At dawn on Mt. Fujikasane, sunlight spilled over the mountain, and the demons who had run wild through the night vanished in the blink of an eye, each using their own tricks to hide. All that remained on the mountain were the bodies of the swordsmen they had slaughtered.
"Sorry for holding you back, Mufeng."
"Helping my junior is only natural, so don't let your mind wander. If you go see your sister this early, I guarantee you won't be able to keep your butt in one piece."
Suzuki Mufeng carried Giyu Tomioka on his back as he walked through Mt. Fujikasane. Limbs were scattered along the mountain trails. Clearly, the demons hadn't finished eating them before sunrise.
Passing the bodies weighed heavily on both of them, and they couldn't help but quicken their pace.
He couldn't bear to imagine what it would be like if something had happened to Makomo.
"Your pace is too slow. We won't find them like this."
Giyu Tomioka patted his shoulder from where he was riding on his back. He meant that Mufeng didn't need to worry about him and should hurry to find Sabito and Makomo.
"Keep an eye on your wounds. I'm speeding up."
The previous night, he had used his Sharingan to hypnotize several demons and learn how Sabito and Makomo were doing.
Sabito, the big brother of the group, was doing fine. He had single-handedly slaughtered so many demons that they fled in panic, and he was having the time of his life.
As for Makomo, he couldn't understand her. After killing one or two demons, she had already spent a great deal of energy. Though she was utterly exhausted, she still pushed herself deeper into the mountains, where the most demons gathered.
The few demons that had survived spoke of the girl with bafflement, and even a hint of regret that they hadn't seized the chance to eat her.
"Not one of my junior disciples knows how to make things easy."
Suzuki Mufeng's feet seemed to catch the wind. He used the Six Powers technique, Shave, and his speed increased several times over. The deeper they went, the stronger the stench of rot grew. Then he spotted a set of small footprints nearby and quickened his pace.
Deep in Mt. Fujikasane, where sunlight could not reach, lay the demons' domain.
"Such a cute little fox. Counting you, I've eaten ten of Sakonji Urokodaki's students. I bet that old man still hasn't realized that the masks he made became death warrants. Kid, it's all Sakonji Urokodaki's fault. He's the one who got you killed."
"Shut up! Don't you dare speak about Grandpa like that! I'll cut off your head!"
Makomo, who was usually so composed, was now overcome with emotion, and her fighting rhythm began to fall apart. She abandoned her advantage in speed and charged straight at the Hand Demon's head, sword in hand.
She'd lost her reason. Sakonji Urokodaki's students were so easy to fool. A little provocation, and she'd practically served herself up. But it would be such a waste to eat her like this. I'll slowly twist her arms and legs off and make her die screaming. This is the interest I'm collecting from you, Sakonji Urokodaki!
More than a dozen arms sprouted from the Hand Demon's body. By the time Makomo realized what was happening, the twisted hands had filled her vision. Was this how she was going to die? Grandpa and Sabito would be heartbroken.
"Total Concentration—Water Breathing, Sixth Form: Twisting Whirlpool!"
Suzuki Mufeng stepped in front of Makomo. He twisted his waist in midair, and as he spun, the flowing water along his blade gathered into a whirlpool, slicing every reaching demon hand into chunks of flesh.
"Hand Demon, I've finally found you. Makomo, take care of Giyu."
The strongest demon on Mt. Fujikasane had turned up here. This was the perfect chance to finish him off.
"Another two little foxes. Looks like Sakonji Urokodaki took on plenty of students this time. He must have invested a lot in you. If I torture you to death here and imagine Sakonji Urokodaki hiding under his covers, crying in grief, I feel an incredible thrill!"
The frenzied Hand Demon laughed wildly, scratching at its body with its hands. But it didn't stop attacking; dozens of huge hands still came crashing down.
In midair, Suzuki Mufeng used the Sharingan's monstrous visual acuity to spot the Hand Demon's killing blow, hidden in his blind spot.
A demon that had eaten more than thirty people was no pushover. But unfortunately for him, he'd met me.
"Mufeng, that demon's hands are very hard. Be careful your sword doesn't break."
"Makomo, Mufeng has more than one sword. He'll win."
