Hachijojima had an eternal spring climate, the sea breeze carrying a heavy salty smell.
Ryosuke traveled day and night, arriving late at night.
According to the intelligence provided by the crow, he quickly ran to the rendezvous point agreed with Rengoku Shinjuro.
The edge of the dense forest was silent as a riddle.
Before going deep, a panicked scream tore through the silence.
"He-help! Don't come over!"
In the open forest clearing, a short boy stumbled and ran wildly.
Half his face was wrapped in bloodstained bandages, his mismatched green and gold eyes filled with fear. A small silver-white snake was wrapped around his neck, constantly flicking its tongue.
And behind him followed a demon with a weird form.
Her upper body was a twisted female form, with a bewitching face, vertical pupils, and a slit mouth.
Her lower body was a snake tail covered in dark scales, moving extremely fast, emitting hair-raising laughter from her slit mouth.
"Hee hee hee... little sacrifice, don't run, be a good boy and let me eat you!"
The boy ran out of stamina, tripped over a tree root, and fell heavily to the ground.
Greed flashed in the Snake Demon's eyes. Opening her fangs, she pounced fiercely!
"Thunder Breathing · Fourth Form · Distant Thunder!"
Boom!
Violent thunder tore through the darkness, attacking like a flood dragon!
The Snake Demon couldn't dodge in time, hastily adjusting her posture but was hit in the abdomen and retreated several meters.
In front of the boy stood a person in black clothes with black hair, holding a silver-white long sword like warm jade, fine lightning faintly interweaving around him.
"Demon Hunter!"
The Snake Demon roared, lowering her body and constantly flicking her tongue.
"I am your daddy!"
Ryosuke roared, his figure turning into a thunder spear to kill!
Thunder Breathing · First Form · Thunderclap and Flash!
Under the astonishing speed, the Snake Demon had no time to react. Her snake tail swung fiercely, attempting to block and dodge backward.
Rip!
The jade-white blade light flashed. Accompanied by the muffled sound of scales breaking and flesh being cut, the Snake Demon let out a painful hiss.
Her thick snake tail was actually cut open by this slash, a wound deep enough to see bone, spraying dark red blood!
"Ugh ah! Damned Demon Hunter!"
The Snake Demon was shocked and angry.
She never expected Ryosuke's attack to be so sharp, and his speed so amazingly fast!
One hit successful, Ryosuke pursued quickly.
The blade was fierce, dense slashes attacking like raindrops!
The Snake Demon was forced to retreat constantly, desperately waving her claws to block and counterattack.
Bang!
A crisp ringing sound exploded, and the Snake Demon was knocked back several meters by a slash.
She was covered in blood, the healing speed of her wounds unable to keep up with Ryosuke's slashes at all!
"Damn it! You clearly! You clearly aren't a Hashira! Why are you so strong!"
Ryosuke sneered.
After initially condensing Battle Spirit, every breath of his resonated with the blade, and every slash was several times stronger than before!
"What kind of gibberish are you spouting! Shine (Die)!"
Thunder Breathing · Fifth Form · Heat Rumble!
Violent thunder light exploded instantly, deterrence shaking the sky.
The surroundings of the Snake Demon turned into a scorching thunder hell!
The Snake Demon roared in pain. As her snake pupils condensed, massive demon aura and blood mist exploded.
"Blood Demon Art · Strangle Coil Bind!"
A foul wind hit, countless claw slashes turning into a storm, constantly defeating the thunder.
Ryosuke narrowed his eyes. Thunder descended again, sword move changing with the flow!
Thunder Breathing · Second Form · Rice Spirit!
Five thunderbolts wrapped in residual light surged up, instantly defeating the Snake Demon's Blood Demon Art and slashing fiercely on her body!
Bang bang bang! Crack!
A blood mark nearly a meter long spread across the Snake Demon's chest.
She became more frightened as she fought, even spawning the fear of death, screaming as she coiled her snake tail trying to resist head-on!
Ryosuke seized the opportunity, Battle Spirit burning high, majestic electric light crackling around him.
Thunder Breathing · Third Form · Thunder Swarm!
Blinding lightning hacked down, instantly cutting off her retreat.
Scales shattered, flesh flew, and the snake tail was severed by this blow!
Immense pain deformed the Snake Demon's movements, revealing a huge opening!
Ryosuke flashed up, hand raising and sword falling!
The Snake Demon's body froze, head falling to the ground, the light in her eyes dimming rapidly, turning into ash.
[Slayed End-tier Evil Demon, Snake Woman. Gained 5 years of lifespan. Current remaining lifespan: 10 years, 253 days.]
