The waning crescent moon shone high above the starless skies of Asakusa, a lonesome white arc barely visible through the night lights of the big city, and underneath it stood two warriors facing one another, the imposingly tall Rokuro with his cloak blowing in the breeze and a long spear of bone in his hands facing the smaller but equally determined Tanjiro, holding high his flaming blade. Both warriors stood across from one another on the garden surrounding the partially wrecked house of one doctor Tamayo, both waiting for the other to move. The silence was tense as a cold and bitter wind ruffled the grass beneath their feet, further building the anxiety as both foes silently watched out for the other's initiative, trying to read onto each other's intents in a bid to swiftly counter their opponent's attacks the moment their tense standoff was broken. Although it seemed like an eternity before either would take action, sooner or later Tanjiro's foot took a quick but heedful step forward and, seeing that, Rokuro moved.
In a moment, the demon was upon him, skillfully thrusting his white spear at him in a way which the boy didn't require his Forescent to know that he couldn't afford to let. And so, he breathed in, the fire on his blade growing fiercer, "Breath of the Sun, Third Dance: Scorching Mirror!" Tanjiro thought, deflecting the first stab with his flaming sword as well as the several high-speed thrusts like it that followed, skillfully pushing aside every time the flower-like spear was stabbed at him with flawless timing and accuracy while backing away from the charging Rokuro, keeping up his defensive technique until the right moment presented itself. That moment came in the form of a thrust aimed just ever so slightly lower than all the others, causing his foot to suddenly stop dead on the ground, putting a halt to his retreat as he brought down his flaming blade to force the spear thrust downwards, allowing its many-bladed spearhead to sink right into the ground. The boy then took that moment to jump over it with a foot placed on the shaft of the weapon before swinging his flaming blade at the demon's neck. He'd only barely be able to aim his strike before Rokuro read through his intentions and yanked his spear off the ground, twirling it and forcing the unbalanced Tanjiro to jump off its length, where he was met while still midair by its side striking hard against his raised blade when the Lower Moon turned around, swinging the weapon and sending the swordsman flying back from the blow.
Even when in midair with the flames on his blades fading from taking the attack straight on, Tanjiro was given no time to recompose himself, having another bone blade fired upon him by the demon just a moment after his swing hit and forcing the boy into using his momentum to backflip over the projectile the moment his feet touched the ground. Landing properly again though, he already had to work with his footing to narrowly sidestep the following two bone blades fired at him by Rokuro, the demon advancing in a determined stride towards the boy. Narrowing his eyes, Tanjiro decided holding down his defense forever and waiting for his chance would get him nowhere and thus decided to take initiative once again, his feet sinking lightly into on the ground before he shot off towards his tall opponent. Rokuro, on his end, simply scoffed, allowing the shaft of his weapon to slide down his grip as he raised an arm to the side before swinging the spear in an upwards arc to meet the Slayer's dash. Tanjiro found this curious, as the timing was clearly off, meaning he'd reach his foe just after he was done with the swing rather than being intercepted by it, but remained cautious regardless. True enough, the moment the tip of the spear dug into the ground, his Forescent would alert him of what came next, allowing him to duck and slide underneath a series of bone spikes that broke through the ground and rose diagonally, the kind of which he would've run right into and ended up skewered were he less cautious. Regardless, he was able to use the same spikes to stop his sliding momentum, placing a foot against the base of one of them, only to notice the familiar cracks spreading out unanimously through the bone constructs. Widening his eyes, the swordsman quickly rolled to the side a moment before the bone spikes broke apart in a white cloud of dust and a spear of bone was thrust into the ground where he was lying not a moment ago.
Precariously, Tanjiro had to rise quickly and immediately lean back as the demon's spear burst through the dust, sailing upwards and flying by inches from hitting his face. Rokuro took the chance to try and strike him with the blunt edge of the spear as he twirled it at his side, and though this was blocked by a rising Tanjiro, he managed to redirect his weapon pointing the bladed edge at the boy, stabbing him twice over and forcing him to deflect those blows as well with his katana, clearly pressured by the situation. The Lower Moon responded as aggressively as ever, swinging his spear sideways at Tanjiro and forcing the boy to block it in order to leap over the blow, followed by ducking another one as the demon spun the weapon over his head and tried to skewer him with its tip again in the process. The Slayer rolled around his foe though, rising with his sword held in a reverse grip, slashing at the demon's thigh and causing Rokuro to collapse with a grunt. In a moment's notice, Tanjiro would then switch his grip and aim another slash towards his neck, but wasn't quick enough as the demon's other hand shot out to over his shoulder, a blade of bone already emerging from his palm as to intercept the decapitating slash and deflect it upwards, all the while switching the grip on his spear to stab at the boy behind him. In spite of that, Tanjiro had used the momentum of his katana being pushed upwards to leap back spinning midair out of his range and landing in the right position to slash again at Rokuro's face while he was still turning around, managing to get the very tip of his blade to graze over the demon's left eye, partially blinding him for the moment.
The Lower Moon would attempt to angrily stab at the Slayer with his spear in an attempt to keep him at bay, but Tanjiro only skillfully evaded the thrusts and, by the third stab, he moved swiftly over to the demon's left and out of his still limited line of sight. Rokuro spun around quickly, trying to follow his target while swinging his weapon to try and hit him with, but despite turning around fully he would see no sign of the boy nor hit him in any measure, even with his newly healed eye. He wouldn't have long to enjoy his newly regained sense of depth perception though when his vision would blacken entirely, Tanjiro having jumped over him when he was out of sight and grabbed the edge of own cloak, throwing it over the demon's head to leave him blind for a single moment, enough for him to land safely and spin around fully, taking his blade with him as its edge burst in flames, "Breath of the Sun, Second Dance: Crimson Horizon!" He announced, slashing with his blade in a full arc around him and aiming it at the demon's neck.
That though would not be the case as, instead of striking his foe, he would instead slash through nothing but fabric as he tore apart Rokuro's discarded cloak, his Breath Technique missing entirely. Barely did he have time to process this though when his Forescent warned him of an incoming attack, a brief vision of himself with a sharp white spike stuck straight through his neck flashing in his mind for a moment. He quickly moved to the side but was still grazed on the side of his neck by a bone blade piercing through the cloak in its pathway towards him. Even with the attack mostly evaded, Tanjiro grit his teeth in pain at the bleeding gash on his neck, and found himself unable to dodge when the demon followed up by swinging his spear at him. He was though able to diminish the damage of that attack by stepping forward so to avoid getting caught the spiked bones at the spear's end and instead being hit in the arm by its pole, all the while moving to the alongside its momentum, so even when he was knocked to the side, he still recovered and returned to his feet fairly easily with little more than a sore arm.
"I thought so..." Rokuro murmured, staring the boy down with his golden eyes as he stepped over the remnants of his torn and discarded cloak, "Boy...you are able to smell out your opponent's intentions right before they attack, aren't you?"
