Hakuji growled as he stared the four Demon clones. They couldn't waste their time on them, they had to find the main body quickly and kill it. "Hakuji!" Tanjuro called, drawing his attention. Tanjuro sliced through a lightning strike with his flaming Sword, "You're the only one who has a chance to find the main body! Take my Wife and go after it! We'll hold these off!" he ordered. The black-haired Demon nodded, "yes Sir!" he replied, grabbing Kie and leaping over a blast of wind and sending a punch to blow away the sonic screech of Urogi. As they landed, he released the Demon woman, "let's go Mrs Kamado!" he called, the two Demons racing away into the trees.
"I won't let you escape!" Aizetsu bemoaned, aiming his spear at them. "Weeping Spears!" he cried, but Shizu managed to leap in the way and cancel the attack. Yukito tried to manipulate the shadows to attack Sekkido, but a blast of lightning erased any he could have used. The black and purple-haired young man screamed as he was electrocuted. "Mr Yukito!" Sayuri cried, gasping as Karaku slammed her into the ground with a blast of wind from his fan. The little Demon girl screamed in pain. Tanjuro growled. Sayuri was of no use in this fight. Her Blood Demon Art wasn't offensive and with how small she was, her other Demonic powers wouldn't help either.
He leapt in and sliced through Karaku's tounge, grabbing his youngest Demon and moving her to safety. "Sayuri, your abilities aren't suited to this fight. Go help the Swordsmiths evacuate, and heal any who are injured!" Tanjuro ordered. The young Demon girl felt disappointed in herself for all of a second, before she nodded, accepting her new Mission, "yes Lord Tanjuro! I'll do my best!" she swore, before scrambling off through the trees, as she suppressed her Demonic Signature to hide. Tanjuro then turned back to the current battle. Kie leapt back to stand next to him. "Are you ready for this Dear?" he asked her.
His Wife nodded firmly, "y-yes!" she said. Gyutaro and Ume were busy dodging attacks, but they were at a disadvantage. Neither of the Demon Siblings had gained their new Blood Demon Art's yet, so they were forced to rely solely on their strength and speed. And with the abilities of the Upper 3 Clones, they didn't have a chance. The winged clone let out a screech over the battlefield, that caused Tanjuro's bones to vibrate agonizingly as he screamed in pain. All of his Demons were the same, and so were the two Hashira, frozen in agony. Tanjuro healed first, and he leapt into the air, piercing the flying Demon through with his fist, and setting him of fire. "Urogi! Damn it! Am I the only one here who isn't incompetent?" Sekkido snarled.
Tanjuro sliced off Urogi's wings and caused them to plummet to the ground. Then he sliced through his tongue to stun him. 'We've gotta find the main body of this Demon quickly!' he thought, as he looked around. He noticed Karaku aiming to smash him again, and move to burn him, when Kie leapt in the way and put up a shield around them. It didn't cover the whole distance, and the area around the shield had indents in the shape of the tips of the bamboo leaf. "Good job Kie!" Tanjuro complimented. Then he spun around, "Hinokami Kagura: Raging Sun!" he cried, slashes of Solar Flames slicing Karaku into two pieces. Then he was forced to pull his Wife out of the way of the spear-like energy attacks, before they were once again shocked by lightning.
'Damn it! Even with all of our preparation's and knowledge, they're still too strong! Of course they are, four Upper 3-level Demons at once! Even I can't take them on alone! And we're still struggling with so many of us here!' Tanjuro noticed Kyojuro aiming for Aizetsu's neck. "HIS TOUNGE! CUT THROUGH HIS TOUNGE KYOJURO!" He yelled. The spear-wielding Demon noticed him and turned around, "Blood Demon Art: Weeping Spears!" he called. "Flame-Breathing, Fourth Form: Blooming Flame Undulation!" the flame-haired Demon Slayer called, sweeping his Sword around, as the image of a whirl of flames could be seen, the force blocking the attacks before they could hit him.
Then, before any of them could do anything, they were all blasted with lightning. 'Damn it! We can't even try to find the main body with that Lightning Demon around!' Tanjuro thought furiously. With a snarl, he set himself ablaze with his Sunlit Flames, and burned away the lightning attacking both him and his Demons. Then he sent a blast of fire at Sekkido, distracting him enough that the lightning blasting Kyojuro disappeared as well. Tanjuro quickly ran and caught him, "Kyojuro, are you okay?! Maybe I shouldn't have sent Shizu away" he asked frantically. The Rengoku sucked in a recovery breath, and tried to stop his body from convulsing, but he was only able to breathe sparingly, and his body kept spasming.
"Sorry, I'll find somewhere that you can rest until the convulsions stop" Tanjuro said softly, hurrying through the battle to find a safe place to leave the Flame Hashira until he'd recovered. Kyojuro grit his teeth, feeling useless. Tanjuro looked down at him and frowned. He could guess what the man was thinking. "You're not useless. You just need a moment to recover. I'll cover you until then" the Demon King said, before placing Kyojuro down behind a tree. Then he ran back out to confront Urogi, who was swooping over the tree tops, trying to find him. Tanjuro climbed up the tree, hiding in the leaves until the time was right. The next time the winged Demon swooped down, Tanjuro sent out a burst of flames.
Urogi shrieked as he plummeted, wings flapping wildly as they burned. Tanjuro leapt out onto his back, driving him to the ground and slicing his tounge. Suddenly something caught his attention. A small flare of Demonic energy. Tanjuro turned towards the signature, but he wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't kill this Demon, and he couldn't leave Kyojuro here. So, what- "Tanjuro!" the Flame Hashira cried, leaping out from behind the tree and slicing through Urogi's tounge as he'd healed and was about to attack him. "The main body's nearby! Can you keep this one pinned down for me?!" Tanjuro asked, as he turned in the direction of the main body of Upper 3.
"Of course I can! Hurry and find it!" the Flame Hashira replied firmly. Tanjuro turned and ran after the tiny presence. 'You can't hide from me you little bitch!' he thought furiously. He remembered what Hakuji had told them about Hantengu before: "His main body is an utter coward. I can only track him due to the lack of a fighting spirit. He also doesn't take any responsibility for the deaths he's caused, blaming it on anyone and anything else. At least I always took responsibility for my actions. Hantengu is pathetic, and I'll be happy to help you kill him" Tanjuro grit his teeth. A creature like that, with no empathy, utterly selfish and an inability to take responsibility for his own actions, was no someone he had any sympathy for, nor could he ever accept him as one of his Demons.
Knowing that only made him more determined to kill him and protect all his future victims, as well as ensuring that the Souls of all those he'd killed would be free of his existence and be able to rest in peace.
Tanjuro suddenly felt a flair on his senses to the West, and he ran through the trees, 'I'll find you, and kill you! No matter what!' he thought. Suddenly a tiny whimper caught his attention, and he looked down to see a tiny Demon wearing the same clothes as Sekkido. Tanjuro's eyes widened, 'this is it!' Tanjuro felt his anger flare, and he burst into flames, causing the tiny Demon to shriek if fear and begin to run away, "you're not getting away!" he cried, as his sword burst into flames and he swung towards the tiny Demon's neck.