Chapter 21 : 21st Stance

At the same time as Takeo, a quartet : Inosuke, Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Nezuko were making their way to Natagumo Mountain. They hadn't on been on a mission for a couple of days as they suffered from injuries and stayed at a safe location.

Wearing a wooden box which had Nezuko inside of it because it was day-time, Tanjiro was running ahead of the others, with Inosuke attempting to catch up :

"I won't lose!", he shouted, before the two sped up and left Zenitsu behind.

After a couple of hours, it turned into the evening, they travelled by running the whole time, and just like that, the three finally reached Mountain Natagumo.

As soon as they got there, Tanjiro caught the scent of something horrid in the air, "What's that smell", he asked, before him and Inosuke ran forward.

In-front of them was a Demon Slayer just like them, laying on the floor, bleeding from his head, "Help me!", he shouted, but it was too late.....as he was dragged into the mountain, leaving the surroundings eerily silent....

All Tanjiro and Inosuke could was look at each-other for a few seconds before they both said, "Lets go....", before they raced into the forest.

"Hey don't leave me here all alone.....", Zenitsu said, but it was too late as the two left him all alone.

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Tanjiro and Inosuke explored the forest and met a fellow Demon Slayer named Murata. He explained countless Mizunoto like him were told to come up the mountain but they met with a force that they couldn't deal with.

"....N-No matter how many Mizunoto's they send....It'll be pointless", he stated, underestimating the both of their strengths.

Whilst they were talking, at a different location, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the leader of the Demon Slayers Corp was talking to 2 Hashira's : Giyu and Shinobu.

"If there is a chance that the Twelve Kizuki is there....I want you two to go".

"Yes Oyakata-sama", Shinobu said, before her and Giyu stood up and left.

After ordering them to go to Mount Natagumo, they immediately left and made their way there, but they didn't know, they didn't have to go at all.

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Outside the Mountain, sat Zenitsu. He was looking at his sparrow un-sure of whether he should go into the mountain.

'If they asked me to go...I would've', he thought, with his head buried in his knees as he sat..."

Even his sparrow was looking down on him, as it looked disgusted with his actions, "CHEW!", It sounded, causing Zenitsu to raise his head and stare.

"...Not you too!!", he shouted, whilst he grabbed it close to his face as he comically cried.

After a bit of crying, he remembered how Tanjiro had went up to the mountain with Nezuko on his back, "TANJIRO! What is he thinking!?", he screamed, before a burst of energy caused him to dart into the forest with no fear....at the time, unknowingly leaving behind his sparrow on the floor, as it yelled for him to pick him back up.

"CHEW! CHEW! CHEW!"

However, It's attempts were useless, as it sat there in the cold.

TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!

Not even a second after Zenitsu left, a Demon Slayer wearing a white uniform with the words "Annihilate", on his back in bold. Wearing a black mask, which covered his chin to his nose, white hair that waved in the wind, and his palm resting on his blade... stood in-front of the sparrow.

Chew?

It sounded, almost as if it was asking who the Demon Slayer was.

Not responding, Takeo simply grabbed the sparrow gently before he put it on his shoulder and walked towards the forest.

The sparrow didn't resist and went along with him in the meantime, if he could find Zenitsu then it would leave him.

Whilst Takeo just entered the mountain, inside the mountain, Zenitsu was running for his life,

"WAAH!! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!", He shouted, as he was being chased by a spider with a human face. He ran so deep into the mountain, that he found a tree-house held by spider-webs connected to the trees.

And to his shock.....even more spiders with human faces appeared...

"AGHHHH!!!", He continued screaming as he ran laps around the tree-line....

"Just leave me alone!", he shouted.

Unknowingly, his shouts brought even more danger, as emerging from the tree house, was the Son Spider Demon.

'It's huge... It's so huge', he thought as he stared at Demon's body.

'I have to run!'

And so he darted away....but it was too late, "You've already lost~", the demon laughed.

