Mount Natagumo

The crow had actually arrived the night before, but when it saw that Chinatsu and the others had already gone to bed, it refrained from cawing away in the middle of the night.

After all, Chinatsu and her companions had completed so many missions in a row that they had to be allowed some time to rest. It considered itself a well-mannered crow with an official position, thank you very much.

The moment Chinatsu opened the front door, the crow eagerly tried to rush inside. But at that same instant, it realized that she was the one opening the door. Torn between charging forward and flapping its wings to retreat, it ended up moving incredibly awkwardly, as though it were doing a folk dance.

As Chinatsu came outside, Tanjiro and the others followed one after another, along with the boys and girls.

Looking at the crow flying overhead, the children waved excitedly and said, "Is this the crow you told us about? It's amazing! It really is a divine bird!"

The children's praise went straight to the crow's head. If not for its professional standards, it would have loved to play with them for a while.

"Ahem! Reinforcements! Reinforcements! North-northeast! North-northeast! Spider Mountain has requested reinforcements!"

The crow announced the mission in human speech, and hearing it actually talk made the children even more excited. Live long enough, and you really could encounter anything. They were only in their teens, but didn't that mean there were even more strange and wonderful things waiting for them in the future?

Hearing that they had another mission, Zenitsu lowered his head and let out a long sigh, muttering, "Again... If the demons don't kill us, exhaustion will..."

As everyone knew, before Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba earned the nickname "Pillar Slayer," its first nickname had been "Wage Slave Slayer."

"Reinforcements? Then it must be urgent. We need to hurry!" Tanjiro radiated model-employee energy from head to toe, distinctly different from everyone around him. It even seemed to rub off on them a little.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, they said goodbye to everyone at the house and hurried in the direction the crow had indicated.

Mount Natagumo-a Lower Rank lurked on this mountain!

Chinatsu and Tanjiro ran at the front, with Inosuke in the middle and Zenitsu bringing up the rear. Though his breathing was already unsteady, Zenitsu still spared enough breath to complain about how fast the others were running.

Before long, they reached the Spider Mountain area, where a powerful Kanoe-ranked Demon Slayer Corps member named Murata was crouched in the bushes, watching his surroundings warily.

Murata was no ordinary fellow. Known in the series as the "King of Extras" and the "Lucky Star," he had escaped death time and again. Although he was only ranked Kanoe now, during the across-the-board power-up in the final battle, he had reached a level close to that of a Pillar, fought Lower Rank demons, and survived the final battle without even losing an arm or a leg!

Seeing a group of normal teammates arrive, Murata immediately asked, "What rank are you?"

"I'm Mizunoto."

"Mizunoto. Why...?"

"The great me is Mizunoto!"

"What are you looking at me for? They're all Mizunoto, so of course I am too."

Hearing that every newcomer was a swordsman of the lowest rank, Mizunoto, Murata nearly broke down. Even he felt helpless as a Kanoe. What good would a bunch of Mizunoto do? Where were the Pillars? Shouldn't they have sent a Pillar?!

"What? Are you looking down on me?!"

Inosuke grabbed Murata by the collar and hauled him up on the spot. Breaking out in a cold sweat, Murata hurriedly replied, "No, no, no! How could I look down on swordsmen from my own corps? It's just that this place is really dangerous..."

As he spoke, a figure wearing a Demon Slayer Corps uniform appeared a short distance away. Murata recognized his companion at once, but before he could call out, the man stiffly turned and sprinted toward them, wildly swinging the Nichirin Blade in his hand.

A huge red exclamation mark immediately popped up over everyone's heads. In the nick of time, Chinatsu was already in front of him. She raised a foot, kicked him to the ground, and pinned his face firmly against the dirt.

Tanjiro swiftly used his Nichirin Blade to sever the spider threads wrapped around the man and controlling him. His movements were sharp and quick.

"A demon is using spider threads to control people. If you can't cut the threads, find a way to restrain anyone being controlled," Tanjiro said perceptively.

Chinatsu had never warned Tanjiro about this part of the plot, yet he had immediately picked up on her actions and noticed the spider threads wrapped around the man.

He really has grown...

Watching the two of them, Murata blinked blankly. To be honest, he hadn't even had time to react.

How had they already pinned him face-first to the ground?

How had they spotted the spider threads on him?

How had they cut threads that thin?

You two are ridiculous!!!

Murata stared at them, dumbfounded. After swallowing hard, he repeated his earlier question.

"What... rank are you?"

"Mizunoto."

"Oh... Oh." Like hell you're Mizunoto!

Murata forced a smile, struggling to keep his expression under control. He had already decided that these two were high-ranking swordsmen disguised as Mizunoto-probably Kinoe-ranked swordsmen.

Among the Demon Slayer Corps' standard ranks, Kinoe was the highest, possessing the combat strength to defeat any demon below the Twelve Kizuki.

While Murata was still reeling, Zenitsu, who stood beside him, couldn't help reaching out to pat his shoulder. "It's normal, it's normal," he said earnestly. "Those two were never people you could judge by ordinary standards."

Hearing this, Murata turned toward Zenitsu and suddenly realized that the blond boy was currently using Total Concentration Breathing. They weren't fighting right now, so why was he doing that?

As though something had occurred to him, he turned to look the other way. The fellow wearing the boar's-head mask also seemed to be using Total Concentration Breathing.

Wait, could this be Total Concentration: Constant? I've heard of that technique, but isn't that something only the Pillars have mastered?!

Murata suffered one shock after another!

In truth, Zenitsu and Inosuke were still trying to master it. At present, neither could maintain Total Concentration Breathing for more than twenty minutes. But in Murata's eyes, the two beside him were Kinoe-ranked swordsmen hiding their identities, just like Chinatsu and Tanjiro.

Murata decided that he was sticking to these powerhouses no matter what. As long as he held on tight, he would definitely make it off this mountain alive!!!