The Art of the Great Fireball
The kunai appeared instantly in his hand from the pouch at his waist as Uchiha Lihuo lunged at the demon, blade flashing in the moonlight.
"I just want food! If you're hungry, we could've shared it!" the demon snarled in frustration. Despite his words, his body remained tense. He jumped back and raised his arms to block the incoming strike.
Lihuo didn't respond. His face was cold, but inside, fury was boiling.
He had arrived an hour earlier, yet this had still happened.
Killing was common in the ninja world, but the consumption of human flesh was a different horror entirely. Even during the blood-soaked Sengoku era, when the Uchiha clan fought and killed daily, cannibalism had been beyond comprehension.
To Lihuo, this act was more than a crime—it was a perversion.
The Uchiha were not known for openly expressing emotion. They were taught to hide their feelings, to face death and violence with stoicism. But right now, Lihuo chose to unleash his rage.
He would annihilate the demon in front of him.
---
Whizz—whizz—whizz!
Shuriken and kunai rained down like a storm—classic Uchiha combat. Lihuo had trained since childhood under his father's strict guidance, mastering weapon throwing with precision.
Contrary to popular belief, large-scale ninjutsu was rare in direct combat. Often, it was the clash of blades, the throw of a kunai, that decided life and death.
One kunai sliced through the air, piercing the demon's palm and pinning it to the ground.
Though the demon's body could regenerate, pain still coursed through its nerves. It howled in agony as the blade pinned it.
Lihuo moved in with frightening speed. His kunai slashed toward the demon's throat.
But with a sudden burst of strength, the demon tore itself free—kunai and all—and dashed toward the temple's entrance, fleeing into the woods beyond.
It didn't matter to the demon whether its enemy was human or not—this one was too dangerous.
Trees blurred past as the demon sprinted for the dark ravine. If it could reach the shade before sunrise, it would survive.
Panting, it glanced over its shoulder—no sign of pursuit.
A flicker of hope surged… until an axe cut through the air from the treetops and embedded itself in front of him.
Perched on a branch, Uchiha Lihuo gazed down silently.
Running from a ninja in a forest? Foolish.
With chakra, ninjas could run on water, cling to trees, and leap across terrain with ease. In mountainous forests like these, demons stood no chance.
---
"Are you a ninja?" Tanjiro asked, awe flickering in his eyes as he watched from a distance.
"I suppose you could say that," Lihuo replied, leaping down casually. "But not the kind you're familiar with."
He spoke with a calm detachment. Clearly, that skirmish hadn't even made him sweat.
The demon was weak—so weak it couldn't even evade Tanjiro's attacks. It wasn't much stronger than a human, merely surviving by ambushing the helpless under cover of night.
This was not a warrior. It was a parasite.
To Lihuo, this creature was not worthy of fear. A ninja lived for war. That was the creed of the shinobi, the foundation of every hidden village.
---
"I'm not actually a ghost hunter…" Lihuo murmured as he stepped on the demon's back, keeping it pinned.
The Sharingan in his eyes slowly faded.
"You're… not a Demon Slayer?" The demon's eyes widened. "You don't have a Nichirin blade... You're just a strong human?! That means—even if you cut me up, I'll recover! You can't kill me!"
It laughed maniacally, regaining its bravado.
"Fool," Lihuo replied coldly. "You're right. Without a Nichirin blade, I can't end you completely."
"But tell me... how long until sunrise?"
The question made the demon's confidence shatter.
"Th-The sun!" it gasped in terror, eyes scanning for shadows. The warmth of even the approaching light made its skin prickle.
Panic overtook it as new limbs sprouted from its torso. It turned and scrambled toward a gorge—a damp, shaded place it once used as a refuge.
Lihuo followed behind, calmly and silently.
"I want to see... whether there truly is no way to kill a demon without sunlight."
His hands weaved through the seals with practiced speed.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
From his lips burst a roaring orb of flame, blazing as bright as the sun. The fireball surged toward the gorge and struck the demon directly.
A thunderous explosion echoed through the forest. Flames engulfed the creature.
Its screams were short-lived.
Now it lay smoldering—charred like blackened coal.
---
Then, the sun finally rose.
From behind Tanjiro, Nezuko—who had watched the entire battle—hurriedly hid herself inside the wooden box as sunlight filtered through the trees.
The scorched demon was reduced to ash as the sunlight touched it, disintegrating into nothingness.
And at that very moment, a faint stream of light—invisible to the ordinary eye—entered Lihuo's Sharingan.
He blinked.
The blood-red world within his eyes flickered, and once more, a set of cryptic options appeared before him.
> Have you eliminated enough demons to return to your world?
Why hadn't this message appeared before? Was the power to travel between worlds only triggered after a certain number of kills?
What was happening to his eyes?
Why had his Sharingan awakened to a new level? Why had he been pulled into this world… and given this task?
He exhaled and chose not to chase the answers for now.
---
The sunlight gleamed across his crimson eyes as he turned his gaze to the temple.
He'd noticed the figure there earlier—watching silently from the shadows while Lihuo battled.
The man had not interfered. He had only finished burying the victims of the demon attack.
Now, standing at the foot of Mount Sagiri, the figure in the tengu mask was unmistakable.
Sakonji Urokodaki.
The man who once gave his disciples protective masks—the one responsible for training the next generation of demon slayers. The former Water Hashira.
Uchiha Lihuo narrowed his eyes.
The old man finally spoke, voice calm but stern:
"The boy with the scar is Tanjiro. His sister—the one turned into a demon—is inside that box behind him."
He then turned his masked gaze on Lihuo.
"And you… Uchiha Lihuo. The one with cursed eyes—eyes that see illusions and unleash fire. You are not one of my swordsmen, but your power rivals the best of them."
"Will you ask this old man to train you in the ways of the Demon Slayers?"