Tanjiro tilts his head left and right while Inosuke and Zenitsu followed his movement despite being confused. The three of them, walking towards their next mission, spent their five minutes silently and in deep thought.

"What's the next mission about again?" Zenitsu needed a reminder

"Another demon on a killing spree. For the past week, ten people have died"

Tanjiro raised his finger, narrating the report and details of their current mission.

"A small group of demon slayers reported of sighting the demon but they were all incapacitated when it attacked them"

"It didn't kill them?" Zenitsu is confused

"No. It knocked them out simultaneously in mere seconds and fled. The demon we're going to face isn't going to be an ordinary one"

"So...do we have any idea what kind of demon it is?"

"According to the demon slayers who sighted it...they said they saw a butterfly"

"Huh?! A butterfly demon?! Wahahaha!"

Inosuke suddenly bursts out in laughter, imagining a demonic butterfly...in a rather comedic way. Tanjiro and Zenitsu blankly stared and let Inosuke finish his laugh until his side hurt.

"It's not an actual butterfly, Inosuke. They said it looked like a butterfly when it jumped out of nowhere and started hitting them left and right"

Tanjiro imagined the demon slayers were deep in the forest and an unknown demon caught them by surprise and knocked them out simultaneously with little effort. Their only image before being knocked out was a butterfly fluttering under the moonlight.

"What do you think would be the demon like...Kanao?"

Tanjiro asked Kanao who is also part of the mission but she's silently distant in the back that it doesn't seem like she's part of the mission.

"Say something will you, runt!" Inosuke yelled

"Don't bother her too much, Inosuke" Zenitsu frowned

(She's still taking it hard after Shinobu-san died on their last mission together) Tanjiro also mourned like Kanao

After Shinobu died on the same mission with Kanao, the latter had been depressed after losing yet another family...unable to do anything even with her skills as a demon slayer.

"It doesn't really matter...to me..." Kanao softly answered

Kanao, right now, had little to no reason to be as energetic as the three and only cared about accomplishing the mission with them.

"R-right..." Tanjiro's lips twitched

Just before they could arrive at the town, they came across two people praying and mourning for their dead.

"Travellers?"

One of the two people, a young man noticed the small group of sword wielding youngsters.

"Oshi, what's the matter?" The older man stood up

Apparently, the young man's name is "Oshi", as the other one calls him.

"It's just these people..."

The middle aged looking man noticed all four children have katanas sheathed on the side, one is even wearing a boar mask.

"Are you young ones travellers?"

"Yes. We're currently going to that town to deal with a problem" Tanjiro enthusiastically answered

"You better go somewhere else. A monster is on the lose"

The four looked at each other, knowing instantly that the man is referring to is most likely a demon.

"It killed my other son last night when he went out to the mountains"

"...?!" Tanjiro reacted

"I was with my brother when it happened. I only escaped...when he pushed me away to a steep side"

Oshi felt crying when he wanted to tell Tanjiro and the others what happened last night.

"When I rolled and fell down...I saw what it looked like"

"What does it look like?" Tanjiro clenched his fists

"It was a beautiful young woman with a haori that made her looked like a butterfly when moving"

"...?!"

Kanao gasped silently since Oshi described Shinobu's haori.

"She was wearing clothes similar to you folks"

Oshi pointed at them, referring to their demon slayer uniforms to their shock.

"T-the demon...is wearing a demon slayer uniform?!" Zenitsu trembled

"She ate my brother but left me alone even though she's right before me"

Oshi's hands shook, remembering the night where a certain demon coldly looked down in him for a few seconds before deciding not to eat him and disappear.

"We may not look like it but killing demons is what we do best. We'll make sure to stop whoever it is" Tanjiro assured the two

"You bet! No demon has escaped my grasp before!" Inosuke boasted

After Tanjiro comforted the two people grieving for a victim of a demon attack, the three immediately head to the town and rest. Before the sun goes down, they all split up in two groups to gather information about the notorious demon and met up two hours before night falls.

"Zenitsu and Inosuke, what did you find out?" Tanjiro asked first

"The demon is targeting the town recently. It targets the town more than the mountains" Zenitsu answered

"That's what they told us too. It targets unsuspecting and lone victims in a corner and disappear in a split second"

As they discuss on their plan to deal with the demon, Tanjiro noticed Kanao being more quiet ever since they learned a thing or two to what the demon looked like.