Tanjiro blinked in surprise at that, not having expected to be called out on his Forescent by an opponent, not having thought there were that many outward indicators to the technique, "...correct." He affirmed without lowering his sword in the slightest, "How did you find out?"
"Please...you think you're the only one with a good nose?" The Lower Moon rhetorically asked, tapping lightly onto his own nose as the young Demon Slayer widened his eyes in surprise, "How did you think I was able to track you down? Still...I myself didn't find out about Scent Prediction until I was a demon for a while. I'm surprised someone as young as yourself has that figured out..."
"...wow, that's a much better name than 'Forescent'..." Was the first thing that crossed Tanjiro's mind upon hearing that, but that new piece of information did clarify some things for him. It made sense how Rokuro had been able to evade his attack so easily even while blinded if he saw it coming just like he'd have done. Of course, he was surprised someone else would have the same odd ability as himself, but given the other Senses all in a way shared a similar trait, it wasn't all that shocking that someone else existed with a heightened sense of smell like his own. He never considered that person would be a demon though... "Either way, if he can see my attacks coming just like I can see his own, that means this is a contest of who can predict each other's movesbetter." The swordsman realized as he breathed in, switching the grip on his katana, "He already has an inane advantage as a demon since it's far harder to deal him a fatal blow...I really can't afford to be sloppy here!" With that in mind, Tanjiro's blade burst with flames along its edge once again as he used his trademark technique, "Breath of the Sun, First Dance: Waltz..." He murmured to himself and, without another moment of hesitation, he moved in at his opponent.
Recognizing the boy's killing intent, Rokuro immediately fell to one knee and placed a hand on the ground, creating more spikes of bone bursting forth to intercept the boy and keep him at a distance, but Tanjiro wasn't hampered twice by the same trick, and instead sped up to jump over the rising white spikes. His opponent wasted no time once realizing the boy was in a defenseless position, intercepting him with an upwards thrust of his spear, but the attack was easily deflected downwards by the midair Slayer, using the chance to dive and land behind Rokuro while he was still vulnerable
With his chance at hand, Tanjiro immediately rose already swinging for the demon to intercept his flaming blows with the shaft of his spear. As he was pushed back, he was forced to dismiss the spikes behind him as not to hamper his movements, immediately moving even further back to take cover in the cloud of bone dust created by his own constructs. He underestimated the Slayer's tenacity though as Tanjiro refused to give him ground, pressing his attack further in chase of Rokuro, striking hard against his guard in search of an opening. Even through his attempts to regain control over the fight, Rokuro found himself failing to gain any ground as each and every chance to attack was deflected by the swordsman's burning blade before immediately being counterattacked. During one such occasion, Tanjiro would manage to finally get through his impenetrable guard and land a slash across the demon's gut, except the moment he did so, he would realize his mistake, his sword arm suddenly being stopped where it was as a pale hand took a tight hold of his arm. Looking up, he saw Rokuro's murderous glare down towards him as his other hand held onto his spear with a reverse grip, bringing it down right at his back. Of course, he'd let a mostly harmless attack slip by his guard, just so he could get in a position to land a fatal blow. That was stupid, falling for that, but the Demon Slayer knew that only meant he'd have to compensate for it and survive somehow.
In a fraction of a second, he would let go of his katana as the flames along its edge faded slightly before twisting his arm and pulling back to drag his trapped arm out of Rokuro's grip, all the while his other hand shot out to claim his falling blade, breathing in to reignite the fire covering it to its full power and swinging it to narrowly intercept the descending spear, pushing himself aside and forcing Rokuro's weapon down into the ground. He attempted to spin around quickly then and slash while the demon's spear was still stuck, but as he did so he would find no sign of his foe, the spear instead being pulled off the ground and forcing his gaze to follow it as he caught sight of the Lower Moon Demon positioned directly above him, having used the spear to vault himself over Tanjiro, and was currently redirecting that very same weapon before thrusting it full force at the Demon Slayer beneath him.
The tip of the many-pronged spear impacted the ground roughly, breaking it apart with the immense strength that it was thrust with. It did not, however, hit its aimed target as the weapon had instead gone straight through the swordsman as if he was nothing but a mirage, which left Rokuro confused for a moment before he smelled something behind him and turned in time to see Tanjiro having somehow leaped directly over him just before he'd attacked, "Breath of the Sun, Eighth Dance: Parhellion Rainbow!" He called out, raising his katana as the flames created by his earlier use of Waltz flared before being brought down upon the Lower Moon demon. Rokuro, though not having expected this, still replied in kind, raising his left arm as bone emerged from the front of his forearm, growing quickly to create a thick, misshapen shield of white bone attached directly to his arm and using that to intercept Tanjiro's attack. The flaming katana impacted the shield of bone with great power behind it but was ultimately unable to power through it, pushing Rokuro back down to the ground and allowing him to tear his spear from the earth, swinging it with its extended reach and forcing the Slayer to block the midair attack, being sent flying some distance back.
Despite managing to land on his feet without much issue Tanjiro had his concentration strained by pulling off another Breath of the Sun Technique while keeping up Waltz, and when he was pushed aside by the demon's newly created shield, the flames on his blade ended up dissipating. Worse yet, he wasn't given much time to try anything else as the demon rushed him once again intent on regaining control of the battle, his now fully formed shield raised, having taken an almost square-like shape with jagged bones sprouting from each end. His spear, on the other hand, was being thrust with the same ferocity as usual, forcing Tanjiro to narrowly deflect it with notable difficulty before spinning around and trying to counterattack. Of course, the shield was there to stop him, and as his weapon was pushed aside by it, it gave Rokuro the chance to advance, thrusting his spear again and again at his foe in an attempt to pierce past the boy's guard. With him now doing so one-handed and with little momentum, the blows didn't have as much impact as before, allowing the swordsman to defend himself more effectively, but his slight loss in power was more than compensated by the extra defense the shield gave him, practically closing up his guard entirely for as long as he kept it raised. Every attempt he would therefore make to regain his offensive amidst dealing with his foe's spear was immediately denied by the shield, keeping him at bay constantly and allowing Rokuro to push on with his own offensive.
The swordsman attempted to use his dodging to move around his foe's guard, but the demon was fully aware of Tanjiro's intentions, and had his gaze follow him constantly, bringing the shield up no matter where he went, all the while continuing to pressure the boy with his spear, using wide swings with little care for how open that left him open now that he had the shield. Bidding for time, Tanjiro evaded his swings before quickly closing in, raising his sword as if to strike his foe head-on, which would certainly mean he would get blocked again, but this time he threw a feint and hit the floor quickly to instead swing for the demon's leg. Even then, he didn't account for his own opponent's Forescent making such a feint somewhat null, and sure enough, the pole of his spear was there to deflect his blade down right before it hit. Though he attempted to back away in his failed attack, the swordsman found his blade trapped underneath Rokuro's foot just as the demon swung a straight punch at the boy with his shielded arm, which in this case would mean either getting caught head on by the sharp spikes at the edge of the shield or abandoning his blade to dodge it. Instead though, Tanjiro opted to cut his corners and quickly lean back so that instead of being hit head-on with the jagged end, he would instead receive the Lower Moon's fist right to his chin. Which was by no means a pleasant sensation, but it beat taking a spike to the throat, or fighting this monster unarmed for that matter.
