When the sunlight completely covers Mount Sagiri
Sanemi River believed he was probably hallucinating.
He was like a flattened pancake, not wanting to move a single hair on his body.
The aftereffects of excessive blood loss left his head buzzing, and all he could see were flashing static.
"Hey, bandaged weirdo."
Sanemi weakly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Are you dead?
Lying less than two meters away from him, Obanai Iguro half her body submerged in the mud.
The white snake Kaburamaru, who was always inseparable from him, was now listlessly coiled around his neck, pretending to be dead.
"Don't worry, I will absolutely not die before you, you brainless wild boar, before I see you breathe your last."
Obanai's sharp tongue is still on full display.
"You son of a bitch..."
Sanemi, enraged, laughed, which pulled at his broken ribs, causing him to grimace in pain.
"I shouldn't have bled you to save you; I should have let those four ugly freaks chop me into mincemeat."
Beside Masachika Kumeno, whose body was charred black, let out a weak sigh.
"Gentlemen, I'm begging you, could you please save your energy for the doctor?"
"I feel like I'm almost finished with the final burst of energy before death."
This hastily assembled trio is so pathetic that even stray dogs on the roadside would shake their heads in dismay.
In fact, the situation on the entire Mount Sagiri Back Mountain was extremely dire!
When the medical team rushed up the mountain through the debris,
The hellish scene before them brought tears to the eyes of these logistics personnel who were used to seeing life and death.
Of the nearly two hundred elite team members, only about thirty were still breathing!
The rest,
They all turned into incomplete, cold corpses on this scorched earth.
The situation isn't much better for the pillar-level powerhouses.
[Sound Hashira] Tengen Uzui Yuan's bones were broken in seven or eight parts.
His face was swollen beyond recognition, and he was slumped on a large rock, questioning the meaning of life.
[The Stone Hashira] Gyomei Himejima was extremely exhausted from forcibly opening the Transparent World;
The most tragic one has to be [Flame Hashira] Shinjuro Rengoku!!
This robust man has lost his left arm, and half of his body is covered in blood; he is currently in a deep coma.
It's safe to say that his career as a pillar-level player has come to a complete end tonight!!
The only one in the entire venue who could maintain a normal standing posture, and whose breathing was not even too disordered...
There were only those two guys who used Water Breathing.
Having regained his male form and changed into a spare uniform, Sabito was strolling among the seriously wounded, carrying his Nichirin Blade.
Meanwhile, Giyu Tomioka slowly helped Sakonji Urokodaki walk out from the depths of the forest.
The difference in strength is simply outrageous!!
This was not a war of equal strength at all; it was a one-sided, devastating attack.
"Quickly!! Carry the seriously wounded into the wooden hut!"
A hurried female voice broke the deathly silence on the mountaintop.
Shinobu Kocho led the Kakushi Division personnel into the battlefield.
She looked at the carnage on the ground, a pang of heartache flashing in her purple eyes, but her steps were unwavering.
"All critically ill patients in a near-death state, immediately move them indoors for surgery! Act quickly!!"
Ren gave decisive and efficient commands!
She grabbed the Kakushi Division member who was about to bandage Sanemi and shouted sharply:
"Stop with those useless surface bandages! His veins are collapsed, just take him in for a transfusion!!"
Inside the wooden cabin, away from the sunlight, Tamayo had made thorough preparations for the surgery!
A tense tug-of-war between life and death unfolded in this small space of just over a hundred square meters.
And in the open space outside the wooden house.
Kanae Kocho was kneeling on a relatively clean grass mat, treating the wounds of a lightly injured person.
This girl, who is usually gentle and kind, looked extremely disheveled at this moment.
But this disheveled state also possesses a breathtaking, war-damaged beauty.
Her once pristine white uniform was now riddled with cuts from ice blades after the fierce battle with Upper Rank Two.
The team uniform inadvertently accentuated her ridiculously curvaceous figure.
Her fair and delicate skin was faintly visible, with fine beads of sweat glistening on it from her tension and exhaustion.
Her exquisite face was stained with a little dirt and dried blood.
But those clear eyes still radiated an extreme gentleness that could put anyone at ease with just a glance.
"Bear with the pain, it'll be over soon."
Kanae gently comforted the team member in front of her who was gritting his teeth, her fingers deftly tying a bandage knot.
She wiped the sweat from her brow and was about to get up to check on the next wounded soldier.
Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a figure emerging from the shadows of the trees.
Kanae's movements froze instantly!!
A gentle breeze swept across the devastated Mount Sagiri, causing the iconic, uniquely colored haori to flutter softly in the wind.
