"The Twelve Kizuki!" Tanjiro's gaze sharpened. Fang Jun had previously introduced the Twelve Kizuki to him, stating that even a powerful demon like the Hand Demon was mere trash compared to them. Tanjiro remembered Fang Jun's words very clearly.
From the brief skirmish just now—no, perhaps it should be called a battle where he was unilaterally at a disadvantage—he also understood the immense power of the Twelve Kizuki.
The character for 'Lower Five' was carved into the eyes of the young boy before him, so he must be Lower Rank Five. Judging by the boy's strength, Tanjiro could hardly imagine how powerful the Upper Ranks must be.
"I need to use Sun Breathing now." Tanjiro made up his mind. His mastery of Sun Breathing had advanced another step during this time. But even so, he still felt that he was far from fully grasping Sun Breathing. Sun Breathing was indeed much harder than Water Breathing.
He gripped his nichirin blade with both hands, took a deep breath, and a scorching aura emanated from him, the blade glowing with a fiery light.
The white-haired boy's previously nonchalant face now held a hint of solemnity. He didn't know why he felt this way, but it was as if it were an inheritance in his bloodline. He felt pressure for the first time in a long while.
"Engraved Thread Prison," he uttered faintly, his fingers dancing as a net woven from strong spider silk enveloped Tanjiro.
Tanjiro stepped forward, his momentum unwavering even as he neared the spider silk. "Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance." A burst of fiery light erupted from the blade. In an instant, a slash like sunlight met the spider web head-on. In just a moment, the spider web was engulfed by the intense sunlight.
"Impossible!" The white-haired boy was completely bewildered. His previous test had been enough to send the red-haired boy flying, yet his Blood Demon Art, with added power, couldn't withstand the boy's blade at all.
Watching Tanjiro, who had cut through the spider web and was now swinging his blade towards him, the white-haired boy showed no panic, but his previously calm face suddenly turned several shades colder. He said, word by word, "Blood Demon Art: Murderous Eye Cage." At the same time, his fingers continuously wove spider webs.
Tanjiro was about to leap up and launch an attack when he found himself surrounded by dense spider webs. It was only when insects were caught in a spider web that they realized they were about to become the spider's food.
Facing such a perilous situation, Tanjiro gripped his nichirin blade even tighter. If it were his past self, he might not have survived this move, but now…
He immediately stopped hesitating and activated Sun Breathing. "Sun Breathing, Sixth Form: Burning Bone, Summer Sun." His nichirin blade spun with him, flames pouring out with its rotation. The fiery spiral violently collided with the spider webs, but still couldn't burn them to ashes.
Seeing this, Tanjiro added another strike, "Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance." In an instant, the spider web shattered, and Tanjiro emerged from it, looking up at the white-haired boy still perched on the tree.
The boy's eyes grew colder. He raised his hand, and spider silk extended. Tanjiro looked at the spider silk before him, a bad feeling rising in his heart. The scent emanating from the silk was like a sharp blade.
——————
Meanwhile, Fang Hao brought Inosuke back to where they had encountered the Demon Slayer Corps members. "What?" Fang Hao and Inosuke exchanged glances and quickened their pace.
"Zenitsu." Fang Hao leaned closer. At this moment, Zenitsu was lying on the ground, seemingly instinctively using Thunder Breathing in his unconscious state.
"Poison?" Fang Hao narrowed his eyes, looking around. In the clearing nearby, there were dozens of two-headed monsters with human heads and spider bodies.
"Don't!" He stopped Inosuke, who was holding a broken blade and intending to kill these monsters. "They are humans," Fang Hao said, looking at the spiders before him.
These spider-headed, human-bodied monsters were indeed not demons. Despite their grotesque appearance, they were essentially humans, and still humans even now; they had just been transformed into their current state by special means.
He glanced at Zenitsu again. The poison Zenitsu had contracted was likely the toxin that turned humans into spiders. "Why aren't they here yet?" Fang Hao was very anxious, even agitated, but he could do nothing but wait for rescue. He had no ability to detoxify.
"Where did Forehead-taro go?" Inosuke suddenly asked.
Hearing his words, Fang Hao paused, and Tanjiro was nowhere in sight. Had Tanjiro gone to look for him and Inosuke? Fang Hao considered this possibility, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
He rubbed his temples. "Tanjiro might have gone to look for us. If he went to look for us, he must have followed the direction we left in. We returned the same way, but we didn't encounter him, so he…"
He could only have encountered a demon, and it was very likely to be Rui.
In the original work, Tanjiro did indeed encounter Rui. Fang Hao hadn't expected the plot to still turn out this way after the changes. "I have to go find him…"
Tanjiro's current strength was much greater than his at this point in the original work. Having mastered Sun Breathing, he was stronger than his original self, who had barely recalled Sun Breathing during his fight with Rui. There was no dispute about that.
But Fang Hao still couldn't rest easy. The battle between Tanjiro and Rui in the original work was indeed very intense, and Fang Hao had a deep impression of that fight. In his opinion, it truly had a strong element of chance.
After Rui had generally assessed Tanjiro's combat power, Tanjiro suddenly switched breathing styles, catching Rui off guard. Coupled with Nezuko's newly awakened Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood, he was able to sever Rui's head.
The result was that Rui's head was cut off by himself, and Tanjiro was then unable to fight further. If Giyu Tomioka hadn't arrived, Tanjiro would have been finished. But would it still unfold that way now…
"Inosuke, you wait for rescue here. You need to tell the rescuers that these spiders on the ground are humans, and that Zenitsu has also been poisoned into turning into a spider."
"Huh?" Inosuke didn't react for a moment. "Then where are you going?"
"I'm going to find Tanjiro."
...…
Tanjiro panted, looking at his enemy. He had several scars on his forehead. He gripped his nichirin blade tightly, his eyes filled with fury. How could he possibly hand Nezuko over to the young boy before him?
Across from him, the white-haired boy completely disregarded Tanjiro, only looking at the girl he had bound with spider silk, his gaze fervent. He wanted this girl to become his sister.
Even with Sun Breathing, Tanjiro was no match for the boy. Although any kind of spider silk was no match for Sun Breathing, there was simply too much of it.
The boy completely avoided close combat with Tanjiro, only continuously attacking Tanjiro with spider silk. The spider silk, of course, couldn't harm Tanjiro, but how could a human compete with a demon in terms of stamina?
And the exhausted Tanjiro could not evade the boy's fatal blow. It was then that Nezuko used her body to block the attack that should have been fatal to Tanjiro.
And Rui, upon seeing this scene, understood the bond between the siblings. "A demon is willing to go this far for a human!" He was no longer interested in killing Tanjiro; he wanted this girl to be his sister.
"As long as you're willing to be my sister, I can let him go." At this moment, Rui's voice no longer held its previous coldness; it was filled with warmth.
"Mmmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!"
"You wish! Let Nezuko go!" Tanjiro was about to say this when he heard a familiar voice.
"What a joke! Nezuko is our sister! What does that have to do with you? Don't even dream about it!"