Tanjiro, Nezuko, Takeo, Hanako, Shigeru, Genya and Teiko were all blown back from the explosion. Tanjiro managed to roll and get up on his hands and knees. Kie and Rokuta ran up to them, and all the Demon's growled at the new threat. 'That scent. It's not any of the other clones. And it's powerful!' Tanjiro thought, gripping his Sword with both hands. Several giant wooden dragons emerged, roaring, from the dust. "How dare you attack the weak," it cleared enough to show a young-looking Demon with red eyes and wearing golden armour. The Kanji for Four was also in the new Demon's eyes. "You awful villains".
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The Kamado's and Shinazugawa Siblings watched the new Demon warily, 'where did he come from? And the other clones. They've disappeared. Even their scents are gone.' Tanjiro thought. The new Demon turned to the trembling tiny main body and hit his drum, causing branches to begin surrounding him. "Hey! Wait a minute!" Tanjiro called. The enemy Demon turned to him, and the pressure of his existence slammed into Tanjiro. His body felt weak, and his heart hurt.
'This pressure! Even though he's only Upper Four, it's stronger than Muzan's!' he thought, gritting his teeth and gripping his chest, 'don't lose your nerve! No matter what, you have to keep fighting!' Tanjiro thought to himself. "What? Do you have something to say to me?" the Demon asked in a deep voice. "What- makes us- awful- villains?" Tanjiro ground out. "You were trying to kill a small, weak being wo could fit in the palm of your hand. Ganging up on him, when he was just trying to survive. That's despicable" the new Demon replied.
"Small, weak being?" Tanjiro asked softly. His mind flashed back to his younger Siblings, dead in their house if not for the Demon blood coursing through their bodies. Fury filled him, and his veins popped as something inside him snapped. "WHO'S SMALL AND WEAK?! DEMONS LIKE YOU ARE FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY NORMAL HUMAN! YOU KILL THEM, RIP FAMILES APART, JUST FOR YOUR OWN SELFISH NEEED! JUST LIKE MUZAN DID TO MY FAMILY!" Tanjiro screamed, clenching his fists so hard that he could feel his Sword handle covering digging into his palms.
He gasped in another breath, before continuing to scream at the new Upper Four, "MY YOUNGER SIBLINGS WERE SMALL! THEY WERE WEAK! MY YOUNGEST BROTHER WAS ONLY THREE-YEARS-OLD, AND MUZAN STILL TRIED TO KILL HIM! DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO MAKE YOURSELF OUT AS SOME KIND OF VICTIM! FROM WHERE I'M STANDING, YOU'RE THE ONLY VILLIAN I SEE! YOU EVIL DEMON! I WILL BEHEAD YOU NO MATTER WHAT!" Tanjiro yelled, raising his Sword at the ready.
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The new Demon snarled, before hitting his drum. The wooden dragons moved towards them. "Go!" Tanjiro called. Nezuko raced ahead and set the dragons on fire with her blood, while Shigeru smashed them apart. Hamako was bitten in half by one of the heads, and Takeo smashed it in retaliation. Kie pushed her youngest daughter's body back together, "it hurts, it hurts, fly away" she said, holding her hand out to the enemy Demon. He found himself tearing in half horizontally.
"Bitch!" he snarled at the Demon woman. Tanjiro ran in and aimed for his neck, "don't you dare call my Mother that!" he yelled furiously. Another bang of a drum and a lighting strike shot out of a dragon's mouth. Tanjiro screamed in pain as he was electrocuted, while the enemy Demon reattached himself. "Tan!" Shigeru cried angrily. He smashed the dragon to pieces with his spiked ball arm. Another Dragon let off the sonic attack, but Teiko leapt in and used her Blood Demon Art to keep it from reaching them. "Die already you traitors!" the Demon yelled. Genya shot at one of the wooden dragons, before grabbing the broken off pieces and shoving them in his mouth. More power filled him, and he shot more bullets at the enemy Demon. This time they weren't normal bullets, but they were enveloped in lightning.
It didn't do much to him, since he was immune to lightning, but it did pierce through the Demon's body and his dragons. "Impudent whelp!" the Upper Rank snarled. 'Where's the main body?! Attacking this Demon won't end the fight, we have to find and kill his main body!' Tanjiro though, looking around frantically. Rokuta tried to attack this time, but was hit by the sonic attack. The three-year-old Demon screamed in pain, blood coming from his mouth. "ROKUTA!" Tanjiro screamed in fear. He ran to catch his baby Brother, his tiny body trembling in his arms.
