First Steps into the Demon Slayer World

Speaking of which, this kind of Black Flying Nimbus had actually appeared in the original Dragon Balls storyline. Korin had given it to Mercenary Tao.

And Mercenary Tao had been thrown off by Korin midway through a flight, falling from the tower and nearly dying... It was because Uchiha Hikari had thought of that scene that she had asked that question earlier.

"What do you take this immortal cat for?"

"Well, there won't be any side effects from riding this cloud, right? Like having your mind corrupted and becoming irritable or something?" Uchiha Hikari was still a little uneasy.

"How could there be something like that?"

Korin puffed out his whiskers and raised his staff as if he were about to wave it again. "Forget it if you don't want it."

"I want it, I want it!"

With the mindset of not refusing something free, Uchiha Hikari jumped onto the Flying Nimbus. It felt soft and fluffy, a little like a sofa.

"Thanks, Master."

After circling Korin Tower once and confirming that she could control the Black Flying Nimbus with her thoughts, Uchiha Hikari waved to Korin and urged the cloud skyward.

Half an hour later.

Uchiha Hikari was lying along the edge of the Black Flying Nimbus, gripping the cloud with both hands as she let the wind wash over her and carefully looked down at the land and mountains below from high in the sky. Then she saw a message in the chat group that had suddenly tagged her.

Iron Head Kid @Nameless: Miss Hikari, I think I saw that doctor you mentioned last time!

Nameless: Hmm?

Nameless: You mean Miss Tamayo?

Iron Head Kid: Yes. I ran into her on the street just now, and then she brought me here. There's also a Mr. Yushiro here. Miss Tamayo said she has lived for over a hundred years and has been working hard to develop medicine that can turn demons back into humans...

"..."

Uchiha Hikari narrowed her eyes slightly.

According to the Demon Slayer plot, by this point, Tanjiro should have already encountered Muzan Kibutsuji in Asakusa and drawn the latter's attention. And if nothing unexpected happened, someone... no, "demons," should soon come to kill them on Muzan's orders...

As if to confirm Uchiha Hikari's thoughts, Tanjiro suddenly became frantic in the chat group.

Iron Head Kid:!

Iron Head Kid: Oh no, Miss Tamayo is hurt... Someone's here. I'll talk later!

After that, Bulma and Minato Namikaze, who had just appeared in the chat, asked a few questions, but received no response.

Bulma: Hikari, what do we do? Something seems to have happened on Tanjiro's side. He didn't run into a demon, did he?

Nameless: ...I'll go take a look first. I'll tell you once I confirm the situation.

Uchiha Hikari immediately sent Tanjiro a request to enter his world.

Nameless requests to enter Iron Head Kid's world. Accept?

"No response?"

Uchiha Hikari frowned, vaguely forming a guess—

There was no such thing as "going offline" in the chat group. As long as a group member was conscious, they could summon the chat window with even a tiny fraction of their attention. If there was no response, then either he was fully focused on battle and had overlooked the request, or he did not want her dragged into the trouble and intended to agree after the battle was over.

Given Tanjiro's personality... it was probably both?

After thinking it over, Uchiha Hikari guided the Flying Nimbus westward, intending to meet up with Bulma first.

But before she could reach West City—

Iron Head Kid has accepted the request.

The next second.

Uchiha Hikari and the Black Flying Nimbus vanished from the sky together.

Demon Slayer World, Asakusa.

Inside a secluded courtyard in one corner of the town.

Tanjiro, covered in wounds, lay on the ground. He groggily raised his head and stared at the blurry figure ahead, trying to get back up again.

Not far away were Nezuko and Tamayo, both drenched in blood.

Just over ten minutes earlier.

Two demons claiming to be members of the Twelve Kizuki had broken into the courtyard, directly smashing Tamayo's Residence, which had been concealed by a barrier, and forcing Tanjiro's group to come out and fight.

One of them, a demon named Susamaru, used temari balls as weapons. Six balls the size of volleyballs flew like cannonballs, leaving enormous craters each time they struck the residence, the ground, or the surrounding walls.

