The night at the Swordsmith Village was unnervingly quiet.
Only the occasional cry of some nocturnal creature pierced the stillness.
"Huuuu—snort!"
"Huuuu—snort!"
Inside the guest room, a thunderous noise was mercilessly torturing Inosuke's eardrums.
Veins bulged violently at his temple.
He sat up with a jerk, glaring by moonlight at Zenitsu beside him—
sleeping like a dead pig, a huge snot bubble hanging from his nose.
"Wenyi, you bastard…"
Inosuke ground his teeth, his folding fan lifting several times as if he were about to smash that snot bubble to pieces.
"Did you put all of Thunder Breathing into snoring?!
How is this young master supposed to sleep?!
I've never suffered this kind of humiliation in my entire life!"
He raised his foot, about to kick Zenitsu straight into the wall—
—but stopped midair.
"…Forget it."
Inosuke withdrew his foot and irritably scratched his hair.
"He's my own lackey.
Arguing with a sleeping idiot would be beneath me.
"And… considering he nearly killed himself saving that owl before, I'll spare his life tonight."
He slipped on his gorgeous haori and tiptoed out of the room—
though he still stepped on Tanjiro once.
The air outside was cool, carrying the scent unique to deep mountain forests.
Inosuke leapt onto the roof, found a comfortable spot, and sat down, staring at the moon while fanning himself.
"The moon, huh…"
He shook his fan, his gaze drifting.
"I wonder what those guys at the Eternal Paradise Cult are doing.
Did that old geezer bully the idiot siblings while I was gone?
Did Kotoha go to bed on time?
Is Basketball Uncle actually wiping the floors properly?"
"Tch… it's only been a few days…"
He let out a self-mocking chuckle.
He used to find that blood-soaked place annoying—
yet now it felt like the safest den in the world.
Just then—
Buzz—
A bone-chilling cold, like a venomous snake crawling up his spine, stabbed straight through Inosuke's senses.
His abnormal sense of touch screamed its highest-level warning yet.
"Hm?"
Inosuke shot to his feet. His multicolored eyes shrank to needle points as he locked onto the village entrance.
"This presence… it's strong…
And disgusting.
"Stronger than Gyutaro—
even stronger than that pot-obsessed freak, Gyokko!"
His heart sank.
"What's going on?
In the original story, the Swordsmith Village was attacked by Gyokko and Hantengu.
"Gyokko is already dead.
So why is there a demon this strong?
"Don't tell me… because I changed the plot, that idiot Muzan sent in a substitute?"
Before he could think further—
Tap… tap… tap…
Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed through the night.
With every step, stone slabs cracked underfoot.
A massive shadow slowly emerged from the darkness.
Over three meters tall.
Its entire body was encased in grotesque gray-black bone armor, jagged spines rising from its back like a sword graveyard.
Its right arm was a gigantic bone blade grown straight from flesh.
But what made Inosuke's pupils quake—
—was what the monster was casually playing with in its hand.
A head.
The severed head of a Swordsmith Village resident, frozen in terror.
"Hehehe…"
The monster stopped before Inosuke and lifted its head.
On its face—marked by a single vertical eye—appeared a smile filled with twisted delight, like an old friend reunited.
Blood dripped from its fangs as it laughed.
"Good evening… Divine Child."
Inosuke didn't answer.
His gaze was locked onto the number reflected in that vertical eye.
Upper Rank — Five.
"…Upper Rank Five."
Inosuke clenched his folding fan until his knuckles turned white.
"So it really is the butterfly effect…
"Gyokko's gone, so Muzan just made a new monster to fill the vacancy.
"And… the stench of blood on this thing is overwhelming."
"What? Don't recognize me?"
Sasaki casually crushed the head in his hand, tossing away the gore like trash.
He stared at Inosuke's face—still breathtakingly beautiful even in shock—
envy and sick satisfaction spilling from his eye.
"That hurts, you know."
"I've been thinking about you day and night.
So much my bones ache."
Inosuke frowned, covering his nose with his fan in open disgust.
"What sewer did you crawl out of, you ugly freak?
Among the people and demons I know, there are ugly ones—but none with creativity like this."
"You some kind of turtle from a drainage ditch?"
"Hahahahaha!!"
Instead of getting angry, Sasaki burst into manic laughter, doubling over.
"Exactly! Exactly!
"I knew you'd say that!
You've always been like this—looking down on everyone! Always so arrogant!"
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Sasaki lunged closer, his single eye boring into Inosuke.
"Do you remember the Eternal Paradise Cult ceremony when you were seven?
Do you remember the katana you shredded?
"Do you remember that boar-masked freak you called 'ugly' on Natagumo Mountain?"
Boom.
The floodgates of memory flew open.
Inosuke froze.
Seven years old… the ronin he'd killed in one move.
Spider Mountain… the madman wearing a boar's head, imitating him.
"…It was you?!"
Inosuke stared at the towering monster in disbelief.
"You finally remember?"
Sasaki bared his fangs.
"That's right. I'm Sasaki the unlucky.
"I'm the trash whose life you destroyed—
the garbage you crushed beneath your feet!!!"
He raised his bone-blade arm, gently stroking its edge with his other hand.
"Do you know what I paid to stand here today?
What I sacrificed… just to face you again?"
"I devoured three entire villages.
