"Forest Breathing, Third Form!"
"Blood Demon Art: Blade Style!"
Boom! Crash! Crack! Swish!
The relentless clashing of metal, two figures flickering in constant motion—colliding, chasing—the ground beneath them and the accumulated snow fracturing and scattering from the shockwaves of their battle.
Shinobu's anxious gaze never left the emerald-green figure, her distress growing with each passing moment.
The hand gripping the hilt of her Nichirin Blade tensed until veins bulged from her hand.
Swish!
The gray, lifeless eyes suddenly snapped open.
The sleepy Demon seemed to read Shinobu's thoughts as its weak voice reminded her.
"Little girl, don't move~"
Boom!
A violent explosion rang out as one of the two figures locked in midair combat plummeted, crashing into the ground and carving out a massive crater.
A slightly disheveled Shinichi wiped the blood from his lips.
His once peach-pink right eye had now turned crimson, his fangs slightly elongated as he roared.
"AGAIN!"
The emerald figure shot back into the sky!
"Shinichi-kun!" Shinobu could hold back no longer.
She didn't know who these two Demons were, nor did she care if they knew Shinichi or had once saved Giyu.
All she saw now was Shinichi getting hurt.
Swish!
Her slender Nichirin Blade flashed from its sheath, her body transforming into a streak of purple light under her extreme speed.
But just as Shinobu charged into the battlefield between Shinichi and Maito, a gray figure instantly blocked her path.
"I told you, little girl, don't interfere."
Boom!
A sharp kick lashed out from beneath the wide robes, forcing Shinobu to change direction and lose momentum as she landed lightly.
Swish!
Her slender Nichirin Blade now barred the way, Shinobu's beautiful face etched with cold fury.
The sleepy Demon's gray figure leisurely descended before her.
"I don't care who you are—move!" Shinobu's voice was colder than any who knew her had ever heard.
The sleepy Demon lifted his eyelids, glancing at the still-clashing Shinichi and Maito before sighing.
"What a nuisance. Blame Shokyu for disturbing my sleep. But since I'm awake now, I can't just stand by. Sorry, little girl, but I won't budge."
Before the words even faded, a sharp glint of steel shot towards his face.
Ssskrt!
The slender Nichirin Blade pierced through gray robes—but the sleepy Demon had already sidestepped Shinobu's lightning strike.
Yet the cold-faced Shinobu wasn't done.
If this ugly Demon wouldn't yield, then the enraged girl would hold nothing back.
"Insect Breathing: Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon!"
Ssskrt! Ssskrt! Ssskrt!
A relentless storm of piercing strikes screamed towards the sleepy Demon, the gleaming tip of her blade now coated with lethal wisteria poison.
Yet astonishingly, despite his troublesome wide robes, the sleepy Demon moved with impossible speed, evading Shinobu's continous assault with eerie ease.
Crack! Boom!
Finally seizing a fleeting opportunity, Shinobu thrust her blade forward.
The 'sleepy Demon barely dodged, yet the sharp Nichirin Blade struck his arm with a crisp metallic clang—as it failing to pierce through his skin!
Realizing he couldn't evade the attack, the sleepy Demon decisively flung open his oversized gray robe, revealing a surprising figure beneath, though wrapped entirely in ashen-white bandages.
In an instant, the billowing robe transformed into a cape, fluttering wildly in the icy wind behind the demon.
His long, ink-black hair was swept aside, exposing half of a pale face and gray eyes—now devoid of their usual lethargy, instead gleaming with unmistakable admiration as he gazed at Shinobu.
Raising his arm, the demon revealed a pair of pale, bone-like gauntlets encasing his limbs—the very reason Shinobu's strike had been deflected.
"Little girl, your speed is impressive, and your movements are nimble. Poisoned your blade too, didn't you? How interesting~ Let big sister teach you how to *really use toxins!"*
Strangely, the demon's once-sluggish, aged voice now dripped with a sultry, magnetic allure.
Shinobu's eyes widened in surprise, it turns out the sleepy demon was a she!—but in the next moment, the sleepy Demon vanished without a trace.
"Blood Concealment Art: Withered Blood Needle Sea!"
The seductive whisper echoed behind her.
A surge of danger prickled Shinobu's instincts and she instantly pivoted, narrowly dodging as—
Thwick-thwick-thwick!
Countless razor-sharp needles embedded themselves into the ground where she'd stood moments before.
Upon impact, snow and soil alike dissolved into noxious black ooze—proof of the lethal poison coating each projectile.
"What is this...?" Shinobu barely registered the scene before the demon's voice purred again.
"No daydreaming, little one~"
"Insect Breathing: Dance of the Bee Sting—True Flash!"
"Oho, coming at me? Blood Concealment Art: Withered Blood Slaughter!"
Two rust-colored daggers materialized in the demon's grasp, clashing violently with Shinobu's Nichirin Blade in a shower of sparks.
******
BANG!
Maito staggered back, clutching his chest where a distinct boot print now marred his clothing.
"Damn, Shinichi... You've grown frighteningly fast."
Grinning, he tightened his grip on the bloodied longsword—only to freeze mid-motion as an eerily familiar presence washed over him.
Golden eyes widened in shock as the demon turned towards the source, his smirk vanishing.
"...Since when did that idiot get so serious?"
Maito was stunned.
In all the years since they'd met, he had never seen Lee (The sleepy demon) exert her full strength.
Even her origins were shrouded in mystery—rumored to have been dug out of the earth by Shokyu long ago.
As a demon, her memories were fragmented.
Only vague fragments of memories remained: a sense of being foreign to this land, and even her language had been painstakingly relearned over time.
As for her identity, the sleepy demon could only vaguely recall that she seemed to have once held a profession—one called an assassin?
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