~# Keep the chapters coming — Support with Power Stones!
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That Night.
A villager finished soaking in the hot springs and walked along the forest path back home.
Suddenly, his body felt wrong. He tried to scream, but no sound came out.
His limbs went numb. He collapsed as his body dissolved into a pool of blood, leaving only his clothes and mask behind.
Two figures emerged from behind a nearby tree.
One demon had jagged fangs and a blue-green face. The other had unnaturally long arms.
If Kaido had been there, he would have been shocked—both demons were just below Lower Rank in strength.
"Your poison's nasty. You turned him into soup in seconds," the long-armed demon commented.
"Shut up and focus. That man gave us his blood and ordered us to support Lord Hantengu. If we complete this mission, we get more blood—and more power."
"Let's clean this up before anyone notices. We've got a whole army here, plus Upper Rank Four himself. Even Hashira are going to die screaming tonight! Hahaha!"
Kaido's intuition had been right all along. The storm had arrived.
On the roof above where Kaido and the others slept, Hantengu crouched in the shadows, waiting for his moment.
"Eeheeheehee! Gotta move fast! Thanks to Nakime finding this place, that man is furious right now. I need to act quickly!"
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Earlier That Evening.
"Hahaha! Okay, okay, Nezuko—no more! If you keep tickling me, I'll fight back! Watch out for my counterattack!" Kaido laughed as Nezuko nuzzled into him, squirming playfully in his arms.
Her expression was too adorable. He pinched her cheek gently.
"(๑- ́₃- ̀๑) Mm!"
"Kaido-san, where have you been these past few days?" Tanjiro asked.
"I've been scouting the area. I have this bad feeling I can't shake. I hope I'm just being paranoid."
"Don't worry, Kaido-san! This village is so well hidden—I am sure nothing will happen!"
"Let's hope you're right."
After playing with Nezuko for a while longer, Kaido's eyelids grew heavy. He drifted off to sleep with Nezuko curled up in his arms. Tanjiro, exhausted from training, had already passed out nearby.
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In the dream, a voice echoed—cold, venomous, and filled with hatred.
"You damn demon slayer... you ruined my plan..."
"I will find the Blue Spider Lily and become the perfect ultimate being..."
"I'll destroy the Demon Slayer Corps eventually. And I'll destroy you too..."
"I won't allow anyone like Yoriichi Tsugikuni to exist again..."
"Anyone who stands in my way will be eliminated..."
...
Kaido's eyes snapped open. His heart pounded in his chest.
'Just a dream...?'
He glanced down. Nezuko was curled into a tiny ball in his lap, her large eyes staring up at him innocently. Despite the lingering unease, he smiled.
Then he sensed it—another presence in the room.
Muichiro Tokito stood silently near Tanjiro, pinching the boy's nose shut.
"Mm... gah... gah..." Tanjiro struggled to breathe, jerking awake.
"Do you know a swordsmith named Kozo Kanamori?"
"Tokito-kun, did you just... pinch my nose?"
"I did. Your reaction time is terrible."
"N-no, I'd definitely notice if someone had hostile intent! You said Kanamori-san? I know him—he's probably with Haganezuka-san. Why?"
"Kozo Kanamori is my new swordsmith. Where's Haganezuka?"
"Want to go find them together?"
Muichiro studied Tanjiro's cheerful expression with confusion. "Why do you care so much about other people's problems? Don't you have your own things to worry about?"
"Helping others is its own reward. Besides, I wanted to check on them anyway."
"You just... what did you say?" Something stirred in Muichiro's chest—an emotion he could not quite name.
"I said let's go find them together!"
Muichiro crossed his arms, tilting his head. 'This kid is strange. Really strange. I don't even know how to describe it. I've met him before, and he was strange then too... but I can't remember when...'
Kaido was about to speak when his Hyper Intuition suddenly screamed a warning.
"Muichiro. Tanjiro. Get ready to fight. Now."
In one motion, Kaido shielded Nezuko and summoned his greatsword from the void.
"Kaido-san, what's wrong? Who's—"
CREEEEAK.
The door slid open slowly.
A withered, clawed hand reached through the gap.
Then a hunched figure emerged—an elderly demon with a grotesquely swollen forehead, twin horns, and a face twisted into a Hannya mask-like expression. Its voice was high-pitched and grating.
"Eeheeheehee!"
Kaido's eye narrowed. He recognized the demon instantly.
"Upper Rank Four—Hantengu."
Tanjiro: "...!!"
"Mist Breathing, Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash!"
"Dragon Breathing, First Form: Dragon's Breath!"
Muichiro drew his blade in a flash, vanishing into an invisible mist before sliding forward with a devastating low strike.
Kaido moved in perfect sync, his greatsword carving through the air toward Hantengu's neck.
But the old demon did not just survive—he evaded.
Both Hashira attacks missed by inches. Hantengu leaped onto the ceiling, claws digging into the wooden beams.
"Eehee! Stop! Don't bully a helpless old man! It hurts! It hurts so much!"
Their strikes had grazed him—two shallow wounds bled across his torso.
Tanjiro immediately drew the blade Haganezuka had given him. His stamina had fully recovered during his rest.
'Don't hold back. This thing has eaten countless people. No demon dodges two Hashira attacks without being absurdly strong.'
"Hinokami Kagura: Burning Bones, Summer Sun!"
Tanjiro launched an upward thrust, the blade wreathed in spiraling flames, moving faster than the eye could follow.
