"Aow..."
The Spider Demon completely emerged from his molted skin. After fully stretching, his body soared from about two and a half meters to three and a half meters. Not only did his height increase significantly, but his strength also surged wildly. Inosuke could even feel his body trembling slightly...
"So strong. This is the strongest demon I've ever seen—" Tanjiro struggled to adjust his breathing. Although he was afraid, there was no terror, no cowardice.
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux—" Tanjiro roared and launched his attack first. The Tenth Form is the final and most powerful technique of Water Breathing (not counting the Eleventh Form later created by Giyu Tomioka).
However, this powerful technique, which caused the opponent's flesh and blood to fly and his arm to shatter into several pieces, ultimately saw the blade get stuck in his neck, unable to penetrate further.
"St-stuck?" Tanjiro was shocked.
"Roar—" The Spider Giant roared, broke Tanjiro's nichirin blade, and kicked Tanjiro away. Tanjiro, who tumbled 360 degrees in the air, crashed into a large tree, vomited a large amount of blood, and broke several ribs.
"Ooh ooh oh, Pig Assault—" Little Pig Inosuke roared, grabbed his two serrated blades, and rushed forward to help. However, after killing Rui's mother earlier, his body had suffered multiple lacerations, and his stamina was far from what it was.
In the end, Inosuke, using Beast Breathing, had his nichirin blade firmly blocked. Then his head was grabbed by the Spider Giant, who squeezed it forcefully.
"You... bastard, Beast Breathing, First Fang: Pierce and Strike." Barely using his last bit of energy, he unleashed Beast Breathing, stabbing his short blade into the opponent's neck.
However, it only stabbed, it didn't cut through and was completely useless against it. As the opponent tightened his grip, Inosuke's head began to bleed, on the verge of being crushed alive.
At the critical moment, Tanjiro picked up the remaining small section of his nichirin blade, endured the sharp pain, and used Water Breathing Technique to rush forward and save his companion.
A scene flashed through Tanjiro's mind: his frail father, dressed in thin clothes, dancing in the icy snow for hours on end.
"Mother, Father is so weak, how can he dance for so long? I feel like my lungs are freezing."
"Tanjiro, there's a method to breathing. There's a Breathing Technique that won't make you tired no matter how much you move, as long as you breathe correctly."
"Breathing?"
"That's right. As long as you breathe correctly, Tanjiro, you can also dance like Father, and the cold won't be a problem."
"Tanjiro, you must remember to pass down this Kagura Dance and these earrings. Don't let them be interrupted."
Suddenly, instinctively, Tanjiro converted his Water Breathing into his family's Kagura Dance. Without his knowledge, the long-lost Sun Breathing reappeared in the world.
"Hoo~~ Hinokami Kagura, Waltz."
The broken nichirin blade began to show a trajectory like flames. As Tanjiro continuously swung it, it directly cut off the Spider Giant's hands, which it used to block, and then sliced through its neck as easily as cutting a melon.
After the flame-like figure passed, the Spider Giant crashed to the ground with a rumble. Its head rolled a few times on the ground before beginning to burn from the wound...
"So... so strong! When did this Tanpachi-kun get so powerful?" Inosuke muttered to himself.
Struggling to his feet, Little Pig Inosuke yelled at Tanjiro, "You... you bastard, if you can do it, I can definitely do it too! Don't underestimate me, Tanpachi-kun!"
"Mhm, I know, but can you get my name right? I'm not Tanpachi-kun, I'm Tanjiro... hiss, that hurts~" Tanjiro clutched his body and collapsed.
Tanjiro's entire body was in excruciating pain, accompanied by ringing in his ears. The Kagura Dance was more than ten times stronger than the Water Breathing he used, but the side effects were also...
"I don't want to... boo hoo, Tanjiro, save me..." Zenitsu was crying, hugging a large tree.
He had wandered here alone and was bitten by a small spider, becoming poisoned.
Then the culprit, the Spider Demon, appeared, waiting excitedly for Zenitsu to succumb to the poison. This was a potent venom that would turn the poisoned human into a spider.
