Chapter 23

Tokyo, Asakusa

"Stop getting distracted and follow me." Yahaba said as he and Susamaru walked the streets of Asakusa. Yahaba was using his Demon Blood Arts to track the footsteps of Tanjiro and he noticed that he was with more people.

"Susamaru, he's with more people. Ah, this way." Yahaba said as he ran off.

"Hey, wait up!!"

Susamaru is a pale-skinned woman with bright hazel eyes with cat-like slits and white horizontal slats with black hair with orange-colored ends. She has bangs over her forehead and the ends of her hair appear similar to paintbrushes.

She wore a pair of long silver earrings and an orange kimono that matches her hair. Along with that, she regularly wore a black haori over it.

[Image]

Yabaha was a young man of an average build with pale, gray-tinted skin and very short black hair. He had red, cat-like eyes that he normally kept shut, as well as another pair of pale-ringed orange eyes on the palms of his hands, a red upward-pointing arrow marked on each of the irises with sclera of glowing dark green color.

Yabaha wore a plain olive-green kimono with a brown obi and a dark gray haori, decorated by a strip of green that ran down his arms from his shoulders to his wrists. He also sported white tabi-socks and a pair of brown zōri with black straps, along with a akoya necklace of large blue pearls.

[Image]

As the two ran through Asakusa following the trail, they came across a brick wall. Yahaba slowly put his hand out and unsurprisingly it went through the brick wall.

They both smirked and walked through it as a big house was reveled.

"A cloaking seal huh?" Susamaru muttered with a smirk. She grinned widely before pulling her right arm all the way back. In her hand was a temari.

Without a second thought she catapulted the ball towards the house. It blasted through the walls, but out of nowhere she swung her other arm and another temari went flying through the house.

Yahaba used his Demon Blood Arts and made the balls bounce around the house before Susamaru called them back. She smiled happily seeing the front side of the house completely destroyed.

The smoke cleared and they were able to clearly see Tanjiro and three demons.

"Tch, you're getting me covered in dirt." Yahaba said as he wiped his kimono.

"Hehehe, stop making a fuss over small stuff. Look there. We found the targets and then some. This'll be fun!!" Susamaru said as she launched the balls into the house again.

Inside the house, other than Tanjiro and Nezuko, there were two demons. Yushiro and Tamayo.

Yushiro has the appearance of a young boy of short stature and average build with pale skin and lavender purple eyes. He has short hair that is neatly styled and vertically shaded from a dull and light green to black.

Yushiro wears a button-up collared shirt under an all-white iromuji-haori and dark blue Seigo-Sendeihira styled hakama pants.

[Image]

Tamayo was a beautiful woman with long, dark brown hair, parted in the center and worn braided back into a large, low bun, which is held in place by a floral tama-kanzashi hairpin.

She has large, gentle eyes that do not possess pupils, only a haze of lavender that fades to dark purple the higher it goes, and notably red lips in contrast to her pale complexion.

[Image]

As she continued launching the balls into the house, Yushiro saw one headed his way. He put his hands up, preparing to deflect it, but the ball suddenly swerved downward and then shot forward, cleanly knocking his head off his body.

His body dropped to the ground with blood gushing out. Tanjiro screamed out Yushiro's name in rage before he turned around and ordered Nezuko take the lady sleeping in the back room to take her to the basement.

She nodded and ran off.

"Hahahah, that's one down. Three more to go." She said with a laugh.

"For somebody like Master Muzan to target you specifically, I thought you'd be something special. I wonder why Kyoshi didn't just kill you guy when he met you?" Yahaba said.

'Kyoshi? Wait…he's the demon from before!!'

"I get it now. You guys are his friends or something and Muzan's sent you here to kill me for some reason!!" Tanjiro yelled.

"Miss Tamayo. Get somewhere safe, I'm the one they're targeting!!" He yelled. At this point his sword was already drawn out and he was taking a stance.

"Don't worry about us, Tanjiro. We'll be fine without your protection. After all, we are demons." She replied timidly.

Susamaru, smiled as she cocked her arm back and threw one of the balls at Tanjiro at astonishing speeds. Dust was kicked up along the ground as it flew towards Tanjiro.

'Water Brrathing, Seventh Form: Droplet Ripple Thrust-curve!!'

He put his left hand forward and pulled his right arm back with the hilt of his blade next to his head.

Once the ball got closer he thrusted his sword forward and it stopped the ball in its tracks.

'I see I see. Thrusting at the curve diagonally to soften temari'd blow? However…'

The ball pulled itself from his blade and found its way back to Sasumaru's hands.

"Miss Tamayo, I told you my masking technique is only a work in progress. We shouldn't have ever got involved with that Demon Slayer from the start!!" Yushiro said.

His head was halfway regenerated.

Tanjiro looked behind him to see what was going on, but that was a big mistake. When in battle everyone with a brain knows to never look away from the opponent.

Sasumaru saw this opportunity and she ran towards him. Tanjiro turned his head, but what met him was a smiling Sasumaru.

Her fist slammed into his jaw and the impact sent him sliding back inside the hide. His nose drizzled with blood as he looked towards Sasumaru who smiled, baring her fangs.

