Demon Slayer: The Strange Demon

Chapters

Selection: Sakonji's Training
Selection: Spirits of the Past
Selection: The Final Test
Interlude: The Nichirin Blade
Mizunoto: First Mission
Mizunoto: A Chance Encounter
Mizunoto: New Allies
Mizunoto: Rest and Discovery
Mizunoto: Natagumo Mountain
Mizunoto: Rui and Bonds
Interlude: Meeting the Hashira
Interlude: Convincing Battle
Interlude: Training and Recovery
Mugen: The Train
Mugen: Demon of Dreams
Mugen: Deadly Arrival
Interlude: Last Words
Interlude: A New Mission
Entertainment: The Operation
Entertainment: Gathering Information
Entertainment: Encounter
Entertainment: Gyutaro
Entertainment: Explosive Finale
Interlude: Surprising Aftermath
Interlude: Obanai's Mission
Swordsmith: Village of Smiths
Swordsmith: The Battle Doll
Swordsmith: Intense Training
Swordsmith: Upper Moon Assault
Interlude: Hashira Council
Interlude: Hellish Training
Final Battle: Fateful Encounter
Final Battle: Rage Unleashed
Final Battle: Important Discoveries
Final Battle: Upper Moon One
Final Battle: The Grand Finale
Interlude: Interrupted Celebration
Equus: Heading Home
Equus: Friendly Clash
Equus: Back to the Rock Farm
Epilogue: Journey's End
Prelude: Arrival
Interlude: Encounter
Mugen: Final Preparations
Swordsmith: Fighting Hatred

Selection: Sakonji's Training

What happened after speaking to Urokodaki, and getting his permission to join him and Tanjiro, was that they left the area that the temple was resting in and returned to the road for some time, though not without making sure those who had been slain by the ashen Demon had been laid to rest, something that had been done before Pinkamena's arrival. As they traveled she discovered a few things, like how Tanjiro's last name was Kamado, he came from a family of charcoal sellers, and he was on a quest to save his sister from her fate, as he explained that while he was in a village close to their home a Demon came and attacked his family, leaving them as the survivors. Pinkamena had to wonder if he had been attacked by the same man she had seen, a Demon who had to be in the process of creating more of his kind while looking for something specific, likely the power to walk in the sunlight if she had to guess at his motives, but she kept her mouth shut as she listened to him talk for a couple of minutes. Another thing she learned as they walked was that Urokodaki's name was actually his last name and Sakonji was his first name, like how he was Tanjiro Kamado and his sister was Nezuko Kamado, though when asked she told them her name, not bothering to go into her middle or last names, since they were more tied to Pinkie.

After that both she and Tanjiro discovered something interesting, Sakonji picked up the pace and moved like he was far faster than someone of his age, as she suspected that he was far older than her new companion was, where it looked like his movements offered no sound at all, almost like he might be testing Tanjiro or something. It also allowed her to confirm a few of the abilities that came with being a demonic being, she seemed to have a greater level of endurance than before, even if she had no knowledge on her Human limits since she had been in that state for a short period of time, and she never felt the urge to blink, like something was up with her eyes. Such a thing allowed her to keep up with Sakonji, even though she could tell that he wasn't trying that much and was using a level of skill that was more around Tanjiro's current level, who was huffing and seemed ready to drop as he forced himself to follow after them. Given the space between them and Tanjiro she had to wonder if Sakonji might talk to her or not, though for the time being it seemed like he was going to simply move towards wherever he was taking them, which appeared to be a mountain or something, given where the road was leading right now.

She didn't think about too much as they traveled through the land, or a small portion of it since she was sure there was a whole world out there, though it took a great deal of time for them to reach what appeared to be a wooden building that seemed to be the size for a few people to reside in, which had to be Sakonji's residence, as it was nearly sunset by the time they reached their destination.

"So... So did..." Tanjiro spoke up, where his voice was rough and labored, from having to run behind Sakonji and force his legs to keep moving, despite the pain that he might have been in as he pushed himself to the breaking point, all while it was easy for Pinkamena to find that he had collapsed onto his knees outside the hut, while the man stood in front of the wooden structure, "did I... pass the test?"

"Not yet, as the test has only just begun." Sakonji replied, though as he said that Pinkamena came to the decision that the true meaning behind part of this had to be whether or not Tanjiro had the potential to be someone who fought Demons, or at least that was her current thoughts since she had missed what happened to the Demon before it crashed into all the stones behind where she stopped, before he opened the sliding door, "We're going to climb this mountain... and for you to be at your best, you need to leave your sister here. Don't worry, I'll make sure to watch over her."

Tanjiro, of course, was shocked by this discovery and seemed exhausted just thinking about climbing up the mountain, no doubt due to it's size or something, though this time around Sakonji allowed him to set Nezuko's container down inside his place before carefully laying her slumbering form on a mat. Once that was done the pair closed the door, making sure that Nezuko was safe from the last of the sun's rays, before they started to climb the side of the mountain, where Pinkamena tagged along to see what was going on and if there was anything for her to learn. One thing she found was that Tanjiro had a pair of earrings she had missed earlier, a rectangular set that had a design that looked like the sun was rising, and that his hair seemed to have burgundy colored tips, but she could tell that Sakonji seemed wary of her presence and she had to assume the moment she stepped out of line he would fall on her in seconds. Of course she could tell that Tanjiro was exhausted, as it looked like he had gone without food for a day or so and they had been running almost all day, so he had to be sleep deprived and starving, on top of being exhausted, though she guessed that being a Demon had a number of perks, especially when she considered her unique power.

Eventually they came to a stop in a part of the mountain, far away from where Sakonji's house rested, where Tanjiro made sure to take a few moments to gather his breath and stead himself, where Pinkamena found that the air around them was thinner than when they were at the foot of this particularly large mountain, which was when Sakonji turned and glanced at them, even though she knew he was never going to take his mask off.

"Now, Tanjiro, I want you to make your way back down to my place at the foot of the mountain," Sakonji stated, where it was easy for them to tell that this had to be the next part of his test for Tanjiro, though at the same time he glanced over to Pinkamena for a moment, no doubt considering whether or not he could trust her, or at least she assumed he did that since he didn't move his head at all, "this time I won't be waiting until dawn."

In that moment, with his directions given, the thick fog Pinkamena had spotted washed over the area and Sakonji quickly vanished, no doubt using whatever skills he had been using during his travels back to his house, where Tanjiro seemed to think that he was going to complete this task in due time as he turned back and started to retrace his steps, or attempted to thanks to the fog. Pinkamena watched as Tanjiro, filled with renewed vigor, turned for a moment before rushing down the path they had walked up, where she raised an eyebrow as he stumbled over a rope trap and a number of stones just flew out of a bush, striking him in the side of his face and caused him to stagger for a moment. This told her that Sakonji was testing him and making him experience some sort of grueling training at the same time, likely to see if he was capable of handing the training so he could become someone who fought Demons, before he tumbled right into some sheets that covered a pit, which he fell into. She stood there for a moment and glanced around the area that they were in, where she found a few more rope traps that were just waiting to be sprung, meaning that Sakonji had been told about Tanjiro, likely by someone who knew the old man, and had set up an obstacle course of sorts, though as she did that she watched as her new companion pulled himself out of the small hole and accidentally triggered another trap.

This one, as it turned out, loosed a log that slammed into him and knocked him to the side, where Tanjiro picked himself up and huffed as he accessed the situation he was in, all while Pinkamena jumped into some of the trees and watched him from above, as this was all for him and she figured that aiding him would only annoy Sakonji. A few moments later he did exactly what she thought he was going to do, he started off down the path once more and paid her no attention, focusing on completing the test that had been thrown at him, though once he got a good distance away from her she started to move as well, jumping from tree to tree as she decided to test her own agility. Sure enough she found that her abilities, as she was still coming to terms with her demonic empowered body, were capable of keeping up with her companion, not to mention make a few laps around the area before he was able to make a lot of progress, before she found that Tanjiro just stopped for a moment. It seemed like he was trying to control his breathing, so he didn't exhaust himself even quicker, but it only lasted for a few seconds before something happened, as he surged forward with a look of determination in his eyes and his vigor had been renewed, where whatever he had discovered allowed him to dodge a few traps, but in the end one struck him and it was the beginning of him blundering into some of the other traps.

The process repeated for some time, her watching as Tanjiro did his best to avoid the various traps that had been set up along this path, where Pinkamena spotted a number of additional traps on the other directions one could take, though he did trigger a few more along the way, since he couldn't suddenly become more agile in a matter of seconds, but in the end she came to a stop outside Sakonji's place and waited as Tanjiro caught up... and as the sun's rays came up behind him he had his skills recognized by the older male, before he collapsed.

"It seems that you worked him into exhaustion," Pinkamena commented, where she waited for a few seconds, mostly to make sure Nezuko was safe and found that she had been moved into a back room that Sakonji kept closed so the light of the sun didn't reach her, before moving Tanjiro inside and placing him in the area his new mentor wanted him placed in, all before leaning against a wall as the door closed.

"If he wishes to be a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, he'll be experiencing this everyday," Sakonji replied, meaning he felt that Tanjiro was weak and that he needed to be trained from the ground up, which told her that something must have happened before she found them outside that temple, though he remained sitting in the spot she found him in, likely due to the unease of having an unknown Demon standing nearby, "Tell me, what do you remember?"

"What, about Humans, Demons, and the Demon Slayers?" Pinkamena asked, because it seemed like an odd question for him to ask, especially since he and Tanjiro had assumed she had been Human some time before she appeared in front of them, where she found that Sakonji nodded his head a little, indicating that she was correct, causing her to sigh, "To tell you the truth... I know nothing."

That was the honest truth, she knew nothing about the inhabitants of this world, though it appeared that Sakonji still had a feeling that she was a transformed Human, that this was her demonic form after being twisted into a Demon, and that the change into this state had cost her all of her memories, the 'Human' ones to be exact, where he started to tell her things about the species she supposedly had been previously. She learned a number of things about the Human body, like where the heart, lungs, and stomach rested, even though it wasn't something she needed to know and kept her mouth shut since it seemed Sakonji had made up his mind about her, along with a name for the mounds on her chest, though he did tell her a few more facts that interested her. There were apparently hundreds of Demon Slayers within the organization, even if it wasn't recognized by the government and anyone claiming to be one in public were usually threatened by the police for all sorts of things, which made sense to her, where the leader of their Corps was mostly unknown, as you had to be a certain rank to gain that information, and their strongest members were the Pillars, or the 'Hashira'. The Corps had been around for a long time, for nearly a thousand years based on what he remembered, and it was their mission to hunt down and kill Demons, with their ultimate goal being the downfall of Muzan Kibutsuji, the Demon King, who Sakonji suspected might be the one who turned her and Nezuko into Demons.

Sakonji then told her that they weren't sure if Muzan was the first Demon or if there were others before him, though that hardly mattered since the Corps existed to end all demons, where he informed her of the fact that Demons ate Humans, tore their flesh and devoured them whole, their physical abilities were incredibly powerful, they regenerated wounds in no time at all, they could even heal hacked off limbs, and some even had the power to alter the structures of their bodies, as in shapeshifting.

"One can only kill a Demon by removing it's head with a blade made out of a special metal... or using the sun," Sakonji said, reminding Pinkamena of what nearly happened to her after she transformed into a Demon, the burning sensation that just tore through her body and nearly burned her alive, and he stared at her while he said that statement, no doubt a warning to her as well, that if she stepped out of line he was getting his blade to put her down, "anyway, there are all sorts of lesser Demons scattered around the land, though there are twelve powerful Demons under Muzan, which are called the Twelve Kizuki, or the Twelve Demon Moons, and are divided into two sets, the Lower Moons and the Upper Moons."

"I see. The Upper Moons sound like the type of Demons we'll want to avoid for the time being," Pinkamena commented, where she had to think about what she had been told and wondered what the difference was between the ranks, as in something other than strength, and assumed that she would learn what it might be at some point in time, though that was when she focused on Sakonji once more, "you, on the other hand, sound like someone whose fought Demons before, as in a retired member of the Corps, and decided to retire to cultivate the next generations of Demon Slayers."

"That is correct. I am one of the 'Cultivators' that are scattered across the land," Sakonji replied, though while Pinkamena felt it was odd that he was admitting all of this to her, a Demon in his eyes, she also knew that he suspected that there was something different about her, something odd that set her apart from the rest of her new kind, and that there was no real harm in sharing this information with her, "and each Cultivator teaches a specific set of techniques to those they pick out, which we call Breathes. In order for one to fully join the Corps they must pass the Final Selection that takes place on Mt. Fujikasane, and I get to decide when my pupils are ready to take it... so for Tanjiro to become a Demon Slayer, to take revenge on the Demon who killed his family and turned his sister, he must face my training and then, when I'm sure he's ready, survive the Final Selection. The mountain training is to increase his stamina, so he won't die during the test, the traps to improve his sense of smell, and, once I'm sure he's ready, he'll start swinging a blade to get used to it's weight and not collapse in the heat of battle."

"And, in the process, you'll pass on your Breathing Style to him?" Pinkamena asked, though the way Sakonji spoke, and how he acted some times, made her wonder if he was linked to Water, especially when she considered some of his motions on their way to this particular mountain, where Sakonji paused for a few seconds before nodding a little, causing her to sigh for a moment, "I take it the other Corps members would frown upon you teaching a Demon? Especially one that's totally different from the rest of her kind and has a bone to pick with their leader?"

"I... am unsure. While you smell like a Demon, you don't act like one." Sakonji said, making her wonder about this sense of smell that he and Tanjiro seemed to have, given what she had seen so far, before he got up and walked over to another part of his residence, where he moved something before producing a blade that was inside it's scabbard, which looked like a katana, an ordinary one at that, "I will send a letter and ask about it, especially since you're so different from the rest of the Demons we've encountered over the years... but for the time being you will move onto the next stage of my training, at least until I figure out what to do with you."

Pinkamena took the blade and pulled it out a little, finding a steel blade on the other side, or whatever metal it was since it clearly wasn't a special weapon designed to kill Demons, before sheathing it as she picked herself up and followed after Sakonji, as she had a feeling that things were going to get interesting for her, and eventually Tanjiro when he reached this point of his training.

Selection: Spirits of the Past

After talking about the Demon Slayer Corps, Demons, and Muzan's forces, or at least part of each since Sakonji didn't trust her all that much and wasn't about to reveal too much to her, Pinkamena found that he brought her out to part of his place, his mountain, that was away from the house, before stopping as he turned to face her, revealing an area that was full of bamboo. While he didn't trust her, even though she hadn't eaten anyone and had no desire to eat Humans, he did show her a few movements that were tied to his style of Breathing, which he did confirm was the Water Breathing as she had guessed based on his personality, even though he was able to perform the motions without a blade, showing her how skilled he was. Such a thing told Pinkamena that Sakonji had to be a retired Hashira, because based on everything she had seen so far he was far more than an ordinary swordsman, though she wasted no time in drawing the blade she was being lent and took up a stance identical to what he was showing her right now, where she attempted to replicate everything he had shown her, or at least the first couple of steps. His technique was to swing along with the blade, that the position of the blade and the direction one applies the force of the swing in had to be the same, causing her to raise an eyebrow before shrugging as she followed his teachings, figuring that she had no knowledge on how to use a weapon and watching him was the best bet for her right now.

There was also a slight threat added to everything he taught her, that normal blades could be worn down with time and that the user had to be careful, because if their blades broke then the user's body would break as well, a warning to make sure those he taught were careful during his training, though given her demonic abilities she didn't have to worry about such a thing happening. Of course she did take the warning to heart, since there was no telling how durable the blade she had been given was, and moved through the motions that Sakonji showed her, pausing every now and then as he correct her stance or made some alteration to her body, where she followed his suggestions as she practiced using the blade. Another thing she found was that she wasn't getting tired at all, which she figured had to be part of the unlimited stamina and endurance, meaning she could train for a long period of time without having to rest at all, meaning that, while Sakonji was standing nearby and often corrected her stance, he slowly found that she was improving over time and he didn't need to step in as often as he thought he might. Pinkamena was sure that her mentor's plans had been designed based on the fact that she didn't remember anything from her 'Human life', so in his eyes he figured that he would have stepped in far more than what was currently happening, but he was still watching her and making sure she wasn't a threat to him and Tanjiro, not to mention the Humans they had seen on the way to this mountain.

Another thing Sakonji did was pull her aside and beckoned for her to attack him, where Pinkamena discovered that her mentor decided to use no weapons and grabbed onto her with his bare hands when she tried to swing at him, finding that he was able to launch her in whatever direction he wanted, training that was designed to make one roll and get back up onto their feet without wasting time, or hooves in her case, since fighting Demons was a matter of life and death and her movements could decide her fate.

"Hey, Sakonji... won't you get in trouble for training a Demon?" Pinkamena asked, choosing to do so during one of the few moments that he actually allowed her to stop, not that it mattered since her new abilities allowed her to continue without needing a break and it was more for him to relax before starting the next set of movements, "I understand that you might be a former Hashira, but won't the Corps be mad at you for doing this?"

"Possibly. However, you aren't like all of the other Demons we've seen so far... I'm honestly not sure what the Hashira will do once they learn about you," Sakonji replied, which was the truth, as she was different from all of the foul Demons they had slain since the organization had been founded, especially given the fact that she seemed capable of walking in the sun at all times, which needed to be kept from Muzan at all times, though as he said that Pinkamena reached behind a tree for a moment and pulled out an arm of the Demon that Tanjiro had encountered.

"What? Don't look at me like that." Pinkamena said, where she tore into the arm and ate part of it, finding that Sakonji did tilt his head for a moment, like he was disappointed in her or something, though she found that part of her power seemed to influence the area around her, keeping her food from burning in the sunlight, "You said Demons need to feed, least they grow weak and everything, but since I have no desire to eat Humans, as it will cause both you and the Demon Slayer Corps to come after me, that leaves the Demons who have been slain."

"But... Demons turn to ash when they're slain..." Sakonji stated, where this was another thing that surprised him, given that he had seen the death of the Demon whose arm Pinkamena was devouring, making sure not to bother him by moving off to the side of the clearing they were in, though he suspected that she had developed her own Blood Demon Art, a power that was unique to her since every single Demon was different from each other.

"Well, I didn't, and neither does my food." Pinkamena replied, though she refrained from adding something to that, as she found that while she could access the storehouse from this world, without having to actually travel to her hidden world at all, anything that was removed from whatever was inside the first structure replaced itself, confirming that she now had an unlimited amount of food, before she finished off the arm and caused the bone to disappear.

Sakonji said nothing to that as Pinkamena got up and returned to her training, swinging the blade as she had seen him do at the start of this, unsure as to what he was supposed to do since his own teachings told him to cut her down and put an end to a potential Demon that might cause headaches for the Corps, while his feelings were to stay his hand and watch all of her movements before making a decision. While she trained he excused himself for a short period of time, giving him a chance to slip back to his hut and take up his writing materials once more, where he composed two messages this time, as one was for the individual who sent Tanjiro and Nezuko his way, the other was for the head of the Corps, as he needed to know about Pinkamena's existence. He wanted a second set of eyes on this situation, someone to talk to while Tanjiro was in the middle of his training, before the odd Demon was sentenced by the Hashira and their leader, though knowing who was in charge of the Corps he might see this as a good thing and ask that she come speak to him before taking part in the Final Selection, no doubt to gauge her with his own eyes. Plus there was a chance that she might snap and attack them, as in him and Tanjiro, not to mention whoever might be near this mountain, so having a Hashira nearby for a few days might be enough to calm his nerves and see if Pinkamena was as different as she claimed she was, just in the off chance that this was a way for Muzan to kill the Corps without drawing attention to himself.

Once he was done with his letters, and made sure that Pinkamena was still swinging her blade while Tanjiro slept, he took a moment to carefully call down two crows, a special species that the Corps used for communication, and gave them their letters, one heading out to seek out the Hashira he was conversing with and the other heading for their leader's position, where the latter would take some time since it moved every now and then.

While he did that Pinkamena continued her training, swinging the blade like she had seen as she considered some things, even though it was mostly the fact that she was sure that the Corps would have a hard time accepting someone like her into their ranks, before she paused for a moment when she noticed that Sakonji hadn't returned yet and glanced down at her hand. Part of her was curious as to whether or not her power, Chaos World, would allow her to alter other things, such as make those who gazed upon her see a Human and not a Demon, something she was going to have to experiment with in the future, before sighing as she resumed swinging her blade as she imagined that this was a fight against enemies and not against the open air. Of course she noticed a pair of crows fly towards the hut and leave it not a few moments later, all while carrying what appeared to be letters wrapped around one of their legs, so two letters, before separating from each other and heading in different directions, meaning Sakonji was likely telling someone about her and how odd she was, in comparison to all the other Demons of this land. She was interested in what have been written on the letters, but, even if that was the case, she wasn't about to stop her training and hunt them down so she could learn what Sakonji wrote on the pair of letters he was sending out, hence why she focused on her training and nothing else, to improve her offensive and defensive powers for whatever the future held for her.

As it turned out it was the following day when Tanjiro started his own training, as Sakonji gave him the first day off, mostly to allow him to rest and recover from what had happened so far, namely running to this mountain and then the test that was on another part of the mountain, though it seemed that Sakonji planned on having Tanjiro focus on his endurance and stamina first, before worrying about his blade. One thing Pinkamena discovered was that the Cultivator had several training blades for them, which made sense considering that he and the others might train more than one person at any given time, as they could train four, maybe five, possibly even ten if they wanted, so having training blades at the ready made sense to her as she continued her own training. Of course she also spent some days following Tanjiro, mostly due to the fact that Sakonji wanted someone to keep an eye on him and collect some information on him so he could rapidly add new challenges, even though she was sure that the man had some ideas on what to do and didn't need her to do such a thing, but she kept silent and aided him to the best of her new abilities. Even though her stamina and endurance were far beyond Tanjiro's, meaning the mountain descent training was useless for her, Pinkamena tried a few of them out, just to see what her companion was dealing with everyday, before sticking to running along the treetops and watching him fall for certain traps while completely overcoming others.

Whenever Tanjiro took a break he would often speak with her before resuming his own training, talking about his family, the village they had lived near, his father and the Hinokami Kagura, a dance that they had offered to the Fire God at the start of every new year to ward of both threats and diseases, the fact that his Hanafuda earrings were part of the dance and were passed from father to son, and other things. When Pinkamena thought about it, and listened to the explanation as to what the dance was, she was positive that it sounded like another Breathing Style, which she wasn't sure of since she had no knowledge of how many there were in this world, but she kept that information to herself as Tanjiro trained, just to make sure his focus was on his own training. Sometime after that Sakonji had Tanjiro start training with his own blade so he could get used to the weight of it, which only decreased his chances of success in dodging traps, which annoyed him whenever it happened, and it seemed that talking to her seemed to allow him to calm down and focus on his training, a fact that she was fine with since it gave her more information to work with. She also learned that the Hinokami Kagura had twelve named forms for a practitioner to use, those being Dance, Clear Blue Sky, Raging Sun, Burning Bones Summer Sun, Setting Sun Transformation, Solar Heat Haze, Beneficent Radiance, Sunflower Thrust, Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance, Fire Wheel, Fake Rainbow, and Fire Dance, which Tanjiro demonstrated one at a time.

It was an interesting dance, and she was sure that it was a hidden Breathing Style, but she said nothing as Tanjiro focused on his training, as with the addition of the blade he had to swing it after descending the mountain, a thousand swings to be exact, which Sakonji altered accordingly, usually adding more to make sure his arm strength was at it's peak, and he even knocked Tanjiro into a lake near a waterfall, why Pinkamena had no idea and she wasn't about to question it.

A few things happened as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months, as at the end of their first month on the mountain Pinkamena noticed a figure watching them, not Sakonji based on what she was seeing, as this one was a younger male who wore a serious and emotionless look on his face, who wore a black uniform of some kind, like the attire of a Demon Slayer, with a haori that seemed to be made out of two different ones, the right being solid red while the left half had squares of green, orange, and yellow. She was sure that the figure was someone of importance to the Corps, as in one of the Hashira, and that meant that Sakonji wanted a second set of eyes to watch her for a time, hence why she kept practicing the movements she had been shown while finding that they came to her much faster as she practiced them, to the point where she confirmed that this training was for the Water Breathing style. It was obvious when she considered all of Sakonji's motions and some of his speech patterns, as he was trying to hammer all that information into Tanjiro, whose focus was on getting revenge on the Demon who killed most of his family and turned Nezuko into a Demon, though their mentor did seem pleased that someone understood his training. Of course she continued her training into the night, due to the fact that she didn't need to sleep all that much, and made sure to be a good distance away from Sakonji's place as she did it, just to make sure the sounds of her training didn't bother them while they were sleeping and preparing for the next day's events.

The Hashira who watched her disappeared after the first time she noticed him, no doubt heading out to fulfill his duties to the Corps, though she was sure that he returned every now and then to watch over her for some time, just to make sure nothing changed with her, though she pushed that out of her mind as she focused on the training she was undergoing, as the movements were interesting and gave her some ideas.

When the sixth month started, however, Tanjiro and Sakonji noticed that Nezuko, who had been sleeping for the most part and hadn't come out of the hut since their arrival, had fallen into a deep sleep, as if she might have lost consciousness and it worried her brother to no end, even though it did give Pinkamena a chance to actually see Tanjiro's demonic sister with her own eyes. Nezuko was a petite young girl, who was twelve according to her brother, who had long black hair that just so happened to reach her waist and the ends were flame red colored, due to her demonic nature since Tanjiro stated that it had been black before the transformation, who wore a light pink kimono that had an interesting flower pattern on it, or at least Pinkamena thought so. There were a few other additions, like the bamboo gag that her fangs were biting into right now, mostly to prevent her from attacking and eating people, and she found a small pink ribbon in her hair, the left side to be exact, though right now she seemed to be peacefully sleeping, likely unaware of what was happening around her, but it didn't stop Tanjiro from making sure to maintain a journal, just for her. Of course Sakonji also called for a doctor to come, one that had to be part of the Corps since he couldn't let just anyone come and see Nezuko, though they found nothing off about her and went about their business like usual, no doubt returning to tending to the other Demon Slayers who might be in this region, allowing Pinkamena and Tanjiro to return to their training.

Following that Tanjiro dedicated himself to his training, pushing his body to the extreme by heading into the highest parts of the mountain, as in those that had a lack of oxygen to condition himself for later, which he did for six more months, in addition to his sword training, before Sakonji approached them, as Pinkamena was offering Tanjiro some pointers, even if he was oblivious to some aspects of this.

"Tanjiro... I have nothing more to teach you," Sakonji said, something that caused Tanjiro to pause for a moment, due to the fact that he had poured himself into his training and this wasn't something he was expecting to hear, to which he took a moment to beckon for them to follow him as he walked towards another part of the mountain, "from now on you'll have to prove yourself, by improving on the basics that I've taught you so far. I will allow you to join the Final Selection... but first you need to cut this boulder in half."

The area he brought them to happened to be a clearing, one that looked like it had been prepared ahead of time, likely the moment that Tanjiro appeared on his radar, and in the middle of it rested a large boulder with a rope ring located right in the area one's neck would be in, though as Tanjiro realized the absurd nature of this request Sakonji lead Pinkamena over to another clearing, one some distance from the young boy and happened to have an identical boulder inside it.

"I know you'll likely break this in no time, but it's a requirement of my training," Sakonji continued, where he created this to make sure Tanjiro didn't get an idea of what to do, though as he said that he stood near some of the bamboo and watched as Pinkamena approached the boulder, no doubt studying it for a few moments as she considered her options, "however, I had to split you up..."

He never finished his statement as Pinkamena shifted her stance and gripped the handle of her blade, breathing like what a master of the art would do, before she shimmered for a moment as she drew it and advanced on the large boulder that was in front of her, where he found that water actually gathered around her blade as she danced around her target, which allowed her to deliver a number of slashes to the boulder before she reappeared near him and sheathed the blade not a few seconds later, breaking the rock into a thousand pieces.

"Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance..." Sakonji commented, as that was beyond what a normal practitioner would do when wielding his particular type of Breathing, because normally one would imagine the water around their blade while they fought their enemies, as there was no magic involved in their techniques, but with Pinkamena the impossible had, in an odd twist, become possible, "So, you have completed your training... as odd as it sounds... which means it's time for you to head to the Final Selection and survive the final test before becoming a Demon Slayer."

"Not yet... there's something I need to work on," Pinkamena said, as while she was pleased that she had replicated one of the ten techniques that belonged to the art of Water Breathing, and could possibly do the same with the other nine, part of her wanted to see if there was something else she could do before heading to the Final Selection, hence why she took a moment to glance over in Tanjiro's direction, who hadn't cut through his boulder yet.

Pinkamena found that Sakonji was fine with this and allowed her to continue with her work, where she used the clearing as a new practice area as she tried new movements and techniques, as she wanted to know more about how to wield the blade that was in her possession, mostly to make sure her chances of succeeding in her mission were boosted, all while Tanjiro continued to fail in his task. He spent the next six months trying to overcome the boulder that had been prepared for him, be it practicing his swings on the bamboo and empty air, rereading his journals to see if his notes contained some sort of clue as to what he was supposed to do, running up and down the mountain to improve every aspect of his body so he would be in peak form, and resting near Nezuko every night. It was kind of sad, if she was being honest with herself, as she felt that Sakonji's training was rather simple in some places and difficult in a few other spots, but it wasn't hard to the point where she was in Tanjiro's position, and she would have given him some pointers if Sakonji hadn't told her to let him find his own path. Other than that nothing happened and she found that no Demons seemed to come this way, no doubt due to some sort of incense the Demon Slayers used to keep themselves hidden, or maybe the Hashira kept this place safe for his mentor to teach those he accepted as his pupils, allowing them to focus on their training as she silently developed a few new moves, in a style that was different from Sakonji's.

Things got interesting when Tanjiro, on the verge of admitting defeat, was visited by a pair of spirits, as Pinkamena could see that they weren't physical for the most part, save for when a young male wearing a fox mask, who had something on that looked like the yellow and green part of the Hashira's haori, swung at him and their blades collided with each other, or the bamboo blade hitting his metallic blade. From what she could see the spirit seemed to think that Tanjiro was weak and that he didn't have what it took to be a Demon Slayer, though she refrained from jumping in since this seemed to be what Tanjiro needed, as the sudden arrival of a foe, who could do what he couldn't, might snap the lessons into place, hence the reason she merely watched them. Of course there was another spirit, a young girl with another fox mask, which she had to assume was a signature of those who put themselves through this sort of training, who wore a sleeveless haori and a red yukata, a shirt basically, appeared near her and tended to Tanjiro whenever the other spirit was done with his training, all while learning that the female was called Makomo and the male was Sabito. Makomo was more of an educational teacher, explaining everything to Tanjiro in a way that he could understand it, and he did with a decent speed, while Sabito was the instructor who put everything together with experience, challenging Tanjiro to form the techniques that Sakonji had taught him and use them as they were intended, even if it started with smashing the boulder.

Even with all the assistance it took Tanjiro some time to get the hang of things, half a year to be exact based on her count of the days and Sakonji explaining the calendar to her, allowing him to grow out his hair and learn what he needed so he could challenge Sabito, who accepted and came to the match with a real sword, though it ended with Tanjiro scoring the first strike, where he cleaved Sabito's mask in half... and when he came back to his senses both spirits were gone, though he was successful in cutting his boulder, meaning he was ready for the Final Selection and whatever the world had to throw at them.

Selection: The Final Test

With the boulder test complete Sakonji allowed Tanjiro to rest and recover for a few days, as he needed to be ready for the Final Selection, and Pinkamena joined them, as there wasn't much for her to do besides train and ready herself, though it did give her a chance to learn a few more things while her companion tended to his slumbering sister, some of which she found to be interesting. One of those new pieces of information happened to be the weaknesses of the Demons, where the Corps taught their students to aim for the neck, the most vital area for the demonic creatures, though cutting off their heads with an ordinary weapon, like the axe that Tanjiro had started with, wouldn't kill them, as one needed a special blade to do the job, the Nichirin Blade. Apparently the blades were forged from a special metal that only the Corps knew about, created by a village of blacksmiths who remained hidden for their own good, as if Muzan knew where to find them he would have called for his minions to destroy it, and the blades that he had lent them for their training were, in fact, Nichirin Blades, only they would be returned to him as soon as they returned from the Final Selection. Pinkamena learned that if they survived this test, and she had a feeling that they would do such a thing, both of them would be able to claim some ore that someone in the village of blacksmiths would forge into their personal Nichirin Blades, even though she could see that Sakonji had come to terms with her existence and she hoped the rest of the Corps followed his lead.

Of course Tanjiro didn't stay down and refined his movements for some time, revealing that he had learned how to smell the 'Line of Interval', the slight pause in his opponent's motions that allowed him to lash out and win, though Pinkamena just raised an eyebrow and let him continue with his personal training, as she figured that his enhanced sense of smell might be behind such a thing. In addition to that Sakonji did a few things for them, where the first thing he did was cut Tanjiro's hair back to the short style he had started with, as Tanjiro had stopped cutting it so he could focus solely on figuring out where his mistakes were, while the second was to praise him for being able to slice open the boulder, as while he had thought that Tanjiro had some potential he hadn't been expecting this to happen. After that he handed Tanjiro a fox mask, what he called the 'Mask of Disaster Prevention', meaning it must have been some time since one of his pupils survived the Final Selection, and it happened to have a sun mark or something where Tanjiro's scar was located, sort of like how Sabito's had a mark where his scar was. Sure enough, even though he suspected that she didn't need a mask of her own, Sakonji handed her one as well, a white fox mask that fit over her face and had crimson eyes, where she found a crimson mark in the forehead area, the same mark that was on her hand, confirming that he likely hand crafted each one and personalized them according to who they were being given to.

Once they were sure that Tanjiro was properly rested, and wouldn't collapse once the Final Selection started, Sakonji let the two of them leave his residence, as it was time for them to head to Mt. Fujikasane, an area he had shown them once he was sure that both of them would be taking part in this event, where Pinkamena retraced her steps and lead Tanjiro to the mountain in question. While they traveled she noted the change in Tanjiro's attire, as his haori had been switched for a blue kimono that had a cloud pattern on it, something that was nearly identical to Sakonji's attire and had to reflect that he was a student of the Water Breathing techniques, and he wore the mask on the left side of his head, where she had a feeling that the rope that allowed it to remain in place was hidden by his hair. Pinkamena had also been gifted a new set of attire, as her robe wasn't cutting it anymore, as Sakonji had given her a black sleeveless haori, which had to be common for his female students, and a deep red yukata that had swirling blue lines on it, no doubt reflecting her demonic nature and her position as one of his pupils, where her mask rested over her face. Her reasoning for such a thing was due to the fact that it was possible that some of the other Demon Slayer pupils might figure out she was a Demon at a glance, if they saw her eyes or fangs, and attack her, so this was to remove a problem before it became one, though she felt that this did make them look more formidable.

Mt. Fujikasane, as they soon rediscovered, was surrounded by Wisteria flowers, something that Demons didn't like since it seemed to be poison to them, or at least it happened to be that way for normal Demons, as Pinkamena wasn't bothered by them in the slightest, no doubt due to her true nature, and this was the only place where they bloomed every season, or at least that was Sakonji's lessons on the place.

When they reached the top of the path that was in front of them Pinkamena and Tanjiro discovered at least twenty more young people gathered in what appeared to be the starting area for the Final Selection, all of them appearing to be near Tanjiro's age, where Sakonji had told Pinkamena that her body was eighteen years old and made her far older to her new companion. Each of them looked different from the others, as the clothing they were wearing happened to look like a sea of color from where she was standing, where one had a yellow haori on, another had a purple sleeveless yukata on, and a number of others who seemed to be waiting for something to happen or someone to speak with them, as if they might be waiting for the officials to arrive. In addition to them she noticed two smaller children, possibly eight if her guess was right, who wore purple kimonos over their bodies, even though the one on the right had black hair and the one on the left had white hair, styled in the same manner no less and told her that they had to be siblings, or were trying to make them think such a thing when they stared at them. Interestingly enough none of the other pupils bothered to glance their way, mostly due to their nerves and the fact that they were finally here, at the Final Selection, which gave them time to study each of their fellow comrades as she and Tanjiro came to a stop at the back of the pack, as they happened to be the last ones to arrive, or at least it seemed that way since they had no idea how many were coming this time around.

"Greetings everyone, and thank you for joining the Final Selection tonight," the black haired boy said, as the voice clearly told her that it was a boy and not a girl, meaning he was dressed up in this way because he was either sick and this was to keep him safe or he preferred dressing this way, though his words caused the rest of the trainees to turn their heads for a moment as they focused on him and his sister, "there are a lot of Demons held captive on this mountain, captured by all sorts of Demon Slayers... they are unable to leave this mountain."