Ryosuke flicked the blood off the blade and sheathed it.
After tempering Battle Spirit, Ryosuke's strength improved significantly.
Now he could suppress an End-tier Evil Demon, end the battle quickly, and not even get injured.
Although still not at the level of a Hashira.
After all, in the original work, the Snake Demon was killed by Shinjuro with one slash, not even able to use her Blood Demon Art!
The road to becoming stronger was heavy and long...
"Um..."
A weak voice pulled Ryosuke's thoughts back.
He lowered his eyes slightly, looking at the saved boy.
The boy sat paralyzed on the ground, staring blankly at everything in front of him.
With this attire, Ryosuke naturally recognized him.
The future Serpent Hashira! Iguro Obanai!
"Hiss hiss hiss—"
The silver snake flicked its tongue at Ryosuke.
Obanai immediately stroked its head, explaining anxiously: "His name is Kaburamaru, he... he has no ill will..."
"Mhm, he should be your partner."
Ryosuke raised his hand, and a small dark blue figure fell from high altitude, standing on Ryosuke's shoulder.
"I have one too."
"Mhm."
Ryosuke's words made Obanai breathe a sigh of relief, smiling softly.
Just then, a rush of footsteps came, accompanied by anxious shouts.
"Young Yasui! What happened! I heard fighting..."
Before words were finished, Shinjuro saw the dissipating demon corpse and the shocked boy on the ground, instantly understanding most of it.
"Looks like I came a step late!"
Shinjuro scanned the battle traces on the scene, a trace of surprise and appreciation for Ryosuke's strength improvement flashing in his eyes.
Immediately, he looked at the boy on the ground, his voice softening a lot.
"Boy, are you okay? Are you hurt? Where is your family?"
Obanai lowered his head, his voice a bit muffled: "No... no family anymore... they all died..."
As soon as the words fell, he seemed to think of something, raising his head suddenly, eyes carrying a final hope.
"But... but I still have a cousin, she might still be alive! Please take me to find her, I want to know if she is safe..."
Ryosuke and Shinjuro looked at each other.
Shinjuro said in a deep voice: "Lead the way, boy. We'll take you there."
Guided by Iguro Obanai, they arrived at the Iguro main house.
The mansion was magnificent and huge, comparable to the Rengoku house.
Before opening the door, the thick scent of blood emanating from inside was nauseating.
Ryosuke stopped, recalling this part of the plot in his mind.
The Iguro family was an ugly clan that lived a luxurious life by looting and accumulating wealth.
And that Snake Demon was their backer and reliance, the god they worshipped.
Besides the Snake Demon foraging for herself, the family also offered newborn baby girls for her to eat.
The eaten babies were called sacrifices.
In the family, Obanai was an extremely rare boy, and born with heterochromia.
This piqued the Snake Demon's interest, deciding to eat Obanai after raising him.
Obanai escaped tonight, and the Snake Demon was furious, killing fifty people in the clan to vent her anger.
Before Obanai could step forward, movement came from a haystack nearby.
A haggard-looking woman drilled out from it.
When she looked at Obanai, instead of surprise, extreme disgust instantly appeared on her face!
"It's... it's you?! You jinx! Why aren't you dead yet?!"
The woman screamed, her voice piercing: "Why couldn't you just obediently let that Lord eat you!"
"If you were eaten, everyone wouldn't have died!"
"It's all because you ran away! That angered that Lord! It's all your fault!"
Her words were unreasonable, but like the sharpest thorns, they stabbed ruthlessly into Obanai's heart.
The boy's thin body trembled, and the blood that had just returned to his face faded completely.
The light in those heterochromatic eyes extinguished thoroughly, leaving only endless despair and self-loathing. Kaburamaru around his neck also twisted anxiously.
"I... I..."
Obanai's lips quivered, unable to say a complete sentence.
"I what I! You damned bastard!"
The woman roared and was about to rush up to hit him.
"Enough!"
Ryosuke stepped forward fiercely, grabbing her hand.
The woman was startled by Ryosuke's momentum, but then shouted even more shrewishly.
"Who are you?! This is our Iguro family's business! It's not up to an outsider like you..."
Slap!
A loud slap interrupted her clamor!
Ryosuke didn't hold back this slap, directly fanning her to the ground, her cheek instantly swelling red.
The woman covered her face, staring at Ryosuke in disbelief.
Ryosuke looked down at her from above, his eyes full of contempt and disgust.
"F**k your mother!"
"Scum! Shut your mouth for me!"
...
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