Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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Pitch-black clouds slowly gathered, obscuring the bright moon over the Yoshiwara district. The dimmed moonlight made the light of the city shine even brighter.
A damp atmosphere could be smelt in the air, as if telling the people the weather might rain.
"Caw! Caw!"
Gonpachiro flew leisurely above the city. If you look closely, you might spot a bald patch on his tail and wings, as if someone had plucked them out.
The POV shifts to a stranger on the ground.
"What was that? A person?"
"There's someone on the roof!"
"Hey! That guy doesn't have a head!"
The murmuring of the crowd was amplified by that sentence. Surprise and panic were beginning to spread.
Tap.
"You're doing good, Giyu."
"Flashily beheaded!"
Tengen put his feet up against the destroyed balcony of the second floor of the Kyogoku house. He leaned forward and locked his eyes on Daki's location, which belied a surprised feeling at the demon's resilience.
"...It's not really dead yet..."
Across the rooftop.
"...so noisy."
Daki's head, which was held by her arms, glanced around out of the corner of her eyes at the passersby below who were continuously gathering.
"Damn it!" She clicked her tongue as tears welled up in her eyes. "They're all so annoying!" She muttered angrily.
"I've already had my head chopped off! What more do you want from me?"
"I'll kill you! I'll kill ALL OF YOU!"
Her tears rolled down from her cheeks and pattered on the roof tiles.
When a child feels wronged, the first thing they think of is to call for their parents.
But as a demon, Daki had long outlived her father and mother; many years ago.
She can only rely on one person.
Only Him.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, she held her head tight, as if protecting a precious item. Then, she screamed out with all her might.
"ONII-CHAAN!!"
Creak...
As his sister's aggrieved cries echoed through the district.
A faint sound of gurgling was heard as a skeletal, human-like-shaped figure gradually protruded from the spine of Daki's body.
The lumps of meat were layered on top of another and turned bluish with dense veins clearly visible through the thin muscle skin.
Its spine twisted bizarrely as it lifted its emaciated, deformed body away from his own sister.
'My dear sister, who is a few short of a chump of a meal...'
'Got your head chopped off again?'
Gyutaro peeled off his upper body and took in the situation that Daki had found herself in.
Gyutaro usually sleeps within his sister.
Only when Daki is under deadly threat will he awaken, and the two siblings fight together, transforming into the true form of Upper Moon Three.
Every time he wakes up, he can easily resolve the situation that Daki can't handle.
He also heard Muzan-sama's order to Daki.
Gyutaro knew in his heart that the order was actually directed at him.
Muzan-sama has never liked his sister.
But it's fine.
Gyutaro slowly crawled up from behind Daki. His hunched body and disheveled dark green dirty hair tied up haphazardly.
As long as Muzan-sama favored him, that's enough.
Although Gyutaro has never foreseen this.
"Careless..." He opened his eyes wearily as he tried to comfort his sister.
However, he didn't have enough time as the sound of footsteps pricked his ears.
Swish!
Three glinting blades were already swung directly at his neck!
'What!?'
His rebooted brain that was slowly waking up kicked up its processor speed to maximum, and his eyes widened as he took in the three blades.
"Gah!"
In the blink of an eye, Tengen, Giyu, and Tanjuro seemed to have appeared before Daki the moment Gyutaro showed up.
Gyutaro quickly processed the situation. Being several times smarter than his sister, he immediately assessed his current predicament.
'Muzan-sama!' His eyes trembled. "This is definitely not a task... I can handle myself!" His eyes drifted to his headless sister.
His own neck must never be severed!
All the muscles in his body tensed up, and crimson beads of blood oozed out from the surface of his skin.
[]—Blood Demon Art!—[]
[]—Enzan Senkai - Tobi Chigama!—[]
(tr. Rotating Circular Slashes: Flying Blood Scythes)
This technique was originally created to ensure he fully unleashed mutual destruction after his head had been cut off.
Due to his promotion into Upper Moon Three.
He has enough power to obliterate the entire street below in an instant.
"Leave... my sister... alone!" Gyutaro's body convulsed as he raised his head with arms wide open.
"GET AWAY!!"
Bam!
