Chapter 75: This is Trouble
"Teacher, this snow is way too heavy... are we really going up?"
Iguro Obanai pulled his collar tighter, and Kaburamaru on his neck shrunk into his chest from the cold.
Rengoku Kyojuro, on the other hand, was full of enthusiasm, looking eager to give it a go.
They were currently in the village at the foot of Mt. Kumotori.
"Yes, we must go up."
Ryuji looked up at the mountain peak shrouded in lead-gray clouds; the sense of unease in his heart grew stronger.
After saying that, he took the lead and prepared to ascend.
"Eh, you're going up the mountain again? The snow is too heavy; the roads are all blocked."
An uncle saw Ryuji and the others heading toward the mountain and gave a kind warning.
He remembered that it was this young man who had taken away the tyrannical Sasaki and sent him to the prison in the neighboring town.
"Young man, it's better to wait until the snow stops. Look, your Disciples are still so young..."
The uncle looked at Tokito Muichiro and advised, "What if they catch a cold? That wouldn't be good, would it?"
Ryuji looked at the kind uncle and said softly, "Uncle, thank you, but we have a mission and must go up. Besides, the snow isn't that heavy."
He glanced at Mt. Kumotori and then smiled, "Maybe it will stop in a while."
Tokito Muichiro spoke up at this time: "Thank you, Uncle, but I'm just short, not that young."
"Well then, be careful."
As he spoke, the uncle took advantage of Ryuji not paying attention and stuffed roasted sweet potatoes into the arms of the three little ones: "Take these; they'll keep you warm on the way."
After bidding farewell to the villagers, the group of four walked up the mountain path.
The snow was ridiculously heavy; if the four of them hadn't been well-versed in Breathing Techniques, it would have been truly difficult to Move.
Ryuji kept looking toward the summit; the closer they got, the stronger the unease in his heart became.
Suddenly, his eyes turned red.
"Keep up! I'm going ahead; there's a demon at the summit!"
He barked a low shout and immediately ran up the mountain at full speed, leaving a trail of snow mist behind him.
The three little ones, who hadn't reacted in time, were splashed with snow all over their faces.
"Cough, cough... Honestly."
Tokito Muichiro grumbled, but his speed increased even more, leaving a series of deep footprints in the snow.
"Keep up!"
Rengoku Kyojuro and Iguro Obanai didn't hesitate for a moment, immediately activating their Breathing Techniques and following closely behind.
They heard clearly: there was a demon on the summit.
Ryuji was in no mood to care about the Disciples behind him; the red light in his eyes grew brighter.
Observation Haki locked onto that familiar small wooden hut on the summit.
Don't let anything happen!
Please, let nothing have happened!
When he finally broke through the wind and snow and reached the summit, the scene before him made his heart instantly sink into an ice cellar.
The warm little wooden hut in his memory had now turned into ruins; broken wooden boards and beams were scattered everywhere, buried under thick snow.
A heavy scent of blood mixed with the cold air, pungent and desperate.
In the center of the ruins, Kamado Tanjuro lay in the snow covered in blood, with the logging axe he relied on for a living beside him; the blade was still stained with congealed dark red blood.
Where are Tanjiro and the others?
Ryuji's heart skipped a beat, and with a flash, he arrived by Tanjuro's side.
Within his Observation Haki perception, although Tanjuro's aura was as weak as a candle in the wind, he was still alive.
He quickly scanned the wounds on Tanjuro's body; they looked like they had been pierced by tentacles.
There were many wounds, but because of the cold weather, the blood loss wasn't massive; there was still hope.
Ryuji helped Tanjuro up; Tanjuro slowly opened his eyes, and the moment he saw Ryuji, his face suddenly regained some color.
A final surge of life? Ryuji's eyes narrowed.
"Cough, cough... Save my family... evil demon..."
Tanjuro coughed, his weak voice squeezing out of his throat.
"Don't talk, I'll treat you."
Ryuji said, starting to tear his robe into bandages to wrap Tanjuro's wounds.
At the same time, his Observation Haki spread out, frantically searching for the traces of Tanjiro and the others.
"System! System! Is there any Devil Fruit that can heal? A Mythical Zoan!"
Ryuji roared in his heart.
[Recommended exchange: Zoan Type, Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Phoenix Model.]
[This fruit allows the user to possess the Phoenix's Flames of Regeneration, which can quickly heal injuries and reduce bleeding, but cannot eradicate diseases.]
"Exchange!"
[Ding! Consumed 15,000 military merit points. Exchange successful.]
