As a withered hand reached in from outside, everyone in the room instantly sensed something amiss. All five turned toward the open door at once.
After the withered hand reached inside, an ugly, trembling "old man" slowly crawled in from outside.
He raised his head slightly to look at everyone in the room. At that moment, not only were they stunned, but the demon crawling into the room was stunned as well.
Everyone: What is that? Is that a demon? How did a demon get here? We didn't sense his presence at all before he came in. A Lower Rank? Could he be an Upper Rank?!
The instant they saw Hantengu, everyone entered combat mode in unison, fierce auras surging from their bodies.
Hantengu was dumbstruck. Feeling the waves of terrifying auras emanating from in front of him, he first froze, then instinctively backed away, reaching for the door to pull it shut.
Hantengu: "S-sorry for disturbing you..."
"Mist Breathing, Fourth Form: Moving Current Slash."
Muichiro was the first to act. The sword energy of Mist Breathing swept out like splashes of cloudy ink, making his figure almost impossible to track before he struck. Yet even this swift attack failed to hit Hantengu.
In the original story, Hantengu had dodged Muichiro's attack by leaping straight onto the ceiling inside the house. But now, how could he possibly dare leap inside? He didn't dare venture even an inch farther into that room.
He was an Upper Rank-Upper Rank Four, no less.
He had once possessed the confidence and pride of an Upper Rank, but ever since Akaza, who was stronger than him, had died at the hands of the Demon Slayer Corps, that confidence had vanished.
As for pride... what good was pride?!
Staying alive mattered most!
Hantengu barely dodged Muichiro's