The gate between worlds trembled as Tanjiro stepped through, his black Zanpakutō gripped tightly in hand.
The blade's surface gleamed faintly under a spectral light, reflecting memories he had tried to bury for two thousand years.
The moment his foot crossed the threshold, he was engulfed by an endless stream of visions — fragments of a life once lived.
---
The Lost Memories
Warm laughter filled his mind — Nezuko giggling as she tried to balance a basket of apples on her head.
Zenitsu screaming in terror during training.
Inosuke's wild laughter echoing through the mountains.
And Giyu… silently watching over them from the shadows.
These were the moments Tanjiro had fought to preserve, the fleeting warmth that had once given his heart meaning.
But as the memories swirled, the brightness began to fade. The warmth twisted into cold, the laughter warped into screams.
Suddenly, the memories stopped. The sky around him darkened.
Before him, in the vast void, appeared a colossal image — a face that filled the horizon.
White skin. Red eyes. That mocking smile.
Muzan Kibutsuji.
The same monster who had once controlled Tanjiro's body after his death.
Tanjiro froze, his throat tightening.
"What… what is this?" he whispered, eyes wide in disbelief.
The vision smiled wider.
Its voice slithered through the void, echoing like venom.
> "Kamado Tanjiro… did you really think death would free you from me?"
Tanjiro's heart pounded — not from fear of Muzan, but from the terror of what he might find beyond this portal.
What if Muzan had truly won?
What if Nezuko… and everyone else… were gone?
His chest felt tight, but he forced himself to breathe.
"No," he murmured. "Even if it's true… I have to see it myself."
With that resolve, Tanjiro stepped forward.
The visions shattered like glass, and the world spun into darkness.
---
Falling from the Sky
He was falling — through endless clouds, through layers of spirit and reality.
Wind screamed past his ears. Below him, a world came into view — mountains, rivers, and forests that felt achingly familiar.
Tanjiro gritted his teeth.
In the Soul Society, he had learned to control his body even without gravity.
He focused his Reiatsu, compressing the Reishi particles in the air beneath his feet.
For a moment, his fall slowed. Then stopped.
Now, suspended in the open sky, Tanjiro took his first calm breath in his home world after two thousand years.
"So it's true," he muttered. "The air here still holds life… not spirit energy."
He descended slowly, like sunlight piercing through clouds.
---
The Empty Land
Tanjiro landed in a dense forest — one he knew by heart. The scent of pine and damp earth… the faint memory of Demon Slayer Corps patrols…
"This forest…" he whispered. "It surrounds the headquarters."
His heart leapt.
If the Demon Slayer Corps was still here, then maybe… maybe someone had survived.
He rushed forward. The forest opened to reveal a large shrine — cracked, covered in moss and dust.
The once-sacred home of the Ubuyashiki family stood in ruins.
Tanjiro ran up the broken steps.
"Master Ubuyashiki! Anyone—please!"
Only silence answered.
Thick dust covered the floorboards; cobwebs clung to the walls.
It looked as though no one had stepped foot here in centuries.
His voice trembled. "How long… has it been since I left this world?"
He turned toward the east.
"If the Demon Slayer Corps is gone, then maybe… the Butterfly Mansion…"
Tanjiro dashed across the overgrown paths until the familiar structure came into view.
But what he found made his stomach twist.
The Butterfly Mansion stood lifeless — walls cracked, doors shattered, and claw marks carved deep into the wood.
The faint, sweet scent that once filled the air had long vanished.
"These marks… demon claws," Tanjiro murmured. "They attacked this place too…"
He walked inside, his footsteps echoing through the emptiness. Dust floated like ash in the light.
Finally, he sank to his knees.
"Nezuko… Zenitsu… Inosuke… Giyu-san…"
His voice broke.
"Where… are you all?"
His hands clenched, trembling.
He wanted to scream, but he swallowed the pain.
Tears burned behind his eyes — but he didn't let them fall.
After a long silence, Tanjiro stood again. His expression hardened.
"No. I can't break now. I'm stronger than I was before."
He looked toward the horizon. "I'll find them… no matter what it takes."
---
Journey to the Swordsmith Village
Tanjiro gathered his Reiatsu and shot into the sky, leaving behind a glowing trail of spirit light.
The wind roared against him as he soared toward the direction of the old Swordsmith Village.
But as he descended and the village came into view, dread filled his heart.
The streets were empty.
No voices. No smoke. No life.
Tanjiro frowned. "Could it be… that they can't see me? I'm still a soul."
Then it struck him — the words of Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the Soul Society's eccentric scientist.
> "If you ever wish to interact with the living world again, consume this. It will reconstruct a temporary gigai — a human vessel."
Tanjiro reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal box. Inside, a small orange insect twitched faintly.
He grimaced. "Do I really have to eat this thing?"
After a moment of hesitation, he sighed. "Guess there's no other choice."
