"Kagura..."
Young Takeo softly repeated the name the man had spoken.
This was the Kagura dedicated to the God of Fire—a sacred dance passed down through generations of the Kamado family.
That was how the man beside him explained it.
"Yes, the Kagura devoted to Lord Kagami was performed by me till now, but it will be performed by Tanjiro every year during the festival from now on, in His honor."
"Can I dance too?"
Takeo looked up at the man and asked eagerly.
"Hehe, then you'll have to ask Tanjiro," the man chuckled. "But I think... Tanjiro won't say no to you."
The man continued to gently stroke Takeo's head as he turned his gaze to the boy in the center, who was practicing the Dance of the Fire God.
That boy was Tanjiro Kamado—Takeo's older brother.
As Tanjiro performed the Kagura, something went wrong. He suddenly collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
Takeo and a few other children quickly rushed over to help him up. But the man sitting by the doorway didn't move. He simply watched with a gentle smile and called out:
"Mind your breathing, Tanjiro."
"Y-Yes, Father!"
"Breathing is very important."
Tanjiro took their father's words to heart, and Takeo, who had been by his side, etched the moment deeply into his memory.
…
Breathe… Kagura…
Takeo no longer had time to question why these memories surfaced now. His body moved on instinct. More intense and powerful breaths surged from his lungs, replacing his usual Wolf Breathing in an instant.
Surprisingly, the side effects of forcibly switching Breathing Techniques were much milder than expected.
Not only could Takeo still move—he felt stronger and faster than before!
This was the Hinokami Kagura—the Dance of the Fire God, passed down through generations of the Kamado family!
"The Dance of the Fire God… Hinokami Kagura…"
It felt as if flames erupted with each breath—hotter, more violent than the Breath of Flame. These were flames capable of dispelling darkness and shadows, now blazing along Takeo's blade.
Under the searing heat, the Shadow Demon's laughter abruptly stopped.
He stared in shock at Takeo, who had shifted to a different breathing technique and was now surrounded by raging fire, and a sense of dread welled up in his chest.
What is that?
What is that??
Why… why am I so afraid? He only changed his technique…
Wait—he's coming!!
Paralyzed by a moment of disbelief, the Shadow Demon failed to react in time—and that hesitation gave Takeo the perfect opportunity to strike back.
Scorching flames rippled with every movement, and wherever they touched the ground, they burned away the shadows that had blanketed the entire room.
Takeo moved with incredible speed, and the attacks unleashed through Hinokami Kagura were swift and unrelenting!
In the blink of an eye, Takeo—who had just been sent flying—was already in front of the wall where the Shadow Demon was hiding!
Hinokami Kagura – Burning Bone Summer Sun!
His spinning blade struck the wall with explosive force, engulfed in searing flames. A bloodcurdling scream rang out immediately from within the wall.
"AAAAAAGHHHH!!! What is this?! What IS this?!"
The Shadow Demon's form writhed along the surface, and fresh blood gushed from the wounds as if from a broken dam.
He couldn't heal.
After being struck by a flame-infused blade, the Shadow Demon's regenerative abilities were suppressed.
His wounds refused to close—far slower than he expected—and the lingering burn made him writhe in agony.
Desperate, the Shadow Demon thought of a solution: possession. If he hid within a human host, the opponent's blade might not be able to harm him!
That was his plan—until he looked up… and saw Yoshizuru Asato standing over the corpse of a Demon Slayer, sword in hand.
"What?!"
This kid… he actually killed one of his own?!
Aren't the Demon Slayer Corps strictly forbidden from harming each other?!
The Shadow Demon stared, stunned by Asato's action.
Yoshizuru Asato wiped the blood from his blade, a twisted grin spreading across his bloodstained face—more terrifying than any demon's.
"Ah~ One of the twelve kisuki huh? What's the matter? Planning to run again?"
"Damn you!!"
The Shadow Demon ignored Asato and lunged toward the next person in the room.
But at that moment, Asato exploded forward with speed that rivaled even the Shadow Demon's, reaching the scholar the demon intended to possess a split-second earlier.
"Wait—" The scholar looked up and saw Asato, just about to beg for his life. But the blade was faster than his voice.
Swoosh—!!
Steel flashed through the air. The scholar's head was severed cleanly from his body, hitting the floor with a dull thud.
The Shadow Demon froze in shock, then flew into a rage.
"You…! The Demon Slayer Corps actually strikes down its own?! You're no different from us!"
There weren't many rules within the Demon Slayer Corps—but the few that existed were ironclad.
First: Never attack your fellow Corps members.
Second: Never harm innocent humans.
And just now, Asato had broken both.
Of course, those rules didn't apply to the demon, so he wasn't truly outraged by the act itself.
What truly made the Shadow Demon furious… was that now, only one "hiding place" remained!
Asato had mercilessly slain every human the demon had embedded his shadows in—whether they were comrades or civilians.
Asato himself was the only one left!
"What's wrong, Lower Moon Three? Nowhere left to hide?"
Asato shouted, his mouth stretched into a wild grin that made him look more terrifying than an actual demon.
The Shadow Demon seethed with rage. He darted through the shadows, finally choosing the only person in the room who still carried one of his shadow seeds.
Yes—Asato himself.
The Shadow Demon could travel freely between shadow seeds, but only within a limited range. They had to be close. Otherwise, the puppets he controlled outside could serve as vessels—but not from this distance.
His only option now was escape. If he could flee this place, the puppets he'd stationed beyond these walls would be enough to preserve his life.
Killing Takeo was no longer a priority. Right now, survival was all that mattered. He had to survive—no matter what.
Where there's life, there's hope.
Ignoring Asato's taunts, the Shadow Demon plunged into his body. His grinning face emerged from Asato's abdomen as he let out a frenzied laugh.
"Muahaha!! So what?! I'm inside him now—what are you going to do? Kill your own comrade? That little brat over there—can he bring himself to strike? This guy matters to you, right? He's your friend, isn't he? You won't do it! Guahahaha!!"
He cackled madly from within Asato.
This was the weakness of humans. They were ruled by sentiment—blinded by foolish emotions like "family," "friendship," and "love."
But when your friends and loved ones are hurt right in front of you, no matter how cold-hearted you are, anger will inevitably surge forth.
Once a loved one becomes a puppet of the Shadow Ghost, it's difficult—nearly impossible—for anyone to strike them down directly.
The Shadow Ghost had used this tactic to escape from Demon Slayers before he even became one of the Twelve Kizuki. And now, he was doing the same thing again.
He thought he had already secured victory.
But what he didn't expect was that the moment Asato was possessed, he suddenly adjusted his breathing and distributed it throughout his entire body.
At that moment, the Shadow Demon sensed something was wrong.
"Hey, it's breathing, right?" Asato's voice echoed like a devil's whisper in the Shadow Demon's ears. "You can't control me—only torture me—because I've filled every inch of my body with concentrated breathing. It interferes with your 'shadows,' doesn't it?"
"…You… you…! What are you planning to do?!"
The Shadow Demon could feel it. The body he had just entered now felt like a cage—tight, suffocating, and inescapable.
It was the breathing technique.
Yoshizuru Asato's concentrated breathing had trapped him.
_________
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