Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya struggled desperately under the pressure of Zohakuten, a particularly terrifying clone of Hatengu.
Zohakuten stood before them, his body surrounded by five manifestations of emotion that radiated incredible power.
Tanjiro, with his breath catching and sweat dripping down his forehead, was trying to get up after being struck by one of Zohakuten's wooden attacks. "Nezuko! Genya! We can't go on like this... The sixth clone is too strong!"
Then Tanjiro shouted in a voice that sounded strained yet determined. "But we have to cut the neck of the original body!"
Tanjiro, despite trying to catch his breath with Kagura's Hinokami technique, began to feel fatigue gnawing at his body. Zohakuten's successive attacks were too fast and heavy to fully withstand.
His sword slashes were often deflected by the massive wooden attacks Zohakuten created, as if hitting a giant impenetrable wall.
Zohakuten beat one of the drums on his back. Suddenly, the wooden dragon created by Zohakuten's demon blood spouted high voltage electricity, targeting Tanjiro who was exhausted after fighting 4 Hatengu clones simultaneously.
Nezuko, who had just managed to dodge the attack of the wooden tentacles, looked at Tanjiro with burning eyes full of anger and determination.
Nezuko could not speak, but his eyes showed a determination to protect his brother, even though his body was starting to fatigue from the amount of demon blood he had used.
Quickly, Nezuko immediately moved to push Tanjiro's body, so as to avoid the high-voltage electric attack.
Rumble!
The electricity hit the ground until it was hollowed out. Tanjiro was grateful, "Thank you Nezuko!" he said tiredly, but his eyes were full of determination.
Then Tanjiro came to his senses, smelling the scent of bad intentions and his expression was instantly panicked, "Genya! Dodge quickly! An attack is coming from underneath you!"
Genya jumped and dodged just as the attack appeared from the ground. On the other hand, one of the wooden dragons opened its mouth, spitting out a powerful wave of wind, instantly knocking Genya away.
"Genya!" Tanjiro yelled at the top of his lungs as he saw Genya hit the ground, knocking several trees behind him down.
Genya immediately got up, with a staggering body and a rifle in his hand, growling in annoyance. "Stop yelling... I'm fine, damn it!"
"Damn it... my strength isn't enough against him!" Genya snorted loudly, looking at Zohakuten with frustration. "I've eaten demon flesh, but this power... still isn't enough!"
With staggering steps, Genya rushed back into the battle and forced himself to look very much like a demon from eating the flesh of one of Hatengu's clones.
Zohakuten furrowed his head and began to beat the drum attached to his back quickly and vigorously.
Dum! Dum! Dum!
Each beat seemed to summon a brutal and deadly force of nature. From behind Zohakuten, five wooden dragons moved ferociously, living under his control.
The wooden dragons crackled, writhing wildly and rampaging, ready to destroy anything in their path.
Without warning, three of the wooden dragons opened their jaws and spat out a bright blue lightning bolt with a red hue, scorching the air to create a thunderous roar of rage.
The flash of electricity struck towards Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya, traveling at a terrifying speed, creating a huge explosion as it hit the ground.
Seeing that, Tanjiro, Nezuko and Genya were separated as they immediately dodged. However, at the same time, another dragon let out a deafening sound wave, crashing into the air with tremendous force, making the ground shake violently.
While moving to dodge, Tanjiro and Genya instantly covered their ears, but the attack still disrupted their balance.
Suddenly, one of the dragons launched a pressure wave, hitting the ground hard, creating a gaping maple leaf-shaped crater. The attack put them all on the defensive, forcing Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya to desperately dodge it.
While Tanjiro and Genya focused on dodging attack after increasingly deadly attack, the two wooden dragons seemed to be specifically targeting Nezuko.
Although Nezuko nimbly tried to dodge each wave of increasingly intense attacks, the pressure was too great. He became too focused on the two dragons that kept chasing him, making his movements even more restricted.
Suddenly, from underground, a sixth wooden dragon appeared without warning. It darted quickly towards Nezuko, with its mouth wide open ready to attack.
Nezuko immediately jumped back with the intention of dodging, but his movement was too late. The dragon managed to bite his right hand with a jarring force, holding him in place.
The grip of the dragon's bite was so strong, it made Nezuko unable to move.
"Nezuko!" shouted Tanjiro in a panicked voice, his eyes wide with anxiety. Tanjiro's attention was instantly distracted, leaving him vulnerable to further attacks.
Zohakuten took advantage of this. With sharp focus, Zohakuten immediately controlled the wooden dragon that emerged from his Demon Blood Art, instantly swallowing Tanjiro whole without mercy.
Genya was distracted while watching Tanjiro being swallowed, and in an instant, Nezuko was bitten very strongly. "Tanjiro! Nezuko!" he shouted, his voice sounding harsh, but containing no ill will.
Since Genya's attention had been taken away, Zohakuten immediately took the opportunity. Controlling one of the wooden dragons, he attacked Genya by wrapping his body tightly around it, making him unable to use the rifle in his hand.
"Damn it!" growled Genya, his tone harsh, cursing his terrible fate as he struggled against the clutches of the wooden dragons that ensnared him.
In the midst of the frenzy like fire and smoke, El suddenly appeared with a speed that seemed to distort the space around him.
El rushed over, climbing the wooden dragon that swallowed Tanjiro mercilessly by continuing to run, without reducing his speed.
Taking out Metsu from inside the item storage ring, El immediately pulled Metsu from its sheath, revealing a black blade that glistened reflecting the cold moonlight.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Instantly, cold slashes with a visualization of burning flames that looked very beautiful, but also deadly were created on the body of the wooden dragon that swallowed Tanjiro.
In the next second, the wooden dragon was torn apart like it was in a meat grinder, but it saved Tanjiro from inside the dragon's body, which made Tanjiro float for a moment with a surprised expression.
Immediately, El stored the scabbard in his left hand in the item storage ring and grasped the back collar of Tanjiro's shirt, as if he was holding the neck of a cat.
El glanced at Tanjiro with a cold gaze, but did not have anything bad. "Sorry, I had to give Tokitou and Kotetsu a little help. But, Tanjiro, do you suck?" he said coldly. "I've trained you, how can it be swallowed?"
"Sorry, Uncle Adrian..." said Tanjiro with a guilty expression, "My left leg and left arm bones were broken from fighting those 4 demon clones for quite some time. But, are Kotetsu and Tokitou-kun doing well?"
"Just injured, don't worry." said El with a cold tone of voice, but trying to calm Tanjiro's worried feelings.
As he turned his gaze away, El saw Zohakuten who was staring at him while he was still in the air, slashing through several wooden dragon attacks and jumping from place to place.
At that moment, El and Hatengu's gazes met, watching each other coldly, creating an atmosphere that made the atmosphere around them seem frozen in tension.