Born from ninja heritage, Uzui Tengen's combat style among all the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps was quite unique.
Aside from those two uniquely shaped dual swords, he also loved throwing bombs during battle.
Those were small black gunpowder balls specially made by himself. Upon receiving a certain degree of impact, they would immediately explode with enough power to severely wound ordinary demons in an instant!
Normally when fighting demons, Uzui Tengen would suddenly throw out several of these, either using his dual swords to directly strike and detonate them, or swinging out attacks to indirectly trigger them, then taking advantage of the explosion's impact to launch fierce assaults.
In the past, this move of his had never failed.
After all, explosives were something that even demon bodies could hardly withstand—if hit directly by an explosion, they would shatter regardless.
In evenly matched battles, suddenly hitting a demon with one of these, he could often instantly gain overwhelming advantage, and might even cut off their necks in one go!
But this time was different.
Facing the several small explosives Uzui Tengen threw out, Ume showed no panic at all, instead demonstrating a heaven-shocking move right before his eyes!
She immediately retracted her long whip, her wrist shaking rapidly, spinning the whip body quickly before her to create circles of arcs, gently catching those small explosives in mid-air, then suddenly flicking forward—and actually pushed them all back?!
"NANI?!"
His eyes instantly widening, watching those small explosives flying back toward him, Uzui Tengen hurriedly retreated in shock.
In his entire life, this was the first time he had ever seen someone use this method to push back his thrown explosives!
What kind of joke was this! How could such a move even be possible?!
BOOM! BOOM BOOM!
After several explosions, Ume's long whip burst through the smoke and dust, attacking him once more.
"Damn it!"
Uzui Tengen hurriedly swung his dual swords to block, and the two entangled in combat again.
Generally speaking, there were only two methods to deal with special weapons like long whips.
Either find a way to get close and directly behead the opponent, or find a way to restrict the long whip so the opponent couldn't wield it.
But for the current Uzui Tengen, he could do neither.
For the former, this she-demon's combat technique far exceeded all demons he had encountered in the past. Not only was her whip mastery exceptional, but she was also extremely careful with her positioning, constantly maintaining distance from him without giving him any chance to close in.
For the latter, the whip in this she-demon's hands wasn't an ordinary whip either. Its body was covered in dense serrated chains—let alone trying to grab it with his hands, even lightly touching it would tear his skin open. There was no way to restrict it.
If this dragged on, he might really meet his end here tonight...
Meanwhile, in the ruins of the building behind them, relying on the flames on his blade, Tanjiro finally cut through the silk ribbons pinning him down and stood up.
"*Cough! Zenitsu..."
Gasping for breath, Tanjiro first glanced at Zenitsu lying heavily wounded in the distance. After confirming that Zenitsu still had signs of life, he then turned to look at Uzui Tengen, who was being suppressed by Ume to the point where he could only passively take hits.
[No good, Lord Sound Hashira alone can't handle this demon. I have to help...]
"DEMON, TAKE THIS!"
Taking a deep breath to adjust his breathing, Tanjiro raised his Nichirin sword and roared as he joined the battlefield.
"Hmm?"
Detecting the movement behind her at the first moment, Ume quickly glanced back, then shifted her foot, her figure rapidly moving to the right.
Previously Uzui Tengen was in front and Tanjiro was behind—they were about to form a pincer attack.
But with Ume's positioning shift, the two's positions changed once again to her left and right front, perfectly within the range where her long whip could simultaneously handle both sides.
"Idiot Tanjiro! If you're going to sneak attack, just sneak attack! What are you shouting for?!"
Raising his hand to block a strike from the long whip, Uzui Tengen, who had originally planned to coordinate a front-and-back pincer attack with Tanjiro, nearly lost his composure and couldn't help cursing loudly.
"I can't!"
In response, Tanjiro, who was also swinging his sword to block the long whip, shouted back:
"Lord Sound Hashira! Even in battle against demons, we must win with honor!"
"You... where did this blockhead come from?!"
"Haha, I didn't expect that scar-faced ugly thing to actually care about these things?"
Wielding her long whip, Ume glanced at Tanjiro, a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of her lips.
"Fine then, I can leave you a whole corpse later."
"Thank you! I'll also quickly cut off your head!"
"Stop talking nonsense! Pay attention to coordination! Let's charge her together!"
Sound Breathing · Fifth Form · String Performance!
Uzui Tengen roared, forcefully grabbing the chains at the hilts of his dual swords, spinning and swinging them like wheels of light that continuously deflected Ume's long whip, charging rapidly toward her.
No choice—when encountering a teammate who absolutely refused to sneak attack, he could only rely on strength and charge head-on!
"Alright!"
Sun Breathing · Eleventh Form · Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance!
Flames surged upward. Tanjiro took a deep breath and forcefully swung his Nichirin sword, charging up right behind.
With his movement, a dragon-shaped flame dragon formed from his blade, winding and breaking through Ume's long whip blockade, lunging straight toward her!
[Tch! These two...]
This combined attack from the two of them was using their full strength.
If it were just one person it would be fine, but with both of them together, Ume was already finding it somewhat difficult to handle.
"Blood Demon Art · Eightfold Ribbon Slash!"
From the underground all around, dozens of silk ribbons suddenly burst through the stone bricks, once again weaving into a sharp massive net, falling down toward Tanjiro and the other below!
"Haha! Useless, useless! These petty tricks have no effect on me!"
Standing in place, swinging out attacks together with Tanjiro to hard-resist the ribbon net overhead, Ume laughed loudly.
However, before two seconds passed, he saw these ribbons suddenly all retract.
"Ah, indeed. You two are really troublesome..."
Standing in place, letting these ribbons surge toward her like tidal waves, merging into her body from her hair tips, Ume coldly looked at the two before her, raising her head with a smile:
"So next... I'm going to get serious!"
With the ribbons' retraction, Ume's long hair turned from black to white, her entire aura rising to another level, even more powerful than before!
"Lord Sound Hashira, be careful! The demonic aura on her is thicker!"
His nose twitching slightly, Tanjiro hurriedly warned.
"I can see it! Damn it! Could this be her complete form?!"
Uzui Tengen's expression turned ugly.
The two of them had finally managed to suppress this demon, and yet she could become even stronger?!