The demon named Yahaba could manipulate Arrow Patterns invisible to the naked eye, using them to propel anything in their path. Even human bodies could be sent flying in an instant. Since they could not be seen, they were difficult to guard against.

In only a short while.

Tanjiro's group had suffered heavy damage.

With the help of the vision Yushiro had provided, Tanjiro was able to see those Arrow Patterns. Using Water Breathing swordsmanship beyond his usual limits, he had barely managed to kill Yahaba. But he was already utterly exhausted, and he had no idea how many bones in his chest and legs had been broken. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not get up. Only when his consciousness began to blur did Tanjiro grit his teeth and hesitantly form the thought of accepting.

At that instant.

The air suddenly trembled.

Uchiha Hikari, seated on the Black Flying Nimbus, appeared in this world and slowly opened her eyes.

Wait...

The Flying Nimbus came too??

Well... traversal could indeed bring along items on one's person. After all, it was impossible for it to not even allow clothes. But in Uchiha Hikari's memory, the Flying Nimbus did not seem to count as an "item." It possessed a little intelligence of its own, somewhat like a Pokémon. Did that mean living things could travel along with her too?

If so, that would be quite convenient. She had been wondering whether she should use a Sealing Technique to seal away the Flying Nimbus before bringing it to other worlds.

At once, Uchiha Hikari jumped down from the cloud.

Then she heard Tanjiro's voice from beside her feet.

"Miss Hikari, it's you... Please help Nezuko. She's in danger..."

"Shh—"

Uchiha Hikari lowered her head and took one look, roughly assessing Tanjiro's injuries. She made a silencing gesture. "No need to say more. I already have a general idea of the situation. You're seriously injured, so rest honestly for a while. I'll handle what comes next."

After thinking for a moment, she paused and took a Senzu Bean from her pocket, tossing it over. "This can heal injuries. Break off half and eat it. Save the other half for next time."

She had several dozen Senzu Beans on her anyway. Since she had little use for them herself, giving one away did not hurt too much.

"?"

Tanjiro caught the Senzu Bean instinctively, then seemed to suddenly remember something. "Wait, Miss Hikari, you can borrow my Nichirin Blade—"

Before he could finish speaking, Uchiha Hikari had already strode forward and disappeared around the corner of the courtyard.

Enduring the intense pain throughout his body, Tanjiro brought the Senzu Bean to his mouth, bit off half, and swallowed it forcefully. Then he clenched his hands and used his elbows to support himself as he struggled to crawl forward.

Then...

A warm current surged from his abdomen and spread through his body in an instant. Feeling the wounds inside and outside his body rapidly heal one after another, Tanjiro froze on the spot.

"...Huh?"

Elsewhere.

Thick smoke and dust spread through the courtyard.

One temari ball after another tore through the air, each one causing the currents on either side to emit a piercing shriek.

The demon named Susamaru had suppressed all three demons, including Nezuko, by herself. Noticing the scent of a newly arrived living human, she even had the spare attention to glance over and laugh gleefully. "Haha, interesting, interesting! Another human has come... Are you already so eager to die?!"

The moment the words "eager to die" left her mouth.

Susamaru fiercely swung her arm.

A colorful temari ball flew from her hand, spinning at high speed as it shot toward Uchiha Hikari. Before it even arrived, the explosive whistle of air splitting could already be heard, like a sharp shriek!

Facing the killing intent hurtling through the air.

Uchiha Hikari narrowed her eyes, swiftly raising her right hand and making a grasping motion at the temari ball in midair.

The next moment.

Bang—!!

The high-speed temari ball was caught by her slender, pale hand. The shockwave raised by its momentum spread outward, lifting Uchiha Hikari's black hair slightly. For a few seconds, Uchiha Hikari felt a faint pain in her palm, but it quickly vanished. The ball gradually lost its force as it spun, eventually coming to a complete stop.

"So this is the power of a 'demon'..."

Uchiha Hikari felt it carefully. "It's nothing special."