On the road leading toward Mount Natagumo, three boys walked side by side. Even at a glance, their behavior was… unusual.
One of them—a boy with deep crimson hair—carried an enormous wooden box strapped to his back. Of the other two, one was completely shirtless, wearing a boar's head mask, while the last looked utterly terrified, practically being dragged forward by his companion.
Having just departed from a Demon Slayer Corps branch after defeating the Drum Demon, Tanjiro and his companions were informed that they were being dispatched to provide support at Mount Natagumo.
The Kasugai Crows emphasized repeatedly that this was an extremely dangerous mission and urged them to proceed with the utmost caution.
Their objective was not to exterminate the demons inhabiting Mount Natagumo.
Instead, they were to rely on their individual abilities to determine the number and locations of the demons.
Headquarters had already sent powerful personnel to deal with the situation. The trio's role was reconnaissance.
They were to search for the missing Demon Slayer Corps members, ensure their own safety above all else, and attempt a rescue only if circumstances allowed.
After hearing just how perilous the mission was, Zenitsu, who was usually timid even on a good day, flat-out refused to go up the mountain.
He argued that the mission guidelines clearly stated that Demon Slayers were to prioritize their own survival—and since he was the mission, his life naturally came first.
So many Demon Slayers had already entered the mountain and vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, he and Tanjiro were practically still rookies who had only recently joined the Corps. Taking on a mission like this was nothing short of suicide.
"Tanjiro and the others will be fine—they're strong," Zenitsu wailed. "But I'm weak! I'll definitely get killed…"
Half joking, half serious, he suggested that he could stay outside the mountain and keep watch while the others went in. After all, even if he followed them, he wouldn't be much help.
"Didn't the communication crow say that headquarters is sending powerful reinforcements this time?" Tanjiro said helplessly, glancing down at Zenitsu, who was currently clinging to his leg.
"How could there be no danger?" Zenitsu shot back. "Didn't you hear? Tons of Demon Slayers went in and disappeared! Who knows how many people headquarters sent, or how strong they actually are? If they're weaker than the demons on Spider—no, Natagumo Mountain, then we're all dead!"
Zenitsu had zero faith in the so-called "strong reinforcements." If headquarters truly had reliable heavy hitters, there would be no need to send three rookies to rescue anyone.
Just as Tanjiro was about to argue back, a calm voice suddenly spoke from behind them.
"I can't exactly pretend I didn't hear that."
The speaker chuckled lightly.
"While I don't yet know what kind of demons are nesting on Mount Natagumo… I'm fairly confident in my own strength."
That familiar voice made Tanjiro's eyes widen. He spun around—and immediately broke into a smile.
Standing there was Ren Kuroda, smiling faintly at them.
"It really is Brother Ren!" Tanjiro exclaimed. "So the powerful reinforcement sent by headquarters this time… is you?"
He looked at Ren with the unmistakable expression of an excited fan.
Tanjiro had always admired Ren. And after learning the true meaning of the title 'Pillar' from Sakonji Urokodaki, that admiration had only deepened.
A shinobi who doesn't dream of becoming Hokage isn't a real shinobi. Likewise, a Demon Slayer who doesn't aspire to become a Pillar might as well be dried fish.
Ren Kuroda had joined the Demon Slayer Corps barely a year ago—and yet had already risen to become the Demon Pillar.
To many, he was nothing short of a legend.
The moment Zenitsu saw Ren, he decisively abandoned Tanjiro's leg and immediately latched onto Ren's coattails instead.
Clearly, Zenitsu had excellent survival instincts—he could tell at a glance that Ren's coattails were much sturdier than Tanjiro's.
His earlier complaints about reinforcements being too weak vanished into thin air. Now, his only thought was to let the powerful Ren carry him through the mission.
Ren frowned as Zenitsu smeared snot and tears all over his pants and disgustedly shoved the boy's head away.
Unfortunately, Zenitsu clung on like a leech—no, like an octopus.
If it had been a voluptuous beauty clinging to him, Ren might not have minded.
But Zenitsu was not.
So Ren was decidedly uninterested.
In the end, Tanjiro couldn't bear the embarrassment any longer and forcibly pulled Zenitsu away.
"Your name is Agatsuma Zenitsu, right?" Ren said calmly. "If you truly have someone you care about… then in your current state, do you really think you could protect her?"
As he spoke, Ren subtly glanced toward the wooden box on Tanjiro's back.
The meaning was unmistakable.
Then Ren turned his gaze to the boar-masked boy.
"And you—Hashibira Inosuke."
"If I were you, I'd learn how to suppress my fighting spirit and presence in front of an opponent."
"Even the king of beasts knows how to conceal its aura when hunting prey. That's how it ensures a decisive kill."
"You created your own Beast Breathing, yet you haven't grasped the essence of what it means to be a beast."
"You're radiating hostility so blatantly in front of me. If I didn't already know who you were… do you really think I'd still be standing here like this?"
The moment Ren finished speaking, the gentle, approachable expression he'd worn as a friendly older brother vanished.
His eyes sharpened—cold, piercing, predatory.
They locked directly onto Inosuke.
In that instant, a terrifying demonic aura erupted from Ren's body.
He didn't move.
Yet an invisible pressure slammed down upon the area, instantly enveloping all three of them.
The one who felt it most intensely was Inosuke himself—the direct target of Ren's gaze.
Unlike Tanjiro's keen sense of smell or Zenitsu's extraordinary hearing, Inosuke's wild, animal-like sixth sense made him terrifyingly sensitive to danger.
His hands flew to his twin blades as he stared at Ren.
But the aggressive fighting spirit he'd displayed moments ago had completely vanished.
Having been raised by wild beasts since childhood, Inosuke now experienced firsthand what it meant to be looked down upon by something at the very top of the food chain.
His mind screamed for his body to move—
—but his legs refused to obey, trembling violently beneath him.
In Inosuke's eyes, Ren was no longer a calm, human figure.
He had become a horned demon drenched in blood, crimson hair flowing to his waist—a being that had crawled straight out of hell itself.
The skill "Intimidation" wasn't limited to demons alone.
Under the surge of Ren's demonic power, any being weaker than him would experience severe mental suppression.
The greater the difference in strength, the stronger the effect.
And for someone like Inosuke—whose sixth sense was extraordinarily sharp—the impact was devastating.
..
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