Ryuji didn't hesitate.
The next second, a warm current surged from his heart, instantly flowing through his entire body.
Perhaps because he had already eaten the azure dragon fruit, his reaction to this sudden increase in power wasn't intense.
Information on how to use the Phoenix fruit's abilities instantly flooded his mind.
Although it was only the most basic way to use it, it was enough.
He reached out his right hand, and a ball of warm but non-burning cyan-blue flame ignited in his palm, gently covering Tanjuro's wounds.
"Don't worry about me..."
Tanjuro grabbed Ryuji's arm and said with his last ounce of strength: "Go... go save Tanjiro... he led that evil demon... away..."
"Don't talk!"
Ryuji gave a low roar, the blue flames in his hand growing even stronger.
Tanjuro's wounds began to heal within the blue flames, but the speed wasn't fast.
Ryuji frowned, a red light flashed in his eyes, and his Observation Haki had already captured the target.
He perceived several weak and terrified auras in a cave on the back mountain; it should be Aoi hiding there with the children.
And deeper in the mountain forest further away, a familiar and resilient aura was entangled with another extremely evil demonic aura.
It's Tanjiro!
Ryuji increased the output of the blue flames; seeing Tanjuro's wounds slowly healing and his breathing gradually stabilizing, the heavy stone in his heart dropped slightly.
"Teacher!"
Tokito Muichiro arrived first, drawing his nichirin blade and standing guard by Ryuji's side.
Rengoku Kyojuro and Iguro Obanai arrived right after.
Ryuji set Tanjuro down and shouted loudly: "Tokito, you take care of him! Rengoku, Iguro, there are more people in the cave on the back mountain! Go there!"
"Understood!"
The three little ones responded simultaneously and immediately began to act.
After Ryuji finished speaking, his figure disappeared into the wind and snow again, heading straight for Tanjiro's location.
Please let nothing happen... In the dense forest of the back mountain.
"Huff... huff..."
Tanjiro held an axe, hacking through the bushes in front of him, gasping for breath as his lungs burned with pain.
His face was covered in blood, some of which had already frozen.
His whole body was screaming in agony, but he didn't dare stop, didn't even dare look back.
He only knew that he had to run, the further the better.
Father had already done his best.
Using that ordinary axe, he had forcibly held back that monster, buying them time to escape.
Now that the monster had caught up, it meant that Father... had already been killed.
Thinking of this, Tanjiro's eyes filled with tears; he shook his head, forcing himself not to think about it.
I am the eldest son; I must protect Mother and my siblings!
In an instant, only this one thought remained in Tanjiro's mind.
His mind calmed down, and he began to analyze the current situation.
Nezuko had already hidden with Mother and the younger siblings; he just had to lead this monster away!
The further away from them, the better!
So, he had to keep running... "Can you still run? You haven't turned into a demon yet? Truly miraculous..."
A mocking voice came from behind him; Tanjiro's eyes widened. This voice—it was that evil demon!
Originally having slowed down, he grit his teeth, pushed through the bushes, and continued running forward.
Behind him, a man wearing a sophisticated suit and a white fedora was following unhurriedly.
On that face, beautiful to the point of being eerie, hung a smile of interest.
Kibutsuji Muzan was very curious.
He had clearly injected his blood into this boy's body, so why hadn't the boy turned into a demon yet?
He could even burst forth with such tenacious vitality.
This reminded him of Ryuji.
Doma had once tried to turn Ryuji into a demon but failed; however, Doma said at the time that he hadn't injected much blood.
Could this boy be the same?
"I'll see just how much blood you can take."
Kibutsuji Muzan extended his index finger, and the fingertip instantly transformed into a pitch-black tentacle.
It thrust out in an instant, accurately piercing into Tanjiro's back.
"Pfft!"
Tanjiro's body stiffened as another surge of cold and evil power flooded his body.
But he just grit his teeth and continued to stagger forward.
He was fortunate that this evil demon didn't seem to have the intention of killing him immediately, as if playing with its prey.
This was fine.
This way, he could buy more time for Mother and his siblings.
Just a bit longer, just a bit longer.
Suddenly, a piercing pain came from his heart.
Tanjiro's vision went black, the axe fell at his feet, and he clutched his heart with both hands, still wanting to keep running.
But his body could no longer hold out, and he collapsed headfirst into the snow.
Even so, the veins on Tanjiro's face bulged, his expression contorted.
Can I only go this far?
Mother, Nezuko, Takeo, Shigeru, Rokuta, Hanako... I'm sorry, I can only go this far.
