Dream Realm

"Lower Rank One, Enmu!"

Shinji's gaze immediately sharpened.

Although the other party was hidden in the shadows, he could still roughly see their appearance thanks to the insight of his Mangekyo Sharingan, and he recognized their identity.

"Be careful!"

He then quietly warned Haku and Karin behind him.

Seeing that even their powerful leader was on guard, Haku and Karin naturally dared not be careless and became extremely vigilant.

Enmu, from the shadows, walked over, spreading his arms, his expression twisted to madness. "I can't wait to swallow you! Go to sleep!"

This time, with Enmu's words, ripples stirred in the air, rapidly spreading towards Shinji.

"This is bad!"

Shinji cursed inwardly. The moment the blurry ripples attacked, he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan with all his might.

The ripples passed over Shinji and then dissipated into the night.

Shinji checked himself, confirming he was unharmed, and then prepared to see if Haku and Karin behind him were injured, only to be surprised to find them gone.

"How is this possible!?"

He was shocked.

He had his Mangekyo Sharingan active. Logically, Haku and Karin shouldn't have been able to disappear from his side without a sound.

Suddenly, he realized something and sharply turned his gaze to Lower Rank One opposite him.

"Huh!?"

Enmu on the other side also let out a soft "Huh!?"

Shinji said in disbelief, "You dragged me into a dream?"

"Why is only you in the dream? And…" Enmu looked at his own hands, full of confusion. "Why am I in here too?"

"As expected."

Shinji frowned.

From Enmu's words, he confirmed that Haku and Karin hadn't disappeared; rather, he had fallen victim to the other party's Blood Demon Art and entered the dreamscape they created.

This is bad. Fortunately, I activated my Mangekyo Sharingan in time and took all of their Blood Demon Art, allowing Haku and Karin behind me to escape.

Enmu also seemed to sense something. He took a few more steps forward, staring at Shinji. "Is it your eyes? They used my dream to drag me in too?"

Shinji's expression suddenly changed.

As Enmu approached, he finally saw the characters in the other's eyes clearly.

However, unlike his memory, Enmu's left eye pupil didn't bear the character '壹' (One), but '伍' (Five).

"Why is he Lower Rank Five?"

Shinji wouldn't misremember. This guy was Lower Rank One, the strongest Lower Rank demon.

So the previous Lower Rank Five, Rui, was the same situation. It wasn't that Shinji misremembered; the rankings of the Lower Rank demons had changed.

The world of Demon Slayer is completely different from what I remember!

With this thought, Shinji no longer hesitated and was about to activate 'Amaterasu'. However, no matter how he channeled his pupil power, he couldn't unleash 'Amaterasu'.

Enmu laughed somewhat hysterically. "No one understands dreams better than I do. Here, we are all fragile and breakable!"

Have my abilities been lost in the dream?

Shinji felt a sense of unease.

Losing his abilities meant that neither he nor Enmu could do anything to the other here.

However, it was fortunate that Haku and Karin hadn't fallen for it. In his mind, with Haku's quick wit, he would surely discover his abnormality soon.

As long as Haku woke him up, this round would be a sure win!

Pfft.

Suddenly, Shinji coughed up a mouthful of blood without warning.

He looked down and saw that a small part of his chest cavity had caved in, as if he had suffered a heavy blow.

Enmu smiled. "Outside the dream, you're not the only one with companions! If you get injured outside, it will reflect in the dream too!"

In reality.

Haku blocked the demon's attack while shouting to Karin, "Karin, take the Master away quickly!"

"Understood!"

Karin quickly picked up the sleeping Shinji and turned into another alley.

The change happened too fast.

In just an instant, the mysteriously appearing demon and their leader simultaneously fell into a deep sleep. Then, several demons suddenly surged from the shadows around them.

One of the demons, before she could react, launched a surprise attack on the sleeping leader, injuring him.

If Haku hadn't blocked the demons' subsequent assault, the leader and she would likely be dead by now.

Thinking about how she was in Konoha's apartment not long ago, only to be chased by ferocious demons now, with their powerful leader inexplicably unconscious, Karin felt like crying.

"I can't let those demons catch me!"

All that sustained her now was the will to survive.

Meanwhile.

Haku blocked all the demons.

Before him stood a mysterious demon who had fallen unconscious along with the leader, and four other demons.

These four demons were very strange.

Two of them had the characters "Lower Rank Five" carved into their eyes, while the other two had "Lower Rank Six" carved into theirs.

However, all the carvings had a large "X" struck through them!

"According to the master's description, these should all be Lower Rank demons among the Twelve Kizuki, but why are there two 'Lower Rank Five' and two 'Lower Rank Six'? Could Lower Rank demons be plural? And what does that X mean? Unqualified?"

Haku's mind raced.

One demon licked its lips, "You guys are the so-called 'ninjas' in this world, right?"

Haku stared at the flesh and blood remaining between the demon's teeth and asked, "Have you been eating people?"

The demon grinned sinisterly, "Don't rush, you'll be in my belly soon too!"

Upon hearing this, Haku's fearful expression gradually firmed.

To be honest, having only joined the Akatsuki Organization yesterday, he was not prepared to fight monsters like demons.

But seeing how brutally they slaughtered living beings, he felt the Akatsuki Organization's existence was meaningful; these man-eating demons had to be eradicated!

Thus, his hesitation vanished, and he quickly formed hand seals: "Ice Release Secret Technique, Demonic Mirror Ice Crystals!"

WHOOSH

Instantly, ice mirrors exuding cold air appeared out of nowhere, forming a semicircle that enclosed Haku and the four demons.

Haku then retreated, shrinking into an ice mirror. "I know I can't kill you, but I'll do my best to stall until dawn appears!"

The four demons looked at the massive ice dome that had enveloped them, exchanging bewildered glances.

On Karin's side.

She carried the injured Shinji in a large circle, suddenly spotting a house with a faint candlelight, and rushed in.

"Is anyone home?"

Karin called out, hoping for help.

At that moment, footsteps echoed from the depths of the house.

Karin looked towards the sound expectantly, only to see a demon adorned with several drums embedded in its body slowly approaching her.

In the dreamscape.

Shinji removed his mask, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and smiled, "It seems to have stopped. I thought you were going to kill me directly!"

Enmu was also somewhat surprised. He had thought the real Shinji would be killed by the demons outside, but he didn't expect that after sustaining an injury, there would be no further developments.

"I was the one who faltered, honestly. To let those two rookies face such a perilous situation!" Shaking his head, Shinji looked at Enmu. "Hey, aren't you curious about my eyes? Then I'll let you get a good look!"

The third update is here!

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