Shinji deeply regretted that he hadn't managed to lure Orochimaru here.
In his plans, Orochimaru—with his mastery of all kinds of secret arts and Forbidden Jutsu, as well as his wealth of experience—was the ideal person to deal with the demons.
He had arranged for only Kimimaro to guard the Land of Lightning "anchor point" because he was counting on Orochimaru.
But things hadn't gone as hoped.
Only Kimimaro and Kabuto Yakushi had made it here.
In truth, neither was weak by the standards of the Shinobi World. But one was still young, while the other had yet to master Senjutsu.
Neither had reached their peak in strength or experience.
For now, they could only be considered Jonin-level. They could handle ordinary demons without trouble, but they were no match for Demonized Tanjiro.
In fact,
the fact that the two of them had survived this long was already somewhat beyond Shinji's expectations.
After surveying the battlefield once more, Shinji realized that Tanjiro seemed to be the only demon guarding this "anchor point."
"That makes sense. Upper Moon One certainly has what it takes to guard a route alone."
Having confirmed this, he didn't look relieved. Instead, worry clouded his face.
Of the five "anchor points," the ones in the Land of Fire, Wind Country, and Earth Country had already been cut off. That left only the one here in the Land of Lightning and another far away in the Land of Water.
Among the demons who had appeared so far were Upper Moon One, Tanjiro; Upper Moon Two, Kokushibo; Narume, who was possibly an Upper Moon demon; and Demonized Rengoku Kyojuro.
Shinji still didn't know who had guarded the Earth Country "anchor point."
But since Karin and Neji had been able to defeat its guard, whoever it was probably hadn't