59
You couldn’t move. Every breath was shallow. The cut on your shoulder from earlier throbbed like hell, radiating sharp pain with every twitch. You lay there, chest rising unevenly, eyes fluttering shut against your will.
“Yoriichi?”
Your voice echoed into the void, soft and uncertain.
In the dreamscape, he appeared—his back to you at first, before he turned slowly. His calm eyes met yours, laced with worry.
“You did well earlier… but you shouldn’t have pushed yourself this far,” he said, tone gentle but firm.
You rolled your eyes, half annoyed, half tired.
“Yeah, yeah, I get that.”
You sat down across from him, shoulders tense.
“But it’s not like I have a choice, okay? I don’t even know why I’m here—but if I am, then my role is to protect them! Like I did for Kyojuro!”
Yoriichi’s gaze softened, troubled by your words.
“Y/N… it’s always the same. You throw yourself into danger like your life means less than theirs. You can’t keep doing this.”
He stepped closer, a shadow of guilt in his expression.
“Once we make it to the Butterfly Mansion… after you heal, I’ll teach you how to truly master Sun Breathing. But—”
He stopped mid-sentence.
His eyes snapped toward something behind you.
“Wake up. You’re in danger.”
Your eyes flew open.
The chaos returned instantly—Uzui and Gyutaro clashed in a blur of movement. Daki’s obi slashed through the air, trying to strike both Tanjiro and Uzui. Your ears rang with the clash of metal and the hum of bloodlust.
You pushed yourself up, muscles screaming.
Then, you saw it.
An obi was flying straight toward you—deadly fast.
You barely rolled out of the way in time.
“Y/N!!”
Tanjiro’s voice cut through the noise, panicked and sharp.
You gritted your teeth and tried to stand, to move, to help—anything. But your legs refused. The pain in your shoulder, the dizzy haze clouding your mind, the overwhelming fatigue—it all chained you to the ground.
“Move… come on, just move—” you whispered, fingers digging into the tiles of the rooftop. But no matter how much you willed it, your limbs stayed numb.
Your eyes darted back to the chaos.
Uzui and Gyutaro were locked in a violent dance—clashing blades, sparks flying, poison and blood flying through the air like glitter from hell. Tanjiro stayed close to Uzui’s side, deflecting any surprise attacks that came his way. One of Daki’s obi shot out, aimed straight for Uzui’s exposed side.
“UZUI-SAN!!”
Tanjiro moved with sharp instinct—his blade met the fabric just in time, slicing through it with burning determination.
Your gaze shifted. On a nearby rooftop, you spotted her—Hinatsuru.
She was climbing slowly, struggling against the rooftop’s slant and her weakened state.
Your breath hitched. “No… it’s too dangerous…”
But she reached the top. Just as she pulled herself up, a barrage of flesh obi shot toward her.
“NO!!”
Before you could scream louder, a shadow blurred across your vision.
Gyutaro.
He moved in a flash, intercepting the attack—his twisted eyes burning with hatred.
“You again…” he sneered, fangs bared. “Trying to ruin everything…”
Just then, Uzui saw it. The slight shift in Gyutaro’s weight. That one opening.
In a heartbeat, Uzui lunged forward, his dual blades flashing as he slid low.
SHING!
Blood sprayed through the air as Uzui sliced clean through both of Gyutaro’s legs. The demon screamed in pain, staggering back.
You gasped, hand gripping your sword—even though your body still wouldn’t move.
Tanjiro lunged toward Gyutaro, eyes locked onto the demon’s exposed neck.
‘Now!’ he thought, swinging his katana with all the force he could muster.
But the sound of snapping muscles echoed as Gyutaro’s legs regenerated in an instant, slamming back into the rooftop.
‘Damn it, he already healed?!’ Uzui grit his teeth, narrowing his eyes at the demon.
"Blood Demon Art: Roasting Circular Slashes… Flying Blood Scythes!"
A cyclone of bloody sickles spiraled toward Tanjiro, slicing through the air with deadly speed. The boy’s eyes widened, and before he could brace for impact, the sheer force sent him flying backward across the rooftop.