He swallowed it. The insect dissolved instantly, and light spread across his form. His spirit condensed, flesh returning, bones and breath reforming.
When the glow faded, he stood there — alive, human once again.
His black uniform shimmered faintly in the sunlight.
"Looks like it worked," he said softly.
---
The Awakening of the Serpent
But before he could move, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble.
A massive shadow spread across the forest.
Then the earth split apart — and from the depths rose a colossal snake demon.
Its scales shimmered like molten iron, and its hiss shook the air. The creature's body was so enormous that the surrounding mountains looked like hills in comparison.
Tanjiro's eyes widened. "What… what is this thing!?"
The serpent lunged, its jaws opening wide enough to swallow a house whole. Tanjiro leapt into the air, using the Reishi in the atmosphere to stabilize himself mid-flight.
Before he could counter, several flying creatures swooped down from the clouds.
They were winged demons — grotesque, humanoid figures with bat-like wings and glowing red eyes.
"Human flesh!" they screamed, laughter echoing through the skies. "Human flesh! Give us the human!"
Tanjiro's grip on his sword tightened.
"So… demons can fly now?"
He parried their first strikes easily, his movements fluid and precise.
But then the serpent below reared back, its throat swelling.
A torrent of venomous mist erupted upward — black, corrosive, sizzling as it touched the air.
Tanjiro darted aside, barely dodging it.
The venom splashed against a nearby mountain, melting rock into liquid in seconds.
He exhaled slowly. "I see. The poison alone could kill a hundred people instantly."
From above, the flying demons continued their assault, while below, the serpent circled, waiting for an opening.
Tanjiro was surrounded.
---
The Release of Power
He closed his eyes for a brief moment. The memory of Shunsui's voice echoed in his mind.
> "Your Reiatsu reflects your soul. When you release it, the world will remember your existence."
Tanjiro inhaled deeply.
"Then remember me," he whispered.
His Reiatsu flared — a blazing eruption of light and pressure that split the clouds apart.
The sky turned crimson-gold as the sheer force of his spirit energy rippled through the land.
The flying demons screamed as their wings snapped and their bodies disintegrated mid-air, crushed by invisible weight.
The serpent writhed, its scales cracking and smoking under the pressure.
Tanjiro's hair fluttered in the blazing wind. His eyes glowed with golden fire.
"I told you," he said softly, his voice like thunder, "I'm not the same person anymore."
He raised his sword toward the serpent.
"Shikai — Wrath Of The Sun God."
The blade flared to life, its edge wrapped in swirling red-gold energy.
A beam of burning sunlight burst forth, piercing straight into the serpent's open maw.
For an instant, the world turned white.
Then — BOOM!
The explosion lit up the entire sky, brighter than any sunrise. The serpent's body shattered into molten fragments that rained across the mountains like falling stars.
The shockwave erased the clouds, and the valley below glowed with golden light.
---
The Endless Horde
But Tanjiro's relief was short-lived.
He sensed it before he even looked — countless dark presences crawling toward him from every direction.
From the ground, hundreds of demons emerged, tearing through the soil.
From the horizon, thousands of winged monsters filled the sky, their screams merging into one endless roar.
"Tch…" Tanjiro clicked his tongue. "They're gathering like ants…"
And among them — enormous winged creatures that looked like horses with fangs and skeletal wings.
He frowned. "Flying horses now? How far has this world fallen?"
The sky darkened beneath their numbers.
Every one of them fixated on him, the only living being radiating sunlight in their cursed world.
The first wave attacked — flesh and claws hurled through the air, exploding like bombs as they neared.
Tanjiro slashed through them effortlessly, the shockwaves from his strikes cleaving through the air.
But the swarm didn't stop.
Every second, more came — endless, unrelenting.
"This won't end unless I erase them all at once," he muttered.
He sheathed his sword for a moment, closing his eyes. His aura began to tremble, expanding outward in all directions.
"Then I won't hold back."
---
The Sun Unleashed
The earth cracked. The sky split apart.
Tanjiro released his full Reiatsu — a surge of divine power that burst from his body like a tidal wave.
The air itself screamed, and in a radius of a hundred meters, every demon — crawling or flying — disintegrated instantly.
Those outside the range tried to flee, but their bodies collapsed the moment they entered his spiritual field, crushed by pure pressure.
Mountains trembled. The forest below turned to dust.
When the light finally faded, nothing remained. Not a single demon stirred.
Only Tanjiro stood in the center of the destruction, his sword faintly glowing, his breath steady.
He looked around at the silence and sighed.
"They were weak," he murmured. "No… I've just become too strong."
The wind carried away the ashes of the fallen. The world seemed to hold its breath.
For the first time since returning, Tanjiro felt the weight of solitude again.
But deep inside, a fire still burned — the same one that had never gone out.
> "Muzan… wherever you are," he whispered, eyes narrowing, "I'm coming for you."
---
End of Chapter 3