"Why does such a terrifying human exist? His strength is even greater than any Hashira I've encountered before."
Gyokko didn't even need to touch his own body to feel his back completely drenched in cold sweat, even though he wasn't wearing any clothes.
The immense pressure radiating from this swordsman felt as if Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji himself was standing directly in front of him. Even the tiny dust particles floating in the air were pressed firmly to the ground by this overwhelming spiritual pressure.
Seiichi, holding his Nichirin Sword horizontally in both hands, had a cold and focused gaze. The profound and vast energy within his body gradually infused into the Nichirin Sword. His lungs expanded deeply, and air slowly entered his respiratory system.
Here it comes!
"Void Breathing—Air Burst!"
He swung his Nichirin Sword with tremendous force! It wasn't the sharp edge leading the attack, but rather the flat side of the Nichirin Sword, held horizontally, was swung out forcefully and rapidly. The technique pushed all the air in front of it away instantly, creating a complete vacuum.
Too fast! Far too fast! The Nichirin Sword's speed had completely broken the sound barrier. The rapid compression of air prevented it from spreading quickly, resulting in massive shockwaves forming on both sides of the blade, with destructive energy sharply escalating across the shockwave surface.
BOOM!!!
A massive sonic boom echoed across the heavens and shook the earth. The entire open ground was scattered with debris and dust, and all the surrounding trees toppled over to one side. The tremendous explosion roared through the forest, accompanied by an extremely powerful shockwave radiating wildly in all directions.
Too loud! Much too loud! Gyokko had already hidden safely inside his pot before Seiichi swung his Nichirin Sword. He began moving rapidly between the surrounding pots he had prepared. He wasn't confident he could evade Seiichi's blade directly, so he had to act with careful planning.
Blood flowed from Gyokko's ears due to eardrum rupture caused by the massive sonic boom, but for a demon of his level, such an injury would heal within moments.
"Why is he doing this? This attack seems meaningless for actually hitting me."
Gyokko, hidden in a pot buried deep in the earth, calmly pondered the situation.
"No, that's not right at all. This is a warning signal to the Demon Slayer Corps members."
Gyokko's expression turned increasingly ugly as the realization hit him.
"If Hantengu also fails to complete Master Muzan's mission, then when we return, I'm afraid..."
"No, that's not right either. Whether I can even return alive is still a major question."
Gyokko sensed Seiichi standing directly above his hiding spot.
Seiichi could vaguely sense that Gyokko was somewhere underground. So he likes to play hide and seek like a mouse?
He lifted his right foot high into the air and stomped down with incredible force!
The ground instantly cracked and split apart. Deep fissures spread out in a circular wave pattern from the center point of impact. The pots buried beneath were directly crushed into fine powder by the immense pressure.
Back in the distant Swordsmith Village.
The entire Swordsmith Village could feel a tremendous sound wave coming from the forest, accompanied by an instantaneous shockwave that followed. The paper screens on windows were directly blown out and scattered.
Whether it was the village residents who had been resting peacefully or those who were working late forging Nichirin Swords, everyone was shaken and startled by this powerful shockwave.
The first to react were Tanjiro and the others. At this moment, Tanjiro had been chatting quietly in Muichiro's bedroom. Both he and Muichiro heard the loud explosion in the distance and instantly grabbed their Nichirin Swords.
That sound... is it Seiichi?
Tanjiro reached out and grabbed Muichiro, who was already rushing toward the door.
"Wait, Tokito-san! Seiichi gave me a pouch earlier. I think what he said must have been for this exact moment."
"I have one too."
Muichiro quickly opened his brocade pouch. Inside was a small, neatly folded note.
"Don't come over to help me. There are demons already in the village. Evacuate the swordsmiths immediately. Use Total Concentration Breathing."
After checking the note against Tanjiro's, they found the messages were identical. The two young slayers exchanged meaningful glances, nodded simultaneously, and decided to trust Seiichi completely, acting exactly as the note instructed.
Before they could even move toward the door, a withered and clawed hand slowly extended through the doorframe. Following it came the unmistakable stench of a demon and intense, oppressive spiritual pressure. Both of them began trembling involuntarily.
"A demon? This terrible feeling... this is definitely an Upper Moon demon!"
Their pupils contracted in fear, and time seemed to slow down dramatically. Tanjiro's right hand was still reaching for his Nichirin Sword's handle, but Muichiro had already burst into motion.
