Natagumo Mountain Outskirts
An emergency summon had been decreed to all Demon Slayers near the area of Natagumo Mountain.
And currently, a blackish-blue blur sped past countless trees as (Y/N) ran towards his next destination.
Even if he was going at his fastest, it still took a few minutes for (Y/N) to arrive in front of Natagumo Mountain, where he saw Zenitsu seemingly sitting down in front of the entrance.
"Yo." (Y/N) greeted.
"KYAAAAAA! DON'T DO THAT!" Zenitsu almost had a heart attack as he jumped up in fright, before trying to calm himself when he saw it was only (Y/N).
"But it was funny to see. Nice jump." (Y/N) snickered, before he turned to look at the mountain in front of him.
"So this is Natagumo Mountain? Guess this is where I need to be then. Let's go, Zenitsu." (Y/N) walked past the boy, giving him a pat on the shoulder and starting to walk inside.
Seeing that Zenitsu wasn't moving, (Y/N) turned his head and saw he was shaking slightly.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" (Y/N) asked, seeing Zenitsu hesitating to go inside.
"T-this sound...it's terrifying...there's a really strong demon in there..." Zenitsu stuttered, making (Y/N) glance at the mountain. Since it was a giant place, he couldn't sense any significant auras.
However...this made (Y/N)'s eyes narrow.
On the last mission he'd had with Zenitsu, he'd been the same way when they encountered the Former Lower Moon Six...was there another Kizuki within the mountain?
"That WOULD explain the emergency summon...but if there is, they're just sending these rookies to their deaths...the hell are the Pillars doing? Isn't it THEIR job to take down the Kizuki? Argh...guess it's my job." (Y/N) mentally groaned, before turning back to Zenitsu.
"Leave the stronger demons to me. By the way, where are Tanjiro, Inosuke and Nezuko?" (Y/N) asked, and suddenly, it seemed like Zenitsu had been thunderstruck. Ha. Get it, cuz he uses Thunder Breathing? I'll show myself out now...
"HE TOOK NEZUKO-CHAN!!!" And like that, Zenitsu sprinted off and disappeared into the forest.
"...The hell did I miss? Guess Nezuko showed herself to them." (Y/N) shrugged, before leisurely walking into the forest.
Step by step, (Y/N) became more and more aware of the demons that prowled around this mountain.
There weren't that many of them...but they were certainly stronger.
"Oh...it's Tanjiro and Inosuke, don't know the other guy...may as well say hello." (Y/N) shrugged, before crouch-walking next to them.
"Hiya." (Y/N) greeted.
Inosuke had jumped far away from him, Tanjiro smiled at his brother, and Murata had his ghost coming out of his mouth.
"Nii-chan! You're back! How was the last mission?" Tanjiro asked, seeing (Y/N) be completely fine.
"Er...it went well. Took care of the demons there and had some weird experiences." (Y/N) scratched his cheek as he looked away, sweatdropping.
Let's just say...some things are better left unsaid. He'd learned that the hard way.
"What's up with this place? There's an annoying amount of spiders in this place, it's giving me chills..." (Y/N) asked as he slashed through a spider that tried to get close to him.
"After receiving our commands...from the Crows...10 members all came here to deal with the problem...but after we began entering the forest...the other Demon Hunters...they started to...kill each other!" Murata explained while panicking, making the three other Demon Hunters look at each other.
"A demon who can possess other people? Or is it not possession?" (Y/N) went into thought, though he was interrupted as he saw a person seemingly stumble into the group...a Demon Hunter.
Elsewhere...
"You flew back here quite fast...it seems my swordsmen have almost been eliminated. There might be a member of the Twelve Kizuki there...it seems the Pillars will need to take action." A short black haired man spoke softly, caressing a Kasugaigarasu in his hands.
"Giyuu. Shinobu." The man continued, revealing two people kneeling behind him.
The first, Tomika Giyuu, the current Water Pillar, and the one responsible for Tanjiro and (Y/N)'s current fates.
The second, Shinobu Kocho, the Insect Pillar. A feeble yet deadly young woman who uses poison to fight demons.
"Orders received, Oyataka-sama." Shinobu and Giyuu stated in unison respectfully.
"If we could just get along together with either humans or demons it'd be great, don't you agree Tomioka-san?" Shinobu smiled lightly, glancing at her companion.