"That is due to this mountain's special properties," the white haired girl continued, meaning that one of them likely said something and the other followed it up by adding more information for those that were nearby, though Pinkamena and Tanjiro stood there as all of the other trainees got up from where they were sitting, showing the small children that they were ready for whatever this test entailed, "because from the foot of the mountain, all the way to half way up, there are a lot of Demon repelling Wisteria that bloom all year round."

"However, from this point forward, there is no more Wisteria... only Demons." the black haired boy added, referring to the area that was behind him and his sister, as there happened to be a path leading down into the area that the Corps had put some Demons in, no doubt as a test for those who wanted to join the Corps and protect everyone else on this world, but no one said anything as they listened to him, "If you can survive this place for seven days..."

"...then you pass the Final Selection." his sister finished, informing them that they had to brave the dangers of this place, as in either fighting all of the Demons that were scattered across this mountain or running for their lives and picking when to face their enemies, to which she and her brother bowed their heads a little, why Pinkamena had no idea since the customs of this world were odd to her and she didn't know all of them, "Now, let the Final Selection commence."

With that said she, Tanjiro, and everyone else moved towards the wooden structure that the small children were in front of, where they walked down the path that was in front of them and started to disperse as each person took a direction, all to prove themselves so they could join the Corps, though once more she separated herself from Tanjiro, giving him some time to come into his own as she sought out her own foes. What she discovered was three Demons advancing on Tanjiro's location, two dropping down and attacking him while the third seemed to be in her area, where her companion's were two male demons who seemed to be starving, same for her foe, where the Demon she was advancing on was female and did seem to be wearing a ruined kimono, in the legging area anyway. Her foe noticed her coming and shifted her stance within a few seconds before rushing at her, where Pinkamena stopped for a moment as she played her hand, as she planted her right hoof against the ground as she spun around, accessing her power as she gripped the handle of her weapon, to which any observer could see a vortex of ghostly silver energy form around her. In that moment her foe, too close to get out of the way, was dragged into her attack before she had a chance to escape with her life, where Pinkamena rapidly pulled her blade out of it's scabbard and swung it while continuing her spinning, cutting through the Demon's arms, legs, chest, and the neck, leaving a pile of parts on the ground in the area behind her.

As she came to a stop, and the vortex came to a stop, she smiled for a moment as she found that the Demon's soul had quickly departed from her body, due to the removal of her head, where she sheathed her weapon and gathered the parts so they could be added to the Storehouse, as that was an added benefit to this test, she could gather more food, just in the off chance that different Demons had different tastes to them. She was pleased that her Violent Vortex Slash, which was a technique of her own creation that belonged to her self taught 'Chaos Breathing', had worked so well, making her wonder what might happen if she used the other techniques she had created during her training, though after thinking about that she took a moment to focus on what was going on nearby. Tanjiro seemed to be doing fine right now, even though both Demons did appear to be moving him a little, but due to them fighting over whose meal he was, making them distracted and not at all focused, he was able to utilize the fourth form of Water Breathing, Striking Tide, which was when the user make a number of consecutive slashes while twisting their body and blade in a flowing pattern. Such a thing allowed him to take down the pair of Demons by removing their heads, something that caused him to smile as he realized that he was no longer weak, to which he sheathed the blade and then brought his hands together as he prayed for the fallen Demons, though while both of his eyes were closed she carefully stepped into the area and claimed the bodies, returning to where she was standing as both of his foes joined hers in the Storehouse.

One other thing Pinkamena had discovered during the last two years was that her demonic power evolved and the area that Chaos World covered only seemed to grow, meaning that the more she fed on the stronger Demons the stronger her abilities became, so even Tanjiro's foes, who would have been outside the perimeter if she thought about her base level, were ensnared by her growing power and she took advantage of that.

After that happened, however, both she and Tanjiro paused for a moment as they detected something else in the area of the mountain that they were currently in, even if her companion seemed to smell a rotten object that seemed to be in the middle of moving, though she could tell that it was a Demon and that it was stronger than those she and Tanjiro had slain so far. In the following moments one of the other trainees ran by where Tanjiro was standing, who seemed freaked out as he rushed by, though as that happened Pinkamena found a massive moving form, as tall as the trees that were around this part of the mountain, following after the unfortunate Demon Slayer, who had olive green colored skin and seemed to be covered in hands, as in his entire body appeared to be made up of hands, save for a head that had beady yellow eyes and a cross hatch shaped pupils. In one of it's hands rested a fallen trainee Demon Slayer, one of the twenty that she and Tanjiro had seen upon their arrival earlier, who looked like he was either being chocked to death or was already dead, but the one who was running seemed to think that they had been misled since this 'mutated' Demon hadn't been mentioned to them at all. A few seconds later it didn't matter whether or not the trainee he was holding was alive or if he had been slain, as she and Tanjiro watched as the Demon opened it's mouth, one that was hidden behind two of his massive hands, and shoved the unfortunate trainee into his maw, chomping down on him once he was done, though this did confirm that there would be casualties during the Final Selection.

Pinkamena watched as a slight change washed over the Demon's body, as he seemed to bulk up a little as his hands also became thicker, though in that moment he combined some of his hands into a single mass and sent it towards the runner, snatching the poor trainee up by his left leg, and in a moment to show that he was no longer powerless Tanjiro rushed out of his hiding spot and attacked the Demon, jumping into the air and spinning as he unleashed the Second Form of Water Breathing, Water Wheel, where he spun and hacked through the arm before he and the trainee landed nearby.

"Another sweet little fox has come to me." the Demon stated, where Pinkamena could tell that he seemed excited by what he was seeing, meaning he must have some connection to Sakonji since he clearly recognized the mask Tanjiro wore, and would recognize hers if she joined the battle, but this was Tanjiro's chance to prove that he had all of the skills needed to be a Demon Slayer, "Hey, little fox, what year of the Meiji Era is it now?"

"Meiji Era? It's the Taisho Era now." Tanjiro replied, not that such a thing meant anything to Pinkamena, since she couldn't be bothered to figure out the names of the time periods of this world, as she was busy planning how to kill Muzan and the Demons who followed him, though she had to assume that at least ten years or so must have passed, but she did nothing as Tanjiro made sure the trainee was fine.

"Time has passed into a new era?!" the Demon exclaimed, his tone revealing that he was upset about something, where it was easy for Pinkamena to tell that he must have been stuck here for a long period of time if he thought it was a different era or something, especially since he tore into his own arms and flesh for a few moments, showing them just how angry he was at this situation, "Again, while I've been held prisoner in this place?! How long have I been locked up in this place?! Ah, damn you Sakonji!!! I'll never forgive you! I will never forget that day, forty-seven years ago, when he defeated me and just locked me up in this cursed forest... it was during the Edo Period of the Keio Era!"

"Impossible! You have to be lying... no Demon has lived for that long." the trainee stated, deciding to speak up while they were talking, figuring that the longer they talked the longer he would live through this test and live to see another day, to decide whether or not he wanted to be a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, though he was still terrified by what he was hearing right now, "The only Demons in here should be those who have eaten just two or three Humans... with all of the Final Selections that have taken place, and Demons killing each other in the process as trainees hunt them down, there's no way you could have survived this long... it's impossible..."

"Yes, but I remain alive, trapped in this prison of Wisteria. I've eaten a total of fifty brats like you two." the Demon said, to which Tanjiro and the trainee paused, the former thinking about what Sakonji told him about how the number of Humans a Demon has eaten reflected their strength, while the latter seemed terrified by this sudden discovery, though Pinkamena had to wonder what would happen if she devoured some of his flesh, before he started counting, "Twelve... thirteen... fourteen. Oh, I'm counting the number of Sakonji's disciples that I've eaten over the years, where you, my little fox, would be the fourteenth one I've devoured, once I've beaten you anyway... I decided to kill and devour all of his disciples, as my own little revenge for him stealing my freedom. Hm, out of all of them, the ones who stood out where the last two he sent to me: a young brat whose hair was an unusual color, a rare pink to be exact, and he had a scar on one of the corners of his mouth, though he was the strongest, and the other was a young girl who wore a flowery kimono, though while she was lacking in power, as it happened to be incredibly weak, she was awfully agile. I know they were Sakonji's students because of the mask they wore... the fox mask, a mark I would recognize... he even made the masks himself, and the tengu mask he wears is carved in the same style as his precious fox masks... if my memory serves me right, he called them the 'mask of disaster prevention'... though it is because of those very masks that I ate them, so it's as if he sent each and every one of them to their deaths, as each is inside my stomach right now."

"I... you..." Tanjiro tried to say, though even from here Pinkamena could see that he was enraged by the fact that this one Demon had killed so many of Sakonji's disciples, especially Sabito and Makomo, even though this did inform him of what he had seen back on his mentor's mountain, that the children he had interacted with were actually dead, despite the fact that she had figured out they were spirits rather easily.

"You know, when I told the little girl that, she flew into a rage," the Demon continued, though at this point it was easy for Pinkamena to see that he was trying to entice Tanjiro into doing something stupid, and given how his body was shaking at the moment she knew his plan had been successful, though either the foul Demon was waiting for something to happen or he loved tormenting Sakonji's disciples, "she was even crying when she attacked me... after that she lost control of her movements and then I tore off her limbs, all before..."

That got a much stronger reaction out of Tanjiro as the Demon started to go into how he dismembered Makomo, where Tanjiro rushed at the Demon with his blade at the ready as his foe sent out a number of hands to grab him, which was the moment that he hacked through several of the hands and scattered them, causing Pinkamena to grin for a moment as she saw the pieces land on the ground. In fact this battle seemed to come to a swift end as Tanjiro jumped into the air and the Demon struck him with one of his hands, right in the left side of his body no less, which sent him flying straight into one of the trees that were around them, but fortunately his mask was what struck the tree and allowed him to survive the attack, even if he was unconscious and his mask shattered. As that happened the other disciple, seeing that the Demon was now totally focused on Tanjiro, got up and ran out of the area they were in, where Pinkamena simply waited for Tanjiro's foe to draw closer to him before she collected the severed hands, storing them away like the previous parts before turning her head to see what happened next. Sure enough Tanjiro, likely awakened by what she had to believe was the lingering souls of his fallen family, snapped his eyes open and dodged the attack, surprising the Demon in the process before he went on the attack once more and seemed to be pleased with this, though that eventually lead to him being even more surprised when Tanjiro, against all odds, sensed some hands coming from below and jumped into the air.

Pinkamena watched as the Demon tried, in vain, to take down Tanjiro as he ran down an extended arm, hacking his way through the remaining hands that were coming his way, before leaping towards his target, as he found a hole in the large Demon's defenses and neared his head, allowing him to loose a single powerful horizontal slash that sliced right through his foe's neck, sending the head flying onto the ground as the body collapsed.

"He's impressive, I'll give him that." Pinkamena commented, as from what she could tell this Demon was supposed to have a rather tough neck, even if his neck had been guarded by arms and hands for the most part, and Tanjiro's power was far stronger than it had been before Sabito and Makomo came to his aid, where she also knew that this had been a rather good showing of the First Form of Water Breathing, Water Surface Slash.

The other interesting fact about Chaos World was that she was able to pull the wool over the eyes of those who fell, as in all of the Demons she or Tanjiro slew would see the reality that she wanted them to see, as in their bodies turning to ash after losing their heads, when the reality was that she made the bodies remain intact so they could be stored inside the Storehouse for later. It was basically tricking reality, when Pinkamena thought about it, as everyone around her would see the bodies of the slain Demons fall apart and turn to ash, leaving nothing of them behind for someone to mess with, all while she collected every part she could find and made sure they were added to the growing Storehouse, but even as she did that Pinkamena found that Tanjiro held the Demon's outstretched hand for a moment. That reminded her of the fact that he did feel empathy for the Demons that he encountered, even though they were Human eating monsters, and this was his way of trying to make sure they were able to pass on to the next life, no doubt wishing for them not to be turned into Demons in their next life. What was interesting about this came when she glanced at the Demon's head, as he had a few tears in his eyes, no doubt remembering something he had forgotten a long time ago, before what was left of his head broke apart and the ashes spread across the area that they were in, causing Tanjiro to sigh as he thought about the fact that he was able to avenge all of Sakonji's fallen disciples.

Of course Tanjiro collapsed after that was done, he did take a nasty blow to the side and his head was bleeding, even if the mask had taken most of the damage, to which she sighed as she moved him to a much safer area and tended to his head, like she had seen Sakonji do every now and then, before getting up as she pulled her mask to the side and tore into one of the hands she had collected from the Demon, as she was going to need all of her energy as she faced the other Demons that were trapped on this mountain.

Interlude: The Nichirin Blade

After ensuring that the area was clear, and that Tanjiro would be able to rest without fear of being ambushed by the rest of the Demons who might be in this pat of the mountain, Pinkamena finished her meal, replaced her mask, and then headed out to see what else might be hunting down the rest of the disciples that were taking part in the Final Selection, as she knew there had to be more Demons out there. The Hand Demon, as she decided to call the one that Sakonji captured and Tanjiro had defeated on his own, had been somewhat powerful, especially after feeding on a disciple he had run into, though not enough to actually take down someone like Tanjiro, who was putting together his training and experiences so he could take down his enemies. Another reason she knew he had been powerful was because she felt a boost of energy when she first took a bite out of the hand she had pulled out for her meal, meaning that if she found and killed stronger Demons, as she was sure there were some scattered across the land, their flesh would allow her to grow even more powerful and her own demonic powers would grow as well. Such a thing was necessary if she planned on taking down the Twelve Kizuki, since they stood between her and Muzan, though she had no idea how much stronger those twelve Demons were and needed to make sure her own skills were well polished before even encountering one of them, hence why her current mission was to survive this test.

What she discovered was that the Demons she hunted down and slew were nothing compared to the Hand Demon, as each of them seemed to confirm what she and Tanjiro had learned from the other disciple, that they had only eaten two to three people before becoming trapped here, meaning the Hand Demon either hoarded all the food or the stronger ones had been slain by the others. The reason she thought about that was because three of the other disciples seemed like they might be able to hold their own against the Demons that were on this mountain, as she was sure that the young boy with yellow hair and the yellow haori could take down a couple of foes, the young lady who seemed interested in butterflies could take one or two down on her own, and the other male with a jagged scar on the right side of his face seemed like he had the skills to end a few Demons. In addition to those three, not to mention herself and Tanjiro, there was one other in this test who had some decent skills, a young male who ran faster than she had seen everyone move, to the point where she almost thought he was a spirit of some kind, who carried two blades and seemed to be interested in killing Demons, as if they were stepping stones, and sure enough he was done before she could track him down. At the very least this did give her an assortment of demonic parts and bodies to collect, where Pinkamena did have to draw her blade and swing it a few times at one of her enemies, hacking the Demon apart before she was able to collect the parts, though she kept hoping to find a stronger foe and right now nothing like the Hand Demon showed up to fight her.

In the end she spent most of the seven days hunting down some of the stronger Demons, while pretending to rest during the day like Tanjiro and the others, where she found that Tanjiro ended up killing five more enemies, and aiding the other disciples where she could, before they were brought back to the gathering area that they had started in, finding that it was just her, Tanjiro, and the three she had considered previously, six if she counted the one who ran by earlier... where they found the two siblings welcoming them back, confirming that they had been successful.

"What do I do now?" the scarred male asked, his tone revealing that he was impatient and that his only desire was to join the Demon Slayer Corps, to gain his own Nichirin Blade, though Pinkamena had no idea why he was like this since all five of them would be given such a blade before being sent out to track down Demons, or whatever else they were supposed to do in terms of missions, "What about the blade?"

"First, you must pay for the cost of the uniform, where you will be measured and your rank engraved on it," the sibling with the white hair replied, where Pinkamena assumed that a letter must have been sent to Sakonji and informed him that they had survived the Final Selection, meaning the payment for the uniforms had to come out of whatever their mentors were being paid, or at least she assumed that was the case.

"There are ten ranks in total, starting with Mizunoto, the lowest rank," the black haired boy continued, speaking after his sister said her piece of information, which must have been repeated to everyone else who survived the Final Selection, to which Pinkamena easily figured out that they were starting at the Mizunoto rank before being able to move onto the next one and the ones that were beyond it, "then you have the ranks of Mizunoe, Kanoto, Kanoe, Tsuchinoto, Tsuchioe, Hinoto, Hinoe, Kinoto, and Kinoe... there is an eleventh rank, that of Hashira, but you need not worry yourselves about that at this point in time."

"What. About. The. Blade?" the scarred male asked again, showing that he had no patience and that he wanted them to tell him the information that he wanted, where neither of the siblings bothered to make a move or even acknowledge what he had said, all while Pinkamena resisted the urge to moan, since he was liable to cause trouble, and she could see that even Tanjiro seemed concerned by the boy's attitude.

"Today, each of you will choose a chunk of Tamahagane Alloy, which will be used in the process of forging your blades, a process that will take between ten to fifteen days," the white haired girl stated, showing the group that she and her bother had been getting to this point and that the young boy's comments were unnecessary, though in the following seconds she clapped her hands for a moment, which was more like she was calling something and not like she was playing around with something, "Also, from now on, a Kasugai Garasu will be following each of you."

As it turned out the Kasugai Garasu were black feathered crows that responded to her clap, where they flew down into the area that they were in and landed on the left shoulders of those they had been assigned to after both siblings figured out how many had survived the Final Selection, even though the yellow haired body had a little sparrow and not a crow, but as that happened Pinkamena found a table full of ore resting nearby, no doubt the alloy that had been mentioned, but before anything could happen the scarred male waved a hand at his crow.

"I don't care about some dumb crow!" the scarred male stated, showing them that he had no desire to follow the rules or procedures that came with being a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, where he actually hit the crow that had tried to land on his shoulder or arm, as the lady's was on her outstretched right arm, before turning to grab the hair of the white haired girl as he brought her face up to his own, "What I want is the blade! Give me the blade right now! The blade of the Demon Slayers, the 'Blade of Color Change'!"

Pinkamena considered breaking his arm, as she had a feeling that the two young children were more important than any of them realized, though before she could do anything Tanjiro stepped forward before the scarred male could do anything else to the little girl, save for leaving her with a trail of blood coming from her mouth, as he grabbed onto the boy's right arm, near his wrist to be exact, and glared at him.

"Let go of her at once... if you don't, I'll break your arm." Tanjiro replied, showing them that he wasn't about to allow the boy to do something like this, even if he moved to do what Pinkamena had been planning on doing, where she had to say that his determination to do the right thing was admirable, even though the girl's brother didn't seem interested in helping her out, why she had no idea.

The scarred male decided to challenge him for a moment and Tanjiro fulfilled his promise, he tightened his grip and did a bit of damage to his wrist, likely dislocating it based on what she heard, allowing him to make sure the little girl was safe as the scarred male backed off for a moment, though the yellow haired boy seemed frightened about everything while the other survivor, the lady, seemed more interested in her butterfly and crow.

"Are you done?" the little boy asked, causing the scarred male to growl for a moment as he gestured to the table, where all of them were reminded of the alloy that would be used to make their blades, something the scarred boy seemed to miss, due to ignoring him and his sister, causing everyone to glance over at it before approaching him, all while his sister took a moment to regain herself before joining him, "If so, please go over there and choose the alloy that will be used to create your Nichirin Blades."

With the children done speaking Pinkamena and the others took turns picking out the alloy that would be turned into their Demon slaying weapons, which were packaged, labeled with each of their names and where in the land they would be for the next two to three weeks, and then were shipped off, taken by some black clothed figures who wore white cloth masks over their faces. With the five pieces of Tamahagane Alloy being taken away another set of shadowy figures stepped out of where they had been hiding and beckoned for them to separate from each other, where Pinkamena went in one direction and Tanjiro went in another, along with the other three heading towards three other covers, though what she found was that the figure who accompanied her, a female she noted, took her measurements. This was the person who would make sure her attire fit her well, as the attire of a Demon Slayer was supposed to protect them from certain things, so she took a few moments to allow the person to make her measurements and whatever notes she added, though she was frightened by the look on Pinkamena's face, even if she didn't scream 'Demon' when she saw her. After seeing and hearing about the others of this land, like Sabito and his pink hair or the yellow haired boy, she figured that her hair color, her eyes, and even her fangs might be considered normal to most individuals, though one thing Pinkamena was able to confirm was that she was keeping her fox mask, as it allowed her to hide her true nature from everyone else.

Once that was done they were left alone for some time, about an hour by her estimates, before the figures returned and presented each of them with a satchel, which contained their Demon Slayer attire, though once that was done they were allowed to depart from Mt. Fujikasane and wait for the bladesmiths to deliver their blades, but given a few stares coming from the children Pinkamena found a good stick for Tanjiro to use and sent him on his way as the others left, allowing her to turn towards the two young siblings.

"Sakonji was right, you are different." the black haired boy commented, confirming that he and his sister must have been told about her condition before she and Tanjiro even arrived to take part in the Final Selection, meaning they had to be fairly high up in the Corps to know that information, since Sakonji wouldn't tell just anyone about the fact that she was a Demon and that she went against her new nature all the time.

"You had several instances to get away with eating Humans, but you restrained yourself and devoured the Demons that were around you instead," the white haired girl added, informing Pinkamena that the stealthy members of the Corps, as in the ones that took their measurements and collected their alloy earlier, must have been involved in the Final Selection and served as the eyes and ears of these two, "Why did you do things that way?"

"Eating Humans seems wrong to me, so instead I eat Demons... their flesh boosts my power," Pinkamena replied, as she figured that if these two were in the higher ranks of the Corps, despite appearing to be nothing more than children who couldn't wield a blade at all, they might deliver the news to their leader and share their opinions on her to the figure that Sakonji couldn't tell her anything about, "What I desire right now is the end of those ruling over the Demons, and to do such a thing I will do everything in my power to take each and every one of them out."

The young siblings seemed to think about that for a moment before allowing her to go on her way, even though she did feel a slight prick on her left hand for a moment, something that her crow told her was an engraving of her rank, hidden by a special Wisteria potion and would become available when she uttered the correct passphrase, to which she took a second to shrug before departing from Mt. Fujikasane. Thanks to her demonic abilities it took her only a few moments to reach Tanjiro and fell in with him, making it look like they were two travelers that were heading to Sagiri Mountain, which was where Sakonji lived and where they had trained in the art of Water Breathing, though they did have to go slow since she could tell that Tanjiro, now that everything was said and done, was utterly exhausted from the test. Even though she was a Demon, and couldn't get tired like a normal Human did, Pinkamena knew that he would need his rest once they got back to Sakonji's house, where her friend, as she was starting to see him more like a friend and less of a companion, could see how his sister was doing and if she might have awakened after two years of sleeping. Of course Tanjiro spoke about how naive he had been, as he ended up slaying eight Demons, the Hand Demon and seven others, but never bothered to have a conversation with any of them, because he was curious as to whether or not Nezuko could be turned back into a Human, which seemed to be his goal right now, instead of the eradication of Demons.

While they walked both her crow and Tanjiro's flew high in the air above them, no doubt keeping an eye on them, though with Tanjiro being exhausted from the Final Selection, and him not wanting to burden her with a heavy package when she offered to carry him, it took them some time to get from Mt. Fujikasane and reach Sagiri Mountain, where the day turned to night as the sunset behind her and Tanjiro... where they were greeted by a welcome surprise, Nezuko actually kicked down the main door of Sakonji's house and stepped outside.

"Nezuko! You... you woke up!" Tanjiro nearly exclaimed, his tone and expression making it easy for Pinkamena to see that he was overjoyed to see that his sister was up and about once more, even though she did seem like she was staring off at something, or just nothing since she could be staring into space, where he ignored his exhaustion and tried to rush over to where his sister was standing, who noticed him and walked towards him.

Pinkamena watched as Tanjiro fell not even a second later, his exhaustion getting the better of him, though Nezuko took a moment to wrap her arms around his head when he pulled himself up a little, bringing his head close to her chest as she hugged him, showing them that part of her Human side had to be in control right now, even if her sharpened nails and the bamboo in her mouth, to hide her fangs, told a different story, and before he could even say anything Sakonji, who had followed Nezuko outside, wrapped his arms around both of them.

"You finally came back alive..." Sakonji said, his voice revealing that he was overjoyed that one of his disciples had, at long last, survived the Demons that were part of the Final Selection, even though Pinkamena was sure that the old man might be crying tears of joy behind his mask, hence why she stood by one of the trees with a pleased smile on her face, as they deserved this moment to themselves, all while knowing that the spirits of Sabito, Makomo, and the others were feeling overjoyed as well.

The first order of business was Tanjiro taking a bath, he sorely needed it after everything he had been through, and some food in his belly, as none of the disciples had been given anything during or after the Final Selection, since outside help was against the rules for the former, something Pinkamena knew he deserved since he had done a good job against both the Hand Demon and all of the others he had faced. Once those two things were done, and Tanjiro had slipped into some more comfortable clothing as Sakonji returned the training blades back to where he kept them, he fell asleep in the small room that he and Nezuko shared, though once that was done Pinkamena stepped outside and stared up at the moon, all to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet before making sure the area was totally secure. She had remained silent while Tanjiro had his fun, as he deserved everything that happened since he would be facing Demons for the rest of his life, until either he helped bring Muzan down, he was slain in combat, or he retired after failing to make a difference, plus he didn't need her to keep an eye on him, not when Nezuko and Sakonji were nearby. It was his touching reunion with his sister, and having his mentor be happy to have a disciple return from the Final Selection at long last, hence why she removed herself from all of it and focused on her own plans, though she knew that the leader of the Corps would likely have her and Tanjiro travel together, no doubt to be on the safe side in case she ate a Human after this point in time.

"You also did well, Pinkamena," Sakonji said, having noticed that the strange Demon had done nothing but distance herself from Tanjiro while her friend had celebrated his success, no doubt because she felt that she didn't belong in this scenario and didn't want to interrupt his reunion with Nezuko, though after everything he had read about, thanks to the crows who delivered information to him, he knew that she would make a great Demon Slayer, where he was overjoyed to have both of his disciples return alive and he embraced her as well.

"You taught us well, Sakonji," Pinkamena replied, though she had to smile for a moment, as while she had a feeling that he was happy to see that she survived, despite being a Demon, it seemed like he had been rooting for her as well, wishing for both her and Tanjiro to return alive and well, to which she raised a hand for a moment and pulled the mask off for a short period of time, "also, would it be okay to keep the mask?"

Sakonji, while having carved it to prevent disaster for Pinkamena, like he had done with Tanjiro's and was pleased to see it had been broken while saving his life, nodded his head, showing her that he was perfectly fine with her taking it, though after that he made sure that she joined him and Tanjiro inside his house, even if she didn't need sleep, as she deserved a period of rest before the blades arrived.

Sure enough Pinkamena and Tanjiro spent the next fifteen days resting and recovering from what happened during the Final Selection, or rather it was more like she continued her training, to be sure that she was ready for whatever the future held for all of them, while finding that Tanjiro spent a good deal of time resting and making sure Nezuko was fine, who just stayed inside Sakonji's house for the most part. Of course she had to drag him out every now and then to make sure none of his skills diminished while he rested, as it would make Sakonji sad to have a disciple survive the Final Selection, only to fall during his first couple of missions for the Corps, though she did go easy on him since he was still recovering from his fight against the Hand Demon and the others he slew. During that she Pinkamena also thought about what the scarred boy had said, about the Nichirin Blades and how they changed color, which reminded her that the blades that she and Tanjiro had carried into battle had a blue colored edge, to symbolize that they were Sakonji's students and could use the Water Breathing techniques, even if those blades had been colored by their mentor. It made her wonder if they would gain blue blades once they were delivered, given their training, though Sakonji did inform her that there were instances where another color showed up, instead of the one that someone might be expecting, so there was a chance that she or Tanjiro might unlock another color besides blue.

On the fifteenth day after the Final Selection their blades arrived, as Pinkamena happened to be standing near the road on a day off, just to relax a little before resuming part of her personal training to make sure her skills were ready, before she spotted a male figure, who wore a sunflower patterned haori over his casual clothing, plus a woven hat that was circular in nature and had floral wind chimes hanging from it, though on his back he had two containers, their swords no doubt, and it wasn't long before Tanjiro noticed his arrival as well.

"My name is Hotaru Haganezuka, and I am the one who forged the blade that will be used by Tanjiro Kamado," the person said, the voice confirming that it was definitely male and that her eyes hadn't deceived her, though he spoke the instant he came to a stop near the front of Sakonji's house, giving them time to gather near him while Sakonji made sure Nezuko was perfectly fine in his spare bedroom, "I am also carrying the blade that will be used by the one called 'Pinkamena', which was forged by Tecchin Tecchikawahara."

"I am Tanjiro Kamado, and this is Pinkamena," Tanjiro replied, gesturing to himself and then to Pinkamena, who kept her fox mask on, though as he opened his mouth to say something else Hotaru knelt on the ground and pulled one of the two boxes from his back, likely the one that contained the blade he had created, even though it was easy for her to see that her friend was trying to convince him to come in and have some tea.

"This is the Nichirin Blade that I forged," Hotaru continued, apparently ignoring Tanjiro's words while he set down the box and started to open it, either not caring about what was going on around him or this was some sort of ceremony that all of the bladesmiths went through when delivering the blades to their intended, while Pinkamena leaned against the house for a moment as she listened to what he had to say about these weapons, "the raw materials to make one of these are the Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and the Scarlet Crimson Ore, which are found on the highest mountain that is the closest to the sun... they are materials that have absorbed the sunlight, hence why we call where they're from the 'Sunlight' Mountain, a place that is never troubled by clouds or rain."

In that moment, as Tanjiro continued his attempts to make the man come inside and take a seat so they could have some tea before handing over the blades, the man turned his head up and revealed that he was wearing a wooden mask with the lips pulled out a little, a festival mask according to what Sakonji told them previously, surprising Tanjiro in the process, before the man pulled himself close to her friend. As it turned out he labeled him as a 'child of burning crimson', but to the fact that Tanjiro had deep red eyes and the his hair had burgundy tips, even though her friend seemed to think it was due to his parents and Hotaru explained that it was because his family's trade was related to fire, given that they had been in the business of making charcoal and selling it to the nearby village. Apparently his reasoning was linked to the coloration of the blade he had created, as it seemed that he was interested in seeing a special blade color, either red or a crimson color to be exact, which he came to the conclusion might happen based on Tanjiro's appearance and hair color, and while they talked Sakonji noted that it was possible to get the coloration Hotaru was expecting, even though it was just as likely that Tanjiro's would turn blue. Eventually, however, the smith picked himself up, grabbed the box he had opened while he was talking, and walked into the house without delay, allowing them to sit down and actually have the tea that Tanjiro had been interested in offering to Hotaru, who placed the second box nearby before handing Tanjiro his blade, where both he and Pinkamena found that the hilt was a black ring connected to the blade by a number of lines, like a wheel for some odd reason, which had to be linked to the one who made it.

Not a few seconds later, on the direction of Hotaru, Tanjiro pulled out his blade and revealed the silver steel that a normal blade had, though as he gripped the handle they all watched as it changed before their eyes, where the edge that would be used to cut into his enemies turned ebony black and the edge facing him took on a dark gray color, or maybe it was a somewhat lighter black.

"Is it a bad color?" Pinkamena asked, as Hotaru seemed outraged by the fact that it was a black blade and not the crimson one that he desperately wanted to lay his eyes on, to the point where he actually jumped on top of Tanjiro and seemed to lock his body into a punishing hold while he moved his limbs into certain positions, hence why she directed her question to Sakonji, who seemed to think about it.

"No, it's actually a fairly rare color... in fact, I've never seen one in all my years, as they're supposed to reflect the power of the one wielding it," Sakonji replied, which confirmed something that Pinkamena had considered earlier, as in how all of his blades were blue colored on the cutting edge, making her wonder what in the world black meant, since she didn't know all of the Breathing Styles that existed in this world, "like how those who use Sound Breathing have amber colored blades, or those who use Wind Breathing will have green colored blades... I have no idea what black might mean, nor why Tanjiro's blade changed to it, given his training in Water Breathing. Makes me wonder what color you might get..."

Pinkamena said nothing as Hotaru pulled himself away from Tanjiro and pulled the second box over, where he opened it and carefully extracted the blade she would be using, plus the black scabbard it was housed in, before handing it over to her, where she accepted it and drew her Nichirin Blade without delay, where the blade shimmered for a few seconds as it took on a dark blue, almost sapphire, sheen, reminding her of Pinkie's Element of Harmony, with crimson swirls appearing on both sides of the blade.

"Interesting, I wasn't expecting this," Pinkamena remarked, though she had to smile for a moment, as she had a feeling her blade's color was due to her unique nature, either because she was one of the displaced or her Breathing Style was a brand new one that no one had seen so far, while Sakonji and Hotaru glanced at each other, no doubt having no idea what to make of her blade's color, to which she sheathed it without wasting time.

In that moment her crow and Tanjiro's landed nearby before speaking to them, as in they actually talked like people, and what they had to say was that they were being given their first assignment, that the two of them were to head to a town to the north west and hunt some demons, as it appeared that young girls were disappearing every night, never to be seen again, meaning it was time for them to get started and face their destinies.

Mizunoto: First Mission

After hearing the crows speak to them, which confirmed that she and Tanjiro would be traveling together, the first thing that Pinkamena did was put on the official uniform that the members of the Demon Slayer Corps wore, a black buttoned shirt that had a white framed collar, while also having long baggy pants that seemed to reflect their desire to move fast, a white buckled belt, and had the Kanji symbol for 'Destroy' on the back of the shirt. What she learned from Sakonji was that each of the Demon Slayers could choose between wearing something else on top of it, like Tanjiro's haori for example, or they could opt to just wear the uniform and nothing else, and he also informed her that she would be able to get away with wearing her mask, as he had started wearing one sometime after joining the Corps all those years ago. Another thing he revealed to the two of them was a rectangular box, one that someone of Nezuko's size could fit in, not counting the fact that she could use her power to shrink and grow however she wanted, one made of an incredibly light type of wood called 'Mist Cloud Fir' and had a coat of 'Rock Paint' all over it, hardening the outer layer and making it more durable. Since Tanjiro needed to travel during the day, given his new position as a Demon Slayer, this would allow him to carry Nezuko without exposing her to the sun's harmful rays, hence why it had straps that his arms could fit through, where her friend thanked his mentor for his aid, since without him he was sure he wouldn't have gotten this far.

Once both of them were wearing their new uniforms, and found that they did fit perfectly, Pinkamena and Tanjiro slipped their blades into position, as the scabbards were slipped through their belts, before slipping on the haori they had been wearing previously, leading Tanjiro to open the box up, as it was created with a door he or Nezuko could open, and let his sister climb in before closing it and slipping it onto his back.

With that done, and Pinkamena made sure her fox mask rested over her face, she and Tanjiro bid Sakonji farewell, while at the same time thanking him for all the time he spent training them, before heading down the path that brought them to Sagiri Mountain in the first place, even though the last two years had really flown by for them, strengthening them so they could survive the Final Selection. While they walked, however, Pinkamena took a moment to notice that Tanjiro had taken a few moments to remove the bandages that had been over where he hit his head during his battle with the Hand Demon, where the scar on the right side of his forehead seemed to have changed into a flame pattern, even though he insisted it had just been altered by his head hitting that tree. She didn't believe him all that much, rather it looked like a marking of some kind when she stared at it, but she figured that he knew best and let him drop the matter, where she glanced out at the scenery they were passing by and noticed that it was mostly farmland, with some forest areas as well, while the they following the crows that were flying in the air. At this point in time nothing was a shock to her, as there were Demons who ate people, swordsmen who were trained to kill said Demons, and now crows that could speak and communicate with the people they were assigned to, so a scar becoming more like a mark wasn't totally new or strange, in fact the only thing she might be surprised by could be the Blood Demon Arts of the other Demons.

Of course to pass the time she and Tanjiro talked about things, though due to the fact that she learned about his past in the two years they spent training, which meant they discussed the information that they had been told previously, as in what Sakonji told them, and the first thing that Pinkamena had to correct was how Demons were created, as Tanjiro was under the impression that only Muzan could create more of his kind. The truth of the matter was that any Demon could make more of their kind, as she had been told that bathing a wound in Demon blood would cause one to turn in no time, so while Muzan might have created a fair number of Demons she was sure that those Demons could increase the number of them by sharing their blood with others. Sakonji's reason for that, as she thought about it, was to focus Tanjiro's mind on who had killed his family and turned Nezuko into a Demon, which meant that they needed to learn more about the Demon King, his skills and powers, whatever weaknesses he might have, and anything else that might be useful against a powerful Demon like him. Of course that wasn't counting the fact that they had to find and take out the Twelve Kizuki, as they were stronger than normal Demons and would be weaker than Muzan himself, so to prepare for finding the King the two of them would need to challenge the stronger Demons and work their way up to the Kizuki, though she had a feeling that her own power would come into play against Muzan's strongest followers.