The punch would knock him a good distance back, sending the boy rolling violently across the ground. Even as he came to a stop, his sense of balance still didn't feel quite right, but he had managed throughout it all to maintain a tight grip of his katana, having yanked it from underneath the demon's foot when he was punched back. Raising the blade, he powered through his dazed state and rose, trembling somewhat. Seeing that must've been the reason Rokuro was taking his time in closing in, striding along calmly but intently towards the rising boy. The demon thought him weak, a wounded prey ready for the finish. He wasn't completely wrong. Tanjiro still felt the cut on his neck hurting, and that punch was no joke either, not to mention he hadn't been sparing with his use of Breathing Techniques. And yet, as long as he could still move, he would dedicate the entirety of himself towards cutting off that demon's neck, but he'd never get to the neck if he couldn't get past that shield first. "I still have some fight left in me...can't let this bastard have his waynow..." Tanjiro thought, breathing in through gritted teeth, "WALTZ!" He declared through gritted teeth, his blade igniting once again, though the effect of pushing his own techniques was starting to strain him as his muscles burned up too. Powering through it, he'd raise his blade and dash in at the demon once again.
On the other hand, Rokuro observed this through narrowed eyes as he came to a stop to observe the boy and his flaming blade, seemingly realizing his wounded prey was not as cornered as it first seemed, and thus raised his shield to intercept the Slayer's dash. He was undaunted by this though and attacked with his fiery sword even as it struck the demon's shield, leaving gashes and marks across it, but still doing no significant damage to it. Rokuro bid for time though, backing up and taking on the boy's attacks until he saw his optimal chance, using the shield to bash his blade aside and only then using his spear to strike at the Demon Slayer, aiming in at his opened guard. Expecting this though, Tanjiro quickly veered to the side to evade the attack and took the opportunity then to close in from his opponent's unshielded side while slashing at him, creating a fairly deep gash on the demon's midsection as he went by. Rokuro though was unbothered by the quickly healing damage as he spun around, trying to intercept the Slayer with the jagged underside of his shield again, forcing him to quickly duck underneath it before having to raise his sword once again to intercept a one-handed thrust of Rokuro's spear. This time, he was able to stop it fully, and as it was thrust again, he deflected the spear upwards while using that momentum to slide right past the Lower Moon and once again get behind him.
As Tanjiro lunged in to attack again, but Rokuro would simply glance over his shoulder with a scowl before half a dozen spikes burst out of his back, forcing the Demon Slayer to abandon his attack in as to avoid getting skewered. At the same time, the demon would ram his shield tip first into the ground, something Tanjiro had by now seen him do enough times to know what it meant. Sure enough, more spikes burst from the ground in an attempt to keep him away from his foe, but he'd read onto them with his Forescent and, using the knowledge of the direction they were growing towards, was able to hop atop the bone spikes and use them as stepping stones to leap over the demon himself. Rokuro didn't expect this, but tried to spin around intercept the Slayer with his spear mid-jump, only to have it deflected downwards, its momentum sending Tanjiro back down to the floor to land right behind him, immediately falling to the floor as the demon attempted to once again catch him with his shield, as he turned around. Face to face with his foe, the swordsman rose then, just in time to deflect to the side another thrust of his spear before, in one flawless motion, bringing the blade over around his head in order to bring it down, not aiming for Rokuro's neck, but rather the shield arm he'd left wide open after swinging at him, slashing right at the point where two bones made contact at his elbow in and finally lopping off the Lower Moon's arm off and his bone shield with it.
Having managed to get his most meaningful blow yet, Tanjiro had just shifted the tides of battle, and as he looked up with a grin towards Rokuro's surprised visage, it was clear that they both knew of this. Not allowing any time for the demon to regenerate his arm, the swordsman pressed on, swinging his flaming blade with renewed vigor and forcing his opponent to one-handedly block his intense blows with his spear. It was clear this move had only bought the boy a few seconds before the arm could be regrown fully, but he knew this would be his best chance to end it and was giving it his all in pressing back the Lower Moon precisely because of that. Which was how, at the very first slip he'd spot in his enemy's guard, he was able to push aside his spear before delivering a wide gash across his midsection with a slash of his sword. Rokuro groaned at the wound but held his ground, trying to force the boy back with a desperate thrust of his spear, which was, in turn, deflected quite easily, but as he attempted to pull back his spear to attack again, he'd feel an unusual resistance and only then realize that Tanjiro had grabbed onto the weapon's shaft and moved in towards him, using the momentum of his pull to jump in close and knee the demon directly in his chin, knocking him off his feet. Shifting his flaming katana into a reverse grip, the swordsman brought down the blade with the demon's neck clear in his aim. Rokuro, however, wasn't going down just yet and, in a desperate bid, used his falling momentum to throw a full-force kick at the tip of his bone spear while tightly gripping its pole, knocking it upwards with great power and catching his foe with its shaft from below as his own weapon was inches from the demon's neck, thus sending Tanjiro flying high up into the air.
Regarding Tanjiro though, he wasn't really sure what had happened there. One second he was about to strike his foe down, the next he was fifty feet up in the air. The attack itself hadn't done much damage, having inadvertently been intercepted by his blade as he was about to land his slash and thus mostly negated, but it had still put him in a rather uncomfortable position, spiraling across the air with little say over where he was going. As he stopped rising and suddenly began falling though, he would manage to take advantage of his short-lived lack of momentum to take some control over the situation and finally stop spinning, allowing him to begin focusing on how he would break his fall. That wouldn't be his main focus for long though as, just a moment later, he saw from the corner of his eye something move past him, and as his gaze followed it over his shoulder, he realized Rokuro had jumped after him, and had his spear raised in a newly reacquired two-handed grip, thrusting it down to skewer Tanjiro from behind, and forcing him to spin around and use the last of the fading flames in his katana to deflect the blow as best he could, in the process having his fall trajectory changed. He was barely able to process that fact before he hit a hard-surface back first, grunting in pain. It took him a second of looking around and noticing the tiles around him to realize that he had landed on the rooftop of the mansion, by then the flames on his blade having faded fully.
Nonetheless, he would take this as a moment to breathe, knowing that if he was pushed off course to one side then logically his opponent had been pushed away too, so he thought he'd have a brief reprieve from the demon's attacks. And yet, he'd notice something coming in the distance towards him, closing in quickly, something...white. Widening his eyes, Tanjiro rolled to the side right before the lotus spear crashed right through the roof, creating a massive hole in its side that he barely escaped falling through. Knowing he had no time to waste, he rose quickly, just in time to see Rokuro landing roughly on the edge of the rooftop from what he presumed to be a massive leap from the impact it had on the nearby roofing. Immediately, the demon glared up at him as he slammed an open palm on the ground spikes of bone suddenly bursting through the roof towards the Demon Slayer, forcing him to back up quickly, jumping over to the other side of the roof. Even then, the spikes continued following him even as he slid down all the way to the opposite edge of the rooftop, narrowly being caught by them before he took a dive off the edge of the roof straight towards the ground.