After being bitten by a spider earlier, he had actually been poisoned and was beginning to feel the side-effects. At this point, he was scared out of his mind, and with the smaller spiders chasing him, he ran up a tree and got into a ball.

Praying all this could be a dream.

"I DON'T WANT TO TURN INTO THATT!!! PLEASE THIS HAS TO BE A DREAM!!!", He shouted.

But it was futile, more minutes passed and he began to reminisce about the past. His training with his master, when something inside of him.....just clicked....

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5 minutes later,

Takeo was walking through the forest, 'This place is like a maze...when can I meet stronger demons than these little bugs', he thought, as a trail of spiders formed from the path he walked from.

The sparrow, still on his shoulder, couldn't help but be shocked on how effortlessly he slayed those demons....even if they were weak, he dealt with them in less than a second.

CHEW! It sounded in shock, but before it could continue....

BAAAAANNNNNNGGGG!!!!!!

Thunder clapped from the sky, 'Seems like Zenitsu dealt with that demon', Takeo thought, 'That means they'll be less for me to fight with', 'I have to get moving'. Right before he did, the sparrow quickly hopped off his shoulder and flew towards the direction of the Thunder, as it had a feeling it was Zenitsu.

CHEW!! CHEW! CHEW~

It shouted before it disappeared into the distance.

Not wasting any more time, Takeo dashed into the wilderness in an attempt to find someone relieve his boredom before he'd meet the Hashira.

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Veins sprouted on Takeo's head....

He was really bad with directions and didn't know where anyone was. But after a couple of MORE minutes...he finally found some one he could fight with.

BANG!!!

In-front of him, was Inosuke who was being over-powered by the Father Spider Demon.

'He's too strong...', Inosuke thought, as he was smashed into a couple of trees, before he slammed into a large rock.

"Arghh", he groaned, before he gript his swords, ready to fight some more, but before he could.

TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!

Hearing a couple of footsteps, Inosuke looked behind him were he saw a boy with veins sprouted on his head, wearing a white Demon Slayer Uniform with his palm resting on his blade.

"....I wasted so much time finding someone I could fight....", Takeo stated, before he drew his blade and pointed it towards the Demon.

"Finally....I can have some fun...."

VOOOOSHHHH!!!!

Not wasting any time, Takeo charged towards him....

Raising his blade, he unleashed a destructive downward slash that cut all the way from his shoulder to his waist....

SLASHHH!!!!!!!

His speed surprised the demon....It took a few seconds to regain his 'mission' as he was clouded with thoughts of protecting his family, but unlucky for him he had met Takeo who didn't care, as he even laughing.

"hehehe~",

SMASH!!!!

Feeling his family was being mocked, the demon cupped his fists into a hammer, before he used all his weight and brought his fury downwards, unintentionally hitting and caving the ground in as he missed his target who side-stepped fairly simply.

In response Takeo used his irregular speed and vanished from the Demon's vision, before he materialised directly behind him, slashing his legs with utmost precision, making the Demon kneel onto the floor, before he vanished once again.....

SLASH!!! SLASH!!!!

The demon's wounds were rapidly regenerating, but each time they did, Takeo simply delivered another strike, and another strike and another strike...

Appearing right in-front of him, he pushed his weight onto the Demon's abdomen, before he thrusted his blade into his stomach. With his blade inside his stomach momentarily, Takeo jumped into the air, turning his waist before he whipped his leg into the Demon's temple....flinging his large build into a large rock like a ragdoll.

CRACK!!!! BANNNGGGG!!!!!

The kick cracked some of the demon's skull, and with Takeo's sword still in his stomach he couldn't heal. So he gript the sword and was about to break it....but before he could, Takeo appeared right above him, before he bashed his knee into his jaw....

BANNNGGG!!!!!

The kick completely shattered his jaw, causing him to feel unbelievable amounts of pain. 'FAMILY! FAMILY!', His thoughts run amok.

