Tanjuro, Shizu, Yukito, Gyutaro and Ume searched for the main body of Hantengu while Hakuji and Mitsuri handled Zohakoten. "Lord Tanjuro! Have you found it yet?" Yukito asked. "I think it's close, but I can't pin it down" Tanjuro replied. "I wish we could help more, but we don't even have our new Blood Demon Art's yet!" Ume cried, annoyed. "Don't worry about that Ume! We have to focus on not letting the main body escape!" Tanjuro replied. "Can you sense it any better yet Lord Tanjuro?!" Yukito asked as they raced through the forest. Tanjuro snarled, "I think it's hiding it's presence! I can't tell where it is!" Tanjuro replied. "We never interacted much with the stronger Upper Kizuki. Ume and I mostly stayed in the Entertainment District.
The only time we really met the other Upper Ranks and the first time we met Lord Muzan, was when he accepted us as Upper 6, and brought us to the Infinity Castle to give us more of his blood and introduce us to the other Upper Ranks, so we never really got to know Hantengu all that well! In fact we could barely even sense his presence when we did interact. I'm afraid we won't be much help in tracking Hantengu's presence!" Gyutaro explained. "Lord Tanjuro! You don't need to behead the main body, just burn him with your flames when you catch it, and both the main body and Zohakoten should die!" Yukito suggested. Shizu growled in annoyance as she and Ume fell behind. "Damn it! We may have more energy and strength as Demons, but our legs are too short for us to run fast enough!" Ume groaned.
Tanjuro glanced behind him to see the two girls struggling to keep up. "Shizu, Ume! Are you two okay?!" he called back. "We're fine! It's just because we're shorter than you! Keep after it, we'll catch up!" Ume replied. Tanjuro nodded, turning his attention back onto the tiny Demon. Shizu growled, "We have to catch up! We can't be useless!" she cried in frustration. "We're not! But even as Demons, our bodies can only do so much!" Ume replied, "Why do you think I took on an adult form before this?!" she asked. Shizu clenched her eyes shut as she remembered her children, 'that night, when Kyogo had become a Demon and come after us, it was all I could do to try to keep him from getting to my children.
But he was so big and so much stronger than he was even normally, that I'd thought I was going to die. And I wouldn't have cared if I died, but what about my children? Even if the monster that my Husband had become didn't kill them, how would Sanemi look after all of his Siblings by himself? What if something else happened, and I wasn't there to protect them? What kind of a Mother couldn't protect her children? I thought. And then, Tanjuro came. He saved my children. Spared me. Took my children in as his own, despite already having so many. And even made me one of his Demons, so that I could stay with my children, and love and protect them.
I owe L- no, I owe Tanjuro so much. I love him more than I ever loved Kyogo. And right now, he needs me to help him with this. Once this Demon is dead, we can go home. And see all of them again!' an image of her and Tanjuro's and Kie's children (because yes, she saw all 14- that's including Haruka- children as the three of theirs) flashed in her mind. "WE HAVE TO WIN!" she cried. Suddenly Shizu began to speed up, even passing the two Siblings and Yukito. In moments she had caught up to Tanjuro, who looked at her in surprise. The Demon King smiled, "we will" he said, before the group of Demon increased their speed. "There! It's over there!" Yukito called, pointing to a bright red speck running through the underbrush.
If it weren't for his Demonic sense of sight, Tanjuro probably wouldn't have been able to see it so well, even with the red Kimono the Demon was wearing. But spot it he did. "Hurry! We need to catch it quickly!" Tanjuro said, "Hakuji and Miss Mitsuri are holding off Zohakoten, so we need to kill the main body quickly, so that they can rest!" he ordered. Yukito tried to manipulate a shadow to swallow up the tiny Demon, but Hantengu managed to dodge it. "It's too small and fast for me to grab with my shadows! If we had another Blood Demon Art that could help us catch it, then maybe we'd stand a chance!" the black and purple-haired Demon called.
Ume growled in anger, "Big Brother! I'm just slowing everyone down! Maybe I should go back!" the white and green-haired Demon called. Gyutaro glanced back at his little Sister, "you're a Demon too Ume! You can go faster! Faster than anyone if you need to!" He called. Ume's eyes widened. She remembered that when she was human, when that Samurai and the Madam of her House had come for her, she'd tried to run away from them, but due to her small size for her age, and how weak she was from having such little food to eat, they'd easily caught her. And burnt her. But now she wasn't a human anymore. She was strong. And fast. Faster than those horrible people. Suddenly Ume sped up, faster, and faster, and faster than even Lord Tanjuro!
Her gaze honed in on Hantengu's main body, and she leapt for him, "you're mine!" she cried. Ume slammed into the ground, her hand closing around the tiny Demon, as the force of her body hitting the ground sent up a cloud of dirt and obstructed her vision for a moment. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Hantengu's main body screamed, squirming and kicking in her grip. "I'm not gonna let go! Lord Tanjuro is gonna be here soon. And he'll cut off your head! I never liked you! I may be trying to change how I feel about people who aren't completely beautiful, but among the Upper Rank Demons, you and Gyokko were always by far the ugliest!" the white and green-haired Demon snarled.
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The other three Demons and Demon King hurried after Ume and the main body of Hantengu. Tanjuro glanced back towards where Miss Mitsuri and Hakuji were working together to hold off Zohakoten, "We have to take care of this quickly!" he called.
*With Ume*
The main body turned his head to look at her, "don't you feel-" he began.
*With Tanjuro and the others*
"We're almost there! Come on!" Tanjuro cried, putting on a new burst of speed.
