With sonic attacks from above, spear strikes in front, and Sekido and Karaku watching, ready to unleash lightning and wind at any moment, this was almost a perfect death trap.
Tanjiro was so nervous that his breathing stalled.
But Yamada, at the center of the encirclement, just lazily raised his left hand to perform hand seals.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Boom!
A massive, crimson fireball, over seven meters in diameter, erupted from Yamada's mouth without warning, colliding head-on with the ultrasonic wave in mid-air.
Sonic waves could indeed shatter physical defenses, but in the face of pure energy bombardment, Urogi's wave was instantly distorted and defeated.
The fireball, its power undiminished, slammed solidly into Urogi.
"Ahhh! So hot!" Urogi screamed, his wings scorched more than halfway, and he fell from the sky like a roasted chicken.
The moment Urogi was dealt with, Aizetsu's spear had already pierced to Yamada's chest.
"Got you... you sorrowful fellow." A hint of coldness flashed in Aizetsu's eyes.
Ding!
The spear tip stopped less than three inches from Yamada's heart.
Aizetsu opened his eyes wide in astonishment.
Yamada didn't block with his sword. Instead, he extended two fingers and steadily clamped onto the sharp cross-pattern spear tip.
No matter how much Aizetsu exerted the strength within his body, the spear was as if it had taken root, unable to move forward another inch.
"Your spear technique is trash, are you weak because you didn't have dinner?"
Yamada sneered and exerted force with his fingers, pulling it toward himself.
Aizetsu lost his balance and stumbled forward.
Yamada took the opportunity to raise his right leg, delivering a clean and swift knee strike that slammed hard into Aizetsu's face.
With a crisp crack, Aizetsu's nasal bone was shattered, and he flew backward, rolling seven or eight times on the ground before stopping.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Seeing this, Sekido and Karaku flanked him from the left and right.
The staff carried violent golden lightning, and the fan whipped up wind blades that tore through the air, simultaneously striking Yamada, who was standing there.
Rumble!
Dust and smoke rose, and gravel flew everywhere.
"Did we get him?" Karaku gasped, his fan still trembling slightly.
"Idiot! Look up!" Sekido suddenly roared.
Karaku looked up abruptly.
Yamada, who should have been smashed into pulp, had turned into a charred wooden stump.
And the real Yamada had, at some point, landed lightly above their heads.
"Looking for me?"
Yamada was upside down in mid-air, his Kusanagi Sword covered in a layer of blinding blue lightning.
Lightning Release: Chidori Current!
With Yamada as the center, the violent high-voltage electricity instantly transformed into a massive electric net, tightly enveloping Sekido and Karaku below.
"Ugh!"
Sekido and Karaku let out shrill screams simultaneously, their muscles convulsing wildly under the paralysis of the lightning, their skin charred inch by inch, and they were electrocuted until they collapsed to the ground, unable to even crawl.
In less than a minute, the four manifestations of Hantengu, hailed as the nightmare of the Demon Slayer Corps, were beaten unilaterally by Yamada alone, in all sorts of unreasonable ways, like children being toyed with by an adult.
Tanjiro and the others, who were watching the battle from afar, had completely lost the ability to speak.
Drool dripped from Inosuke's mouth onto the ground, while Zenitsu was pinching his own thigh, wondering if he was dreaming.
Is this the strength of a Special Executive Officer?
Not even using Breathing Styles, treating Upper Ranks like sandbags for fun?
"Boring."
Yamada landed lightly back on the ground, casually resting the Kusanagi Sword on his shoulder, and looked at the four demons lying scattered on the ground.
He didn't even have the interest to activate his Sharingan.
Whether in speed, strength, or energy level, these four clones didn't even count as a warm-up exercise in front of the current Yamada.
"Where is your main body, that cowardly old man, hiding?"
Yamada walked over to Sekido and kicked his charred cheek with his toe, "Hurry up, don't waste my time. If the four of you fuse together, maybe you can make me move enough to break a sweat."
Sekido lay on the ground, gritting his teeth tightly. Humiliation and rage made his sanity verge on collapse.
As Upper Rank four, he had never suffered such great humiliation.
The opponent wasn't fighting at all, he was unilaterally abusing and humiliating them.
"Unforgivable... absolutely unforgivable!"
A hysterical madness erupted from Sekido's bloodshot eyes.
He suddenly reached out, grabbed Karaku, who was still convulsing nearby, opened his bloody maw, and bit down.
"Fuse! I will crush you, this arrogant human, down to your very soul!!!"
Accompanied by Sekido's roar, Karaku's body instantly turned into a pool of flesh and blood and merged into his body.
Immediately after, Aizetsu and Urogi, who had just climbed up, were uncontrollably pulled by the suction force on Sekido's body, instantly merging into one.
A blinding light, accompanied by the nauseating sound of flesh and blood rearranging, exploded in the courtyard.
An aura ten times more terrifying than the previous four demons combined spread out like a tangible force, completely grinding the surrounding ruins into powder.
The dust and smoke dissipated.
A young demon, the size of a child, with five thunder drums floating behind his back, each engraved with the character "Hatred," slowly stood up from the deep pit. His eyes were cold, and his whole body radiated unhidden malice and hatred.
The strongest form of Upper Rank four—Zōhakuten!
"Bullying the weak... you evildoer."
Zōhakuten stared coldly at Yamada and struck the drums behind his back.
Several huge wooden dragons burst from the ground and circled around him.
"Bullying the weak?"
Hearing this term, Yamada felt as if he had heard some grand joke.
He held the Kusanagi Sword in one hand, a scarlet hexagram pattern emerging in the depths of his pitch-black eyes.
"After eating hundreds upon hundreds of defenseless humans, you turn around and label yourself a victim? You demons have such twisted logic that it makes me sick."
"Shut up!"
A flash of violence crossed Zōhakuten's eyes as he slammed the drumstick in his hand against the drum on his left.
Blood Demon Art: Crazy Shrieking!
"Roar!"
One of the wooden dragons circling in mid-air instantly dove down, its open mouth spewing a terrifying ultrasonic wave capable of shattering bones.
At the same time, two other wooden dragons flanked from the left and right, their mouths wide open, as violent hurricanes and golden lightning intertwined, sealing off all of Yamada's evasion space.
Wind, lightning, and sound waves—three types of Blood Demon Arts perfectly fused through the bodies of the wooden dragons, their power far exceeding that of the four clones fighting individually.