Another thing she shared with him was her understanding of the Blood Demon Arts, the spells and techniques that some of the higher ranking Demons possessed, something Sakonji informed her about before both of them tackled the Final Selection, just so he could be ready for whatever the future held for them, even though she knew that experiencing these powers firsthand would allow her to better prepare herself.

They arrived at their destination just before nightfall, meaning people were heading home and likely getting ready for their nightly activities, though based on what Pinkamena could see each building seemed to be two stories, so if one was a shop of some kind the lower floor would be where business was conducted and the upper floor was where the owners slept, or at least it had been that way back in Ponyville. According to the crows this was where young girls were disappearing each and every night, though based on what they were seeing right now it appeared that most of the people were going about their business without a care in the world, but a second glance allowed her to see something interesting, all of them were putting on a show for newcomers, just to make sure they didn't trouble travelers. Her reasoning for that was because one or two of the groups they had passed by seemed to be talking about the various disappearances, where she was sure that the Demon in question was lurking in the shadows of the town, stalking girls whenever it was able to do so, before taking whichever girl it wanted, ate it, and then moved onto stalking the others for the following night. Even Tanjiro noticed it as they walked, even though the ladies who were talking weren't very quiet about it, but since the crows had just told them about this Demon it meant that it had been going on for at least a week or two, enough for someone to link to various disappearances together, but for now they had to track down some information on the Demon, before making a move to take it down.

Fortunately luck seemed to smile on them as they walked by a young man who seemed devastated by something, likely he lost someone to the Demon in question, and some of the ladies mentioned that 'Kazumi', which had to be the boy's name, looked exactly like Pinkamena thought he did, though he was right by a young girl by the name of Sakoto when she was taken by their target, meaning they had a potential lead.

"Kazumi, we would like to ask you about the specifics of this situation." Tanjiro said, having turned around the moment the ladies talked about him and the fact that he had been near one of the girls who suddenly disappeared, where Pinkamena found that the young boy in question paused for a moment and turned back to glance at them for a few seconds, likely not even caring about what was going on right now, "Can we talk about what happened?"

The young man focused on them for a few seconds, taking in the fact that Tanjiro had a box on his back and Pinkamena had a fox mask over her face, no doubt wondering what he had done to deserve this fate, before nodding as he lead both of them away from this part of the town, where Pinkamena noticed that many were glancing at them and the dark brown haired man, but none bothered to step forward as they headed for another part of town. Kazumi had some beatings on his face, like someone had been angry with him, and he explained that he didn't want any charity from them, as the marks had come from his fiancee's father, who was outraged with Sakoto's disappearance and took it out on him once he had a chance to do so, no matter what he said no less. Such a thing reminded them that the Demons didn't care for what might happen to those who were connected to those that were eaten, as some lost friends, others family members, and many shifted the blame to the ones that they felt were responsible for the loss, like how Sakoto's father blamed Kazumi for what happened to his daughter. It also explained some other things, as he was detached since he lost his fiancee and the loss of Sakoto might have damaged his reputation in some way, which meant he might be thinking of moving out or taking his life, especially if people were blaming him for killing his own fiancee, though they remained silent as he brought them to what looked like one of the alleys of the town.

"This is where it happened... where she... disappeared..." Kazumi stated, gesturing to the open section of the fence, which told them that he must have been walking down this way with Sakoto and she had been grabbed by the Demon that they were here to kill, before his emotionless face returned, no doubt not wanting to face the fact that he had lost his fiancee in this place, just last night no less, "You two likely don't believe me..."

"Don't worry. Believe it or not, but we believe you," Pinkamena replied, though at the same time she found that Tanjiro, whose nose was far stronger than hers, since she didn't have the super strong sense of smell that he had, crawled on the ground and started to investigate the area with his nose, no doubt seeking the Demon's scent so they could track it down and put an end to it before another girl was taken.

Kazumi stood there for a moment, no doubt wondering what in the world Tanjiro was up to right now as he thought about all the pain this had brought him earlier that day, while Pinkamena found that the sun was setting, meaning it was only a matter of time until the Demon hunted down whoever it's next target might be, and once the last rays of the sun vanished both she and Tanjiro sensed that something was going on in the town.

"The scent has gotten stronger... the Demon has made it's move!" Tanjiro said, where he rushed down the alley that they were in and followed his nose, while Pinkamena kept pace with him, as this was easy, while Kazumi followed along to the best of his ability, since the Demon had his fiancee, even though it appeared that Tanjiro was more focused on where their target might be as he jumped onto a section of the building to his right and kept going.

Such a thing weirded Kazumi out, as Tanjiro had jumped a good height in no time, far more than normal people did based on what she was seeing, and it wasn't long before they found an area that looked like another alley, where Pinkamena just watched as Tanjiro pulled his blade out and stabbed the ground in front of him, where a mass of darkness surged out of where he struck. Pinkamena heard the sound of someone screeching in pain, maybe the Demon in question, before they found that a black haired girl in a light green kimono emerged from it, who Tanjiro grabbed hold of before jumping back, as the Demon happened to reach out of the dark pool and grabbed onto the attire it's target had been wearing, which did tear a bit of it in the process, before he reached a safe spot to stand in. After that a pale skinned male figure emerged from the dark pool, who had long blue hair with a violet strand on both sides of his face, though he had three horns on his head and part of his right arm was wounded, where Tanjiro had hurt him, something that seemed to enrage him, even though it was more like he was annoyed that his meal had been interrupted by a Demon Slayer. As Tanjiro opened his mouth, so he could ask the Demon some questions about what he had done with the rest of the women he had abducted, even though it was likely that they had been eaten by this point in time, so before he could say a single word the Demon delved back into the dark pool and their foe disappeared as fast as he had appeared earlier.

Because of that fact Tanjiro handed the young girl over to Kazumi, who happened to join him and Pinkamena a couple of seconds before the Demon disappeared, though the foolish thing she discovered was that Tanjiro seemed to be switching to the Fifth Form of Water Breathing, something that was only used when a Demon willingly offered their own neck, so not like what this Demon was doing, causing her to sigh for a moment. The only reason she knew the techniques better than he did was because she finished her boulder test much sooner and had practiced the forms for an entire year, in addition to her own, so it was easy for someone like her to know that this was a foolish movement, especially when the darkness formed in front of him and three Demons burst out of it. At a glance one might assume it was three different Demons, as in the first had called for assistance, though upon taking a moment to look at them Pinkamena could instantly tell that all three of them had the same color hair and the same violet strands, and their attire seemed to match, save for a couple of differences between them, meaning this Demon must have split his mind into three bodies. Such a thing meant that it was likely that they took turns devouring girls, each night being a different body doing the deed while the others continued to watch over whoever their intended targets might be, where Tanjiro noticed that and switched forms instantly, choosing a vertical flowing attack that was best when falling downwards, as it was the Eighth Form of Water Breathing, Waterfall Basin as Sakonji called it.

Sure enough the attack didn't do a lot of damage to the Demon and his other selves, given that he switched forms in the middle of his strike, and due to that fact his foe, which Pinkamena was going to call the Swamp Demon, disappeared into the dark pool he had created, though when another reached for the young girl he turned and shifted into the Water Wheel form, spinning and cutting into another Demon, while she drew her blade as she moved out of the way and severed the arm that reached for her, coming from the three horned body.

"You bastard." the two horned Swamp Demon stated, as that was the one that Tanjiro had struck, while Pinkamena's foe disappeared after losing his left arm to her, while the Single Horn seemed to appear behind where Two Horn happened to be resting, causing them to focus on the body that was speaking right now, while Pinkamena kept an eye out for Three Horn, as while she was calling this overall Demon the 'Swamp Demon' it was easier to keep track of the three bodies while using a makeshift name for them, "Stop getting in my way! That woman will go stale if I don't eat her soon, as she's already sixteen and soon she'll lose her freshness!"

"Do not fret, my duplicate." Single Horn said, his tone revealing that he was the calmest of the three, as Two Horn seemed to be rage or anger personified, leaving Pinkamena to wonder what Three Horn might be since he hadn't said anything yet, but that didn't stop Tanjiro and Kazumi from staring at the pair while they considered the information that they were now being told, causing Single Horn to chuckle for a moment, "Oh well, on night's such as this, I don't actually need to feed on another sixteen year old... in fact, I've eaten plenty of girls of that age from this town, and the meat on every one of them was delicious... I've had my fill, for now."

"Yeah, while I'm not satisfied yet!" Two Horn replied, showing that he was annoyed that the meal had been interrupted, all while the main personality, or who Pinkamena was assuming was the main one of the three, deemed seem to mind what his other body was saying right now, as if this sort of back and forth was common between the three of them, where he glared at Tanjiro and Kazumi for a few seconds as he focused on the girl, "I want to eat more!"

"You monster... give Sakoto back!" Kazumi stated, showing them that he was more interested in finding out what the fate of his fiancee might be, even though Pinkamena was sure that Sakoto, as of this point in time, was dead and her body had been eaten by the Swamp Demon, which one didn't matter since they likely shared a stomach or something, though he was also on the verge of tears, no doubt from fear or something.

"Sakoto? Who are you talking about?" Single Horn asked, though it seemed like he didn't care about Kazumi all that much, given that he was a Demon and Kazumi was Human, but he did raise his right hand for a moment and moved his arm, as if he was showing them something, revealing a collection of hairpins that were resting on the inside of the right half of his attire, and with between ten to twenty hairpins attached to it they had a good count of his victims, "If that girl's hairpin is in this collection, that means I've already eaten her."

Tanjiro, while enraged by this turn of events, found that Three Horn moved over to where he was standing and tried to hit him while he was distracted, to which he moved out of the way and the Demon struck the wall that was near him, though when he swung his blade he found that he missed the neck once more, showing both his inexperience and his foe's speed to Pinkamena, who paused as she sensed something in this town... though as Single Horn and Two Horn joined the battle, and he dodged their attacks, the box opened as Nezuko kicked Two Horn in the face, twisting his neck in the process as all of them paused for a moment.

"...why is a mere Human like you carrying a Demon on your back?" Single Horn asked, his tone revealing that while he was caught off guard by this turn of events, especially since it had been three on two, when he counted Pinkamena, and now it was three on three, he was also interested in why Tanjiro carried a Demon on his back, one who was staring at him and his duplicates right now.

"Because they are family, and they won't let Demons like you get away with your crimes." Pinkamena remarked, though at the same time she knew that Nezuko had been altered a little, as she did catch Sakonji whispering suggestions to Nezuko while she slept, because he wanted to decrease the chance of her attacking Humans, so right now she saw Humanity as her family and Demons as her enemies, especially Demons who hurt Humans, before she felt the odd feeling again as she glanced at another part of the town, "Though it would appear that we have some uninvited guests, Demons no doubt... I'm going to assume they're planning on invading your feeding ground and taking it over. Tanjiro, I'll deal with them while you focus on Single Horn and his duplicates."

Before anyone said anything Pinkamena rushed down the road, leaving Tanjiro and Nezuko to deal with their foes, where it took her no time to find a pair of Demons harassing some people on the same street she had walked down when they entered the town, though neither seemed to be wearing anything over their chests and seemed interested in cutting into those that were around them. In that moment she understood what was going on, the two ashen Demons weren't here to feast on Humans, or invade another Demon's hunting ground after hearing that a pair of Demon Slayers were here to cut down the competition that had set up shop in this town, rather they were here to spread their numbers, just like what had happened when Muzan found her and when he attacked Tanjiro's family. She knew that because each target cut down the Humans they were chasing and would then apply some of their own blood to the downed figure, forcefully twisting them into new Demons, even though the process was slow and painful, and when she arrived at the scene there were at least six more targets for her to take down, where Pinkamena glanced at her crow, who understood the situation, before she readied her blade. Sure enough the Demons, noticing her arrival in their temporary breeding ground, rushed at her once they spotted someone new to attack, at least the newborn Demons thought that way, since they were focused on finding food and nothing else, and sure enough both of her true targets were coming towards her as well, where she took a few seconds to steady herself for what she was about to do.

In the following moment she swung her blade a few times, as if she was attacking someone who was in front of her, only for all of the Demons to find that she was targeting their necks and waists, cutting each of them into three fragments while not even being anywhere near them, allowing her to sheath her blade before walking over to the fallen Demons and the unfortunate Humans who had been brought into this mess. This was the handiwork of another technique she had come up with during her year of training, so named 'Chaos Breathing, First Form: Reality Slash', something that allowed her to attack her target without having to be near them, so it was a long ranged attack and struck exactly what she wanted to hit, such as the enemies that had been rushing towards her. Once she made sure that all of them were dead, and the crow did note the fact that she had taken out eight Demons in no time at all, Pinkamena deposited all of the body parts in her world before heading back to where Tanjiro and Nezuko were fighting the Swamp Demon and his duplicates, figuring that they would still be fighting the Demon when she returned. She also made sure to take a moment to make sure no additional enemies were invading this town, as that was the last thing they needed right now, and her crow confirmed that no more were heading towards the Swamp Demon's domain, allowing her to focus on the task at hand once more, since it was nice to see Tanjiro grow as he encountered more foes to fight.

What she discovered was Nezuko fighting Two Horn, meaning Tanjiro must have been pulled into the swamp with both Single Horn and Three Horn, which she confirmed by feeling a slight vibration in the ground, no doubt from the Sixth Form of Water Breathing, Whirlpool, meaning he must have hacked through the two bodies he was fighting, and sure enough it took him no time to burst out of the pool as his sister's head was scratched, leading to him severing both of the Demon's hands as he fell back onto the ground.

"All three of you have an oily stink that reeks of decay... a putrid odor of evil." Tanjiro stated, once more speaking with his nose and sense of smell leading the way, even though it was pretty obvious that nearly all Demons were evil and only saw Humans as food, with Pinkamena and Nezuko being the only exceptions right now, where he focused on Two Horn once more, who seemed worried about something, "How many people have you killed and eaten?"

"The only ones I killed were all women! If they continue living, they will only become uglier and nastier!" Two Horn said, his words confirming that the other two were dead and that he was the only body left, because if they were still alive he would have said something like 'us' or 'we', all while appearing to be angry over everything that was happening right now, even if he was focused on why he ate young girls, "That is what I ate them! If anything, you should be thanking..."

"Enough." Tanjiro replied, where Pinkamena, for a brief moment, saw the darker side of her friend, the side that disliked all of the evil Demons who didn't repent or didn't feel some shame for their actions, all while swinging his blade to cut a new horizontal gash into Two Horn's face, right through the mouth to be exact, before he pointed the tip of his weapon at their foe as Pinkamena landed nearby, "Let's talk about what you know about Muzan Kibutsuji."

"I... I cannot say..." Two Horn stated, though what they discovered was that he started shaking, which made sense due to the fact that Muzan was the most powerful Demon in existence and he likely struck fear into the hearts of those he made to serve his will, and it wasn't long before he started repeating the phrase over and over again, confirming that Muzan did strike fear into his creations, before he regenerated his arms.

In that moment, as Tanjiro dodged the incoming attack, Pinkamena drew her blade and severed his head, allowing them to eliminate the Swamp Demon at long last, though as they sheathed their weapons Tanjiro sighed, no doubt because they had gained no information on Muzan, before turning towards Kazumi as he handed over the collection of hairpins, giving her a chance to collect another body for later.

"Kazumi... are you alright?" Tanjiro asked, because while he was handing over the collection he found that the young boy was frightened by everything that was going on, not to mention the loss of his fiancee since the Swamp Demon had taken a moment to confirm that he had eaten Sakoto after kidnapping her, though while he did that Pinkamena held an arm out for a time and let one of their crows land on it.

Of course Kazumi wasn't okay, not when he lost his fiancee and there was no way for him to show that someone else had been behind her sudden disappearance, not with her bones lost to the swamp, though Tanjiro told him to stay strong after suffering such a loss, causing the younger male to grab onto him for a moment and question him about loss, where it was easy for Pinkamena to see that Tanjiro just smiled and made sure the collection was passed on. With that done Tanjiro started to walk down the alley, no doubt heading for the edge of this town, to which Pinkamena followed after him, but the pair were stopped as Kazumi called after them, apologizing for how he acted just now, showing them that he understood Tanjiro more than he did when they first encountered each other, to which they stopped and waved goodbye to him, while smiling for his sake, to let him know neither of them were offended. After that, and Kazumi focused on what sort of tale he might tell everyone else, or he might not say anything at all, the two of them continued walking as Tanjiro make sure that his sister was back inside the box, all while their crows flew around her and Tanjiro for a time, no doubt taking note of the deeds they had done so they could report back to whoever lead the Corps. Pinkamena was sure that, in time, they would be brought before whoever was in charge of the Corps, since he or she had to be interested in why a Demon had joined up with them and was fighting against her own kind, so she was eager to prove that she wasn't a problem and was more of an asset to the organization.

"Your next assignment is in Asakusa, in Tokyo Prefecture," Pinkamena's crow said, while at the same time Tanjiro's flew in the air around her friend, who seemed surprised that they were already being sent out to deal with another Demon, not that she was surprised by this since they were supposed to fight Demons until either they died or retired from this sort of life, even though her crow kept it's voice reasonable while Tanjiro's had a habit of being loud, "There are rumors of a Demon hiding there."

Pinkamena had no idea where in the land Asakusa was located, she seriously needed to find a map at some point, but the crows knew where it was and would give them an idea as to where they were going, though it was interesting that this one was a rumor and not a confirmed sighting, meaning it would be up to them to track their target down before dealing with the target they were being told about.

Mizunoto: A Chance Encounter

As it turned out it took Pinkamena and Tanjiro about three days to reach Asakusa, giving them plenty of time to make sure Nezuko was fine, as her regeneration kicked in and took care of the wound on her head, and make sure the town was safe from Demons, though once that was done they departed and followed the crows once more as they kept their guards up, as there was no telling what might be waiting for them next. While they walked Tanjiro took it upon himself to tell her more about the land, such as the fact that Asakusa happened to be a city in Tokyo, Japan, though she tilted her head a little as he explained what he meant to her, once more going under the guise that she was a poor soul who lost all of her memories when she transformed into a Demon. If she was being honest it was something that needed to be corrected, that he and Sakonji needed to be told the truth about her condition, as sooner or later someone was going to figure out the truth about her and confront her, so sharing it with them might save her some trouble, but it was good enough to give her information about everything that was going on. Another thing she thought about was how no one seemed to question all of her pony features, like the ears and tail, and while some might assume they were her demonic features, such as Tanjiro and Sakonji, ordinary citizens should be taking one look at her and calling someone to deal with her, where she had to assume it was another rule of Chaos World, something she wasn't going to argue with.

Other than that she continued to present herself as a Human to everyone they passed by, which wasn't too many people since it appeared that most stayed in the villages and towns that existed in this land, though whenever they stopped for the night she made sure to eat a little bit, even though it was away from Tanjiro since she was sure it would weird him out, to see a Demon eating another Demon, as she focused on their current mission.

Asakusa, as it turned out, was a massive city, as the buildings, for the most part, were taller than those they had seen back in the previous settlements they had passed through, there were a large number of flowing flags, and there were a fairly large number of bright lights that seemed to be everywhere, to the point where those who weren't used to seeing this sort of thing would be stunned and shocked by the sight. In addition to all of that Pinkamena and Tanjiro found what appeared to be a trolley system that stretched all over Asakusa, the city was built on a bay and had a fountain tower at some point, which they knew thanks to one of the people who greeted them when they entered the place, and it appeared that there were a number of carriages moving around as well, showing them that this place was more advanced than what they had seen so far. Of course Pinkamena wasn't totally surprised by this scene, where so many people were moving around, due to the fact that she had seen both Ponyville and Canterlot before, plus all of the other settlements Pinkie had been to over the years, though it did make an ideal place for a Demon to hide and prey upon, as there were all sorts of targets and that meant they could be here for days, maybe even weeks, tracking down their target. Tanjiro, on the other hand, was out of his element as he stared at the sight that they were staring at, and Nezuko had joined them since it was night out, in fact they had made sure to let her out of the box before people saw them since it would have only raised questions that none of them wanted to answer.

As they stared at the scene in front of them, however, Pinkamena sensed something that set off her alarms, the ones that told her when Demons were nearby, meaning there was one somewhere in Asakusa and all of the rumors were true, but, at the same time, it felt far stronger than anything she had felt so far, making her wonder if there was a trace of Muzan in this city, or if her nerves were getting the best of her.

"Let's... let's get out of here..." Tanjiro said, as the scenery, smells, and all the people had gotten to him and he wanted to take a break before trying to figure out where in the world their target might be hiding, or who they could talk to so they could gain some information on where it could be found, though he pulled Nezuko to the side and Pinkamena sighed as she followed after him, mostly so they stayed together, in case the Demon attacked first.

One thing Pinkamena had discovered during the three day trek to Asakusa was that the crows did deliver their paychecks before they reached the city, as each member of the Demon Slayer Corps did get paid for their work and those that were in the lowest rank, of which they were still in, earned twenty thousand Yen, whatever that was, so Tanjiro was able to buy a cloth for his head so he could block the lights, all while making his way to a mobile eating area.

"Don't lower your guard, Tanjiro, there are Demons somewhere in this city," Pinkamena commented, speaking whenever they were alone, even though she knew that it was unlikely that her friend was listening since he was more interested in his current self imposed task, purchasing an order of Yamakama Noodles and some tea, causing her to focus on the area that the food vendor was in as she made sure no enemies were lurking in the shadows.

"Sorry, I'm not used to places like this... too many people..." Tanjiro replied, where he sat down, after making sure Nezuko was sitting down on a bench and set the box to the side so he could free his back for a time, allowing him to sip from the cup that his tea had been poured into, though as he did that both he and Pinkamena paused for a moment, as both found a change in what they had been feeling for a while, or smelling in his case, causing him to spring to his feet as he glanced all over the area, "That scent... it was lingering near our house when I discovered that Nezuko and the others had been attacked by a Demon... I don't know why, but Muzan is nearby!"

"Tanjiro, don't do anyth..." Pinkamena started to say, because if it was Muzan they had found out, since she was sure it was the Demon King and not one of his subordinates or underlings, challenging him now would be suicide, even though there was a good chance her power might be able to hold him back right now, but before she could even finish her statement her friend rushed out of the area and started to follow his nose, causing her to sigh as she carefully followed after him as she maintained a normal Human pace this time.

As Tanjiro ran through the streets of the city, a rather foolish plan since they were on the tail of the Demon King himself, a fact that made Pinkamena take a moment to make sure both of their crows knew about this and sent them off when she had a chance, since he would be too much for either of them, though she remained on the rooftops and watched over her friend as he pushed his way through the crowd and found the person that had appeared before her when she nearly died two years ago.

"Muzan." Pinkamena growled, no doubt echoing Tanjiro calling the man by the same name, even if he was using both his first and last name in his statement, where she gripped the handle of her blade for a moment and considered her options, either watch this unfold or strike Muzan while his guard was down, because with the First Form of her Breathing Style she could take his head here and now, only to pause as she and Tanjiro found a young girl, probably five or six, resting in his hands, like he was a parent.

She understood what was going on immediately, Muzan must have stalked the family for some time, as there was a young woman standing nearby as well and she was sure that she addressed him as 'husband', and took out whoever the lady had been married to, using his shapeshifting powers to take his form and his life so he could blend in with society, no doubt for whatever foul task he was trying to accomplish. This, of course, provided the perfect shield for him if he was discovered by a Demon Slayer, be it one of the lower ranks or even the Hashira, as he would ensure that all of the Humans around him would be his cover so he could escape, so no Demon Slayer could raise a finger to him in this circumstance, and now that Tanjiro had found him, and had likely said his true name, he was going to disappear in no time. True enough Muzan was far too calm and confident for her liking, he knew there was nothing that could be done to him in this situation and Tanjiro, sensing that fact, didn't draw his blade or even make a move to make it known to those who were around him, where the Demon King seemed to be talking about how Tanjiro might have mistaken them for someone else. It was a good plan, one that could easily spell trouble for her friend if their foe continued to talk about the trouble that he might be in, since the lady seemed to think that he might be a troublemaker or something, and she focused on Tanjiro, hoping that a silent type of communication might convince him to depart from the area so they could grab Nezuko and then keep an eye on him, at least until one of the Hashira came to check on what was going on.

Of course that was when the situation changed, as Muzan quickly scratched the neck of someone who was nearby, far too fast for anyone else to see, even if she and Tanjiro saw the movement, and in that single motion he also pricked his finger and added some of his own blood to the mix, causing a rapid transformation in the man in question as his demonic side took over and he attacked his wife, biting into her shoulder in the process. It, too, made perfect sense to Pinkamena, as an attack like this would draw attention away from him and allowing him to slip out of the area without alerting the Corps as to what he was doing, and while that happened she found that Tanjiro's crow was still hanging out nearby, instead of just leaving to give the Corps the information she had shared with his and her own, so she rushed over to it and informed it to cancel the delivery to their headquarters. Her reasoning was because her friend had botched the mission, alerting Muzan to their presence and leading to another Demon being created, to which the crow nodded and took off without delay, no doubt tracking down her crow, where she turned her head and found that Tanjiro, in another act of stupidity, was calling out to Muzan, that he would track him to the ends of this world, all the way to Hell itself, and take him down to avenge all those who had been slain over the years. Pinkamena got one more glimpse of Muzan before he disappeared entirely, as he was staring at Tanjiro's earrings, meaning they had to be more important than she originally assumed, before he took a moment to glance in her direction as well, showing her that he had known about her existence, and then vanished with his fake family as Tanjiro dealt with the new Demon.

As she expected the local police wasn't too happy about the situation, even though Tanjiro insisted that the man hadn't killed anyone yet, though that was when something interesting happened as everyone seemed to be affected by a Blood Demon Art, where she spotted a young woman in a dark purple kimono that had a flower pattern on it, while standing on her left was a young male who wore a button up shift under a white colored kimono, though as she jumped down into the chaos Pinkamena assumed that the flower pattern was the woman's doing.

"You are very strange, young man... that you would refer to those turned into Demons as people, and are trying to save one from death," the female Demon said, as Pinkamena could tell, from a glance, that she and her assistant were Demons, though as she did that she raised her arm and the cuts she had made earlier, no doubt activating the technique that had ensnared everyone around them, healed in a matter of seconds, "Then I shall lend you a hand."

"Tell me, why would two Demons want to help some members of the Corps out?" Pinkamena asked, especially since so far only she and Nezuko were the exception to the rule that Demons attacked people and ate them, so this was more to see what their intentions might be, before agreeing to anything and putting them in harms way, where the male frowned as his boss seemed to think about something for a time.

"Even though I'm a Demon, I'm also a doctor... and I want to eradicate that man, Muzan Kibutsuji." the lady replied, where Pinkamena detected a slight change in her tone for a moment, no doubt due to something that had happened in the past, though she let out a sigh as she removed her hand from her blade and assisted Tanjiro with the transformed male, mostly to show the two Demons that they were willing to listen to them for a time.

What happened next was that the lady and her assistant took the transformed Human and left the area, and they did so as well, leaving the rest of the Humans confused as to what was going on once the Blood Demon Art disappeared, where they returned to where Nezuko had been left, with Pinkamena following from some of the roofs once more, just to keep an eye out for any of Muzan's underlings. When they found Nezuko she was under assault by the food vendor Tanjiro had bought some food from, where he seized the bowl of food and devoured all of it in no time, thanking the man for the meal before grabbing the box and escorting his sister out of the area, even though they did find the male Demon standing near one of the alleys that rested in this part of the city. Apparently, according to the Demon, where they were going had some sort of cloaking spell over it, one that would prevent people from finding it, which had been said in response to Tanjiro's comment about finding them based on smell, though as he said that Pinkamena turned her head and sensed the spell in question from where she was standing, meaning she had more of Pinkie's powers than she thought. Of course the young male Demon seemed to think that Nezuko was a brute, even though she was rather pretty for her age, and it caused her brother to speak up for her while they walked through the city, coming to what appeared to be the outskirts, where she found a house that had some sort of paper with an eye on it that rested above the front door, which seemed to be what was powering the spell.

When they entered the building they found that the female Demon was tending to the lady who had been wounded, due to the fact that her assistant had grabbed her as well, to leave no witnesses behind or something like that, and Tanjiro did think it was weird that a Demon would tend to a Human's wounds, causing the assistant to hit him in the area below his neck, like he was offended by the statement.

"Please, stop doing that... why must you always resort to violence..." the Demon doctor said, showing them that this had to be a common occurrence for her, that her assistant had a habit of doing stuff like this and she kept trying to get him to stop doing it, causing the male Demon to sigh for a moment as he lowered his arm, showing that he understood, at least for the time being, "Anyway, I am Tamayo, and my assistant is Yushiro... please, try to get along with him. Now, to answer your question, I do not feel any particular discomfort when tending to my patients, as I've had an easier time than most normal Demons, due to the fact that I am able to manipulate my body and used that skill to remove the curse that all of us face when we become Demons... what I mean is that I made it so that I can survive without partaking in Human flesh, as I only need a small amount of blood to survive."

"Really? All you do is drink blood to survive?" Pinkamena asked, though at the same time they followed Tamayo as she got up and lead them to another room, one that was away from the sleeping lady, while her husband seemed to be down in the dungeon, where they kept Demons she guessed, before they sat down in the room, even though Nezuko seemed to be more interested in rolling around for some reason, "That's interesting..."

"And here I thought some Demon Slayers would be disgusted by that fact... I guess I might have been wrong to think such a thing," Tamayo replied, though it was hard to tell if she knew that Pinkamena was more than what she claimed to be, as Muzan had noticed her earlier, something that could be his reaction to a Demon Slayer discovering his hiding place, or if Chaos World was hiding her from the Demons as well, "Anyway, we don't go out an attack people for their blood, rather we buy blood that was originally given for transfusions from people who don't have a lot of money, and we make sure to take what we need, instead of causing disruptions to one's body... in fact, with my small appetite and Yushiro's minuscule need for blood, one transfusion can last for a month, sometimes more if we're lucky. Speaking of which, I was the one who turned him into a Demon in the first place... the fact that all Demons are made by Muzan is factually incorrect, as there are other Demons who can increase the number that exist in this land... and no, I won't increase the amount of Demons, not after everything I have seen and done, but as a doctor, left with no options while fighting an incurable disease, turning a patient is the last option I can give them."

"I see... Tamayo, this is going to be a difficult question," Tanjiro said, where Pinkamena knew what was coming next, this was his chance to see if there was a way to restore his sister to her Human state, instead of her being trapped as a Demon and maybe killed by one of the Hashira, or another Demon Slayer, to which he steeled himself for what he was about to ask the pair that was in front of him, "Is there a way to turn a Human who has been turned into a Demon back into their previous Human state?"

"Yes, there is a way," Tamayo stated, something that caused the pair to stop in their tracks for a moment, where Tanjiro found that Pinkamena was causing him to stop before he did or said anything that might annoy Yushiro or even Tamayo, who seemed to be considering something while they understood that she was doing her best to make sure people were safe and sound, potentially following in Muzan's footsteps, "no matter what kind of sickness it is, there will be treatment methods and medicine for them... however, at my current stage, I can't turn a Demon back into a Human, despite my own attempts to best research and develop such a treatment. Based on my findings, in order to make the medicine to reverse the transformation process, I need to investigate and study a large amount of Demon blood, thus I need to ask two things of you: first, I need to study your sister's blood, and second, you need to gather Muzan's blood from the Demons that have it coursing through their veins."

"You mean like the Twelve Kizuki?" Pinkamena inquired, because while it made sense to just kill every Demon they came across, as long as they were like the Swamp Demon and not like both Tamayo or Yushiro, finding and killing a few of their foe's more powerful followers would decrease his power base and boost their chances of making this cure, since she knew that the Demon Moons were supposed to have a greater amount of Muzan's blood in them, before she thought about the other thing Tamayo wanted, "Nezuko's blood might be very useful as well, since she hasn't devoured or eaten anything that is Human related and has been sleeping for the last two years... her unique development might open some doors for you, to better understand all of this."

"Seems like both of our missions are going to overlap... very well, I, Tanjiro Kamado, also with my sister Nezuko and our friend Pinkamena, will do this," Tanjiro said, as it occurred to him that they hadn't given their new allies their names, a fact he was somewhat ashamed by when he thought about it, though as he said that Pinkamena shifted her stance, no doubt eager to get out of here and make a new report to the crows, once they returned anyway, "besides, if we do this, we'll be able to save the lives of more than just Nezuko, we might be able to purify more Demons and put an end to this fight, once and for all."

As Tamayo considered that, using the cure on Muzan himself, Tanjiro, Yushiro, and Pinkamena sensed something coming their way and everyone moved out of the way, where they found a ball bursting through the walls and striking the ceiling, showing them that someone was attacking Tamayo's house, to the point where a hole opened in one of the walls and let Pinkamena see two Demons standing outside, a young girl with an orange kimono and a young boy who wore a yellow-green yukata with blue beads around his neck.

"It's just like what Yahaba said, a structure appeared where there wasn't one before," the young girl said, though it was far too easy for Pinkamena to see that she was a Demon, her skin and eye silts were some basic signs when she wasn't using her senses to get an early heads up, though she had a pair of decent sized balls in her hands, where one was the one that struck the house and the other hadn't been used yet.

"It seems like they used a Blood Demon Art to hide this place, though it is odd to have a pair of Demon Slayers hanging out with some Demons." the male added, showing that he understood what was going on right now and that he could see the lot of them, even though it appeared that he had his eyes closed, where they found that he also had eyes on the palms of his hands for some reason, no doubt tied to his own power, before he glanced at his partner, "Anyway, Susamaru, the way you handled this was far too immature... or maybe it was too childish... and you ended up getting dust on my clothing with all the damage you did to the building."

Pinkamena said nothing as the two Demons got into a brief argument about how to go about dealing with their mission, a fact that allowed them some time to get ready since Tanjiro was having Nezuko take the unconscious lady down into the basement, since it seemed to be the only safe place left right now, while Yushiro kept Yamato safe, to the point where he lost his head due to one of the handballs that Susamaru used as her weapons. Of course Susamaru revealed that they had been told to kill Tanjiro, since she mentioned his earrings by name, and Pinkamena, as her fox mask was unique and that apparently told Muzan he had two threats that needed to be taken care of, but of course she didn't mention her master by name, rather she referred to him as the 'Great One'. In the following moments one of the handballs came at Tanjiro and he found that he wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time, to which she watched as he shifted his stance and quickly used the Seventh Form of Water Breathing, Drop Ripple Thrust, which happened to be the fastest thrusting technique out of every Breathing Style, or at least it was according to Sakonji. Such a thing allowed him to stop the handball before it had a chance to strike him in the face, since it took off Yushiro's head earlier, though despite the fact that he stalled the ball, a feat that would keep his head safe for now, it did shake before whacking him in the head, forcefully moving his blade at the same time.

As that happened, and Yushiro regrew his head while spouting his annoyance over the fact that his technique was still in the imperfect stage of development, meaning the more people there were the more likely Muzan would find them, that was when Pinkamena noticed the oddity of Susamaru's attacks, someone was redirecting them to make sure each struck their target, causing her to sigh as she stepped forward and raised her left hand, stalling a handball that came at her, one that she hurled back at Susamaru, who caught it with her right hand.

"You two seem rather strong... not Kizuki strong, mind you, but strong enough for me to test something," Pinkamena said, though as she said that Tamayo noticed something immediately, the marking on Pinkamena's left hand started to glow in a bright crimson light, like a Blood Demon Art, and the air seemed to shudder in response to what she was doing, where she had to wonder if the Corps had been infiltrated by a Demon, "Awaken, Chaos World."

In that moment Tamayo noticed a circle of crimson energy that formed around Pinkamena's hooves, something that did cause Susamaru to pause as she saw it form, while the other Demon seemed to be hiding somewhere in the area, before everyone realized that it was starting to move out from where she was standing, meaning her power was being activated at long last. As soon as she noticed that Tamayo and Yushiro watched as the energy rushed outwards, covering the entire ground around where her residence rested, including the walls for that matter, and she was sure that the energy came to a stop outside the walls, given that she had to be a fairly weak Demon, in comparison to the Kizuki, before watching as the energy reached into the air. It was almost like a dome formed around them, made out of crimson energy, though not a few seconds later it seemed to solidify and disappeared, leaving the night sky for them to look at, but what she noticed in that moment was that the sounds of the city had disappeared, why she had no idea, and as Susamaru glanced around, and the other seemed to do nothing, she carefully moved to the edge of the area and paused when she laid her eyes on what was in front of her. They seemed to be surrounded by a void, as if her residence and everyone inside it had been taken from one reality and had been dropped in another, to which she glanced back at Pinkamena for a moment and saw her in a new light, as instead of a Demon with pony features she looked more like a fox goddess, with a fox's muzzle, fur, a tail, and paws instead of hooves, with the color not influenced by her odd skin color, as if her fox mask or her power was influencing those that were around her, hence why she remained with Yushiro as she took in what was happening.