Tanjuro's instinct flared as he suddenly stomped his foot hard to forcefully halt his motion.
Above his head, the "danger" sign kept flashing.
His perception quickly envelops his surroundings.
"Get out of here!" Tanjuro shouted at the bustling pedestrians on the street below.
His shouts were also meant for his comrades, Tengen and Giyu, who were the closest to Gyutaro.
But it's too late for them.
Fearing the worst scenario, he put power into his legs once again.
With a forceful push, he bit down on Kusabimaru with his teeth.
While his hands were busy grabbing Tengen and Giyu away from Gyutaro. He threw them down to the street below.
At the same time, he uses the momentum to deliver a powerful kick toward Gyutaro's chin.
Bang!
Gyutaro's stiff body flew straight up into the sky, messing up his timing of unleashing his Blood Demon Art.
Seeing the height, Tanjuro thought he didn't hit him hard enough and followed Gyutaro as he jumped up, reaching the same height as Gyutaro.
The hook in his left hand caught onto a nearby building as he used the leverage to propel Gyutaro upwards once more.
The two figures locked eyes, one staring full of hatred while the other had a calm, focused mind.
Gyutaro looked at the approaching Tanjuro with a stunned expression.
'This guy, isn't he afraid of dying?'
...
Crash! Bang!
"Someone fell down!"
Tengen flexed his core muscles as he landed on the street with his feet first. He immediately looked up at the battle in the sky.
He also felt the threat of death from Gyutaro through his transparent world.
His gaze shifted to the leaping Tanjuro.
'Why did you do that?'
'You don't have to go so far to atone for your sins!'
While Tengen was gritting his teeth, Giyu stood silently beside him.
The civilians parted around them. Their eyes filled with curiosity as they looked at the two swordsmen, whispering to each other.
In Tengen's and Giyu's eyes, Gyutaro's body was convulsing and twitching.
The next moment.
Puchi!
Blades formed from his blood suddenly burst forth.
The first, second, and more and more instantly and densely erupted from Gyutaro's body and shot out in all directions.
Shing!
Dense blood-red sickles soared into the sky, wildly swinging in all directions. A vast expanse of crimson immediately enveloped the entire sky above the district.
Bang! Bang!
The technique strikes everything and everywhere on the rooftops and the streets. Chaos immediately descends on the Yoshiwara district.
"What is this!?"
"Run! Run away fast!"
The pedestrians finally reacted and began to flee in disarray.
"Onii-chan..." Daki took advantage of the distraction caused by Gyutaro. She placed her head back on her neck as she looked at the sky.
Her eyes show surprise as the blood sickles of her brother are being continuously deflected in midair by Tanjuro's Kusabimaru. She saw that Tanjuro was gaining more momentum as he slowly approached closer to Gyutaro.
Her pupils contracted.
Her sashes that had been restored behind her flew out behind her, aiming them at Tanjuro.
"Don't you dare interfere with my brother!" Daki shouted angrily.
However,
Snick!
Tengen and Giyu appeared behind her with their swords swung in front of them.
A flash of light and blood sprayed in the air.
Daki's expression turned astonished as her arms covered her neck again.
"Why is it always me who gets beheaded!?" She cried out whinily as her head landed on her arms.
...
Clang!
Tanjuro deflected another flying blood sickle as his brows furrowed.
He watched as the blood sickle burst from his deflection in the air, and an idea took root in his mind.
Rustle.
Two paper figures floated out from his chest pocket, which he quickly attached to his sword, Kusabimaru.
)—Ninpo!—(
)—Chigatanajutsu!—(
(tr. Blood Sword Technique)
Swoosh!
In an instant, the floating blood in midair rushed toward Kusabimaru, like moths to a flame, entangling it and adhering to it.
The blood mist formed by the Chigatanajutsu extended the length of the blades unnaturally.
The sky was instantly transformed from being shrouded in red into a clear pitch-black as all the blood was drawn into Tanjuro's blade.
Gyutaro was in the middle of unleashing his Blood Demon Art when he suddenly couldn't sense the scythe's blood in his control. He stared in shock in Tanjuro's direction.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"
"My demon art... was absorbed!?"
Both of them descend, with Gyutaro landing first on the roof.