*With Ume*
"The least bit-" Hantengu said, and Ume's eyes widened upon feeling the Demonic Energy welling up inside the tiny Demon.
*With Tanjuro and the others*
"There!" Gyutaro called, seeing his little Sister ahead of them.
*With Ume*
"SORRY FOR ME!" Hantengu cried, becoming a giant, to Ume's shock. "What-?!" she cried, before screaming as the giant Hantengu gripped her by her hair, making her scream. "UME!" Gyutaro cried furiously, leaping onto the Upper 3 Demon and slicing both of Hantengu's arms off at the shoulders with his Sickles. "YOU SHOULD KNOW TO KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF MY SISTER BITCH!" the green-haired Demon yelled. Tanjuro leapt over them and shot out a burst of flames. Hantengu screamed in agony, thrashing around. 'We can't let him get away. We have to kill him no matter what!' Tanjuro thought. Gyutaro caught Ume as she fell, "are you okay?!" he asked his little Sister.
"Yeah! But we can't let Hantengu get away!" the white and green-haired Demon cried, as Upper 3 thrashed to try and put the flames out. Tanjuro leapt onto him before he could try to run away, slicing through his neck with his sword. "I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done!" he yelled furiously. "Hinokami Kagura: Setting Sun Transformation!" he cried, slicing through the giant Demon's neck. Then the body exploded into flames. "You did it!" Gyutaro cried. "No! I can still feel his Demonic presence. This isn't over" Tanjuro said seriously. Suddenly the body, which was still on fire started running away. "Oh come on! Seriously! How?!" Gyutaro snarled. "I've got it!" Ume called, racing after Hantengu's body and leaping onto it.
"Ah! No, wait!" Tanjuro called, as both Hantengu's body and Ume fell off the edge of a cliff. "Ume!" Gyutaro called. "Let's go!" Tanjuro cried, leaping over the edge of the cliff. Gyutaro followed immediately, with Shizu and Yukito right behind them. They landed on the ground, crouching to absorb the impact. "Ume!" the green-haired Demon cried, running over to his little Sister, who was unconscious on the ground. "Where's the body?! Did it disintegrate?" Yukito asked. "There!" Shizu cried, pointing towards where the headless body was running. "Lord Tanjuro, there are humans over there!" Yukito called. And indeed there were three Swordsmiths hiding in some rocks ahead of them.
"Damn it! I'm going! Make sure Ume is alright!" Tanjuro called, using his Breathing to increase his speed even more, as he shot after the Upper 3 in a ball of fire. "You can do it Lord Tanjuro" Yukito said, as he picked up Ume into his arms, and looked at Gyutaro, "let's get back up the cliff and wait for him" he suggested. "I can carry her" the green-haired Demon said, taking his little Sister into his own arms, and looking over at Tanjuro, "get him" he said softly.
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Mitsuri slashed another Dragon head apart, dodging blasts of lighting and wind with twirling acrobatics. "I wish I knew how Lord Tanjuro and the others were doing, but that's not our job!" Hakuji growled, smashing a Dragon that tried to snap up the Love Hashira with a punch. However, Hakuji couldn't dodge the sonic attack, and all of his muscles locked up for a moment, "fuck!" the black-haired Demon snarled, as another Dragon moved to crush him in it's coils. "No you don't!" Mitsuri cried, slicing the Dragon into several pieces, as Hakuji healed, "thanks!" the Demon called, leaping out of the way of another attack.
He glanced over at Mitsuri. The energy radiating and fuelling her Fighting Spirit was something he had only ever felt from two people before. Kokushibo and Lord Tanjuro. But they constantly had that vibrant energy. Mitsuri had only gained it a short while ago. Hakuji didn't have time to ponder this, however, as he was forced to send a shattering kick to another wooden Dragon that tried to attack him. 'Come on Lord Tanjuro. I can keep fighting Zohakuten for hours, but even with this new burst of power, Miss Mitsuri is eventually going to run out of energy. You have to kill Hantengu now!' he thought, continuing to fight.
Ң
Tanjuro ran after the headless Demon, glaring at it, 'the main body. It has to be-' he thought, before he could suddenly see inside the body, through the skin, muscle, bones- there! 'it's hiding inside the bigger Demon's heart!' he thought, eyes narrowing in rage. "I WON'T LET YOU ESCAPE!" He called, as he caught up to the other Demon. "ATONE FOR YOUR SINS- WITH YOUR FILTHY LIFE!" Tanjuro cried, cutting the body in half. The tiny Demon fell out of the bigger one's heart with a scream. Tanjuro reached out and grabbed it with his free hand. "NOW DIE ALREADY!" He snarled, setting the main body on fire. Hantengu screamed and writhed, but the Demon King's grip didn't falter.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He cried out as he was finally burned to ashes. The body he'd been hiding in also burned away. "Finally. This battle is over" Tanjuro sighed in relief.
Ң
Hakuji and Mitsuri were still fighting Zohakoten, when the Upper 3 Demon suddenly turned to ashes. "Huh?" the pink and green-haired young woman asked in confusion. Hakuji smiled, "they did it! Lord Tanjuro and the others killed Hantengu's main body!" he cheered. "Oh! Yes! They really did it! We did it Hakuji!" Mitsuri cried excitedly and wrapped the Demon up in a hug. Hakuji tried not to think that a woman other than his Fiancé' was hugging him right now, and pressing his face into her- NOPE! Not going to think about that! Just going to celebrate.
Ң
As everyone headed back to meet up with Mitsuri and Hakuji, Tanjuro wondered how Sayuri had done, and where Kyojuro had ended up.