"Elders. Children. Women.
Even demons—if it made me stronger, I ate them."
His eye glazed over with madness and ecstasy.
"Every time I ate someone, I told myself—
'This is all because of that Divine Child named Hashibira Inosuke.'
"It was your arrogance that created me.
You personally pushed all those people to their deaths."
"Look at these hands, drenched in blood…"
Sasaki extended his massive hand toward Inosuke.
"All because of you, Divine Child."
Inosuke's pupils trembled violently.
Guilt? Shock?
He had always believed he was saving people—
Kotoha, Rengoku, so many who were meant to die.
But he had never considered—
—that his existence, his ridicule and indifference toward a nobody, could give birth to such a demon.
Were all those people Sasaki ate… dead because of him?
Seeing the flicker of hesitation in Inosuke's eyes,
Sasaki felt a satisfaction he had never known before.
Yes.
This was it.
That expression.
No longer lofty and untouchable—
but filled with regret and fear.
"Hahahaha! Amazing! This feeling is amazing!"
Sasaki roared.
"My luck has finally turned!
"Tonight, I'll use this blade to shred your pride—along with your flesh!"
Blood Demon Art: Calamity — Iai Death Slash!
Slash!
Sasaki vanished.
In the next instant, a black blade of cursed light—
as if capable of severing fate itself—appeared at Inosuke's neck.
Fast.
Absurdly fast.
This was an evolved killing technique—
human-era iaijutsu fused with demonic strength and a Blood Demon Art's near-guaranteed hit.
CLANG!!!
A thunderous explosion rang out.
Inosuke was not beheaded.
The two folding fans crossed before him, forcibly blocking the strike.
But the monstrous force shattered the rooftop beneath his feet.
Inosuke was blasted into the room like a cannonball, smoke and debris erupting.
"Inosuke-kun!!"
"Boss!!"
Two panicked voices rang out.
Tanjiro and Zenitsu burst out with swords in hand, still in their sleepwear.
They had been jolted awake by the impact—and immediately saw the nightmare before them.
"It's a demon! Such a strong demon scent!"
Tanjiro's face went pale.
"This… this is Upper Rank aura!"
"Don't come closer!!"
A furious roar came from the rubble.
Inosuke shoved aside broken beams and slowly stood up.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
A slash marred his beautiful haori.
But in those multicolored eyes—
there was no longer confusion.
Only cold resolve.
"Listen carefully, Gonpachiro! Wenyi!"
Inosuke didn't turn around. His voice was terrifyingly steady.
"That ugly bastard is Upper Rank Five."
"If he's here, then Upper Rank Four is definitely nearby."
"Your mission now—
is to protect the village chief and that masked man, Haganezuka.
"Do NOT let these demons destroy the Swordsmith Village!"
"But Inosuke-kun, you—!"
"GO!!!"
Inosuke roared, the sound rattling their eardrums.
"This mess is something I caused!
"This is my karma!
"If I took the shit, then I'll clean it up myself! I don't need you interfering!"
With that, he snapped his folding fan shut and slid it back into his sash.
Then, slowly, he drew the two old Nichirin swords at his waist—
edges chipped, yet still razor-sharp.
"You're not worthy of my father's fan.
"I'll use blades instead.
"After all… everything started with the sword."
"Sasaki."
Inosuke lifted his gaze to the demon.
"You're right.
"I did create you.
"So—"
He took a deep breath.
Frost coiled around the left side of his body, while the right glowed faintly red.
"—I'll be the one…"
"…to end you with my own hands!"
"Arrogant brat!"
Sasaki snarled, swinging his massive bone blade again.
"Let's see whose luck is better—
or whose blade is faster!"
Blood Demon Art: Great Misfortune — Reverse Severing Asura!
Countless black slashes poured down like a torrential storm, each locking onto Inosuke's vital points.
"Haa…"
Inosuke closed his eyes—then opened them, ice and fire blazing within.
Rin-Sun Breathing: Blazing Sun Tempest!
BOOOOM!!!
Inosuke became a red-and-white whirlwind, charging straight into the rain of black slashes.
Clang clang clang clang clang!
Explosions of metal rang out like firecrackers.
The two figures collided again and again in midair.
Blood sprayed with every clash.
Wounds opened across Inosuke's body—then instantly sealed by frost.
Sasaki's bone armor shattered and burned—then regenerated madly.
This was a pure collision of skill and power.
"Hahahaha! Exhilarating! This is incredible!"
Sasaki roared with laughter.
For the first time ever, he felt this strong.
He was actually evenly matched with the Divine Child!
"Shut up! You're loud as hell!"
Inosuke snarled, his twin blades blurring into afterimages.
"This bastard… so damn tough!
"And that Blood Demon Art—it's interfering with my senses!
"He's way stronger than Gyokko!"
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the village—
Tanjiro and Zenitsu sprinted through the night, carrying the wooden box.
"Damn it! Damn it! Why can't we help him?!"
Zenitsu cried as he ran.
"That demon looked insanely strong!"
"Inosuke-kun is right…"
Tanjiro clenched his teeth, cold sweat streaming down his face.
"I can smell it too…
"There's another presence in the air."
"One that's… extremely cowardly—
yet extremely evil."
Tanjiro skidded to a halt, staring into the darkness ahead.
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