Mount Kasumi!
An endless expanse of rugged mountains!
A crescent moon hung in the night sky, surrounded by a galaxy of stars.
At the foot of the mountain lay a courtyard.
This was the residence of the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito.
Known as a genius who became a Hashira in just two months, he was also the only Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps with a record of single-handedly defeating an Upper Moon. His prowess was undeniable.
Muichiro was a young boy with long black hair who was always expressionless and often lost in thought.
Due to amnesia, he lacked emotions, was taciturn, and indifferent to others.
He quickly forgot about trivial matters.
Despite his immense strength, Muichiro was now panting heavily, gripping his Nichirin sword and looking disheveled at the figure standing mid-air.
With white hair cascading over his shoulders, Wang Xu held a transparent thread in his hand, now dripping with blood.
It was the blood of the Mist Hashira.
After enduring three months of daily excruciating pain, Wang Xu had finally overcome sunlight.
The first target he set his sights on was the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.
His sixth sense told him that consuming influential individuals would make him stronger!
The Hashira, the Twelve Kizuki, Kibutsuji Muzan, and Tang An were his targets.
“Swish!”
Without any exchange of words, Wang Xu launched his attack.
He vanished from his spot and appeared before Muichiro, his right hand extending five fingers covered in transparent threads, gleaming as they sliced through the air.
“Mist Breathing, Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash.”
Muichiro remained indifferent, his expression unchanged, as he swept his pale blue Nichirin sword, emitting a white glow. Mist billowed like a gentle fog.
Sparks flew as the Nichirin sword clashed with the threads. Muichiro grunted, dropping to one knee, unable to withstand Wang Xu’s strength.
The air rippled as Wang Xu’s kick thundered towards Muichiro.
Muichiro didn’t block it head-on. He leveraged the force with his left hand, propelling himself backward as mist enveloped him.
“Mist Breathing, Seventh Form: Obscuring Clouds.”
The courtyard transformed into a sea of clouds, and Muichiro used his most potent disorienting attack.
Wang Xu stood still, losing sight of Muichiro.
Silently, Muichiro appeared to Wang Xu’s left, his Nichirin sword cutting through the mist like a soft wave.
Wang Xu flicked his fingers, releasing the threads towards Muichiro.
But in an instant, Muichiro vanished again.
Wang Xu frowned slightly.
Muichiro’s disappearance was peculiar, like a mirror image—there yet not there.
This time, Muichiro appeared on Wang Xu’s right, but as he revealed himself slowly, Wang Xu attacked again, and Muichiro disappeared once more.
Fast and slow, appearing and vanishing—very strange.
“I don’t have time for hide and seek. Birdcage.”
Standing in the mist, Wang Xu raised his left hand to the sky—countless transparent threads shot out, descending like a meteor shower, forming a sizeable arched birdcage.
“Mist Breathing, Second Form: Eight-Layered Mist.”
Not knowing what Wang Xu was doing, Muichiro instinctively felt a sense of danger.
He had to interrupt Wang Xu’s actions.
Emerging from the mist, Muichiro’s Nichiren sword unleashed eight consecutive strikes, each wave-like attack stirring a gentle mist, giving a sense of a spring breeze.
“Spider Web Wall.”
While Wang Xu’s left hand continued to shoot threads, his right hand swung, creating a spider web that shattered Muichiro’s eight misty slashes.
But the shattered mist didn’t disappear, instead passing through the spider web and striking Wang Xu.
In an instant, blood spurted from Wang Xu, his body riddled with deep wounds, and his right hand reduced to shattered flesh on the ground.
However, terrifyingly, Wang Xu’s wounds healed within three seconds, and his right hand regenerated in five.
This rapid regeneration made Muichiro’s heart sink.
“Mist Breathing, Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash.”
Muichiro attacked again, spinning to form a circular mist aimed at severing Wang Xu’s neck.
Knowing a demon’s weakness was the neck, Muichiro hoped to end it here.
But inexplicably, Wang Xu didn’t resist, letting his head be severed and sent flying.
With a flick of a thread, Muichiro lost an arm in the process.
“It’s done.”
Ignoring his left arm, Muichiro focused on Wang Xu.
But to his horror, Wang Xu’s severed head reattached to his neck, blood and flesh wriggling, restoring him in the blink of an eye.
A closer look revealed a thread connecting his head and neck.
Muichiro was sure he had severed the neck.
Why was this creature still alive?
Wang Xu attacked again, and Muichiro retreated into the mist!
Little did he know, Wang Xu had finished casting the birdcage, now enclosing the entire courtyard, tightening and cutting through everything, including rocks and buildings.
Muichiro realized he had to defeat this demon before the birdcage closed in, or he would die.
“Mist Breathing, Fifth Form: Sea of Clouds and Haze.”
The surrounding mist seemed to come alive, pushing Muichiro towards Wang Xu, his Nichirin sword gliding softly.
Wang Xu’s eyes remained calm as he withdrew to the birdcage’s edge, passing through it unscathed.
His body, covered in cracks, would have been shredded if he were human. Yet, Wang Xu healed within seconds.
“Shifting Flow Slash.”
With Wang Xu outside the birdcage, Muichiro attacked it.
But the threads were tough and sharp, and he couldn’t break through quickly.
Moreover, Wang Xu wouldn’t sit idly by. Threads shot out from his fingers like bullets, sweeping through the mist, making it impossible for Muichiro to evade.
The birdcage tightened, and Wang Xu’s relentless attacks turned Muichiro’s fight into a desperate struggle.
A minute later, Muichiro stood within the birdcage, the sharp threads digging into his flesh, blood gushing and soaking the ground.
Wang Xu stood outside, gazing indifferently at Muichiro.
A cloud passed over the moon, casting the courtyard into darkness.
When the moonlight returned, the birdcage was gone, leaving only a pool of blood and the shattered Nichirin sword.
Dawn broke, golden sunlight sweeping over.
Two figures quickly approached from the distance.
“Too late.”
Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu Kocho stood in the ruined courtyard, looking at the bloodstains and broken sword with grief and anger.
Shinobu carefully gathered the sword fragments in silence.
A crow flew in, circling overhead and speaking in human words.
“Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku was killed on the Mugen Train. The culprit is Tang An.”
“All Hashira, return to headquarters!”
Giyu and Shinobu looked up sharply, fists clenched.
The bad news kept coming.
At the same time, Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui, Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji, Serpent Hashira Obanai Iguro, and Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima also received the news.
Everyone headed to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.
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