More than one sword? Makomo didn't understand until she saw blood raining from the sky and chunks of severed flesh falling down.
"Four-Sword Style? What kind of monster is this?"
Suzuki Mufeng gripped a Nichirin Sword in each hand. Soft & Wet, pressed against his back, held two Nichirin Swords as well. He had collected all these Nichirin Swords by looting corpses. Now, he had no blind spots.
"Hand Demon, today is the day you die!"
"Total Concentration—Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash!"
Suzuki Mufeng surged through the air, with him and Soft & Wet on either side of the Hand Demon. They each held two swords and slashed horizontally toward its head.
Struck from four directions, it had nowhere to dodge—and no way to dodge.
I haven't avenged myself on Sakonji Urokodaki yet. How could I die at the hands of his students?
Faced with death, the Hand Demon burst into unprecedented speed. A mass of arms sprouted from its neck, layering over one another to form the best possible shield. The blades bit into flesh, spraying blood everywhere.
The Nichirin Swords sank deep into the flesh of the arms, then suddenly stopped. No matter how hard Suzuki Mufeng pushed, he couldn't drive them any farther.
"Come on, brat! Cut off my head! You look just as helpless as those other brats did when I ate them. That resentment, that rage—it's so delightful!"
Suzuki Mufeng resolved to cut off its head, even if it meant getting hurt. Then he felt a sudden push against the hand gripping his sword.
"Mufeng, you're not the only one Grandpa has trained. Hand Demon, the grudge between you and our school ends here!"
"You insulted Grandpa. I'll make you pay for it tenfold."
"We'll cut off your head, Hand Demon!"
Sabito, Makomo, and Giyu Tomioka suddenly rushed in and gripped three of the Nichirin Swords together. They, too, would help cut off the demon's head.
"Another little fox! Could today really be my lucky day? Eating four little foxes all at once is so much fun!"
The Hand Demon controlled several huge hands and sent them to attack from behind. They had to cut off its head before the demon hands reached them!
Everyone gave it all they had, but they were still just a little short of the Hand Demon's head. Was this where it would all end?
Then they suddenly felt a new strength well up inside them. A few souls seemed to appear behind them, each one wearing a battered fox mask and pressing down on one of the four swordsmen's hands.
They were the souls of Water Breathing swordsmen who had once died in the Hand Demon's clutches.
"Hand Demon, today is the day you die!"
Squelch—
Suzuki Mufeng's Nichirin Sword sank into the Hand Demon's neck. Following his lead, Sabito and Giyu Tomioka drove their own Nichirin Swords into its neck, too. As soon as Makomo's blade cut in, the Hand Demon's head would fall for good, and it would die a miserable death at their hands.
Now, the Hand Demon was truly afraid. It even tried to beg for mercy, but would Makomo give it the chance?
Makomo smiled sweetly. Squelch—the Nichirin Sword sank into its neck, and the Hand Demon's head soared into the air. At last, after years of enmity, the students of Sakonji Urokodaki had settled the score together.
"Sabito, take Makomo. I'll handle Giyu. We have to leave now."
They had to get away before the demons gathered, drawn by the smell of blood. The group fled into the sunlight. Once outside, they realized it was only noon, so they still had time to rest.
"Sabito, thank goodness you arrived in time. Otherwise, we'd have been in real danger."
"Thank yourself. I helped quite a few people along the way, and once they learned I was looking for you, they happily showed me the way."
"I'm hungry, Sabito. Did you bring anything to eat?"
"Giyu, I still have a little rice ball. Want some?"
The fellow students chatted happily together. Their souls watched silently, as if they were looking at their past selves.
At last, they could rest in peace and return to Mt. Sagiri to be with their beloved Grandpa Sakonji Urokodaki.
Though they hadn't made the Hand Demon suffer before it died, helping their fallen fellow students take their revenge with their own hands seemed like an even better outcome than he had expected.
But as they left, each of them seemed to reach out to me. Specks of starlight streamed from them and entered the space between his brows.
The gift they left behind seemed to make his vision clearer.
Now that the strongest demon, the Hand Demon, was dead, the remaining demons were no threat.
Before you continue