The days of rest were a blessing in name only.
Even as ribs mended and bruises faded, Tanjiro's spirit remained clouded.
The thought gnawed at him—Nezuko, his sister, bound to a fate she didn't ask for. And now, Willow, kind and strong, burdened with a secret just as heavy. A half-demon with a demon father. It felt like his world was spinning faster than he could keep up with.
Zenitsu didn't help either. Ever since learning that Nezuko was Tanjiro's sister, he had been bowing and nodding every time they crossed paths.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't know! Please forgive me for not being respectful enough! Please allow me to marry your sister—!"
"Zenitsu!!" Tanjiro snapped, flustered for the fifth time that day.
Meanwhile, Inosuke continued ramming his head into things—walls, door frames, people.
"FIGHT ME, Blood god!" he bellowed, lunging at Kokushibo.
"No," Kokushibo said simply, stepping aside dodging with minimal movement.
"COWARD!" Inosuke shouted, his boar mask now looking angry.
The Wisteria house felt anything but peaceful.
Then, just as the group's bones began to heal and their strength returned, Tanjiro's crow arrived in a flurry of wings and cawing.
"Emergency summon! Emergency summon!" he squawked. "Proceed to Natagumo Mountain immediately! No delay!"
They hurried to prepare. The old woman of the house gave them gentle farewells, lighting small sparklers as they departed. "To ward off evil spirits," she said softly.
Soon they arrived at the foot of the mountain. It loomed dark and ominous, cloaked in mist and a stench of something... wrong.
Zenitsu looked up the path and stopped. "W-Wait! Hold on!" he whimpered. "I'm really scared, okay?! This place… something's wrong with it."
"You're pissing me off!" Inosuke growled. "Go home and cry, coward!"
Then a voice cut through the tension.
"Help… someone… please…"
They all turned to see a demon slayer boy crawling toward them, bleeding and trembling. Tanjiro rushed forward, helping the boy sit up.
"What happened? Are you alright?"
The slayer's mouth opened, but his body jerked back, pulled by something unseen.
Before he could be yanked deep into the mountain, a glint of steel flashed.
Willow's blade sliced through the air.
The thread snapped.
The boy slumped to the ground with a gasp, clutching his chest.
"T-Thank you," he breathed. "There are others… trapped inside… help them."
"You're safe now," Willow said gently, pulling a small velvet pouch from Philza, her crow. "Take this. Wisteria. It'll ward off demons. Stay here."
With a grateful nod, the boy tucked it close to his heart and lay still.
"You're safe now," Willow said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Philza."
Her crow fluttered down with a small leather pouch. Willow handed it to the boy.
"Wisteria. If any demon comes near you, this will keep them away. Stay hidden. Wait for help."
The boy nodded, clinging to the pouch like a lifeline.
Tanjiro, Willow, and Inosuke pressed forward.
Zenitsu stayed behind, trembling. "I'll just… wait here…"
As they advanced into the forest, an eerie silence swallowed them. The deeper they went, the darker the sky seemed to grow.
Suddenly, another demon slayer burst from the brush. He froze when he saw them.
"You… why did they send more rookies?" he asked, his voice hoarse. "We need a Pillar!"
Tanjiro stepped forward. "We'll do everything we can. What happened?"
"We followed our orders. Ten of us entered… then… Everyone started attacking each other. They weren't themselves."
They didn't get far before the horror began.
From the shadows, corpses moved.
Slayers—once alive—now puppets on invisible strings, their limbs jerking unnaturally, faces blank.
"Hey! What the hell?!" Inosuke roared, raising his swords.
"They're being controlled," Tanjiro said quickly, stepping between Inosuke and one of the puppets. "Don't kill them. They're still fellow slayers."
A faint, sweet scent lingered in the air.
Tanjiro's eyes narrowed. He ducked low and slashed behind one of the slayers. Thin, glistening threads snapped and the body slumped unconscious.
"They're being manipulated with threads! Cut the strings!"
But then Tanjiro felt a crawling sensation on his arm. He looked down.
Two spiders. White, fanged, now trying to connect Tanjiro to some string.
He sliced them off in a panic.
"They're using spiders to attach the strings," he said, grimacing at the sting. "But it's not enough to just kill the spiders or cut the threads. We need to find the one controlling them!"
"Inosuke!" Tanjiro shouted. "Use your instincts! Try to find the demon!"
Before Inosuke can do anything a voice cuts through the mountain.
A figure floated down slowly, walking on a web of threads like a tightrope.
He was small. Childlike. But there was something ancient in his blood-red eyes.
"Don't disturb our family's peaceful life here," the demon said calmly.
Willow's breath caught. " Rui. Lower Moon Five. "
Rui's expression remained neutral. "Because you will all… be killed by Mother… in the next few moments."
He turned and walked away, disappearing into the canopy above.
"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Inosuke howled, leaping for him—only to fall short.
Willow narrowed her eyes. "He's not the one controlling the strings!"
"Inosuke!" Tanjiro shouted. "Use your instincts! Try to find the demon!"
"Leave it to me!" Inosuke jammed both blades into the soil.
"Breath of the Beast—Seventh Fang: Spatial Awareness!"
He closed his eyes. The world around him pulsed.
Inosuke's sharp sense of touch spread through the terrain, reading every vibration, every breath of air through the trees.
"I got it… FOUND IT! THERE!" he yelled.