Shinobu's wicked streak

"Oh, all right," the Kakushi member replied, then hoisted Inosuke onto his shoulder to take him back to the Butterfly Mansion.

I couldn't do anything... I couldn't even defeat a single demon on my own... Maybe I'm not that strong after all...

Inosuke hadn't lost consciousness as he was carried over the man's shoulder. His encounters with demons that night had made him realize his shortcomings and begun to change his outlook. In particular, being tied up and suspended by that guy in the half-and-half haori while he was still talking had driven home just how weak he was.

Helping Inosuke had taken some time, so when Chiba Yo caught up, he found Shinobu Kocho fighting a demon.

No, rather than fighting, she was toying with her. The demon was completely at Shinobu Kocho's mercy, unable to fight back at all.

Shinobu Kocho pinned the female demon beneath her and said with a smile, "You need to receive a proper punishment, miss, and turn over a new leaf. Then we can get along. If you take people's lives without receiving any punishment, those you killed will never have their vengeance."

As she spoke, Shinobu Kocho held the female demon's eye open with her fingers, still smiling as she said, "For example, gouging out your eyes."

Then she traced a vertical line down the demon's stomach with a finger.

"Or slicing open your stomach and pulling out your organs. The more people you've killed, the more I'll torture you. Once you've endured all that pain, your sins can be forgiven. Let's do our best together!"

After saying that, Shinobu Kocho clenched both fists in a little gesture of encouragement. Her smiling face looked adorable, but paired with what she'd just said, it was distinctly terrifying.

"Don't worry, miss. You're a demon, after all, so you won't die or suffer any lasting damage!"

Even Chiba Yo felt a chill as he listened to Shinobu Kocho say such horrifying things with a smile.

The female demon clearly couldn't take it anymore. Cold sweat broke out on her face, and she shouted.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

The female demon jerked upright, and Shinobu Kocho sprang up with her. Freed from Shinobu Kocho's restraint, the demon thrust both hands toward her and shouted, "Die, you bitch!"

A huge mass of spider silk burst from her hands and hurtled toward Shinobu Kocho. The recoil knocked the demon to the ground, where she rolled some distance before scrambling back to her feet.

"Shinobu, let me test the Bright Red Nichirin Blade first."

The spider silk shattered, and Chiba Yo spoke to Shinobu Kocho.

He hadn't encountered a single living demon since entering Mount Natagumo, so he'd had no chance to test the Bright Red Nichirin Blade. He hadn't seen Giyu in all this time either, and suspected that Giyu might have beaten him to the Twelve Kizuki demon here and already killed him. This demon might be the last one left on the mountain. If Shinobu Kocho killed her, he wouldn't be able to test the Bright Red Nichirin Blade on this trip.

"All right, then. Since this young lady doesn't want to get along with me, there's nothing we can do. Remember to kill her once you've finished your test. It was her own choice, after all," Shinobu Kocho told Chiba Yo with a smile.

"Yes, I will," Chiba Yo replied. He slowly approached the white-haired spider demon, the Nichirin Blade in his hand gradually turning red under the pressure of his grip.

"Bastard! You can die too!" Furious and alarmed, the spider demon immediately waved her hands to attack Chiba Yo.

Her attack was utterly useless against him. His blade flashed, shredding every strand of the thick spider silk and severing both her arms at the same time.

"Aah!" The spider demon screamed in pain.

Then Chiba Yo kicked her to the ground and drove his Nichirin Blade through her stomach, pinning her there.

From Shinobu Kocho's conversation with this demon, Chiba Yo had learned that she had eaten more than eighty people. He wouldn't show the slightest mercy to an evil demon like her.

It hurts...

Burning pain radiated from the wounds where the Nichirin Blade had severed her arms and pierced her body. Fear swelled inside the spider demon. Now she wanted nothing but to escape, even if it meant defying Rui's orders, but it was already too late.

After driving his Nichirin Blade into the spider demon's body, Chiba Yo released his grip, wanting to see whether she could still regenerate her limbs quickly.

The moment Chiba Yo's hand left the Nichirin Blade, the spider demon tried to regenerate her arms and pull it out. But a searing pain that cut to the bone struck her again. She could no longer use even this most basic demonic ability.

"So the Bright Red Nichirin Blade really does suppress a demon's regeneration." Seeing that the demon still couldn't regenerate her arms, Chiba Yo confirmed that the Bright Red Nichirin Blade could indeed suppress demonic regeneration.

After all, in her current situation, regenerating her arms, pulling out the blade, and escaping was her only chance of survival.

"All right. Now you can go to hell and atone for those eighty-odd lives." Chiba Yo pulled out his Nichirin Blade. Having turned black after leaving his hand, it once again became a Bright Red Nichirin Blade, red along its entire length.

Freed from the Nichirin Blade, the spider demon didn't flee. Instead, she fell to her knees before Chiba Yo and pleaded through her tears, "Please, spare me! I'll do anything you want as long as I can live! I'll never eat another person! The other demons forced me to do all those things before. I'm so weak that I couldn't possibly defy them! Plea-"

Before the spider demon could finish her tearful plea, Chiba Yo's Nichirin Blade swept through her neck.

Her conversation with Shinobu Kocho had already revealed her to be a sly, treacherous demon who was skilled at winning others' sympathy. Knowing all that, how could Chiba Yo possibly be fooled by her?

Her head rolled to the ground, and her body collapsed. As the spider demon slowly began crumbling to ash, memories of her past surfaced in her mind.

Pursued by a Demon Slayer Corps swordsman, she had fled to Mount Natagumo, where Lower Rank Five, Rui, had saved her. After drinking his blood, she had begun playing the role of his older sister. Another demon, unwilling to keep playing house with Rui, had discussed escaping Mount Natagumo with her. She had betrayed their plan to Rui, causing that other demon, who had regarded her as a real younger sister, to be tied to the roof and burned to death in the morning sun...

Yet choosing to inform Rui hadn't earned her good treatment either. He hit and berated her whenever he pleased. Though she wouldn't die, the pain she endured was no less severe.

They were all merely roles Rui could replace whenever he wanted, not a family at all. She seemed never to have understood that, though perhaps she had only wanted someone strong to rely on.

I did nothing wrong... I just... wanted to live...

Her final thought faded, and the spider demon crumbled completely to ash, vanishing from the world.

Chiba Yo sheathed his blade and discovered that Shinobu Kocho had already left.

Looks like she went to join Mr. Giyu. I'd better head over too...