Chapter Seventeen: You Must Master a Single Thing.
With a true member of The Twelve Kizuke present on Mount NATAGUMO, Nezuko realized that he or she must possess a higher concentration of Muzan's blood, reaffirming her and her brother's goal to extract it for the medicine for those who have suffered and been turned into demons, the girl ran back to Tanjiro and Inosuke as fast as her legs can carry her, Tanjiro was happy to see his sister again, he asked Nezuko if she had defeated Mother.
'The Mother Spider Demon had surrounded so i gave her a peaceful and painless death ' said Nezuko answering her brother's question, Nezuko then asked if Tanjiro and Inosuke were all right seeing the numerous cuts that Inosuke sustained. Inosuke ignored Nezuko's 'Sensitivity and Kindness ' and proudly declared that he can beat Tanjiro and Nezuko at anything, despite this Tanjiro blamed himself for Inosuke's injuries, Nezuko then remembered Mother's final moments, the look of suffering and terror and when she willingly surrendered. Nezuko attempted to use her blood demon art to heal Inosuke's wounds, that annoyed Inosuke and irritated him, he then pondered on the strange nature of the mountain, as it has both a Twelve Kizuke member and a demon family within, despite the fact that demons don't group together.
Elsewhere With Zenitsu
Zenitsu felt a strange prick on the hand as he continued his way through the forest, the boy was angry at being lost for so long and wondered about Tanjiro, Nezuko and Inosuke's whereabouts, he then found a two way fork at the road, Zenitsu became even more frustrated!...he was also annoyed by the terrible smell. And even worse the place was infested with spiders!. Zenitsu then sensed someone behind him, he yelled at them to stay still...but then he looked down and he saw the scariest and most terrifying thing he had ever seen...a giant spider...with a human head!!!!!. Terrified Zenitsu ran away screaming...he must be in a dream...a horrible nightmare, unwilling to believe what he had just seen. Zenitsu begged to wake up on Nezuko's lap and plow fields just to escape his 'Nightmare ' . As Zenitsu stopped, he found himself in a enormous clearing in the forest, he saw captured humans transforming into spiders, he also saw a floating house suspended in the air by the threads. The stench of this area was also much worse and much stronger...if Tanjiro was here he would have been killed by the vile and awful the smell that was how bad it was!!!!!. Zenitsu then heard a rustling from the house and he saw an enormous Spider Demon emerging from below.
Zenitsu ran away at the sight of the monster.
'You're already losing' taunted the demon. Zenitsu tried to ignore the demon's words but the demon continued talking about Zenitsu's dire situation, Zenitsu asked the demon what he was talking about. The spider asked the slayer to look at his hand and he saw that it had became contused and blistered. The spider revealed that Zenitsu had been poisoned by a bite earlier and that he will soon transform into one of the giant spiders that he saw earlier, telling Zenitsu that he will soon be his slave inside of thirty minutes and remarking that Zenitsu feel, pain, dizziness, nausea, loose consciousness and then become a spider, the monster laughed as he taunted the Demon Slayer over his impending fate. Now even more frightened, Zenitsu ran away as he was being chased by numerous transformed spiders. The demon reminded him that running is futile, Zenitsu yelled that he already knows!, Zenitsu climbed up a tree to avoid the spiders. The Spider Demon told the boy not to worry, as his intelligence will be reduced too. Zenitsu refused to listen to the wretched monster, as he lamented that he had no friends or a girlfriend or anyone that likes him, hearing this, the spider offered an extra dose of poison to accelerate the transformation, Zenitsu became frightened at his fate and huged the tree that he had climbed on, reminding him of when he had climbed up a tree to escape his sensi, former Thunder Hashira...Jigoro Kuwjima. Jigoro admonished Zenitsu for constantly trying to run away and commanded the boy to climb down to resume their training, but Zenitsu adamantly refused to come down, the fearful boy believed that his death was certain if he continued with the training, Jigoro assured the boy that he won't die not on the basic level that they will be training at, and he told his student to come down again, but Zenitsu refused again, calling his sensi 'Gramps',Jigoro commands to be addressed as 'Master' Zenitsu then replied that it was because he loves his sensi and that he's like a grandfather to him much to Jigoro's suprise.
Zenitsu will never forget the first time that he met Jigoro sensi. Zenitsu was with a girl who made him raise money just so she could start an affair with a different boy. Racked with debt, Zenitsu was rescued by Jigoro who took Zenitsu in as his disciple and started training him to be a Demon Slayer. Zenitsu aspired to meet his sensi's expectations, but he didn't believe that he was strong enough to reach them, Zenitsu cursed himself for being so weak-willed and cowardly, he had also been training in secret with out getting any sleep and yet he still didn't improve or show any amount of progress. As Zenitsu was lamenting is inability to do anything, thunderclouds started rolling in.
Jigoro attempted to calm Zenitsu down but as the boy continued his ranting and venting, a bolt of lightning had struck the tree hitting Zenitsu. Zenitsu then fell down from the tree, his hair had turned a bright and vibrant yellow and then Jigoro ruched to Zenitsu's side...he was so afraid he thought that Zenitsu was killed!!!!.
As he reflected on the tragedy that was his life, Zenitsu began to hate himself more than anything, he was thankful just to be alive...he always thought that he could be like Tanjiro...strong and stoic...but he would always fall apart and turn into an emotional mess. Still reflecting on what had brought him to this moment, Zenitsu knew that he would always do everything he can, angrirly asking why he has to turn into a spider now.
Watching the Demon Slayer yelling and crying in the branches, the Spider Demon grew more confused at his opponent and as the spiders climbed up the tree, Zenitsu told them to stall and let him speak all while grabbing his head in frustration, and then...clumps of his hair came out!...this was bad very bad...and the bastard demon didn't even mention that his hair would fall of first!!!!!.