For a moment, he thought he was finally safe from the Lower Moon's restless offense, but once again, he was wrong, and he didn't know that this time until his Forescent offered a vision of himself having a massive hole punch across his chest. Not a second later did the wall on the upper floor of the house burst apart from inside, Rokuro thrusting his recovered spear through it to intercept the diving Tanjiro. Though the boy raised his blade, he was still not fast enough, and would feel one of its spikes piercing into his shoulder as he struggled with his sword to hold it back from going further in. Even then, he was sent flying down towards the ground from the impact and found himself violently sprawling across the mansion's surrounding garden as he hit the ground.
Upon coming to a stop, Tanjiro would groan and attempt to rise, only for his arm to give out from the pain on his wounded left shoulder, causing him to collapse face-first on the ground again. The wound in question wasn't too deep, but it was damaging nonetheless, making any slight movement on his arm hurt like hell, not to mention spewing even more of his blood and causing the boy to begin feeling somewhat lightheaded. This was far from a good situation, especially against a practically fresh opponent. True, for a moment there, he really thought he had this fight down, but then he was sent flying into the air and by the time he'd returned to the ground, the tables had once again turned. Regardless, at this point, his only options were to stand up and fight or stay down and die. So, with noticeable struggle, he used his good arm to push himself back up, glaring up at his foe as he did so.
Rokuro, meanwhile, had landed safely some distance away from him, and seeing the state that this time the boy wouldn't be able to power through his injuries too easily, allowed himself a moment to gloat as he calmly strode towards the downed Slayer. "You've put up quite a fight, young swordsman, but it is time to accept your fate. You've come close, but you can no longer defeat me in your current state."
"That's...not up for you...to decide..." Tanjiro responded through gritted teeth, pushing himself up with his good arm as sweat poured down his forehead, fighting through the pain and tire to stand up once again, sweat was now pouring down his forehead and his breath was heavy, but he nonetheless held up his sword as best as he could.
Coming to a stop, Rokuro narrowed his eyes, "Fighting to the bitter end...I admire your tenacity," He admitted earnestly as he raised an arm, muscles bulging as a blade of bone sprouted from his palm, "but that won't change the outcome of this." The demon fired the blade, forcing the Slayer to precariously deflect it with a single-handed swing of his katana, as well as the similar projectile that followed before he stumbled forward and used that momentum to dash towards the Lower Moon with his katana readied, to which Rokuro simply raised the spear he was still holding in his other hand.
Tanjiro swung but had his blade easily deflected by the demon, pushed to the side before he twirled the spear above his head and thrust it upon the boy. With great difficulty and some stable footing, the Slayer would be able to just ever so narrowly hold back the blow despite his one-armed grip, only for Rokuro to then smirk and suddenly twist the spear in his grip, having caught the katana in between two of its spikes, resulting in the sword being forced out of its owner's grip and sent flying off to the side. Immediately upon seeing this Tanjiro jumped back, but would be followed closely by the demon, his smirk having now grown into a grin as he relentlessly swung his spear at the boy. Try as he might escape his range and move to recover his blade, the Demon Slayer would be unable to shake him off for more than a moment before the Lower Moon closed in again, and his worsening state from the still bleeding shoulder didn't help this in the slightest. It was taking his full focus just to survive amidst his foe's onslaught. Regardless, he knew he didn't stand a chance without his sword, so Tanjiro was forced to make a risky play, breathing in deeply despite the burning in his lungs as he narrowly sidestepped a spear thrust and, as Rokuro swung for him again, the spear would go right through as the swordsman used Parhellion Rainbow once again to move out of his view while leaving a behind an afterimage, just narrowly managing to jump over his foe's shoulder out of his line of sight, hitting the ground and immediately dashing to the best of his abilities to his disarmed katana, diving towards it as he began closing in. Except, just as his hand reached out for its hilt mid-dive, his Forescent flared again, and this time he was unable to do anything to dodge the blow as a bone blade stuck him square in the back, right underneath his shoulder blade, piercing through his chest with enough force to push him away from his own katana and causing him to miss it entirely as he hit the ground roughly.
"I knew you would try that." Rokuro told him bluntly, lowering the extended arm he had just used to fire a bone blade with, the very same that had impaled the boy and left him writhing in pain on the ground, "But you should know better than to use that same trick twice against the same opponent, it really gets old rather quickly." As he talked though, Tanjiro would begin crawling his way through the ground back towards his blade, but upon seeing that, the demon would just narrow his eyes and calmly walk towards his downed foe, casually twirling his spear and stabbing it down on the ground to rid his hands off it. He would make it just as the crawling boy desperately reached out with his hand to try and retrieve his weapon, but wouldn't quite get there as Rokuro's foot came stomping down on his arm, causing the injured Demon Slayer to grunt out in pain. "It's almost admirable, how you're willing to fight to your last breath." The Lower Moon commended his foe as he pressed down harder on his arm and causing him to squirm harder, "But you should also recognize when it's over."
Removing his foot from the boy's arm, he gave Tanjiro a brief moment of reprieve before he reached out and grabbed him by the hair, dragging him back up to eye level, his feet hanging just shy of reaching the ground. Despite trying his best to struggle against the demon's grip though, it was for naught. His eyesight seemed to be getting blurrier by the second as all the blood loss started finally catching up to him, making his movements heavy and sluggish. For the first time, the concept of defeat seemed real and palpable, feeling powerless before the Lower Moon. There were so many things he needed to do...would he really die there, without ever seeing his friends again? Without saving his sister or avenging his family? Had all that effort to get here really been for naught? He expected some sort of answer to all his questions but would receive none as all he saw was the cold, uncaring gaze of the demon holding him, raising his other arm as a curved blade sprouted from it, one obviously created with the sole intention of ending his life. That didn't scare him however, death never did, but it left him with a sudden feeling of frustration at the lack of closure in the face of it.
Those would be his last thoughts though before Tanjiro's nose was suddenly assaulted by an overwhelmingly sweet scent, and he barely had a moment to wonder what its source was as he suddenly felt his consciousness slipping away.
Rokuro narrowed his eyes, watching the boy's eyes roll over as his consciousness left him, his body going limp. The Demon Slayer had made a valiant effort and had even gotten closer to claiming his head than any of the others to fight him before, but in the end, he was just human. It was never a fair fight to begin with. He couldn't deny the respect he'd developed for the young swordsman as a fellow warrior, being fully aware that if he was still human he would've never stood a chance against him. But that did not change what he had to do. He raised the boy further off the ground, leaving his neck clear in his aim as he raised his other arm in preparation to claim his head as a trophy of his victory, when he suddenly stopped, smelling something out of the norm. It was a very sweet smell, almost to the point of being nauseating, like numerous perfumes mixed together in one big smelly batch.
