*BOOM!*
The Kamehameha, unleashed with Goku's full power, collided with the blood-red vortex. There was no struggle, no stalemate, and no resistance. The spinning web of death was engulfed instantly, followed immediately by Rui himself. The brilliant azure beam swallowed the Lower Moon whole, surging past him and piercing high into the night sky, forming a massive, radiant pillar of light that illuminated the entire mountain range.
When the dust finally settled and the blinding light faded, both the blood-red threads and Rui's figure had completely vanished from existence.
It was as if they had never been there at all.
"Uh... he seemed a lot weaker than I expected."
Goku scratched the back of his head, looking genuinely surprised that a single Kamehameha had erased his opponent. He had assumed that since Rui was one of the Twelve Kizuki, and since he had talked such a big game—treating everyone with such cold, supreme arrogance—he would be a formidable foe. At the very least, Goku expected him to be exponentially stronger than the Father Demon.
He hadn't expected him to be so fragile.
Uncle Mita had consistently described the Twelve Kizuki as terrifying, unstoppable monsters. Even the Mother Demon's memories were saturated with a primal, bone-deep fear of Rui. From the moment Rui appeared, he had carried himself with the air of a high-and-mighty ruler, looking down on everyone as if he could end their lives with the slightest effort.
Goku had naturally assumed the boy was hiding a decent amount of power, enough for a proper, high-stakes battle.
The result was underwhelming.
The main issue was that in this world, Goku couldn't rely solely on ki to judge someone's strength. In his own universe, ki was a perfect barometer; he could sense an opponent's limit with near-perfect accuracy. But here, ki wasn't the primary source of power. It was merely a faint, residual echo in creatures that fought using blood arts or lung capacity.
In the Wizarding World, Dumbledore's ki was lower than Yamcha's, yet Goku had initially lost even when going all out. Similarly, the slayers and demons of this world didn't train ki. Their signatures were higher than average humans, but they didn't serve as a reliable metric for combat prowess.
"He was just a Lower Rank. Maybe the Upper Ranks will be better. Or, at the very least, that Muzan Kibutsuji guy should have some real meat to his strength."
Goku's disappointment flickered for a moment before he brightened up again. He remembered Mita saying that while Hashira had killed many Lower Ranks over the years, not a single Upper Rank had been defeated in over a century. Conversely, many Hashira had fallen to the Upper Ranks.
This suggested that the gap between Upper and Lower was like the gap between a mountain and a pebble. And since Muzan was the progenitor who created them all, he had to be vastly more powerful than even the Upper Ranks combined.
'Now that's a fight to look forward to!'
Coming back to the present, Goku turned to look at Mita and the others. He found them all frozen in place, their jaws literally hanging open in a series of exaggerated, comical expressions of shock.
"What's wrong? Are you guys hurt?"
"N-no... no," Mita stammered, his voice trembling as he finally found his words. "Is... is Lower Rank Five dead?"
It was no wonder they were terrified. Their entire concept of combat revolved around using Breathing Styles to push their physical limits, making their blade-strikes faster and stronger. Every form and technique was just a different way to swing a piece of metal.
They had never seen anything like this.
With a single "boom," a legendary demon of the Twelve Kizuki had been reduced to nothingness. It was a terrifying display of power. Was this truly a method of fighting that a human could master?
"Yeah, he's dead. His ki has completely vanished," Goku confirmed with a firm nod.
"Oh my, it seems I've arrived a step behind Tomioka-san. Where is the Lower Rank Five demon?"
Suddenly, a figure as beautiful and light as a butterfly descended from the sky, landing gracefully in front of the group. She scanned the area quickly, her violet eyes clouding with confusion.
"Insect Hashira-sama!"
Mita and the other slayers immediately bowed with the utmost respect. The newcomer was Shinobu Kocho, the Insect Hashira, one of the nine most powerful swordsmen in the Corps.
"Could it be her!"
Shinobu's nose crinkled as she caught a scent. Her gaze locked onto the girl standing next to the boy with the scar. Without a second's hesitation, she drew her uniquely shaped Nichirin Sword.
"Insect Breathing, Dance of the Butterflies: Caprice!"
With a fluid, ethereal movement that was nearly impossible to track, Shinobu appeared in front of the girl, her blade thrusting toward a vital point. Her speed was so immense that neither the girl nor the scarred boy, Tanjiro, had time to react.
Having received orders from Oyakata-sama, she and the Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka, had rushed to Mount Natagumo with the "Kakushi" cleanup and medical units. Since there were two main paths up the mountain, they had split up to prevent Lower Rank Five from escaping. Shinobu's path had been clear, allowing her to reach the summit first.
Seeing only one demon among the slayers, she naturally assumed it was their target. Even if it wasn't the Lower Rank Five, a demon was a demon, and all demons had to die.
However, just as her blade was about to pierce the girl, a hand suddenly gripped the girl's arm and pulled her to the left, causing the thrust to miss by a hair's breadth.
"Hey, aren't you a Hashira? Why are you attacking your own teammate?"
The person who had intervened was, of course, Goku. He didn't recognize the girl, but since she was with Tanjiro and had helped fight the Sister Demon, he assumed she was a slayer. Shinobu's sudden, murderous arrival and immediate attack left him confused.
Shinobu withdrew her sword with a flash of surprise, landing a short distance away. "Because she isn't a member of our Corps," she replied matter-of-factly. "She is a demon. And demons must be killed."
"N-no! That's not it! She's not Lower Rank Five—he's already been killed! This is my sister, Nezuko!" Tanjiro finally snapped out of his shock, rushing forward to pull Nezuko behind his back.
"Hashira-sama, the Lower Rank Five demon was already killed by Goku," Mita added quickly, stepping in to explain. He didn't want a misunderstanding to lead to a fight between a Hashira and someone like Goku.
"You killed Lower Rank Five?"
Shinobu looked at Goku with genuine astonishment. She hadn't expected a boy this young to be capable of slaying a member of the Twelve Kizuki. To do so implied strength close to that of a Hashira—which explained how he had managed to pull the girl away from her strike.
"He may not have been the Lower Rank Five, but she is still a demon," Shinobu said, her voice remaining calm and pleasant despite the underlying steel. "And all demons must be killed. At most, I will use a painless poison to kill her gently."
In her experience, once a person turned into a demon, they lost their humanity and became slaves to their bloodlust. It was an immutable biological drive. She had seen too many parents, children, and lovers devoured by the very people they cherished once the transformation took hold.
Thus, even hearing that the girl was Tanjiro's sister, the killing intent radiating from her did not diminish in the slightest.
***
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