"It's not who you think it is, Kanao. That's why you don't have to worry about seeing the demon"

Tanjiro assured her with such confidence that Kanao lessened her fear of thinking who the demon is.

"Hmph! I'll chop its head off before it can even do anything" Inosuke flexed

"Sun's about to go down. We'll have to split up in the district where it attacks the most to cover more ground"

"Tanjiro, did you get it's scent?" Zenitsu raised his hand

"It's faint but I smelled a demon there. It's all over the place"

Tanjiro nodded as the four split up in the area where the demon is said to attack the most in the town. Kanao went on her own to cover the east side when she spots a familiar figure among the people.

"Master?"

From the mere look of the haori and butterfly hair ornament, Kanao stopped when she thought she saw Shinobu walking around.

"Master!"

Kanao called out but the person she saw isn't responding. She shoved people left and right, desperately chasing after who she believed is Shinobu until dark.

"Was it just my imagination?"

For a moment, Kanao believed she really did see Shinobu when she saw her distinctive butterfly wing patterned haori and butterfly hair ornament. "Shinobu" was about to look at her when a person passing by blocked her view.

"I'm just seeing things. Master...is dead. I know it...because...it happened right before my very eyes"

Kanao tightened her grip on her nichirin sword, recalling the terrifying memory of Shinobu being slashed several times when Shinobu protected her from a powerful demon wielding a sword.

"If only I wasn't too injured. If only I followed after master..."

Kanao closed her eyes, recalling the memory where despite stabs and cuts and received, Shinobu chased after the demon. Her body was never found but there was blood everywhere where her sword was found so she was presumed dead.

"If only...I was a bit stronger. I could have prevented master's death..."

As she lamented herself for not being able to save Shinobu, she quickly raised her blade upon sensing a demon nearby. As she turned to swing her katana, she is swiftly kicked away to a corner by the demon.

"...?!"

Before she could stand up, the demon stepped on her head but no plan on crushing her skull.

"I think...I saw you before. Wait...!"

Kanao struggled to break free from the demon crushing her head but the demon stabbed each of her two arms with a nichirin sword. The demon moved its foot only to stomp Kanao's head once before moving in a spot where it can't be seen.

"I remember you. You're that girl with really sharp eyes. If I remember...you were with the insect demon slayer..."

"Insect demon slayer? Master?!"

Shinobu is the only one Kanao knows capable of using the Insect breath as it's a breath Shinobu invented herself to compensate for her lack of swinging strength.

"You're that girl who almost chopped off my head. To think that one Pillar weakened me enough that a tsuguko overpowered me. That was a mistake on my part"

"That doesn't narrow down anything"

"It doesn't manner now. In fact a mere tsuguko like you doesn't matter"

The demon laughed while Kanao bit her lip in pain as she couldn't stand up with how two katanas have been deeply stabbed in her arms. If she struggled more, she could rip off her own arm.

"To think I'd encounter Shinobu's little tsugoku here. This is bringing back unpleasant memories"

The demon walked towards Kanao again, standing right in front of her. As Kanao lifts be head to see the demon angering her, she went unconscious when it landed a powerful strike on her head.

"Don't worry, Shinobu. I didn't kill her...yet"

Before Kanao could fully see the demon, she I knocked out by Shinobu whose body is currently being used by the demon.

"Kanao!"

Inside her own mind, Shinobu struggled to regain control of herself, fearing the demon would kill Kanao using her own body.

"I'm angry right now. To think I'd hold a grudge against someone. Is it because of my pride? It's been a while since I got this angry..."

The demon Shinobu picked up Kanao's katana and raised her hand in the air, preparing to decapitate the unconscious demon slayer, but she couldn't swing down her arm. Weight coiled around the arm, preventing to deliver a killing blow.

"Still...fighting back, huh...Shinobu"

The demon sensed Shinobu using all of strength to stop her from killing Kanao, paralyzing her arm before the act could be done.

"I won't let you hurt Kanao...with my own body!"

Shinobu pinned down the demon, starting a mental battle to who is the dominant consciousness.

"You have an awful temper. I didn't say I'd hurt her, idiot. Even if I hold a grudge for that night"

"...!" Shinobu gritted her teeth

"You may still have your humanity, but I lost mine...so I ate those people and not you"

"I'd rather be dead again than live as a demon!"