Generally, demons were not required to breathe to survive, though most continued doing so mainly out of a habit built during every living moment of their previous human lives. Rokuro had long trained himself to only breathe when in the midst of battle as to make use of his own advanced sense of smell and all advantages it brought him, and as he was yet to finish his opponent he was very much in a battle mindset. Which was how, despite being caught off guard by the odd smell, his Scent Prediction was still sharp enough to feel when something tried to attack him from behind, causing him to spin around with the Slayer still in his grip and slash at it with his newly created blade.
And yet, his body didn't move as fast as he expected, and his slash met nothing but air as he turned around to see nothing but an empty garden behind him. There was a moment of confusion as the smell of an attack faded to be replaced by the odd perfume scent again, even stronger than before. He tried to take a step, but unexpectedly stumbled forward slightly, causing the Lower Moon to stare down at his own feet in surprise, "Something...something is wrong..."
He then felt it again, the smell of an incoming attack, and he'd move to dodge what he predicted to be a straightforward blow despite seeing nothing before him, but once again his mind and body were unsynchronized, and he suddenly felt something piercing straight through his chest. Rokuro stumbled back as he let go of the Slayer, staring down shocked as he was impaled by an invisible blade, one that soon came to view, revealing the same katana he'd disarmed his foe of moments ago, except with a piece of paper drenched in his blood wrapped around the sword's hilt.
Barely was Rokuro able to process that when he was struck across the face by an invisible force, in the process being forced to let go of the wounded Slayer. He was then struck twice over in the gut and across his head, two blows that he should've easily been able to intercept with his Sense Perception, even coming from an invisible foe, but it seemed like by the moment his moments were feeling more sluggish, the smell of an attack being further and further delayed to the point where it was near useless, almost entirely overwhelmed by the still persistent perfume-like smell. Regardless, he tried to swing his arm blade at where the last blow had come from and would manage to graze something with its very edge, his invisible opponent suddenly becoming visible, a young-looking demon with green hair and a slashed piece of paper strapped across his forehead, the lower half of his face underneath his eyes covered by a thick piece of cloth. With the young demon veering to the side to dodge the lower Moon's blade, he used that momentum to spin around, grabbing onto the katana on Rokuro's chest by the hilt while kicking him in the face with enough force to send the Lower Moon stumbling, losing balance in his dazed state and falling to the floor.
With him downed and dazed, the demon would run off, quickly grabbing the wounded Demon Slayer off the ground and rushing off with him in his arms. Rising, Rokuro was then able to see what exactly he was running towards, with another female demon staring at them anxiously from the walls facing the front of the house from across the garden, the very same ones he'd come in through. She had her sleeves rolled up to the elbow, five gashes created by her claws in her arms causing her blood to pool drip to the ground. Quickly, Rokuro began to understand. His current state was somehow due to the female demon's Demon Blood Art, the perfume-like smell is what was debilitating him, and why the male demon had covered his nose and mouth with a cloth before approaching him. Furthermore, he had been able to make both himself and the katana invisible using those odd pieces of papers, that probably being his own Blood Art. Either way, they were taking his prize away from him, and that was something the Lower Moon could not allow.
Raising his arm, Rokuro aimed at the running demon with the Slayer in his arms, producing a spike of bone from his palm before firing it at his back, but he found himself having more trouble to aim than usual, and the shot ended up missing entirely. Grunting, he quickly tried to repeat the process, but once again to no avail. As the demon and Slayer duo were reaching the walls, Rokuro focused, creating one more bone spike which he knew would be his last shot at this. Grabbing onto his forearm to steady his aim, he closed a single eye and locked on his target, the muscles on his arm bulging as he prepared to fire it before finally releasing. It flew across the air, covering a great distance in a matter of moments and piercing the green-haired demon's shoulder just as he reached the female demon.
She seemed worried at him for a moment, but the first demon just wordlessly urged her. The woman hesitantly nodded, and rushed through the wall, before the green-haired demon turned to stare at him with one last glare. Rokuro would see then that his shot had hit the demon, but missed the Slayer entirely, just going through the former's shoulder just about a foot above the point where he should've aimed to get his real target in the head. But he didn't get another chance as, a moment later, the demon rushed in through the wall as well.
Groaning, the Lower Moon Demon slowly rose to his feet again, the smell of perfume quickly becoming weaker and his momentary daze fading as it did so. In little time, he would be back to his full capabilities, and from then on, he would easily be able to give chase and catch up to the two demons. Or at least he believed so, but with the smell of perfume fading, another one would take its place, one that made his nose sting and that he found hard to place at first, but that had him staring off at the half-crumbled mansion where it was coming from. It took another moment before Rokuro managed to decipher what the smell was, an odd mixture of burning gunpowder...and wisteria. The demon narrowed his eyes, sighing heavily at what was about to come next before the entirety of the house was suddenly enveloped in a massive explosion.
The ground shook slightly from the blast even from a distance, and Tamayo felt it as she fled through the streets of Asakusa with a briefcase in hand, accompanied by Yushiro and a still bleeding Tanjiro in his arms. She was somewhat remorseful, having to abandon the house she had lived for so long like that, but she felt as if there was no other choice. Demons like them were not made for combat, their abilities serving as support more than anything. Therefore they knew from the start that they stood no chance against Lower Moon One like Tanjiro did. She watched as the boy bravely fought against such a high-level opponent, his unwillingness to go down and the way he brandished that flaming sword of his only serving to cement what Tamayo had already guessed about him since first learning of his appearance by Yushiro.
He'd gotten close, very close, to claiming victory and lopping off his foe's head, but ultimately it was too much for him, and they had been forced to intervene. She didn't regret not aiding him in his struggle though, knowing that if they had tried to help him, they would've lost the element of surprise against Rokuro. Sure, that might have allowed the boy to claim victory, but she wasn't too confident about that, especially after overhearing about the demon's sense of smell, probably how he found the house in the first place. Tanjiro himself had been able to see through Yushiro's invisibility with his smell from what she'd been told, so she didn't like his chances in approaching a foe with similar abilities. Her own Blood Demon Art was also risky, since most of its useful techniques were also quite harmful to humans, and thus would do Tanjiro more harm than good in that situation. It was only when he was forced against a corner with no feasible chance of victory then that she chose to take drastic measures and act, using her Blood Bewitchment to mess with Rokuro's senses, leaving him dazed and drunk, a similar albeit toned down reaction from what a demon like him would have when facing against a rare-blooded human. Luckily, it was particularly effective on the Lower Moon, which allowed Yushiro to use his Blindfold and get up close without being smelled, attacking the demon and retrieving Tanjiro before they made their escape, though not before having set alight a trail of gunpowder leading down to the basement, where her special-mixture of gunpowder, wisteria essence and more than a few nichirin caltrops for good measure were located, making sure that their attacker wouldn't heal off from the explosion too quickly.
