Screen 1 – Sans and Tanjiro vs Rui
The dome of razor-thin threads tightens around them, glowing faintly with Rui's blood art.
Every strand hums like a blade.
Tanjiro steadies his breathing.
Sans steps forward, eye glowing blue.
Rui watches them with cold amusement.
"You two are the only real threats here. The skeleton… and the boy with the kind eyes."
Papyrus shouts from behind,
"RUDE! I AM ALSO A THREAT!"
Rui ignores him completely.
---
Opening Clash
Rui flicks his wrist.
Dozens of threads shoot forward, weaving patterns of instant death.
Tanjiro leaps, blade swinging.
"Water Breathing… Third Form!"
He slices through several threads—
but the cuts are shallow. Rui reforges each thread instantly.
Rui smirks.
"You can't break my family bonds."
Sans steps beside Tanjiro.
"Sure we can."
He spreads his hand.
Gravity distorts the air.
Gravity Bubble.
Every thread in a five-meter radius slows, drooping like wet noodles.
Rui's eyes widen.
"What…? That's not swordsmanship. That's… something else."
Tanjiro charges into the slowed zone.
"Now!"
He swings with all his strength.
SHING
Half the web dome's threads snap.
Rui's expression finally cracks.
"You tricked me…"
Sans shrugs.
"I prefer 'strategic teamwork,' but yeah."
Rui pulls his hand back sharply.
The threads tighten into a massive whip.
"Blood Demon Art… Cutting Thread Cage!"
The web cage collapses inward—spiraling like a buzzsaw.
Tanjiro gasps.
"It's going to crush everyone—!"
Sans teleports forward, grabbing Tanjiro's sleeve.
"Focus. He's trying to overwhelm you."
---
Tanjiro's Resolve
Tanjiro's breathing sharpens.
His mind flashes with Nezuko's face…
the Spider Mother's suffering…
and Rui's twisted idea of "family."
"Rui… you call this family?! You torture them! You control them!"
Rui glares.
"Silence. You know nothing of family."
Sans glances at Rui, his tone suddenly colder.
"Kid's right. Family ain't chains."
Rui's threads lash forward—
but Sans snaps his fingers.
Blue light erupts.
Telekinesis Slam.
Rui's body jerks sideways, smacking against a tree.
Rui coughs, shocked.
"You… touched my body with that power…?"
Sans steps forward, hands in pockets.
"Yeah. And I'll do more if you don't quit playing."
Rui screams in rage, sending a storm of threads toward Sans.
Tanjiro cuts multiple lines to defend him.
"Sans, move!"
Sans doesn't move.
He simply bends space around himself.
The threads swirl harmlessly past him, slicing trees instead.
Rui's shock grows into fury.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFY A LOWER MOON?!"
---
The Turning Point
Tanjiro sees an opening.
He sprints forward with everything he has.
"Water Breathing… Fifth Form!"
He swings upward—
but Rui blocks with a hardened thread.
"Your attacks are meaningless!"
He sends a thread toward Tanjiro's throat.
Sans grabs the thread midair with his blue aura.
SNAP
He shatters the blood art.
Rui freezes.
"You… you can even break my hardened threads…?"
Sans cracks his neck.
"Kid. Finish this."
Tanjiro steps through the moonlight, determination burning in his eyes.
"Rui… your family isn't real. But mine is. And I will protect it."
Rui roars and leaps high, threads forming a spinning wheel of blades.
Sans pulls Tanjiro into the air with a gravity boost.
"Go!"
Tanjiro flips midair, sword aligned.
"Water Breathing…"
His heart races.
His breathing sharpens.
"…Tenth Form!"
Constant Flux.
He spirals downward toward Rui as Sans keeps the demon trapped in a gravity hold.
Rui screams—
"NO—!"
SLASH
The attack cuts clean.
Rui falls toward the ground, body severed.
The Lower Moon's threads unravel.
---
Tanjiro lands, breathing hard.
Sans floats down beside him.
"Nice work, kid."
Tanjiro smiles faintly.
"We did it… together."
Rui's body begins to crumble as the moonlight shines through the trees.
