In his own personal lab, Muzan suddenly froze. He felt something from Douma and he was filled with quiet rage.
His connection with the demon was cut. Just like Tamayo. However, he had received the recent memories before the link was cut and realized that Upper Moon Two was working in collaboration with an Hashira.
"Distasteful!" Slamming his table, he growled. He didn't care if Douma died. He just wanted to ensure that the new poison was destroyed. If it could kill Douma, then it'd definitely injure him.
"Gyokko. Hantengu. Go and kill the Insect Hashira."
He said to Upper Moon Four and Five through his connection with them. After all, the Hashira's location had been exposed to him through the memories.
"I need to find the Blue Spider Lily."
...
[Butterfly Mansion]
Shinobu gently laid Douma's body on a spare bed in her lab, unsure of what she was doing. Wasn't she supposed to kill him at his most vulnerable moment? Why was she concerned? Why didn't she want him to... die?
Just as she was pondering this, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. Something was coming.
She needed to warn the whole mansion! Grabbing her sword, she ran out and—
Boom!
Something crashed before her.
Rising from the dust, Sekido, Hantengu's representation of Anger, looked down on her.
"So you're the Insect Hashira?" He scowled. "Weak!"
Shinobu didn't hesitate. She swung her sword.
"Insect Breathing. Dance of the Bee Sting—True flutter."
Clang!
Her sword met his khakkhara staff midway, perfectly blocking the attack. At least she thought so.
Tzzzz!
Currents of electricity snaked down on her with terrifying ferocity. However, she easily disengaged from him, her expression full of wariness.
"I haven't heard of you. Upper Moon Four? Intriguing."
Shinobu calmly smiled, though her smile was filled with chilling coldness.
"I don't need your acknowledgement, human!"
Sekido attacked again and again, constantly trying to zap her with his staff. However, Shinobu was as slippery as an eel, always avoiding contact with him. Honestly, Shinobu was disappointed. If this was all an Upper Moon could offer, then probably only Douma was truly strong.
'Am I being proud of him?'
Suddenly, a heavy gust of wind slammed into her from behind, almost making her crash through the building. Grunting in pain, she turned to look at another demon with the kanji four in his eyes.
'Two Upper Moon Four?'
After hearing of Gyutaro and Daki, she was not surprised by the idea of seeing two in one demons.
At least until two others appeared.
"What?"
She said instinctively, startled.
The demon who sneak attacked her said leisurely.
"I'm Karaku. Symbol of Relaxation." He pointed at her earlier foe. "That is Sekido. Symbol of Anger."
Pointing at the other two, he sighed as he fanned himself lazily.
"That's Aizetsu and Urogi. They represent Sadness and Joy respectively. Together, we're the combat force of Upper Moon Five."
Shinobu raised her sword, her hands tight with tension.
"You've come here to save Douma, right?"
Karaku smiled. "Of course not. Who cares if he dies? We only need to kill you."
Shinobu's shoulders eased slightly. So they weren't here for Douma. Instead, they were here for her.
"Fine. Let's settle this."
She attacked.
"Insect Breathing. Dance of the Bee Sting—Flutter."
Her sword attacked Urogi who looked the weakest. The demon hurriedly flapped his wings and screeched, repelling her attack with a sonic boom.
Just as she tried to regain her footing, the same wind pressure hit her from behind.
'Annoying!'
Cursing inwardly, she lashed out at Aizetsu who immediately blocked with a water shield.
Retreating slightly, she reassessed them. Sekido had electric related abilities, Karaku had abilities related to wind using his uchiwa fan, Aizetsu had a spear which he used for water attacks and Urogi could fly and throw sonic attacks.
'This will be difficult.'
Still, she wasn't going to lose. By now, the whole mansion was alert. And surely, the crows must have gone to inform other Hashiras.
Soon enough, the courtyard was embroiled in chaos. Shinobu danced between the combined assault of the four demons. Although she was struggling heavily, she was able to hold out against them. And instinctively, she had led them far away from her lab.
Still, she found them absolutely annoying. They were always covering for each other.
And because of this, she couldn't even kill any of them. Though, she had poisoned Aizetsu and Sekido. Still, it'd take some time to start working.
"Inouske-sama coming through!"
From the roof of a building, Inouske appeared wielding his dual chipped swords and charged at the five demons.
Shinobu's eyes widened. Wasn't he supposed to be in the infirmary? Especially after the injuries he received in the Yoshiwara Entertainment District.
Aizetsu turned to face the incoming threat.
Bang!
Surprisingly, Inouske's swords split through the water attacks and almost cut off the demon's head.
Startled, Aizetsu hurriedly retreated. Why did he suddenly seem weaker? He thought. Then he realized. Poison. Shinobu had poisoned him and Sekido.
'Sad woman.'
Still, that didn't mean he'd go down easily. It didn't even matter if he was beheaded. They could never truly kill Upper Moon Four.
Now that the pressure on her was reduced, Shinobu's attacks started landing on the other demons despite their efforts to avoid it.
Suddenly, Sekido doubled over, coughing up blood. His eyes bulged as he felt his inner organs being destroyed at an unimaginable speed.
However, before Shinobu could rejoice, she suddenly saw the four demons move closer to each other and merge into a tree stump with several thick branches that looked like wooden dragons.
Zohakutan stood before her, towering above her mansion, even.
However, before he could attack, something caught their attention.
A small porcelain pot suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
'What's that?'
Shinobu thought warily.
Pop!
From within the pot, a demon with mouth for eyes emerged. His lower body looked like that of a mermaid while his upper body possessed six baby-like arms.
"Hurray! The beauty of this Hashira! I wonder what you'll look like when I shape you." His left mouth spoke.
And Shinobu? She visibly tensed. Because she could see it. Engraved in the demon's eyes was a number—Upper Moon Five.
"More demons? Yeah!"
Inouske shouted from behind, ready to charge at Gyokko. However, Shinobu held him back. Her face a mask of grim seriousness.
"Go back and protect the others. There might be other demons."
"Aye, aye!" He cheered as he ran back with the same vigor he came with.
"Now then, shall we start?"
Shinobu smiled.