บท 203: Hashira vs Upper Ranks
Before long, the news about the Upper Seven quickly spread through Kasugai Crows to all members of the Demon Slayer Corps in Infinity Castle.
However, at the same time, another Upper Rank also appeared.
*ROAR!*
*Splurt!*
With a roar, a ferocious tiger, about three meters tall, pounced on a Demon Slayer, biting off his head and splattering blood everywhere.
*ROAR!*
*ROAR!*
With each roar, more tigers of the same size appeared, brutally attacking members of the Demon Slayer Corps, devouring them all to death.
In the center of these tigers, stood a skinny man dressed in prison clothes, holding a long whip akin to a beast tamer.
In his eyes were Japanese characters clearly visible for everyone to see.
One eye had 'Upper Rank', while the other eye had 'Six'.
Without a doubt, he was the new Upper Six.
"So, this is the Demon Slayer Corps?"
Speaking with dissatisfaction, the Upper Six looked at the Demon Slayers being devoured by his tigers, completely powerless to resist.
"Tch, too weak... My children will just get an upset stomach from eating all this trash. Isn't there anyone stronger?"
The new Upper Six was a death row inmate named Torasei.
He was a man who loved to raise tigers.
At first, he was just an ordinary hunter, but when he saw a tiger in the deep mountains, he fell in love with the creature at first sight and began keeping several of them.
In order to feed his beloved tigers and prevent anyone from hunting them, he did not hesitate to lure his friends and even his family into the mountains to feed them.
Meanwhile, whenever hunters entered the mountains, he would find ways to kill them personally and bring their corpses to his tigers.
Even if he hadn't killed hundreds, there were at least dozens who died at his hands.
After the truth came out, Torasei was arrested and sentenced to death until Muzan released him from prison, saving him from execution.
Needless to say, after Torasei was saved, he received Muzan's blood.
However, what was surprising was that he not only endured the blood that made him a Lower Rank but also withstood even more, leading Muzan to promote him to an Upper Rank.
As a result, he replaced the deceased Gyuutarou and Daki, taking on the position of Upper Six.
Meanwhile, the ferocious tigers around Torasei, which he controlled, were actually his Blood Demon Art. It allowed him to tame ferocious beasts and mutate them, a Blood Demon Art called 'Anomalous Beast Taming - Demon Transformation'.
"My children, keep hunting."
Torasei spoke gently to the group of ferocious tigers around him.
"Hunt stronger prey."
"Feast on better victims."
"That way, you'll grow bigger and stronger."
Under his instructions, the tigers roared one after another and were about to disperse, until—
"Love Breathing - Second Form - Love Pangs!"
Suddenly, a female figure darted forward like an afterimage, and her sword, flexible like a whip, swung like a tornado, slicing through several tigers and cutting them into pieces on the spot.
"Mist Breathing - Fifth Form - Sea of Clouds and Haze!"
At the same time, a mist blew in, like clouds stirred by the wind, enveloping several tigers. In the next second, the tigers inside the mist shrieked and soon collapsed into pools of blood.
"What...?"
Torasei was initially stunned, then furious.
"Who?! Who dares hurt my beloved children?!"
Before long, two voices responded to his words.
"Sorry, that would be me!"
A pink-haired girl wielding a flexible sword landed on the ground, appearing in front of Torasei.
She was none other than Kanroji Mitsuri.
"You are the new Upper Six?"
As the mist cleared, it revealed a slightly immature-looking boy who had appeared without noise.
He was none other than Tokitou Muichirou.
With that, the Love Hashira and the Mist Hashira had both appeared to confront the Upper Six.
"Gather! Gather!"
"Love Hashira! Mist Hashira! Have successfully met up!"
Two Kasugai Crows flew around in the air, screeching and informing others that Mitsuri and Muichirou were together.
Due to the guidance from Kasugai Crows, several Hashira had already met up, no longer acting independently.
As Mitsuri and Muichirou were the first to meet up and happened to be close by, they noticed the commotion in this place and immediately headed toward the Upper Six under the Kasugai Crows' guidance.
"DAMN YOU!"
Torasei ignored everything else and just screamed furiously.
"Do you know what you've done? My children are so cute! How could you hurt them?!"
Although Mitsuri and Muichirou couldn't quite imagine how vicious and bloody tigers could be called cute, they were disgusted by Torasei's words.
"Is there something wrong with this Upper Six's head?" Mitsuri crossed her arms, looking utterly repulsed.
"Aren't all demons like this? Absolutely disgusting." Muichirou coldly raised his sword, ready to attack at any moment.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Torasei screamed in madness.
*ROAR!*
*ROAR!*
Soon, the tigers in the surroundings went wild, charging toward Mitsuri and Muichirou.
