Chapter 835: Tanjiro and Nezuko
Chapter 835: Tanjiro and Nezuko
In a snowy forest, a bloodied boy staggered as he carried his injured sister, Nezuko, on his back. She was covered in wounds, and her blood soaked his clothes. With labored breathing, Tanjiro clenched his jaw, determined to keep going.
"Hang in there, Nezuko..."
Tanjiro's legs burned with fatigue as he had climbed up the mountain and was now making his way down, carrying his sister. Every step was a struggle, his muscles screaming in protest, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.
The previous night, a tragedy had struck their family. When Tanjiro returned home, he found his mother and siblings brutally murdered, their bodies cold. Nezuko was the only one left with a faint heartbeat and some warmth remaining.
He had lost everyone dear to him except for Nezuko.
He couldn't lose her too. No matter what, he had to get her to the doctor in the town below the mountain.
However, as he navigated a steep cliff with Nezuko on his back, she suddenly stirred. A chilling 'heh heh' escaped her lips, and she began to struggle violently.
Caught off guard, Tanjiro lost his balance and tumbled off the cliff, falling a few meters before landing heavily in the deep snow below. Fortunately, the fall wasn't too severe, and Tanjiro, naturally sturdy, only felt a bit of pain from the impact.
As he struggled to sit up, his first thought was of Nezuko. He turned anxiously to look for her.
But she was nowhere to be seen.
He scanned the distant surroundings and finally spotted her, but something was terribly wrong. Nezuko's usually adorable face was contorted, her veins bulging, and sharp fangs protruding from her mouth.
"Nezuko, are you alright?"
Despite noticing her strange transformation, Tanjiro's immediate concern was for her injuries. He rushed over, only to be met with a vicious bite from Nezuko.
"Ah!"
Nezuko lunged at him, her teeth bared. Tanjiro dodged and grabbed her wrists, and they both fell to the ground.
"Nezuko, what's wrong? Nezuko!"
Tanjiro called out to his sister, who now looked so different, his heart aching. He recalled what someone had told him about evil ghosts that appeared at night and ate people.
Could Nezuko be one of those ghosts?
No, that couldn't be! She was his sister, a human.
He detected an unfamiliar, eerie scent on her, the same scent that he believed belonged to the presence that had killed his family. It must be that presence that had turned Nezuko into what she was now.
Nezuko continued to try and bite him, her ghostly powers awakening and growing stronger by the moment. She pinned Tanjiro to the ground, slowly forcing his arms down.
As he felt her strength becoming overwhelming, Tanjiro couldn't accept that his sister had become this way.
"Nezuko, hang on! You have to fight it! Don't become a ghost!"
"Come on, keep going!"
Tanjiro shouted at Nezuko, willing her to resist.
It was as if his voice had stirred some residual human emotions within her. Nezuko's movements slowed, and she eventually stopped, looking down at Tanjiro beneath her. Despite her lack of coherent human consciousness, tears began to well up in her eyes.
Just then—
Whoosh!
A figure with a scar on his face and white hair—the Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa—flew across the snowy landscape.
Sanemi's gaze fell upon Nezuko and Tanjiro, and without hesitation, he swung his Nichirin Blade, sending an invisible slash toward Nezuko, intending to end her life.
He was incredibly fast, reaching them in an instant.
Boom!
In a split second, the part of Nezuko that was still human asserted itself. Her will to protect Tanjiro took over, and she tightly hugged him, rolling to the left and tumbling several meters away, barely dodging Sanemi's deadly strike.
"Hmm?"
Sanemi paused, surprised by this turn of events.
It wasn't because Nezuko had evaded his attack, but because, for the first time since he had started slaying evil ghosts, he witnessed one protecting a human.
His brow furrowed, but he didn't dwell on it for long. In the next moment, he swung his blade again.
Whoosh!
This time, his swing created several sword gusts, the sharp gusts of wind tearing through the snow and heading straight for Nezuko, blocking off all possible escape routes.
Nezuko seemed to have exhausted herself with her previous action, and now she was unable to even dodge Sanemi's attack. Tanjiro could only watch helplessly as the invisible gusts of wind rushed toward them, his body unable to react in time even though his mind wanted to dodge.
A Nichirin Blade suddenly fell from the sky, accompanied by a streak of water.
