Zenitsu was so frightened that he collapsed onto the ground. What he had just seen only confirmed his judgment: the forest before them was dangerous.
"Dead, they're dead! Did you see that? I told you this forest was dangerous! I... I'm not going in. I'm not going in!"
Zenitsu sat on the ground, curled into a ball and trembling.
Tanjiro was equally uneasy. That Demon Slayer had kept crying, "Why wasn't it a Hashira?" Could there really be a demon hidden in this forest that only a Hashira could defeat?
The thick stench of blood and twisted rot assaulted them again, even stronger than before.
Tanjiro felt nauseated. After a brief inner struggle, he slowly clenched his fists.
There might still be surviving Demon Slayer Corps members in the forest. This place was over ten kilometers from headquarters. Even if they notified a Hashira, it would take two or three hours for one to arrive at the earliest. By then, there might be no survivors left.
Now that he had joined the Demon Slayer Corps, he could not shrink from battle out of fear.
"I'm going."
"Hmph, I said I was going first." Inosuke shoved Tanjiro aside and strode ahead.
What he could not stand most was that this "headbutter" was stronger than him. If the "headbutter" could do it, then so could he. And if the "headbutter" could not do it, he would do it anyway.
"Inosuke."
Tanjiro looked at Inosuke in surprise.
"Hmph. You two can just stay back there and shake in fear." With that, he broke into a run toward the forest ahead. Tanjiro glanced back at Zenitsu, said nothing, and followed.
Watching the two disappear into the trees, Zenitsu immediately felt abandoned. He muttered, "I... was I rejected? Aren't we companions? How could they leave