January 28, 1915

Asakusa, Japan

"Kya ha ha," Susamaru laughed as she gripped two temari, one in each hand, having just pelted a certain house in Asakusa that a concealment tag then fell off of. Tamayo grinned as she gazed at her work. "Just like you said, Yahaba! A building appeared where there was nothing before!"

"Seems like they've learned to use the Blood Demon Art well," Yahaba replied with a smile. "And are the Demon Slayers with them? What does this mean? But still, Susamaru...the way you do things is childish...messy...and impetuous, but most of all...my kimono got all dirty."

"Hush," Susamaru said as she peered inside the wreckage. "Thanks to my temari ball, we found them right away, great! More time to play! And you kimono isn't dirty, Yahaba. You're too fussy!"

Inside the ruined-house, Giyū Tomioka and Shinobu Kochō appeared to be embracing, shielding the three children underneath them while Tanjirō Kamado and Kanao Tsuyuri were over Nezuko Kamado to protect the youngest member of the group. They were almost like a matryoshka doll.

The adorable Basket Demon had to shrink because of the four Demon Slayers all on top of her.

Anyways, meanwhile, Yushirō was nearby shielding Tamayo from the attack.

The children were surprised by Susamaru's attack, being able to smash up the house simply by throwing a temari ball. The Hashira, meanwhile, had seen a lot in their years as Demon Slayers.

"Kya hah ha," Susamaru laughed as she bounced her temari. "Found you!"

That woman...Yuishiō thought as Susamaru raised a handball. Is she one of Kibutsuji's minions?

Whack!

Susamaru threw her temari, which suddenly dipped downward and bounced off of the ground.

Bam!

The temari started bouncing all of the place as if the two handballs had a mind of its own.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Wsh!

Yushirō rose as one temari came near him and Tamayo. However, Giyū quickly unsheathed his nichirin and reached out to slice the handball in half before it could hit either of the older-demons.

"Aw, did you have to do that," Susamaru complained with a frown as the Water Hashira stood up before the others in the house and faced the Temari Demon. The severed-halves of the handball instead bluntly-struck Yushirō in the arm and shoulder, before dissolving into a blood-red mist.

"Nezuko, get the woman asleep back there somewhere safe outside," Tanjirō told his sister. The younger-Kamado nodded and ran to go move said woman somewhere away from the fighting.

Giyū slightly moved his head to the side as he narrowly-avoided being hit by the second temari, which angled swiftly to hit the Hashira, but Giyū cut this one in half as well. Just like with the first handball, it bounty-struck him before dissolving away into a blood-red mist before disappearing.

"Hmm, you're really no fun," Susamaru pouted at Giyū as the temari reformed in her hands. The Hashira didn't even blink, not caring about her words. "I bet you're really disliked...aren't you?"

Shinobu sighed, shaking her head as Giyū stared at Susamaru as his face went slack.

"I...I'm not disliked," the Water Hashira argued.

"Oh, Tomioka-san," Shinobu said with a pained-smile. "She's just trying to get under your skin."

Giyū gave her a brief look, but didn't say anything in response.

"Anyways, this demon seems weak," Shinobu said. "Let's let our Tsuguko deal with her."

"Right," Giyū agreed as he and Shinobu stepped aside for Tanjirō and Kanao to face Susamaru.

She clearly smells different from the other demon so far, the Water Tsuguko thought. How strong is she? It's an intense smell...it's settling heavy and deep in my lungs! "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course," Shinobu said. "If we fought all the demons, how would you two learn anything?"

Tanjirō nodded as he and Kanao stood, each of the Tsuguko unsheathing their nichirin. While the Water Tsuguko's blade was watery-blue, the blade carried by the Flower Tsuguko was light-pink.

"So the Demon Slayer with the earrings...is you," Susamaru said as she took a look at Tanjirō.

She's after me, Tanjirō realized while Kanao gave him a concerned-glance. The Kamado turned for a moment to call back to the old-demons behind him. "Tamayo, Yushirō, fall back and hide!"

"Tanjirō-san...don't worry about us," Tamayo replied, although her assistant very much wanted to get Tamayo out of danger. "We'll be fine even if you don't protect us. We are demons after all."

Fwsh!

Susamaru flung both of her temari at the Tsuguko, and Kanao moved forward to intercept them.

Flower Breathing — Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo.

Kanao was the first Demon Slayer to fight the rapidly-moving temari, having an enhanced sense of sight. Kanao delivered a single sword slash that curved and twisted as she swiftly sliced both hyperactive-temari in half, causing the halves to bluntly-strike her arms before dissolving away.

Despite the Demon Slayers handling themselves against Susamaru, Yushirō was still frustrated.

"I told you, didn't I," Yushirō exclaimed as Susamaru again threw her temari, as this time Tanjirō stepped forward to intercept them with Water Breathing — First Form: Water Surface Slash, and like the two Demon Slayers before him Tanjirō sliced both temari in half. The handballs bluntly-hit the Water Tsuguko before dissolving away into blood-red mist just like before. "From the start...I said not to get involved with the Demon Slayers! My concealment spell isn't perfect! I can hide a building or the signs or the smell of people, but there's no way to hide their existence entirely!"

The Demon Slayers heard Yushirō's words to Tamayo, but their focus remained on Susamaru.

"And the more there are, the more traces remain, raising the possibility of Kibutsuji finding us!"

