Mount Sagiri.
At the foot of the mountain, a dark mass of shadows surged up the mountain like a flood bursting its banks.
The camera zooms in.
In front of that dilapidated wooden hut on the mountaintop, three pillar-level powerhouses stood firmly in place.
Flame Hashira Shinjuro Rengoku sat cross-legged on the stone steps, his eyes closed, seemingly lost in thought, and clearly not planning to draw his sword.
Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui was idly tossing the gold coins in his hand, the coins drawing glittering arcs in the darkness.
Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima rubbed his large rosary beads, tears still clinging to the corners of his eyes, muttering to himself.
There's not even a trace of the Twelve Kizuki, so going down to fight them now would be a waste of energy.
Therefore, the physically demanding task of clearing out the monsters was naturally left to the group of ordinary team members who were yelling and screaming at the bottom of the mountain.
Halfway up the mountain, in a dark forest.
"Tch... that's really dirty."
Obanai Iguro disdain.
Those heterochromatic eyes, one gold and one blue, were as cold as ice in the darkness. Looking at the group of ghosts surrounding him, their gaze was no different from looking at a pile of unrecyclable garbage.
His lower face was completely wrapped in bandages, and the black and white striped haori he wore was flapping loudly in the cold wind. The white snake named Kaburamaru on his neck flicked its tongue and hissed.
A fat, greasy demon opened its blood-red maw, spitting saliva everywhere, and roared like a madman that it would chew up its prey, skin and bones.
Obanai didn't even bother to roll her eyes; she just stood there, rooted to the spot, her shoulders slightly slumped, and her right hand gripped the hilt of her sword.
The ghost was completely enraged by his contemptuous attitude. He roared, swung his arm, which was as thick as a tree trunk, and brought up a gust of evil wind as he smashed it down on Obanai's head.
However...
With a strange flick of her Obanai drew her Nichirin Blade, which twisted like ocean waves, with a "whoosh."
"Serpent Breathing - Second Form - Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head."
The sound came from under the bandages, chillingly cold.
His knife was like the most venomous snake, twisting at an angle no normal person could possibly make, directly bypassing the ghost's two thick arms. A flash of cold light appeared on the blade, and it swiftly and accurately sliced into the neck.
"Pfft--!"
The ghost's head tumbled into the pile of fallen leaves, its eyes still darting around, its mind full of question marks.
How did that bent, broken knife manage to get around it?
What kind of physics-defying swordsmanship is this?!?!
The ghost died without ever understanding what was happening, filled with resentment, when its body shattered into dust that filled the air with a "whoosh".
"So weak it's nauseating. It's a complete waste of my strength to swing this sword. If this new uniform gets stained with the blood of such a lowly creature, I'll definitely have to wash it three times when I get back."
Obanai disgustedly flicked the black blood off her knife, preparing to find her next target and finish this tedious cleaning work as soon as possible.
Just then, the bushes on the right, about half a person's height, exploded with a "boom," sending wood chips and grass leaves flying everywhere.
"Get the hell to the spa!! You bunch of vermin!!"
A young man with a head full of white hair that looked like a hedgehog burst out.
Sanemi Shinazugawa's face was covered in frightening scars, and his eyes were bloodshot. His crazed appearance made him look exactly like a manic-depressive who had escaped from a mental hospital.
The green Nichirin Blade in his hand whipped up a gust of wind, and without thinking twice, he plunged headlong into the pile of demons in front of him.
"Wind Breathing - First Form - Dust Whirlwind Cutter."
The wind howled, and the terrifying crushing force instantly shredded the three little devils blocking the way into a bloody pulp that flew everywhere, with bits of flesh and black blood splattering all over the ground.
"Sanemi! Can't you be a little more considerate of your teammates' feelings?! Blood's splattered all over my clothes!"
"If you keep rushing around like this, your clothes will need mending again when we get back!"
Black-haired Masachika Kumeno behind, running out of the bushes with a helpless expression. While wiping the blood from his face, he casually flicked his wrist, decapitating a demon who was trying to sneak up on him.
Sanemi completely ignored Masachika's complaints, letting out a strange, unintelligible laugh.
Carrying a knife, like a wild boar in heat, he continued searching for the next unlucky victim.
Obanai's brows were furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly, her eyes filled with disgust as she stared at this brainless white-haired mad dog, quietly taking two steps to the side.
To encounter such a barbarian who only knows how to shout nonsense and has absolutely no sense of aesthetics is truly the worst luck imaginable.
How has this guy even survived this long?
Suddenly, a series of earth-shaking footsteps echoed from deep within the forest.
A mutated ghost, over three meters tall and covered in bone spurs, crashed through more than a dozen large trees and slammed onto the open ground between the three people with a loud bang.
The mutated ghost looked down at the three delicate-skinned young men.
"Three little brats who haven't even grown their first hairs dare to hang around in front of me?"
"You guys are lucky today. Line up obediently and be my midnight snack!"
"..."
"???"
Before the harsh words could be finished, three figures had already moved.
With a light touch of her toes, Obanai slid across the ground like a snake, her curved blade aimed straight at the mutated demon's weakest point: its lower body.
Sanemi pushed off with both legs, shattering the ground beneath his feet. He leaped high into the air like a cannonball, his blade whistling through the air as he slashed down at the demon's skull.
The two knives carried completely different murderous auras!
"Get out of my way! You bandaged weirdo!"
Sanemi jumped up and down in anger in mid-air, his eyes wide, glaring fiercely down at Obanai.
