The Essence of Ninja Combat (Seeking Follows)

"Clang!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Masahiro drew the katana at his waist, his expression grave.

Yet, the man chopping wood remained focused entirely on his task, completely ignoring Masahiro's battle-ready stance.

Finally, after splitting the last bundle of firewood, the middle-aged man dressed as a woodcutter spoke up, "You lot from the Demon Slayer Corps..."

"Even though I've been doing my best to restrain my desire to eat people,"

"Only eating those who get lost on this mountain,"

The demon's tone carried a hint of resentment; he had clearly recognized the identities of Sarutobi Hiruzen and his group at a glance, "you still keep causing me trouble."

"If you ask me, I owe my full belly to you people."

"Isn't that right?"

Hearing this, Masahiro was instantly filled with rage. As a member of the Demon Slayer Corps himself, he retorted, "You bastard..."

"What do you take Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen for?"

The demon tilted his head, seemingly giving it some serious thought, "What do I take you for..."

"Unexpected desserts, perhaps."

"I have to say..."

"The Demon Slayer Corps members who have been coming lately,"

"have all been exceptionally delicious..."

Masahiro didn't get angry; instead, he laughed. As a veteran of the Demon Slayer Corps, he knew that demons were beings with whom one could neither communicate nor reason.

They were a completely different species from humans.

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the scene coldly. He understood even more clearly that while the demon appeared human, its essence—relying solely on humans for sustenance—meant its mindset no longer belonged to humanity.

It wasn't just the act of eating that caused this; biological thought is complex, yet easily influenced by physiological factors.

Hormones trigger excitement, and dopamine provides pleasure.

Differences in hormone levels between men and women lead to differences in their ways of thinking.

Not to mention the gap between demons and humans; they might not even secrete the same hormones at all.

"Then I'll let you know,"

"that Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen exist for the sole purpose of killing creatures like you!"

With that, Masahiro raised his Nichirin Sword and charged fiercely toward the demon not far away.

He didn't let the other adults intervene; Masahiro wanted to test his current strength.

Although he hadn't learned any Ninjutsu yet, the enhancement of his physical capabilities through Chakra was already enough to bring Masahiro close to the physical prowess of a demon.

A sharp flash of steel accompanied by a whistling wind slashed toward the demon.

"Clang!"

Without even looking up, the demon raised the heavy wood-chopping axe in his hand. Inhuman strength surged through the axe, sending Masahiro and his Nichirin Sword reeling back with a single blow.

As his feet skidded against the mountain soil, Masahiro gripped his Nichirin Sword tightly, his hands trembling.

Before Masahiro could even recover from the shock of the demon's strength, the demon spoke first.

"As I thought..."

"You Demon Slayer Corps members have mastered some kind of power that transcends ordinary people."

The demon's tone held a hint of surprise;

it was clear he had noticed that the Demon Slayer Corps members coming lately were all exceptionally strong, even capable of wounding him.

"But even if you transcend ordinary people, it's useless."

"Because..."

"I am not human!"

The demon laughed maniacally, his figure launching forward like a gust of wind as he initiated an assault on Masahiro.

The demon swung his massive axe without any particular technique, relying solely on his superhuman speed and strength to create a flurry of afterimages and sonic booms.

Masahiro, holding his Nichirin Sword with both hands, could only dodge in a sorry state under the demon's storm-like onslaught. Any attack he couldn't dodge, he had to block with his Nichirin Sword, leaving his limbs numb from the impact.

"It seems you're quite a bit weaker than the ones who came before..."

"Such crude swordsmanship."

The demon mocked him openly.

Although the demon's movements lacked any formal technique, Masahiro's swordsmanship was also at the very bottom of the Demon Slayer Corps, barely better than nothing.

"Boom!"

A large tree, severed by the demon, crashed down, seemingly signaling the end of the battle.

Ultimately, Masahiro had only been exposed to the power of Chakra for a short time; his physical stamina and application of Chakra had not yet reached a proficient level, and under the demon's heavy, powerful strikes, his Nichirin Sword was knocked from his grasp.

"Die!"

With an excited expression on the demon's face, and without the Nichirin Sword to block, the sharp axe sliced through Masahiro's neck without resistance.

The force, weighing over a thousand pounds, acted like a guillotine; Masahiro's head flew into the air, his face still frozen in the terror of being decapitated.

Everything seemed to happen so naturally, yet Sarutobi Hiruzen and Tsugikuni Yoriichi, who were watching from the sidelines, both looked on with indifferent expressions as their companion was beheaded.

They seemed to have no emotional reaction at all.

The demon, intoxicated by the slaughter, did not notice the anomaly, instead watching the falling head and body with a look of appreciation and excitement.

"Poof!"

Unexpectedly, the head and body in mid-air did not fall naturally, but instead vanished into a puff of smoke with a soft sound.

"Hm?!"

Before the demon's incredulous gaze, a Nichirin Sword pierced through its heart, the blade protruding from its back.

Masahiro's figure appeared behind the demon, holding the Nichirin Sword, his expression calm.

"Substitution Technique."

During the arduous travel and diligent training in the carriage over the past few days, Masahiro had finally learned his first Ninjutsu.

It was the Ninjutsu he had chosen from the Three Body Techniques for its greatest practical value.

In his first real battle against a demon, he had used it quite successfully.

The demon, wearing an expression of shock and pain, struggled to turn its head around.

Then—

"Whoosh!"

With a violent whistle of wind, the axe in the demon's hand showed its might once more, severing Masahiro's head again.

The demon's act of turning its head was literal; it rotated a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

For a creature like a demon, whose body differed so greatly from a human's, even the spine could rotate freely.

"Sorcery?!"

Even as the demon continued to swing its axe, its face was filled with horror.

Using a piece of wood to take a hit in place of a human body could not be explained away by mere sleight of hand.

It was truly the stuff of legendary Sorcery.

This was even more surprising than the existence of a demon like itself.

"Poof!"

Another puff of smoke dispersed, and Masahiro's figure suddenly appeared behind the demon; clearly, he had used the Substitution Technique again to evade the attack.

"Die!"

Masahiro's Nichirin Sword had been embedded in the demon's heart, but now he was holding a Kunai forged from a Nichirin Sword.

He swung the Kunai toward the demon's neck, the only true weak point of a demon.

Striking the heart had been nothing more than one of Masahiro's feints.

"Not bad..."

On the other side, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded at the sight.

Although this was Masahiro's first battle as a ninja, his performance was not poor.

At the very least, he understood the core of ninja combat—deception.

"It's just that his training time is still too short..."

"The gap in raw strength is too large."

Masahiro, having just mastered Chakra, could handle an ordinary demon without issue, but the demon before them clearly possessed strength on the level of an Upper Moon.

It not only possessed physical attributes far exceeding a normal demon, but it also had its own Blood Demon Art.

The next second, Masahiro's eyes widened as a wave of weakness suddenly surged from within his body, and the Kunai in his hand instantly lost the strength to cut.