"As long as demons still hunt humans, that's just a fantasy." Giyuu plainly denied, though this caused a thought to spark within him.
"It was...two years ago? Those kids...the girl, she was a demon...the other two were human, yet they fought side by side, not against each other..." Giyuu thought, glancing at his companion.
"Maybe...someday in the future...that won't just be wishful thinking, Shinobu-san." Giyuu thought, before shaking his head and focusing again.
"Lord Oyataka!" A new voice cut in as Kasu, (Y/N)'s crow, flew into the house.
"What's wrong, little one?" Oyakata-sama smiled, lifting his arm for the crow to perch itself on.
"The Shadow Swordsman arrived at Natagumo Mountain a few minutes ago..." Kasu revealed, causing a pleased expression to form on Oyataka's face.
"Excellent. One of my best Swordsmen has arrived already. Shinobu, Giyuu, I'll also be giving you both an extra mission. Find the Demon Hunter who uses shadows and bring him here. I wish to talk to him." Oyakata-sama smiled, making Giyuu and Shinobu nod.
"I've never heard of a Demon Hunter who uses shadows...have you, Tomioka-san?" Shinobu asked kindly as she and Giyuu excused themselves.
"No." Giyuu replied plainly, causing Shinobu to pout. Giyuu wasn't exactly the easiest person to talk to...
"Oh, well. I wonder what kind of person this Demon Hunter is like? Oyataka-sama called him one of the best Swordsmen...it's nice to hear that a new person has joined in our fight against the demons. It's been a while since the last human became a Pillar. I can't wait to meet him!" Shinobu giggled to herself, beginning to depart towards Natagumo Mountain with Giyuu.
Natagumo Mountain...
"Woah! Watch it!" (Y/N) leaped away from the swordsman, seeing him move almost robotically towards him.
"Oi! What's the big idea?! These people are idiots! Don't they know that it's forbidden for members to kill each other?!" Inosuke raged as he dodged the swordsman.
"No! I don't think they're moving by themselves, they're being controlled!" Tanjiro explained, before he grabbed the swordsmans' arm and threw him towards the floor.
"Alright! I'll chop them in half now!" Inosuke raised his sword.
"On a normal day, I'd agree with that. But it isn't possession, so they can still be saved!" (Y/N) hollered at Inosuke, weaving around more controlled swordsmen.
"(Y/N), don't encourage him!" Tanjiro scolded (Y/N).
"Fine, MOM!" (Y/N) rolled his eyes, before kicking off of a swordsman and head butting another one, heading back towards the other two.
"Stop denying our fun!" Inosuke pig assaulted Tanjiro, causing him to sigh in frustration. It felt like he babysitting children! Really big children with dangerous swords and supernatural powers!
"Ahhh!" Murata yelped in fear, seeing two controlled Hunters approach him.
Just as they swung at him, Tanjiro and Inosuke quickly disarmed the two and retreated while dragging Murata.
Seeing a flash of silver, (Y/N)'s eyes narrowed as he slashed his sword at the back of one of the swordsmen, seeing their body suddenly drop.
"Strings? Is that what's controlling them?" (Y/N) asked out loud, before turning to Tanjiro and Inosuke.
"Cut the strings! They're being controlled by strings!" (Y/N) hollered at the two, seeing them nod as (Y/N) went to town on the controlled demon hunters, slashing wildly yet accurately at the strings on their backs.
"You're late! I had already figured that out!" Inosuke scoffed, before jumping into a group of demon hunters and slashing off their strings.
"That's all of them..." (Y/N) remarked as he backed up towards the group.
"But where is the manipulator of the strings...? What the...?" Tanjiro muttered, seeing a bunch of strings tied to his hands. And then, he saw the spiders.
"It's the spiders?! Then, that means..." Tanjiro started, only for (Y/N) to interrupt him.
"We've got company! They aren't going down!" (Y/N) groaned, loosely beckoning towards the fallen demon hunters who got back up.
"Cutting the wires won't work! And there are way too many spiders to hunt them down! We need to find the person controlling them! (Y/N), Inosuke, can either one of you find them?! There's this smell currently plaguing my nose, so I can't!" Tanjiro grunted as he pushed off a demon hunter, slashing the strings behind it.
"All I see is trees! I'm of no help here! There have been demons all around us, you're asking me to find a needle in a haystack!" (Y/N) remarked, dominating over the controlled demon hunters.