"Mist Breathing—Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash!"
Thick mist enveloped him completely, and Muichiro, like a demon god emerging from the fog, burst forth from his position. His Nichirin Sword slashed diagonally through the air, the blade stopping just a finger's width from Hantengu's exposed neck.
The target vanished! Muichiro's Nichirin Sword swung through completely empty air. So incredibly fast. Looking up toward the ceiling, Hantengu was now positioned there, apparently crying from pure fright.
"Hinokami Kagura—Clear Blue Sky!"
Brilliant flames emerged around Tanjiro, who had already drawn his Nichirin Sword. He assumed a precise thrusting stance, gripping his Nichirin Sword tightly with both hands, aiming directly at Hantengu on the ceiling above.
The demon vanished again! So fast! Tanjiro hadn't even made contact when he realized the demon's oppressive presence had completely disappeared from the ceiling.
Hantengu was now cowering on the floor with his head buried in his hands, shivering pathetically. Muichiro instantly gathered his strength, bursting forward with a concise but extremely fast downward slash. A severed head flew through the air.
"Be careful! An Upper Moon demon might not die even if its head is completely cut off!"
No sooner had the warning been spoken than the headless Hantengu, still kneeling, rapidly regenerated new limbs. The flying head quickly regenerated as well, forming an entirely separate demon.
"It turned into two demons? Some kind of splitting ability?"
Tanjiro's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
Muichiro quickly moved forward, his right hand already positioned for a horizontal slash. One of the newly manifested demons held a large fan and lightly waved it toward Muichiro.
BANG!
A massive storm erupted, directly hitting Muichiro and sending him flying out of the attic completely. His whereabouts became unknown.
Tanjiro, also affected by the powerful winds, clung tightly to a piece of wooden beam, hanging desperately from the attic to ensure he wasn't blown away by the intense airflow.
"What is this thing? The power is far too great!"
"Only he's left now. Let's finish him quickly."
The two split demons stood before him. One held a staff and the other wielded the fan. They had the characters for 'Anger' and 'Joy' respectively carved on their tongues. These were Hantengu's emotion clones, Sekido and Karaku.
Tanjiro saw the fan aimed directly at him and thought, This is very bad.
With a loud BANG, Karaku's body was directly split in half. Genya appeared, pointing a gun at the two demons while quickly reloading his weapon.
With a ferocious expression, he spoke to the demons.
"You're the Upper Moons, aren't you? If I kill you, I can become a Hashira too!"
"Genya, be careful! They can split into more!"
"What?"
Karaku's scattered flesh slowly writhed and recombined into two completely new demons. These had 'Pleasure' and 'Sorrow' carved on their tongues respectively. These were Hantengu's other two emotion clones: Urogi, who had large wings, and Aizetsu, who wielded a long spear!
Sekido furiously swung his staff, emitting intense electricity that shot directly toward Genya. Unable to dodge the attack, Genya was struck by the lightning. Before he could even scream in pain, Aizetsu shot forward, piercing Genya's body with his sharp spear.
"Genya!"
Tanjiro, having recovered his fighting stance, chose not to attack Aizetsu but instead charged directly at Sekido. Coming at him was a pair of sharp claws cutting through the air. It was Urogi, swooping down to stop Tanjiro's advance.
"How interesting and entertaining, hahahaha."
Urogi, laughing wildly with pleasure, carved multiple wounds all over Tanjiro's body with his claws.
"Shut up! Finish them quickly!"
Sekido impatiently urged his companions, his staff crackling with electricity. He continued electrocuting Genya, who let out screams of pure agony.
"Genya!!"
Rolling to dodge Urogi's next claw attack, Tanjiro looked at his wounded friend, his eyes becoming bloodshot with rage. He bent his legs and took deep, controlled breaths.
Just do exactly as Zenitsu taught me: Total Concentration, Total Concentration!
The airflow in his body converged and concentrated in his legs. A flash of lightning-like energy burst forth, sending fragments of the attic flying everywhere.
"Thunder Breathing—First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
Tanjiro, moving at incredible high speed, raised his Nichirin Sword and instantly appeared directly before Sekido. He could clearly see the burning anger in Sekido's demonic eyes.
Now!
"Hinokami Kagura—Dance!"
Huge arcs of flame splattered across the area, and Sekido, along with his lightning staff, was cut cleanly in half!