Chapter Sixteen: Letting Someone Else Go First.

After scanning the landscape of the forest with the seventh form of Beast Breathing, Inosuke was able to locate a demon in the distance. He told Tanjiro and Nezuko what he had found and the Tsugikuni siblings praised and commended Inosuke for his skills but they continued to get attacked by the controlled Demon Slayers, while elsewhere Zenitsu had entered the forest in search of Nezuko, exhausted from running hard into the woods.

Inosuke was preparing to kill all the controlled Demon Slayers but Tanjiro denied Inosuke's plan and attempted to find another way to stop them, when suddenly one of the controlled Demon Slayers slashed at Tanjiro, Murata blocked the attack and yelled at the three to leave him and carry on. Despite his lesser skill and cowardice earlier, Murata declared that he is still a Demon Slayer and that he will find a way to fend them off.

'Thank you ' Tanjiro said as he bowed to Murata...Tanjiro was deeply appreciative, and now that they were armed with the knowledge of the threads and avoiding the spiders...Tanjiro grabbed Inosuke and ran off with his sister to leave Murata, though Inosuke was annoyed at not being able to punch Murata first for insulting him first. As the three traveled further into the mountain Inosuke got scolded by Tanjiro for his rude behavior, Inosuke tried to justify himself by claiming that Murata had insulted him first and he butchered Tanjiro's name again mistakenly calling him 'Monjiro' much to Tanjiro's chagrin. Tanjiro asked if they were heading in the right direction, Inosuke claimed that his senses are never wrong, Inosuke then ran into several spider webs much to his annoyance. The three then ran into more controlled Demon Slayers, including a girl who had killed her entire troop, the poor girl desperately beged them to not get any closer and to summon a higher ranked member.

The Mother Spider Demon continued to control the Demon Slayers, she found sick joy in anyone getting closer to her as her nearest threads and dolls were the strongest.

'Mother' a voice called behind her startling the demoness, she looked behind and it was the short pale white demon boy from earlier. The boy whose name was Rui asked if she is able to kill them, terrified mother did not answer, Rui claimed that Mother was taking her time and asked she hasten her efforts or he would tell 'Father' frightened at what might happen, Mother claimed that she can win and that she will protect him, begging Rui to not tell Father. Rui only told her to hurry up before leaving. Now with the threat of punishment hanging above her head, Mother forced her dolls to fight harder, unwilling to suffer the consequences. The controlled girl yelled for Tanjiro to run but she suddenly swinged her blade at incredible speed, the girl stated that she is being controlled and that she was never this strong normally, the threads on the girl's body suddenly contort her arms back, braking them at the joints. The poor girl screamed in pain as she continued to attack Tanjiro, who denounced the demon's actions as cruel. Mother then decided to use the rest of her dolls and several more Demon Slayers appeared to face Tanjiro, Nezuko and Inosuke. One of them begged for death, as his arms and legs were broken and his broken ribs were piercing his organs, leaving him in agony. Tanjiro gazed at the scene in horror as Inosuke ruched in offering to kill the ensnared Demon Slayer and end his suffering but Tanjiro still wanting to help signaled for Inosuke to not kill him. Annoyed Inosuke called Tanjiro out for repeatedly denying his attacks, stating that the slayer is blatantly wanting to die. Inosuke was forced back as the controlled Demon Slayer cornered him with Tanjiro and Nezuko, and knowing that the threads will only be reattached again when cut, Tanjiro had to quickly think of a new plan, so he lured the controlled girl by running away forcing her to chace him, he then spun back around and grabbed her in his arms, Tanjiro then used his Total Concentration Breathing to enhance his strength to fling the girl into the high branches, entangling the threads and preventing Mother from controlling her. Seeing this Nezuko and Inosuke became excited and began copying Tanjiro's moves, they lured the other Demon Slayers into running after them and threw them into the branches, this infuriated Mother, she was unable to control the tangled threads, so she deemed the controlled Demon Slayers useless and decided to use a different doll.

Back With Zenitsu

Zenitsu was terrified!...the boy had become too scared to even continue walking...he was feebly calling out to his friends and his sparrow Chuntaro. The boy was apologizing profusely for his burdens when he suddenly heard Chuntaro atop his head. Chuntaro turned his head to ignore Zenitsu but the boy excitedly grabbed his little friend and thanked him for coming back, he called the little sparrow cute but only second to Nezuko, and with that Zenitsu sat out to find Nezuko.