"FAMIRRYY! FAMIRRYY!", It attempted to say Family with his broken jaw whilst on the floor, but Takeo simply grabbed his sword from his stomach and cleaved his head clean off before he said, "Shut up~"

'Who is that', Inosuke thought, 'He...toyed with that demon as and cut him like tofu', he thought. He was watching the whole fight and was in awe of the fight, as he said, "HEY!", before he charged at Takeo.

Once he got closer he shouted "FIGHT ME!", as he gript his swords and charged at Takeo like a beast....but before he could come close, Takeo had already vanished.

'Huh? Where'd he go?' Inosuke thought, but it was too late, he was too slow....

CHOP!

Appearing right behind Inosuke, Takeo chopped his neck with his hand, which immediately made him fall unconscious. Before he fell, Takeo held him up and laid him on a rock before he ran into the woods and vanished.

Not more than 2 minutes later, Giyu Tomioka appeared at the scene, and examined the dead demon. He first contemplated Inosuke was the one who killed him, but knew it wasn't, 'Someone else is here', he thought, before he ran in the direction were Takeo went.

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Fighting Rui, One the Twelve Kizuki Lower Ranks, Tanjiro was struggling, but something clicked inside of him....thinking of his father, he managed to learn a new Breathing Style related to his family history.

In the middle of using Water Breathing Style, he quickly changed and used Hinokami Kagura....pure flames surrounded his blade before he made his way past all the threads that were blocking his path.

'Closer! Closer!', he thought as his movement and speed became more elegant, as he danced around the threads.

<Hinokami Kagura : Dance>

The flames were almost as if they guiding him forwards, 'Keep running! Don't stop!'

The closer he got, the further away Rui backed up...but seeing his effort, Nezuko, who was trapped by his threads, used her blood demon art, and helped Takeo by burning his surrounding threads, giving him the opportunity to see the opening thread....before he swung his broken sword and slashed off Rui's head....

<Hinokami Kagura : Dance>

BANG!

As soon as Rui collapsed, so did Tanjiro, as his body was exhausted from switching from one breathing style to another.

"Haa! Haa!", he inhaled.

Once he 'cut' off his head, Nezuko was un-restrained from the threads and fell to the floor.

'Nezuko!', he thought, as he tried to crawl to her....but his body was feeling extreme pain...

Suddenly, he felt a sense of danger coming from behind, where Rui laid.

'Wait....there was no smell of ash....even though I cut of his head', he thought.

And to his shock and terror, Rui stood up and looked at Tanjiro with anger and annoyance before he used his Blood Demon Art to finish him....but instead of listening to him, his main concern was reaching Nezuko....as he constantly voiced, 'Nezuko! Nezuko!', in his mind....but before he could, red threads surrounded him...

VOOOSHHH!!!

Appearing late because he was lost, Takeo slashed the threads before his attack could activate, and charged at Rui using his momentum, "Hello", Takeo greeted the Demon.....

Blade in hand, a smile grew on his face, before he began breathing slowly but then exhaling quickly....

<Honō-Kaminari no kokyū Ichi No Kata : Unknowing Thunder>

Purple Lightning surrounded Takeo's whole body, before he vanished.....

ZOOOOMM!!!!

Appearing right by Rui by utilising his blinding speed, before flames engulfed his sword, and he beheaded the Demon with destructive power that scorched the surroundings wildlife....

BOOOOSHH!!!! SWOOSHHH!!!!

"AHHH!!!!", Rui Screamed, before nobody could hear his screams anymore.

"Good-bye"

Not even a couple minutes after greeting him....he wished him fair-well, which stunned Tanjiro.

"Haaa!", Takeo sighed, before he sheathed his blade, but still held onto the scabbard.

"W-", right when Tanjiro was going to ask him a question...

RUSTLE!! RUSTLE!!! TAP!

Appearing out of a bush was Giyu Tomioka. He glanced at Tanjiro and Nezuko who were on the floor, before he stared at Takeo, who obviously stared back...