Chapter 57: Perhaps That Realm, You Can Easily Step Into It As Well
She turned around and grabbed Tatsu's arm.
Her eyes were full of pleading.
"I beg of you, please leave!"
"It's still not too late to leave now!"
"I'll stay behind! I can definitely help you hold back Sanemi!"
"As long as you live..."
Kanae pleaded once more.
However, Tatsu took hold of Kanae's slightly trembling hand in return.
The young man's palm was broad, and although it lacked human warmth, it carried a reassuring strength.
He turned his head.
"Kanae."
Tatsu's voice was surprisingly calm; he didn't look at the morning glow on the horizon, nor did he look at the arrogant Sanemi.
In his eyes, there was only the girl before him who was willing to give up everything for him.
"I said it just now. Running away is something I cannot do."
Tatsu released her hand, stepped forward, and once again held the barbed nichirin sword across his chest.
He firmly shielded Kanae behind him.
"Since we agreed to face this together, I will never break my word."
"I don't care if he is Sanemi Shinazugawa or some other Hashira."
"Even if I die, I will absolutely not let you face this madman alone!"
Tatsu's gaze locked onto Sanemi Shinazugawa once more.
His brain was working at high speed, thinking of a strategy to break the situation.
"Ordinary attacks simply cannot defeat him..."
"This guy's ability to take a hit is simply monstrous."
"If this drags on and the sun comes out, I'm a dead man, and Kanae will also be implicated for harboring me."
Tatsu gritted his teeth, feeling the cells in his body aching faintly from being overextended.
"Sun Breathing..."
The Breathing Style that could incinerate everything flashed through Tatsu's mind.
Tonight, he had already forcibly used it once to counter the wisteria poison.
His demon body had already reached the limit of what it could bear.
If he forced himself to use Sun Breathing now, the explosive power might instantly defeat Sanemi.
But the massive backlash would very likely cause his body to collapse directly from within.
"Anyway, if I drag this out, I'll just be burned to death by the sun..."
A trace of frantic ruthlessness flashed in Tatsu's eyes.
"Since I'm going to die either way, I might as well give it my all!"
"As long as I can defeat him, Kanae At once safe!"
Thinking of this, Tatsu slowly closed his eyes.
He began to adjust his breathing.
Trying to awaken that flicker of solar fire sleeping in the deepest part of his cells.
"Huu— Huu—"
An extremely faint but searingly hot white mist exhaled from Tatsu's mouth and nose again.
The air around him began to distort slightly, and a heart-palpitating, terrifying high temperature...
...was frantically brewing within his thin body.
On the arm holding the sword, the originally dark purple veins now faintly revealed a crimson glow like lava.
Sanemi Shinazugawa seemed to have sensed something as well.
The mockery on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a gravity as if facing a great enemy.
He gripped the hilt with both hands, pushing his Wind Breathing to the limit, ready at any moment to meet this fatal last-ditch counterattack.
Watching the changes occurring in Tatsu, Kanae seemed to realize what he was about to do.
She reached out in despair:
"Don't! Tatsu, you won't be able to withstand it!"
At this critical moment, just as Tatsu was about to completely ignite the fire of life within him...
...preparing for the final life-or-death struggle.
A clear, anxious young girl's voice suddenly came from behind a patch of bushes at the edge of the battlefield.
"Brother Tatsu!"
This voice wasn't loud, but it was like a bolt of lightning, instantly dispersing all the momentum Tatsu had gathered.
Tatsu snapped his eyes open and looked in the direction the voice came from.
Not just him, but Kanae and even the ready-to-strike Sanemi Shinazugawa instinctively looked toward the sound.
The bushes not far away made a rustling sound.
The branches and leaves were pushed aside by pairs of rough but warm hands.
The first to walk out was a thin man.
Tanjuro Kamado.
Beside Tanjuro was his wife, Kie Kamado.
Next, the children of the Kamado Family popped their heads out from behind the bushes one by one.
The eldest son, Tanjiro, with a scar on his forehead and eyes as pure as water.
Nezuko, with slightly red-rimmed eyes and her small hands clenched into fists.
And Hanako, Rokuta, and Shigeru, hiding behind their older siblings and poking their little heads out.
As well as Takeo, who was still clutching a tree branch as a weapon.
"Brother Tatsu!"
Nezuko broke free from her mother's hand and ran forward a few steps.
Tears welled in her eyes, but her voice was exceptionally loud.
"Big Brother Tatsu! Don't lose to that mean guy!"
Takeo waved the tree branch in his hand.
"Go, Brother Tatsu! Drive the bad guy away!"
Hanako and Shigeru also began to shout.
"Brother Tatsu, you're the best!" Rokuta also waved his little hand.
Tanjiro took a deep breath; his keen sense of smell, far beyond that of ordinary people...
...captured too many complex scents in the air.
The intense, suffocating anger and killing intent on Sanemi Shinazugawa...
The sadness on Kanae Kocho, interwoven with despair and pleading...
And... the desire to protect on Tatsu, which, though tainted with blood, was still as pure as the winter sun.
"Mr. Tatsu! Please be sure to protect yourself and protect that sister!"
Tanjiro shouted loudly, the young boy's voice devoid of even a hint of confusion.
This scene left everyone present stunned.
Kanae Kocho stared blankly at the suddenly appearing Kamado Family.
"You guys..."
Kanae's lips trembled slightly, wanting to say something.
But she found her throat felt as if it were blocked by something, unable to make a sound.
However, in Sanemi Shinazugawa's eyes, this scene was no different from adding fuel to the fire.
"You idiots... are you all fucking crazy?!"
"Cheering for a man-eating demon?"
"Has your brain been eaten by a dog?"
"You have no idea what these pieces of trash are really like!"
"They will tear open your throats, crush your bones, and rip out your internal organs for dinner!"
Sanemi suddenly pointed his nichirin sword at the Kamado Family, Tatsu's blood still remaining on the tip.
"If you don't want to die, get the hell away from here!"
"Otherwise... I'll cut you down along with him!"
Facing Sanemi Shinazugawa's terrifying killing intent that had almost materialized...
...Tanjuro did not retreat in the slightest.
He reached out with his thin hand to shield his wife and children behind him.
Then, he took a step and slowly walked forward.
"Mr. Swordsman, your heart is filled with sadness and anger.
What you see is only the vanity of hatred."
He didn't look at the enraged Sanemi, but instead turned his gaze to Tatsu, who was shielding Kanae.
He looked at Tatsu and recalled a few days ago...
...how this young man had only watched his Kagura dance for the Fire God once...
...and was able to comprehend it in an instant.
That earth-shattering level of perception was something Tanjuro had never seen in his life.
"Since you, Tatsu, could see through the essence of the 'Hinokami Kagura' at a glance..."
Tanjuro murmured in his heart.
"Then, perhaps that realm, you can easily step into it as well."
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