Undead River Realize's sword gusts were directly blocked by the water curtain that came with the Nichirin Blade.
Immediately after.
A figure dropped from above, landing in front of Tanjiro and Nezuko. He pulled out the Nichirin Blade embedded in the ground; it was the Water Hashira, Tomioka Giyuu, with his black, messy hair.
"Tomioka, what are you doing?"
Undead River Realize frowned and asked, looking at Tomioka Giyuu, who had suddenly appeared and stopped him from killing the demon.
Tomioka Giyuu glanced at Nezuko and Tanjiro behind him and said, "They're a little special. Haven't you noticed?"
"So what?"
Undead River Realize said in a deep voice, "That girl has already turned into a demon. She is no longer human. Even if there's something strange, she's still a target that must be slain."
Tomioka Giyuu said in a low voice, "No. We've never encountered a situation where a demon protects a human before. I think that since there's an abnormality, we should observe it some more."
Undead River Realize was annoyed when he heard this. He had always disliked Tomioka Giyuu, and now he didn't want to waste any more words. He gripped his Nichirin Blade and coldly commanded:
"Get out of my way!"
"..."
Tomioka Giyuu stood expressionlessly, brandishing his Nichirin Blade, refusing to budge.
Hmph!
Undead River Realize snorted coldly and rushed towards Tomioka Giyuu. He had wanted to have a good fight with Tomioka Giyuu for a long time. Although they were both Pillars, he usually didn't like this person.
However, just as the two were about to clash, a gentle voice came from the treetops.
"We're here to pursue Muzan's traces. If the two of you start fighting here, I'm afraid the Master will be very unhappy. Can you stop?"
Swish.
Like a fluttering butterfly, a graceful figure descended from the tree. It was Insect Pillar, Butterfly Ninja.
The three of them were on a joint mission this time, tracking Muzan's traces, and they had been tracking them to this place.
"Hmph."
When Undead River Realize saw Butterfly Ninja smiling and blocking them, he finally just snorted lightly and sheathed his Nichirin Blade.
Tomioka Giyuu also sheathed his Nichirin Blade.
It was only then that Tanjiro, who had been standing stupidly to the side, finally joined the conversation. He struggled to stand up and asked the three of them, "Are you...?"
Even though he had almost been killed just now, he still used honorifics, and with his sunny-looking face, Butterfly Ninja's smile deepened, and he replied softly,
"We're from the Demon Slayer Corps, specializing in hunting demons. May I ask what your relationship is with that demon?"
"Nezuko? She's my sister."
Tanjiro looked at Nezuko.
At this moment, Nezuko had climbed up again and instinctively stood in front of Tanjiro, baring her fangs and snarling threateningly at Undead River Realize, Tomioka Giyuu, and the others.
Undead River Realize frowned, but Tomioka Giyuu was stunned, and Butterfly Ninja was even more surprised, sizing Nezuko up and down.
"Siblings? Even though she's completely turned into a demon, she can still resist the demon's desire for blood and protect her human brother instead... This is the first time I've seen this."
Butterfly Ninja looked thoughtful.
Compared to Undead River Realize and Tomioka Giyuu, she was skilled in medicine and had done a lot of research on demons, so she knew more and was more aware of how special Nezuko's situation was.
Normally, once someone becomes a demon, the demon blood flowing in their body will quickly overwhelm their rationality, leaving only a desire for blood and an endless craving to devour humans.
Even a person with a strong will would find it difficult to resist this craving once they turn into a demon.
According to her deduction, in order to resist the desire to eat humans after becoming a demon, the person must first have a pure heart, free from any evil thoughts towards the world, so that the evil thoughts will not be amplified by the demon blood.
Secondly, the person must also have an extremely strong will, driven by a certain purpose, like Nezuko, whose determination to protect Tanjiro was written all over her face.
In addition...
They must be completely free from Muzan's control! This was even more difficult. So far, she had never seen a demon escape Muzan's control, but according to top-secret information within the Demon Slayer Corps, there was a demon hundreds of years ago who had broken free from Muzan's control. However, due to the passage of time, the specifics were unknown, and it was also uncertain whether that demon was still alive in this world.
In any case.
Nezuko in front of them was very special, extremely special, a rare anomaly among demons.
(End of Chapter)
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