As they ran, she turned to Yushiro, carrying Tanjiro over his shoulder with one arm wrapped around the boy's slumped body while the other pulled out the spike of bone that had pierced his shoulder with a grunt before ripping the piece of cloth covering his face and tossing it aside, "How is he reacting to the serum?" Tamayo inquired then, referring to the medicine she'd injected in him as soon as they'd left the premises of her mansion in order to counteract the ailing effects her own Demon Blood Art had on humans.
Yushiro groaned, dragging Tanjiro's body from over his shoulder and properly holding the unconscious boy in his arms to get a properlook at him, "I think it's working...he seems to be breathing fine. His pulse is pretty normal too." He noted before turning to Tamayo, "But...Lady Tamayo...why go to such extent for a simple Demon Slayer?" Her assistant asked with a frown, "We could've gotten caught back there, why are you so sure this kid is worth risking ourselves for?"
Tamayo pursed her lips, hearing that. It was pretty clear from the start that Yushiro was not a big fan of Tanjiro's. Maybe it was jealousy, maybe distrust, probably both. He'd urged her strongly for them to leave the boy behind as he fought Rokuro, but she'd stated adamantly that she wasn't leaving without him, forcing Yushiro into helping her rescue the young Slayer with a promise to explain it all later. She fully understood his feelings, but he hadn't seen it...what she'd seen in him. "Yushiro...I know it might be hard to believe this, but please trust me when I say...this boy is no average Demon Slayer." She told him while staring at Tanjiro's unconscious form, earning her assistant's full attention, "If I'm really right about this...you might be holding in your arms the key to finally putting an end to this war." Yushiro widened his eyes, turning his gaze down to the Demon Slayer in his arm as well, seeming to suddenly reconsider his previous thoughts regarding the boy. After all, as ridiculous a statement as that might've seen, he knew Tamayo wouldn't speak lightly of such a matter. "Now...we need to find a place where we can treat him immediately." The doctor stated, "The longer we take, the more blood he's losing."
Yushiro nodded, and would silently and dutifully carry on with the boy in his arms. Minutes later and they had managed to hole in an abandoned building they'd found in the edge of Asakusa where they could safely treat the boy. Kneeling, Tamayo clicked open her briefcase and started gathering whatever medical equipment she'd need while Yushiro prepared Tanjiro for immediate surgery, setting him down atop a white sheet pulling open his kimono shit. She first applied through an injection a medicine to coagulate his bleeding and prevent him from losing too much blood with the next step, namely removing the spike from his chest. Tamayo was surprised to find out once she did so that, despite having taken the attack head on, Tanjiro had somehow managed to move his vital organs out of the way so the projectile would slip in between his lung and liver without significantly damaging either. She let out a small relieved smile at that, realizing now that his wounds, though not modest in the slightest, were not the fatal kind.
She turned to Yushiro then, who only nodded, before looking back over to the downed Tanjiro, putting on a pair of hygienized gloves, "Alright then," Tamayo declared, picking up a scalpel, "Let's begin." And as the doctor and her assistant began working on fixing up their patient, she could not help but let stay thoughts make their way back into her head, "This boy...he might not be quite there yet, but beyond just his appearance...his fighting style, his conduct, his earnest desire to help...maybe this is our second chance. To right our wrongs, triumph where we failed, maybe he can finally bring an end to the tyranny of Muzan Kibutsuji...we can only hope...isn't that right, Yoriichi?"
By the time Tanjiro woke up, his surroundings would be very different. Rather than being in Tamayo's mansion down in Asakusa, he found himself resting in a wisteria teahouse just outside Tokyo. Wisteria Teahouses were spread all around Japan, belonging to a family indebted to the Ubuyashiki family who was known to take in and provide rest and food for any wandering Demon Slayers. As such, it was a popular spot for Slayers to gather in before being sent off on missions. Tanjiro himself had never been to one before but had heard from Genya about them once during their training sessions. According to the old man who ran the place, he was found unconscious just by the teahouse's entrance the night before, his wounds treated but with no sign of whoever had done so.
It wasn't too hard after that to put the pieces together. Tamayo and Yushiro had rescued him from the Lower Moon's grasp somehow, having treated his wounds and dropped him off on the teahouse so he could rest. They had done a damn good job too, as evidenced when he decided to unbandage his bare chest in front of a mirror and got a glimpse of the stitches on his chest and back, exactly where the blade of bone had impaled him. It hurt somewhat, but for someone with an impalement wound on his chest, he felt pretty fine otherwise.
That didn't make him feel too much better though. After all, the very reason he'd come to Asakusa in the first place was to meet with Tamayo and figure out a way he could return Nezuko's humanity, but Rokuro had attacked in the middle of their conversation, preventing him from ever being able to properly finish talking to her. That said, all he had now was the information that to revert the process of demonification, he needed to collect the blood of powerful demons, or rather Demon Moons more specifically. As evidenced by his loss, he'd gone off to a bad start on that task. Regardless, he had managed to survive his encounter with Lower Moon One, which meant he had a chance to fight another day. It was as good a start as any he could've asked for.
To a lesser degree, something else he was thankful for was the fact that despite having been disarmed by Rokuro near the end of their fight, he was found with his katana back in his sheathe. Again, he reckoned he owed Tamayo and Yushiro for that. As he drew the blade to inspect any possible damage to it though, a folded piece of paper slipped out from his scabbard and fell to the floor. He blinked in surprise, reaching down and grabbing it, he unfolded the paper, revealing itself as a handwritten letter addressed to him. He looked up for a moment, but there was no one in the small room he'd been staying in other than himself, so he looked back down at the letter and began reading.
Tanjiro,
I apologize for not being able to tell you all of this in person, but with the sudden attack on our home, Yushiro and Imust immediately go back into hiding lest we risk ourselves being discovered. We will, however, continue to aid you in your quest to heal your sister's demonification. Though I fear we might not be able to meet again face to face so soon, we should still be able to communicate through one of my familiars. Chachamaru is on standby for once you finish reading this letter. With him, you will find specially designed syringes made to collect a demon's blood and preserve it. Should you be able to use them against a strong demon, he will also be the one to bring those samples back to me.
I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors,
Tamayo.
"Chachamaru...?" Tanjiro couldn't help but wonder, but before he could even think too much about it, his nose would catch onto a new smell in the room. Someone else was there. Except it wasn't a human, nor a demon, in fact it was a-
"Meow." He heard right next to him before, sure enough, a small cat with black, white and brown spots as well as big amber eyes came into view beside him, wearing a brown pouch strapped to its back and a talisman just like those Yushiro used strapped to his chest. Which at least explained how a cat managed to sneak up on him, it'd simply been invisible a moment ago.