"BASTARD!" the Hashira screamed, enraged. Tanjiro was livid. Kie ran up and grabbed her youngest Son, and Tanjiro held out his Sword. "I won't forgive you for that" he said darkly.
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The group fought the Demon. Honestly, this one seemed more like Upper 4 than the original form had. His wooden Dragons had all of the powers of the other clones. Tanjiro barley avoided being crushed or blown away by the fan attack a few times. Takeo managed to dodge some attacks and pummelled the dragons, smashing pieces off of it. Nezuko and Teiko's Blood Demon Arts were effective as well. But as for the rest, Hanako couldn't reach the enemy Demon, and her flowers did nothing to the wooden dragons.
Shigeru's Bone Manipulation couldn't reach him either, and piercing the dragons didn't seem to do much. His Mother could transfer any injuries her children got to Upper 4, but he healed too fast for it to matter. Genya ate the dragons as much as he could, punching and shooting bits off of it, and Teiko was able to repulse them and their attacks, but they were all so big, that that didn't work for long. Tanjiro struggled to think of what they could do here. His family nearly killed the Demon King himself, but were struggling against Upper Rank 4? Tanjiro himself couldn't do much damage either, since he couldn't reach the clone, or his main body.
He glared at the trees the surrounded the tiny Demon. There had to be something they could do in this situation. If this clone wasn't blocking them, they could go after the main body. But his constant attacks kept them back. "Damn it! Unless we can find an opening to get to the main body-" Tanjiro muttered. Before he could do anything else, a Dragon caught Hanako in it's jaws, blood spurting from his baby Sister's mouth. "Hanako!" he cried, as more heads lunged for him. Takeo and Shigeru raced in to push him out of the way, Shigeru getting caught by the bone chain of his weapon and Takeo snatched up by the legs.
"No!-" Tanjiro cried, cut off by a dragon snagging him in it's jaws by the arm. He raised his sword, but he was tossed into the air, like a bird would with a fish, and swallowed by the Dragon in a second. The last thing he heard was the worried cries of his family and Genya, before darkness consumed him.
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Tanjiro was being crushed by the insides of the dragon. He couldn't move his body at all, and he could feel his bones start to crack from the pressure. 'This can't be it! I haven't saved any of my family yet!' he thought frantically. Suddenly the wood encompassing him broke open, and thin, yet strong arms grabbed him out into the air and moonlight. "Waaaaahh! That was too close!" a familiar voice cried, and Tanjiro's vision cleared enough with another inhale to find himself on the back of Mitsuri.
The woman landed on the ground with the younger Hashira. "Alright! Just rest up Tanjiro! I'll handle this!" she said, walking forwards, "I'm taking the Kamado's back from you!" Mitsuri said firmly. If Tanjiro weren't a Hashira himself, he might have thought he would need to warn her about the Demon being an Upper Rank. But he knew she would be able to tell, there was no mistaking the aura of their enemy, and Mitsuri was more experienced than him. The Demon banged his drum, and the Dragons lunged at the pink and green-haired woman.
Mitsuri ran forwards, flipping and twirling her sword. She wrapped it around one of the Dragon's heads then did another flip, pulling it around in a circle before releasing the dragon to let it slam into the two other ones that were heading towards her. "Wow, she's so cool!" Tanjiro breathed, watching her with wide eyes. Mitsuri sliced the heads that held Hanako, Takeo and Shigeru, releasing the Kamado Siblings, who landed, or fell to the ground. As they healed up, Mitsuri prepared to attack again.
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"Are you guys okay?" Tanjiro asked, as he ran over to his Siblings and Genya and Teiko. Kie, Nezuko and Rokuta came over as well. "Ggrrrr!" Hanako growled in reply, glaring at the enemy Demon in anger. Takeo and Shigeru glared up at him as well. "You shameless Harlot, stay out of this. The Master has ordered mee to dispose of the Demon Slayer with Hanafuda Earrings and the traitors with him" he said.
Mitsuri was shocked at the vulgarity. 'H-h-h-harlot! How could he say that?! Doesn't he have any manners!' she thought, 'and he looks about the same age as my little Brother!- oh, but wait, Demon's can live for hundreds of years, despite not aging physically.
So he's probably been around longer. But still!' she thought. Kie moved to check on Tanjiro, just as Mitsuri leapt into action again, flipping and twirling her Sword.