"Fine, Inosuke..." Tanjiro started, only to stop as he saw a white haired demon standing on a layer of strings in the sky, looking down at the group.
Seeing this, (Y/N)'s eyes narrowed. That aura...
"So I was right, a member of the Twelve Kizuki was here...going by that aura, that's one of the Lower Moons...I can handle him with ease, but the same can't be said for Tanjiro, Inosuke...I just realized, where the fuck did Zenitsu go?" (F/N) suddenly looked around, not realizing the demon had disappeared as Inosuke grumbled, having missed the chance to take it down.
"We can focus on him later! Inosuke, we need-!" Tanjiro began, only for Inosuke to interrupt him.
"Yeah, Yeah! Damn forehead-Taro! So annoying!" Inosuke huffed, before stabbing both of his swords into the ground and lowering himself into a stance.
"Breath of the Beast - Seventh Fang: Spacial Awareness!" Inosuke focused, using his sensitive sense of touch to scout out a majority of the forest, trying to find the demon who controlled the strings.
After a few seconds, Inosuke stood up.
"Found it! There!!" Inosuke pointed in a direction.
"Leave this place to me! You guys go on ahead!" Murata shouted.
"Eh..."
"You've pissed your pants already, how can you even say that?!"
"Been nice knowing ya, see ya in hell."
Tanjiro, Inosuke and (Y/N) gave their own responses.
"I NEVER PISSED MY PANTS, YOU STUPID PIG! I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU, SO SHUT IT! And I'm not going to die here! I showed you all an embarrassing moment of weakness, but I'm a demon hunter! I'll think of a way to save myself and hold these guys back, so go and take down that demon!" Murata shouted as he fought off a few demon hunters.
Getting the gist of the situation, (Y/N) and Tanjiro gave their thanks, dragging off a grumpy Inosuke as the three headed deeper into the forest.
"Sooo...how long until he dies?" (Y/N) remarked.
"(Y/N)!" Tanjiro scolded.
"I'd say a few minutes!" Inosuke laughed, causing Tanjiro to groan.
"Would you two drop it!" Tanjiro spoke as the two came to silence.
Soon, after the three had actually started running, they arrived before another hunter, though she seemed alive.
"You can't...don't come near me...hurry up and get a high ranking person to come here...!!!" The girl cried as she walked forward, the strings forcing her hands into unnatural formations.
"If you don't, the demon will make me kill everyone...please, I beg you!" The girl shuffled forward, showing her sword currently entombed in another hunters' throat as she dragged a dead member by his hair with her other hand.
Suddenly, her expression changed to one of fear.
"RUN!!!" She shouted, Tanjiro and Inosuke retreating as (F/N) stood still, parrying the weapon with his own swords effortlessly and cutting the strings behind her.
"Huh...are you...?" The girl asked weakly, seeing how effortlessly (Y/N) had been able to counter her strike, despite the fact that the demon had been forcing her to use strength she didn't normally even have, and her speed was much faster than her usual power.
"..." (Y/N) remained silent, turning his attention to two others who stumbled into the scene, looking much worse than the girl in his arms, who could barely stand.
"Ki...kill us...the bones...within our...arms and legs are...broken...our internal organs...damaged...being forced to move...this pain...we'd rather die...no matter what...the only result now...is death..." One of the hunters groaned out, blood seeping down his face.
"Tanjiro, take care of her!" (Y/N) shouted, pushing the girl gently towards Tanjiro, who caught her as (Y/N) brandished his swords, appearing in front of the demon hunters in an instant.
"Fly!" (Y/N) scoffed as the demon hunters swung at him, swinging his blackish-blue katana at the two and sending them flying up into the trees, tangling them in the branches.
"You're kidding...!" The girl who (Y/N) saved gasped out involuntarily, seeing the boy send the two others flying.
"What kind of trick was that?! I wanna try!" Inosuke drew his swords, trying to send a swordsman flying. And he did. Just not into the trees.
"OI! WATCH IT!" (Y/N) screeched, grabbing the swordsman and throwing them into a branch to get tangled up.
Feeling something was wrong, (F/N) swiftly cut the strings of three more hunters, barely saving them.
In front of them...the remaining hunters' heads were all snapped to the side by the strings, creating a fucked up symphony of broken necks...
"I survived...I survived..." The girl whom (Y/N) saved held her hands close to herself, embracing herself in fear as Tanjiro looked at her with sympathy.
