"Lower Rank One, Enmu!"
Shinji's gaze instantly sharpened.
Although his opponent was hiding in the shadows, Shinji could make out his general appearance with the insight of his Mangekyō Sharingan, and recognized who he was.
"Be careful!"
Then he quietly warned Haku and Karin behind him.
Seeing that even their powerful leader had gone on guard, Haku and Karin naturally didn't dare let their guard down either. Both became fully alert.
Enmu emerged from the shadows, arms spread wide, his expression twisted into a deranged grin. "I can't wait to swallow you all whole! Go to sleep!"
This time, as Enmu spoke, ripples shuddered through the air and rapidly spread toward Shinji.
"Damn!"
Shinji sensed trouble. The instant the blurry ripples swept toward him, he activated his Mangekyō Sharingan with all his might.
The ripples passed over Shinji, then faded into the night.
Shinji checked himself and confirmed that he wasn't injured. He was about to check whether Haku and Karin behind him were hurt when he was startled to find that they had disappeared.
"How is that possible?!"
He was shocked.
He had activated his Mangekyō Sharingan. Under normal circumstances, Haku and Karin couldn't have vanished from beside him without a sound.
Suddenly, he realized what had happened and whipped his gaze toward the Lower Rank One across from him.
"Huh?"
Enmu also let out a surprised sound.
Shinji stared at him in disbelief. "You dragged me into a dream?"
"Why are you the only one who entered the dream? And..." Enmu looked at his hands, utterly bewildered. "Why did I get pulled in too?"
"As I thought."
Shinji furrowed his brow.
From Enmu's words, he confirmed that Haku and Karin hadn't disappeared. He had been caught by the other man's Blood Demon Art and fallen into the dream Enmu had created.
That was bad. Thankfully, Shinji had activated his Mangekyō Sharingan in time and taken the full force of the Blood Demon Art, sparing Haku and Karin behind him.
Enmu seemed to have realized something too. He walked a few steps closer and stared at Shinji. "Is it your eye? Did it use my dream to drag me in too?"
Shinji's expression suddenly changed.
As Enmu approached, he had finally gotten a clear look at the lettering in the demon's eye.
But unlike what he remembered, the characters on Enmu's left pupil weren't "Lower One." They were "Lower Five."
"How could he be Lower Rank Five?"
Shinji couldn't be mistaken. This man was Lower Rank One, the strongest of the Lower Rank demons.
So Rui, the Lower Rank Five he'd encountered earlier, had been the same. Shinji hadn't remembered wrong—the Lower Rank demons' rankings had changed.
The world of Demon Slayer was completely different from the one he remembered!
With that thought, Shinji didn't hesitate. He immediately tried to use Amaterasu, but no matter how he channeled his Dojutsu, he couldn't unleash it.
Enmu laughed, sounding almost hysterical. "No one understands dreams better than I do. In here, we're all fragile, brittle things!"
"Have I lost all my abilities in the dream?"
Shinji felt uneasy.
Losing his abilities meant that neither he nor Enmu could do anything to the other here.
Still, at least Haku and Karin hadn't been caught up in this. Shinji figured that with Haku's quick wits, he would soon realize something was wrong.
If Haku woke him up, they'd have this in the bag!
Pfft.
Suddenly, Shinji spat out a mouthful of blood without warning.
He looked down and saw that his chest had caved in slightly, as if he'd taken a heavy blow.
Enmu smiled. "You're not the only one with companions outside the dream! If you're injured out there, it'll show up in the dream too!"
In reality.
Haku fended off the demon's attacks as he shouted to Karin, "Karin, get Lord Shinji out of here!"
"O-okay!"
Karin hurriedly hoisted the unconscious Shinji onto her back and ducked into another alley.
Everything had happened too quickly.
Just a moment ago, the mysterious demon had appeared, and both it and their leader had fallen asleep at the same time. Then several demons had suddenly emerged from the shadows around them.
One of them had taken advantage of her confusion to attack their sleeping leader, injuring him.
If Haku hadn't blocked the demon's next attack, both their leader and Karin would probably have been killed.
Not long ago, she'd been back at the apartment in Konoha. Now she was being chased by ferocious demons, and their powerful leader had inexplicably fallen asleep. Karin felt like crying.
"I can't let those demons catch us!"
At this point, all she could do was run for her life.
Meanwhile.
Haku blocked all of the demons.
There were five of them in front of him: the mysterious demon who had fallen asleep at the same time as their leader, and four others.
But the four were very strange.
Two had the characters "Lower Five" in their eyes, and the other two had "Lower Six."
However, every set of characters had a large X drawn over it!
"According to Lord Shinji, these should all be Lower Rank demons from the Twelve Kizuki. But why are there two 'Lower Five' and two 'Lower Six'? Can there be more than one of each Lower Rank? And what does that X mean? Disqualified?"
Haku's mind raced.
One of the demons licked its lips. "You lot must be what this world calls 'shinobi,' right?"
Haku stared at the scraps of flesh caught between the demon's teeth. "You've been eating people?"
The demon gave a sinister grin. "Don't worry. You'll be in my belly soon enough!"
At that, Haku's frightened expression gradually hardened with resolve.
To be honest, he had only joined the Akatsuki Organization yesterday. He hadn't been prepared to fight monsters like these demons.
But seeing how brutally they preyed on living beings, he felt that the Akatsuki Organization had a purpose. These man-eating demons had to be eliminated!
His doubts vanished. He quickly formed Hand Seals. "Ice Release Secret Technique: Demonic Mirror Ice Crystals!"
Crash!
In an instant, mirrors of ice wreathed in cold mist appeared out of thin air, forming a semicircle that enclosed Haku and all four demons.
Haku retreated into one of the ice mirrors. "I know I can't kill you, but I'll do everything I can to hold you off until Breaking Dawn arrives!"
The four demons stared at the enormous dome of ice around them, exchanging bewildered looks.
Over on Karin's side.
She carried the wounded Shinji a long way around before suddenly spotting a house with a faint candle burning inside. She hurried in.
"Is anyone here?"
Karin called out, hoping someone could help her.
Footsteps sounded from deep within the house.
Karin looked over hopefully—and saw a demon with several drums embedded in its body slowly approaching her.
In the dream.
Shinji took off his mask and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Looks like it stopped. I thought you lot would finish me off right away!"
Enmu was surprised too. He'd thought the demons outside would kill the real Shinji outright, but after one injury, nothing else had happened.
"So I'm the one who dropped the ball. Honestly, leaving those two rookies to face such a dangerous situation!" Shinji shook his head, then turned to Enmu. "Hey, weren't you curious about my eyes? Then I'll let you get a good look!"
Third update, coming right up!
First, thanks for all your support in October. It helped this new book make it safely to its third recommendation slot! November is just around the corner, so I'm begging you for your recommendation tickets and monthly votes! Please show your support and give this little sapling a chance to reach the fourth recommendation slot. Many thanks!
Thanks again for all your support!
Before you continue