Chapter 71

As the long hair, resembling spiraling spears, attacked, Tanjiro recalled his training in the mountains. His body began to move swiftly from side to side, dodging the piercing hair.

At the same time, Tanjiro quickly adjusted his breathing. A stream of water suddenly emerged from the Nichirin Blade in his hand, and the Water Breathing Technique's First Form was perfectly prepared.

After dodging the long-haired demon's piercing attack, Tanjiro leaped up, landing on the hair that had been shot at him. He then began to run rapidly on the demon's hair.

In his dark vision, the line of weakness had appeared, and Tanjiro was confident that he could end the demon with the "Water Surface Slash" as he approached.

Unfortunately, his imagination was too good. Tanjiro clearly underestimated the long-haired demon, treating it like the ordinary demons he had encountered before.

A demon that could use "Blood Demon Art" was fundamentally different from ordinary demons, and the gap between them was vast.

Relying on his rapid running on the demon's hair, Tanjiro had already approached the long-haired demon and caught the line of weakness.

However, just as Tanjiro was about to strike, the long-haired demon suddenly wrapped itself completely in a large amount of hair, and the line of weakness that Tanjiro had sensed instantly disappeared.

The slash, like a water blade, cut through the demon's hair, severing a significant amount of it, but the Nichirin Blade failed to hit the vital spot.

The attack was defended, and Tanjiro was now in a floating state. Before he could react, the long-haired demon quickly counterattacked.

A large amount of hair condensed into a sharp spear, aiming to pierce Tanjiro through.

The intense sense of impending death prompted Tanjiro to enhance himself once again in battle. At the last moment, he used the Nichirin Blade to block the fatal attack.

Sparks flew from the Nichirin Blade. Although the blade saved Tanjiro from being pierced, the massive impact sent him flying.

The force was so great that he crashed through a large tree and spat blood in the air.

"Not only did you trample my proud hair, but you also brutally cut it. I will drain you dry and make you one of my hair ornaments forever!"

The long-haired demon, looking at the hair on the ground that Tanjiro had cut, twisted in anger.

Tanjiro, who had been sailing smoothly, did not expect such a powerful demon to exist on Mount Tsugizakura.

But now, he could only keep telling himself that he was strong and could defeat the demon.

Enraged, the long-haired demon unleashed its full "Blood Demon Art," and a large amount of hair shot towards Tanjiro like spears.

Tanjiro, who had barely managed to stand up with the Nichirin Blade, saw the hair spears raining down and thought about using the Water Breathing Technique's Third Form, "Flowing Dance," to dodge the attack.

However, this idea was quickly discarded because, although "Flowing Dance" was the fastest technique in the Water Breathing Technique, it was still too slow to dodge the extensive coverage of the hair spears.

Tanjiro's vision began to blur as he watched the hair spears falling from the sky. Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

In front of Tanjiro, an illusory figure appeared, moving with special steps, like a flowing wind, swiftly dodging the hair spears.

Although the figure moved extremely fast, in Tanjiro's eyes, its movements were infinitely slowed down, replaying over and over again.

The figure, moving like a swift wind, was not new to Tanjiro. His body began to move involuntarily, trying to follow the steps and movements of the illusory figure.

Tanjiro's figure began to blur, and his speed increased. Although he could not catch up with the figure in front of him, his speed far exceeded that of the "Flowing Dance."

Outside, the long-haired demon watched Tanjiro, who moved like a flowing wind, dodging the hair spears with increasing ferocity.

The long-haired demon saw the shadow of another person in Tanjiro.

Because of that person, he, who should have been living a comfortable life, was now in this desolate place.

Although Tanjiro had different hair color and appearance, the long-haired demon now saw him as that person and began to vent his hatred for Yudai onto Tanjiro.

By chance, Tanjiro had grasped a bit of the essence of Yudai's "Swift as the Wind," and his movement speed was now much faster. The long-haired demon's dense attacks could no longer touch him.

Although Tanjiro could feel that his speed with this technique was still far from Yudai's, he saw an opportunity for victory. The flowing wind represented speed, and the sharp water represented the blade.

Relying on his absolute speed advantage, Tanjiro dodged the long-haired demon's attacks one after another and quickly approached the demon's position.

The long-haired demon tried to use the same trick again, planning to wrap itself in hair to defend against Tanjiro's attack.

But Tanjiro had already found the long-haired demon's weakness.

The demon's hair was hard and both offensive and defensive, but it took time to retract after an attack.

If it were the previous Tanjiro, even with the fastest "Flowing Dance," he would not have been able to catch up with the hair's retraction time.

But now, with a bit of the essence of "Swift as the Wind," although it was still a bit of a stretch, if the timing was right, he could surpass the speed of the hair's retraction.

"Water Breathing Technique, Seventh Form: Droplet Wave Thrust!"

The Nichirin Blade in Tanjiro's hand, enhanced by his swift speed, delivered a rapid thrust. The tip of the blade, like a ripple piercing the water, instantly pierced the long-haired demon's heart.

"So you are that person's disciple..."

In the long-haired demon's falling vision, Tanjiro's back turned into that of a boy in pure black clothing. The boy's strength was even more despair-inducing.

"This is a Blood Demon Art user? Your level is so low. Although I'm sorry, you can't die yet. I need you to take the blame for me.

Well, since you've eaten so many people, this is also a punishment for you..."