Father, I'm sorry, I couldn't protect Mother and my siblings.
Tanjiro's consciousness began to blur, but his body was still moving; his hands kept clawing at the snow, struggling to crawl forward.
"Oh?"
Muzan looked at Tanjiro, who was still crawling on the ground even after losing consciousness, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
This boy's willpower was truly terrifyingly tenacious.
To be able to withstand enough blood to transform into Lower Rank One without collapsing.
Good, truly good.
Luck is good today; although I didn't find the blue spider lily, finding such an excellent candidate for an Upper Rank isn't a wasted trip.
Let Doma take him... hm, forget it.
Let Kokushibo take him instead.
With Doma's personality, he'd probably break this Upper Rank candidate... Thinking of this, just as Muzan was about to strike again to completely turn Tanjiro into a demon.
A chill that made even his Soul tremble attacked from behind without warning!
His hair stood on end!
Before he could make any reaction, a terrifying roar tearing through the air reached his ears, along with a shout full of endless fury!
"Muzan! What have you done to Tanjiro!"
Muzan turned his head sharply.
He saw a black dot in the distant sky rapidly enlarging; the air around the figure was distorting, and a blinding red-black cross-shaped lightning bolt was condensing in front of him!
It was Ryuji.
What he felt from the other party wasn't just a sense of threat, but fear!
A trembling memory from the depths of his cells that had slept for nearly a thousand years.
Muzan's mind went blank for a moment.
It's that man!
The swordsman of the Sun Breathing who had backed him into a corner and made him hide like a stray dog for hundreds of years!
Tsugikuni Yoriichi!
Although the appearance and Moves were completely different, that sense of fear from his Soul being scorched by the sun was exactly the same!
"No, impossible!"
Muzan's heart let out a silent roar.
Ryuji indeed knew about Tsugikuni Yoriichi, and he had used that to intimidate him more than once.
Muzan had always thought it was all psychological warfare; he never believed Ryuji could reach the level of Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
Even after killing Gyokko and Akaza.
He didn't think Ryuji could be mentioned in the same breath as Tsugikuni Yoriichi, but now, he clearly realized he was wrong.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi has lived again!
His pride, his plans, the Upper Rank candidate... everything became insignificant at this moment.
He didn't even have time to think about why Ryuji possessed this kind of power.
Only one thought remained in his mind.
Survive!
I must survive!
This was his only creed, unchanged for a thousand years.
"Nakime! Quick!"
He roared frantically in his heart, calling for the life-saving charm that could let him leave the battlefield at any time.
At the same time, the tentacles on his back surged frantically, forming a thick meat shield in front of him.
However, Ryuji's attack came faster than the sound of Nakime's biwa!
BOOM!!!
The terrifying Fist Bone impact slammed solidly into the meat shield that had been hastily condensed.
In just an instant, the meat shield was destroyed.
The momentum of the fist wind didn't diminish, violently grazing past the distorting and disappearing Muzan.
"Pfft—"
In the final moment before the space closed, intense pain and horror struck.
When Muzan looked down, he found that the right half of his body had already turned into nothingness.
A large mouthful of black blood gushed out.
"Ryuji!"
He grit his teeth and uttered the name as his figure completely disappeared.
Ryuji slowly retracted his fist; even though he had deliberately held back his strength, the aftershock of the furious strike still shrouded the entire mountaintop in a white mist of snow.
He glanced at the spot where Muzan had disappeared and spat on the ground.
He runs fast.
Immediately, he turned his gaze to that small figure in the snow.
An extremely bad premonition surged in his heart.
He saw Tanjiro, who was originally on the brink of death, now slowly standing up from the snow.
He lowered his head, saliva dripping uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth, making a "he-he" strange sound.
When he looked up, Ryuji's heart went completely cold.
Half of Tanjiro's face had already completely demonized; his skin was grayish-blue, veins bulged, and one eye had turned into a blood-colored vertical pupil just like Muzan's.
"Tanjiro..."
Ryuji's voice was somewhat raspy.
"Roar!"
Responding to him was a roar that didn't sound human.
The demonized Tanjiro lunged at him violently.
Bang!
Ryuji simply stepped aside to dodge Tanjiro's lunge, while simultaneously delivering a precise hand-chop to the back of Tanjiro's neck.
Tanjiro's body went limp, and he directly fainted.
Ryuji caught his small body, looking at that face that was both familiar and strange, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
Finally, it only turned into a long sigh, dissipating in the sky full of wind and snow.
This is trouble.
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