9 Shindeiru

After her victory over the 3rd Lower moon, Nitocris ate him and his army. Her stats increased and she was fully focused on strengthening, because in this way she could be compared with other Lower and Upper moons. The guy with whom she fought was weak, because his main strength was that he created a huge army that he could strengthen. If she fought Rui for example, she would probably lose, because he is more prepared for a 1vs1 fight, however, even now, she can easily defeat him. Nitocris ate about 93% of the dead bodies that lay on the ground, but while she was enjoying her meal, a woman's voice was heard from behind.

-Ara-ara, what is going on here? (You say that last time she felt the power of the hunters, and I will say that I already rewrote that chapter, the next one will be the chapter with the foreigner, I just don't know how to prescribe their dialogue. Please post)

Nitocris immediately reacted to the voice and broke the distance.

Looking at the place from which the voice was heard, she saw a girl. She was wearing a Demon Slayer Corp uniform. Her hair was black with purple ends. She had a katana on her belt. Looking at her, Nitocris immediately knew who it was. It was Kocho Shinobu, Insect Hashira. Nitocris couldn't handle her, so she decided to come up with some kind of escape plan.

- Don't be so afraid, I just want to know why the demon just ate the corpses of other demons and why you killed one of the Lower Moons. Don't try to run away, just answer my questions.

Nitocris prepared for battle.

She used the first path to get close to Hashira and attack her with her staff. Shinobu parried the blow, but after that, Nitocris hit a second time to use another technique from her breathing. 2 lasers flew out of the impact site, which almost hit Shinobu, but it was not in vain that in the anime it was shown how Giyu killed Rui in one attack. Hashiras and lower Moons are on completely different power lewels. Shinobu quickly pierced Nitocris' stomach with her sword. The poison began to spread through Nitocris's body, after which she lost consciousness. The battle is lost.

A man lay next to a small house. He had a strong and masculine body, but his was very beautiful and feminine. It was covered with two haori, yellow and green. He opened his eyes. The people nearby noticed this, but they also noticed that his face was completely serious despite how it looked before he passed out.

- I hope it's just some strange sensation due to hunger.

Inosuke thought his sister was in danger. He decided to meet her soon. In the end, she told him that she would survive. He refused to believe that someone this strong could be in danger.

Timeskip 2 days

Boys receive a message from Tennoji the crow to head to Mount Natagumo. The guys went to the mountain. Before entering, Inosuke was the first to run into the forest, Tanjiro was the second behind him, and the third guy named Zenitsu remained in front of the entrance to the forest because of fear

While climbing the mountain, the two boys notice an unusual amount of spiderwebs. Tanjiro calls out to Inosuke and thanks him for bravely accompanying him to investigate, saying how the twisted scent of the mountain had scared him but when Inosuke agreed to go, he was able to overcome his fear. Inosuke ponders on what he means, and is reminded of the kind actions of Lady Hisa, showing the beginning of Inosuke's connection to human emotions. Tanjiro notices someone hidden in the woods and approach him, they introduce themselves as Mizunoto swordsman and have arrived as backup. The boy hidden in the brush angrily voices his distaste hoping for a Hashira instead, to which Inosuke cuts off by socking him in the face. He angrily yells at the unknown swords man and demands a summary of what has occured on the mountain. He tells the boys that a crow had brought an order to investigate the mountain and 10 Corps members had come as group, however not long after arriving, they had began to unprovokingly began killing each other. A second unconscious swordsman then appears before the boys, revealing that he is being controlled like a puppet by a mysterious female demon.

Inosuke and Tanjiro have engaged in combat with their fellow demon slayers. Inosuke belittles their intelligence for attacking them until Tanjiro realizes that they are being controlled by an unseen force. Inosuke announces that he is going to "cut them up" before Tanjiro yells at him saying that they shouldn't defile their comrades' corpses. Angered by his words, Inosuke faces Tanjiro and headbutts him saying that he doesn't like to be told what to do.

In the midst of the chaos, Murata —the swordsman they discovered on the mountain—, is suddenly attacked by one of the demon slayers. The two boys rush forward to protect him and Tanjiro discovers an unsettling smell as well as threads controlling the demon slayer. He yells his discovery to Inosuke and tells him to quickly free the controlled swordsman from the threads.

