Less than two hours later, the combined group of Straw Hats and Inuyasha's party arrived at the mouth of the valley.
It was a desolate gash in the earth, lying at the edge of a hundred-kilometer uninhabited zone.
The air here was thick, heavy with the scent of sulfur and old blood.
It was teeming with yokai and beasts, a literal hive of malice.
Upon arrival, Luffy, Sanji, and Nami shivered, the chill seeping past their skin and into their bones.
It wasn't just the temperature; it was the pervasive, malevolent demonic energy that hung like a fog.
Seeing Nami trembling, Kagome kindly offered her coat, which the navigator accepted with gratitude.
As they ventured deeper, the reality of their training ground set in.
Within the first hour, they slew over a dozen monsters just to secure a cave for their base camp.
For the first time, Luffy, Nami, and Sanji felt the true, terrifying weight of this world's "low-tier" yokai.
Take the Centipede Demon and Scorpion Demon they encountered near the cave entrance.
These weren't simple animals.
Their shells were harder than steel, their movements erratic and lethal.
To put them down, Luffy was forced to activate Gear Second, his steam rising in the cold air, while Sanji had to ignite a Diable Jambe just to crack their defenses.
Ordinary attacks didn't just fail; they bounced off.
Worse, these monsters were everywhere.
Dozens lurked within every hundred meters, lying dormant beneath the soil, waiting for a footstep to trigger their hunger.
And every three kilometers, the difficulty spiked.
Bear Demons, Tiger Demons, and Boar Demons—behemoths standing over ten meters tall—roamed these lands.
Fighting one felt less like a brawl and more like a raid boss battle, requiring full coordination and exhaustive effort just to survive.
And hovering above them all were the near-Great Demon-level yokai, humanoid nightmares with territories spanning ten kilometers.
Even Inuyasha gripped Tessaiga tighter when their auras brushed past.
For now, the Straw Hats had to avoid them entirely.
They simply weren't ready.
The First Night: It was a sleepless hell.
Except for Luffy, who could sleep through a hurricane, no one rested well.
Zoro, Sanji, and Inuyasha rotated watches, their nerves frayed.
The low-tier yokai were relentless, sniffing out the fresh scent of humans.
Inuyasha would twitch his ears and bark a warning, but he held back, forcing the Straw Hats to handle the threats themselves.
Day 2: Sporting dark circles under their eyes, the crew split into two teams to hunt.
Luffy, Robin, and Usopp took one flank; Sanji, Nami, and Chopper took the other, with Sanji keeping a strict eye on Zoro to prevent the swordsman from wandering into another dimension.
Since demon meat was highly toxic to humans, they were forced to hunt local wildlife—a task that inevitably provoked the yokai guarding their food sources.
That night, they returned battered and bruised, managing only two rabbits and a deer.
The rest of their kill had been stolen by opportunistic monsters or lost in chaotic skirmishes.
Thankfully, Inuyasha and Shippo had caught some fish, ensuring everyone—except the bottomless pit that was Luffy—had enough to eat.
Night 2: More attacks.
The exhausted crew fought on instinct, their bodies screaming for rest.
The only silver lining was that the sheer fatigue finally overpowered the fear, allowing them to snatch a few hours of deep sleep.
Day 3: Adaptation began.
Familiarity bred efficiency.
Under the extreme stress of constant survival, the Haki of Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and even Usopp began to bloom.
Their Observation Haki, forced to differentiate between "wind," "beast," and "demon," advanced noticeably.
They bagged more game, and their movements grew sharper.
Night 3: Inuyasha stopped giving verbal warnings.
Unless a yokai breached the inner perimeter, he remained silent.
Thankfully, Zoro and Sanji's honed senses picked up the threats in time.
Day 4: Spirits began to lift.
The crew's combat experience against Serpent Monsters and Centipede Demons had grown substantial.
They learned the weak points, the attack patterns, reducing their energy expenditure by half.
Night 4: Usopp and Chopper took the watch.