Back With Tanjiro, Nezuko and Inosuke

With just one Demon Slayer left to restrain, Inosuke, Tanjiro and Nezuko closed in on him to tangle his threads in the trees, Inosuke had turned their objective into a game to beat Tanjiro, seeing who can disable more dolls. Mother cursed her human dolls as useless as she manipulated the threads attached to their heads,snapping their necks, killing them instantly. Tanjiro was disgusted at the cruel and horrific spectacle he had just witnessed, while Inosuke cursed the fact that they all died despite their efforts, but Tanjiro only approached the body of the nearest Demon Slayer and neeled down, releasing his rage and anger with out saying anything, letting his demonic side slip. This starteld Nezuko and Inosuke into silence, they were terrified and intimidated, by the powerful demonic aura that was coming from Tanjiro...Nezuko had felt this aura only one time before and it was from her father.

'We must go on' Tanjiro said as he got up.

They continued traveling through the forest with Inosuke leading the way. Due to his up-bringing having been raised in the wilderness Inosuke was easily able to navigate the forest and lead them in the right direction. Tanjiro found that his sense of smell was returning. He detected two demon scents and sensed something in the distance. Having detected it already, Inosuke charged forward to decapitate the threat, but as Inosuke leaped into the air and landed to attack, he found his target dose not have a head and Inosuke narrowly missed getting cut. They saw that it was a giant headless doll that was controlled by the threads and was weaponized with massive blades on it's arms.

Back With Zenitsu

Zenitsu was slowly making his way through the forest, calling out to Nezuko, Tanjiro and even Inosuke. He became frightened when he heard something strange in the distance but Zenitsu saw that it was just a flock of birds. Now becoming frustrated, Zenitsu promised to find Nezuko and leave the forest, he continued calling her name out loud and didn't notice that he was being stalked and followed.

Back With Tanjiro, Nezuko and Inosuke

Tanjiro, Nezuko and Inosuke dodged getting hit by the doll, Tanjiro noted that the doll didn't have the usual weak spot...a head!. Tanjiro wondered how they will attack, Tanjiro used the transparent world to scan the doll for a weakness, after some quick thinking Tanjiro slashed the doll diagonally from the head to the wais doing monk's head cut using the first form of Moonbreathing: Dark Moon Evening Palace, killing the doll instantly to Mother's shock. Nezuko congratulated her brother on his victory but Inosuke stayed still, ignoring the siblings, instead he sprinted towards Nezuko declaring that he can do anything that the Tsugikuni siblings can do and hurled Nezuko high into the air. As she is launched Nezuko detected a demon, realizing it was what Inosuke had detected.

As Mother became scared that even her most powerful doll was killed, she shifted the blame to Rui's earlier threats and why she panicked. She then looked up and saw Nezuko descending towards her, she breathed in and positioned her blade to use the first form of Water Breathing: Water Surface Slash to kill her. Mother became terrified at her impending death but suddenly calmed herself, realizing that with death she can finally be released and know peace. Seeing that she has fully surrendered, Nezuko changes her form and uses the fifth form of Water Breathing: Blissed Rain after the Drought, bringing her a peaceful death. Mother felt as if she is being showered by a gentle rain, it didn't hurt...she wasn't in any pain at all, instead she felt warm, she never imagined that her death would be so peaceful, she was finally free. Mother remembered a moment in her past, when she was harshly wounded by an immense spider like demon who was referred to as Father, she cried and apologized to Father asking him why he was so mad at her. Rui cruelly taunted her for not knowing what had displeased Father.

'Mom's in trouble with dad again ' laughed a demon that appeared from behind. Mother was then grabbed by the hair by Father and hoisted up causing her immense pain, as another pale female demon watched the scene.

Mother looked at Nezuko's eyes, she had a soft and kind look in her eyes wich reminded Mother of someone from her life as a human who used to look at her the same way, she couldn't recall the details, but whoever they were and what ever their relationship was, he was someone who must have loved and treasured her, she then wondered where that boy was now, as she finally broke down and cried.

'Be careful a member of the Twelve Kizuke is one the mountain ' Mother warned, these were her final words before she faded away completely. Nezuko was stunned at Mother's final words, a genuine member of The Twelve Kizuke is on the mountain!.

Author's Note: Nezuko is going to be Goated in this storyline, thanks for reading.