Tanjiro tries to search for the demon responsible but is distracted by a foul odor, in the haze he discovers small spiders spinning threads to gain control of his arms. He frees himself and discovers that they are responsible for controlling the corps members, Tanjiro asks Inosuke to find a way to pinpoint the location of the demon controlling the spiders and calls out to Murata.

In the middle of his instruction a boy appears from above, and warns the demon slayers to not "disturb the peaceful life" of his family. Tanjiro notices the young boy to be balancing on threads, before he is threatned to be killed. Inosuke leaps up into the air and lunges at the boy, and curses at him as he calmly escapes. Tanjiro yells at Inosuke to not mind the boy and find the Demon controlling the spiders. In response, Inosuke pierces his blades into the ground and crouches down to preform his Beast Breathing, Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness to locate the silhouette of a female demon.

As the trio of boys continue to fight the possessed demon slayers, Murata advises the other two chase down the demon while he handled the swordsmen. In response, Tanjiro thanks Murata quickly drags a protesting Inosuke deeper into the forest with him.

Inosuke and Tanjiro sprint through the forest, en route to the demon, when they stumble across a crying female corps member. She pleads with them to stay away and bring a stronger swordsman to help, warning that demon will control her to kill the remaining swordsmen.

Mother becomes frantic and assures Rui that she is capable of the assignment and protecting him, saying that "Father" does not need to get involved. Rui backs away into the forest while ominously telling her to hurry up.

With a newfound sense of urgency, the Mother demon begins to operate the corps members with more violent jerks. The female swordsman begins to quickly lunge and slash at the boys while her bones twist and crack in unnatural ways. Tanjiro dodges her attacks and sees two other corps members pleading to be killed and put out of their misery due to the pain.

Without hesitation, Inosuke agrees and tries to attack them but is told to wait by Tanjiro. He begins to ponder on how to immobilize them without hurting them anymore then they already are. Tanjiro runs in the opposite direction as the female swordsman gives chase, he sprints then turns back quickly to grab and throw her into the air. The girl gets caught on a branch and remains tangled within the canopy of the tree.

Inosuke stays standing in disbelief and eagerly follows Tanjiro's lead, he grabs a nearby corps member and successfully throws him into the tree where he stays tangled. He turns to face Tanjiro and tries to mock him by saying that is capable of doing anything that Tanjiro can do. In a comical response, Tanjiro apologizes to Inosuke for not watching what he was doing which angers him.

Inosuke attempting to get Tanjiro's attention by trying to throw one of the demon slayers up into the tree. However, the Mother Spider catches onto their plan and quickly kills the demon slayers shes controlling as puppets. Inosuke calls out in frustration after realizing that they're all dead and notices Tanjiro hunched over besides one of the bodies, he senses a dark aura being emitted from him and immediately agrees when Tanjiro says they need to go.

They travel quickly through the forest and approach the strong odor of a demon, however they begin to panic as they realize that its a headless body being used as a puppet. Tanjiro attempts to formulate a plan to take down the puppet, however Inosuke charges forward and engages with the being. To his disadvantage, Inosuke sustains multiple slashes and unknowingly gets entangled by a spider's thread, he panics as the headless puppet prepares to pierce through him.

At that moment, Tanjiro quickly comes to Inosuke's defense and deflects the puppet's attacks, he manages to push back the puppet and yells to Inosuke that they need to fight together in order to defeat it. In an angered protest, Inosuke calls him out saying

-I won't let you embarrass me anymore!

The puppet charges forward to attack, however the boys prepare their counterattack together, Tanjiro bends over to evade the attack and tells Inosuke to go over his back. He successfully slices both of the daggers from the puppet and leaps into the air off of Tanjiro's box, meanwhile Tanjiro uses the Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide to demobilize the puppet by slashing its legs. As Inosuke descends from above, his jealousy at Tanjiro's skills and abilities builds up and he powerfully delivers the final blow to defeat the puppet demon.

Tanjiro is amazed by Inosuke's final cut but becomes stunned when Inosuke suddenly charges at him. Inosuke exclaims that

-I can do anything you can do dummy!