The demon began to laugh at Zenitsu's impending doom, The Demon Slayer passed out in fear and lost consciousness, this stunned the demon...he couldn't believe that they would send such a pathetic weakling to kill him and his family.
As his body was falling, plummeting from the tree, Zenitsu began to breathe, he twisted himself before landing and planted his feet against the tree, he was ready to attack and he launched himself at the Spider Demon, the demon who was a giant spider with a boy's head had retaliated using Poison Sputum. Spitting a ball of acidic poison but Zenitsu dodged in time and landed safely, the demon noted that his enemy now looked and acted completely different. As Zenitsu prepared to attack with his Thunder Breathing First Form: Thunder Clap and Flash. The demon signaled his spiders to attack the Demon Slayer, and they all converged on Zenitsu and forced the Demon Slayer to repeat his stance, the demon then spits another poison blob forcing Zenitsu back into his stance, the demon noticed that his opponent was repeating the same stance and realized much to his delight that he can only do one form.
Zenitsu remembered one of his previous training sessions, the boy had become despondent after only being able to master one form, but his sensi saw this as a cause for celebration telling the young man that he can hone it. Recalling this moment, Zenitsu remembered that he was initially angry because Thunder Breathing has six forms. Jigoro then began hitting the boy's head repeatedly and as he was doing so, he explained that a sword needs to be struck continuously to remove impurities and to give the blade better durability, Zenitsu instead asks why his mentor continues to clobber him to improve...he wasn't made of steel after all.
As time continues to tick down, the Spider Demon taunts Zenitsu for calling himself a Demon Slayer despite him only doing one form. As his hand begins to shake, Zenitsu remembers his sensi's encouragement, telling him it is ok to cry and run, instead he asked Zenitsu to never give up and to believe in himself. Jigoro told him that he can be the most durable blade of all and to hone his form to perfection, as electricity crakles in Zenitsu's hand. The demon launched another Poison Sputum blob but Zenitsu dodged it in time and then he saw himself surrounded by spiders, as they converge on him again Zenitsu remembered an other pivotal moment during his training, a fellow student had angrirly dismissed him annoyed by his crying and cowardice. The fellow student remarked that their master is an extraordinary man and that Zenitsu was wasting their time with him and when Zenitsu tried to talk about him referring to him as 'Gramps ' the student rebuked Zenitsu for attempting to act familiar with him respected former Hashira. Zenitsu reflected on his life. As an orphan Zenitsu had no one to give him hope for the future, no one to be proud of him for doing good. No one believed he could succeed, as his cowardice made people scornful of him, no one but Gramps. His sensi held on and continued to push and reprimand him. Any time Zenitsu tried to escape Gramps was there to take him back, and although he was sometimes harsh, Gramps never once abandoned him.
The Spider Demon signaled for his minions to poison Zenitsu even more. With their barbed tongues, the spiders attempt to envenomate him further. As he backs away to safety, he vomits blood from the poison, causing him to stop and allowing the spiders to overwhelm him. As the Spider Demon watched in delight, the spiders were suddenly all blown away as lightning envelopes Zenitsu. As the demon lands down, watching the Demon Slayer in renewed fear Zenitsu uses Thunder Breathing First Form: Thunder Clap and Flash, and extends the attack Sixfold.
The Spider Demon uses Poison Sputum, once more but the poisonous blob is too slow to hit Zenitsu. Zenitsu then sped around the clearing, he was preparing to strike, Zenitsu was so fast that the demon lost track of him. Seeing his chance Zenitsu propelled himself at the retreating demon, following him to his house, and using one of the threads Zenitsu was able to launch himself upwards, decapitating the demon instantly. The creature was inraged!...how could he die at the hands of someone like him?!...that Demon Slayer's attack was absurd.
The monster was barely able to move his legs and arms before desintegrataing into ash.
Zenitsu landed atop the suspended house, as he lied in pain from the poison,the boy addressed his dream and how he has achieved it, he has now become powerful and can help those in need, as his sensi had taught him, but despite that, Zenitsu believed that his dream was over due to the poison. Chuntaro had arrived and landed beside his master...the little sparrow was tearing up...Zenitsu apologized to Chuntaro but the sparrow flew away. Remembering his sensi's words to 'Don't give up ' Zenitsu used his breathing to slow the venom's circulation, unwilling to let Gramps 'Let him have it' and not wanting Tanjiro to be mad.
Elsewhere With Tanjiro, Nezuko and Inosuke.
Tanjiro had just heard the sound of thunder striking in the distance wich confused him because he didn't smell any thunderclouds, he asked Nezuko and Inosuke who brushed his concern. As they were about to cross a river, Tanjiro offered to investigate further and asked Inosuke if they were descending the mountain. Inosuke asked why he would give up...Tanjiro simply pointed to Inosuke's injuries, but Inosuke irritably denied being hurt, much to Tanjiro's bewilderment...he could see with the transparent world that Inosuke was hurting badly and he was in need of medical attention. At that moment the trio spot a pale demon across the river, Tanjiro noted that he was unable to sense her because of the demon scent throughout the mountain.
Inosuke gave chase and pursued her, only for her to suddenly call 'Father!'. Wondering what she means, Inosuke is answered by the appearance of an enormous Spider-like demon leaping into the water. As Inosuke, Tanjiro and Nezuko staggered back at the sight of the new threat. Father angrirly demanded they 'Don't come near my family! Stay away!'. As the female demon leaves them to escape, Father prepares to strike a vulnerable Inosuke. Tanjiro responds with the sixth form of MoonBreathing Prepetual Night Lonely Moon-Incessant. And cut off the demon's arms.
Author's Note: thanks for reading and supporting my story and stay tuned for the next chapter.