"Oh...so you're Chachamaru." Tanjiro realized with a small smile, scratching the cat underneath its chin and causing it to sit down, closing its eyes and purring next to him. The boy chuckled, reaching out then into the pouch and drawing out from it three knife-looking objects, except as he drew one from its letter sheathe he would notice its hilt was hollow and lined with glass, a thin hole stretching out along its blade all the way to its tip in a similar fashion to a syringe's needle, "Huh...that's not what I expected, but if she says it works, I'm not doubting it." He said, putting away the knife-like syringes, "Well, thanks, little guy." He told the cat, patting it lightly. Chachamaru then stood up and meowed again, disappearing out of view entirely, though its smell would linger for a bit longer before it left the room through the open window.
With the cat then gone, Tanjiro turned his attention to the three syringes he'd been given. It seemed like his trip hadn't been such a waste after all, and that should leave him in a good mood, but now holding this new item and being given a reminder of its purpose made him think back to what his objective with them truly was. Those were meant to collect samples from Demon Moons, the higher the better. As his confrontation with Lower Moon One had shown, however, he was still lacking in plenty. He'd been lucky to escape alive, true, but this wasn't something he could allow a repeat of. After all, as he'd been told, slaying a Lower Moon should be an easy task for a Pillar, while slaying an Upper Moon was a nigh-impossible task even with several Pillars. If he couldn't best Rokuro, how could he ever hope to even stand up to what lay beyond him...?
His line of thought was interrupted however when a knock came from his door, causing him to quickly pocket away the syringes he'd just been given, "Come in!"
The door slid open, with the old man who ran the teahouse walking in somewhat hesitantly, "Uh...Tanjiro, right? There is someone here to see you..."
The boy raised an eyebrow at that new piece of information, "Who...?"
He didn't even finish his question as the old man was pushed aside, a small boy looking somewhat younger than himself walking in, dressed in an oversized Demon Slayer uniform with long dark hair that nearly reached his waist. Immediately upon entering the room, the young Demon Slayer looked over at Tanjiro with his bored green eyes, inquiring, "So you're Tanjiro Kamado?"
Tanjiro, not really knowing what to make of the odd boy besides him looking utterly disinterested with the world around him, answered slowly, "Uh...yeah, that's me." He confirmed, "Why?"
Upon having his confirmation, the Demon Slayer would turn back towards the door, "Grab your stuff and come with me, we're leaving." Without another word, he would walk back through the door the same way he came, leaving a puzzled Tanjiro to stare off at the door for a moment wondering if he was really serious. Seeing as he didn't come back, he could only presume that he was.
"Hey, wait up!" Tanjiro called out, picking up his stuff as he chased the boy out of his room, even as he calmly strode past the gates of the wisteria teahouse, completely ignoring his fellow Slayer, "Who are you?! And where are you taking me?!" He further inquired as he reached the boy, who continued ignoring him as he walked forward, now really beginning to frustrate Tanjiro, "Answer me!" He demanded, reaching out to grab the boy by his shoulder.
Barely did his fingers graze the uniform's cloth though, and the boy's hand shot out, taking a surprisingly tight hold of his wrist. One that, despite trying to break with his impressive strength, Tanjiro was fully unable to do so, "Don't touch me." The boy told him in the same placid tone as always, only glancing at him from the corner of his eye with a completely neutral face before his elbow was suddenly rammed into Tanjiro's gut with an unexpected amount of power behind it, so fast his Forescent was barely any aid in helping him dodge such a blow.
The red-haired boy immediately collapsed onto all fours, coughing roughly after taking such an unexpected blow head-on, the emotionless Slayer standing over him with the same blank look, still glancing down from the corner of his eye at the downed swordsman, "Who...just who is this kid...?" Tanjiro asked himself, having trouble even breathing properly.
"If you promise to stop talking and just follow, then I'll give you your stupid answers." The boy assured him then, to which the wheezing Tanjiro only nodded, "My name is Muichirou Tokito, the Mist Pillar, and I was sent here to get you by Lord Ubuyashiki so you can attend the Pillar Meeting." He explained shortly, before continuing to walk, "Now come."
Tanjiro, however, couldn't help but stare at his back as he walked away in shock, "That kid...HE'S a Pillar...?!" He thought in disbelief, not having believed someone even younger than himself could achieve such a high-ranking position, He knew though that was no empty statement, the one blow he'd taken from Muichirou served to prove as much. Trying not to think too much about it, Tanjiro rose, still staring at the walking boy's back. As he followed him, however, for the first time in a very long time, Tanjiro once again felt painfully aware of just how weak he really was.
A/N: Zoo-we mama!
So I've got some explaining to do. This chapter really took a while, didn't it? I could just say my computer broke and was being fixed, which is true, but that's only half the reason. This chapter was kinda hard to write for some reason, so it took me some writting and rewritting to really get this down, but now we're here, and we're back. Primarily, I wish to give a shoutout to the user by the penname Demon Lord Galm, who wrote a Kimetsu no Yaiba fanfic almost as long as this one in the time it took me to post this chapter. If that's not dedication to your craft, I don't know what is. His is the whole 'Tanjiro turns into a demon' thing, but I gotta admit he does have an interesting take on it, and some damn ambitious plans too. Also, he's a pretty cool guy, as I got to know after talking to him some. Secondarily I want to apologize for being an idiot, who somehow posted chapter 25 on top of chapter 2 of this story by mistake and probably tunred off a lot of new readers. Oopsie. Mistakes happen.
Anyway, getting into the chapter itself, this here is dedicated to the battle between Tanjiro and Rokuro, one i had a lot of trouble in writing and structuring, but one whose results I ultimately think are satisfactory. No one really predicted Tanjiro losing this fight, but he kinda did. Mind you, it was a close call, but he still lost. If Rokuro was replaced with Mukago or Wakuraba this could've turned out very differently, but unfortunately it was Rokuro, and so Tanjiro ended up losing, very narrowly surviving even as Tamayo and Yushiro managed to save him at the last moment.
I don't really have much to say about this scene though, other than me throwing out hints about things that everyone who read the series by now knows, but that I still keep hidden for the sake of this story. What really matters though ain't really that part, but the very end of the chapter. With the end of the short Asakusa arc, we move into what I call a transition arc of sorts, starting with the long awaited Pillar Reunion. And so, I thought, why not take the chance and have Tanjiro meet another Pillar, which was how the chapter ends with Muichirou of all people being introduced. Who, by the way, really cements to Tanjiro the whole "there's always someone better" thing in this story. Because Tanjiro might be strong, but Muichirou is a Pillar. But we'll see how these two interact, as well as the introduction of more Pillars by next chapter.
Usual thanks to DownwardDive. Please don't ghost me again.
Oh, and before we move on, I wanna celebrate a thing or two. Namely, right now I am one follower away from reaching 500 of you, which yay, but more importantly, at the time this is posted, I am six reviews away from having the most reviewed story in the Kimetsu no Yaiba. So, even if Galm beats me in word numbers some time soon with his freaky writting pace, I get to have another throne for myself still.