Yahaba had already vanished to play a support role as he hid in the trees.

"Oi, why don't you start fighting back?" Sasumaru said as she threw her black haori into the air and lowered the top of her kimono.

On both sides of her torso, her skin bulged weirdly. Suddenly two pairs of arms shot from her torso as she laughed. She now had 3 pairs of temari's to use and her arms were bulkier.

She launched all six balls into the house while Yahaba used his Demon Blood Arts to make them move in weird direction as they destroyed the house.

Tanjiro used his sword to defend himself from the attacks and expertly dodged and deflected them. As he was dodging, Yushiro and Tamayo were hit with three of the balls which shot right through them.

Seeing this, Tanjiro was thrown off his rhythm.

"Just dodge the arrows and you'll be fine Tanjiro!!" Yushiro said.

"Arrows?!" Tanjiro sliced a ball in half but it slammed into his should regardless before fading away into red smoke.

Yushiro clicked his tongue and dug into his kimono before throwing a piece of paper at Tanjiro. It attached itself to his forehead and glowed a cyan light before a symbol written in demon blood appeared on it.

Tanjiro started to dodge and slice the balls while moving towards Sasumaru. Nezuko appeared from another hole in the house and saw the situation.

"Nezuko…get the demon in the tree!!" Tanjiro yelled. Nezuko nodded and jumped away going towards Yahaba. He heard Tanjiro yell out his order and prepared himself for a fight.

To his left, Nezuko appeared and with a strong side kick, she sent him flying out if the tree. He flipped midair and landed on his feet although he had a furious look on his face.

"You filthy wretch!!" He yelled as he used his Demon Blood Art.

A red arrow shot towards Nezuko who jumped to the left then to the right to dodge another one. She then dashed off towards Yahaba while dodging his arrows and once she was close enough, she punched towards his chest.

He crossed his arms to block and got pushed back a few feet. She then whipped her right leg around aiming for his head, but he ducked and used his Demon Blood Arts and shot an arrow right at her stomach.

She was knocked into the sky, but Yahaba didn't let up. He used it again, but sent one to her back knocking her forward, then again from above which slammed her i to the ground.

Meanwhile Tanjiro and Sasumaru were locking into a fight of their own.

Tanjiro swung his blade at her neck, but she moved her head back and as he went for a follow up slash, she did a backflip and simultaneously threw out two balls.

Tanjiro easily dodged them now that they weren't being moved around by Yahaba. Once she landed on her feet she threw the other two, which Tanjiro dodged.

'Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash!!'

His sword gushed water from it before he shot forward. Seeing this, Sasamaru also dashed towards him with a big smile on her face.

Once close enough Tanjiro went for the slash and his indeed was faster, however, Sasamaru ducked down low and grabbed him around the waist. She pulled him up and leaned back as far as she could before slamming him i to the ground.

*BOOM*

The ground cracked in multiple directions as Tanjiro coughed up some blood. The air in his lungs was all forced out from the impact.

Sasamaru, grabbed him by the collar of his haori and threw him into a tree. The force made the tree fall and Tanjiro looked as though he had trouble getting up.

"Is that all? Come on, the fun has just begun!!" She yelled with a smile as more balls appeared in her hands.

She lost her smile and looked at the balls before glancing towards the sky. She saw Nezuko jump from a tree towards Yahaba and a grin emerged on her face.

With full force she threw the balls at Nezuko who noticed the balls too late before she could dodge. Two went through her stomach, one through each leg and the last two completely ripped off her left arm.

"NEZUKOOOOOOOO!!" Tanjiro yelled as he watched Nezuko smash into the ground. He grit his teeth and stood up with rage being visible on his face.

Gripping his blade, Tanjiro shot towards Sasamaru who was laughing mercilessly. She got into a stance to intercept his slash, but he suddenly vanished.

She looked around and then above her. She noticed way too late as Tanjiro slashed his sword down on her. She was able to barely react by taking a step back, but there was a slash mark going down her face.

It healed quickly, but Tanjiro wasn't done with his assault. He dashed forward with a shout before feeling an intense pain in his stomach.

He grit his teeth and took a step forward that cracked the ground. His sword was held vertically adjacent to his shoulder before he ran forward again.

Yahaba used his Demon Blood Arts again, but Tanjiro spun around slashing his sword. The way he moved was like a dance on the battlefield.

They jumped away from his last strike, but out if nowhere, Yushiro came through and with a strong kick, his foot slammed into Yahab's face. The force sent him flying through the yard before slamming into a brick wall.

Sasamaru noticed him and she tried to punch him, but he dodged before spring upward and uppercutting her. Midair he followed up with a palm to her gut which sent her crashing into Yahaba as she spat out blood.

"If you can handle the arrow man I can take out the tamari girl." Yushiro said.

Tanjiro came back to his senses when Yushiro kicked away Yahaba and he he decided to work with Yushiro.

"Alright." He said gripping his sword with a nod.

Yahaba and Sasamaru got up and were looking more than pissed, but nobody's rage could come close to Yushiro's.

"YOU HURT LADY TAMAYO AND FOR THAT THAT ILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!" He shouted as vein's appeared all over his face with grit teeth.