"No way... you're a Demon?! There's a Demon, in the Demon Slayer Corps?!" Susamaru said, where it was easy for them to tell that she was taken aback by this information and had no idea what to do about it, since it was unheard of for a Demon to join the very organization, even though Pinkamena had heard of rumors of lesser Demon Slayers being turned into the very creatures they swore to destroy, before she jumped into the air and discovered what Tamayo had found, causing her to look at Pinkamena, "What did you do?"

"I pulled us into my domain, where we can fight to our hearts content," Pinkamena replied, though Tanjiro found that this time around she didn't touch her blade, as if she wanted to test her demonic strength against a foe that was stronger than both the Hand Demon and the Swamp Demon, hence why she raised a hand towards her opponent and beckoned to her, all while Tanjiro started to glance around for Yahaba, who was hiding somewhere in this area, "come on, you can fight me without having to worry about bystanders getting in the way."

"Me? Worry about bystanders?" Susamaru inquired, where she pulled her arms through her attire and yanked them out a few seconds later, showing off her midriff for some reason as Pinkamena noticed that she had a black cloth around the upper part of her chest, before it shuddered and she grew four more arms, each with it's own handball, meaning she had three right arms and three left arms, where she looked up with a smile on her face, "Oh, I'm so going to beat you into the ground and drag you back to the Great One."

Tamayo watched as Susamaru readied her arms for a moment, showing them that she was getting ready to fight while her partner remained hidden, hence why she was having Yushiro give Tanjiro some of his enhanced sight to track him down at some point, though everyone seemed to be watching Pinkamena to see how she would react, which might provide a good opening to take down the hidden Demon. In the following moment she decided to strike as she started throwing the set of handballs right at her target, where each one seemed to go in different directions as they headed for their target, despite the fact that Pinkamena didn't seem to mind what was going on as she shifted her head a little, no doubt tracking each of her foe's attacks, a feat that would have been incredible had she been a normal Human. An odd thing happened while she was doing that, each of the handballs suddenly changed course and zeroed in on Pinkamena from new angles, no doubt because Susamaru wanted to trick her and open her defenses so she could blow her body to pieces, to take her head back to Muzan, but in that moment Tamayo noticed something strange, the fox visage actually smiled. Pinkamena decided to make her move as all of the handballs came at her, where she leapt into the air and spun around, punching and kicking all six of the projectiles within seconds, sending them backwards at Susamaru, who caught them and found that all six of her wrists were broken from catching her handballs, something that was easily fixed as she attacked again.

In that moment Tamayo realized something, this was Pinkamena's domain and that meant that she made the rules, which would explain how she was able to track down each handball and send it back with ease, but even as such a thought came to mind she realized the shocking and terrifying truth, while she could bend reality to her will, and cheat her way to victory, she wasn't doing that, rather she was using her own base power to take on Susamaru, making her think about what might happen if she fought one of the Kizuki.

Another thing she noticed was that Tanjiro seemed to be having problems with Yahaba, as the Demon was using arrows to move objects and enemies in the direction that he wanted, especially since it seemed that some of the arrows were on the handballs and aided Susamaru's power in trying to take down Pinkamena, where Tanjiro and Nezuko were forced back by one of the arrows as Yahaba faced them. Pinkamena also noticed that and found that Susamaru sent some of her attacks at Tanjiro, where he saw them coming, thanks to the paper Yushiro had attached to his forehead earlier, and unleashed another Form to take all six of them out before they could hit him or his sister, which happened to be the Third Form of Water Breathing, Flowing Dance, where the user swings and bends their blade along with their body, giving the illusion of one dancing as they slashed through everything in their way. In that instant, while her foe was distracted, Pinkamena took a moment to make another move, she seemed to shift her stance, like she was drawing and using her blade, where it was easy for Tamayo to notice that the weapon wasn't actually drawn as all six of Susamaru's arms went flying after being cut by something, causing the younger Demon to pause as she growled and turned back towards her foe, regrowing her arms so she could focus on Pinkamena again. Tamayo then noticed that the severed arms, which rested nearby for a couple of seconds, seemed to flash like they were reduced to ash or something, though given the oddity of Pinkamena's powers, as she was sure that there were more she hadn't shown them yet, it was possible that maybe she was collecting parts from all of the Demons she had faced since joining the Corps.

What was interesting was that Tanjiro was able to combine his own Water Breathing with Yahaba's Blood Demon Art, and it ended with him removing the Demon's head, though the Demon Slayer was then forced to unleash a number of Forms as he was trapped in Yahaba's final attack, sending him flying throughout the area thanks to his arrows, which meant that Susamaru's power was weakened with her partner's downfall.

"What's the matter, 'Demon Slayer'? Too scared to fight me with your weapon?" Susamaru exclaimed, like she was trying to taunt Pinkamena into attacking her on her own terms, though she didn't seem to care about what happened to Yahaba, as most Demons didn't care about what happened to those that were around them, though Tamayo could see that she had moved onto kicking one of the handballs at her foe, who returned it with a kick of her own, as if they were playing a game of Kemari with each other.

"Like I said, I'm testing my strength... and I am pleased. So, as a reward, I'll end this with my blade," Pinkamena replied, to which she shifted her stance for a moment as she focused on Susamaru and her handballs, who growled before throwing all of them through the air once more, sending them right for her from all directions, no doubt to find a hole in her guard so she could smash her into the ground with her empowered handballs, "Chaos Breathing, First Form: Reality Slash."

Tamayo watched as Pinkamena barely moved from where she was standing and drew her blade, swinging it six times and struck down each of the handballs without actually being near them, as if her slashes were happening where she wanted them to happen, instead of where her blade actually was, before swinging it a seventh time that severed Susamaru's head before she could do anything, causing her and Yushiro to stare at Pinkamena in disbelief.

"My Blood Demon Art allows me to bend reality to my will, to a degree, and my unique Breathing Style allows me to fight Demons on my own terms," Pinkamena continued, where she swung the blade for a few seconds, likely to make sure that her skills hadn't rusted since the last time she used it in battle, before sheathing her blade as she raised her left hand once more, where Tamayo noticed that all of the pieces of the two Demons had disappeared before the dome vanished, where they had returned to Asakusa, all while seeing that the fox traces vanished and the mask returned to normal.

In that moment Tamayo realized something, Pinkamena was possibly the strangest Demon she had come across, as her Blood Demon Art was one of the strongest she had seen, and compared to the Kizuki, whose powers were legendary, she was sure that Pinkamena could hold her own against the Lower Moons for sure, though it only made her wonder how this power would develop as it's owner gained more strength, and how she was going to tear Muzan down.

Mizunoto: New Allies

With Susamaru and Yahaba defeated, and Pinkamena made sure that their bodies were stored inside the Storehouse, she and Tanjiro joined Tamayo, Yushiro, and Nezuko inside the basement of a now destroyed residence, something that was bound to draw attention from the authorities at some point in time, hence why Tamayo wanted to get everything ready so she and her assistant could move out once the sun was down. Of course there wasn't much left of the house itself thanks to all the damage that Susamaru had done to it before Tanjiro and Pinkamena forced her into battle, so most of Tamayo's and Yushiro's belongings had been smashed up by the attack, but fortunately they had missed the lab and all of her equipment, so that could be stored away before they left Asakusa. Thanks to the existence of the dungeon that meant the man and his wife were safe as well, who they would transport to safety in due time as well, though it also served as a good place for all of them to rest in and made sure no one was seriously injured, mostly Tanjiro in that case since he was the only conscious Human in a basement full of Demons. His body was sore from having to unleash Form after Form to survive Yahaba's final attack, something that made sense due to the fact that he only just recently learned how to properly channel all of Sakonji's teachings into the Water Breathing that some Demon Slayers knew of, and Pinkamena was sure that a few of his ribs might be damaged from his fight with his foe, so it would be some time before he fully recovered.

Nezuko, however, was just fine, as Yahaba hadn't touched her with his arrows and Susamaru had ignored her since she had been elsewhere at the time, but that didn't stop Tanjiro from hugging her, before she made sure their new friends were safe and sound, especially since part of her seemed to see certain people, regardless of whether they were Human or Demon, as people to protect, and both of their new allies she seemed to see as Humans, which made Tamayo happy.

"Originally I had planned on using Muzan's curse to kill Susamaru, but you proved me wrong," Tamayo said, where she told them that the curse activated when a Demon uttered his name, hence why many called him 'That Man' or the 'Great One', though her words were for Pinkamena, who had defeated an empowered Demon while showing off the power of her own Blood Demon Art, one that was far stronger than anything she had seen so far, "of course I was unable to obtain any blood from the two enemies we just faced, so my research into a cure will be postponed for some time."

"Here." Pinkamena stated, where she produced two vials of blood and handed them over to the doctor, who stared at her in surprise since she hadn't been doing anything but listening to them talk about certain things, especially how the Kizuki had their numbers engraved on their eyes, the Lower Moons having it on one eye and the Upper Moons having it on both eyes, though she had extracted some blood from both of their enemies and put them into these vials, "Some blood from both Susamaru and Yahaba, to add to the bit of Nezuko's blood you extracted before the attack started... it should be the start of what you need for the cure."

As Tamayo collected the blood, and safely stored it with the other samples she had collected so far, she had to wonder if she had missed Pinkamena gathering some of Susamaru and Yahaba's blood, which might be possible since the Demon in question brought them to her domain, or there was the sickening idea that any Demon she slew was transported to that dark world and their remains placed inside it, for her to feed on, to which she decided not to question it, to save her sanity from the madness that was Pinkamena. After that Tamayo asked if Tanjiro would be willing to leave Nezuko with her and Yushiro, which would protect her from those who might seek to do her harm while also giving her a better chance to see to creating the cure that all of them were searching for, though it allowed them to see that Yushiro was against the idea, as in he seemed like if it happened he was going to end Nezuko if she came with him and his boss. In the end, however, Tanjiro told her that he and his sister would see this through to the end, that they wouldn't be parted from each other, thank to his sister reaching up and gripping his hand for a moment, showing her opinion on the matter, where Pinkamena smiled for a moment, even though she was keeping an eye on the outside, for their crows. Sure enough she found them coming towards Tamayo's ruined residence, where she excused herself and headed out to meet them, and found two crows, their crows, meaning it was time for her to give their report and see what was going on, since she did mention Muzan before both of the other Demons showed up.

What she discovered was that no Hashira were coming, as she was able to intercept the Muzan sighting easily, despite the fact that the crows would be telling their leader about it once they returned, though it was in that moment that she found a new mission for them, they were head to the south east and track down another Demon, but there was no information on what was going on. In fact she was only able to figure out one thing, that they were going to be reinforcements for the Demon Slayer who had been sent to take care of it, someone who hadn't reported in for some time, so there was a good chance they might be fighting a powerful Demon this time around, possibly one of the Kizuki, something that made her all the more interested in seeing what was waiting for them. A few moments later her crow departed with her report, which would tell whoever was in charge of the Corps about Muzan being spotted in this city, even though he had departed after two Demons showed up, where she made sure that the two in question were the ones that had been reported, making it more like they accidentally ran into Muzan and didn't seek him out intentionally. With her report made, and the rest of the Corps would be informed about this in the very near future, she headed back down to where the others were standing and found Tanjiro making sure Nezuko was fine, with Tamayo ensuring the transformed Human was fine before they left the city and made their way to somewhere else so Muzan didn't find them.

While they did that Pinkamena made sure the area was secured, even though she knew that no Demons would dare attack them while the sun was up, but that didn't mean Muzan was without Human servants, people who wanted the power that being a Demon could give them, so she decided to keep an eye out for anyone and everyone that might be interested in this part of the city.

As it turned out nothing happened for the first hour or so, meaning they didn't have to worry about Demons or Muzan's twisted Humans coming after them, Pinkamena and Tanjiro departed from Asakusa with Nezuko safe inside her box, all while heading down a different path to make sure none of Muzan's people saw them, though fortunately thanks to all of Tamayo's Blood Demon Arts, used the night before, no one knew who they were. Such a thing allowed them to get out of Asakusa with ease, without being interrupted by anyone, and once that happened Pinkamena, who had been watching her friend the entire time from the rooftops, jumped down onto the ground and walked beside Tanjiro once more, where they headed to the south east, just as the crows commanded. Pinkamena, once more, found that it was rather interesting that the land went from highly developed and became less and less as time went on, sort of like what she found whenever she watched Pinkie from the mindscape, but for now she kept her senses open and made sure none of their enemies found out where they were going, since she knew Muzan had to know they weren't dead, given the disappearance of Susamaru and Yahaba. Tanjiro, of course, wasn't too happy about the fact that he was still walking right now, since he had been given a short period of time to rest before they departed from Asakusa, but, at the same time, he did understand that they had been given an important mission, to recover the blood of the Demons they defeated in battle, as Tamayo had a cat who would be collecting whatever samples they happened to come across.

Pinkamena had to admit that it was an interesting set up, having a cat with them, though she had snatched it and dropped it into her domain when Tamayo told her about it, having no doubt figured out a bit of her Chaos World from witnessing it, but most of her attention was drawn to the scene that was in front of them, one of the survivors from the Final Selection, the blond haired boy, harassing a young girl who looked to be about his age, and his sparrow chirped at them when they came upon the scene.

Truth be told, Pinkamena turned him out for some time, as it seemed like the newcomer was trying to find someone that he could marry and get out of being a Demon Slayer, meaning he had been forced into this life and had been hoping one of the Demons would have killed him during the Final Selection, though the sparrow chirped at them and gave them some information on what was going on. Pinkamena could understand the bird since she was from Equus, where ponies talked with animals from time to time, though it seemed like this bird happened to be of the same species of the crows, so it was a mutation of some kind, meaning it wasn't hard for them to understand the situation they had discovered, as it told them that Zenitsu didn't like to work, liked to chase girls, and was just trouble for it. As such Pinkamena let Tanjiro deal with the boy, since it seemed like she wasn't needed right now, though she did note something as she focused on Zenitsu, he was a student of the Thunder Breathing, given his clothing and how his Nichirin Blade's hilt was shaped, and at a glace he looked like he was far too cowardly to be a Demon Slayer. As she thought about that, however, she knew that looks could be very deceiving and felt a slight aura around him, something that suggested he might be hiding his true personality, or maybe he hadn't discovered it yet, as he seemed like he would fight if he was forced to do so, but for now she focused on letting her friend do exactly what he needed to do right now.

As it turned out the young lady already had a fiancee and left Zenitsu after hitting him a few more times, causing Tanjiro to stop her from inflicting any real damage to the crybaby Demon Slayer, though once she was on her way the three of them were able to continue down the path in front of them, though they learned that his name was Zenitsu Agatsuma and that his target was deep in one of the forests, in a mansion that Pinkamena could tell radiated demonic energy, meaning they had found their target.

"I smell blood in this area," Tanjiro said, which confirmed something as they stood outside the mansion, someone had to be inside the building and they were either injured or dead, though while he thought about that he noticed that Zenitsu had his hands near his ears right now and Pinkamena seemed to be scanning the area for a demonic presence, which had to be part of her strange powers, "but it's unlike anything I've smelled before... I smell three Demons, but there's another presence inside the house..."

"What's that about a smell? I don't smell anything." Zenitsu commented, where he continued to hold his hands to both of his ears for a moment as he focused on his own extraordinary sense, even though what he discovered chilled him more than he was willing to admit as he glanced at Pinkamena, instantly finding something that might spell his doom, hence why he focused on something else for now, "But can you hear that? There's a sound coming from the area around us... it looks like we're going to need to work together in the future as well..."

"I don't know about sound, but there's some Humans nearby." Pinkamena added, where she glanced to their right as soon as the words left her mouth and she found two young kids, around ten if her estimates were correct, who were worried out of their minds, to which they discovered that it was a boy and a girl, something she was going to leave to Tanjiro and Zenitsu as she studied the mansion some more.

Tanjiro did something weird in that moment, he decided not to ask questions and produced a sparrow in his hand, as the bird helped him try to calm down both of the frightened children, which seemed to work well enough for them to get a bit of information from them, which was good since they didn't want to go into this blind, since Pinkamena was sure that they had been sent to deal with one of the Kizuki, or one close to that level. Apparently the Demon in question kidnapped their older brother, who had been traveling with them during the night, and they had tracked him down to this mansion, even if they followed the blood of their brother to reach this point, which the brother mentioned when Tanjiro tried to call them brave for doing such a thing. Zenitsu mentioned something about a drum, a sound that only he seemed to hear, but while Tanjiro wondered what he could be talking about Pinkamena heard the faint and distinct sound of someone drumming, a sound that was coming from inside the mansion, though they also learned that the older brother was hurt, which had to explain the smell, as even Pinkamena could sense that there was something odd lingering in the air. In the next couple of seconds another young boy leapt out of an opening above them, in the second story of the mansion to be exact, and just crashed into the ground near them, where he was injured and clearly bleeding, so it was likely that he was going to die in the next couple of minutes, but he kept mentioning that he had gotten out as they heard something growling, the Demon who seemed frustrated about something.

Sure enough Pinkamena's thoughts were proven true, the boy died just a few moments after escaping from the house, a fact that was sad when she considered it since he was still so full of life, and the young siblings informed them that this boy wasn't their older brother, as Kiyoshi, which happened to be their brother's name, was wearing yellowish brown clothing, causing Tanjiro to silently promise to bury the boy later.

"Pinkamena. Zenitsu." Tanjiro said, where he was furious about the situation they had discovered and he even frightened Zenitsu in the process, not that it was hard to to that since Zenitsu was such a scaredy cat, though Pinkamena stepped up to the entrance of the mansion as well, because if there was a Kizuki inside the building she wanted to face them in battle and see how her power measured up to one of Muzan's chosen, though Tanjiro set Nezuko's box down near the children and promised them that they would be safe before rejoining her and Zenitsu.

As it turned out Tanjiro waited until they were on the other side of the sliding door entrance to tell Zenitsu that some of his ribs were fractured and one of his legs was the same way, as he hadn't had the time to heal after his last battle, causing an already frightened Zenitsu to become even more worried about his chances of survival, and before anyone could make a move the two children came running in, frightened by Nezuko's box moving. In that instant, as the girl made contact with Tanjiro and the boy did the same with Zenitsu, Pinkamena sensed a change in the air as the room they were in changed in a matter of seconds, where they found themselves separated by sliding doors that closed and teleported them to brand new rooms, as she found herself alone with no one near her. Of course, as she thought about that, Pinkamena could tell that the others were safe and sound, to which she pushed open a door and found a hallway, which had to lead deeper into the mansion, and sure enough she found that the three demonic energies she had felt were in different locations as well, one nearby with the other two resting elsewhere. As such she started moving without wasting time on the area she had been dropped in, since it didn't seem important at all, while keeping a hand on her blade, as the moment she found her target it was going to be needed, especially since it looked like this Demon controlled the mansion with it's drums, if they were right about that fact anyway.

What she discovered as she walked was that Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and the other Human presence, another Demon Slayer to be exact, were moving in different directions, even being sent to other places of the mansion when she focused on them, and it wasn't long before she found a Demon who crawled on all fours that seemed to be following Zenitsu, but the amazing part about it was that the sense of dread and responsibility knocked him out. He barely did anything and he was sleeping on the job, and the boy behind him was freaked out of his mind, where she found that both of them were going to die in the next few moments if nothing changed, to which she gripped her blade and focused on the Tongue Demon, as it looked like his tongue happened to be his weapon for taking his targets down. Before she made her move, however, part of the Demon's rather long and whip-like tongue went flying, without her making a move, and it was in that moment that both she and the boy found Zenitsu getting up, one hand resting in front of the boy's face as the Demon Slayer appeared to be making his move at long last. In that moment the air around Zenitsu changed, like he was someone else right now, and a few seconds later he took up his stance, one foot in place with the other behind him as he bowed his head and gripped the handle of his blade, making it look like he was going to run at the Demon in front of him, and it was in that instant that Pinkamena got her first glimpse of the Thunder Breathing Style, as Zenitsu unleashed the power of the First Form and he flashed through the space between him and his target.

She understood what was going on, this Breathing Style had to be focused on the leg muscles and speed, hence why one see him more like a lightning bolt or something as he rushed through the air and swung his blade so fast that a normal person would miss it, since he returned the blade to it's scabbard once his task was done, and sure enough it removed the Tongue Demon's head and caused him to wake up.

Pinkamena had to admit that while conscious Zenitsu was a liability, given his cowardly nature, unconscious Zenitsu had a lot of potential locked away inside his body, making her wonder if there was a way for one to draw out this hidden power, though she made sure to seize the pieces of the Tongue Demon and placed them inside the Storehouse, before leaving Zenitsu and the boy to their business as she tracked down the other weak demonic signature. The mansion around her changed a little, meaning either the Demon was facing Tanjiro and was moving things to make it easier to fight him or this was the cause of someone else, like a drum had been given to or stolen by someone else, though her thoughts were put on hold for a moment as she found a new scene in front of her, a large Demon, in terms of belly, who happened to be as tall as an adult male, facing someone. The newcomer was the other person she had sensed, the other Demon Slayer to be exact, and what she found wasn't what she was expecting, as the figure had a refined and muscular build for someone who was around the same age as Tanjiro and Zenitsu, whose body was male when she looked at his bare chest, he wore the pants of a Demon Slayer with an animal pelt wrapped around his waist and he happened to have a boar mask over his face, making it look like he was a wild beast, plus he had two chipped Nichirin Blades in his hands.

Apparently the boar kid seemed to think that the Horned Demon was a stepping stone for his power as he rushed right at the Demon and did battle with him, where he sliced through both of his foe's arms with ease, cutting them at the halfway mark between the wrist and elbow, before revealing his 'self taught' style, so named 'Beast Breathing', in the form of using both blades to cut open the Demon's neck, called 'Fang of the Third: Devour'.

Such a thing made her wonder what the boy had been through, though after removing the Horned Demon's head, as that attack took it clean off, the Boar, as she was going to call him until a better name came to mind, rushed off as he resumed his hunt for the Demon that was controlling the mansion, even though she was tracking him right now and had an idea of where to find him. Of course she made sure to claim the body of the Horned Demon, since wasting food was a bad thing, even if she only needed one body when she thought about it, and once it was stored inside the Storehouse she resumed her trek through the mansion, following the demonic presence that she felt, even though it seemed like the mansion was allowing her to track down the one that ruled over it. Pinkamena had to assume that her reality breaking power was also in effect right now, doing more than making others think she was Human, and sure enough she found the Demon she was looking for in one of the hallways, a tall male figure who happened to have some good muscles, who wore a separated sash that seemed to cover the front of his waist, the back side, and both sides, with some openings anyway. After that she found two things that interested her, the first not so much since it was the number of drums attached to his body, two on his hips, two on his shoulders, one on his chest, and a scarred area on his back where a sixth drum would have been, so it meant there was someone else messing with this mansion, though what interested her the most was the second thing she noticed, the Kanji for six on his right eye, covered by a white x scar.

Her earlier thoughts had been correct, they had been called in to deal with one of the Kizuki, though it looked like he was a former member, due to the scar over his number, but that didn't mean he wasn't powerful enough to be a problem, since the Kizuki were supposed to be the strongest under Muzan and she had a feeling that the Former Lower Moon Six would provide her with a challenge unlike anything she had experienced before this point.

"Another Demon... you're after the 'rare blood', aren't you?" the Demon stated, where Pinkamena determined that those who were stronger than her, in terms of demonic strength, were able to sense her true nature, despite her power, which told her that if she pushed herself to her limits she might deal with that, though at the same time she learned a reason as to why this figure was after the older brother and not the younger ones who had been outside.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, former member of the Kizuki, but I'm here for you." Pinkamena said, to which she drew her blade and readied her power with a smile on her face, because this Demon would challenge her and give her a chance to further develop all of her skills for the future, and if he proved to be stronger than him she could, at the very least, open the way for Tanjiro to catch up with her, "I am Pinkamena. What name do you wish to be known by?"

The Demon paused for a moment, no doubt caught off guard by another of his kind not meeting his expectations, to which he informed her that his name was Kyogai, even though he huffed, no doubt from being slightly weakened from having a pair of enemies invade the mansion and attack him, given the injury on his back, before he sensed something and moved into the room to his left, where they found Tanjiro and two of the kids, who disappeared after the older one beat a drum to move to another part of the mansion. With that done Kyogai started to beat his drum and Pinkamena found that the room Tanjiro was in started to move, as when he beat his left shoulder drum it moved the targeted room to the left, while the right shoulder did the same to the right, though hitting the left hip moved a room back and right hip brought it back to him, leaving the chest as an actual attack that looked like claws cutting up the targeted area. As soon as Tanjiro became the focus of Kyogai's attacks, and he seemed to be focused solely on him, Pinkamena jumped into battle and lashed out at him, where she was able to remove his left hand for a moment and snatched it so it could be stored without problem, only he formed a new one without much delay and growled at them as they regained their footing. Of course she didn't have a problem with the beating of the drum as Kyogai moved this room around like it was a toy, as she was a Demon and such a thing meant that she didn't have to worry about injuries, while Tanjiro was still recovering from his battle with Yahaba and had to be careful, as one wrong move could do some serious damage to him, and he had to cheer himself on in his head to force himself to stand.

Kyogai stared at them for a few seconds before he started beating his drums once more, where Pinkamena breathed for a moment as she fell in tune with the rhythm that the Former Kizuki had created, allowing her to move with the shifting of the room while dodging attacks with ease, leaving Tanjiro to force himself to learn everything she had figured out in a few moments of observing Kyogai. Pinkamena continued her dance, following the rhythm of Kyogai's tune as if she wasn't one of his foes and was more like a dancer, something that caused him to stare at her as she dodged the claw attack meant to take her down, almost as if he was remembering a memory from when he was Human or during his first few weeks as a new Demon who couldn't go outside. It was as if someone in his past had dismissed him and his skills, during the period of time following his transformation into a newly born Demon, and seeing someone move along with the rhythm he created seemed to ease whatever pain he had been feeling for a long time, where after some time it seemed like he was attacking her and no one else, choosing new patterns and testing her reflexes as Tanjiro was left off with a level of technique that he could survive against in his current state. In fact both of them noticed something as the room moved around like it had a mind of it's own, there was a desk that had been unlocked by all of the claw attacks and some paper sheets fell out of it, to which both Pinkamena and Tanjiro noticed that they seemed to be musical in nature before connecting the dots, though she took it a step further by collecting all the sheets and neatly setting them outside, out of the way so Kyogai didn't have to worry about ruining his own art.

Tanjiro, sensing the change in Kyogai's movements, readied himself as he shifted into the Ninth Form of Water Breathing, an attack called Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent, where the user changes up their footwork to minimize landing time and the surface necessary for moving, allowing him to move all over the room without being caught by the attacks, moving as if he had no limits, and it ended with him removing Kyogai's head.

"Your Blood Demon Art was impressive, Kyogai," Pinkamena remarked, something Tanjiro nodded his head to before he fell to his knees, no doubt having taking a wrong breath or move while finishing off the former Kizuki, though as Kyogai's head hit the ruined floor, however, she pulled her mask off for a few seconds and smiled at him, silently using her power to snatch his body and store it inside her Storehouse for later, "it's a shame our time was cut short, as it was fun dancing to the rhythm of your drums."

"Really? My power was impressive?" Kyogai asked, his tone revealing that Muzan must have dismissed him after deciding he was too weak to be of service to him, hence the scar over his number, and that he was pleased to have someone, even if it was an enemy he couldn't hit, acknowledge his power while making sure his sheets were perfectly fine, as if there was someone in this world who valued his existence, "I'm glad..."

Pinkamena sighed as she and Tanjiro watched as Kyogai's head disappeared, confirming that he was dead, to which she returned the mask to it's position and silently shifted herself into her personal dimension, where she made sure his body was contained inside the Storehouse, with no connection to the main reality, and produced a vial that she filled with some of Kyogai's blood. With it in hand she returned to the Tanjiro's side and nodded her head for a moment, where they heard a meow and Tamayo's cat assistant, Chachamaru as it was called, appeared near them, to which she knelt down for a few seconds and opened the pack on it's back, allowing her to slip the vial into the pack and pet it on the head once she was done with their end of things. As soon as that was done Chachamaru meowed twice more and disappeared, no doubt to leave once they were sure that the coast was clear and night had fallen, though Pinkamena made sure to pick up what was left of Kyogai's manuscripts and added them to her collection, figuring that they would be lost here and that she could take a peak at them later, to use her knowledge from Equus to make them better and maybe spread his legacy as a lost master or something. Once she was done with her self imposed task she and Tanjiro followed his nose where the children should be resting at the moment, and with Kyogai dead there was no drum in their possession no more, though funny enough the two children threw all sorts of objects at Tanjiro when he opened the door, causing Pinkamena to chuckle as he made sure both of them were safe, but once that was done they headed for the main door to join Zenitsu.

What they discovered was that the boar headed figure Pinkamena had seen earlier was tormenting Zenitsu while trying to get at Nezuko, who he could tell was inside the box, showing that he was targeting Demons and would no doubt attack the moment he sensed Pinkamena's true nature, though Tanjiro was angered by this scene, especially since the other boy was injured from protecting Nezuko's box, as it looked like the Pig had struck him several times so far.

"He's the other one who passed Final Selection, but ran off to kill more Demons," Pinkamena commented, as she put the pieces together in her mind as soon as she figured out where she had felt his energy before, though the moment she said that the Boar turned towards her, no doubt sensing the difference between her and the Humans that were around her at the moment, "you should know something, I learned of several rules and it's supposedly taboo for Demon Slayers to fight each other, though they can train as much as they want... and I know you want a piece of me... however, that will have to wait for a later date."

Before the Boar could do anything Tanjiro punched him in the chest and sent him into the trees, allowing Zenitsu to pull the box out of the area, though when trying to reason with this guy they learned that he was interested in fighting and he placed both blades in the ground before lashing out at Tanjiro with his fists, temporarily forgetting about Pinkamena for an undetermined amount of time. The Boar had some interesting attacks that were aimed low and rather fast, like Tanjiro was facing off against a wild animal or something, and when he tried to get lower than that his foe continued to get lower than that, making it harder for him to do anything to actually defeat the Boar, making Pinkamena wonder if using her own power would even the odds or not. Another odd thing was that the boy actually bent backwards, as in he pressed the front of his body right up against the ground while bringing the bottom half up, allowing him to kick Tanjiro with one of his feet, showing them that the flexibility of his body was insane, far more than a normal Human was supposed to have, and such a thing caused the Boar to chuckle like he was having fun. In fact the Boar proved that he had to be insane when he shifted his stance so that his body was coiled to the point where his head rested between his legs and his hands could touch both of his feet, making Pinkamena wonder if he had bones or if they were trained to the point where he was able to do this, all without causing pain to his body... opening a hole in his defenses for Tanjiro to headbutt him, causing the Boar to stagger back after trying to get back up.

In that moment they discovered that the boar head was like a mask, as it seemed to fall off the boy and revealed that he had a rather pretty and feminine face, which didn't match at all, while he had long black hair that ended in blue tips and an unruly fringe on the front side of his head, but not a few seconds later he collapsed from the damage of Tanjiro's blow, to which Pinkamena sighed as she waited for the crows to arrive, as she had a feeling they were going to be traveling with the Boar and Zenitsu for some time and she was actually looking forward to it.

Mizunoto: Rest and Discovery

With Kyogai defeated, and the Boar knocked out for a time, Pinkamena left Tanjiro and Zenitsu to talk to the children and bury the ones who had been slain inside the mansion, where she found that her crow was resting on a nearby branch, no doubt to get out of the way in case their new friend attacked her, and quickly made her report on the situation, making sure to give her crow every detail it needed. As much as one would be tempted to take credit for killing a former Kisuki, given the sheer power that one of them had to possess, she made her report as she witnessed it, Zenitsu took out a Demon despite falling unconscious during battle, the Boar hunted down another one and tore it down like it was nothing, and both she and Tanjiro fought the former Kizuki on his own turf, her providing a distraction while Tanjiro killed him. She made no mention of the blood she acquired, nor did the crow ask about it, as both of their crows had been asked not to reveal Tamayo or her plans to make a cure just yet, because she had a feeling that there might be those in the Corps who would be unhappy if all of the Demons suddenly disappeared, so for now only she and Tanjiro knew about it, while their crows remained silent on the matter. Once she was done making her report on this mission, and the crow departed for their headquarters, she leapt up into the tree for some time and rested there, allowing Tanjiro to put Zenitsu as they and the children tended to the fallen boy, allowing her to keep an eye out for any intruders that might be seeking the boy who happened to have rare blood in his veins, which they had to deal with as well at some point.

Eventually the Boar woke up screaming, why she had no idea, and she found that Tanjiro and Zenitsu had prepared a bed of sorts for him to rest in while they were working on a grave, though he seemed more interested in fighting than helping the fallen, hence why he was focused on Tanjiro and no one else right now, but she did learn that his name was Inosuke Hashibira, meaning he was capable of reading and speaking. Of course the interesting thing was that Tanjiro's head had sustained no damage from his initial attack, meaning his forehead was much harder than one might expect, though it did look like he was going to have some miscommunication with Tanjiro when they talked about the grave, which she tuned out as she waited for the crow to arrive. Apparently everyone knew that he was trying to get Inosuke involved in burying all of the slain people who were inside the mansion, and soon enough she found that all the bodies, three to be exact, were placed in the ground, causing her to focus solely on the sky as her crow returned with news, good news this time around, causing her to jump down and join the others once more. The first thing they were supposed to do was give Kiyoshi a bag of Wisteria, a pouch he could wear at all times to ward off any and all Demons who tried to come at him in the future, so at least he and his siblings could be safe once more, causing them to wish Tanjiro and the others farewell before departing, but after that Pinkamena beckoned for the others to join her and the crows as they headed for their next destination, even if she was keeping it a secret right now.

While they walked Inosuke, oddly enough, talked about his past and told them some things about himself, like the fact that he grew up in the mountains and didn't have any family that he knew of, though they knew that he had to have a mother and father, otherwise he never would have been born in the first place, and let him talk since it allowed them to have a bit of noise before they reached their destination. Another thing he did while they walked was occasionally lash at the trees, as in he headbutted one every now and then, no doubt adapting to Tanjiro's attack and had to trying to make it so he had a new way to show his dominance over everything around him, though since he wasn't interested in helping Tanjiro, as he walked without a care, Tanjiro carried the box in front of him with Zenitsu on his back. They then learned a few more things about Inosuke, that he had acquired his blades from a few Demon Slayers he had tested in the past, and it had lead to him finding out about the Final Selection, hence why he charged in, demonstrated his Beast Breathing to a few worthy Demons, and then charged out to find more enemies to pit his strength against, though he had returned at the end of the Final Selection to listen to the little children and some of their statements before leaving again. He also had a habit of either mispronouncing names or did it intentionally to piss off someone he wanted to fight, as Tanjiro told him his name and Inosuke called him 'Gonbachiro Kamaboku', confusing Pinkamena's friend for a moment before he realized the meaning behind the words, even though their conversation seemed to annoy a resting Zenitsu as he screamed for them to stop shouting at each other.

Pinkamena, on the other hand, found that Inosuke was more respectful around her, as while he wanted to fight her, just like how he wanted to face Tanjiro at some point in time, he knew that she was far stronger than Tanjiro was and didn't attempt to give her a ridiculous name, meaning his senses were far sharper than she originally thought and had to take a moment to wonder what would happen if they fought each other, before turning her attention back to the road that they were being lead down.

As it turned out the crows lead them down the road for some time, to the point where it became night, before coming to a stop outside a large house that had a decent sized fence surrounding it, which happened to have a front door that had the symbol of the Wisteria flower on it, something that told Pinkamena and the others that they were in the presence of allies this time around, though Tanjiro and the others hadn't figured out what was going on.

"Rest! Rest!" the crows stated, where they circled around the group for a few moments, with Pinkamena's landing on her arm for a time so it could speak to all of them, even though Zenitsu's sparrow still seemed out of place, causing the others to pause for a moment as they realized what it was saying right now, where a smile graced her face as she noticed how shocked Tanjiro and the others were, "The injured will rest until fully healed!"

