Lies About Eating Demons

In the original, Kibutsuji Muzan felt a connection with everyone who carried his blood. His gift of blood was both a gift and a curse to those who received it. He didn't even have to gift it himself because some of the people he gave special skills to could also transform people into demons.

Muzan possessed the ability to kill anyone who had been transformed into a demon. Nezuko, on the other hand, was excluded from that group for unknown reasons, which seemed to be related to her unusual evolutionary path.

On the other side of the coin, Inosuke's Halos system had no weaknesses, so he had no reason to be concerned about Muzan.

Muzan was unable to detect traces of his blood in Inosuke's body unless he used common sense and evidence-based logic to draw conclusions. He was also unable to control him and had no way to restrain Inosuke.

Inosuke's existence was even stranger than Nezuko's because Muzan could feel her presence and move from a distance, despite his inability to influence her through blood.

'Nezuko will have one advantage over me, however. I do not have Nezuko's Demon Arts: Her combustible blood. It can't be helped because the means is somewhat destructive, so I'm extremely unlikely to obtain it even if I manage to obtain her blood in the future.'

Inosuke put an end to his thoughts and felt a surge of new power in his body. Tanjiro had finished fighting the demon from earlier, and he had won fairly easily using his Breath of Water techniques.

His movements, however, seemed to be lacking in the burning desire to kill, despite his somewhat extensive experience with them. He was determined to kill, but not with true and violent intent.

Not yet.

This was the time when he had yet to fully integrate as a demon slayer and prioritized the interests of himself and Nezuko over those of humanity.

The day when he would hesitate to let his little sister burn in the bright morning sun was still a long way off.

"Why did you stop fighting?" Tanjiro asked Inosuke as he returned his sword to its sheathe. He looked puzzled and was barely out of breath after the fight; it was clear that the demon was no match for him.

But he felt Inosuke was slightly stronger than him, as evidenced by the fact that the guy cut that demon's arm off easily at zero distance without ending up harmed. He had failed to figure out when or how Inosuke had switched on a breathing technique, which was even more unbelievable... If a technique was used, it felt imperceptible.

Tanjiro considered asking the young man about his breathing technique, but then realized he had no idea what his name was.

He bowed politely, embarrassed and blushing, and immediately asked for it. He was simply raised to be polite when meeting strangers, even if they might look and acted strange, as this guy did.

"What's up with the courteous bow? No need to be so polite when we're the same age. My name is Inosuke." Inosuke replied by asking, "What's yours?"

"Kamado Tanjiro." Tanjiro answered.

Inosuke nodded and asked, "Tanjiro, how about we stay together during the exam? We simply need to survive to pass the test. There is no competition or quota on the number of admitted applicants, so we can simply look out for one another."

Tanjiro began to think for a moment before nodding, then he said again, "Inosuke, you still haven't told me why you didn't continue dealing with that demon... Was something wrong with you? You fell into a daze when you could have easily walked away with the fight."

Inosuke had no idea how to respond to his insistence; he had not considered an answer. Out of politeness, he simply told Tanjiro that he was having some sort of secret combat-related insight that he couldn't discuss.

Tanjiro had obvious doubts in his brow and did not actually seem to believe any of the words, but he did not inquire further. He felt Inosuke had personal secrets he didn't want to share unless absolutely necessary, similar to his box, so he didn't insist on asking.

As an apology, Inosuke did not waste Tanjiro's stamina; instead, he took control and began dealing with the minor demons. All the small fries. He did this every time they emerged from the trees and shrubbery to launch a surprise attack on their group.

Tanjiro was a human, so his endurance was limited. Inosuke no longer had this human restriction on his body after obtaining his second Halo. His body and stamina were constantly healing, much like demons'.

Tanjiro was already taken aback, but he was even more shocked and stunned when Inosuke stopped dodging and began trading hard blows with the ferocious and famished creatures.

Demons couldn't kill each other, and only demon slayers could, so Inosuke wasn't at all anxious about his neck being severed. Thanks to the system, he wasn't afraid of Nichirin Blades, either.

[Congratulations! Breath of the Land King has advanced to Level 2!]

Inosuke's higher bone and muscle density had kept him from suffering serious injuries. Those were extremely powerful now.

He only had a few painful, bloody scratches on his skin, which can be traumatic for those concerned about healing.

When Tanjiro saw Inosuke's flesh on his back regrow after being shaved off and pulled apart in several places, he couldn't help but ask, startled, "This… This is… Wait, what are you, Inosuke? You're not human?"

He felt completely unexpected when he saw the scene. He looked at Inosuke in a completely different way than before.

"This is just a side effect of devouring demons," Inosuke lied, as this was a fact accepted by the Demon Slayer Corps, albeit somewhat frowned upon. 

He went on to say, "My secret technique is slightly different in some places, so I don't need to consume demon flesh after the first time around. This protects me from the side effects." He didn't elaborate. He'd lied enough to someone like Tanjiro.

As long as there was a witness to his healing and he explained it in this manner, the rest of the journey to the headquarters would be fine. Genya's body was not much different, even though his growth potential was not as high.

Plus, eating demons, which Inosuke did not actually do, resulted in numerous serious negative side effects. Genya would come to know them later in the manga.