Chinatsu vs. Rui

As the spider threads drew closer, Chinatsu darted to the right at the last possible moment, narrowly dodging Rui's attack.

Was this the [Transparent World]?

Clearly not. Chinatsu had merely used her superhuman senses to detect the danger and dodged at the very last moment before the spider threads struck her.

This was not the Transparent World.

To put it simply, the Transparent World allowed someone to sense movement in every direction even with their eyes closed, while also concealing their own presence.

All she had just done was sense danger ahead and quickly dodge toward a safe spot. That was fundamentally different from the Transparent World.

After dodging Rui's spider threads, Chinatsu tried to switch off the ability she had tentatively named "beast instinct," hoping to use his attacks to force out her latent potential. But every attempt ended in failure.

Meanwhile, Rui watched his threads miss her by a hair several times in a row. Along with his confusion, his anger began to rise.

"Why?! Why can't I hit her?! Is this woman a monkey?!" Rui gritted his teeth as he controlled the threads. They could slice through iron like butter, but that meant nothing if they couldn't hit their target.

Watching from the sidelines, Inosuke was already too shocked to speak. Having spent years living in the mountains, he found Chinatsu's movements all too familiar.

A wild beast!

Living in the mountains, he had spent years among wild beasts. Naturally, that did not mean they had all lived together in peace and harmony. Fights to the death were inevitable.

Wild beasts lacked human intelligence, but their physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people. Most importantly, they possessed a beast's instinct.

Inosuke had tried to ambush wild beasts countless times. Even when he muffled his footsteps and stayed out of their sight, some of the more perceptive beasts would still instinctively react just before he struck, dodging the fatal blow.

Under Inosuke's and Rui's gazes, Chinatsu frowned slightly. Her repeated failures were becoming irritating. She had made no headway with the Transparent World, but she had gained a deeper understanding of her "beast instinct" instead.

First, danger detection. Something like a spider-sense?

Second, danger assessment. When faced with danger, my body instinctively makes the best possible evasive move.

Third, the urge to counterattack. After dodging a dangerous attack, I can't help sounding the charge, wanting to strike back immediately.

Tch!

Chinatsu clicked her tongue involuntarily. When another spider thread shot toward her, she did not dodge this time. Instead, she slashed straight at it, cutting it to shreds.

She snapped her closed eyes open and declared, "I'm done with this!!!"

After severing the thread, Chinatsu raised her head to look at Rui. Her aura changed in an instant. Though Water Breathing was renowned for its gentleness, an intense, oppressive presence erupted from her.

My body's "beast instinct" is too strong. The Transparent World requires concentrating the mind and discarding unnecessary sensory input to bring the body into a selfless state.

But "beast instinct" sharpened Chinatsu's senses far beyond those of an ordinary person. She had tried to suppress them, but every attempt had ended in failure.

And after that experiment in actual combat, Chinatsu was certain of one thing.

"Beast instinct" and the "Transparent World" conflict with each other!

If I want to master the "Transparent World," I have to abandon my "beast instinct." But I can't abandon it.

Chinatsu tightened her grip on her Nichirin Blade, and a ferocious water dragon took shape.

As Rui looked at Chinatsu, whose presence had changed completely, beads of cold sweat trickled down his face without him even noticing.

He pulled hard on his formerly white spider threads. They turned blood-red, their hardness and sharpness rising another level.

Even a light brush left long, wide cuts in the surrounding trees. If Rui wanted, he could easily bring those thick trunks down with a flick of his hand.

[Blood Demon Art: Killing Eye Cage]!

Rui wove a special spiderweb with both hands, as though playing cat's cradle. The instant the web took shape, a mass of blood-red threads appeared around Chinatsu, trapping her on every side and rapidly closing in, attempting to shred her within.

Chinatsu did not know the eleventh form of Water Breathing that Giyu Tomioka had created himself, but threads of this caliber were still no match for her.

Clear water splashed, and the blood-red threads were sliced to shreds.

"As expected of Lower Rank Five. You really can't be compared to other demons."

Having cut Rui's hardened blood threads to pieces, Chinatsu spoke calmly. Though she had not intended the slightest mockery, to Rui, her words sounded utterly scornful.

Damn it!

[Blood Demon Art: Thread Rotation]!

Rui increased the hardness of his blood threads to its limit. The threads crisscrossed and surged toward Chinatsu like a vortex.

Chinatsu maintained a flawless cycle of Water Breathing. She would stop trying to reach the Transparent World for now. Next, she would try using Water Breathing to deal with the Lower Rank before her.

With her azure Nichirin Blade in hand, Chinatsu charged fearlessly at Rui. The battle that erupted left the Boar's Head Boy watching beside them so astonished that he had no idea what to say.

As Chinatsu and Rui fought, every demon on Spider Mountain sensed it. The fierce clash taking place there was intense enough for Tanjiro and the others to notice as well.

"Who is Rui fighting? Why is it so intense?!"

"Who is my sister fighting? Why is it so intense?!"

Both sides found it unbelievable. The demons knew Rui's strength well. They had submitted to him precisely because of his overwhelming power.

Beads of cold sweat trickled down Tanjiro's face in his anxiety. He knew how strong his sister was. Ordinary demons were no match for her. If the fight was this intense...

Could her opponent be one of the "Twelve Kizuki"?!

Tanjiro's eyes widened, his expression growing panicked. Though he had already defeated many demons, none of them had been one of the Twelve Kizuki. He had no way of knowing how strong they were.

Though Tanjiro had great confidence in his sister, he still could not help worrying.

"Zenitsu, let's head over there right now!"

No sooner had Tanjiro spoken than a huge, muscular demon leaped in from the distance, landing before him and Zenitsu with a bang!!!

Tanjiro believed in his sister, and these demons likewise trusted Rui's strength. That was why they would never allow anyone else to interfere with his battle.

They were doing this for Rui, but also for themselves.

Because if they displeased Rui, he would unhesitatingly dispose of these demons he called his "family," binding their limbs and leaving them exposed to the sun until they died.