The swarm of demons surrounding Shin Arashi and Tanjiro didn't attack immediately. Instead, they began to close in—slowly, deliberately.
Fear shimmered in their blood-red eyes, but they tightened the encirclement step by step, as if trying to trap the two swordsmen without a way out.
Tanjiro glanced around, his breathing steady but tense.
"Senior Shin," he asked, eyes scanning the tightening ring of enemies, "what should we do?"
Shin Arashi's lips curved into a faint smile. "What else?"
He drew his sword a fraction from its sheath.
"We kill them all."
Before Tanjiro could respond, the encircling demons suddenly backed away, clearing a path. It wasn't mercy—they were making room.
From the shadows, a massive, grotesquely deformed demon lumbered into view. The very earth seemed to groan under its weight. Its bloated, monstrous frame was covered with arms—some flailing wildly, others twitching with barely restrained aggression.
The Hand Demon.
Tanjiro sucked in a sharp breath.
This was the first time he'd seen a demon so distorted, so wrong—like a living nightmare sculpted from hatred and hunger.
What kind of torment could twist someone into this...?
Shin Arashi's body tensed. He wasn't afraid—but he wasn't careless either.
If it were just the Hand Demon, he would've gone in headfirst. But with the swarm surrounding them, and Tanjiro still recovering, recklessness would mean death.
A raspy, sneering voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Chichichichi~"
The Hand Demon let out a bone-chilling laugh. Its beady eyes settled on the two boys wearing fox masks.
"Well, well," it rasped, "two little foxes. Is Urokodaki Sakonji so desperate that he's offering me snacks now? Chichichichi~"
It laughed again, louder this time, arms writhing grotesquely.
Shin Arashi's expression darkened. "I don't care for your voice," he said quietly. "Or your face."
Then, without another word—
"Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Water Shadow Slash!"
This was no ordinary form.
It was a technique Shin had developed himself over the past two years, born of relentless practice, a deep understanding of Water Breathing, and a swordsman's intuition.
[Water Breathing, Eleventh Form – Water Shadow Slash]
A high-level technique requiring complete mastery of the rhythm of water. With a single unsheathing of the blade, the user releases a long-ranged water blade capable of striking enemies within a 50-meter radius.
In a blink, Shin's blade left its sheath.
Flash. Slash. Silence.
A razor-thin arc of water shimmered through the air—silent, elegant, and lethal.
The Hand Demon's eyes widened as the attack came without warning and without contact. It flinched back, frantically raising several arms to shield its neck.
Slice—!
The blade of water crashed through the defence, severing a handful of limbs—but not the neck.
Shin narrowed his eyes.
Close.
Tanjiro stared, stunned. That was not a form Urokodaki had ever taught.
He knew the ten basic forms of Water Breathing by heart. But this… this was something else. Something born from mastery.
He created an eleventh form… in just two years...?
A surge of admiration flooded Tanjiro's heart. He had always looked up to Shin Arashi—but now, he saw what true genius and discipline could create.
Shin slowly resheathed his blade.
"You laugh like a dying rat," he said coldly to the Hand Demon. "Make that sound again… and I'll silence you forever."