Usopp, sweating but focused, used his expanding Observation Haki to detect threats from hundreds of meters away, waking the combat trio only when absolutely necessary.
Day 5: A breakthrough.
Nami and Usopp, utilizing traps and weather manipulation, teamed up to defeat a low-tier yokai without Luffy or Zoro's help.
They hugged in sheer excitement, tears of relief in their eyes.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha's group stumbled upon a bear demon carrying a Sacred Jewel shard.
After dealing with it and securing the quest item, they decided to stick with the Straw Hats a little longer, impressed by the pirates' growth.
Day 6: Chopper's moment of glory.
The little reindeer soloed a Spider-headed, Snake-bodied yokai using a brilliant combination of Brain Point and Heavy Point.
"Even if you compliment me, I won't be happy, you bastards~"
His signature tsundere dance, performed over the corpse of a monster, lifted everyone's mood.
Day 7: They had finally hunted enough for a feast.
Zoro even sparred with Inuyasha, the half-demon fascinated by the precision of the Three Sword Style, having only ever relied on brute force and demonic energy.
That evening, Luffy insisted on a cave feast.
The fire crackled warmly, casting long shadows against the stone walls.
Miroku tried to harass Nami and Robin, earning a swift, violent correction from Sango.
Sanji, ever the gentleman, served the ladies flawlessly, winning their approval and Sango's respect.
Shippo sighed, shaking his head at the monk.
"Get it together, Miroku."
For a moment, amidst the laughter and the smell of roasting meat, they could almost forget they were in a hellscape.
But the laws of the jungle are absolute.
The Straw Hats' efficient hunting had depleted the local wildlife and thinned the low-tier yokai population.
This ecological disruption angered the area's overlord—the Tiger Demon King.
Though considered a minor yokai to someone like Sesshomaru or Inuyasha, this beast was a nightmare for mortals.
Standing fifteen meters tall, with fur like iron wire and claws the length of swords, it was a force of nature.
Tonight was supposed to be its monthly feast. But its territory's yokai population had dropped by a fiftieth, and worse, its reserved appetizer—a three-meter prize boar—was gone!
Consumed by these hairless apes!
Enraged by this disrespect, the Tiger King gathered dozens of low-tier minions and stormed the cave.
"If you dare eat my snacks, I'll make you my midnight snack!"
A deafening roar shook dust from the cave ceiling, silencing the Straw Hats' party.
"HUMANS ON THE MOUNTAIN! COME OUT AND FACE ME!"
The Straw Hats snapped to attention, food forgotten.
Inuyasha, who had been in the middle of a drunken dance with two twigs shoved up his nose to entertain the group, froze.
He hadn't even noticed the Tiger King's approach over the noise of the party.
Furious at the interruption of his fun (and embarrassed by his appearance), he stomped outside, twigs still lodged in his nostrils, glaring down at the massive beast.
"You insignificant yokai dare disturb me? Do you have a death wish?!"
The Tiger King squinted, looking down at the silver-haired figure.
'This half-demon looks familiar...'
But the memory was hazy, and the Tiger King's arrogance was absolute.
'If I can't remember him, he can't be that important.'
"You half-dog freak!" the Tiger King roared, spit flying like rain. "How dare you talk to me like that? You're the one with a death wish!"
Veins popped on Inuyasha's forehead.
He reached for Tessaiga, ready to cleave the beast in two—but a rubbery hand stopped him.
"Wait, Inuyasha."
Luffy stepped forward, his face shadowed by the brim of his straw hat.
He adjusted it as a sharp grin cutting across his face.
Behind him, Zoro tied his bandana, Sanji lit a fresh cigarette, and the rest of the crew readied their weapons.
"If they've come for us, we'll face them," Luffy said, his voice calm but heavy with power. "We didn't spend a week in this hell just to hide behind you."
Zoro drew Wado Ichimonji, the steel glinting in the moonlight. He licked his lips, a predatory light in his eyes.
"After a week of grinding against the small fry," Zoro growled, "it's time to test our progress on a minor boss."
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