Tanjiro was surprised by that fact, especially since he had faced Kyogai with injuries and hadn't gotten a chance to recover after facing Muzan's Demons in Asakusa, though that was when the door opened and an elderly lady stepped out, whose grey hair was tied in a bun and she wore a plain maroon kimono, but she did welcome them to her house, despite the fact that Inosuke thought she was weak and Zenitsu thought she was a monster, given that she quickly prepared a meal for all of them and had beds ready for them as well. The crows informed them that those with the crest were allies to the Corps, as they maintained rest houses that Demon Slayers could rest in recover in, meaning people like the lady saved the lives of those who fought Demons, all without asking for anything in return, meaning it was more about repaying them for their actions in the past. The old lady also called for a doctor, likely another ally of the Corps, to come and check on Tanjiro and the others, though where each of them changed into more casual clothing before Pinkamena discovered that all three of her companions had broken ribs, Inosuke had four and the bump on his head, Tanjiro had three, and Zenitsu, somehow, had two despite the lack of fighting he did in the mansion. Once that was done they were free to eat and rest up before their next mission, where they discovered that Inosuke ate like a barbarian, which made sense considering the fact that he grew up in the mountains and likely hadn't been taught anything, by those he encountered during his travels across this land, but, since the old lady prepared four meals, Pinkamena pulled her mask to the side as she joined them.

What she discovered was that she was able to actually eat Human food, as she had been told that being a Demon meant that such a thing would have been impossible, hence why Sakonji focused on making sure Tanjiro had everything he might need to keep at his training without collapsing from starvation, where she got some looks from Zenitsu, who was studying her more than others had done in the past.

"I had no idea you could eat Human food, Pinkamena," Tanjiro commented, because he had spent two years training with her and had never seen her eat anything during that period of time, making him believe everything Sakonji told him about Demons and their habits, information that his companion gained as well so she could learn more about her kind, even if she was different from the other Demons.

"Neither did I... and now I regret not tasting some of the food we've seen in the past." Pinkamena replied, though she had to admit that the food that had been prepared was rather tasty, which seemed to be either fried food or well seasoned food, all while Inosuke seemed eager to pull Tanjiro into a fight and ate some of his food, only to growl in annoyance when he offered him another piece, as if he was so hungry he should eat his fill, causing her to chuckle, as these guys were fun to be with and watch every now and then.

"You know, that reminds me... Tanjiro, why are you walking around with two Demons?" Zenitsu asked, figuring that now might be the best time to ask the question that had been bothering him, even though he was bothered by the fact that the sun's rays did no damage to Pinkamena while they were walking towards the mansion and this house, meaning if they had to face her she was likely going to wipe the floor with them.

"My sister, Nezuko, was turned into a Demon and we're trying to cure her... Pinkamena, on the other hand, isn't bound to the traditional definitions of a Demon and wants to bring down their leader," Tanjiro answered, which was the truth, his friend was traveling with him so they could bring down the Kizuki, grow in power as they fought stronger Demons, and, at some point in time, take down Muzan to free this world from his darkness, before he considered something as Inosuke continued his eating.

Zenitsu, of course, didn't appreciate being called strong, as Tanjiro made a comment about it when he tapped his nose for a few seconds and told him what he smelled, and he didn't like the fact that he couldn't find someone to take him out of this nightmare, like the girls he had passed by previously, and when they were done eating he found that the box was now opening, causing Tanjiro to smile as Nezuko came out. Of course Pinkamena found that Zenitsu was annoyed by what he discovered when he laid eyes on her, apparently forgetting that she was Tanjiro's sister and not a girlfriend or fiancee, to which Pinkamena finished her own meal, replaced the mask once more, and headed out to make sure the house was safe from Demons, since she was the only Demon Slayer who could fight right now. There was another reason for her wanting to separate herself from the others, in addition to wanting to get out of there before Zenitsu threw a fit over everything he had been through so far, as she jumped up onto the roof and extracted part of Kyogai's body as she sat down, because while she was pleased with her discovery she was still a Demon and needed flesh to survive, which she normally ate out of sight so it didn't bother Tanjiro. Of course over the next couple of minutes she heard Tanjiro and Zenitsu arguing, as it did look like the latter was utterly annoyed by the fact that he had guarded Nezuko's box and seemed to be misunderstanding the situation he had discovered, so she waited for some time, to see if they were going to tune it down and actually get a bit of sleep, to recover and prepare for whatever the future held.

She maintained her sitting for an hour before flashing back down into the room and struck Zenitsu in the back of the neck before he could react, allowing her to put him in the bedroll prepared for him as Tanjiro and Inosuke got some sleep, to which she returned to her post and silently ate her other meal, allowing her to maintain her Demonic power and grow it at the same time, all while feeling a surge of power after devouring a former Kizuki's blood.

Pinkamena, feeling that happen to her, closed her eyes for a moment as she shifted between worlds once more, returning to her domain without delay, where she reappeared near the Storehouse and paused for a moment as she noticed that a new addition had appeared nearby, part of Pinkie's version of Ponyville had returned to her mindscape and it looked like a few ponies were wandering around again. That told her something interesting, the more power she gained, by devouring more of Muzan's blood, the stronger her hold on this world became, likely influencing Chaos World as well when she took a moment to think about it, though as she walked down the street she noticed something else, part of this world was no longer what she remembered from her time in Pinkie's mind. Resting off to the side was a mansion that looked exactly like Kyogai's, an interesting thing when she thought about it, and as such she walked over to it to see what was going on, even though she had a feeling that her time in this world was influencing her mindscape in some manner, reflecting the houses and buildings she had been in since surviving her encounter with Muzan, who likely had no idea she was the one she met by the riverside two years ago. What she discovered was a figure who looked a lot like Kyogai, only he wore a kimono that was dark green with white lines separating it, sitting in what had to be the porch of the mansion and seemed to be playing his drums once more, though sitting next to him were his manuscripts, his stories that he tried to write before becoming a Demon and joining Muzan's forces.

"Kyogai?" Pinkamena asked, as this was something she wasn't expecting, because while part of her had been expecting to regain control over Pinkie's created mindscape, or even make her own for that matter, she wasn't expecting to find one of the Demons she and Tanjiro had killed residing in the outskirts of her world, where the former Demon looked up for a few seconds and smiled, as he seemed more Human since the color had returned to his skin, where she found that he had light blue colored eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the newest arrival... Susamaru explained things to me." Kyogai replied, where she found that he sounded happy about what had happened to him, because she and Tanjiro had treated him, his writing, and his Blood Demon Art well, instead of treating him like trash and dismissing him, though this information caused her to raise an eyebrow for a few seconds, due to the fact that this was the first time she was learning about all of this, "From what we've discovered the Demons that you have slain and collected, regardless of whether or not you actually dealt the finishing blow, end up in this place, due to the fact that you take in all of our blood... Yahaba thinks part of your Blood Demon Art creates echoes of those whose blood you have taken in."

"Huh, that makes sense... at least in the context of Chaos World." Pinkamena commented, because Tamayo had told them about the curse that Muzan put in his blood, so he could crush those who mentioned anything having to do with his name, something their demonic ally had wiped out so she and Yushiro didn't have to worry about while she, on the other hand, had no worries about such a thing, since her unique nature prevented such a thing from happening in the first place, but she had to pause for a second, "Wait... did you say 'we'? Is every Demon I've collected here?"

Kyogai nodded his head for a moment, showing her that she understood this part of her power, a part she was only now finding out about, and explained that the former Demons were residing inside his mansion, which was connected to her power and expanded for every newcomer who joined them, meaning every Demon whose body rested on the other side of the mindscape, in the Storehouse, had a room in this place. One thing he told her was that they had visitors from time to time, as it appeared that before he showed up there was no home for them, so by taking in Kyogai, whose power had been tied to his mansion, it gave the echoes of the Demons a place to live, and it appeared that most of them chose their Human forms, instead of appearing as their twisted selves. The visitors happened to be the ponies she had seen earlier, who were also new in her mindscape since she was sure they hadn't been here the last time she stopped by for a visit, but instead of being frightened all of them seemed happy to have newcomers, likely taking in her knowledge of this world and acting upon it, and some wanted to interact with Kyogai and the others. In fact, a pair had come by and had taken a look at his writing, plus his drumming, meaning they were interested in what he had to share and how he could improve, instead of being shunned like those from the world he had left behind, and that wasn't counting what the others experienced after their arrival in this odd spiritual world.

Sure enough she found Susamaru playing around with Yahaba, who didn't seem worried about his clothing and it was due to the fact that he actually had a second set, so one for playing and one for casual, while most of the others seemed to be focusing on other things, like how a young man who looked like the Swamp Demon seemed to be tending to some plants, no doubt connected to his power in some manner. The former Horned and Tongue figures, however, seemed to be in the middle of a game with each other, playing a game of this world that she wasn't familiar with at all, while the Hand Demon appeared to be meditating with a shrine full of fox masks, no doubt reflecting on his actions and paying respects to those who had fallen during the Final Selections he had been apart of. In fact it looked like part of the Demon Mansion, as she was going to call it, was dedicated to those the Demons had eaten when they were alive, showing that some regretted all of their actions since accepting Muzan's blood, especially the Hand Demon, who appeared to be the one who started this trend once everyone had a room of their own to call home. Even the Swamp Demon, who had been killing young girls as soon as they came of age, seemed to have some sort of remorse and guilt for his previous actions, in fact when she walked into the new mansion, which was clean and orderly, she found that he was staring at a picture of a young girl who had to be sixteen, making her wonder if he had killed someone important to him and the Demon blood altered him in some way to match his grief.

When she thought about that even Kyogai had a picture of his editor, someone he didn't like very much, set up with all of the pictures she had seen, and the Hand Demon duplicated his own pictures, one set for his room and each matched the mask that each child had worn, while the other went to the mass shrine, causing her to smile for a moment as she saw it, as it seemed like taking Muzan out of this equation improved their personalities.

"You know, while it was foolish of us to attack you, I don't regret it... not after all of this," Susamaru commented, seeing her walk through the mansion and take in everything that was happening to the Demons she had slain, not to mention taken to her Storehouse, where the young girl seemed to be happy, not in the murderous manner that had been caused by all of the blood she had been given, "I wonder what will happen when you face one of the true Kizuki... their blood with likely do wonders for you and this marvelous world."

"I'm already thinking ahead, to what that means for everything," Pinkamena replied, taking a moment to look up at the sky for a time, as the sun was out and those who had been Demons were unharmed by it's rays, no doubt another ability of Chaos World when she thought about it, before she turned towards the area that the Storehouse rested in before letting out a sigh, "however, it's time that I got back to the waking world... I have a feeling I might run into a Kizuki soon, and that I'll need to be ready for such a fight."

Susamaru said nothing as Pinkamena faded from her new mindscape and returned to the waking world, where she found that it was still nighttime and that the others were sleeping without a care in the world, to which she waited there for some time and found that her crow was returning, no doubt to send her out while her friends and comrades rested, and she did so without delay, allowing herself to grow stronger while she waited to see what the future held for them.

Mizunoto: Natagumo Mountain

It took some time for Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke to recover from their injuries, healing their various broken bones and making sure they were in peak condition once more, though while each of them did that Pinkamena made sure to head out and cut down any Demon the crows wanted her to take out, since she didn't need to rest and her demonic body allowed her to recover from any injuries in a matter of seconds. Of course the Demon Slayers made sure that any and all rest houses were safe, as every so often they had someone come by and take care of any enemies who might be lingering in the area, or Demons would sense the Wisteria near the walls and be repelled instantly, but due to her unique nature she was able to get by the defenses and her existence here allowed several Slayers to tackle other missions. The Demons she faced off against were weak and offered no challenge, not like how Kyogai had been rather challenging when he picked up the pace with his drums, though she made sure to cut each one down and deprive Muzan of his forces, making sure to claim all the remains after defeating them, though she kept staring out at the surrounding area as she waiting for their crows to come back. She knew that if all four of their birds came back, and not just her own crow, it meant that they were being sent out to tackle a new mission, so for now she was dealing with the smaller Demons to lessen the workload of the other members of the Corps, mostly to kill time while waiting for a challenging mission.

Eventually, however, the four birds arrived, and she made sure it was three crows and a sparrow, where she welcomed them to the house and let each land near her as her crow gave the report that she was waiting for, they were being summoned to go to Natagumo Mountain and aid the other Slayers that had been sent to it, though as the others got ready she realized what this meant, a powerful Demon was involved, possibly a Kizuki.

"We'll be leaving now." Tanjiro said, where he had Nezuko's box on his back and he, plus Zenitsu and Inosuke, had their work attire on, joining Pinkamena as she stood outside the old lady's house, showing her that they were ready to go and tackle the mission that had been handed to them, though he made sure to bow his head towards their host, who seemed to be pleased with his actions, "Thank you for taking care of us."

"I shall light some sparks for you." the lady replied, to which she pulled out what appeared to be some flint or something and struck one object with another as she focused on them, producing the sparks that she spoke of, where Pinkamena had learned that it was to ward off evil spirits, or at least that seemed to be what the process had been designed for, but, of course, Inosuke seemed totally ignorant as to what was going on right now.

As they dragged Inosuke away, before he did something stupid and got them in trouble, the lady told them to hold their heads high and wished them luck on their upcoming battles, which really stumped Inosuke as he followed behind them, as Pinkamena was ahead of everyone and Tanjiro was right behind her, leaving Zenitsu between him and the wild one, just to keep him from attacking Nezuko, given his earlier desire to kill her. Of course Pinkamena tuned out most of what the rest of the group talked about, as they were talking about the lady's words and Tanjiro seemed to think that she was trying to make them think about their actions, to plan accordingly or something to that effect, though that part made sense, given that injuries had landed them in her care and it was to make sure they avoided taking more damage, or something to that effect. Inosuke thought about it for a time as Zenitsu claimed that Tanjiro was reading too deep into the lady's words, due to the fact that he didn't care about the words too much and appreciated the giving of sparks, since he was sure that this was going to be a far harder mission than the one they had just finished, especially if they were being reinforcements for a number of Slayers. Of course that was when Inosuke started to ask a lot of questions, showing he didn't understand any of Tanjiro's words and that it only confused him more than he was willing to admit, though when he started to ask questions it ended up causing Tanjiro to pick up his speed, causing Zenitsu to follow after him so he didn't get left behind and even caused Inosuke to pick up the pace as well.

In the end it was nighttime when they reached Natagumo Mountain, where they found that it was covered in thick trees, which would give their enemies an advantage over them and the other Demon Slayers who had been sent here, an area that seemed dark and ominous when they stared at it, though as they got close Pinkamena discovered that Zenitsu just was totally scared, to the point where he was lagging behind them.

"Wait! Can you three please stop for a moment?" Zenitsu asked, where the trio stopped for a few seconds and glanced at him in the process, to which he stopped and sat on the ground as he hugged his legs, showing them that he was freaked out at the moment and didn't want to go any further than what this, "This is too scary! It feels so much scarier the closer we get to our destination!"

"Zenitsu, I know this can be frightening, but you have to have some faith in us." Pinkamena remarked, as she decided to speak before Inosuke voiced his annoyance over what was happening, since he seemed to have a short fuse and snapped at anything or anyone who dared piss him off, even though she was thankful for the mask once more, because she was excited by what might be in this mountain, a possible Kizuki who had to be stronger than Kyogai.

She opened her mouth to say more, but that was when they heard the sound of someone coming and found a wounded Demon Slayer crawling out of the forest in front of them, as his face seemed like there was blood on it, though as the four of them noticed that, and rushed over to tend to him, something yanked him through the air and pulled him back into the forest he had escaped from.

"I shall be the vanguard!" Inosuke stated, where he stepped forward and placed his hands on his blades, showing them his determination to head inside and kill more Demons, though he stared at the forest that was in front of them and seemed to be thinking about the enemies that might be waiting for them, just like Pinkamena happened to be doing, "You can just bring your trembling buttocks and follow me when your ready!"

Pinkamena stepped into the forest with Inosuke, leaving Tanjiro to follow after them as Zenitsu remained sitting where he had decided to place himself, though the first thing she discovered was that there were a large number of spider webs on the trees, connecting them and their branches together with some rather large spiders, about the size of one's hand when she stared at them. As she walked Tanjiro talked with Inosuke, telling him that he was happy to have him along since the odd boar mask wearing boy gave him a new level of confidence that allowed him to face the twisted smell of this place, as it had sent his body into a bit of a shock when he first stepped into the forest, something that seemed to click something in Inosuke's head, since he paused for a moment. He was likely thinking about how nice the old lady had been, given that she had taken his wild costume and cleaned it to the best of her ability, not to mention teaching him the names of every bit of food that she made for all of them, before he returned to reality as Tanjiro paused, as they discovered that someone was in the area that they had stopped in. What Pinkamena discovered was that it was another Demon Slayer, a young boy who was likely about Tanjiro's age, in fact most of the Mizunoto in the Corps were likely his age, though as they walked up to the boy, who freaked out when he noticed them, her friend introduced them to the boy, giving him an idea as to who was coming to aid him.

"Mizunoto? Why are they still sending Mizunoto here?" the boy stated, his tone revealing that he wasn't happy to see the three of them, where Pinkamena had a feeling that they had walked into an area that was ruled by a powerful Demon, as it looked like all of the other Slayers had been either taken out or were unconscious, though at the same time it sounded like Inosuke was getting annoyed with him, which might be his default setting for newcomers, "Why didn't they send one of the Hashira? The result will be the same no matter how many Mizunoto they send here."

As Pinkamena expected Inosuke punched the boy and got him to spill the beans on what happened, that the crows had brought him and nine others to this place, though not a few moments after entering the forest the others started to attack each other, as he wasn't sure if anyone had survived, even if he had fled to make sure he survived until someone stronger came to deal with this threat. While she considered the very real possibility of a Kizuki being in this place, a fact that made her want to fight them even more than before, they found one of their allies walking out of the nearby trees, though they did see that his body shuffled around, like someone was controlling him, or at least she saw it and assumed she was able to figure out Blood Demon Arts with just a glance. Of course he wasn't the only one that appeared, as a few more, more boys around Tanjiro's age, walked out with the same shuffling movement, showing her and the others that these weren't their normal movements and, more importantly, that someone was controlling them, especially when they attacked, since it looked like the Demon in question was forcefully twisting the limbs of the other Demon Slayers. Tanjiro and Inosuke did the smart thing and dodged attacks, even though the latter seemed more interested in trying to cut them down and that lead to Tanjiro trying to stop him since their comrades were still alive, though Pinkamena remained on the defense as she dodged the incoming sword swings, where her focus was on detecting the number of Demons in this forest, where she was able to find five targets.

One thing they discovered was that someone was using spiders to control the Demon Slayers, and that cutting the webs that they produced did nothing in the long run, but as Murata joined them, which was the other boy's name, they found a newcomer, a young boy with white skin that had red dots in certain locations, who wore a white kimono with a nice spider pattern on it, while his hair was light pink and was molded to resemble spider's legs in some manner, though while it did look he was standing in the air he was actually standing on some threads.

"Don't disturb our clan's peaceful life here." the Demon stated, where Pinkamena was happy that her mask was covering her face again, as while Tanjiro was coming to terms with what he was seeing, even though he and the others cut through the rest of the threads that were around their comrades, she could feel the power of the Demon and knew that he had to be one of the Kizuki, confirming her thoughts that one had to be here, "Not that it matters, because all of you will be killed by Mother in the next few moments."

As Inosuke leapt at the Demon, who was pulled up by the threads that had to be due to their 'mother' controlling them, so he was allowed to escape without confronting them, Pinkamena resisted the urge to unleash her Chaos Breathing, as she knew that the First Form might make short work of the retreating Kizuki, meaning he had to be Lower Moon Six, Kyogai's replacement, even though there was a chance he was one of the other Lower Moons. After that Tanjiro determined that the best course of action was to track down the Demon controlling all of the threads that were wrapped around the rest of their comrades, to which Inosuke, after getting up and repelling some attackers, stabbed both of his blades into part of the ground and then knelt with his back facing them, all while raising his hands and holding the palms out towards his left and his right. In that moment he unleashed another Form of his special Breathing Style, where this one was called 'Fang of the Seventh, Spacial Awareness', something that happened to be him utilizing his sense of touch and all of his time growing up in the wilderness to detect where all of his enemies were, basically the same thing that Pinkamena had done the moment they entered the forest, and it wasn't long before he understood where their targets were. Murata, sensing that someone had an idea of where their first target rested, informed them that he would stay here and try to save as many of the others as he could, to which Pinkamena started to move without delay as she headed deeper into the forest, focusing on where the Mother Demon was while Inosuke swore he'd punch Murata, as he had called their new ally a pig after being insulted in some manner, which she had ignored in favor of tracking down their target.

Eventually they came to another member, a female one this time, who was in the process of wounding two more Slayers, and as she saw them she asked that they find a higher ranking Slayer to come here and take care of the Demons, as she was sure that if this persisted she would kill everyone else that was weaker than her, to which Pinkamena sighed for a few seconds as she considered something. Part of her didn't want to reveal her hand just yet, as she was sure that the Kizuki might detect her if she revealed her Blood Demon Art, though if she did nothing more Corps members would fall and even die due to their various wounds, though in that moment she found that the lady in front of them stalled for a moment and it allowed her to make up her mind as she turned to Inosuke and Tanjiro. In that moment she revealed her plan, to use the Fang of the Seventh in combination with part of her demonic power, as she intended on using Inosuke to track down all of the Corps members so she could either knock them out or temporarily snatch them from this reality, where the latter one would be good since they could rest and be dropped somewhere safe once this was over. Tanjiro, on the other hand, just watched as the two worked together for a time, where the Corps members in front of them seemed to be knocked out by some unseen force before disappearing, leaving the threads behind, though he could tell that Pinkamena was focusing her powers more than he had seen since they passed Final Selection, but he kept his eyes open in case any Demons came to attack them while this was going on.

Oddly enough they discovered that no Demons came at them, even though Inosuke thought there were five scattered all over this mountain, of course not counting Pinkamena, meaning they were able to succeed in their mission, allowing her and Inosuke to separate before moving forward once more, each keeping an eye out for their true enemies and anyone who might be answering the summons to this place, only to find a large figure who seemed to have spider legs sharpened into blades for hands, a Demon without a head and with threads attached to it.

"They beheaded someone who was useless to them and then altered their body to this state," Pinkamena remarked, as it was easy for her to tell that it had been a Demon at one point in time, given her nature and everything she had seen since joining the Demon Slayer Corps, and that it had been molded into a creature to defend this place if the forced puppets fell in battle, either by the hands of those invading the mountain or the one controlling them.

"Yeah, they took away his weak spot! We can't kill him anymore!" Inosuke stated, where he gripped both of his blades for a time as he and the others focused on the foe that was in front of them, even though it looked like he wanted to raise one of his hands for a few moments and point at the beast in question, showing that he was confused by what the three of them were seeing, "I can't chop him down if he doesn't have a head!"

"You know, we can cut at him from a diagonal angle," Tanjiro said, showing that he was thinking about the situation as the one who controlled the modified Demon seemed to be waiting for them to make the first move, or maybe they had to be in the middle of planning their own attacks while they did nothing, though he carefully raised his hands to make sure the puppet didn't attack them, "maybe if we cut into it from the bottom right of the neck to the bottom of the arm bit that's on the other side of it's body... if we do that, we should be able to take it down."

Inosuke barely waited for Tanjiro to finish speaking before rushing at the Demon that was in front of them, where it did seem like he was following what had been said and wanted to kill this foe on his own, though his attack didn't go through as the Puppet Demon slashed into his arms, legs, and his side, not enough to actually kill him, before Pinkamena found a few threads on his arms and legs. Both she and Tanjiro moved at the same time, her slashing through the threads while at the same time her friend moved into position before parrying the Puppet Demon's attack, though while Inosuke started to complain about how they were acting, since he preferred to be a wild beast and not think about things, something that all of them were going to have to deal with for some time. In the end, however, Inosuke was still willing to listen to Tanjiro as he started to duck down and called for Inosuke to stomp on his back, as in use him as a step and slash both of the Puppet Demon's arms off, though once that happened Tanjiro unleashed his Third Form and sliced through their foe's legs, and in the moment that it started to fall Pinkamena shifted her blade and sliced through the body in a diagonal manner. As soon as that was done they found that the Puppet Demon was slain, allowing her to gather all of the pieces for later while the others believed the lies that Chaos World told them, that the demon turned to ash and disappeared, but before anyone relaxed she found that Inosuke was still moving and he grabbed onto Tanjiro before hurling him into the air.

In that moment she understood, he was tossing Tanjiro in the direction of the Demon, to which she used her speed once more and found that it was an attractive female Demon, who had to be in her twenties or something and dressed in the same attire as the Kizuki, but in the end their foe seemed to think about things and raised her hands, offering her neck to Tanjiro, who switched from the First Form to the Fifth, a technique called 'Blessed Rain After the Drought', a single flowing strike that caused no pain and was only used when Demons willingly offered their necks.

"Very nice, you did well in executing that technique." Pinkamena commented, making sure to collect some of the Demon's blood before storing her fallen body away, that way when they were done here Tamayo would have more samples for her work, though her comment was also because Tanjiro was learning how to safely switch between Forms without losing the power of his strikes, who focused on the Demon's head as it faded away, only she did confirm the existence of a Kizuki that called this mountain home.

Tanjiro nodded as they made their way back to where Inosuke was standing, who didn't want to be thanked for his actions as he puffed out his chest and bragged that anything they could do he could replicate, causing Tanjiro to frown as he took a moment to think about the injuries their companion had suffered a few moments ago as Inosuke continued his routine as he focused on her friend. While they were doing that, however, she sensed a change in the air and expanded her radar for a moment, finding that Zenitsu was walking through another part of the forest, screaming at every little thing that set him off, causing her to sigh for a moment as she wondered what it would take to make him into a true Demon Slayer, as surviving the Final Selection didn't seem enough for him. Since it appeared that Tanjiro and Inosuke were arguing, at least Inosuke was while Tanjiro focused on his own thoughts, Pinkamena rushed into the trees for a moment and followed what she was sensing, finding that it brought her to a house that was held in the air by threads, not to mention some Humans who were hanging in the air, who seemed to be in the process of becoming spiders. As she thought about that, since that meant one of the Demons was creating followers to help protect their clan, she found Zenitsu and the Demon who lived in this area, a young boy whose head was attached to a large spider's body, though he seemed excited for what was about to happen as he noticed Zenitsu staring up at him.

As Zenitsu started to run the Spider Demon informed him that it was too late for him to run, as he had been bitten by one of the spiders earlier, when he entered the forest, and it was only a matter of time until he turned into a spider, a poison that had been injected into his right hand and seemed to be spreading already, based on the marking on his palm, where he even mentioned that it only took half an hour for the poison to take hold of him. A few seconds later the Spider Demon held out a large pocket watch and revealed a few things, that when time reached a certain point Zenitsu's limbs would go numb and the pain would set in, when it reached another point he would become dizzy and vomit, the third point would be followed by intense pain and his body shrinking, causing him to faint, and when the fourth point arrived he would be a spider like all the others. That, as Pinkamena expected, caused Zenitsu to freak out and run up a tree, like he was trying to hide from the world or something, and he even lashed out at the Spider Demon by saying that he had no friends, no real family, and that no one loved him or his wicked ways, so much so that she found the Demon pausing as Zenitsu thought about what brought him here, to find someone to blame for his predicament. When he pulled out some of his hair, a fact that the Spider Demon hadn't talked about, but one could have assumed it would happen, Zenitsu fainted as soon as he did that, laying out on the branch, though in that moment the branch broke and Pinkamena found that the useful side of Zenitsu woke up, as he gripped his sword, spun around, and kicked off the edge of the tree as he utilized his First Form to cut his target down.

Sadly it didn't work, as the Spider Demon spat poison at him, causing him to spin around and land nearby as the poison struck a tree and melted part of it, where she watched as Zenitsu tried to utilize his technique and the spiders forced him to move, to the point where they were swarming him while his body weakened as time went by, before he stopped nearby and focused once more. This time around Pinkamena found something interesting, the air around Zenitsu seemed to be vibrating, though while she knew that a normal user of the Thunder Breathing would be imagining this she also knew that he was no ordinary user, especially since the Spider Demon seemed to sense it as well, as he ordered the spiders to swarm his foe and take him out with the poison. In that moment the air around him exploded outwards, knocking all of the small spiders away from where he was standing while lightning seemed to dance around him, causing the Spider Demon to land as he stared at Zenitsu, who revealed that he was going to use the First Form of his Thunder Breathing and that this time it was going to be 'Sixfold', meaning six attacks instead of one, which was followed by lightning breaking the ground while he readied himself. Pinkamena watched as the Spider Demon attacked and Zenitsu flashed off to the side, using the second through fifth instances of his technique to confuse his foe, who actually retreated into the house as Zenitsu landed on one of the threads and propelled himself up into the house, where he actually sliced through his foe's neck and removed the Spider Demon's head, before crashing down on top of the side of the house as his foe broke apart.

Pinkamena had to admit something as she collected the Spider Demon's body, when Zenitsu was serious he was quite the fighter, to the point where he could take out a Demon in a single hit, though since it seemed like there were no more foes in the area she left him alone, because with the poison user taken care of it the remnants of his poison should fade from Zenitsu's body, hence why she focused on returning to Tanjiro's side so they could deal with the last two Demons and the Kizuki that ruled over them.

Mizunoto: Rui and Bonds

It didn't take Pinkamena all that long to track down Tanjiro and Inosuke, where they seemed to be arguing over the injuries that the latter had sustained so far, though they stopped when she landed nearby and approached them, where she told them that Zenitsu had entered the forest and, in his own way, cut down another Demon, meaning there were only three more enemies they had to worry about.

"We need to be careful, because the Kizuki must know that we've killed two of his clan members," Pinkamena said, as that was the last thing that they needed to discuss right now, since they didn't have a lot of time to talk about what Zenitsu had been through, since he was fine and it appeared that their remaining enemies were in this part of the mountain, though she was focused on the side effects of killing two of the five Demons who called this place home, "and, with how he told us that he wanted us to leave them in peace, he might not be too happy about seeing them slain..."

She was interrupted because Tanjiro and Inosuke spotted one of the other Demons of the mountain, another female, who was younger than the first one they had slain, where the Thread Demon must have been the 'Mother' that the Kizuki had mentioned, and wearing a similar set of attire that seemed to be connected to this clan, though as she was spotted them she called for her 'Father' and a large Demon jumped out of a tree and crashing into the river that they had stopped near. In that moment they found that the newcomer was muscular, like the Puppet Demon, and wore no shirt over his chest, though his head seemed to be a spider's, who seemed incredibly angry with them and told them not to harm his family, where it was hard for him to speak since it was mostly one word at a time. In that moment the newcomer raised both of his hands and slammed them into the river, scattering rocks and water everywhere as he made sure they couldn't follow the other Demon to wherever she happened to be going, meaning that they had to take this one out before doing such a thing, hence why all three of them readied their weapons. Tanjiro, as Pinkamena expected, rushed forward and lashed at the Brute Demon, as she honestly couldn't call him 'Spider' Demon and 'Spider-Eyed' just sounded weird, though that was when he unleashed the Second Form, Water Wheel, and tried to slice through the Demon's right arm, only to discover that he only lightly cut into his arm and stopped before reaching the bone, and when his foe tried to punch him Inosuke came in with his blades and swung them down, forcing the fist downwards so Tanjiro could pull back.

The interesting thing was that the Brute Demon also swung his fists while they were fleeing, knocking the pair away from where he was standing, though Pinkamena stood there and watched, as while she could put an end to this fight in a single instant, and get them closer to the Kizuki, she felt that it was wrong to deprive Tanjiro and Inosuke of the challenge, since it would help both of her companions improve their skills. As Tanjiro approached the Brute Demon they found that their foe continued to tell them not to get near his family, all while striking at the riverbed that was resting below the water he was standing in, sending rocks flying at Tanjiro, though at the same time Inosuke rushed at the Demon from behind, only to get punched at as their foe swung his other arm at him. While that happened Tanjiro did something that caused her to raise an eyebrow, he unleashed the modified version of the Second Form, the horizontal version, and cut through one of the nearby thick trees, one that fell right on where their foe happened to be standing and seemed to crush him, which did cause Tanjiro to rush at his foe so he could remove his head, but the Brute Demon picked himself up, grabbed onto the side of the fallen tree, and swung it. Pinkamena watched as Tanjiro used his blade to parry the attack in question, though it did nothing except prevent him from being harmed, due to the fact that he went flying off into the distance, but that was the moment that Tanjiro showed her that he hadn't paid attention to Tamayo's teachings on what all of the Kizuki looked like, as he thought that the Brute Demon was one of them and told Inosuke not to die before he returned.

In the end she sighed as she moved down the river, as Inosuke was fueled up and ready to do battle with the Demon that was in front of him, though it didn't take her long to find out where Tanjiro landed, but what she discovered was the other female Demon kneeling in front of the Kizuki, where it looked like the smaller Demon had slashed at her face, given some of the blood on the ground, and it wasn't long before Tanjiro landed, using the Second Form to soften his landing, before he noticed the scene as well.

"What are the two of you looking at? This isn't a show." the Kizuki stated, where it looked like there were some threads in his hands, no doubt his weapons when Pinkamena considered the information that she had learned previously, about the Demons and the Kizuki themselves, and there was some blood on his threads, showing them that he was definitely doing something to his clan member.

"What are you doing? Isn't she your ally?" Tanjiro asked, no doubt thinking that Demons that were able to form a clan like this should be more friendly with each other, or something to that effect as Pinkamena thought about her friend and how he liked to think about things, though he did shift his stance every so slightly so that when an opening showed up he could lash out at the Demon that was in front of him, no doubt allowing her to deal with the other one.

"Ally? Don't liken my clan to such a shallow thing, for we are a family, tied together by strong bonds." the Kizuki replied, his tone revealing that he was either rather good at hiding his emotions when facing enemies, maybe to incite rage in those he was facing so he could save the weaker members of his clan, or he just didn't care about the Mother, Father, and both of his siblings, as that was how Pinkamena was seeing the other four Demons of this clan right now, though he did turn his head to glance at his sister for a moment, "Besides, this matter is between me and my older sister... but, if you're going to meddle in this and bother us, I'll dice both of you up."

"I will admit that both allies and families have strong bonds that connect them, as they are valuable to both parties, but there's nothing shallow about it if you aren't connected by blood," Tanjiro replied, though in that moment Pinkamena just raised an eyebrow as both Demons stared at him, because it sounded like he was about to say something stupid or silly as he faced one of Muzan's greatest followers, which would no doubt anger him to the point where talking was impossible, not that she was planning on staying her hand after everything they had seen so far, "moreover, people who are bound by strong bonds have the scent of trust around them... but for you guys, all I can smell is fear, hatred, and even disgust. You and the others don't share any strong bonds... it's a sham, as in it's all fake!"

Pinkamena was about to tell Tanjiro that he was being stupid, as bonds seemed to be important to the Kizuki, but before she could say anything another Demon Slayer appeared behind their target, a newcomer who must have been called in to deal with the mountain, and before he could do anything, other than claim he was going to kill the Demons, the Kizuki just tilted his head and the Mizunoto fell to pieces, hacked apart by threads in a single instant.

"What... WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" the Kizuki asked, the look on his face and the tone in his voice informing them that he was pissed off about what Tanjiro had said, not that Pinkamena blamed him since part of what her friend had said was the wrong thing to say, especially when this Demon cared about bonds, far more than anything else they had seen so far, and saying such a thing meant that a fight was likely going to break out soon, where he started to fiddle with his threads in his hands as if they were toys, "You, boy, I won't kill in an instant... I think I'll take my time with you, mince your body up after shredding it to pieces... but, even though I'm angry, if you apologize and take back your cruel words about my bonds with my family, I might consider killing you without making you suffer."

Tanjiro informed the Kizuki that he wasn't going to back down, even though he still felt that the Brute Demon was the main threat for some reason, and even insulted the Demon by calling him strange, which caused Pinkamena to sigh as she took a step away from where he was standing, where he rushed forward and swung his blade, intending to use the First Form on an incoming thread, only for the Kizuki's thread to cut through his blade like it was butter.

"Seriously? Hotaru is going to throw a fit when he learns that you've broken the blade he made," Pinkamena commented, where she watched as Tanjiro did his best to dodge the incoming attacks, not to mention collecting the blade fragment of his weapon, though while that happened she glanced at her blade and wondered why this happened, since Nichirin Blades were supposed to be incredibly strong and shouldn't be capable of breaking, hence why she used Chaos World, without drawing attention to herself, to ensure it didn't break.