The demon got close, but I didn't smell anything until the attack, Tanjirō recalled as he took in the young man's words and realized something. Was that because of Yushirō's Blood Demon Art?

Snap.

"I hate when anyone interferes with the time you and I spend together," Yushirō said to Tamayo.

Pop.

His fang-like canines were bared, his pupils turning slit-like as the veins in his face bulged.

Crak.

"I'll never forgive this!"

Bulge.

"Kya hah hah," Susamaru laughed, removing her black-haori and pushing her orange-kimono to her waist, leaving only a small sash wrapped around her chest. "What are you going on about? This is all so much fun! Consider it an honor that I, one of the Twelve Kizuki, will take your life!"

"Wait...she's a Kizuki," Tanjirō exclaimed, having just been told about the Kizuki a little bit earlier.

"Ara ara," Shinobu sighed with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry, but that is just not the case."

"What do you mean, 'not the case,'" Susamaru demanded. "I am one of the Twelve Kizuki!"

"Tanjirō, Kanao...look at her left-eye," Giyū told the two Tsuguko. "What do you see?"

"A cat-like, slit-pupil," Kanao replied and Tanjirō nodded in agreement.

"You see, all Kizuki have a number in their left-eye that shows their rank," Shinobu explained. "It is how one can tell the difference between a member of the Twelve Kizuki and a normal-demon."

Susamaru growled behind gritted teeth, glaring daggers at the Demon Slayers.

"Y-you lie," Susamaru accused. "I am a Kizuki! He told me so! He would never lie!"

"That's a shame," Shinobu replied. "However, you'll still make good practice for our Tsuguko."

Snap. Cruk.

Veins bulged all over Susamaru's body as she growled menacingly. From her sides erupted two new pairs of arms, giving her six-arms in total as four more temari appeared in her new hands.

"After I kill you..." the Temari Demon growled. "...then I know he will make me a Kizuki!"

Foom!

Ba-ba-bash!

Susamaru let loose her anger as she flung her six temari at her targets, the handballs seeming to have minds of their own as they chaotically-bounced about the house, causing destruction.

If I use my Blood Demon Art here, it will hurt the Demon Slayers as well, Tamayo considered as Yushirō held the Liberated Demon protectively. And Yushirō needs time to prepare an attack.

Swip. Swup. Swip. Swak.

Tanjirō and Kanao delivered rapid strikes, slicing the temari in half as the handballs flew at them, causing them to lose force. However the severed-handballs would still come for the Tsuguko. In the even a temari was able to get passed by the young Demon Slayers, Giyū would cut it down.

Shinobu took out her own sword, occasionally stabbing a temari, which burst into a purple-mist.

"There are two distinct scents," Tanjirō told Kanao. "Which means...there are two demons."

Kanao nodded, this point making sense to her as the temari's movement was just too strange.

A temari flew at Tanjirō's legs, and he jumped while Kanao slashed down at the ball and cut it.

"Thanks, Kanao," the Water Tsuguko said, the halves still bluntly-hitting him before dissolving.

However, despite how well the four Demon Slayers were doing, the temari were still relentless.

"Hey, you stupid Demon Slayers," Yushirō shouted at the Hashira and their respective Tsuguko.

The Demon Slayers paused for a brief moment, turning to face the Concealment Demon.

"If you look at the arrows, you'll know the direction," Yushirō said. "Avoid the koketsu arrows!"

"What arrows," Tanjirō and Kanao asked him simultaneously.

"Then you can cut off that woman's head! You can do that, right?" Seeing the confusion on their faces, Yushirō tossed a pair of tags towards the Tsuguko. "Here, I'll lend you my sense of sight!"

These paper tags were similar to the one that had been concealing the house.

One landed on each of the Tsuguko's forehead, and suddenly they saw red koketsu arrows that were rapidly carrying each of the temari handballs about the room, surprising Tanjirō and Kanao.

"Thanks, Yushirō," Tanjirō called back to the Concealment Demon.

"Look, the other demon is up in that tree," Kanao told her fellow-Tsuguko as she pointed to a tree that was across the yard in which Yahaba sat, directing the koketsu arrows with the eyes on his palms. Before anyone could stop her, Nezuko charged outside and ran at the tree Yahaba sat in.

She jumped at the Arrow Demon and delivered a kick with her right-foot, but he blocked with his left-hand. Meanwhile, now able to see the koketsu arrows, the Tsuguko found it easier to fight.

Water Breathing — Third Form: Flowing Dance!

Flower Breathing — Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility.

Tanjirō swung and bent his blade in a winding motion along with his body and danced in a flowing pattern, slicing everything in his path while Kanao delivered a graceful flurry of nine consecutive attacks that flowed and weaved in on themselves, the two Tsuguko appearing to dance together.

They sliced through the temari, weaving around and dodging the koketsu arrows. Eventually, the "Dance of the Tsuguko" led Tanjirō and Kanao to either side of Susamaru, Tanjirō slashing off her arms while Kanao sliced through her neck. Then, they turned back to face the Liberated Demon.

"Tamayo-san...even if they're not Kizuki...could these two demons be close to Kibutsuji?"

"It...it's possible," the Liberated Demon responded in answer to the Water Tsuguko's question.

"Then I'm gonna get you some of their blood," Tanjirō declared with determination.

Before Susamaru's body could completely-disintegrate into ash, her blood was collected. Now, all the two Tsuguko had to do was defeat Yahaba and possibly collect some of his blood as well.