However, when he turned and examined a body, his gaze turned dark, a stark contrast to his usual gentle demeanor.
"Let's go...miss, can you find your way out of here? If you can still fight, please go help Murata-san..." Tanjiro addressed the girl, of which shook in fear, but grabbed her swords with slight hesitation.
"I can still fight...I-I'll go help..." The girl stuttered before walking off, leaving the three boys to their own devices.
"Don't let yourself be overwhelmed by emotions." (Y/N) remarked, though the glare on his face betrayed his words.
After a bit of waking, they encountered what seemed to be a headless, strung up corpse of a demon with a spiders' pincerlike hands.
"It doesn't have a head?! We can't cut at this thing!" Inosuke grumbled as he saw the Demon.
"Child's play." (Y/N) growled, appearing in front of the demon in an instant.
"Shadow Breathing - Ninth Form: Affliction." (Y/N) breathed out, his sword turning into a midnight blue blur as he slashed the demon's entire body to ribbons.
Despite this, he missed the neck by a simple inch as he let go of a "Tch", seeing the body slowly regenerate.
"Inosuke, Tanjiro, go kill the demon controlling them! I'll take care of this guy!" (Y/N) shouted, seeing the two run off as (Y/N) turned his attention back to the corpse.
"Just you and me now, ugly. If you want to survive multiple consecutive slashes...try surviving the same slash hundreds of times in the same instant." (Y/N) smirked coldly, his entire aura changing as he took a stance, his entire body enveloping in Shadow energy.
"Breath of Shadows - Tenth Form: Wrathful Shadow!" (Y/N) growled, swinging his blade as a chaotic storm of shadow energy assailed the demon from all directions, dissipating it's corpse in an instant.
(Had to speed this up to make it capable of being a Gif on Wattpad Q-Q)
Seeing the demon's body turn to ash, (Y/N) immediately set out towards the direction where Tanjiro and Inosuke had run off, though he only found Inosuke there.
Just as he was about to speak up, Tanjiro ran into the scene.
The two then proceeded to bicker on whether Inosuke needed aid, causing (Y/N) to groan. These two were really fighting over whether one person was alright or not...this brought a question to him though...where was Zenitsu?
Setting that matter aside, (Y/N) walked with Tanjiro and Inosuke, ignoring their bickering over whether Inosuke was injured or not.
After some time, they arrived beside a river. Suddenly, thunder echoed in the distance.
"Thunder...did lightning strike somewhere? But I can't smell any thunder clouds..." Tanjiro looked around curiously.
"Thunder...it's probably Zenitsu. He managed to take down a demon...well done." (Y/N) smiled lightly, before making eye contact with a pair of silver eyes across the river.
"Oh, hi..." (Y/N) awkwardly greeted, only for the girl to turn around and hightail it out of there.
"OOOHH! I'M GONNA CHOP YOU UP! HOLD IT, DEMON!" Inosuke charged after her, ignoring (Y/N) and Tanjiro's shouts to slow down.
"FATHER!" The girl cried, a giant body descending heavily in front of the kids as (Y/N) barely managed to pull Inosuke back.
"GET AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!" The demon roared with its spider-like face, punching the ground and forcing the three kids to split up to dodge the attack.
"Scram!" (Y/N) shouted as he landed, jumping at the demon and slashing at it.
"GRAAAHHH!" The spider-faced demon roared as it swung its fist to meet (Y/N)'s sword.
However, at that moment, (Y/N)'s sword slashed directly through its arms with no struggle, (Y/N) stabbing his sword into the ground and redirecting himself back towards the demon seconds before his feet landed on the floor again.
Regenerating its arm, the spider faced demon dodged (Y/N) second strike, slapping at him with its arm, which (Y/N) barely managed to block in his Domain, the demon slapping him away.
"Nii-chan!" Tanjiro shouted, before he jumped.
"Water Breathing - Second Form: Water Wheel!" Tanjiro shouted, swinging down at the demon. However, it merely stopped the attack with its forearm, Tanjiro being stuck and unable to cut through it.
"The blade...isn't cutting through...!" Tanjiro panicked slightly, seeing the demon swing its other arm at him.
However, Inosuke slammed down on the demon's arm with both of his swords, redirecting it away from Tanjiro, but like the former, he was unable to cut through the arm.