"It's your choice, but neither of us are dying just yet. I will regain my body back no matter the cost"

The demon only scoffs at her response as if she was mocking Shinobu and vanished, letting Shinobu regain control of her body for an unknown reason.

"Kanao..."

Shinobu dropped Kanao's katana and bent on one knee to feel her like with her two fingers. Shinobu sighed in relief that Kanao isn't dead, just unconscious from the powerful blow.

"I'm sorry, Kanao. I can't let you see me like this...as a filthy demon"

Shinobu removed the two nichirin swords stabbing Kanao's arm and gently placed her on the side. She cared for Kanao and saw her as family too. That's why she can't let her tsugoku see her master alive again as a demon.

"I'll return once I can be myself again..."

She promised the unconscious Kanao as she gently touched her cheeks, relieved to see her again even if she is afraid that she might hurt Kanao the next time they see each other.

"...?!"

Hearing the voices of Zenitsu, Tanjiro, and Inosuke's wild battle cry, Shinobu is forced to retreat before she could be seen. She doesn't want to reveal that the demon they are hunting is a supposedly dead Shinobu.

"Kanao!"

Tanjiro rushed to her as soon as she saw a bleeding Kanao leaning against a wall, unconscious and wounded.

"She's fine. Her wounds aren't that serious" Tanjiro signed in relief

Tanjiro sniffed around the area, getting a strong scent of a demon around where they are right now.

"This is a strong smell. The demon was just here a while ago"

"Where is it?! I'm going to shred it's neck off"

Inosuke drew her twin serrated katanas and looked left and right, fired up to kill the demon himself.

"T-Tanjiro?!"

Tanjiro suddenly ran off when he caught a familiar scent in the air along with the scent of a demon. He ran left and right, chasing after the scent until he is caught in a corner.

"You really do have a good sense of smell. I'm a bit impressed" The demon complimented him

"...?!"

Tanjiro jumped back to a safe distance and covered his nose when he caught a whiff of poison in the air.

(Poisonous air? Is this the demon's blood demon art?)

"You jumped back when you smelled the poison I released, huh. Not bad"

"..." Tanjiro drew his katana

"You're probably thinking this is my Blood demon art. Well...you're mostly correct"

Tanjiro couldn't get near to where the demon is hiding with how it envelop itself with poisonous air to avoid being seen.

"Show yourself!" Tanjiro demanded

"I can't do that. If I do...you would hesitate since your heart is different"

"What do you mean?"

The demon refused to answer and instead, it attacked Tanjiro with blood that crystallized as it splattered mid air.

"...?!"

When even the smallest fragment struck Tanjiro's left leg, it rendered the part of struck partially paralyzed.

"My...leg...?!"

"Now you can't go after me. You better catch me faster tomorrow night or more humans will die"

"Tomorrow night? Tanjiro-kun?"

While Tanjiro struggled to move his numbed left leg, he wondered what those two things meant.

Just who...

The following morning, Kanao regained consciousness, touching her head when she noticed her head had been bandaged.

"Kanao, you're awake. Come and eat"

Tanjiro offered Kanao to sit beside him as they are having their breakfast. Still a bit dizzy from receiving a heavy blow to the head, Kanao slowly walked towards the three and joined them for breakfast.

"The demon we were after. What happened to the demon?" Kanao immediately asked

"..." Zenitsu and Inosuke are both quiet

"It got away when we arrived. We found you on the side, wounded an unconscious"

"The demon moved faster than I could react...so I was immobilized right before I knew it..." Kanao clenched her fists

Kanao's body and reflexes are well trained and for a demon to take by her surprise immediately meant they are going to deal with a powerful demon.

"We'll just try again tonight. The demon will attack again" Tanjiro furrowed his eyebrows

"How so?" Zenitsu tilted his head

"Before it it got away...it told me. This time, we won't let it get away!"

"Right...we won't let it get away..." Kanao weakly nodded

She couldn't tell Tanjiro that demon she encountered was one of the demons she decapitated in the past but managed to survive the encounter by using an unknown power.

(Master...)

Kanao couldn't also confess how she tried to go after someone who believed to be Shinobu which lead her to a corner where the demon ambushed her. Still, she still believed who she saw is Shinobu.