuru has become stronger. She confronts him with the full extent of the combat ability and experience she inherited and developed from Shizu's teachings.

Her seriousness should not be mistaken for unchanged hatred.

Hinata has already begun recognizing that Rimuru's conduct does not fit the accusations against him. Even during the battle, the larger pattern points toward two leaders trying to control a crisis rather than destroy one another. Rimuru orders his subordinates to avoid killing their opponents, while Hinata eventually proposes a final exchange that can end their duel without extending the wider conflict.

How Does Rimuru and Hinata's Rematch End?

Hinata proposes that Rimuru withstand her strongest attack. If he survives it, she will admit defeat.

The attack is Melt Slash, a devastating technique that combines swordsmanship with spiritron-based holy power. Spiritrons are extremely difficult to predict and resist through ordinary magical defenses, making the technique dangerous even to a True Demon Lord.

Rimuru accepts the condition because it offers a clear way to finish the battle. With Raphael's calculations and his expanded abilities, he survives the attack, although doing so requires considerable effort.

Hinata honors the agreement and concedes.

At that moment, the conflict between them is effectively over. Rimuru has proven his strength, and Hinata has accepted the result. Neither character attempts to continue the duel out of hatred or pride.

The real conspirators then expose themselves.

How Did the Seven Days Clergy Manipulate the Fight?

The Seven Days Clergy are influential figures within Lubelius who operate behind the public religious hierarchy. They view Hinata's growing authority and independence as a threat to their position.

Their scheme serves more than one purpose:

• It pushes Hinata and Rimuru into a battle that could kill either of them.
• It creates the possibility of war between Tempest and the Western Holy Church.
• It provides cover for eliminating Hinata while blaming Rimuru.
• It protects the clergy's political influence by removing a powerful rival.

After Hinata concedes, a sword supplied through the clergy's manipulation moves against Rimuru. Hinata notices the danger and places herself between Rimuru and the attack.

She is mortally wounded while protecting the person she had supposedly come to kill.

The official Episode 58 synopsis confirms that the weapon moves on its own after Hinata admits defeat. It also states that the Seven Days Clergy then appear, intending to dispose of Hinata and defeat Rimuru themselves.

This moment removes any remaining ambiguity about Hinata's allegiance during the battle. She may have fought Rimuru seriously, but when an outside force launches a treacherous attack, she protects him without hesitation.

The official Kodansha description for manga Volume 22 likewise identifies the Seven Days Clergy as the group that set Hinata up and left her mortally wounded.

Why Did the Seven Days Clergy Want Hinata Dead?

Hinata had become too powerful, influential and difficult to control.

She was the leader of the Crusaders, one of the strongest human combatants in the region and a central authority within the Western Holy Church. Her loyalty to Luminus Valentine also placed her closer to the real center of Lubelius's power than the clergy wanted.

The clergy benefited from an arrangement in which they could manipulate religious and political affairs from behind the scenes. Hinata's competence threatened that arrangement. She was capable of evaluating evidence for herself, commanding the church's strongest fighters and negotiating directly with foreign powers.

Her changing view of Rimuru was particularly dangerous to their plan.

If Hinata spoke with Rimuru and discovered that the hostile message had been altered, the manufactured conflict could collapse. Tempest and Lubelius might reconcile, leaving the clergy exposed as the people who had encouraged unnecessary war.

Sending Hinata into battle gave them a chance to remove her while preserving a believable story: she had died fighting a demon lord.

Confirmed Facts Versus Interpretation

The following points are directly confirmed by official anime and publisher materials:

• Rimuru's message to Hinata is altered into a declaration of war.
• Hinata approaches Tempest seeking dialogue.
• Both Rimuru and Hinata believe the other may be acting aggressively.
• Crusader forces enter Rimuru's territory and trigger defensive fighting.
• Hinata and Rimuru duel seriously.
• Hinata concedes after Rimuru survives Melt Slash.
• A manipulated weapon attacks Rimuru.
• Hinata protects Rimuru and is critically wounded.
• The Seven Days Clergy reveal themselves as the conspirators.

It is reasonable to interpret Hinata's decision to continue the duel as a mixture of duty, caution, pride and a desire for an unambiguous settlement. The story does not reduce her motive to one emotion.

What canon rejects is the idea that Hinata launches the second fight simply because she still believes Rimuru killed Shizu or because she personally wants another chance to murder him. Her observations before the battle and her actions at its conclusion show that her understanding of Rimuru has already begun to change.

The bottom line: Hinata's rematch with Rimuru is a manufactured conflict. The Seven Days Clergy falsify the message, exploit both sides' distrust, and turn a peace mission into the battle they need in order to eliminate Hinata.