Hantengu sensed the danger. To avoid taking damage, he dropped from the ceiling onto the tatami mats below.
'I hit him... but why isn't he counterattacking?'
Nezuko entered her awakened demon form and kicked Hantengu into the corner like a soccer ball.
"Nezuko, don't transform!"
SLASH!
Muichiro did not waste the opening—his blade separated Hantengu's head from his body in one clean motion.
But the demon did not die.
Within seconds, the headless body grew a new head. The severed head sprouted a new body.
Sekido—the Anger Demon—and Karaku—the Pleasure Demon—now stood where one demon had been moments before.
'He split! One grew a head, the other grew a body!' Tanjiro's mind raced.
"MUICHIRO, WATCH OUT—!" Kaido shouted, but it was too late.
Muichiro moved to finish off the demons, but Karaku whipped out a fan and swung.
A devastating gust of wind tore through the building, blasting Muichiro straight through the roof and into the night sky.
Tanjiro nearly followed him, but Nezuko grabbed him at the last second, anchoring him.
Karaku fanned again. Kaido planted his greatsword into the floor, shielding Tanjiro and Nezuko behind him, but Karaku seemed to sense the resistance and swung harder.
The shockwave sent all three of them flying.
"Damn it—I got careless!"
"Tanjiro, hang on! I'm coming back for you—"
"Kaido-san! Tokito-kun...!"
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"Muichiro, look out—incoming!"
Muichiro had been blasted into the distant forest and was already sprinting back toward the village when Kaido's voice echoed from above.
Without thinking, Muichiro planted his feet and extended his arms. The moment Kaido fell within reach, he caught him in a perfect bridal carry.
Kaido's greatsword clattered to the ground beside them, embedding itself point-first in the dirt.
From a distance, the scene looked like something out of a wedding portrait—Muichiro as the groom, Kaido as the bride, white hair flowing like a bridal veil, the system-gifted uniform resembling a wedding dress.
One figure in black, one in white. Two heads of long hair dancing in the wind—a strangely aesthetic tableau.
System: [Well, you don't see THAT every day!]
'I just got princess-carried by Muichiro Tokito??' Kaido's face flushed crimson. This was beyond awkward.
Muichiro tilted his head, studying Kaido with blank curiosity. "Are you hurt?"
"N-no, I'm fine. Could you... put me down now?"
"Oh. Sure."
The moment his feet touched the ground, reality crashed over Kaido like a bucket of ice water.
'WAIT. I can fly on my sword! How did I forget that?? This is ridiculous! Getting princess-carried because I forgot I have FLIGHT?? Ever since Kanae-nee started dressing me up, my brain has been working slower than my dignity has been dropping!'
Muichiro spoke first, his tone flat and tactical. "We need to get back immediately. If Upper Rank Four showed up at the village, there are definitely more demons in the area. We have to eliminate them before they kill more people."
"Agreed. Let's split up."
"Alright, I'll—"
"HAHAHAHA! Two demon slayers? Perfect! If I kill you both, that man will give me more blood—and I'll become even stronger!"
Two demons emerged from the treeline—the blue-faced demon and the long-armed demon who had killed a villager earlier.
"Muichiro, you go ahead and help the villagers. I'll handle these two and catch up."
"Got it."
The moment Muichiro vanished into the forest, Kaido summoned his greatsword back to his hand and locked eyes with the demons.
"So... you two didn't see that whole princess-carry thing just now, right?"
The blue-faced demon sneered. "What if we did? What if we didn't? Doesn't matter—you're about to die either way!"
"Then I guess you're leaving me no choice."
"Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!"
Kaido left a dozen afterimages in his wake. Crimson light flashed through the clearing—and the blue-faced demon's head hit the ground before his body realized it was dead.
The long-armed demon collapsed to his knees, trembling.
As the severed head dissolved into ash, it managed to choke out three words that sealed the survivor's fate.
"He's... a Hashira..."
Kaido stepped forward and pressed the edge of his blade against the long-armed demon's throat. "Tell me everything you know. Make it quick, and I'll make your death painless."
The demon's knees buckled. Feeling the cold steel against his neck, he spilled everything without hesitation.
Muzan had assembled thirty low-level demons and infused them with his blood, dramatically boosting their strength. Half of them were now just below Lower Rank.
Their mission: assist Upper Rank Four—Hantengu—in destroying the Swordsmith Village, obliterating every Nichirin blade, and killing every swordsmith. The goal was to cripple the Demon Slayer Corps by eliminating their weapon supply.
Completing the mission would mean more of Muzan's blood—and even greater power.
The moment the demon finished talking, Kaido decapitated him and launched himself into the air on his greatsword.
'Damn it. I knew something felt wrong. This is my fault—killing Gyokko created a butterfly effect that changed everything! Thirty demons?? Muichiro and I can't handle this alone!'
His mind raced as he flew.
'Wait—the Clone Talismans!'
He landed, ripped open his system inventory, and pulled out two talismans. The moment he tore them in half, twin flashes of light erupted in front of him.
Two perfect copies of Kaido materialized, each wielding an identical greatsword. These clones possessed all of his strength and abilities.
"You two—split up and rescue the swordsmiths. Kill every demon you find, then protect the survivors. Don't let anyone die. I'm going after Upper Rank Four."
Clone Kaido #1 and #2: "Understood!"
Both clones shot off in different directions.
Kaido gripped his blade tighter, his jaw set. "Tanjiro. Nezuko. I'm coming. Just hold on!"
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