As that happened she noticed that the Kizuki was weaving his threads around the area with a grace that was beyond what all of the other Demons on this mountain had done, to the point where it looked like she was going to have to step in since Tanjiro was unable to do anything about the situation he was in, though that was when Nezuko pushed open her box and took the blow for her brother, causing the Demon to pause as he saw it happen, and in that pause Tanjiro carried off his wounded sister, placing her behind a tree for some reason.

"Wait a minute... they're siblings?!" the Kizuki inquired, where he raised a shaky finger towards them, showing Pinkamena that Tanjiro was within sight of him and it meant that he could attack them at any moment, though his sister was staring at them with surprise on her face, meaning such a thing wasn't common for her and her supposed family members, making her feel sorry for them, to the point where the sister even said 'Rui' as the Kizuki talked, "His sister became a Demon, yet, despite that, they're still together... she even offered her body in place of his, protecting him from fatal damage... those genuine 'bonds', I WANT them!"

"Rui, please wait a moment!" the other Demon said, her tone and the fearful look on her face showing Pinkamena that she was frightened about something that only she and the other members of her clan knew, though this was the confirmation she needed to know the name of the Kizuki who was currently staring at Tanjiro and Nezuko like they happened to be the only three people in this world, "Please, don't abandon your big sister."

"Be quiet!" Rui stated, where he swung his arm and summoned his threads once more, something that was followed by a fair number of trees being cut down in a few seconds, not to mention the fact that he removed his sister's head and took off part of her right hand, surprising everyone Pinkamena and Tanjiro, as they were expecting him to want to maintain his own bonds, but his discoveries seem to have shaken his thoughts, "In the end you guys couldn't even handle your duties... no matter what I asked of you... if you kill the newcomers darting around the mountain, well, I might forgive you for the little incident that happened awhile ago."

Pinkamena had to wonder who was entering the mountain now, since the master of the Corps must have known that only sending weaklings here was asking to decrease how many swordsmen existed, though instead of cutting down the Demon she stayed her hand to give her a head start, something that allowed Rui to continue speaking as he calmed down, mostly focusing on Tanjiro while glancing at her every now and then.

"Boy, let us talk." Rui said, turning his full attention to them as he ignored the direction his older sister was moving in, even if they weren't actually related since Pinkamena was sure that Tanjiro was correct about them being a group that banded together, possibly due to the desire of Rui since Muzan seemed to be against the idea of Demons living together like this, and for the time being he seemed to ignore the fact that Pinkamena was standing nearby, "You see, I was moved by the bonds that you share with your sister... truth be told, my body quivered... I'm not sure if there are words to describe what I felt when I watched you two earlier. Sadly, as you are a Demon Slayer, just like your friend over there, I'm going to have to kill you... your sister will be sad if that happens, but I have two solutions that will allow us to avoid such a thing: first, you quietly hand over your little sister and I will allow you, boy, to leave our mountain with your life... second, you become a Demon and join my family... with my older brother dead I need someone to take his place, though replacing Mother will be much harder."

"Don't think you can joke about something like that," Tanjiro replied, once more showing Pinkamena that he was sticking to his humanity and that he wasn't going to become a Demon, even though she was sure that he might be formidable if he did such a thing, especially after seeing what happened with Nezuko, but instead of saying anything she tilted her head as she kept track of where her targets were, "Poisoning your family with fear isn't the same as having bonds, at least not in my book, and I'm not going to let you do such a thing to Nezuko... if you don't correct those basic misunderstandings, as in stop treating them like garbage or whatever you've been doing to them, you won't be able to get the bonds that you have been seeking. If you keep insisting on taking my sister from me, than I will have no choice but to take your head off and put an end to this madness."

"Someone sure is mighty, despite what's happened so far... fine, come at me." Rui stated, where he raised his left hand for a moment and moved some of his hair out of the way, confirming Pinkamena's thoughts when she and Tanjiro noticed the marking on her eye, though what was interesting was that he wasn't Lower Moon Six, like they thought since Kyogai had lost his place not that long ago, rather he was Lower Moon Five, "You can't beat me, one of the Kizuki... but first, let me tell you something: the Father has the role of the father, and the Mother has the role of the mother, where the parents protect their children and all of the older siblings protect their younger siblings with their lives, no matter what sort of danger they might be facing. Your role, on the other hand, is to hand over your sister and then disappear before I decide to kill you for annoying me... if you can't understand that fact, as simple as it is, then you have to die."

"And I said that you can't have Nezuko!" Tanjiro stated, showing Rui that he was going to do everything in his power, even with a broken blade, to keep his sister from the Demon that was in front of them right now, to which he decided to glance in the direction that the other Demon had ran in earlier, almost as if he was planning on having her take care of him and the Brute Demon, so he could focus on Rui.

In that moment Pinkamena drew her blade and focused her mind, where she swung it in the direction of the Brute Demon eight times as she unleashed the First Form of her own Breathing Style, slicing his hands off, taking his head off, cutting his chest in half, separating his feet from his legs, and cutting his legs off from the rest of his body, something that caused Rui to pause for a moment as that happened. As the Brute Demon fell, and she happened to free Inosuke from his situation, she shifted her stance and let out a single breath as she found where the other Demon was located, finding that the older sister was fleeing from the mountain, running right towards another Slayer that happened to be a newcomer, and in that moment she swung her blade once more as she severed her target's head.

"What... WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Rui asked, his tone showing her that he was able to sense his clan members and had quickly found out that they had been slain shortly after Pinkamena unleashed her attacks, at first finding that they did nothing and that she had been insane, only to find that she was able to hurt her targets from afar, without needing to be near them, a fact that meant his clan had been wiped out.

"Chaos Breathing, First Form: Reality Slash... a power that allows me to swing my sword and hit whatever I want, without having to be near them," Pinkamena replied, though as she said that her demonic power claimed the body pieces of both Demons, leaving nothing for anyone else to worry about, to which she turned her head towards Rui, who seemed far more annoyed with her, more than he had been previously, though after saying that she rested the edge of her blade against her shoulder for a moment, "I am the creator and sole user of this particular Breathing Style, one unlike anything seen in this world, and there are nine other Forms I have created, making ten in total."

The reason she was speaking was because it gave Tanjiro an opening to do something to Rui, what she had no idea since his blade was broken and that meant his reach was limited, though in that moment their foe swung his hand and snatched Nezuko from where Tanjiro was standing, bringing her to his side, but as he started to speak she flexed her clawed hand for a few seconds and scratched Rui's face. It was rather interesting when Pinkamena thought about it, a Demon who had eaten nothing for two years had wounded, if for a few seconds, one of the Kizuki, causing Rui to suspend Nezuko up in the air with some of his threads, which were cutting into her body and spreading her blood over both parts of the ground and his threads. As Rui healed his face he revealed something to them, that he was going to teach her a lesson and suspend her up in the air, let her lose a little blood, and if she continued to be stubborn, resisting his desire to make her part of his new clan, he was going to let her roast in the sun before starting over with his clan, since his family had all been slain since they came to this mountain. Tanjiro, sensing an opening in Rui's defenses, controlled his breathing before shifting his own stance for a moment, where Pinkamena recognized it as the Tenth Form of Water Breathing, Constant Flux, a technique that caused the user to move in a series of flowing motions, like a dragon, where each attack was designed to make it even stronger than before, due to momentum when she recalled what they had learned.

Such a thing allowed Tanjiro, after multiple movements, to slash through the threads that were in front of him, where Rui asked them if they thought that this was as hard as his threads could become as his fingers turned red and his threads did the same, where he weaved together a new defensive wall, something Tanjiro wouldn't be able to cut through and it would no doubt end with him dead. As Pinkamena shifted her stance for a moment, to take down the wall with her power, part of her stalled as she noticed that the air around him seemed to change, like his life was flashing before his eyes, and she had a feeling he might be relearning something important, hence why she expanded part of her power to see what Tanjiro was envisioning at the moment. What she discovered, however, was that a fire a lit inside him as his water dragon burst into a wave of flames that seemed to follow his blade, where Tanjiro moved into the First Form of the Hinokami Kagura, Dance, and slashed his way through the red threads in front of him, but he wasted no time in continuing his movements while he advanced on Rui's position, cleaving his way through the threads that were summoned to stop him. Rui wasn't expecting it to happen and continued to defend himself against all of Tanjiro's movements, even though Tanjiro was willing to sacrifice parts of his body to make sure he struck down the Lower Moon that was in front of him, totally ignoring Pinkamena again, but that was when the threads burst like they were on fire, in fact they were, and she traced it back to Nezuko, which told her that her Blood Demon Art was Blood Burst, since the threads in question had been soaked in her blood.

In fact some of her blood got on Tanjiro's blade and, when it created friction after hitting Rui's hard neck, it sparked with enough power to push through Rui's neck, allowing him to remove Rui's head, or at least that was what an ordinary person might have seen, but Pinkamena wasn't fooled as the threads around Nezuko disappeared, allowing her to land nearby, to which she turned towards their foe as her friend collapsed on the ground.

"Nice try, Rui, but you took your own head off before Tanjiro could," Pinkamena said, where Tanjiro's eyes widened as he heard her say that, no doubt believing that he had smashed Lower Moon Five into the ground to save his sister, though a few seconds later the Demon's body picked itself up and his head was picked up by threads, allowing him to reattach his head and heal his neck, all with an incredibly annoyed look on his face, to which she activated her own Blood Demon Art and formed a barrier around her and Rui, with her friend locked outside it.

"No wonder there was something different about you... your a Demon!" Rui replied, as the moment Pinkamena stepped into this area he knew that she was someone who was totally different from a normal Demon Slayer, and the mark on her hand made sense now, even though it should be impossible for this to happen, for one of the Great One's own to become a Demon Slayer, and he could see the change from pony to fox as her ability took hold of this area, "I'm going to kill you as slowly as possible, as I'm incredibly pissed off right now, and then I'm going to burn your remains with the sunlight!"

"Oh Rui, you'll need to do better than making death threats to take me out," Pinkamena stated, to which she shifted her stance for a moment and focused on the Kizuki that was in front of her, noting that Rui was definitely pissed and that did mean he might make some mistakes while fighting her, even if right now her blade was sheathed, showing them that she was waiting for Rui to make the first move.

Rui growled for a moment before calling out his threads again, where they filled the area that they were in, a surprise for him since he was expecting them to go outside the barrier as well and it told him that his foe commanding the area that they would be fighting in, so he had to fight on her terms for a time, before he changed his mind and formed a dome of red threads around Pinkamena. His thoughts were that since she was a Demon, and thus couldn't die like a Human, all he had to do was hack her body apart to the point where she couldn't pull herself together, allowing him to haul her into the air and burn her to a crisp, where this dome, so named Murderous Eye Basket, would dice her body apart as it shrank as time went by, a technique that no foe had survived in the past. Pinkamena, on the other hand, took a deep breath as she started to spin where she was standing, her right leg touching the ground with her left raised like she might kick an enemy with it, and accessed the Sixth Form of Chaos Breathing, Violent Vortex Slash, which allowed her to slash through all of her foe's threads after pulling them into the area that she was standing in, much to Rui's surprise. Tanjiro, despite the pain his body was in, no doubt from changing his Water Breathing technique to one from the Hinokami Kagura, was surprised by her technique as well, especially since this was his first time seeing it, though in that moment she held her hand out and pointed her blade towards the ground, only to let it go and reveal that it was floating in the air, which caused her to move her hand and spin it.

This was another Form of her creation, the Ninth Form of her Chaos Breathing, Inversion as she called it, a technique that, at a glance, altered one's senses, so up was down and left was right, but the reality of the situation was that it actually did it at random to those she happened to be fighting, so for one second up might be down and the next instant up could be left, back, or something else. Rui staggered for a moment as he tried to move, finding that nothing seemed to go how he wanted, to which Pinkamena grabbed her Nichirin Blade and neared her foe while he was distracted, severing his left arm before he could even do anything, though of course Rui regrew it within seconds before sending out his threads, in a way that made it look like he was using her chaos to his benefit. It was an interesting tactic, especially since some of them got close to where she was standing at the moment, though because his senses were totally messed up it was hard for him to hit her, despite the fact that she wasn't bound by such restrictions and swung her blade at him a few more times, cutting into his arms, legs, and chest before he could even counter, but she made sure to claim any part she removed since it was a waste in her opinion, especially since they needed Rui's blood for Tamayo. When Rui managed to cut through her right shoulder, a feat that no other Demon had accomplished before this point in time, Pinkamena decided to just end the fight, as she had a feeling that prolonging it might cause her foe's power to explode, because she had seen Tanjiro's power do it in the form of remembering the past, to which she shifted her stance for a thrust attack, the Tenth Form of her art, even if it caused her to drop Inversion for now.

Rui, finding that he was able to move normally again, gathered his threads into the space in front of him, forming what had to be a rotating wheel of threads, before sending it flying through the air as he targeted her, to which Pinkamena rushed forward, like she had been shot out of a cannon, and smashed through Rui's attack without even shifting her stance, as it would ruin her technique. In that following moment, as she reached her target, Pinkamena thrust her sword forward and a large crimson maw formed in front of her, like she was surrounded by a large head of some kind, which had curved horns on top of it, where the head's sharp teeth chomped down on Rui and seemed to swallow him, with her sword swing being a diagonal slash from Rui's left shoulder to his right side. The Tenth Form of Chaos Breathing was known as Devil's Maw, a move that sort of resembled the water dragon of Water Breathing in a way, though instead of it being a momentum style attack it was more of a distraction, the maw captured her foe and opened the path through their defenses, though as Rui realized what was going on Pinkamena turned her blade for a second before removing her foe's head. In that moment, as his head fell, Rui likely saw his Human life and possibly reflected on his actions, all while Pinkamena sheathed her weapon and dismissed the barrier before making sure Rui had enough time to think about things, as once his head was gone she would take his segmented body away, even though it was walking towards Tanjiro, who was resting on top of Nezuko, just to keep her safe in case Rui came at them again.

"You did a good job..." a voice said, where she found that there was a newcomer in this area, the black haired man that she had seen during their training with Sakonji, as it was easy for Pinkamena to recognize his combination haori, though this told her that reinforcements had arrived at last, due to the fact that they sent one of the stronger Corps members, likely a Hashira, to take down Rui and save the others of the organization, before he noticed what was around him.

"Don't worry, the Lower Moon and his clan have been dealt with," Pinkamena stated, where she withdrew the last of her power and Chaos World disappeared once more, returning her to her previous state with the fox mask reforming, though at the same time she also watched Rui's body, as he seemed to regret something in his past, before the moving part fell on the ground and landed in front of Tanjiro, who weakly smelled the emotion coming from Rui and let go of his blade to rest his right hand on Rui's body.

Rui, in his last moments, definitely regretted something in his life, as he mentioned that he had killed too many people and that he wasn't going to go to the same place as his parents, even though he did seem somewhat happy that Tanjiro placed a hand on his fallen body, but after that he said nothing as the rest of his faded away, leading the Water Hashira to walk over to Tanjiro's position and he stepped on Rui's body before it disappeared. As Pinkamena made sure that everything on the mountain was fine, however, the newcomer informed Tanjiro that he shouldn't feel sorry for someone who became a Demon, reminding her that the Corps had never encountered a friendly Demon, much less one like her, and that he knew that the Lower Moon was an unsightly monster, given the unknown length of time he spent killing Humans. Tanjiro, once more, stuck to his beliefs that it was his duty to dispel any regrets of those who were slain, to stop more victims from being created, and that he was going to wield his blade against Demons, but that didn't change the fact that he wouldn't trample on those who became Demons, especially the ones who regretted what they had done, before ending his talk with asking the newcomer to remove his foot. Such a thing caused the Water Hashira to recognize him, as Pinkamena recalled what Tanjiro had said about his first meeting with a Demon Slayer, even though he then drew his sword and blocked an attack that came from a lady who seemed to fly into the area, who landed between Pinkamena and the Water Hashira, though she was confused about something.

The newest newcomer was a petite lady who had large compound eyes that seemed to lack pupils and were purple, which happened to be the coloration of the ends of her black hair, cut shoulder length, she had a haori that seemed to look like a pair of butterfly wings, if one stretched it out anyway, that rested over her normal Demon Slayer attire, though her blade did have some modifications since the back edge seemed to be missing, making it look like a stinger, which caused her to wonder if there was an Insect Breathing style.

"Why are you getting in the way, Giyu? Didn't you say that we can't get along with Demons?" the lady asked, turning to face the Water Pillar as she ignored Pinkamena, which was fine with her since she wanted to make sure the coast was clear, all over the forest, before returning the injured Demon Slayers to where they had been previously, since no Demons were in this place right now, though she did dislike the lady's smile, as it was too cheery for her tasks, like it was fake and she was forcing herself to wear it, "If you do this, everyone will hate you... so, get out of the way, please."

"I am not hated." Giyu replied, his tone surprisingly calm and not having a hint of annoyance over what the newcomer had just said, though Pinkamena knew that her comment must have annoyed him, even if he was bottling it up right now, while Tanjiro looked like he was either sad in Giyu's place or confused by what was happening right now, though Pinkamena just stood there and glanced at the pair for a time.

What surprised her was that the Insect Pillar said an apology of sorts, almost like she didn't mean it, while mentioning that she was sorry about Giyu not knowing that he was hated by the rest of the Hashira, something Pinkamena had to wonder if it was true or not, before she informed Tanjiro that he had to hand over Nezuko so she could be slain, before she broke away and ate someone. Of course she knew that the Hashira wouldn't suddenly change their minds and accept a Demon that hasn't killed anyone or eaten Human flesh, in fact upon hearing Tanjiro mention that Nezuko was his sister she told all of them that she was going to use a poison to kill her in a way that didn't inflict pain on her, something that caused them to realize what would happen next. In that moment Pinkamena shifted her stance and activated Chaos World once more, only this time she opened a spherical portal, roughly a little taller than she was, behind Tanjiro and beckoned to it with her head for a second, where he wasted no time in collecting the wooden box and his sister before disappearing, though once she was on the other side, something that surprised Giyu and the Insect Pillar, especially since the latter rushed forward to kill Nezuko and missed them as the portal closed before she could reach it. Of course the Hashira claimed that this was a violation of the code that the Demon Slayers followed, even though Pinkamena was basically the biggest violation to it, due to her demonic nature, before she and Giyu got into what had to be a fight between them, even though it seemed to be a bunch of random moves and no real sword swings.

In the end she ignored them and found another female Demon Slayer, an Insect Breathing user no doubt, who seemed to be surprised by the lack of bodies, though before she said anything the crows informed the Hashira to escort Tanjiro and Nezuko to Headquarters, going into what they looked like for the Corps to find them, and even she was included, to which she fell in with Giyu and told him that she'd bring the others out when they were safe, causing him to nod before they and the rest of the Corps departed from Rui's mountain.

Interlude: Meeting the Hashira

As Pinkamena followed the two Hashira out of the forest, where she quickly learned that the Water Hashira was called Giyu Tomioka and the Insect Hashira went by the name Shinobu Kocho, they were joined by a fair number of Kakushi, which was the name of those dark clothed figures she and Tanjiro had seen after the Final Selection, and the other female Slayer that she had spotted. The last member of their group was called Kanao Tsuyuri and, based on what she could tell, she and the Kakushi were expecting to find a number of wounded Slayers, who would be taken to a place called the 'Butterfly Mansion' to be healed, which was where they would be taking Zenitsu and Inosuke, not to mention any lesser newcomers who arrived before the Hashira did. Of course such a thing caused them to glance at her, as Giyu knew she was a Demon thanks to taking a few days to watch her while she was training to master Sakonji's Breathing Style, where Pinkamena informed them that she would let the wounded go when they were outside the forest, as they were safe in her domain and she could verify that none of them were bleeding out. As she expected both Shinobu and Kanao didn't believe what she was saying, which was understandable since she had a feeling they knew she was a Demon as well, but for the time being they seemed to relax a little, keeping their eyes on her in case she did something stupid, all while the latter signaled for the remaining Kakushi to regroup at the area they were heading to.

Once they were out of the forest, however, the group stopped and the Hashira turned towards her, where Pinkamena took a few seconds to gather her power and summoned the gateway back to her domain, giving the Kakushi time to enter it and find that she was telling the truth, that the wounded had been placed in a state of slumber, preventing them from bleeding out, and they moved to tend to them without delay. Of course Shinobu informed her that she also had to hand over Tanjiro, as he was guilty of harboring two Demons, a violation of the code that the Corps lived by, something she refused since she had seen what happened back in the area she fought Rui in, as she had a feeling that Shinobu or Kanao would knock him unconscious if he tried anything. Her argument was that there was no other way for one to leave or exit her domain, not without her permission on the matter, so the Hashira didn't have to worry about Tanjiro making a break for it, but, once again, her words were met with silence as Shinobu stared at her, though she did stop Kanao from using her blade on her. In the end Giyu said it was a good thing, since the crows wanted all three of them to be brought to their Headquarters and this meant they didn't have to waste time in running after those who might try to flee, causing Shinobu to sigh before going along with it, allowing them to depart from Natagumo Mountain and head for the area that the head of the Corps happened to reside in.

It was easy for her to see that both Shinobu and Kanao didn't trust her, in fact they had a hard time believing that she was a Demon, meaning Chaos World was affecting them as well, but despite the former's attempts to tear Giyu down earlier it did look like she trusted his judgement and that lead to the latter following suit, even though the tension between them still existed, which she decided to ignore for the foreseeable future.

While they did that Pinkamena also found that the Kakushi were carrying all of the small spiders, the people who had been turned into spiders anyway, with them as well, meaning they might have a way to treat them as well so they could return to their previous lives, or whatever they were planning on doing, though she hoped it wasn't killing them, since it wasn't their fault they had been caught up in this situation. Of course one of the Kakushi tried to restrain her arms at one point, though Giyu informed them that it wasn't necessary, due to Pinkamena cooperating with them and not trying to run from them, even though she was sure that she might be able to flee if she put her mind to it, causing the figure to return to his duties and fell in with the rest of his group. From what she learned the shadowy group were those not blessed with the talents of a Slayer, meaning they couldn't wield a blade like Tanjiro and all of the other Mizunoto, but that didn't stop any of them from applying themselves to the Corps and learning how to help them, even if it meant sticking to the shadows and cleaning up after the fights the Slayers had with the Demons. She learned that they were basically a stealth group and that they learned all sorts of skills to make themselves useful to the Corps, be it tending to wounds, binding bones, lifting heavy objects, and whatever else the Kakushi had to do to make sure the public wasn't aware of the ongoing battle that was raging during the nights, even coming up with excuses as to what happened, so people didn't get frightened by all the disappearances and sudden attacks.

In the end Pinkamena turned her attention to what was going to happen next, as they were being taken straight to the one person that many in the organization knew about, in a sense, but hadn't seen since joining the Corps, making her take a moment to wonder what sort of person she and Tanjiro might be meeting, though given that two Hashira were here she had a feeling that meeting the others might be next on the list, causing her to turn her head towards the road once more as she wondered what might happen next.

It took them some time to reach the area that the Butterfly Mansion rested in, a rather nice place that was some time from where Natagumo Mountain rested, which reminded Pinkamena of Kyogai's mansion when she thought about it, and the Kakushi made sure that every wounded Slayer was placed in a bed, so they could be tended to and then discharged once they were healed. She found that Tanjiro had been knocked out after the battle with Rui, though it didn't stop some of the hidden forces from wrapping ropes on his arms and locking them behind his back, causing her to sigh for a moment, while she made sure that Nezuko was safe inside her box before removing her from the area of her world that she had been put in earlier. Pinkamena considered stepping in and stopping them from doing such a thing to Tanjiro, but right now she felt that getting in the way might be the worst thing she could do, especially since they were heading for the area that the rest of the Hashira were in, so she said nothing as Tanjiro was tied up and a pair of Kakushi took Nazuko's box for later, as she might be the topic of discussion. Once that was done she and Tanjiro were taken to another part of the area the mansion was in, an area hidden from sight and seemed to require knowing the path to find it, meaning that locating whoever lead the Demon Slayer Corps would be an ordeal and incredibly hard for Muzan's forces to do.

The area they eventually ended up in seemed to be an estate or mansion of some kind, which seemed to be common with the people of this land, only it was far more elegant and peaceful, as it had a garden, some trees, and a few other things that would allow someone to live in peace, though they dropped Tanjiro in the area in front of where one would sit and left him there for some time, allowing her to stand there as well.

In the following moments she discovered a few other people in the area as well, a young male with an enthusiastic smile on his face and whose hair seemed to be designed to look like fire, a curvaceous female with pink hair that ended in green tips and her uniform was partly open in the front that exposed the sides of her breasts, and a tall male who was muscular and had an odd headband with a few stones on it, though he had an odd marking over his left eye, like a flower made up of points and nothing else. There were three other figures in the area, a short male who had long black hair that turned to a mint green at the ends and seemed to be staring off into space, the second being another fall male who looked more like a priest than someone who fought Demons for a living, with the prayer beads around his neck and hands, and the third of the trio was another male who wore some wrappings around his mouth area, he had a right yellow eye and a turquoise right eye, and he seemed to enjoy sitting in a tree, with a little white snake with him. In addition to them, along with Giyu and Shinobu, there was one other figure present, who disappeared shortly after their arrival, but she noticed that he was a muscular male who liked to show off his scarred chest, as his jacket was open, though he had short spiky white hair, so he had to be one who didn't care for his own life or something. She knew that these had to be the Hashira, who scattered all over the mansion as they waited for someone to arrive, but, at the same time, she could see that they were focused on her as Giyu and Shinobu joined them, no doubt either wondering who she was or knowing what she was and had to be ready in case she tried anything foolish.

The Kakushi who was assigned to watch over Tanjiro informed her that the enthusiastic male was Kyojuro Rengoku, who was the Flame Hashira, the curvaceous female was Mitsuri Kanroji, the Love Hashira, the guy with the metal headband was Tengen Uzui, the Sound Hashira, and the male who was staring into space was Muichiro Tokito, the Mist Hashira. After that they moved onto the priest, who was Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Hashira, before revealing that the guy with the snake was Obanai Iguro, the Serpent Hashira, and the scarred male was Sanemi Shinazugawa, the Wind Hashira, though he had no need to tell her about Giyu and Shinobu. Pinkamena could tell, with just a glance, that they were all powerful, especially since they were the Hashira, who stood as the strongest members of the Demon Slayer Corps, and even if she fought one of them she had a feeling that, without Chaos World, it would be a match she might lose if she wasn't careful, as even with her Chaos Breathing there was no guarantee of victory. In fact, based on how they looked at her, it was easy to tell that of the nine assembled Hashira, who were scattered all over the garden of the mansion, Sanemi was a person she had to keep an eye on, as he seemed dangerous and the most likely to draw his blade and attack if he realized that two Demons were nearby, so it made her a little worried for Nezuko.

Of course it was possible that this was what he was doing right now, seeking out Nezuko so he could run her through and behead her, or at least keep her contained and then kill her right in front of Tanjiro whenever he woke up, but she kept her senses up in case he came after her and tried something, or if any of the other Hashira tried something.

One thing Pinkamena noticed while she waited was that everyone had their guards up as well, as each one seemed to take a moment to glance at her, either out of curiosity or sensing that she was dangerous, where she suspected that one of the Kakushi must have informed them of what happened in Rui's domain, all while Giyu maintained a straight face. The rest of the Hashira were definitely different than the rest of the Demon Slayers she had seen, their presence was impressive and she was sure that they could probably knock out any Mizunoto if they were capable of using energy to show their foes just how strong they were. Such a thing would be true for her, the Lower Moons, and the Upper Moons, including Muzan when she considered her true target, but for now she was focused on what the Hashira might do when they figured out that she was a Demon and not a Human like them, all while feeling some familiar eyes on her. She was sure that the kids from the Final Selection, the siblings that had welcomed her and the others, or at least more of their family members, as they had to be important to this organization if they were the ones who awarded the survivors with the ore that went into making their Nichirin Blades.

Eventually the Hashira discussed what they had been told, focusing on Tanjiro and the fact that he was carting around a Demon, meaning they either had no idea Nezuko was his sister or they didn't care, which seemed to be a rule in the Corps, even though some had to capture Demons for the Final Selection, and eventually some turned on her slumbering friend, to the point where Tanjiro woke up and noticed what was around him.

"Tanjiro Kamado, this is the Headquarters of the Demon Slayers, and right now you are on trial," Shinobu stated, barely giving him time to register what was going on right now, as the last thing he had to recall was that Pinkamena fought and killed Rui, before the arrival of Giyu, all while the rest of the Hashira moved around a little as Tanjiro stared at the brand new faces that were in this area.

"There's no need for a trial." Kyojuro said, his tone revealing that he was positive that they could do whatever they wanted to Tanjiro, with no consequences, and given the fact that the Hashira were the nine strongest Demon Slayers, save for one based on what Sakonji told her over the years, she was sure that no one would question anything if they cut Tanjiro down where he was resting, "Protecting Demons is a clear violation of conduct. We can handle this by ourselves, without needing our leader. We will decapitate every Demon we come across!"

Pinkamena sighed as she listened to the conversation unfold, as Tengen was of the opinion that they should just remove Nezuko's head in a 'flamboyant' manner, Mitsuri seemed conflicted over the situation, Gyomei claimed that Nezuko was a shoddy child for being given such a fate, and Muichiro stared at the clouds. Obanai seemed to have a headache because of the fact that Giyu wasn't bound and forced to the ground like Tanjiro, meaning they must have discovered the fact that he hadn't killed Nezuko the first time he found her, two years ago, a time that Pinkamena had heard about during their two years of training. Shinobu, however, was fine with this turn of events, as Giyu had come without causing trouble, likely due to the fact that he and Sakonji must have told the leader of the Corps about Nezuko, something they hadn't told the rest of the Hashira about, but the Insect Hashira wanted to hear Tanjiro's story, before they executed him and the Demon that he was carting around. Tanjiro started to talk and found that he was in need of water, which Shinobu provided, claiming that it had painkillers inside it, before he quickly gave them a rundown on the important facts about his sister, that she hadn't eaten a single person and he knew that she would never do such a thing, only to be stopped by several of the Hashira, just as Pinkamena expected of them.

Apparently they seemed to think that Tanjiro was lying to them, with Obanai claiming that he didn't trust his words while Gyomei claimed it would be best to just kill them and end their suffering, Tengen said his story was going around in circles, and Mitsuri mentioned that they should wait for 'Oyakata-sama' to arrive, whoever that was, before Sanemi, as Pinkamena expected, stepped out with two Kakushi and held Nezuko's box in one hand.

"So, you're the idiotic member whose been lugging around a Demon," Sanemi stated, where Tanjiro focused on him as a frown appeared on Pinkamena's face, as out of all the Hashira that were present, and what little she knew about each of them, Sanemi was the one she didn't like right now, in fact she was sure that he might be the one she would grow to hate if she spent more time near him, "What the hell were you planning on doing with it? And why the hell did you bring that girl with you? She's not involved with what's going on right now!"

"Oh trust me, you couldn't be more wrong." Pinkamena remarked, though she had to admit that Sanemi's comment was a good one, as none of the others had said anything about her in the time they had been here, most likely waiting for one of the two Hashira who knew her to say something, but it seemed like they were waiting for Oyakata to arrive before saying anything about her.

"Do you kiddos really know nothing about Demons?! You can't fight with them, to protect Humans... it's impossible, and both of you are morons for thinking that way!" Sanemi replied, once more showing Pinkamena that people couldn't see her true nature, that her Blood Demon Art was hiding what she really was, before he gripped the handle of his blade and drew it, drawing the attention of everyone to what he was doing.

In that moment he pierced the box, stabbing Nezuko in the process since blood started to gather in the lowest point and droplets were forming, though in that moment Tanjiro burst forward and rushed Sanemi, who pulled his blade out, but as he avoided the sword swing, by jumping into the air, Giyu informed them that Oyakata was arriving. Such a thing opened a hole in Sanemi's defenses for a few seconds, as he glanced at the other Hashira as he said that, where Tanjiro headbutted him and knocked his foe to the ground, which pleased Pinkamena since it punished the annoying Hashira a little. It also caused Mitsuri to let out what seemed to be a chuckle of some kind, one that she crushed and it came out as a 'pff' sound, something that she apologized for when several of the other Hashira glanced at her, all while the remaining Hashira were focused on Tanjiro. In that moment Tanjiro informed Sanemi that if he couldn't tell the good Demons, potential allies that would help the Corps take down Muzan, from the bad Demons, those who gladly killed for the sake of killing, than his next action should be to quit being a Hashira, something that really pissed off Sanemi, as he claimed that he was going to rip Tanjiro to shreds.

Before anything happened, however, a young girl, identical to the one at the Final Selection, appeared in the building that was nearby and informed them that Oyakata had arrived, which caused the Hashira to gather in a line nearby and knelt like they were meeting a king, though as Pinkamena joined them, after Sanemi growled at her, she found that the figure was a light skinned individual with shoulder length black hair, a male figure, and he had a purple curse mark over his face, like it was rotting him.

"Good morning everyone... we have some really nice weather today. Is the sky blue?" the figure asked, where Pinkamena found that he was blind, no doubt due to the sickness that was slowly covering his body, and even Tanjiro, who Sanemi happened to be forcing into the ground so he could bow his head as well, could see the person in question, and he had to feel pity for him, all while two young girls escorted him to his seat, "Our members have gathered for the Pillar Meeting that we hold once every six months, as per our customs... I find this pleasurable."

"We find it most honorable to be in your presence, Oyakata-sama, and we eagerly pray for much happiness upon you," Sanemi said, where Pinkamena could tell that such a thing was a rehearsed saying for the Hashira to say, as she could see that Mitsuri looked like she wanted to say the welcoming statement, while the others remained silent and wanted for their leader to say something to them.

"Thank you, Sanemi." Oyakata replied, where the girls helped him sit down in the area that he usually sat in when they had a meeting like this, showing Pinkamena that his illness must have crippled him to the point where he was unable to do all sorts of things on his own, though at the same time she had a feeling that 'Oyakata' was just a title and made her wonder what his true name might be.

"Let me humbly say that there are two soldiers present in this Pillar Meeting that have brought a Demon with them... may I explain the scenario to you?" Sanemi inquired, once more confirming Pinkamena's thoughts on the matter, the Hashira respected the figure in front of them and looked to him for guidance at times, but she also knew that Oyakata was aware of their existence and the fact that Tanjiro had two Demons near him.

"I see. I'm sorry that they have surprised you all like this, but I have given my approval for Tanjiro and Nezuko Kamado, not to mention Pinkamena." Oyakata stated, something that not only confirmed her thoughts, given what she had seen and heard over the years, but also surprised the Hashira who happened to be around them, while her friend was pleased to hear that the leader of the Corps approved of his sister's existence, "So I want everyone here to accept them as allies in the fight to take down Muzan and his Kizuki."

Sure enough most of the Hashira stated that they respected Oyakata with all their hearts, but most couldn't fathom what he was saying and disapproved of his order to spare Nezuko, in fact Mitsuri seemed to be the only one to accept his will, all while Giyu and Shinobu seemed to think about the situation they were in, and Sanemi wanted nothing more than to punish Tanjiro for his 'crimes'.

"I understand your opinions, and this might help you understand my decision." Oyakata said, no doubt referring to a letter that Sakonji had sent during the two years she and Tanjiro had spent under his wing, all while beckoning to the girl that was on his right, something that caused everyone to focus on what they had to say and if they should care about what had helped him come to this decision, "Now, the letter."

"We received this letter from the former Water Hashira, Sakonji Urokodaki,," the girl said, where she quickly pulled out the parchment in question and opened it so she could read what she had read to their leader when it came in, though that did make Pinkamena wonder what her mentor might have written to his former boss, besides telling him about the fact that Tanjiro had two Demons with him, "and I will read an exert from it... 'please forgive Tanjiro for being with two Demons. Nezuko has a tenacious spirit and retains some Human reasoning... even when she's starving she refuses to eat Humans, and has stayed that way for the last two years. Pinkamena, on the other hand, is a rebellious soul who refuses to do as a normal Demon would do... in fact, when you meet her, you may not see her as a Demon, but what I say is true. If by any chance that Nezuko ends up attacking someone, Tanjiro Kamado, as well as Sakonji Urokodaki and Giyu Tomioka, will cut their own stomachs open as an apology'."

"Why should we care if they're willing to kill themselves? Let them do it and rot for all I care... there is no guarantee that she won't kill someone." Sanemi stated, as while Tanjiro felt tears coming down the side of his face, due to being unaware of the trust and faith that had been placed on him, by both his mentor and senior, several of the Hashira still weren't even remotely convinced by the letter.

"Sanemi is correct... if she kills and eats someone, nothing will change and the person in question will be dead." Kyojuro added, showing them that he agreed with what his fellow Hashira had said, though at the same time Pinkamena was sure he was thinking about something, no doubt Tanjiro's connection to the former and current Water Hashira, since they were putting their lives on the line for him and Nezuko.