That said, onto the reviews.
clone59yahoo com: Nice chapter!
Thanks, I try.
gogo bananas:aha yes author this is the good shit
Glad to deliver.
Ger0nim0:This chapter is:
"24" by Not Waving
Play?
Sure, I'll play.
Wait, I thought you commented on the other site.
Chimera608: Alright I can't wait for fight with Tanjirou and lower moon 1
Well, I do hope you liked it.
Echonic:I s he actually gonna take a lower moon solo again?! i'm hyped as fuck.
That he did, but I couldn't give him the W on this one.
HamburgerLife : I'm surprised on how fast you udated this chapter. Or perhaps you wrote this in advance?
Either way, I'm impressed on this chapter! Your writing skills got a lot better and the way you plan the fights is brilliant
Yushiro do be Simp
Nah, that one just came by fast. And in compensation this one came out reaaaaaaaally slow.
Thanks, I pride myself on the fights in particular, but I do know there's some stuff I really have to improve there too.
That he be.
Abdullah AZ : your story is AMAZING ...can you belive that I read the first 20 chapters in less than three days ! .. it's so addictive I even left all my other activities just to read it .. but now I am a bit sad because I'll have to wait for next chapters .. so don't make me wait .. do it as fast as you can (kidding .. take your time XD.
I was wondering if tanjiro will create his own style like nezuko (chihime) did .. or will he learn another breathing style .. or maybe he'll stay just like he is ?!
i kinda found chihime is a little OP .. don't you think ?! .. like she has the breath of the moon , blood moon and her demon blood art .. other than the features of a demon body .
And I am really excited to know how will you play the next meeting between tanjiro and nezukotanjiro and gyuu (not sure if that's how his name is written)
anyway ... I have said alot .. so keep going and never let the idea of stopping this fiction cross your mind .. your fans will kill you XD
I can't believe you read all that in three days either. That's more than most Harry Potters, and the later ones are long. Sorry to keep you waiting though, that's admittedly on me. Took my time a bit too much.
Anyway, I don't plan on having Tanjiro learn a new style, and I'll be open to that much. Kinda pointless when he has the undoubtebly best style. Even Canon Tanjiro eventually stopped using Breath of the Water altogether when he mastered the Dance of the Fire God. The only way he would use a new breath is if he managed to create something better than Yoriichi, which...yeah, Tanjiro's good, but he's not all that. What he will do is learn to use his own Breath better,and we'll have a very long upcoming arc with the focus on that, I'll tell you that much.
Yeah, she's overpowered as all hell. Up until now we haven't seen her fighting 100% serious with all she has to offer, and that's because it would heavily skew things in her favor if that was the case. That's kind of the point though, she's a big mountain to conquer, which means Tanjiro is forced to rise even higher in order to meet her head on, and that's how you motivate a protagonist.
Well...don't hold your breath. It will be a while before Tanjiro and Nezuko come face to face again, and there's plenty of stuff I want to cover before we get to that.
As long as you guys keep reviewing I'll be very hard-pressed to stop writing. Granted, it's slow sometimes, hella slow, but I won't stop.
The Empty Hollow: Yes. It really was an awesome chapter. Indeed, having Lower Moon One attack them was unexpected, but it was a great twist. Jumping from Lower Moon Four to Lower Moon One is more realistic than having Tanjirou climb the ranks in order. Using Kimimaro's ability was a great thing too; using familiar abilities that almost everyone knows makes imagining the fight scenes much easier, not to mention it probably makes writing them easier too, so it's a win-win situation.
I wonder how the fight will proceed? I wonder what will Tamayo do when she sees the Breath of the Sun?
It's painful to wait, but this chapter was released some time ago, and I've only been able to read it now, so thankfully the wait shouldn't be too long.
"The wait shouldn't be so long," He says, before waiting over a month for the next chapter. Oof, guilty as charged.
Well, I wouldn't say its straight up Kimimaro's ability cause he's far from the only guy who fights with his bones, but its still more similar to his fighting style than any of the others. The main reason is still just because the name sounds really cool, but if Rokuro and Kimimaro become automatically associated because of that with my readers, I wouldn't really mind it either. Kimimaro's hella cool, he can even turn into a dinosaur man.
Anyway, you got your answers, Tanjiro lost and Tamayo had her own vague thoughts on that. Hope you enjoyed.
Cieszesi Niezmiernie: Nice chapter.
So this time it's lower one huh... I don't know if Tanjiro can handle him on his own but if he kills him with a help from Tamayo and Youshiro, it will still look for a demon slaying corps that he took it on his own. It's not like he can tell them that 2 other demons helped him :D. Well I can't wait for more and about what will come after. Wonder if Nezuko will keep only hunting other demon moons to climb in rank or will she go after Hashira at some point too.
Yeaaaaaah, he wasn't. Can't win every fight, through Tanjiro hasn't really won a proper one since Lower Moon Six. Giyu and Nezuko were draws though, this one is a hard L, and this chapter has him lamenting that a bit, but we'll cover more of that soon enough.
MumboJumbo3600: I'd simply like to say that: everything about this story is intriguing and impressive. From its similarities to its canon counterpart (the personality of the characters, the Demon Moon faction, etc.), to its differences (Tanjiro using Sun Breathing, "The Senses", his summon to be a Pillar, etc.), everything is written so concisely and beautifully to fit the overall theme. I love how all the characters we know and love from Demon Slayer, especially the Senses, can connect to this story as well. Seeing all of their character developments fully transpire in a different manner is something I'm really looking forward to reading.
This chapter was as attention-grabbing as always, and it was nice to be introduced to Yushiro Tamayo again, with all the former's protectiveness of the latter xD. Having never seen Naruto, Rokuro's Dead Bone Pulse was such a treat to experience for the first time, and it's thrilling to see how well it clicked with Rokuro. I'm definitely looking forward to how the rest of this battle will panel out, what you're planning on doing with the other Lower Moons, and what Tanjiro's going to do if/when he defeats Rokuro. This is by far my favorite Demon Slayer fic. Keep up the good work!
I'm really glad you like the story. It was always my intention from chapter one for this to be a "what if" thing, which covers a lot of the same beats and uses the same elements as Canon but in a very different way. In time there was a thing or two that I had to diverge slightly so the story can go on without being tied down by Canon too much, but I still always wanna keep this somewhat close to the original story, just adding my differenta take on it.
I hope you liked the chapter here, even if the fight you were looking forward to ended with a big L for Tanjiro. We'll get around that eventually though, just like we'll get to the other Lower Moons. Don't hold your breath though.
PotatozUni: Love this imma help you with them reviews :D
And I thank you for that. Just six more to go.
So yeah, help me out by leaving a review, and soon enough I'll be able to brag about how people like my fanfiction to the kids at school. I'm kidding, I don't even go to school anymore. Anyway, that'll be all for now, expect the next chapter to come a bit earlier than this one did. All in all, Sky signing out.