"Sound Breathing: Fourth Form – Constant Resounding Slashes!" Uzui’s voice rang out, twin swords clashing in rhythm, intercepting a few of the blood sickles to protect Tanjiro.
You were already moving.
Every nerve in your body screamed at you to stop, every step you took sent lightning through your legs. But you didn’t care. You couldn't care.
Hinatsuru had made it to the top of the roof—shaking, pale, but determined.
"Tengen-sama!" she shouted, drawing every belt she could away from the main fight. "Don’t worry about me, I’ll lure the belts so you can look for the de—!"
Her words were swallowed in an instant.
Gyutaro blurred forward, fangs bared, and grabbed her mouth mid-sentence, silencing her.
"You have a lot of nerve—"
"HEY!! BACK AWAY FROM MY WIFEY!!"
Your voice cut through the air like thunder.
Gyutaro’s eyes widened for a split second before your blade came down with blazing fury. He leapt back, but not in time—your sword slashed clean through his forearms, sending blood spraying across the rooftop.
Hinatsuru dropped to the tiles with a gasp, barely catching herself.
You stepped in front of her, breathing heavily, eyes burning with fury and pain.
"Mess with her again and I’ll slice your tongue off next," you snapped, body trembling from the poison and exhaustion—but still standing. Still fighting.
Gyutaro clutched his bleeding arms, his tongue licking the blood hungrily as he glared at you.
"Ooooh? You still have fight left in you?" he sneered. "You must really love playing hero, huh…?"
"You’d be surprised," you hissed, tightening your grip on your blade. "I just really enjoy kicking your ass."
Gyutaro sneered, tongue twitching in irritation as he stared at his severed arms slowly regenerating with disgusting squelches.
“You’re starting to really piss me off,” he growled, his eyes flickering toward Hinatsuru behind you, then back to you. “You humans… always so loud, always so fragile.”
You held your blade steady, the tip trembling from your weakening grip. But your stance? Unshakable.
"Funny, coming from a guy who gets his arms chopped off by a 'fragile' little human,” you smirked, spitting to the side.
Before Gyutaro could lunge again, a sharp whistle cut through the air.
SSHHHHH—THUNK!
A barrage of kunai needles rained from above, hissing through the night. Your eyes snapped up just in time to see Hinatsuru, shakily holding a kunai launcher, her arm trembling from effort.
The needles hit Gyutaro dead-on—thighs, chest, shoulder, neck. Dozens of them.
“I-I laced them with wisteria extract!!” she cried out.
“Babe, you’re SO sexy for that!!” you gasped.
Gyutaro staggered, body seizing violently from the poison. “What… what is this again?! ”
Tengen and Tanjiro moved in tandem, blades glinting under the blood-red moonlight. Their swords nearly grazed Gyutaro's neck — so close — but his blood sickles clashed against them just in time, sparks flying as metal scraped metal.
"Tch—!" Tengen grit his teeth, eyes narrowing with frustration. "He's fast..."
Before they could press forward again, Hinatsuru shouted, voice laced with desperation, "Tanjiro, MOVE!!"
She yanked him back just as Gyutaro’s blade sliced through the air where his head had been moments before.
Gyutaro sneered, "Annoying little—"
In the next instant, he flung Tengen with brutal force, his sickle colliding with the Sound Hashira’s shoulder and sending him tumbling across the rooftop, crashing into a pile of debris.
"LOOK OUT!!"
A sharp voice rang through the chaos — Inosuke, appearing from the shadows like a wild blur of muscle and fury. His serrated swords clashed against a fresh wave of obi that slithered in from above.
Daki had returned, hovering on a rooftop nearby with her glowing obi fluttering like deadly ribbons around her.
Her eyes shimmered with malice. "I’ll shred you all to pieces."
Zenitsu, eyes still closed, but body radiating power, shot past Inosuke like lightning, slicing through the obi with electrified precision.
"𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙥... 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝."
His voice came out soft, dreamlike. The boy wasn’t even awake — but his strikes were sharp, intentional, and full of rage.
You managed to crawl to your feet again, blood dripping from your arm, breathing shallow but steady.
Your gaze snapped from Zenitsu's fierce attack, to Tengen groaning on the side, to Tanjiro gripping his sword tightly despite his wounds.
You clenched your jaw.
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