"You have a point, they can't guarantee that she won't attack anyone... but you can't guarantee that she'll attack someone either." Oyakata said, where Pinkamena found that he continued to have the same patient smile on his face, like he was used to dealing with children or something, all while taking a moment to consider the words that had been said after the girl had read an exert from it, "The truth is that Nezuko has been living without eating Humans for a little over two years, and because of her two people, in addition to her brother, are also putting their lives on the line, while Pinkamena, well, is far different from the rest of her kind... and to deny this letter, well, the deniers would have to present something more substantial. Besides, both of them have come into contact with Muzan Kibutsuji."

His statement caused a barrage of questions from the Hashira, as in all of them were suddenly interested in the pair since they had come into contact with the Demon King and each one was eager to learn anything about their foe, as it might give them an advantage over Muzan, but that was when Oyakata raised one of his fingers and the Hashira reigned themselves in almost immediately.

"Based on the reports, Kibutsuiji sent Demons to kill Tanjiro and Pinkamena, who managed to shake off their pursuers," Oyakata continued, showing them that he had more to say on the matter, allowing everyone to understand that there had to be a reason behind the Demon King's decision and, more importantly, that it might have influenced Oyakata's decision, in regards to Tanjiro and Nezuko, "It is hard to say if the reason is because he was tying up a loose end, or if he felt that it was best to remove them from his sight, but for the time being I don't want to lose the tail that he has shown us... and I'm sure he targeted Nezuko as well. Something unexpected has happened for our foe. Do you understand?"

In that moment Sanemi, claiming that he still didn't understand because that meant allowing certain Demons to survive for a time, before he drew his blade and sliced open the side of his right arm, as if he was going to draw Nezuko out to make them listen to him, though that was when Obanai informed him that he couldn't do it in the sunlight. Sanemi, taking a few seconds to ask Oyakata for forgiveness for his upcoming rudeness, flashed forward and dragged the box into the shade of the building, putting him behind the leader of the Corps, where he dropped the box on the floor and proceeded to stab it a few times. It was clear that he was trying to provoke Nezuko into moving, all while Obanai elbowed Tanjiro and kept him on the ground, preventing him from rushing to his sister's aid, and he even taunted her with words before kicking off the door of Nezuko's home, something that was followed by Tanjiro's sister emerging as she glared at Sanemi, who raised his bloodied arm for her to snack on. Pinkamena knew exactly what his plan was, he wanted to make her attack him so they could void the letter and kill her, and she could see that Nezuko's mouth happened to be watering, though Tanjiro broke the ropes on his arms through sheer force and Giyu grabbed Obanai's arm before he could do anything, allowing him to make his way to the edge of the area and call out his sister's name.

Such a thing resonated with Nezuko and she forced herself to turn away from Sanemi, who seemed utterly annoyed by her actions, where one of the young girls informed Oyakata that she was refusing to do anything and turned down the blood in front of her, even if Sanemi's smelled differently to Pinkamena, and the Leader of the Corps was pleased by this turn of events. Of course he informed Tanjiro that many would still refuse to accept his sister, despite her ability to hold back and not attack Humans, so his proposal was for him to cut down the Kizuki, namely an Upper Moon if he could manage it, as if he did something like that than the rest of the Corps would respect his word more and would accept Nezuko as well, as for right now hunting Kibutsuji was impossible. He only spoke about it because Tanjiro claimed that he'd hunt down and end the Demon King, causing many of the Hashira to either chuckle or hold in their emotions for the time being, though as he did that, and Tanjiro lowered his head, Pinkamena noticed Nezuko pouting in her box as Oyakata informed Sanemi and Obanai to stop bullying their juniors. She was impressed by the figure, commanding respect from the Demon Slayers while clearing having a sickly body, and knew that his words were true, if Tanjiro proved himself he would earn the respect of the Hashira and the rest of the Corps, meaning it was possible to do what he had said and have everyone accept Nezuko, a fair goal for him to work towards.

"Now then, with the topic of Tanjiro and Nezuko finished, we're moving onto the topic of Pinkamena," Oyakata said, as he knew they had mentioned her several times since the discussion had started, in fact the letter had mentioned her, just as a number of others that came from Sakonji, though in that moment he suspected that Sanemi and the Hashira were turning to face the individual he had named, "Do you have anything you want to say before we start?"

"Yes... Awaken, Chaos World." Pinkamena replied, where the Hashira watched as the symbol on her left hand glowed for a few seconds before she summoned the crimson barrier that would cover the entire mansion, preventing people on the other side from seeing or hearing what was going on inside while taking everyone into her personal world.

The upcoming conversation was going to be important, and what she had to say needed to be kept between them, hence why she was activating her Blood Demon Art, though as she did that both Sanemi and Obanai shivered for a moment, no doubt worried about what might be coming their way, but for now she focused on the conversation and what it meant for her war against Muzan.

Interlude: Convincing Battle

Pinkamena said nothing for a few moments as her power finished bringing them into her personal world, where she put them on the outskirts of everything else, that way whatever happened next wouldn't bother the rest of the residents of this world, even though an echo of Oyakata's mansion formed around them, and once her Blood Demon Art was done she found Sanemi pointing his blade at her.

"What did you do to us, Demon?" Sanemi asked, though as he did that the rest of the Hashira, save for Giyu, stood up and faced her as well, most keeping their blades sheathed while waiting to see what happened between them, but she was a little impressed that he was maintaining a sense of calm after discovering that a Demon was nearby.

"I activated my Blood Demon Art, bringing us to a place where what we say won't be heard by those who shouldn't know what's been said," Pinkamena replied, where she stood up and watched as Sanemi's blade followed her, informing her that he saw her as an enemy now and no longer considered her a Demon Slayer, to which she raised a hand and pulled the mask off to the side, showing them her true face, "my power is known as 'Chaos World', which allows me to bend reality to my will, so if I wanted to bring us to a safe place, such as this world, it is within my power to do so... if I want to heal your arm, I can do so... if I want to give Oyakata his sight back, I can do that while he's here."

Sanemi paused for a moment as the cuts he made on his body, to attract Nezuko to his blood, healed before his eyes, as he likely assumed that she would have lashed out at him once her power was activated, though her words caused him and the others to turn their eyes back to where the Leader of the Demon Slayers rested, discovering that the rot was no longer over his light purple eyes.

"I... I can see!" Oyakata said, surprising the Hashira and the young girls that were sitting near him, where he took his time taking in the area they were currently in, no doubt because it had been years since he had been able to see anything with his eyes, given the rate of the rot, before he focused on Pinkamena, "Even though Sakonji spoke highly of you in all the letters he sent, convincing us that you were to be trusted, it's nice to finally meet you and see you, even if the latter is only temporary. I am Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the current head of the family that has been waging war against Kibutsuji, and these are two of my children, Hinaki and Nichika Ubuyashiki, though I have three more that you've met the most of... I've been told that I have a soothing voice and a charismatic personality. You... you are a unique Demon, and we are lucky to have you on our side."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Kagaya," Pinkamena replied, as she had a feeling that he didn't like being known by all of the titles that went to someone who ruled over an organization like this, and that he allowed them to call him 'Oyakata' in place of the other titles, likely to put their minds at ease or something, though she suspected that it was okay for her to speak like this, given his attitude towards her, "Like I said, this newfound sight will only last while you're in my world, and I'm also stopping the rot from spreading while we're here, but I'm afraid that there's not much else I can do to aid you... Chaos World isn't strong enough to do such a thing while maintaining my sun protection. Basically, my power is active at all times, keeping me safe from the power of the sun..."

"So you aren't playing fair." Obanai stated, where he stepped forward and joined Sanemi, while the others stood off to the side as they observed what was going on at the moment, though he hadn't drawn his blade yet, making her wonder what he was up to, all while this information must have shocked the others, even if it wasn't the whole truth, "You're like a snake in the grass... how can we trust what you are telling us?"

"Because I gain nothing from lying to all of you." Pinkamena stated, causing the two Hashira in front of her to raise their eyebrows for a moment, no doubt because they weren't expecting her to say such a thing, but the others seemed eager to hear what she had to say on the matter, all while Tanjiro remained near his sister's box, "If I wanted to keep myself hidden, and learn more about the organization's key points, I wouldn't have revealed that I was a Demon to your Leader, but by telling the truth, that I'm a Demon whose not bound to Muzan's will like the rest of my kind and that I'm willing to fight my own kind to keep Humans safe, I might gain acceptance. All I desire is keeping humanity safe, which means using both my Blood Demon Art and my Breathing Style to do battle with those that like killing Humans... namely the Lower and Upper Moons that serve Muzan... even if my true goal is the end of the Demon King."

Of course the one thing that she didn't tell the truth about was the fact that she had conquered the sun shortly after she became a Demon, though such a thing would raise questions and might spread rumors to Muzan, so for now she wanted everyone to think that it was her power giving her a unique edge over the other Demons and she could see that several of the Hashira were considering the benefits of having her on their side.

"You are a fool for thinking that you would get away with this, that we'd allow you to leave with your life." Sanemi said, to which several eyes rested on him for a moment as he sliced open his arm once more, showing them that he was using the same trick he used on Nezuko, causing him to smirk as both he and Obanai stared at her, no doubt thinking that they knew something no one else knew, "My blood is special, Demon, as none of your kind can resist the aroma of it once it has been spilled... except that brat, which will annoy me to no end."

"Oh, so you're one of the Marechi that Kyogai was talking about," Pinkamena replied, where she had to admit that Sanemi was telling the truth about the situation, the aroma of his blood was enough to make certain Demons come over and see what was going on, or it would have if they were in the waking world, though to counter that she summoned part of Rui, an arm, and tore into it for a moment, surprising them as she swallowed part of her meal, "however, I'm not drawn to the blood of Humans, like the rest of my kind are... rather I'm capable of sustaining myself on the blood and meat of Demons, hence why you don't have to worry about me attacking Humans. When I fight Demons I snatch the fallen body parts and drop them in part of this world, giving me a stockpile of food for later, and it even applies to those I didn't fight..."

In that moment Sanemi growled and rushed at her, apparently not caring about those that were around her, to which she sighed and flashed through the air, where the others found that she was standing behind the Hashira, stopping him in his tracks before he could do anything to her, causing her to move her food back to the Storehouse.

"It's rude to attack while someone is talking," Pinkamena stated, where she stepped to the side and walked away from the area that Kagaya was resting in, because it seemed like Sanemi wanted to fight and she was more than happy to oblige, as it would give her a chance to see what made the Hashira different from the rest of the Demon Slayers, where they silently watched as she formed a grassy plain for them to fight each other in, "There, now we have an arena to fight in, so if you want to face me we won't have to worry about harming Kagaya and the rest of the watchers... but be warned, I won't go easy on you. Also, just a word of warning, you'll find something interesting happening as we fight each other."

Sanemi said nothing as he walked into the area Pinkamena had prepared for them, though she also found that Obanai was with him and was in the middle of drawing his blade, to which she said nothing as she kept her mask off her face and carefully drew her blade, while noticing that Tanjiro and the others were gathering near the copy of Kagaya's mansion, to watch and observe them. In that moment Sanemi rushed forward, at a rather blinding speed that would leave any normal Demon or Demon Slayer caught off guard, where the wind gathered around his blade as he slashed in what seemed like a horizontal cyclone pattern, coming out as a cyclone that cut into the ground as well. Sanemi and Obanai were surprised by what they were seeing, as this wasn't something any of them were expecting to see when they engaged her, though that was when Pinkamena shifted her stance and unleashed her own Breathing Style, focusing on the First Form as she swung her blade and slashed his attack apart. Based on what she knew that was the First Form of Wind Breathing, called Dust Whirlwind Cutter if memory served, though she learned that from Sakonji and it was confirmed when Sanemi came to a stop for a few seconds, mostly to think about what she had done to stop his attack.

Most of her knowledge on the other Breathing Styles came from her mentor and the time he spent with the slayers that learned the other techniques that could be learned, while this confirmed what she knew about the other styles, but as she thought about that Obanai rushed at her, allowing her to find that his blade was winding like a snake, and he moved like one as well. It was an interesting technique as she swung her sword at him, their blades meeting as Obanai's slashes came at her in a winding pattern, something that was different from what she was used to and it allowed him to cut into both of her shoulders before she pushed him backwards. The Serpent Breathing techniques were new to her, as there was next to no information on it and that meant Obanai had to be the only wielder of it, or at least the only one that mattered, and her second foe said that the technique he used was also the First Form of his style, named Winding Serpent Slash, but that was when he and Sanemi changed their stances as they rushed at her. It became clear that they were trying to layer their attacks on top of each other and confuse her, so she would be unable to defend herself, and she quickly realized what the Hashira were aiming for, so she shifted her body so her arms and shoulders would take the hit while saving her neck, as she was sure that being beheaded would kill her anyway.

"I can tell you guys don't like me, since you keep aiming at my head." Pinkamena commented, which she knew because of the fact that they were treating her like a Demon and not one of their own allies, though as she said that, and both of her foes readied themselves for another round, she raised her open hand and grasped her mask, "Very well, I guess I'll fight you in my true form."

Sanemi, Obanai, and the others watched as she moved the fox mask in front of her face and then yanked her hand back, as if she was doing something, causing some energy to envelop her for a few seconds before it pulled away, revealing her fox form to them. One thing the pair noted was that the bits of energy had been crimson colored, meaning she had to be using her Blood Demon Arts now, though as they considered that Pinkamena shifted her stance as she focused on one of her other techniques, because a few of her Chaos Breathing techniques hadn't been used yet, or at least since the day she made and perfected them. Such as the Fourth Form: Mirror Strike Tide, which mimicked the motions of Water Breathing's own Fourth Form, though the key difference was that hers knocked the incoming attacks back at her opponents, which had been designed for when she faced off against some of the stronger Demons, such as the Upper Moons. In fact such a power came in useful as Kyojuro charged into battle, unleashing a series of powerful slashes that she suspected was the Fifth Form of Flame Breathing, Flame Tiger, and sure enough his attacks formed a flaming tiger that rushed at her, though her movements struck it and knocked the creation backwards.

What she discovered was that none of the other Hashira moved to join the fight, simply watching her as she fought those that were in front of her, though Kyojuro, on the other hand, seemed to sense that she was an ally and wanted to test her strength with his own blade, to the point where she spun around and knocked all three of them backwards, just to give herself some space.

"I have to say, fighting you guys is rather intense, but I'm afraid that this battle is going to end soon," Pinkamena stated, a fact that was followed by the three Hashira appearing surprised, or at least Kyojuro was and the other two didn't seem to care at all, to which she held her right arm out and gripped her weapon as she focused her energies on what she wanted to do, "Allow me to explain something: Chaos Breathing has ten Forms, each designed to face Demons without causing any damage to the environment around me, since I want to save Humans and take down Muzan... however, while I was in the middle of creating those ten Forms I also created an eleventh, one that is far too dangerous to use in the cities and the more populated places our enemies might be hiding in."

In the following moment her energy surged, a mass of crimson energy wrapping around her blade while surging all over the area she was standing in, though the act of her doing that caused the three Hashira to stop as everyone watched what she was doing. Pinkamena had practiced this Form in her personal realm, hence why Tanjiro had no idea what was going on right now and was as surprised as everyone else, which was how she knew it was more dangerous than the moves she had used so far, something they would understand soon enough. While she did that she also used a bit of her power to alter the form of her Mindscape, adding a mountain off to her left, though as they realized that she could do that as well, even if it should have been obvious due to her earlier actions, she got ready and shifted her stance. Sure enough the three Hashira thought they might be her targets, which was a good thought to have since they were in the middle of a fight, but her true target was the mountain as she swung her blade, releasing a crescent wave of crimson energy that surprised the people that were around her as it rushed towards her true target.

By the time her technique was over the upper half of the mountain was gone, totally erased thanks to her actions, and she could see that many were surprised by her attack, even Kagaya was shocked by her technique, especially when he took a moment to consider what it would mean if she used it in a populated area.

"Chaos Breathing, Eleventh Form: Lunar Fang." Pinkamena said, where she made sure the lingering bits of the technique were no longer attached to her blade before sheathing it, while seeing that all of the observers were surprised by this turn of events, something she was expecting after the display of her true power, "Like I said, this Form is too dangerous to use in battle, since we either fight in crowed spaces or heavily populated areas, so if I used it I would hurt, probably kill, all the innocent Humans that are in the vicinity... if I did that, without caring about the innocents, it would make me the same as Muzan and those that serve him."

"And I believe her, so we will treat Pinkamena as an ally in our battle against Muzan," Kagaya stated, as Pinkamena had, in the moments after finishing her attack, brought them back to the copy of his resting place, something that Hashira to stop for a second and sheath their blades, showing that they acknowledged his statement, even if most still didn't trust her, so she would have to convince them in due time, "Now then, I think its time we returned to our reality."

Pinkamena nodded as she recalled her power, where everyone watched as the barrier fell apart and disappeared within a matter of seconds, all while the rot and blindness returned to Kagaya, who didn't seem annoyed, rather he accepted its return, and once everyone was done she reverted back to her pony form as she pulled the mask the mask to the side, and as soon as that was done the Hashira knelt before their leader once more.

"I know that, despite this, many of you and our comrades won't accept two Demons as our allies, so to prove that you are here to save Humans you must force them to acknowledge you," Kagaya continued, which Pinkamena had been expecting for some time, as some of the Hashira didn't care for her and a few, like Giyu and Rengoku, already approved of them, or at least her, before he considered what he had to say, "Defeat the Twelve Kizuki... do that and the gravity of your words will changed, to the point where many will accept that you are allies."

Before Pinkamena could acknowledge the command, and begin to wonder about when she would find the next member of the Kizuki, Tanjiro informed them all that he wouldn't stop at the Lower and Upper Moons, he'd kill Muzan as well, just to convince the others that he and Nezuko were on humanity's side. As Kagaya told him to focus on the Kizuki, since his current strength wasn't enough to take down the Demon King, Pinkamena noticed that a few of the Hashira were resisting the urge to chuckle or laugh, no doubt believing that Tanjiro was foolish for announcing such a thing. As Kagaya went on about the Hashira and their talents, however, the only member who seemed to approve of Tanjiro's words was Kyojuro, in fact he seemed to be smiling after seeing Tanjiro's determination to save innocent people, and free his sister from the fate that had thrust upon her. In that moment she decided that she liked the Flame Hashira, far more than the others at the very least, and had to wonder what might happen in the future, once they were no longer at this meeting, where she had a feeling that he might seek her out in the future, but decided to shelve the thought for the time being as they moved onto the next topic, the Pillar Meeting they had gathered to hold.

Of course she and Tanjiro weren't Hashira and that meant they had to be taken away, so two of the Kakushi came in and carried off her companion and Nezuko's box, though Kagaya did tell her to give Tamayo his regards, where she chuckled a little as she left the Hashira to their meeting and left the area they were in. Or at least they tried to since Tanjiro made an attempt to stop the Kakushi from leaving, though it was put to an end by Muichiro loosing a few pebbles at his forehead, as interrupting Kagaya, in his eyes, was worthy of being punished, and being stunned allowed the Kakushi to take Tanjiro away before he got them in trouble. What Pinkamena discovered was that the pair of Kakushi were annoyed with her friend and, as they departed from the mansion, demanded that he apologize for filling their hearts with terror, since they were afraid that the Hashira would punish them for his outburst, though she tuned them out as well. She considered the movements of Kyojuro and the other Hashira as the meeting about her and Tanjiro ended, as Shinobu had motioned for her followers to collect Tanjiro without moving that much, save for a single clap that seemed to be the signal, but at least her friend could rest up and ready himself for whatever the future held for them.

It took them some time to depart from the area that the mansion was in and return to the Butterfly Mansion, where they found Kanao hanging out in the garden, unaware of what and who might be around her, while one of the girls in charge of the injured, Aoi Kanzaki she recalled, found them and ordered the Kakushi to bring Tanjiro to a bed.

Sure enough it didn't take Pinkamena long to hear Zenitsu shouting about something, where it seemed like he was against the treatment he was being forced to endure, to heal the poison and wounds he had suffered after facing off against one of the spider Demons, the 'brother' she recalled. Aoi was able to shut Zenitsu up with a brief shout of her own, something that caused him to cower under his bed sheets and hoped that she would leave in due time, though it didn't last long as both he and Tanjiro got into a conversation, where the loudness was cut down by Aoi simply glaring at him. Inosuke, who was resting nearby, didn't say much and when he did talk it sounded like his voice had been altered, only for them to find that his throat had been crushed, meaning the Spider Father had done a lot of damage to him after she and Tanjiro went to find Rui, his 'Mother', and his 'sister', but she was happy to see that he was alive. From what she could see all three of them had suffered a variety of injuries during their time on Mount Natagumo, some minor and a few major, but based on everything she was seeing Pinkamena could tell that they should, in due time, make a full recovery so they could head out and continue their duties.

Of course she knew that they would have visitors in due time, since Tanjiro had saved some of their allies before the lot of them went deeper into the mountain and found Rui's family, and that they would have to train to make sure their bodies were in peak condition, but for now she watched over the Butterfly Mansion as she waited for some orders to arrive, due to her being the only one capable of work, and wondered what her next foe would be like.

Interlude: Training and Recovery

Following the meeting with Kaguya and the Hashira, and her battle with several of the Hashira, Pinkamena stood on the roof of the Butterfly Mansion and watched over everything that was around the structure, keeping her eyes and senses open for any Demons that might be lingering in the nearby area, not that she was expecting any since this area was one of the safe locations for the organization. One of the things she did was tap into her Mindscape and extracted a few samples of Rui's blood, where once that was done she called for Chachamaru, Tamayo's cat helper, to appear without actually revealing its existence to those who worked in the Butterfly Mansion. She slipped the vials into the pack that the cat was wearing, where she made sure to mark Rui's with a marking that indicated it was from a Lower Moon, before adding a few more vials that contained some samples of the other Spider Demons, just to give the doctor more samples to work with. Once that was done she nodded her head and let the cat depart so the samples could be delivered to Tamayo, allowing her to focus on keeping the area secure, or at least just watching over it as Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke recovered from their fights with the Spider Demons.

It wasn't too long before the one called Murata came to visit them, who apparently had been called to the meeting of the Hashira and informed Tanjiro as to what happened, since he felt that he owed him such a thing, though all she felt from him was someone who complained and grumbled, so she tuned him out, only listening when Shinobu returned and her mere presence caused Murata to flee.

"You are a strange one, Pinkamena." Shinobu commented, as she had been expecting to find the Demon near Tanjiro and the rest of her injured friends, instead of on the roof of the Butterfly Mansion, where she suspected that she was keeping an eye out for Demons, despite this place was one of the safest for their soldiers, "Though you'll be pleased to know that the others have accepted both your existence and Nezuko's, and given your abilities you might be assigned some of the more difficult missions."

"Good, that means I can lock horns with the Lower Moons." Pinkamena remarked, where a smile appeared on her face, as those were her main targets right now and she needed to find them, so she could prepare with her eventual battle with Muzan, since she wasn't going to stop until him and the Upper Moons were dealt with, before she considered something for a few seconds, "I take it you, or at the very least Aoi and Kanao, are going to be training Tanjiro and the others, so they can get back into fighting condition?"

"That's correct. We'll be starting their functional recovery training soon." Shinobu said, though she still found it odd to be having a conversation with a Demon who didn't want to rip her head off or kill her to get revenge on those she had slain so far, giving her a chance to study Pinkamena some more, as in her form and the one she had seen earlier, "Why are you so eager to face the Lower Moons?"

"Like I said earlier, I gain more power by devouring other Demons, and the Lower Moons are greater sources of strength for me to claim," Pinkamena replied, where she could see that Shinobu was surprised by that fact but said nothing, rather she was interested in what that might mean for her Blood Demon Art, which was understandable, before she turned her thoughts to the Demons in question, "I take them out and get an explosive growth to my power, and I'm sure that once all of the Lower Moons are dead, and I've devoured each of them, I'll be as strong as Upper Moon Six... from there it'll be an ordeal to track down the highest six Demons under Muzan and take them down, because even with Chaos World I'm sure it'll take a while to take them down."

"Well, I'm sure that you'll learn this soon enough, but we've heard rumors of another Lower Moon and were planning on sending a Hashira after them," Shinobu said, something that definitely caught Pinkamena's attention, since she turned her head for a moment, mostly because she still had five more targets to hunt down before moving onto the Upper Moons, a task that she and the other Hashira had, for the most part, failed to do, "however, to prove that you're on our side, we had the idea to send you and make sure you'll fight Demons... not that we were doubting you, but we want to make sure you remain true to what you said earlier."

As Pinkamena thought about it she had to assume that the figure in question was Lower Moon Six, the weakest of them all based on the number system, which meant she wouldn't have to worry about someone stronger than Rui showing up, but at the same time she knew that it was a rumor and the Corps had no idea which number it was, so it could be Lower Moon Four or even Lower Moon One. If the report was about the highest ranking member of the Lower Moons she was going to have to pull them into her personal realm to make sure no Humans were harmed during whatever battle took place, and part of her was looking forward to seeing which Demon she ended up being sent against. Rui had been an interesting foe, with all of the spider thread based techniques he had access to, not counting what his family could wield in battle, and it made her wonder what sort of powers the other members of the Lower Moons had, since they had to be stronger than all of the majority of the Demons she had faced so far. Shinobu realized that she was thinking about the foe she might find in the area they were planning on sending her to and apologized for not having any additional information for her, but she didn't seem to be the type that needed intelligence on her foes, save for knowing which foe she might find, so this seemed to be a good position for her.

Before Shinobu left she explained the training that Tanjiro and the others would be partaking in, as they would be resting in their beds for a while and the first thing was three of their helpers massaging their stiff bodies to loosen the muscles and prepare them for the true training. The next thing was that they would be facing off against Kanao in an attempt to get their hands on some medicated broth, a test of reflexes to be exact, while the third event they would be tackling would be the whole body training, which was essentially tag. Pinkamena knew what she was talking about, the training was made to get their bodies back into shape while trying to boost their natural abilities, such as increasing their stamina and speed, which meant it was designed to also boost their skills with whatever Breathing Style they possessed, so they could fight for longer and not fall down after a few minutes. Of course, being a Demon, this was something she didn't have to partake in and that meant she would be heading out in the near future, which she was perfectly fine with since there was more that needed to be done to save the Humans of this world from Muzan, so for now Pinkamena wished Tanjiro and the others well as she focused on her end of this.

When morning arrived, and nothing had happened in the area around Butterfly Mansion, Pinkamena's Kasugai crow came down and gave her the destination of her target, which was a few days from where Tanjiro and the others were resting, to which she nodded and jumped down to the ground so she could head out and see who her target was.

Muzan was enraged beyond measure, as not that long ago he had been found out by a young boy who happened to wear a pair of earrings that triggered some of his repressed memories, ones he would rather forget about since there was no reason for him to be worried about them, and the Demon Slayers had sent scouts looking for him in Asakusa, ones he had chosen not to kill this time around. His reasoning had been that if he killed those individuals, after being found out, more Slayers would come looking for him and he didn't want to be bothered by them, so he left them alone and focused on his own plans, which meant leaving behind the family he had taken over and finding a new place to live. To that end he took to his hidden fortress, the Infinity Castle, and created a new persona to wear as he looked for something or someone that he could use to further his goals of obtaining the perfect body, to walk in the sun without fear, though this guise was more of a simple one that no one would recognize. He decided on an elegant and young woman that had fair skin, much like his last form had, while his hair, or rather 'her' hair, would be tied in a bun in the back, her eyes would keep the crimson color she was known for, as the Slayers never noticed it before, and she picked out a black yukata to wear, in place of the suit her previous form wore almost all the time.

She also made sure to add decent sized breasts and make her voice more feminine, just to seal the deal, though as all that happened she also recalled the other Slayer she had seen, the girl who wore a fox mask over her face, another nuisance that needed to be dealt with in due time, before Muzan focused on what she was going to do next.

Just before her transformation into her new form she had ordered Nakime, the Demon in charge of the Infinity Castle, to track down and summon the other members of the Lower Moons, as she wanted to speak with them and see if there was a way to make them more useful to her, since they were the ones who kept dying all the time. It was frustrating that none of the Lower Moons could kill a Hashira or mortally wound them, that they were always falling to the Corps and unable to do anything important during their lives, something that was making her wonder why in the world she bothered to keep them around. Her problem didn't stop there, because while the members of the Lower Moons constantly changed, either due to one being killed by the Demon Slayers or her determining that the Demon in question was no longer useful to her plans, like how she removed Kyogai some time ago, in favor of one who had room to grow stronger, though the members of the Upper Moons rarely changed. In fact, when she thought about it, it had been a hundred years since she lost such a powerful minion to the Demon Slayers and their Hashira, a battle that had cost her Upper Moon Six and took down one of the Hashira, plus a squadron of lesser Slayers, though such a thing brought her back to the original point, the fact that the Lower Moons were always being replaced and were totally useless to her plans.

As she thought about that Nakime made a single note that informed her that all of the Lower Moons were here, though all of them were scattered throughout the castle and would be called together when she was ready, to which she glanced out at the area and found the frightened Demons with ease. The first one she located was Kamanue, Lower Moon Six, a male Demon who had a thick green line between and below his eyes, while he wore a white haori with a yellow scale pattern on the sleeves, and he was freaked out by what was going on right now. After that was a female Demon who wore a plain red kimono with a white furred collar, though she had a pair of small white horns on her head, where Muzan reminded herself that the Demon was Mukago, Lower Moon Four. Near her was Lower Moon Three, a male Demon with an X shaped mark on his forehead, though other than that Wakuraba was a forgettable face to her, before she focused on Lower Moon Two, an older male called Rokuro, who had a vein-like pattern on his forehead, though like the one before he was forgettable as well. After that was Lower Moon One, the most promising of the bunch in her eyes, Enmu, who had square markings right under his eyes, three large ones separated by two smaller ones, who wore a black button up coat, a white dress shirt, and a few other things that made him fit in with the Humans of the land, and of the five Demons he was always growing, never straying from his orders.

With a single command to Nakime she was able to bring the five Lower Moons to a single area, a platform that was right in front of where she decided to stand, so she could stand over them and glare down at the Demons with Nakime sitting off to her right, who were definitely confused as to what was going on right now.

"Lower your heads and squat. Prostrate yourselves." Muzan ordered, where she focused her gaze on them for a couple of seconds and found a wave of shock and surprise, as none of them seemed to realize that she was still Muzan, that he had altered his form into this so she could hide from the Demon Slayers for a time, before they dropped down and lowered their heads, showing her the respect she deserved.

"W... We are incredibly sorry, oh Great One... your form and presence are completely different..." Mukago started to say, her tone revealing that she was definitely freaked out about this, just like the others were based on what Muzan felt right now, though the slight change in Muzan's energy caused everyone to stop while Nakime remained perfectly fine, since she was one of the Demons who never got on her nerves.

"Who said you could SPEAK?!" Muzan stated, her words silencing the Demons in front of her instantly, as they knew that they were kneeling before their lord and master now, while at the same time she left no openings for them to speak, not until she was done and allowed them to say something, "Don't say anything out of your pathetic violation. You can only reply to whatever questions I ask you. Rui was killed earlier this week... that was Lower Moon Five. I have only one thing I want to ask the lot of you: Why are the Lower Moon Demons so damn WEAK?!"

Muzan could see that her words caused four of the five Demons to flinch for a moment, while she could hear them starting to form excuses in their minds, before she raised a hand and stopped them from speaking for a few seconds, as there was more she wanted to say before forcing them to answer her question.

"Just because you're part of the Twelve Kizuki doesn't mean that you can get lazy or relax... oh no, joining the faction is just the beginning." Muzan continued, allowing them to hear the information that she wanted them to gain before bothering to acquire the information she wanted from all of them, even though she noted that Enmu was the most calm of the five, a fact that reminded her of why she made him Lower Moon One, a Demon who could potentially become an Upper Moon if he kept growing, "The beginning of one eating more Humans, becoming stronger as they devour more individuals, and becoming of greater use to me. If you didn't know, the members of the Upper Moons haven't changed for over a hundred years... in fact, they're the ones who keep laying to rest all of the Hashira that have challenged my authority, dealing more crippling blows to the Corps. But what about the Lower Moons? How many times have I had to replace you, to keep the balance of power intact?"

In that moment she heard Kamanue think about how she 'couldn't just tell them that', something that caused her anger to rise instantly and the sheer fact caused the five Demons to pause once more, as many were unaware that she could read the minds of her minions, where the shorter the distance the greater her powers were, so if one was on the other side of the land it was hard for her to sense their thoughts.

"'You can't just tell us that'? Oh, then tell me!" Muzan stated, as it was rare for a Demon to actually talk or think back while she was talking to them, in fact many Demons just closed their minds to keep their fear to themselves, which failed more often than they thought and she said nothing about it, but this just infuriated her more than before, something that they were feeling at the moment.

There was the other thing that infuriated her, the fact that there was another Demon out there that she couldn't grasp the position of, Nezuko to be exact, but for now she turned her attention on the Lower Moons that were in front of her as she waited for Kamanue to make an excuse to save himself, even if she wasn't planning on sparing any of them, as she just so happened to have a plan for all of them. When she returned her attention to the Demons in front of her she found that Kamanue didn't have any excuse prepared and was repeatedly saying 'sorry' over and over again, as if she would show the likes of him mercy, though if her plan worked she could cut out an annoying Demon Slayer and most of the weak Demons that served her. Normally she would just stab whoever annoyed her and watch them explode from too much of her blood, or turn her arm into a thick tendril that would crush whatever dared to annoy her, but this time around she created some small tendrils that wrapped around Kamanue's legs and hauled him into the air, along with sealing his mouth for now, so she didn't have to listen to him speak. Such a thing served as an example for the other Lower Moons, who were freaking out as they wondered what was going to happen to them over the next couple of minutes, though she could tell that the majority of them were more afraid of her and were less afraid of the Demon Slayers, and that the majority usually went into hiding when a Hashira came to their hunting grounds.

It was annoying that these Demons could bare to call themselves members of the Kizuki, that they let the power of their Lower Moon status go to their heads, and it wasn't long before Mukago tried to beg for her life by saying that she'd fight for her master's honor, Wakuraba considered fleeing if they were going to die, and Rokuro actually tried to get more blood from her, where it wasn't long before the three of them joined Kamanue up in the air.

"Normally, each of your sins would be worthy of death, but I have other plans." Muzan stated, as part of her wanted to just kill them now and get it over with, because they were embarrassments to Demon kind, especially when she took a second to consider that Rokuro demanded some of her blood to be of greater use to her, before she gestured to a viewing screen Nakime created, showing the fox masked Demon Slayer, "From this point forward the Kizuki will solely consist of the six members of the Upper Moons, and normally I would dismantle you myself... however, the four of you will be given a brief chance at redemption: kill the Demon Slayer wearing the fox mask and I might spare you."

The reason she was excluding Enmu was because she wanted him to watch and listen to what happened, and if the four Lower Moons failed her she might just cut down the last Demon and end the Lower Moons entirely, though she remained silent as Nakime opened the way for the four Demons to head out into the area their target was in and simply waited to see what the outcome was.

Pinkamena walked down the path that was in front of her, as she had chosen to remain on the outskirts of the area she had been sent to for the time being, mostly to get a good idea of the lay of the land before heading into the city, because she was sure that the Demon she was hunting wasn't ready to make a move yet. As she thought about that, however, she came to a stop as something in the air changed and four Demons surrounded her without delay, one at each direction to stop her from leaving this area, though she had to grin as she glanced around and noticed who had come looking for her, something that likely surprised the Hashira that was assigned to follow her. Lower Moon Six was to her south, who had a thick green line between and below his eyes, while Lower Moon Four was a girl who had a pair of horns that poked out of her white hair and she appeared to the west of her. After that it was easy for her to find Lower Moon Three standing in the eastern position, who had a few X shaped scars on his face, as one was on his forehead and the other two were under his eyes, and Lower Moon Two stood in front of her, to the north, who had a black vein pattern on his head.

She wasn't sure if the report had been wrong, or if Muzan had decided to send multiple Lower Moons at her, but this was something she wasn't about to complain about as she drew her blade, as they seemed ready for a fight, even if she could practically smell the fear radiating from all of them, so she needed to be ready for whatever Blood Demon Arts they had to throw at her.