"You brainless wild boar, you're the one who should get lost. Don't infect me with your stupidity."
Obanai snorted coldly, her wrists incredibly flexible, managing to deflect the wind blade's trajectory and slicing open the demon's right hamstring at an extremely tricky angle.
Sanemi's sword struck the demon's shoulder squarely, leaving a deep, bone-revealing gash.
"Ugh--!"
The mutated ghost screamed in pain. He couldn't understand how these two seemingly irreconcilable enemies, who were even hurling insults at each other in mid-air, could coordinate such a perfectly coordinated attack.
The enormous hand, accompanied by a whooshing sound, slammed haphazardly towards Sanemi in the sky and Obanai on the ground.
Masachika cut in from a blind spot on the battlefield, his blade flashing a few times as he deftly deflected the ghost's attack, leaving a long gash in the ghost's hard chest.
"Calm down, both of you. This is not the time for internal strife, with a formidable enemy at hand. We are all comrades fighting to protect humanity."
While easily fending off the ghost's counterattack, Masachika patiently tried to mediate the fight, his tone like that of a mother hen... full of helplessness.
Sanemi landed with a somersault to dissipate the force, and before he could even brush off the dirt, he pointed at Obanai's nose and started cursing.
"You gloomy monster who doesn't even dare to show your face, your swordsmanship is as weak as a woman who hasn't eaten, are you trying to embarrass yourself on the battlefield?"
Obanai's eyes instantly turned icy cold, and the Kaburamaru on her neck stood up, emitting an aggressive hiss.
"It's better than some disfigured man who just screams and hacks around haphazardly."
"Did you learn your Breathing Style from wild boars in the mountains? It's utterly crude."
Sanemi instantly exploded, the veins on his forehead bulging like earthworms, gripping his knife, ready to chop the foul-mouthed bandage monster to death first.
The mutated ghost went completely berserk. It felt that its dignity as a high-level ghost was being trampled on by these three brats.
It roared, shattering the leaves around it, and plucked out the dense bony spikes from its back, shooting them at the three people like a torrential downpour.
"Shut up, all of you and die!!"
Faced with the overwhelming bone spurs, the three men were still cursing at each other, but their bodies had instinctively made the most perfect coordination.
With a twist of her Obanai unleashed a dense, impenetrable snake net with her curved blade.
"Serpent Breathing - Fifth Form - Slithering Serpent."
The continuous flashes of blades deflected all the bone spurs that were aimed at him.
Sanemi a wild laugh, and instead of retreating, he charged forward, directly into the rain of bone spikes.
"Wind Breathing - Second Form - Claws-Purifying Wind."
Four violent wind blades, resembling the claws of a giant beast, flew out, shattering the remaining bone spikes with overwhelming force and severing the mutated demon's limbs in the process.
The enormous body crashed down with a deafening roar, shaking the ground.
The mutated ghost writhed in the mud, its arrogant arrogance vanished instantly, leaving only a sense of existential crisis and a collapse of its worldview.
These three ordinary team members, who were about to draw their swords and slash at each other just a second ago, how could their teamwork be so seamless?
The suffocating sense of oppression even gave it the illusion that it was being strangled by the three pillars!
Masachika nimbly jumped onto the ghost's back, and with a swift and decisive stroke, chopped off the large, ugly head.
The ghost's head rolled down the slope, its fading gaze filled with unyielding resentment.
"Masachika, you actually stole my kill?! You bastard!!"
Sanemi, clearly annoyed, glared at Masachika, who was standing still and sheathing his sword.
Masachika shrugged helplessly, walked over and patted Sanemi on the shoulder, smiling broadly.
"Alright, alright, it doesn't matter who killed him, the most important thing is that no one got hurt."
"... How about I treat you to hagi mochi after we finish playing tonight?"
Upon hearing the name "Hagimochi," Sanemi's irritable expression froze for a moment. He snorted coldly and turned his head away, but his grip on the knife loosened slightly.
Obanai stood not far away, coldly watching the two men with their arms around each other's shoulders.
Xiao Ba initially thought they were just two simple-minded, physically strong brutes, but seeing the black-haired man skillfully calming the mad pig, she felt a strange stirring in her heart.
That was something he rarely saw after escaping from that dark and treacherous family—something called pure human kindness.
Obanai looked down at her straw sandals covered in dirt and sighed silently in her heart.
If one day I can wash away all this filth and blood, and no longer hide behind bandages, will I finally meet someone I can eat delicious food with, someone whose smile is as bright as the sun?
Hey! You bandaged monster!
Sanemi's loud voice rudely interrupted Obanai's thoughts.
"Although your sarcastic attitude is annoying, your swordsmanship is decent, you're not a complete waste. Don't die at the hands of this trash!"
Obanai's heterochromatic eyes narrowed slightly.
Then he took out a white handkerchief from his pocket and slowly wiped the blood off the knife, without even glancing at Sanemi.
"Mind your own business; brainless wild boars die the fastest."
After saying that, Obanai turned and walked into the depths of the forest, leaving the two of them with a cold back view.
However, beneath the bandages, the corner of his mouth was turned up by an extremely tiny... millimeter.
"That bastard is still as annoying as ever!"
Sanemi roared in anger, grabbed his sword, and gave chase, determined to outdo this gloomy monster in the number of demons he would kill.
Masachika sighed heavily, resignedly following behind the two problem children, his eyes full of amusement.
The night wind was still howling, and the sounds of fighting echoed throughout the entire Mount Sagiri.
The real storm has only just begun.