===
"Love Hashira! Mist Hashira! Are fighting the Upper Six!"
"Love Hashira! Mist Hashira! Are fighting the Upper Six!"
At this moment, several Kasugai Crows swiftly relayed the information to everyone.
"Tch."
Running down a corridor, Obanai clicked his tongue.
"Kanroji is fighting an Upper Rank and urgently needs my help." Obanai remarked, his face full of disgust. "But why am I meeting you first instead of her?"
"If you have a problem, take it up with Kibutsuji Muzan!"
Tengen, running ahead of Obanai, turned his head and exclaimed with an annoyed tone.
"I didn't want to meet up with you first either!"
While arguing, their pace didn't slow down, but in fact, they sped up, quickly heading toward the direction where Mitsuri and Muichirou were.
Especially Tengen, who was so fast that he left Obanai far behind.
It couldn't be helped.
Tengen was the fastest among the nine Hashira. Even the strongest among them, Gyoumei, couldn't match Tengen's speed. Only the Wind Hashira, Sanemi, could barely keep up, while Obanai was clearly not in that league.
"Annoying…"
Obanai was visibly displeased as he ate Tengen's dust from behind, but soon, he no longer had the luxury to complain.
*Plink-Plonk*
A sudden sound of biwa rang out, causing Tengen and Obanai to lose their direction.
"What the—?!"
"Awful!"
They felt the world around them spinning before they started falling into bottomless darkness.
"Iguro!"
"I know!"
Just moments ago, they were arguing, but now they displayed an incredible level of coordination.
Tengen reached out his strong hand toward Obanai, who immediately jumped on it, using Tengen as a stepping stone to leap toward a nearby building.
"Kaburamaru!"
At the same time, Obanai threw Kaburamaru, the white snake wrapped around his neck. It darted out, coiling around Tengen's arm and pulling him along as they both leaped onto the rooftop of a nearby building.
*Thud*
*Thud*
They landed safely, avoiding a fatal fall.
In front of them, the culprit behind all this sat holding a biwa and slowly raised her head.
Obviously, she was none other than Nakime, but this time her bangs were parted, revealing her eye.
However, she didn't have a normal pair of eyes—just one large eye.
In that eye, the Japanese character for 'Five' was engraved.
"How?" Tengen grinned. "So, after Upper Six showed up, now it's Upper Five, huh?"
"Our sudden shift in position just now... was that you?" Obanai asked coldly. "I see... so you're the one who brought us all here."
"..."
Nakime remained silent, merely raising her biwa, clearly intending to pluck its strings.
Seeing this, Tengen and Obanai reacted instantaneously.
"Don't let her play the biwa!"
Obanai, being sharp, sensed that once Nakime played her biwa, her Blood Demon Art would be triggered.
"You don't need to tell me!"
As the Sound Hashira, Tengen understood sound and music better than anyone, knowing how tricky they could be as weapons.
"If you're going to play, make it a more flamboyant tune, demon!" Tengen exclaimed and started running.
Obanai also charged forward, attacking Nakime.
===
"Sound Hashira! Serpent Hashira! Are fighting the Upper Five!"
"Sound Hashira! Serpent Hashira! Are fighting the Upper Five!"
Just like before, the Kasugai Crows continued to timely relay the information, letting everyone know the current battle situation.
However, the content of their reports soon changed again.
"Wind Hashira! Water Hashira! Encountered the Upper Four!"
"Wind Hashira! Water Hashira! Encountered the Upper Four!"
Yes.
Almost at the same time, the recently reunited Sanemi and Giyuu ran into the Upper Four.
"Hiiiii—!"
After two months of disappearance, Hantengu appeared once again, and very abruptly showed up in front of the running Sanemi and Giyuu.
"Are you two the Hashira? Are you strong? Are you going to bully me?" Hantengu asked, trembling in the corner. "S-So scary, don't do this!"
Unfortunately, he ran into the cold and ruthless Sanemi and the silent but not-so-cold Giyuu.
"Die!"
*Whoosh!*
Sanemi's eyes narrowed, and with a low growl, he transformed into a gust of wind, charging toward Hantengu without hesitation.
"You attacked our headquarters two months ago, almost harming the Master..."
*Swish!*
Giyuu's eyes bore a murderous intent as he swung his sword, creating water waves that slashed toward Hantengu's neck.
*Pu-chi!*
In the next moment, the dual slashes of wind and water successfully cut Hantengu into four body parts.
"Watch out!"
"You don't need to tell me that!"
Giyuu and Sanemi did not lower their guard and distanced themselves from Hantengu.
Before long, Hantengu, who had been cut into four body parts, successfully transformed into four clones of himself.
With that, Karaku, Sekido, Aizetsu, and Urogi appeared once again.
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