Seeing the two stuck, (Y/N) recovered as he lightly touched the floor.
"Shadow Breathing - Combo Form: Rending Steps!" (Y/N) combined the speed of Shadow Steps with the acceleration of Rending Shade, slashing off the demon's arms and kicking it back.
"Leave this one to me!" (Y/N) shouted at the two Demon Hunters behind him, before turning on his heel and engaging the spider demon in battle.
The two traveled all around the area as (Y/N) slashed at the demon, forcing it on the defensive. Despite that, (F/N) couldn't find an opening to take the demon down, since it seemed to always move just barely away.
Not sitting around, Tanjiro cut through a tree as it fell onto the demon. Seeing the opening, (Y/N) slashed at the demon, only for it to duck under the tree, then using said tree to bat (Y/N) away.
"OH COME ON!" (Y/N) groaned as the tree smacked him in the face, sending him flying over the trees and away from the area, smashing roughly into the ground and making a crater.
"Ugh...fuck...I might be a demon, but that doesn't mean I don't feel pain...ugh...this hurts..." (Y/N) complained, wiping some blood off the edge of his mouth before standing up.
"That was so annoying...I could've killed him, but I would've risked getting Tanjiro and Inosuke caught up in the attack..." (Y/N) recollected himself, before looking around.
He was currently in an unknown area, with Tanjiro and Inosuke fighting that demon, and Zenitsu nowhere to be found...
"Things are turning into a shitstorm real quick in here...and Tanjiro and Inosuke couldn't even cut through that demon...but I can't even tell where they are!" (Y/N) growled to himself, trying to sense the auras of the two.
Sighing, and recollecting himself, (Y/N)'s aura turned cold as he focused on every single change in the environment around him.
"More of you...?" (Y/N) raised an eyebrow in surprise, sensing multiple demonic auras around him.
Looking around, he saw three kid-like demons wearing white kimono's with the same color scheme as the Lower Moon he'd encountered earlier.
Seeing the demons wordlessly look at him, (Y/N) took his stance and prepared to fight.
The battles began to reach the climax within the Mountain...who will emerge victorious?
————————————————————————
All ten forms of the Shadow Breathing have been revealed! When the shadows are eclipsed, a frosted moon shines in the sky...the Blizzard approaches...Next time: Against the Rules!
The Waifu Wars have come to an end...our victor is:
Shinobu Kocho, Butterfly Waifu!
For those of you who want to see the actual statistics, here they are, granted they might be fucked considering I have a horrible fucking memory, but they should be mostly accurate:
Also...counting this was a pain.
Nezuko: 4
Shinobu: 63
Kanao: 4
Mitsuri: 6
Harem: 48
——————————————————————
Breath of Shadows:
(P.S, credit and thanks to AliceInWond for the idea of the Gif Forms :D)
————————————————————————
First Form: Crescent Moon Slash
Striking in front of them with a crescent strike, the user slices in front of them with enough power to directly sever almost anything.
Second Form: Shadow Wheel
Slashing lightly in front of them, the user forces the target to jump back into the path of a stronger, shadow-infused strike.
Third Form: Rending Shade
Slashing in a circular formation, the user rends the enemy apart- then follows for a lethal strike with the same momentum and force.
Fourth Form: Embraceful Shade
A gentle strike, the user slashes with a shadow-infused blade, sheathing their sword before the enemy even realizes. Fastest Shadow Form.
Fifth Form: Moonlit Illusive Slash
Using Shadow Energy, the user creates an illusory moon to distract the opponent, before slashing through both the opponent and Moon.
Sixth Form: Shadowfall Vortex
Slashing their sword in a circular manner, the user forms a vortex of sorts, drawing in attacks and effectively dispelling them. Can be overwhelmed.
Seventh Form: Turbulent Shadow
Spinning their upper and lower body in resonance, the user created a gale of shadow energy around them, capable of attacking in all directions.
Eighth Form: Shadow Steps
A movement technique, Shadow Steps gives the user similar properties to shadows, allowing them to move much faster than normal.
Ninth Form: Affliction
Rotating their sword in a spherical formation, a savage dome of shadow energy forms all around the user, rending any form of attack approaching.
Tenth Form: Wrathful Shadow
Coating themselves in Shadow energy, the user slashes around the area hundreds of times in the same moment, making an undodgeable strike.
~ Chaoz has logged out. ~