Kid, Don't Underestimate Yourself!

The flames grew dimmer, the golden lightning slowed, and transparent Vacuum Wave pierced through the air like sharp blades, filling the entire battlefield with destruction and despair.

Kyojuro's hands, gripping the Nichirin Blade, began to tremble, his grip weakening with each impact.

His fiery aura flickered in and out, and his crimson-gold fiery battle qi was fading. He knew... he couldn't hold on much longer.

"This... won't do." Tanjiro knelt on the ground, panting heavily, blood seeping from his wounds. "The Eight Gates... are too much for us..."

In order to boost their combat power, all three of them risked opening their Gate of Pain, causing their blood to circulate rapidly and their muscle strength to explode several times over. However, this boost is temporary and puts a heavy burden on them, and can only last for a short while at most.

At this point, the deadline was almost over.

"Hold on... hold on!" Zenitsu gripped his trembling Nichirin Blade. "We... can't fall... we... can't fail."

"No... you can't." Inosuke against the serrated blade. "We still have... our comrades... we... have a responsibility... to protect everything behind us."

The Chakra aura around the three began to dissipate, blood continued to flow from their wounds, their faces turned pale and bloodless, and their hands holding the swords trembled so much that even ordinary stabs would deviate.

Akaza coldly surveyed all of this, saying, "You... you've managed to hold out until now, that's quite impressive."

There was even a hint of regret in his tone, "If you are willing to relinquish your human form and become ghosts, I can grant you boundless fighting power."

"We... will never... be demons," Tanjiro, his voice trembling. "We... are human... we have the dignity that belongs to human beings."

"Foolishness," Akaza, "You have missed...the opportunity to transcend mortals."

As these words were uttered, Akaza's surrounding transparent Vacuum Wave began to tremble rapidly, "Destructive Death... Final Form."

A fist imprint powerful enough to destroy a valley was unleashed by Akaza. The transparent Vacuum Wave surged forward, causing the ground to tremble and the night sky to quiver, leaving the three of them with no way to dodge.

"It seems... this is the end." Kyojuro gripped his Nichirin Blade. "But... we will never back down."

Flames clung to the blade like sparks, "Flame Breathing... Secret Technique... Purgatory."

He mustered his last ounce of strength and unleashed a fiery dragon-like slash, colliding fatally with the destructive fist imprint.

"Boom!!"

The fire dragon was annihilated piece by piece under the transparent fist imprint, and the flames dissipated into the air with the explosion, leaving a deep crater.

Kyojuro collapsed to his knees, his hand gripping the sword trembling. "Did I fail...?"

The flames vanished completely, and the crimson-gold fire feather-like aura faded away.

"We... can't hold on any longer." Tanjiro knelt weakly on the ground. "I'm sorry... my comrades... my family... we... failed."

"I'm... sorry... Kakashi- sensei... we... have indeed... let you down."

Zenitsu hugged his Nichirin Blade tightly, his vision blurring. "I'm sorry..."

Inosuke against the serrated blade, said, "I'm sorry... buddies... we... can't hold on..."

Akaza slowly withdrew his fist. "The battle is over."

The flames had died down, the lightning had ceased, and the three members of the Demon Slayer Corps knelt tremblingly on the ground, preparing to face the apocalypse.

At that very moment--

A pale bolt of lightning descended from the night sky, piercing through the dark clouds with a crackling sound, carrying destructive power straight into the battlefield.

"Kid, don't underestimate yourself!"

With this soft whisper, a blue dragon composed of pure lightning swooped down, its head carrying destructive arcs of electricity, and crashed down with a deafening roar just as Akaza was about to retract his fist.

"What?" Akaza's pupils constricted sharply. "This power?!"

The azure dragon was composed of pale electric arcs, its body tens of meters long, its whiskers trembling with the current, and the white light bursting from its eyes illuminating the entire night sky.

It hurtled towards Akaza with destructive power, causing the transparent Vacuum Wave on the demon's body to tremble continuously. "No... what is this...?"

"Boom!!"

The Azure Dragon slammed violently into the Akaza, unleashing a burst of electricity that, like a destructive tornado, encircled the center of the battlefield.

This destructive force was enough to destroy a town, cause the earth to tremble, and pierce through the dark clouds in the night sky.

Sparks, arcs of lightning, and fragments flew everywhere in the explosion, and for a moment, the entire battlefield was completely blurred in the incandescent light of electricity.

The three knelt on the ground, their wounds deep but fortunately spared from a devastating attack. They raised their heads, dazed, and asked, "What... just happened?"

A figure slowly emerged from the void.

His ninja top swayed gently in the night breeze, his long, pale hair and distinctive Sharingan coldly surveying the battlefield.

"Sorry I'm late."

Kakashi... his clone... descends.

"Captain... Captain Kakashi?" the three whispered in astonishment.

Kakashi said softly, "You guys did a good job... making it this far."

He surveyed the epicenter of the destruction. "The rest... I'll clean up."

"Is he Kakashi?"

Kyojuro thought to himself.

Akaza slowly and shakily rose from the center of the destruction, a deep wound inflicted by the Thunder Dragon on his body. The transparent Vacuum Wave began to tremble unstablely. "What... are you?"

Kakashi's eyes were cold. "Dealing with demons... no need for further explanation."

He lightly raised his hand, "Lightning Release: Kirin"

A pale lightning dragon swooped down from the sky, merging with several lightning pillars on the ground to form a pure white vortex of destruction powerful enough to annihilate all demons and ghosts, completely locking Akaza in place.

"This isn't the power the Demon Slayer Corps should have!" Akaza looked around in alarm. "This destructive power... it... surpasses... human...?"

"Wrong." Kakashi's voice was cold. "This is... a human obsession."

"To kill the demon, to protect everything behind me."

"Finish."

As Kakashi softly uttered those words, the vortex of destruction erupted completely. Under the influence of a massive amount of lightning, Akaza, along with the transparent Vacuum Wave, was annihilated, leaving only a pile of debris.

This level of damage is something even Muzan couldn't recover from!

The war finally subsided, the night sky slowly returned to its transparency, and the stars appeared one by one.

The three men knelt on the ground, severely injured and delirious.

Kakashi stepped forward slowly and said softly, "You... held your own battle."

In the Kakkō, a figure emerged from the smoke, wearing a Demon Slayer Corps haori, with crimson-gold flame-like hair swaying gently in the night breeze.

Kyojuro's body looked disheveled, but it wasn't fatal.

"Pillar of Fire... Kyojuro Rengoku."

"The Pillar of Fire?" Kakashi said softly, "Nice to meet you."

"I am... the Emptiness Pillar"

Kakashi, somewhat annoyed, revealed his title.

"Void Hashira, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Kyojuro gripped his sword, and despite his weakness, he still called out loudly, "It seems we have much to learn."

The clash between fire and lightning has ended, leaving behind wounds and experiences.

That night, Tanjiro and his two companions experienced life and death, and gained a clearer understanding of their own shortcomings.

This scene... was witnessed by Kakashi's hidden clone.

He uttered softly, "It seems... it's time... for you to truly become stronger."