Chapter 78 – Natagumo Mountain (6)
Zenitsu raised his hand. His eyes widened in horror. The skin where the spider had bitten him was swelling, the flesh already darkening to a sickly purple.
The spider demon laughed, its human face twisted with delight.
"You've been poisoned by my venom. It will spread through your blood, faster with every heartbeat. The more you run, the faster it will reach your heart. Soon, you'll feel dizzy, your body will weaken, and finally you'll collapse. Then I'll savor you—bite by bite."
Zenitsu stood frozen, staring at his hand. The words sank in like weights. His lips trembled. His body screamed to give up.
Then, all at once—he erupted in a shriek. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" He darted clumsily aside, narrowly avoiding a pouncing spider.
The demon tilted its head, amused
"Hmph. So the coward's a fool, too. All of you—tear him apart!"
Dozens of human-headed spiders surged from the undergrowth, their grotesque faces grinning, fangs bared. They closed in from every direction, sealing off escape.
Panic-stricken, Zenitsu scrambled up a tree, clinging desperately to the trunk like a frightened child. But already, the venom was eating away at his strength. His arms weakened. His grip faltered.
"No, no, no… not now!" His voice cracked as his fingers slipped.
He fell.
The impact jarred his body, but what struck harder was the flood of memory.
A mountain path. His grandfather's stern face. A wooden stick raised in discipline.
Whenever Zenitsu had hidden from training, cowering in branches, his grandfather had found him, shouting until his throat grew raw. Even though Zenitsu had been timid, even though his aptitude was laughably poor, his grandfather had never abandoned him.
He had beaten Zenitsu bloody, yes—but also carried him back, and demanded he stand again.
And in the end, Zenitsu had only mastered a single form of Thunder Breathing. One.
"Only one technique… I'm worthless."
He had thought it countless times. His senior disciples had mocked him for it. But his master's voice always cut through:
"Even if it is one move—if you polish it until it is flawless—it will surpass a hundred clumsy strikes."
The memory burned bright.
Zenitsu pushed himself to his knees. His left hand pressed against the scabbard. His thumb braced against the guard.
His right hand curled around the hilt.
He closed his eyes. His breath slowed.
Crackling arcs of lightning shimmered across his body.
The spiders screeched as sparks danced in the dark, their snarls warping into fear. They faltered.
The demon's eyes narrowed.A cold unease crept into its chest. "What's… happening to him?"
It leapt into the air, scrambling up its threads. "Don't hesitate! Attack together!"
The human-headed spiders obeyed, lunging.
Zenitsu moved—not wildly, not frantically. With precise leaps, he evaded, always maintaining the stance, blade still sheathed, energy coiling within him. Each bound widened the distance between him and his attackers, until at last, he planted his foot on a tree trunk and launched himself skyward—straight toward the demon above.
The creature bared its teeth. "You're amazing, coward… but in the air, you can't dodge this! Spotted Venom—!"
Its cheeks ballooned. A torrent of corrosive fluid burst forth.
Zenitsu twisted mid-air, body guided by instinct honed through endless drills, and the venom hissed past harmlessly.
It splattered against a tree trunk below, burning a smoking hole clean through.
The demon's unease deepened. This human—this coward—wasn't the same.
On the ground, Zenitsu landed softly, never breaking stance. The pressure around him grew unbearable, the air itself trembling.
The demon snarled, trying to banish its fear. "He only knows one move! Don't be afraid—smother him!"
But the words only ignited Zenitsu's memory.
His master's gaze. His words. His belief.
"One move… polished a thousand times… is the strongest move of all."
Zenitsu's breath surged. Lightning raged across his frame.
The spiders swarmed, cocooning him in a writhing mass. For a heartbeat, he vanished beneath their grotesque bodies.
The demon grinned wickedly. "Yes… yes, crush him!"
But the next instant—
KRA-KOOOOOOOM!
Thunder ripped through the clearing.
The spiders combusted, blackened husks crumbling mid-air.
Arcs of electricity scorched the ground, splitting earth and burning foliage to ash.
In the eye of the storm stood Zenitsu. His eyes snapped open, glowing white with lightning. Sparks surged across his body, each breath shaking the air.
"Thunder Breathing…" His voice resonated like a storm breaking the heavens.
"…First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
The ground beneath his feet shattered, fragments suspended in the electric field before exploding outward.
Terror clawed the demon's heart. It turned, frantically scrambling toward the suspended cabin of silk. "No… impossible!" It dove into the shadows, curling into a corner, trembling.
Zenitsu vanished.
In the same instant, golden lightning carved across the forest—
"…Sixfold!"
His blade sang six times in a single breath.
The spiders exploded into cinders. Silk threads split apart. The cabin quaked as lightning carved through its walls.
The demon's head lifted, eyes wide with disbelief—
—and then it toppled from its body, severed clean.
As its form dissolved to ash, the last words left its lips, bitter and broken. "No… impossible… defeated by a coward…"
Silence fell. Only smoke and the faint crackle of electricity lingered.
Zenitsu staggered.
His strength drained away, the venom claiming its toll. His body collapsed atop the ruined cabin.
The forest swam. His tongue numbed. His throat burned.
A familiar chirping reached his ears.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
He turned weakly. A tiny sparrow hovered anxiously above him—his kasugai crow replacement, Chuntarō.
"Chun…tarō?" His lips barely formed the name.
The sparrow landed, calling urgently. Zenitsu! Zenitsu, hold on!
"I… I don't think I'll make it," Zenitsu whispered faintly.
No! You'll be fine! The sparrow flapped frantically. I'll bring help—just hold on!
Zenitsu's vision dimmed. Tanjiro… Nezuko… Inosuke… I guess I can't… go on with you after all.
As the darkness closed, another voice surged through him.
"Hold on, Zenitsu! Don't you dare give up!"
His grandfather's roar. Just as it had been during training—harsh, merciless, but alive.
Grandfather…
Zenitsu's eyes cracked open. His breath steadied. Through sheer will, he shifted into controlled patterns, forcing his blood flow to slow, delaying the venom's spread.
Time blurred.
Then—fluttering wings. A butterfly. At first he thought it was a hallucination, but soon a figure emerged in the moonlight.
She landed gracefully, her haori patterned with butterfly wings.
Her presence was soft yet sharp, like silk hiding steel.
"Hello, hello. Are you still alive?" Shinobu Kocho's gentle voice carried through the clearing.
Zenitsu blinked, dazed. His eyes widened. Who… who is she? A girl… in the Demon Slayer uniform? That beautiful?
Shinobu knelt beside him, pressing a finger lightly to his forehead.
Her touch was cool, clinical. Relief softened her smile.
"You're lucky. The poison hasn't sunk too deep. Thanks to your breathing technique, you slowed it. That's very clever of you."
She drew a vial, injecting the antidote swiftly.
Zenitsu exhaled, tension easing from his body.
Shinobu tilted her head. "By the way… have you seen a boy and girl with white hair?"
Zenitsu blinked, then shook his head weakly.
"Mm. I see. Stay here a while—rescue will arrive soon."
With that, Shinobu rose, her figure blurring into the woods once more, vanishing like a butterfly into the night.
Zenitsu lay still, Chuntarō fluttering close, whispering encouragement.
And for the first time since his bite, he allowed himself the smallest thread of hope.
...
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