The high school gymnasium vanished, replaced by an environment that immediately tested the limits of their focus. They stood in a dense, perpetual Night Forest. The air was icy cold, thick with the scent of old pines, damp earth, and an overpowering, sickening odor of raw blood. Above them, the sky was a velvet black, completely devoid of the moon or stars.
"It's so dark. I can barely see my hand in front of my face," Tanjiro murmured, but his tone was calm. "This is a Demon's domain. The darkness, the blood scent... it's all designed to disorient and terrify. Everyone, focus on your breathing."
Jin-Woo stumbled, grabbing his head. "My senses are overloaded. The shadows in this world... they are corrupted. My Mana detection is picking up thousands of false signals."
Gojo was already tearing his blindfold off, his Six Eyes wide, but they weren't seeing clearly. "The vision is compromised. Every particle of darkness is laced with a high-frequency spiritual pulse. It's like trying to look through a sandstorm of noise. It's a genuine Sensory Distortion Blood Demon Art."
"I'm using Total Concentration, Constant, just to stay focused," Tanjiro explained, his breath deep and steady. "This is the trick of my world: the environment itself is trying to kill you. The enemy is near. They thrive on the chaos of confusion."
"Chaos and confusion? That's my natural state!" Kazuma declared, but he was trembling. "Okarun, if you scream, I'm stealing your shoes!"
From the deep mist, a figure materialized: a powerful, muscular Demon with eyes that glowed red and yellow. It wasn't a High-Tier Moon, but it pulsed with enough destructive Blood Demon Art (BDA) power to rival one.
The Demon grinned, its voice a grating rasp. "Hunters. You've entered my Domain of Confusion. Here, you cannot find your focus, and your ultimate strength is useless against the purity of my Blood Demon Art."
The Demon lashed out with its attack. It didn't punch. It manifested countless Razor Threads—invisible, microscopic lines of hardened blood that instantly sliced through the bark of trees and shredded the stone beneath their feet, all moving with silent, fatal speed.
Gojo was forced to activate a full Limitless barrier just to keep the threads from slicing his body, but the effort was immense. "It's draining me! The threads are conceptually sharp, bypassing the usual spatial defense!"
Jin-Woo was also desperately maintaining a Shadow Barrier, but the threads were causing static in the fabric of his power. "I cannot maintain offensive Shadows! They are being dissolved by the sharpness!"
Saitama, oddly, looked frustrated. The razor threads couldn't cut him, but they kept nicking the already damaged sleeve of his uniform.
"Stop ruining my clothes!" Saitama growled, launching a simple Normal Punch at the Demon.
The punch hit the Demon square in the chest. It was a massive, concussive strike that should have turned the entity into red mist.
Instead, the Demon was pushed back forty feet, but its body reshaped instantly, absorbing the blow. The red and yellow eyes glowed with triumph.
"Fool! My Blood Demon Art allows my structure to instantly absorb kinetic force! Only the Blade of the Sun can truly destroy my core!" the Demon roared.
"Great! So we need a specific kind of knife!" Kazuma yelled. "Hey, Tanjiro! Give me your Sun Blade! I bet my Steal skill works on Blood Demon Arts!"
"No, Kazuma-san! My blade is special, but you need the Breathing to execute the strike!" Tanjiro said, his own blade—a deep, glowing black—raised in defense. "He is too durable! We cannot waste energy!"
"Then how do we win?" Gojo gasped, straining against the constant onslaught of razor threads. "I can only maintain this defense for another thirty seconds!"
"We must find the Opening Thread," Tanjiro stated, his eyes closed for a moment. He then opened them, his gaze calm. "Every Demon has a single, infinitesimal point of weakness—the space between its life and its destruction. It's a line you can see only when your focus is absolute."
He stared at the raging Demon, past the razor threads, past the flexing muscles.
"I see it! It's an invisible line, pulsing with life, connecting its neck to its heart! It's moving constantly! It's too small to hit with a punch, and too fast for a conventional attack!"
"But my speed is not conventional!" Okarun exclaimed, channeling his inner Turbo-Granny. "I can rush you there, Tanjiro-san! But I can't guarantee the path won't slice us!"
"We create the path," Jin-Woo commanded, his face set in stone. He risked everything, calling upon the full, draining power of his Shadow Monarch Authority. "Igris, Beru. Focus all energy on suppressing the razor threads in a single, five-foot wide path. Now!"
The two shadows roared, sacrificing their own forms to the Demon's energy, but they succeeded, creating a temporary, safe corridor.
"Go, Swordsman!" Jin-Woo commanded, collapsing slightly, his body aching from the Mana drain.
"Okarun! We only have three seconds!" Tanjiro yelled.
Okarun, focused by the sheer panic of the situation, launched himself forward. They rocketed across the gym floor, weaving through the destructive mist and over the collapsing Shadow forms.
Just as they reached the Demon, Gojo used his last bit of stored energy. "Maximum Cursed Energy Output: Blue!" He didn't fire the attack; he pulsed the attraction, dragging the Demon forward an inch, forcing the Opening Thread to align directly in front of Tanjiro's blade for the briefest moment.
Tanjiro didn't swing. He breathed. "Hinokami Kagura: Burning Bones, Summer Sun!"
The Demon's neck was impossible to cut, but Tanjiro's breathing and blade found the exact, microscopic point on the Opening Thread. The blade connected with zero resistance, and the Demon's head flew from its body, landing harmlessly in the dust.
The entire forest instantly evaporated. The razor threads vanished. The Demon's body dissolved into ash and smoke.
"TRIAL SUCCESS: POINT AWARDED."
They were back in the silent, white void. Saitama, Gojo, and Jin-Woo all looked depleted, their power countered, their immense strength rendered irrelevant by the logic of precision and spiritual discipline. Tanjiro, though tired, was the most composed.
"That was horrible," Kazuma whispered, checking his clothes. "I risked my life, and all I have to show for it is a dirty shirt and this really gross piece of Demon bone I stole."
"You did well, Kazuma-san. You identified the failure of the Steal technique, which was useful data," Tanjiro replied, sheathing his blade.
Gojo stared at Jin-Woo, who was recovering his Mana. "This Arbiter is a sadist. You use brute force, he nerfs your speed. You use high-concept, he nerfs your focus. We are being trained to be a team that works at all levels."
The Arbiter's voice returned, heavy with finality.
"Congratulations, Anomalies. You have successfully completed all primary trials. You have demonstrated resilience, coordination, and a reluctant understanding of mutual dependency."
"The Reset Game is now entering its final phase."