The webs cut the air like blades—each thread imbued with Rui's blood, sharpened into deadly strings. Tanjiro ducked and wove through the chaos, but his blade was too slow, his arms too wounded, and Rui's power… beyond anything he'd faced.
Nezuko had leapt into battle beside him, protecting her brother with her body, even as her limbs were sliced and bound. Rui didn't flinch. His cold, pale eyes showed no remorse.
"She's strong," Rui said, "but I need more than strength. I want a real bond. One like yours, Tanjiro Kamado. That's why I'll take her from you."
The threads tightened. Nezuko cried out.
Tanjiro screamed, "She's not yours!"
He lunged, blade high—but Rui's web snapped forward, and in a flash, it shattered Tanjiro's sword. The boy was sent tumbling, blood in his mouth, vision blurred. He rolled across the forest floor, lungs gasping for air.
This is it… I can't win…
The world slowed.
And in that breath between death and life, a presence touched his mind—a voice, quiet as morning wind, yet ancient as time itself.
"Do not forget the rhythm of your breath."
Tanjiro stood, confused. The battlefield faded into haze. Before him, emerging from the mist, was a tall man clad in red robes and a tattered cloak, his eyes soft but unreadable. A flute hung from his side. He looked at Tanjiro with a calm that steadied the boy's heart.
"The sun was the first flame. That which demons fear most. Within you lies its echo—passed through blood, through memory. Awaken it."
Tanjiro stared. "Who… are you?"
The man's answer was silence—but his form lingered in Tanjiro's heart.
And then, from the depths of memory, his father's voice surfaced. A dance under the snow. Movements delicate, deliberate. The Hinokami Kagura—the Dance of the Fire God.
Tanjiro's breathing slowed.
Changed.
Shifted.
He stood, clutching the hilt of his broken blade. The mountain wind circled him like fire.
"Nezuko… hold on!"
He dashed toward Rui, flames igniting in his steps.
"Hinokami Kagura: Dance!"
A spiral of flame erupted around his blade—faster, fiercer than water. The webbing burned, sliced clean. Rui's eyes widened, his body retreating, but Tanjiro pressed forward.
Slash after slash.
Each move echoed his father's dance beneath the stars.
But Rui was faster—his threads deadlier.
As a final web descended to take Tanjiro's head—Nezuko's blood flared.
Her veins glowed.
"Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood!"
Flames burst across the battlefield, burning through Rui's threads. In the crimson glow, Tanjiro and Nezuko moved as one—siblings united in fire and fury.
He brought his blade down—
"Hinokami Kagura: Clear Blue Sky!"
The slash cut through Rui's neck.
Silence fell.
The threads vanished.
And in the fading light, Tanjiro fell to his knees, chest heaving, Nezuko collapsing beside him.
But Rui's body… did not dissolve.
A shadow stepped forth.
Rui, unharmed, picked up his severed head. "You thought… that would kill me?"
Tanjiro's breath caught in his throat.
The real battle wasn't over.
But in his heart, a name whispered again.
Yoriichi.
The first swordsman.
The spirit who watched from beyond time.
And Tanjiro's flame… had just begun to burn.