"Forest Breathing, Third Form: Thorn Stab!"
The sharp blade of light coming towards him made Gyokko's ugly face pause its curious expression.
He had no time for more trash talk and quickly dove into the vase beneath him, narrowly avoiding Shinichi's attack.
As the battle continued, Gyokko had long lost his initial arrogance and ease.
As Upper Moon Five, he had faced countless Demon Slayer over the centuries, with dozens of Hashira dying by his hand.
But today, this so-called "Forest Hashira" he encountered by chance was far more troublesome than any Hashira Gyokko had met before.
"Blood Demon Art: Octopus Vase Hell!"
A round vase suddenly appeared in Gyokko's small hand.
With Gyokko's shout, numerous giant, ferocious tentacles like octopus limbs surged towards Shinichi like a tide to strangle him.
"This brat! What's going on? How can a normal human's stamina last this long? And my fish poison, apart from slowing him down at the start, now that kid seems to be getting more and more energetic?" Gyokko muttered while hugging the vase, his ugly head filled with great confusion.
Meanwhile, Shinichi, whose body temperature was rising, right eye gradually turning crimson, and head slowly emitting steaming heat, probably wasn't inclined to answer Gyokko's doubts.
With one slash, he shattered the last giant fish monster blocking his way, then faced the surging octopus tentacles.
The corner of his mouth exhaled hot air as he panted slightly.
His left hand gripped the Nichirin short sword tightly, followed by his left leg stepping back, his waist exerting more force.
Whoosh!
A sharp whistling sound rang out as the Nichirin short sword transformed into a stream of blue-green light, shooting out from Shinichi's hand straight towards the surging Octopus Vase Hell.
Squelch!
Without any delay, the Nichirin short sword cleanly pierced through countless octopus tentacles, continuing towards Gyokko's face.
But the surging octopus tentacles seized the opportunity of Shinichi throwing his sword to instantly surge up and densely wrap around Shinichi!
Bang!
The scaly claws firmly caught the Nichirin short sword that was about to pierce his neck.
Gyokko's two mouths in his eye sockets opened slightly wider, the bulging eyeball inside also full of disbelief.
"Huh?"
Looking at Shinichi constantly being entangled and constricted by numerous octopus tentacles, Gyokko was a bit dazed.
'Its that easy? How did it end just like that? Wasn't that brat quite fierce just now?'
Though puzzled, Gyokko also calmed down a bit.
It seemed he had overestimated this so-called Forest Hashira.
After all, once caught by the countless octopus tentacles of Octopus Vase Hell, trying to break free is impossible.
Those flexible octopus tentacles couldn't be cut by ordinary blades.
"Gahahah, is that all you've got, brat? Forest Hashira or not, once you suffocate to death, I'll make a beautiful vase with your head and your two swords, hahaha!"
At the same time, as Gyokko had guessed, Shinichi was completely surrounded by thick, sticky octopus tentacles.
Relying on his Nichirin sword and scabbard at his waist, Shinichi barely managed to create a space.
The surrounding tentacles were extremely tough.
No matter how sharp his Nichirin sword was, there wasn't enough room for Shinichi to wield it.
The Nichirin sword couldn't cut through these tentacles; at most it could pierce in a few dozen centimeters before Shinichi's Nichirin sword became like sinking into a swamp, difficult to exert force.
But Shinichi's expression wasn't desperate as Gyokko had expected.
On the contrary, Shinichi was very calm.
In fact, from the beginning, Shinichi never intended to dodge Gyokko's attacks.
Not only did Gyokko want to kill Shinichi in a humiliating way, but Shinichi had also been aiming to cut off Gyokko's super ugly head and kick it like a ball.
Every glance at Gyokko made Shinichi feel his eyes were being defiled.
However, Gyokko's slipperiness gave Shinichi a major headache.
This ugly demon was as slippery as an eel, making it impossible to grab it and cut off its head.
There were too many hidden vase.
Each and every one of them allowed Gyokko to move freely among these vase, making him hard to track.
Shinichi alone was also stretched thin.
Unless Gyokko actively came out of the vase to duel Shinichi one-on-one, Gyokko's focus on evasion left Shinichi at a loss.
Since this ugly fish demon was so slippery, Shinichi decided to offer it a big bait, wait for it to take the hook, then yank this ugly demon of that damn ugly vase!
Thump... thump... thump...
As Shinichi deliberately suppressed it, his heartbeat rapidly weakened.
The blue-green light in his eyes and the crimson light that had just appeared gradually dimmed.
His body temperature dropped rapidly, and his breath became increasingly faint.
"Hm? Is he really dying?"
Although puzzled by Shinichi's weakening aura, Gyokko slowly lowered his guard.
The vase held in his small hands also relaxed a bit.
But it was at this moment that a sudden loud shout interrupted Gyokko's next move.
"Where is Shinichi-senpai!?"
Tanjiro had many wounds on his body and his forehead was covered with scars left by dried blood.
"Gah!?" Tanjiro's sudden intrusion into the battlefield stunned Gyokko.
After seeing Tanjiro's appearance clearly, the arms on Gyokko's head tensed up, and blue veins bulged on his face.
"You've got to be kidding me? What useless trash are the Lower Moons nowadays? Can't even deal with such a weak brat? No wonder Muzan-sama despises you bunch of trash!"
Just as Gyokko said, what happened to our Lower Moon Three - Oniguma from earlier?
The scene shifts back to a street less than fifty meters away from Tamayo's residence.
On the shattered street, half of the buildings on both sides were already destroyed.
Oniguma's massive body, as huge as a small mountain, lay in a deep pit.
Where his head should have been, only half a neck remained.
Next to Oniguma's body, wearing a gray robe stained with blood, Lee lowered her head, looking at the ferocious head in her hand.
Her gray eyes were full of disgust as she tossed away the head.
With another casual flick of her hand, an indistinct gray shadow flew out from Lee's hand.
Bang!!
Oniguma's head shattered like a watermelon.
"Why, why? How can there be such an unknown strong demon? Who, who are you?"
A shrill questioning voice sounded from beneath Lee's feet.
Looking down, Lee saw it was the small demon head on Oniguma's chest speaking.
Lee frowned.
Shee had no interest in answering this guy.
It was just a Lower Moon.
If Lady Tamayo hadn't mentioned earlier that she wanted to collect Lower Moon blood, Lee wouldn't have bothered to tangle with this big idiot and would have directly turned him into a puddle of black water.
As for Oniguma's own story, Lee had even less interest - it seemed to be some tale about twin brothers.
*****
"Ah, crap!"
Shinichi, who had been playing dead for a while, noticed Tanjiro's intrusion, which threw off the rhythm of his plan.
Sighing with regret, the light in Shinichi's eyes rekindled and the Nichirin sword stuck in the octopus tentacles also began to glow.
"Forest Breathing, Sixth Form: Resillent Grass - Hurricane Strike!"
The suddenly erupting blade light hurricane almost instantly tore apart the countless octopus tentacles!
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