Just look at the large spiders on the ground, as big as washbasins, with a human head on top, an extremely horrifying sight. Seeing these human-headed spiders, Zenitsu was terrified and clung to the big tree, refusing to come down.
"Hahaha, you're such a coward, are you really a member of the Demon Slayer Corps?" The Spider Demon laughed heartily, seeing such a timid Demon Slayer Corps member for the first time.
"Ah..." Zenitsu, too deeply poisoned, fainted and fell from the big tree.
"Falling from such a height, won't he just die from the fall...?" The Spider Demon's eyes widened. A Demon Slayer Corps member who killed himself by falling? This was truly rare.
However, as he passed out, a booming sound of breathing came from Zenitsu's mouth... Thunder Breathing appeared.
"Blood Demon Art, Thread Cage—" Rui growled, and a giant spider web flew towards Uchiha Nagi, so massive it was impossible to dodge.
And the originally white spider silk had been transformed into a blood-red color by Rui, becoming incredibly hard. A thin strand of spider silk, barely visible to the naked eye, was even harder than steel and could easily cut through steel. Can you imagine?
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall~" Uchiha Nagi quickly formed hand signs. However, things did not go as planned. The Earth-Style Wall was directly cut into loose soil by the fine spider silk and scattered on the ground.
"Water Breathing, Sixth Form: Twisting Whirlpool—"
With the Earth-Style Wall's obstruction, Uchiha Nagi used Twisting Whirlpool, rapidly spinning, finally succeeding in breaking the opponent's Thread Cage, avoiding the scenario of being sliced into minced meat.
Before this, he had already used many Water Breathing Techniques.
"Still struggling? Although cutting you into minced meat makes you troublesome to eat, given your efforts, I'll grant you that much." Rui said indifferently.
"Struggling? You don't actually think I can't beat you, do you?" Uchiha Nagi's lips curved slightly upwards. "Ignorance. I'm merely using you to practice my swordsmanship—"
While his Mangekyo's ultimate copy was powerful, it didn't mean that skills he copied would make him as strong as the original user.
For example, if he copied Might Guy's Eight Gates Release Formation and opened seven gates to PK with him, did he really think he would be on the same level?
The Eight Gates Release Formation makes a strong person even stronger; it's not about how many gates are opened. The toughness of the body and the depth of taijutsu differ. Even if Uchiha Nagi perfectly copied Might Guy's Eight Gates Release Formation, he would still lose terribly if he opened the gates and fought him.
The same applied to Breathing Techniques. Tanjiro had painstakingly trained Water Breathing for two years. Although Uchiha Nagi perfectly copied it, in actual combat, he certainly wouldn't be as proficient or skilled as Tanjiro.
So, from the very beginning, Uchiha Nagi intended to use Rui, one of the Twelve Kizuki, as a sparring partner for his Breathing Technique, to further strengthen his Water Breathing and catch up to Tanjiro.
To put it bluntly, his right eye, which 'sees through and analyzes the laws of how things operate,' only copied techniques, it couldn't copy the opponent's combat experience and physical strength as well... If it really could, Uchiha Nagi would basically be invincible, and even Kaguya's resurrection would be a piece of cake—
Being so disrespected by Uchiha Nagi, Rui couldn't help but become furious. It had been a long time since he had felt such anger. Having even killed Pillars, he didn't care about this lowest-ranking Demon Slayer Corps member.
Because Uchiha Nagi's clothes were not exclusive to Pillars, Rui instinctively assumed he was not a Pillar.
"Blood Demon Art—Thread Rotation." Rui formed hand signs with both hands, and a deadly attack composed of several red silk webs appeared in the air. This Blood Demon Art was so wide-ranging and extensive that it was impossible to dodge, and it was layered. If it were Tanjiro, he would definitely be dead without a protagonist's halo.
Uchiha Nagi, however, said calmly—
"Do you also wish to dance?"
"The light of a firefly dares to contend with the bright moon!"