Screen 2 – The Water Hashira Arrives
Rui's body hits the ground—
but instead of turning to ash, the severed pieces wriggle, wobble…
and fuse back together.
Tanjiro's eyes widen.
"What…? No way…"
Sans frowns, eye glowing blue.
"He moved his weak point at the last second. Smart little brat."
Rui stands up, completely healed.
His body is cracked, bleeding—
but alive.
"You thought you won? You thought you could kill me?"
His killing intent crushes the entire clearing.
Papyrus drags a wounded Inosuke toward cover.
"THIS IS VERY BAD! I REPEAT, VERY BAD!"
Inosuke coughs.
"LET ME FIGHT HIM—!"
"NO."
Papyrus pins him down with a bone.
---
Rui's Counterattack
Rui raises both arms.
"Blood Demon Art… Thread Cocoon."
White threads explode from every direction, creating a dome of instant death.
Tanjiro tries to slash them.
Sans tries to block them with gravity.
But Rui's threads grow sharper.
Stronger.
Infused with pure killing intent.
Tanjiro gets nicked across the arm.
Sans stumbles back as his gravity field cracks under pressure.
Rui laughs softly.
"You're nothing compared to me. None of you understand family."
He whips a thick thread toward Tanjiro—
so fast that not even Sans can grab it in time.
"Tanjiro!!" Sans shouts.
But then—
A small shadow bursts from the side.
Nezuko.
She kicks the thread, redirecting it.
Rui turns, shocked.
"A demon… protecting a human?"
Nezuko snarls, blood dripping from her legs.
Tanjiro steadies himself.
"Nezuko… thank you."
Sans wipes sweat from his skull.
"She's tough. But even with her… we're hitting a wall."
Rui steps forward, threads rising like steel snakes.
"You cannot defeat me. You are weak. You have no bond stronger than mine."
Tanjiro lifts his sword again—
breathing ragged.
Muscles torn.
Vision blurring.
Sans struggles to keep the threads bent with gravity.
Nezuko's legs shake.
Rui prepares the final attack.
"This ends now."
---
A New Presence
Everything stops.
A cold breeze cuts through the forest.
Still.
Silent.
Sans turns slowly.
"Oh. He's here."
Tanjiro senses it.
A presence so sharp, so calm, it freezes even Rui's threads.
Giyu Tomioka steps out of the shadows.
The Water Hashira.
Rui flinches.
"…a Hashira…?"
Giyu doesn't answer.
He walks past Sans and Tanjiro as if the battle hasn't even started.
Tanjiro whispers,
"Giyu… we couldn't beat him."
Sans nods.
"This guy's on a different level. Let him cook."
---
Rui's Panic
Rui snarls and prepares his strongest technique—
"CUTTING THREAD CAGE!"
Thousands of threads spiral toward Giyu, ripping the ground apart.
But Giyu doesn't even blink.
He moves like water.
Calm.
Silent.
Effortless.
"Water Breathing…"
He raises his sword.
"…Eleventh Form."
Dead Calm.
The air itself quiets.
Rui's threads touch Giyu's blade—
and disappear.
Not cut.
Not broken.
Erased.
Rui's eyes widen in true fear.
"No… no no no—STAY BACK!"
He severes his own head with a thread.
He tries to remove his weak point manually.
A desperate trick.
But Giyu is already behind him.
One clean strike.
Rui's true head falls.
His body collapses.
He turns to ash instantly.
Lower Moon Five is gone.
---
Aftermath
Tanjiro drops to his knees.
"…it's over."
Sans sits down, exhausted.
"Yeah. That guy was something else."
Papyrus rushes over.
"IS EVERYONE STILL ALIVE!?"
Giyu sheathes his blade without a word.
Nezuko limps toward Tanjiro, and he catches her gently.
Giyu glances at the two skeleton brothers…
then away again.
Tanjiro bows his head.
"Thank you, Giyu. We couldn't have survived without you."
Sans smirks tiredly.
"Yeah. You're kind of a cheat code."
Giyu gives no reaction.
The wind carries Rui's ashes away, and the forest slowly breathes again.
Mount Natagumo is cleared.
To be continued.