Giyu Tomioka, carrying his Nichirin Blade, walked over expressionlessly across the gravel.
He looked like he had just gone for a walk and bought a bento box on the way back; apart from his slightly torn clothes, there wasn't a single obvious wound on his body.
Safe and sound!!
This man, who always kept everything to himself and always stood at the forefront, truly survived!!
"Thump, thump."
Kanae felt her heart pounding so hard it was about to jump out of her throat.
The previous desperate battle, despair, fear, and the heart- Muzan worry about Giyu facing Muzan alone...
The moment they saw him appear with his entire body intact, it erupted like a flood bursting its banks.
She didn't even bother with the half-roll of gauze she was still holding.
Kanae stood up, completely ignoring the stinging pain from the newly bandaged wound on her calf.
Like a pink butterfly returning to its nest, she used the last of her strength to pounce on the expressionless man.
On the other side, Giyu was walking forward with his head down.
A fierce internal struggle was raging within him.
"Which time-honored restaurant is it located at the east end of town?"
"Should we go to that newly opened one at the west end of town?"
"I heard the place on the west end gives out a lot of salmon!! But the place on the east end has better radish stew..."
Just as Water Hashira's inner monologue was reaching its climax, he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye that an unidentified object was rapidly approaching from ahead.
Under the automatic warning of the Transparent World, Giyu instinctively wanted to dodge to the side.
But he recognized who was rushing towards him.
"Kana..."
Giyu had just opened his mouth, but hadn't even finished saying his name.
A pleasant, youthful fragrance wafted through the air, and she bumped into his arms.
"Bang--!"
A soft, muffled thud.
Kanae opened her arms and hugged him tightly.
Giyu froze on the spot, turning into a lifeless piece of wood.
His usually impassive face, which never showed any emotion even when the sky was falling, now displayed a very vivid and large question mark.
What's going on?
Giyu awkwardly held his hands up in mid-air, completely unsure of what to do with them.
He could even clearly feel the incredibly soft body in his arms trembling violently.
Those ridiculously muscular physiques, visible through the thin, tattered team uniform... clung to his chest.
The soft touch left this straight-laced swordsman, who was indifferent to women, completely blank in his mind.
My heart started racing uncontrollably.
Thump! Thump!
Giyu's heart, which had been steady all night, was now pounding even faster than when his mother activated Sun Breathing!
"Thank goodness... you're alright..."
Kanae buried her face deeply in Giyu's chest, greedily savoring the warmth emanating from his body.
Tears welled up without warning, quickly soaking the front of Giyu's shirt.
Her voice was thick with sobs, a mixture of relief at surviving a disaster and undisguised admiration.
"I'm so scared... so scared that you'll never come back..."
Kanae's arms were wrapped tightly around Giyu's waist.
It was as if if she loosened her grip even slightly, the man before her would vanish like mist.
On this battlefield where life and death hang in the balance, all restraint and self-control were cast to the winds!
"Gurgle!"
Giyu's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty.
He lowered his head and looked at the stunningly beautiful girl in his arms.
The faint fragrance of her hair wafted into his nose.
The warm tears seeped through his clothes, burning his heart and making him panic.
"I..."
Giyu opened his mouth, but his usual sharp wit failed him; he couldn't utter a single word of his usual sarcastic remarks.
He originally wanted to say something like, "Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen shouldn't cry on the battlefield," which would be a real mood killer.
But when he felt Kanae's body trembling with fear of losing him, he swallowed back those straight-man remarks.
A subtle pink bubble filled the air.
Giyu's two hands, which had been frozen in mid-air, finally slowly lowered down.
He seemed a little flustered, and in the end, he could only carefully place his hand on Kanae's slender waist.
Sensing the man's clumsy yet sincere response, Kanae cried even harder, but a blissful smile appeared on her lips.
The two embraced quietly amidst the devastated ruins.
The busy members of the Kakushi Division around them,
They all seemed to wish they were blind, and with perfect understanding, they avoided this area where people were showing off their affection.
Just when the atmosphere was at its most ambiguous, and even Giyu was almost forgetting what radish and salmon tasted like.
"Ara ara~"
A pleasant voice, imbued with a high level of sarcasm, drifted lightly from behind the two.
Shinobu Kocho, who had just run out of the cabin to get the medicine, crossed her arms and her purple eyes curved into two playful crescents.
She looked at the two people embracing tightly, a knowing smile playing on her lips.
"Mr. Tomioka's stamina is truly amazing!!"
"He just fought Muzan, and now he still has the energy to cling to my sister like this."
Ren deliberately dragged out his words, a sly glint in his eyes.
"Could this be some hidden secret of Water Breathing?"