And furiously throws him up into the air.

Nearby in the forest, the Mother Spider Demon sits defeated on her rock after her strongest doll was defeated. She upsettingly blames Rui for her defeat since he had threatened her to do well.

As Tanjiro spots her from above and prepares to attack, the Mother Spider Demon panics when trying to formulate a plan however she comes to realize that she will find freedom and peace in death. She holds out her arms and accepts her fate. Tanjiro notices the change in her demeanor and switches from using the Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash to Water Breathing, Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought.

After having her strongest puppet defeated by Tanjiro and Inosuke, the Mother Spider Demon has been decapitated by Tanjiro. She expresses the unexpected feeling of warmth and gentleness similar to a "spring rain" and her inability to feel any pain despite her dying.

Mother demon experiences her final moments, she witnesses Tanjiro's "kind, practically transparent eyes" and is reminded of the person who used to love her when she was a human. Before disintegrating entirely, she warns Tanjiro that one of the Twelve Kizuki is present in the forest and that he must beware.

Tanjiro remains shocked and questions her final words. He realizes that the Kizuki contain high concentrations of Muzan Kibutsuji's blood, and that he would need to collect it in order to create a cure for Nezuko. Tanjiro snaps back to reality and returns to check on Inosuke, he informs him that he had defeated the Mother Spider Demon and asks if he is alright. Despite Inosuke's proclamation of his strength, Tanjiro notices the gory wounds and feels guilty for failing to protect Inosuke as well as the swordsmen who were killed.

He describes how the Mother Spider Demon smelled specifically of suffering and fear, giving the impression that she longed for death. The pile of unanswered questions as to what is occurring on the mountain continues to grow.

Elsewhere is the forest, Zenitsu is seen hurting his hand, and building up with rage as he treads up the mountain. He becomes more annoyed with a factor of things such as his inability to find Tanjiro and Inosuke, the unusual pungent odor, as well as the "gross" scattering sounds of the spiders. Zenitsu loses his patience and turns around to scold the arachnids responsible for the sound, but to his horror he discovers the body of a large spider with a human head staring back at him.

Zenitsu sprints away in fear questioning what he just witnessed, trying to convince himself that he is simply dreaming. He stops in his tracks and loudly begs to simply be woken up from his nightmare. As he looks up into the sky, he discovers a cabin being suspended by threads with humanoid spiders dangling below. Zenitsu is frozen with shock but is suddenly taken aback by the nose-burning odor. At that moment a creaking sound is heard coming the cabin, and a human sized spider Demon descends from a thread.

Zenitsu is overcome with shock due to the size of the demon, and decides to flee rather then face the creature. However as he runs away, the demon claims that it is useless to run away. He advises Zenitsu to take a look at his hand, and when Zenitsu gazes down, he discovers his hand beginning to deform. The demon tells Zenitsu that the injury he sustained earlier was a spider bite that had injected him with poison.

After revealing to Zenitsu that he has been poisoned and will begin to transform into a spider slave, the Son Spider Demon pulls out a pocket watch and begins to describe the different phases of his transformation.

He explains that within a span of a few hours, Zenitsu's hands and feet will begin to tingle, the feelings of dizziness and nausea will set in, followed by the feeling of intense pain, until his body finally shrinks and he loses consciousness. When he awakens, he will find that his body would have finished transitioning into a spider slave.

Zenitsu lets out horrified screams as the slaves crawl around his feet. He dashes away while openly admitting that he is already aware that running away will not help his situation, and ends up climbing a nearby tree.

Witnessing Zenitsu's episode of panic, the Son Demon laughs at him and reassures him that he has nothing to fear. Once Zenitsu finishes his transformation, he will no longer have a mind of his own or any sense of emotions. In response to his taunt, Zenitsu rambles saying that he doesn't want any of that and subtly insults him by saying "I bet you don't have any friends! People must hate you! leaving the Son Demon glaring at him with spite.

