["Lower Five…"]
[Tanjiro tightened his grip on the hilt and pointed the broken blade at Rui, tension written all over his face.]
["As expected… this power… this one really is one of the Twelve Kizuki."]
["I can't simply cut through those threads. What do I do?"]
["With a broken blade…"]
["If that kid's neck is harder than the threads…"]
[Tanjiro's gaze toward Rui gradually sharpened. Within his eyes, it was as if a blazing fire had begun to burn.]
["What a hateful look. It's like you're burning…"]
[Rui frowned and said coldly,]
["How stupid. Don't tell me… you actually think you can beat me?"]
[Irritated, Rui suddenly lashed the threads connected to his fingertips toward the area behind Tanjiro.]
[Tanjiro instinctively dodged to the side, but the threads were never aimed at him in the first place.]
[They passed right by him and shot straight toward his rear.]
[Realizing that, Tanjiro hurriedly turned around—only to see Nezuko's limbs already bound by threads and being yanked toward Rui.]
["Nezuko!!!"]
[Tanjiro shouted and swung his broken blade, trying to cut through the threads wrapped around her arms and legs.]
[But Rui gave him no chance at all. With a sharp pull of his hand, Nezuko was dragged along the threads and into his arms.]
["See? I've already got her."]
[After catching Nezuko, Rui swiftly reeled in the threads, then switched to restraining her with his right arm while opening his left hand. Threads shot from his fingertips, forcing the approaching Tanjiro back.]
["Do you understand your role now?"]
[Rui's tone remained as calm—and infuriating—as ever.]
["Let her go!"]
[Seeing Nezuko struggle painfully in Rui's arms, Tanjiro roared and charged at him again.]
"His emotions have disrupted his judgment too easily. His courage deserves praise, but that is not how a warrior should act."
At the entrance of the Batcave, Bruce Wayne watched Tanjiro rush Rui recklessly and gave his judgment in that low, magnetic voice of his.
"Master Bruce, he's only a child," Alfred said with a sigh. "And his sister is in the enemy's hands. That reaction is exactly what you would expect from a normal boy."
"But the moment he picked up a sword, he became a warrior," Bruce replied, still unmoved. "When I was his age, I had already trained for years with the League of Shadows. If he is a warrior, then he should have a warrior's resolve."
"It's different, sir."
Seeing that Bruce still found nothing wrong with his own reasoning, Alfred patiently continued:
"Your childhood was never like that of ordinary people. And your mind… even most adults could not compare to it.
I've always believed you ought to settle down and have children. Only then would you truly understand what a normal child's heart and upbringing are like."
"Let's not talk about that, Alfred. I'm not thinking about it right now. And you know… ever since Rachel left, my heart went with her."
Seeing that his young master no longer wished to continue, Alfred wisely fell silent.
But inwardly, he couldn't help worrying about the future of the Wayne family.
For all these years, Master Bruce still had no partner. Whether the Wayne bloodline would continue at all remained a mystery.
And with the dangerous life he led every day—going out night after night to fight criminals—if anything ever happened to him, then the Wayne family line might truly end there.
It seemed he would have to arrange a few blind dates for his master as soon as possible.
[Back to the scene.]
[Faced with Tanjiro's fury, Rui still said calmly,]
["I already told you. If you didn't resist, I would spare your life."]
[Just then, the restrained Nezuko suddenly had veins bulging across her body. Her right arm instantly broke free from Rui's hold.]
[Taking advantage of the instant all of Rui's attention was focused on Tanjiro, Nezuko slashed her sharp nails straight across Rui's face.]
[Slash!]
[In an instant, five vivid lines of blood appeared across Rui's pale, flawless face.]
[Rui froze for a brief moment. He truly hadn't expected Nezuko to dare resist him.]
[Seizing that opening, Tanjiro rushed in again with his broken blade.]
[But unfortunately, Rui had only been stunned for that instant. He quickly recovered, coldly swinging his threads again straight at Tanjiro's face.]
[Seeing the threads flying right at him—and having already experienced just how sharp they were—Tanjiro immediately stopped his forward charge and flipped backward to evade the slash.]
[After landing and steadying himself, he once again raised his broken blade toward Rui—only to find that Nezuko, who should have been in Rui's grasp, had vanished.]
[Only Rui remained, expressionless, both arms extended to either side, more than a dozen threads spreading outward from his hands.]
["Nezuko's gone!"]
[Tanjiro froze in shock for a moment. Just as he turned his head from side to side, searching for her, blood suddenly dripped down from above and landed on his broken blade, staining it red at once.]
[Startled, Tanjiro looked up.]
[Beneath the bright full moon, a young girl's graceful body hung upside down, bound by countless threads.]
["Ne… Nezuko!"]
[Tanjiro stared at the sight under the moonlight in utter disbelief.]
[Beneath the pale white moon, countless threads dug tightly into the girl's skin, and crimson blood ran down along the pure white strands.]
[In just moments, the threads had already been dyed red.]
[The camera even deliberately gave several close-up shots of Nezuko's body.]
[The image was eerie… and yet strangely enchanting.]
"I'm going to kill that bastard!!!"
Aboard the Thousand Sunny, the Straw Hats were doing their best to hold Sanji down and stop him from doing anything stupid again.
The moment Rui grabbed Nezuko, Sanji had already been on the verge of exploding.
And when the screen showed Nezuko hanging upside down beneath the full moon, thread after thread biting into her soft pale skin—
The gentleman buried deep in Sanji's soul finally snapped.
Luckily, Zoro had reacted first and pinned him down before he could once again do something idiotic like chase the screen in the sky.
"Curly-brow, calm the hell down! Even if you could catch up to that weird screen, do you think you could get inside and save her?!"
"Let go of me, you lost moss-headed idiot! I don't care! No matter what, I'm going to kick that white-haired bastard to death for not knowing how to respect a lady!!!"
"Sanji, calm down!" Nami urged from the side. "That little girl's brother is still there, right? Trust him—he'll save his sister!"
"Damn it!!!"
Sanji glared up at the screen, his eyes bloodshot.
But just like that moss-head had said… there was nothing he could do.
All he could do was stand here helplessly and watch a beautiful girl being tortured.
"Bam!"
In the end, all Sanji could do was slam his fist heavily into the deck to vent his frustration.