He landed heavily with both of his hands gripping his meat sickles tightly as he stared at Tanjuro in astonishment.
...
Tanjuro calmly looked down at the street of Yoshiwara as his body was pulled by gravity and the wind rustled his clothes and his earrings.
Using his ninja technique, Tanjuro had been flung more upward by Gyutaro's technique.
At this height, landing means either death or injury.
Human beings are very fragile, after all.
Tanjuro took a deep breath and timed his swing.
)—Way of Tomoe!—(
)—Sakura Mai!—(
(tr. Sakura Dance)
Tanjuro swung Kusabimaru in his hand fiercely. Twisting his powerful core, his body traced a large circle in midair. The swirling cherry blossoms, accompanied by the blood-red extended blade, drew a huge arc across the night sky.
Tengen was on high alert as he prepared to catch the man when he caught a glimpse of blood arcing beautifully in the air.
He saw Tanjuro holding his long blood-red sword straight down and landed beside him.
"Hey!"
Gyutaro shouts from his position.
He was pulling his mouth in confusion as he fixed his eyes on Tanjuro. A manic look radiated off his face.
"You... You're a demon, right!?"
After saying this, Gyutaro felt like he should have slapped his forehead in frustration.
How could he ask such a stupid question!?
Such words should only be spoken by my idiot sister!
No, that man isn't a demon; he can tell just by smelling him.
But... if he's not a demon...
Gyutaro's gaze was fixed on Tanjuro's blood-soaked blade.
'What exactly is going on?'
"He's a demon!!"
Daki hugged her head under her neck as she sulked behind her brother. She poked her head out to point at Kusabimaru.
"That's Blood Demon Art, right? It definitely is!"
When Gyutaro landed, he had already grabbed his sister away from the roof.
His strength and brain have finally reached their peak, yet escaping from the two Hashira on the ground proved fruitless.
He looked back at Daki behind him with a look that said, 'Shut up!'
But Daki didn't look back and was still shouting in grievance.
"I've never seen a human block Onii-chan's Blood Art perfectly and have an intact sword!"
"Let alone absorbing it!"
"That's Blood Demon Art! How could an ordinary human possibly control blood?"
"Hey, you!" She pointed at Giyu. "Yes, you over there!"
Giyu raised a single eyebrow.
"There's a demon right next to you!"
"Hurry up and kill him—MM!!"
Daki was still moving her jaw to say something as Gyutaro quickly covered her mouth. He was somewhat embarrassed by his foolish little sister.
Giyu turned his head to stare at Tanjuro.
Daki's observation and words lingered in his mind since they made sense.
His gaze moved from Tanjuro to his blade in his arm that was pulsing with the demon blood.
Tanjuro glanced at Giyu briefly, then he swung Kusabimaru a couple of times as if cleaning it, and long streaks of sharp blood traced through the air, slashing the wind.
"It's ninjutsu." He answered Giyu's unspoken question.
Indeed.
Chigatanajutsu is a ninja art that he learned in "Sekiro."
The blood gushing from the bodies of his slain enemies is used and entwined around his blade as he executes assassination techniques.
Through the continuous use of the Fushigiri (Mortal Blade), Ookami developed this ninjutsu.
Now, under the enhancement of the paper doll whose resentment has multiplied countless times, he successfully took over the control of demon blood from Gyutaro with Chigatanajutsu onto Kusabimaru.
Tanjuro lifted his blade and pointed it at the demon sibling.
Tengen's ears twitched as he heard Tanjuro's explanation for the flashiest technique he had ever seen in his life.
He turned to look incredulously at his fellow comrade, as if to say, 'What kind of nonsense are you spouting about?'
Tanjuro ignored Tengen's confusion and Giyu's silent questioning. He focused intently on the demon's movement.
Crack! Boom!
The dark gathering cloud in the sky announced its presence as faint thunder was heard and a fierce lightning flickered between them.
Gyutaro's hand was still covering Daki's mouth. His gaze swept over the three Hashira in front of him with a calculating glint in his eyes. His mind furiously thought of strategies to survive this battle.
His neck felt more and more chill running down his spine as an idea took root in his mind.
—Run!!