As Zenitsu continues to cry about his fate, the scene flashes back to a similar situation when Zenitsu had climbed up a tree in the past. A voice can be heard sternly yelling at him to pull himself together, as Zenitsu squeals about his impending if he continues to train. The old man stubbornly calls him an idiot and tells him that it won't kill him, and commands him to get down from the tree at once. Zenitsu — with natural black hair — continues to wail, calling the old man "gramps", he cries out that he loves him and that he is eternally grateful for paying off his debt, but that he is simply not capable of training to be a swordsman.

He goes off on a tangent describing how he trains hard, but never sees any fruit to his labor and eventually lets out his anger at his failures. As Gramps tries to calm Zenitsu down an coax him down, a sudden bolt of lightning comes down striking both Zenitsu and the tree. Gramps looks on in horror as Zenitsu finally falls from the tree with his new striking blonde hair, bringing an end to the flashback.

Now back in the present, Zenitsu cries about wanting to change the way how he is in order to become a better person, and ultimately refuses to transform into a hairless slave. During his internal conflict, the Son Demon stares at him with utter confusion as his slaves climb up towards the tree to capture Zenitsu.

When he looks down, Zenitsu freaks out yet again as he notices the slaves approaching, and cries telling them not to approach him. He pulls on his head and suddenly pulls out a wad of his hair, Zenitsu stares at his hand in shock questioning why his hair was falling out when it was not a mentioned side effect. The trauma of having witnessing his hair falling out, causes Zenitsu to lose consciousnesses and he begins to fall from the tree.

As he descends to the forest floor, Zenitsu's subconscious takes control and he preforms Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash to jump off the trunk of the tree and initiate his attack on the Brother Demon. In response to the sudden maneuver, the Son Demon spews his Blood Demon Art: Poison Sputum to try to deter Zenitsu, but he is able to evade his attack midair.

As Zenitsu lands on the ground he immediately attempts to utilize Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash but is swarmed by an army of spider slaves. Zenitsu continuously dodges the efforts of the slaves and attacks from the Brother Demon, while trying to counter with the First Form, but the Son Demon figures out his inability to preform any other techniques.

Zenitsu thinks back to when Gramps had encouraged him that it was alright to only know one form. He shows feelings of extreme remorse in knowing that Gramps was furious about his inability to master the other five forms. However his barring actions were always to ensure that Zenitsu would never give up on his training.

The battle continues with Zenitsu facing off against the Son Spider Demon, as Zenitsu continuously evades the attacks, he begins to feel symptoms from the poison. He collapses on the floor as the swarm of spider slaves quickly approach him

Zenitsu reminisces on his thoughts of how he was never expected to become anything meaningful, or be useful in impacting in anyone's life, but when he met Gramps, he was the only one who believed in Zenitsu's potential and never gave up on him.

The Son Demon suddenly commands his slaves inject more poison into Zenitsu to speed up the process. He deduces that because Zenitsu has been running around so much, he would probably die before becoming a spider slave. However right before the slaves swarm Zenitsu, he grips his blade and emits a force which causes the air to vibrate. Sensing he is in immediate danger, the Son Demon retreats into the floating Cabin and spews his poison down onto Zenitsu. Before it can reach him, Zenitsu uses the Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, Sixfold and ricochets off the trees before crashing through the cabin and decapitating the Son Demon.

Zenitsu drops from the air and crash lands onto the cabin, and begins falling unconscious. He starts to think of having happy dreams where he is strong and protects the weak, and realizes that his training was not a waste of time since he was able to make an impact on peoples lives. He comes to accept his fate but his mind advises him not to give up yet, telling him to use his Breathing Techniques to slow the poison from spreading. He thinks of how Gramps would be angry and how Tanjiro would be disappointed in him if he gave up easily, then Zenitsu finally passes out.

Elsewhere on the Mountain, Tanjiro asks Inosuke if he heard the sound of lightning in the distance, and how he smells the faint scent of thunder clouds alongside a foul smell. Inosuke angrily lets out a yell and tries to cross the river in an attempt to ignore Tanjiro, but is told to head down the mountain due to his injuries which angers him even more.

Tanjiro glances across the river and notices the Daughter Spider Demon standing on the other side of the river bank. She starts to run back into the forest and Inosuke tries to give chase after her, but she calls out to "Father" for help. Suddenly the large Father Demon unexpectedly drops in front of the two boys from above. The Father Demon angrily yells that they

- STAY AWAY FROM [his] FAMILY!

As the Father Demon punching into the ground, he creates a force which blows the two boys away. Tanjiro's assault against the Father Spider Demon, he uses the Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel and manages to penetrate through the demon's arm but fails to slice it off. The Father Demon tries to swing at Tanjiro but is intercepted by Inosuke, who also fails to cut his limbs off.

The Father Demon becomes enraged and throughs the two boys back then proceeds to charge at them. He targets Tanjiro and furiously demands that they stay away from his family, but before he can accurately attack him, Inosuke sneaks up from behind and tries to kill him. While the Father Demon changes targets, Tanjiro uses the Water Breathing, Second Form: Improved, Lateral Water Wheel to try to cut a nearby tree to fall on top of the Father Demon.

The Father Demon becomes trapped beneath the tree and is enraged. Tanjiro attempts to eliminate the Father Demon by preforming the Total Concentration: Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux but before he can do so, the Father Demon picks up the tree and uses it as a bat to send Tanjiro flying into the night.

Inosuke comically calls out to "Kentaro" as he is left alone to face the Father Demon, and Tanjiro tells him not to die before he gets back, he also warns Inosuke to be careful since he was facing "one of the twelve kizuki."

Elsewhere on the mountain, Zenitsu can be seen on top of the floating cabin, struggling to breathe. He gazes up to the moon as he uses his final thoughts to apologize to Nezuko. As he accepts his fate, the Insect Hashira flutters on top of the cabin and greets him to ask if he is ok. He gazes at her in confusion, not knowing who she is.

Elsewhere on the mountain, Inosuke can be seen hiding behind a tree while trying to formulate a plan to deal with the Father Spider Demon. The tree is suddenly smashed with such power that Inosuke is forced to get up and run away, he thinks to himself that he has to think of something in order to survive until Tanjiro returns.

Once Inosuke realizes that he's starting to depend on Tanjiro's help, he becomes infuriated with himself and decides to attack the Father Demon head on. He tries to slice through the demon's arms, and uses his anger and frustration to successfully cut through. He expresses his excitement and proclaims his newfound strength, while he gloats on his accomplishment he sees the Father Spider Demon running away and becomes infuriated by is audacity.

He gives chase and hunts the Father Demon down to a nearby tree, and witnesses it start to tremble thinking that he is doing so out of fear. However, the Father Demon begins to molt from his body into a larger more menacing form. Inosuke begins to shake with fear as he prepares to face the stronger, and newly evolved demon.

Having just molted from his previous body, the Father Spider Demon towers over Inosuke in a menacing matter. As he stands before him, Inosuke begins overcome with emotion and loses faith in his ability to win, just as he begins to accept his death, He hears a voice in his head telling him not to die. He recalls Tanjiro's words as well as Hisa's wishes and gains confidence to face the Father Spider Demon.

He faces the Demon head on but is immediately slammed into a nearby tree, as the Father Demon approaches the tree to finish him off, Inosuke gains the upper hand and leaps into the air to attack him from behind. He tries to slice the Father Demon's neck by using his Beast Breathing, Third Fang: Devour but his blades break when trying to slice through the thick hide. The Father Demon becomes infuriated and once again slams Inosuke into another nearby tree, knocking the wind out of him.

He picks Inosuke up by the throat and squeezes him while threatening once again to "stay away from [his] family." Inosuke refuses to die and uses his Beast Breathing, First Fang: Pierce as a last ditch effort to escape, but once again fails to damage the Father Spider Demon.

The Father Spider Demon squeezes with such force, that crunching sounds can be heard coming from Inosuke, and his life begins to flash before his eyes. Inosuke recalls a memory of a woman coated in blood apologizing to him as an infant, and he also envisions the faces of Nitocris, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Hisa.

As blood begins to pour out from his mouth, the Father Spider Demon's arm is suddenly sliced off and Inosuke drops to the floor.

-Don't waste your time here, I'll deal with it myself.

Nearby he heard such a native and familiar voice that belonged to his sister.