As Pinkamena wondered where Lower Moon One might be resting, since it seemed odd to see only these four and not all five of the remaining members of this portion of the Kizuki, her foes made their move without much delay, where Six, as she was going to call them by their numbers until she learned their names, brought his hands to the ground and created two shadowy clones of himself. At the same time Four raised her hands and seemed to emit a gas or smoke into the area that they were standing in, where Pinkamena noticed that the other Lower Moons seemed unaffected by it, which told her all she needed to know, it was designed to weaken or knock out her targets, so Four could devour or kill them whenever she wanted to. Three, on the other hand, seemed to be a speed based Demon and moved somewhat faster than what she was used to, in terms of Demons anyway, though his speed paled in comparison to the Hashira she had seen earlier, so it wasn't something she was too worried about, hence why she focused on Two. The last of the Lower Moons had scales that formed on his arms and legs, lizard scales to be exact, which meant that his power was either heightened regeneration, so he could fight without slowing down, or some sort of body strengthening, to let him penetrate the attire of a Demon Slayer and let him take down whoever he was fighting at the time.

So far, by just observing her foes and not fighting them, Pinkamena was slightly disappointed in their powers, as none of their abilities seemed stronger than Rui's was, in fact most of them seemed far weaker than Rui's, and in Six's case that was the truth, but part of her wondered if Muzan might have messed up the rankings, as she was sure that Rui was more deserving of Lower Moon Two, instead of the position he got.

In the following moments she made her move as they approached her at different speeds, where she spun around for a few seconds and focused on her Chaos Breathing techniques, Violent Vortex Slash to be exact, which drew in the shadows for a moment and Six at the same time, surprising the other Lower Moons as she sliced Six apart. As that happened Four glanced down at her hands for a few moments, no doubt wondering why her smoke or poison wasn't working on their foe, and such a thing opened her up to be carved up by Pinkamena's First Form, as she sliced the Demon apart with a couple of well placed swings of her blade. She found that both Three and Two appeared to be questioning their chances of even surviving this battle, against a Demon Slayer who was capable of eliminating two Lower Moons with ease, and Three just decided to flee, causing Pinkamena to sigh as she rushed over to him, grabbed his head, and slammed him into the stone below him, allowing her to hack him apart as well. Once that was done she found that Two was approaching her and just pushed his body to the absolute limits, as his arms and legs were totally covered in scales and she was sure that he had a lizard's tail, a black one to match his facial markings, before finding that he was able to move faster than the other Lower Moons and packed more power in his attacks.

Two, for the most part, earned his position as a Lower Moon, that much she could tell from facing his might, and his own regeneration was rather quick, meaning he was definitely stronger than the others, especially since he regrew the limbs she cut off, including the tail as she discovered, but in the end it didn't matter as Pinkamena cut him down as well, leaving her with four fallen enemies.

"Well, the Hashira can't complain now, not when I've shown that I'm willing to fight and kill the Lower Moons," Pinkamena commented, where she made sure to collect the pieces of the fallen Demons and arranged them in her Storehouse by the numbers she knew them by, while thinking that this would be a decent boost to her own power, though she decided that this time she'd wait to draw their blood, since the cat was no where nearby right now, "though now I'm curious about the power of Lower Moon One, not to mention the might of the Upper Moons."

Since there was nothing else for her to do in the settlement she had been walking to, and she could sense no additional Demons in the area, Pinkamena turned around and headed back to the Butterfly Mansion, to report her success before waiting for another mission to be given to her, all while waiting for Tanjiro and the others to recover from their injuries so they could head out on their next adventure.

Mugen: The Train

Pinkamena was expecting the three little girls to see her, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke off, once they were ready to go, but she hadn't planned on it being such a tearful encounter for her friends, not to mention the girls, and she suspected that if her body had been normal she would have followed them in no time. Due to being a Demon she didn't have tear ducts, or any moisture related to the eyes anyway, so she stood back and let them have their tearful farewell, the girls telling them to stay healthy and fight well, because they didn't want any of them to die. Of course Shinobu, Kanao, and Aoi watched from the entrance of the Butterfly Mansion, since there was nothing they wanted to say right now, other than wishing them well in their own way, before heading back into their domain for the time being, since they had no idea what sort of missions would be coming their way. Once the two groups were done Tanjiro wished the girls well before the four of them headed down the road, as it was time for them to get their way and see what sort of missions the crows had for the group, since Pinkamena knew that hers was back with the higher ranks of the Corps, waiting for a dispatch.

While they walked, however, Pinkamena thought about something she had heard back in the Butterfly Mansion, as Tanjiro had talked with Shinobu for a time about a topic he was interested in and it made her interested in what he might have asked about, even though she had a good idea what it might be.

"So, Tanjiro, what were you and Shinobu talking about before we left?" Pinkamena asked, as she was curious if her friend had asked about the Breath of the Sun that existed within the Hinokami Kagura, because she had figured that out on her own and it seemed like he hadn't yet, which was fine with her since it didn't look like they needed the other Breath yet.

"I was asking if she had heard of the Hinokami Kagura... the Dance of the Fire God that my father taught me... along with the Breath I used during our fight with Rui," Tanjiro replied, partly explaining things to Zenitsu and Inosuke, even though Pinkamena was sure that neither of their friends really cared what he was talking about, before he sighed as he carefully considered what the Hashira had told him earlier, "Sadly, she had no idea what I was talking about, even though she did seem interested in the fact that I was able to channel my father's Breath... she suggested that I track down Kyojuro and ask him about it, though he's supposedly busy right now. Oh, and when I was leaving her office I bumped into the other guy from the Final Selection, the one who was annoyed about things and kept demanding to be given a Nichirin sword, but he ignored me when I called out to him."

Pinkamena nodded her head for a moment, as she had seen the figure in question enter Butterfly Mansion, either due to the fact that he was injured or he wanted to talk with Shinobu about something, though since that seemed to be all that he was willing to share with her she dropped the question and focused on the walk. At the very least it confirmed one big thing in her mind, Tanjiro wanted to learn more about the Breath of the Sun and what it might mean for him, though she had a feeling that no one would be able to answer his questions, save for his memories of watching his father perform the technique when he was younger. Such a thing made her wonder if it was time for her to yank him into her realm and force him into some hellish training to awaken the ability to use it without the life or death situations that had awakened it while he was fighting with Rui, but that was something she would consider later, after his talk with Kyojuro. Of course she had to consider dragging both Zenitsu and Inosuke into the training as well, making them stronger so they could survive what the future held for them, especially since she had killed four of the remaining five Lower Moons a month ago, but shelved it for now, knowing she would revisit the idea at some point in time.

As they walked she found that they were heading to one of the more civilized cities that dotted the land, not the one she had been heading for when she was ambushed by the Lower Moons, though one thing she noticed from afar, which none of her friends noticed since they were busy looking at their surroundings, was a machine that she wasn't expecting to see in this world. It was a black train that seemed to be powered by coal, or at least that was her first thought when she locked eyes with it, and it reminded her of what she had seen back when she was inside Pinkie's Mindscape, the train that linked Ponyville to Canterlot, along with the other towns and cities of Equus. Sure enough she found that there were a couple of train cars that would transport people from one part of the land to another, a couple of ticket booths that people bought their tickets from, benches for Humans to rest on while waiting for their train to arrive, and at least five cars for people to sit in as they moved across the land. Pinkie, from what she recalled, seemed to enjoy riding on the train whenever she and her friends were called to Canterlot, be it for whatever Princess Celestia wanted or for something they were being invited to attend, so she was interested in seeing if she would enjoy it or not.

Of course, as she expected, Zenitsu stopped when they got near the train, more in the sense that something was clearly bothering him and made him turn towards Tanjiro for a moment, though she had a feeling he was eager to know what their next mission was, but there was always the chance she could be wrong.

"I should have asked this back at the Butterfly Mansion, but what's our next mission?" Zenitsu inquired, because no one had said anything about it since they departed from Shinobu's residence and it had been bothering him greatly, as he knew that when he and Tanjiro walked to the mansion they found Inosuke in they had talked about the mission for a time, just to get their facts straight.

"About that... we haven't been assigned anything yet." Tanjiro answered, which was the truth, though they did have one of their crows following them, Pinkamena's he noticed, so he knew that when it came time for them to be sent out all three of their own birds would be able to find hers and give them their orders.

Zenitsu, as Pinkamena expected, was annoyed by the fact that they left the Butterfly Mansion, and had taken the time to have that tearful farewell with the girls, for no reason and he started to berate Tanjiro for dragging them out here without being assigned a mission, even though Tanjiro felt that being stuck in there for a month was too much, and Inosuke was the one that interrupted them.

"Wh... What's that creature there?" Inosuke asked, where he was staring at the black train that was in front of them, which told them that this was his first time seeing something like it, though Pinkamena could see, from just a glance, that Tanjiro seemed to be in the same situation, which made sense when she considered where he had been living before his family was killed by Muzan, "This thing is the master of the land... yeah, it controls the land... there's no mistaking its length and intimidating aura. It may be sleeping now, but don't let your guards down."

As Zenitsu started to explain that this was a steam engine, information that surprised Tanjiro and caused Zenitsu to label both of them as bumpkins, Pinkamena sensed the change in Inosuke and silently activated her power, covering the four of them and making it so no one else could see or hear them. Such a thing allowed Inosuke to launch his Pig Assault on the side of the train car that was in front of them, even though it did nothing to the machine and caused their friends to pause for a moment, though she held up a hand and gestured to the other people for a moment. No one could see them, much less hear Inosuke's attacks or what Zenitsu was saying right now, but this Room was designed to make sure the Humans moved around the area they were in, without realizing it, so no one would bump into them while they waited for Inosuke to calm down. Of course Zenitsu went and talked about the fact that they were members of an unofficial organization and if people saw their swords they would surely be arrested, though before he and Tanjiro could hide their blades, mostly on their backs and under their clothing, Pinkamena marked each of their blades with her own marking, allowing them to just disappear, though she left hers alone since people seemed to ignore her anyway.

After that, and Inosuke calmed down a little, Tanjiro looked at the board and mentioned that the train would head to the area Rengoku lived in, meaning if they took it they would be able to catch up with him once he was done with his mission, though Pinkamena smiled as she glanced at one of the train cars, as she spotted Kyojuro and he smiled as he noticed her as well.

"Well, that settles it... we're boarding the Mugen Train." Pinkamena said, where she walked over to the line for one of the ticket booths and pulled out the small money pouch she carried, despite the fact that she hadn't used any of it, before she glanced at the board for a moment and raised an eyebrow for a moment, "That's a strange name for a train, the 'Infinite Train', but I'm sure the creators had a reason for giving it such a name."

As she waited in line for a time, however, Pinkamena sensed a Demon in the area and felt it coming from the train, before determining that there were two signatures, one that was stronger than the other, so it either meant that one Demon was no longer in the area, being an old power signature, or one had to be weak and was trying to hide. Once the tickets were bought she beckoned for the others to join her as she climbed aboard the train, where they found two columns of seats in front of them, one on their left and another on their right, leaving the middle area as a walkway for them. There were all sorts of people aboard the train when they boarded, basically a buffet for a Demon if her senses were accurate, though it explained so much to her without having to be told anything, she was sure that the Hashira must have been sent to deal with whatever the problem might be. Of course Inosuke still wanted to fight the 'beast' that they were now in the belly of, causing Zenitsu to tell him to shut up before asking Tanjiro about the Hashira he was interested in meeting again, while at the same time Pinkamena found Kyojuro sitting alone, with a number of food boxes, but he wasn't eating right now, as he got up as they approached.

Pinkamena smiled as she raised her hand and he clasped it, a handshake to be exact, before he sat down in the seat he had been sitting in for some time, she sat across from him, Tanjiro sat to his side, and both Zenitsu and Inosuke rested on the other side of the aisle, all while Nezuko's box rested near Pinkamena. Once that was done Kyojuro passed around a few of the food boxes and started to devour whatever was inside his container, where the others ate what had been given to them and Tanjiro quickly explained why he had been seeking him out. He was basically repeating everything he had told Shinobu before they left the Butterfly Mansion, going into detail about the Hinokami Kagura and how he used it during the battle with Lower Moon Five, even though no one in his family had been trained to be Demon Slayers and made him think curious about the technique. Pinkamena ate the food in front of her as she listened to the conversation, mostly due to the fact that she was wondering how long it would take her friend to realize that there was another Breath out there and his family had been the only practitioners of it, before Muzan arrived and killed most of his family.

Eventually they departed from the station and started to head to whatever their destination was, Pinkamena hadn't cared about the destination when she bought their tickets, and the staff took the food boxes, which Kyojuro claimed were tasty many times, before they got to the heart of the main conversation.

"Hm, that is very interesting, but I don't know what to say. This is the first time I've heard of the Dance of the Fire God," Kyojuro said, after taking some time to think about what Tanjiro had said, while at the same time considering what sort of thoughts were going through Pinkamena's mind on the matter, as she was smarter than most of the Hashira believed and she likely had an idea on what the Dance was, "however, I am delighted to hear that you were able to apply your father performed in a fight... but enough of this story, for I have an idea. You, Tanjiro Mizoguchi, should become my Tsuguko, as I'll look after you!"

"Kyojuro, sir, my name is Tanjiro Kamado." Tanjiro replied, though as he said that Pinkamena knew that it would fall on deaf ears for a time, as the Flame Hashira was more interested in the thought he had come up with, but also knew that if Tanjiro accepted the proposal, and it was accepted by Kaguya, it would give him the presence in the Corps that they had been told about, making her wonder if a Slayer could learn multiple Breaths over their lives.

"Tell me, do you know about the basic Breaths?" Kyojuro inquired, something that seemed to be common knowledge for all Demon Slayers, though while Inosuke clearly didn't know, in fact he was staring out the window and Zenitsu had to stop him from doing something stupid, Tanjiro only knew about Water and Zenitsu did know what he was talking about.

"There are five basic Breaths: Flame, Water, Wind, Stone, and Thunder, all said to hail from the 'Original Breath' one that has been lost to history," Pinkamena replied, as she knew a great deal about the Breath system thanks to the two years she spent learning from Sakonji, while Tanjiro tried to master Water Breathing, before she considered something that she hadn't thought about before this point in time, "It is said that Flower and Serpent Breathing are derived from Water, with Insect coming from Flower, Love came from Flame, Sound is derived from Thunder, and both Beast and Mist come from Wind Breathing... I guess Chaos Breathing would also be derived from Water, given how long we trained under Sakonji."

With that comment made Kyojuro asked what colors their blades were, getting yellow from Zenitsu, indigo grey out of Inosuke, black from Tanjiro, and the dark blue sapphire color with crimson swirls that were on Pinkamena's blade, which was the oddest of them all when everyone thought about it.

"Well, that's too bad. I've never heard of a swordsman with a black blade becoming a Hashira," Kyojuro commented, as he was considering the colors of Tanjiro's blade and Pinkamena's, because while he assumed that the latter's was due to her dual nature as a Demon and a Demon Slayer, hence the color, he had no idea what to make of Tanjiro's, "and, based on what I've heard, you have no idea which Breath to master... so I'll take you on and treat you well!"

Pinkamena chuckled as she listened to them for a time, due to Inosuke constantly acting weird with the movement of the train, Zenitsu trying to stop him from doing something stupid, and Tanjiro trying to get more information out of Kyojuro, before she went serious as the Hashira mentioned that he had no idea when the Demon would show itself. It appeared that this was where a number of Slayers went missing over the last month, one heard a rumor about a disappearance on the Mugen Train, sent a report that they were going to check it out, and never returned, so the higher ups determined that a Demon was behind the disappearance. As such they ended up sending a few more of their lower ranking members to check out the report and sure enough all of them went missing as well, meaning a Demon had to be somewhere on this train and it was feeding on anyone and everyone it could get its hands on. Due to that fact Kyojuro had been assigned to the investigation and was ready for whatever powers the Demon in question had, since he had a feeling it might be one of the potential Lower Moon replacements, meaning it would be stronger than a normal Demon.

As she thought about that Pinkamena noticed someone approaching them and felt the shift in the air, something that her friends and companions noticed as well, a man wearing a black suit and a conductor's hat, meaning he was here to punch their tickets, though when he stopped near them he had a haunted look in his eyes.

"I have seen them..." the conductor said, keeping his voice low for some odd reason, though it was in that moment that Pinkamena, Tanjiro, and Kyojuro sensed the change in the air as a Demon walked through the door the man had walked through not a few moments ago, meaning it was capable of hiding itself until it was time to strike.

The Demon in question had multiple eyes and mouths on his head, along with a number of spikes all over his body, and a fair number of people freaked out as he stepped out into the open and faced them, which caused Kyojuro to stand up as he informed the conductor that he'd rather not make a scene about his sword.

"Big boy, were you hiding yourself with your Blood Demon Art?" Kyojuro inquired, where he shifted his stance a little as he drew his sword, allowing them to watch him as he focused on the figure that seemed to be standing still, in fact, if she was right, Pinkamena was sure that the Demon was frightened of who had appeared in front of him, "If so, than good job, as it was hard to track down your presence... however, if you're baring your fangs at sinless people, the red sword of Rengoku will burn you down to the bone. Breath of Flame, First Form: Unknowing Fire."

In that moment Kyojuro rushed forward in the blink of an eye, surprising Tanjiro and his friends, and decapitated the lone Demon in a matter of seconds, where Pinkamena nodded her head as she seized the pieces with her power, leaving none of the fallen parts behind. Such a thing caused her friends to cheer and proclaim that he was great, especially since both Zenitsu and Inosuke seemed to think that training under him would turn them into true Demon Slayers or something, but he was more than willing to make all three of them his disciples. As they did that, however, Pinkamena kept her guard up as she felt the demonic energy that was in the air, as the stronger one was still lingering after Kyojuro killed the one that had shown itself, meaning it was a trick to lure them into a false sense of security, and the Hashira, seeing the look in her eyes, knew to keep his guard up as well. She had no idea where the Demon was hiding, because the demonic energy she was sensing was all over the train, but that wasn't going to stop her from keeping an eye on things and see if the Demon decided to reveal themselves, or just remain in hiding after witnessing Kyojuro's power.

As the others started to relax, and enjoy the train ride to whatever destination Kyojuro had picked out earlier, Pinkamena had a feeling that when it got dark things were going to happen, that they might be in for the fight of their lives, so she just had to be patient and wait for the hidden Demon to make their move.

Mugen: Demon of Dreams

Pinkamena found that, as time went on, Tanjiro and the others started to fall asleep as night covered the area that they were moving through, not to mention all of the other passengers that were sitting on the remaining benches of the train cars did the same thing as the minutes ticked by. She wasn't too worried about that, as Humans needed to sleep and she, being a Demon, didn't need to rest at all, so they had an eternal guardian for the remainder of the night, especially since she was sure that another Demon was lurking in the shadows, eager to strike at Kyojuro or the others. The lingering energy made it much harder for her to pinpoint the exact area that her target was resting in, which had to be intentional if they knew she had the power to track them down, but she made sure to keep her guard up as she sought out her target. The only one out of her group that seemed to be unaffected by what was going on was Nezuko, due to the fact that she was inside her box and no ticket had been purchased for her, though it didn't tell her much when she considered what was going on right now.

As she thought about that, and the fact that everyone was falling asleep now, she felt a slight change in the energy she was tracking and stood up immediately, where she snapped her fingers and undid the marking on her friends' blades, so when they woke up they would join her. With that done Pinkamena rushed to the door at the end of the train car she was in, opened it without delay, and headed outside, into the gap between cars, and instantly felt a surge of demonic energy, which told her that whoever was here wasn't even trying to hide themselves. As such she leapt onto the top of the train car and headed for the front of the train, because now that she had a grasp of the Demon's power she could tell where it was coming from, confirming that her target was near the engine. Sure enough she spotted a figure standing on the engine, one that she recognized from the information she gained from the four Lower Moons who tried to ambush her a month ago, the lone survivor of the faction of the Kizuki.

Part of her was glad, as she had been hoping to run into Lower Moon One at some point in time, to add his blood to what she had claimed since starting her quest, to which she landed on the end of the engine and focused on the Demon that was in front of her, who turned his head back to look at her.

"How interesting. You didn't succumb to my Blood Demon Art... how sad, I would have loved to see the look on your face after I twisted your peaceful dreams into a nightmare." Enmu commented, once more confirming that the Demons saw her as a Demon Slayer and not a Demon, which was good for Pinkamena when she thought about it, because the longer Muzan and his forces saw her as a Slayer the more they would underestimate her, "You either have a strong will, one that not even my technique could interfere with, or you instantly noticed what was going on and broke out of the spell before it could claim you. The Great One was right, you have to die."

"Enmu, also known as Lower Moon One... I was hoping to run into you." Pinkamena replied, though at the same time she had the feeling that she wasn't going to like this Demon, especially with the twisted sense of fun that Enmu told her about just now, which was just sick when she thought about such a thing.

"You know of me? How odd." Enmu said, where he raised a hand for a moment and touched the bottom of his chin, which meant he was thinking about the information she had just given him, despite the fact that all she had said was his name and rank, though she also noticed that his veins were enlarged, like he had been given an abundance of blood, likely after his comrades were sent out on their mission.

"Yeah, the other Lower Moons howled your name as they harped about the injustice of you being spared, all while I ended their lives." Pinkamena stated, which was a lie, the other four Lower Moons had said nothing when she killed them, but, at the same time, she had learned what she knew about Enmu from speaking to the echoes of his former comrades, even if it hadn't given her a lot of information to go on, but there was no way for Enmu to confirm her words.

"Ah yes, the Great One allowed me to hear their screams before giving me a new mission," Enmu commented, where he raised his hands for a moment and rubbed his arms, like he was chilled or overjoyed by something, all while Pinkamena found that both of his hands had markings on them that could be translated into words, before he focused on her for a time, "if I kill a Hashira, like the flame haired Slayer, I'll get an abundance of blood... if I kill the boy with the earrings that offended the Great One, I'll receive more blood... if I kill the one wearing the fox mask, I'll be given more blood."

"I get it, you're addicted to Muzan's blood." Pinkamena remarked, though that was good for her, because if Enmu had far more than his fair share of the Demon King's blood, especially since he was the only Lower Moon left now, his power was far stronger than what the others might have known before their deaths, meaning his power might be a worthy challenge for her power to face.

"You are so eager to fight. Wouldn't you rather sleep?" Enmu asked, where he raised his hand for a moment and added a few things to it, as Pinkamena found that he gave it a mouth and some eyes, why she had no idea, before she found that it seemed to project his power more than ever before, to actually inflict his target with his power.

Pinkamena debated what to do in this situation, should she open herself up to being attacked or just show her foe that his power meant nothing compared to her own, before mentally sighing as she slightly awakened her power, creating a Room were it looked like she had been hit by the sleep power and was resting on the top of the locomotive, while her true body was off to the side, observing Enmu. Sure enough her opponent stood there for a moment, waiting for her to wake up or do something, before a smirk appeared on his face as he realized that she had been taken out without him having to do all that much, luring him into a false sense of security. Such a thing lead to her discovering that the conductor was one of Enmu's allies and had cut into the tickets that were used as the medium for his technique, meaning her friends were likely in their own dreams right now and wouldn't wake up without something assisting them. The part that interested her was that he even had Humans working for him, more than just the train staff based on what she was discovering, where she found that the people in question had to be suffering from various things, like illnesses or depression from certain family members dying, and he was using those against them, that if they succeeded in their assignments he would give them the dreams they wanted.

Apparently his assistants needed to wait for Tanjiro and the others to be asleep, deep enough so their senses wouldn't be able to sense the impending danger, so they could wrap special ropes around one of their wrists and head into whatever dreams they were having at the moment, to track down and destroy a 'spiritual core'. Based on what she could tell Enmu wanted to kill her friends while they were sleeping, as in crippling them before they had a chance to do anything, so when they woke up they would be shells of their former selves and be easy prey for a Demon to snack on, which seemed to be a part of his plan. Pinkamena was able to figure out what was going on, to a degree anyway, as it sounded like Enmu wanted to eat powerful Humans and might be using the train as a way to lure them in so he could knock them out after lowering their guard, like with the Demon they had seen when the conductor arrived. Taking down a Hashira would definitely boost his power by some degree, not as much as Muzan's blood anyway, but devouring, say, two hundred Humans would add up and increase his power to even new heights, though whether or not it allowed him to approach the level of the Upper Moons wasn't something she cared about.

It was an interesting plan, even though she still hadn't figured out why Enmu refused to leave the area he was standing in at the moment, though the problem with his plan was that it hinged on Tanjiro and the others staying asleep, plus his own allies doing their part to keep the Demon Slayers contained, to which she yawned as she stood where her illusion was and dispelled it, surprising Enmu a little.

"Strange... I could have sworn you were sleeping, having happy dreams like your friends." Enmu commented, showing her that he was interested in how she might have overcome his technique and what it might mean for the others that were in the train car she had left behind, while at the same time informing her that he must not have considered the idea that she had been pretending to be asleep.

"Well, it didn't work as well as you thought it might. Care to try again?" Pinkamena asked, because for right now she was more than willing to waste Enmu's time with her power, tricking him into believing that his power was working on her and making him question what was in front of him, as she knew that Tanjiro and the others didn't need her help, and if they did she could move in to aid them without delay.

Enmu's expression changed for a moment, keeping the surprise while having some interest mixed into it, or at least that seemed to be what Pinkamena was seeing as she stared at him, before he raised his hand and it uttered the command he had issued before, that of 'sleep'. This time around Pinkamena was ready as her power seized control of his Blood Demon Art and the area around them disappeared, where they appeared in a black void of sorts and Enmu glanced around as he took in what he was seeing right now. As he did that she simply floated there, even though she ended up upside down for some odd reason, and off in the distance she could see something emerging from the darkness, which appeared to be a circular stained glass window or screen, with blue and pink colors that were arranged in a way that reminded her of Pinkie for some odd reason. If she had to guess this collision of their powers might have made some sort of heart chamber in her body, or whatever someone could call something like that, though it wasn't terribly important to her, as the more time she wasted the more time Enmu would lose the element of surprise with Tanjiro and her friends.

"How odd. I was not expecting this to be what you would dream of." Enmu said, where he studied the area they were in for a time and raised his hand to his chin for a moment, showing her that he seemed to be under the idea that this was something she would dream about.

"Please, I'd dream of something much better than is," Pinkamena replied, though she kept floating where she started for a while, not bothering to take in the surroundings since she had a good idea of what was around them, and part of her did enjoy seeing Enmu confused like this, just like everyone else that experienced her power, even if this wasn't something she had created with Chaos World, "this is more like my inner heart, or I guess you and your Human Minions might call it the 'Unconscious Zone', which you sent them to destroy after putting my companions to sleep."

"You were listening to my explanation to my tools. To be honest, I'm not surprised." Enmu stated, where Pinkamena could see that he was thinking about something, in fact he might be taken aback by the fact that he was pulled into an area that he didn't want to be to, hence why he used Humans to do his dirty work, before his right hand shifted and he pulled out a chisel that looked like it was made from bone and teeth, "However, I am free to move however I see fit, and if this is your Unconscious Zone, well, it means you're under the effects of my technique... meaning I can find and destroy your Spiritual Core, ending one of the Great One's threats without too much effort."

"That's assuming I let you anywhere near it." Pinkamena remarked, where her mask shimmered for a moment, a motion that surprised Enmu when he noticed it, but before he could react she flashed through the air and placed her palm right up against his chest, something that was followed by her releasing a burst of energy that sent him flying through the water that was around them.

That was the interesting thing, when they weren't moving it didn't seem like anything was around them, but when she or Enmu moved it felt like water was around them, and her motion sent him straight at the edge of her strange heart zone, to which the two of them emerged from her inner heart and returned to where they were standing on the locomotive, as if nothing had happened over the last few minutes.

"This is just further verification that you have to die." Enmu commented, showing that he had retained the information of what had happened inside Pinkamena's strange Unconscious Zone, as he was eying her mask as he recalled the form that he had seen for a couple of seconds, though at the same time he made no sudden moves, making her wonder if he might be waiting for something to happen.

"That's what the other Lower Moons thought as well, before I cut them down." Pinkamena said, where she noticed that it looked darker out, meaning more than a few minutes must have passed inside her Unconscious Zone, an area she would need to alter at some point in the future, though this time she drew her Nichirin Blade and readied herself, "It seems as if you missed something."

"What do you... oh, I get it. My tools haven't destroyed the Spiritual Cores of your companions." Enmu remarked, because he quickly considered her words and instantly understood what she was referring to, though to be fair he wasn't actually expecting them to break a Hashira's core, much less those of the odd Slayers that had joined him, to which he turned his head for a moment, "Well, they're buying time, so it's fine."

"Ah, but you've also lost time as well." Pinkamena stated, though in that moment she felt the disturbance she had been waiting for after discovering Enmu's presence on the locomotive, as Tanjiro appeared nearby and had his blade out, but due to what she knew of him she suspected that he didn't kill the Humans that the Demon enlisted, merely knocked them out before coming here, "Good morning, Tanjiro. Allow me to introduce Enmu, Lower Moon One."

"Backup has arrived... you know, you could have just slept some more." Enmu said, waving a hand at Tanjiro as he came to a stop near the area that Pinkamena was standing in, though he knew that having two Slayers in front of him would tip the scales in their favor, hence why he was grateful for the plan he had sent in motion earlier, "You know, I just showed you an especially nice dream... I could have shown you a dream where your family was slaughtered before your eyes, you know? Now that I think about it, maybe next time I should show you a dream where your father came back from the dead... that might be enough to take you down."

"Don't thoughtlessly trample your way into people's dreams. I won't forgive you, Enmu," Tanjiro replied, where he had the feeling that Pinkamena had been talking to the Demon and prevented him from doing anything important over how long the two of them had been up here, though he shifted his stance and got ready, because after facing Rui he wasn't about to lower his guard with another Lower Moon.

Pinkamena noticed that Enmu seemed surprised to see Tanjiro's hanafuda earrings, connecting him to what Muzan must have shown him after the Lower Moon meeting, though it also presented an opening for them to use as her friend took on the stance of the Tenth Form of Water Breathing, Constant Flux. As he started to perform the continuous flowing attack, as in all of the steps to perform this attack without any problems, Enmu regained himself and raised his left hand, using the mouth to try and put her friend to sleep, just like he had tried to do against her earlier. Sure enough, how that Tanjiro had an idea of what to do in his dreaming state, it only took him a second to break out of the dream, the interval between him being struck by the Blood Demon Art and him waking up being a second, maybe two to three at the max. She stood back as she watched it happen, as Enmu repeated the attack multiple times and found that, while he was hitting Tanjiro with his power, his target was breaking out in a matter of seconds, though Tanjiro was enraged by the things that were said in the dreams he had been given.

She suspected that Enmu was trying to make use of Tanjiro's fallen family, to guilt trip him into submitting, and it enraged him to no end, to the point that he was able to reach the area Enmu was standing in and swung his blade before his foe had a chance to actually defend himself, removing his head from his body, but in that moment she sensed that something was wrong, as his body wasn't breaking down yet.

"Now I see why the Great One wanted you to die as well, in addition to the Pillars and the fox mask," Enmu said, where his head, which was resting on the edge of the locomotive, got up and had a mass below it that allowed it to stand up, a fact that told Pinkamena that he had done something before she reached him earlier, "Somehow, I feel like your very existence makes me twitch in anger. Your surprised expression of me not dying is lovely... I wanted to see that face of yours since I put this plan into motion. Tell me, do you want to know how I was able to survive your attack just now?"

"You merged with the train, didn't you?" Pinkamena asked, because based on what she had seen so far it looked like their foe's power over dreams might be transitioning into the world of reality, that anything he desired, and was actually within his power to grant, would be done, and if it was becoming a power that messed with reality it explained the clash that they had earlier, two reality powers fighting for supremacy.

"Indeed. The body you cut down is no longer my body." Enmu replied, though once more he found that there was another reason to get rid of Pinkamena, because she was able to figure out a Blood Demon Art in no time, regardless of whether or not they worked on her, and such a thing might be trouble for him and the Upper Moons in the future, "This whole train has become by blood, flesh, and bones... meaning all of the two hundred passengers are now my captives, as well as food to further strengthen my body. Can you protect them?"

Enmu laughed as Tanjiro attacked him, this time the attack missing as his head and body were absorbed into the train, but in the following moment he followed after Pinkamena as they headed back to where Kyojuro and the others were resting, even though Inosuke burst out of a train car. Sure enough it seemed like part of him was still stuck in the dream, as he was of the opinion that Tanjiro was his minion, but Pinkamena paid it no mind as Tanjiro explained the situation, though part of her was amused when her wild friend claimed that he was right about the demonic train. Such a thing lead to him using another technique of his, the Fifth Fang of Beast Breathing, Crazy Cutting, to smash through the ceiling he had landed on a few second ago and cut into all of the demonic filth that was trying to devour the Humans in the train. As she and Tanjiro kept moving, however, Pinkamena sensed the awakening of the others and drew on her own power as well, as she placed the entire train under her watchful eye, where each demonic part that was cut off disappeared into her Storehouse, and she expanded her power to keep the Humans safe.

She quickly discovered that Nezuko was slicing into the filth with her sharpened nails, Zenitsu was defending her while he attacked the targets in his train, and Kyojuro appeared after a few moments, following a shockwave, to inform them that he was guarding the last five cars from their enemy, leaving the Demon to Tanjiro, Pinkamena, and Inosuke. It confirmed that he saw her and Nezuko as allies of the Corps and that he was willing to entrust things to them, especially three train cars that were full of people, and once he was done talking Kyojuro flashed back to the cars he was protecting, displaying the sheer power that a Hashira possessed to Tanjiro. With that done the pair returned to the top of the train, as Tanjiro had climbed down to deal with some of the filth on his own, and found that Inosuke was following the scent of the Demon they were fighting, meaning he must have tracked down where Enmu's neck was. Of course he was also jealous of Kyojuro and his abilities, but he was also impressed by him, based on what Pinkamena heard him say, before they focused on their target and headed for the area that the coal was stockpiled in, because if the train was looked at like a spine the coal car had to be the 'neck'.

Sure enough Inosuke smashed his way through the ceiling and dropped into the coal car, where Pinkamena found a lone person working, but given Enmu's desire to use Humans as tools, and the lack of demonic material heading for the man, it was easy for her to tell where he stood, so she struck him with her hand and knocked him out, before moving him into the car that was behind them.

"Now that he's dealt with, you guys can focus on the neck without interruption." Pinkamena remarked, where she turned for a moment and found that a mass of hands was reaching for Inosuke, Enmu protecting himself from danger, and yet it was stopped by Tanjiro moving in with the Sixth Form of Water Breathing, Whirlpool, though her own power snatched the hands before they could disappear.

Sure enough both Tanjiro and Inosuke agreed with her, the neck was right in front of them, something that caused them to attack without delay, the latter unleashing the Second Fang of Beast Breathing, Slice, to deliver two powerful attacks at the floor, breaking it open and revealing a massive spine bone that contained the neck. Tanjiro followed that up by quickly switching to the Eighth Form of Water Breathing, Waterfall Basin, only to find that the hands returned and blocked him, as they got in the way and tanked the attack to protect Enmu, which caused the breach to seal in seconds. Pinkamena knew that to take down the Lower Moon they would have to work together, meaning one would have to break the floor so the other could cut through Enmu's exposed neck, to which she focused her mind and channeled one of her other powers for a time, that being Chaos Breathing, Third Form: Dance of the Phantom. This technique was much like the Third Form that Tanjiro had used a few times in the past, a flowing pattern that resembled someone dancing, only hers was designed to make her disappear from her foe's sight until she made her move, and this time she used it to lash out at the hands that dared to reach for her friends, along with the twisted eyes that showed up.

The opening she provided allowed Inosuke to use another technique, the Fourth Fang: Slice 'n' Dice, where he slashed up the floor open in an instant, and that paved the way for Tanjiro to use another of his father's moves, a complete spin of his body, three hundred and sixty degrees, as he slashed out, which was the move called 'Clear Blue Sky'. The results of that attack were instantaneous, the flaming ring sliced through Enmu's neck with ease, reminding Pinkamena of the fact that the Sun Breathing was incredibly dangerous to Demons, and it even sliced through the rest of the locomotive, as in it was cut in half, like a Demon's head being severed. In the following seconds more arms and hands burst out of the train, which had to be Enmu reacting to his death, and she activated her power as she drew in all the pieces, separating him from the rest of the train, even though there wasn't much she could do about the derailment that was happening right now. It was interesting to think that all of this was caused by one application of Tanjiro's Hinokami Kagura, one move was enough to take down a Lower Moon, after all his training, and even slice through the train itself, and with the opening in front of her and the others they were thrown out of the locomotive

In the following seconds she was sure that Tanjiro, somehow, got struck in the stomach area, too much was happening with Enmu's death for her to keep track of everything, and as she landed near the wreckage she found that Kyojuro had found his way to Tanjiro, likely helping him with the blow he had been dealt, and his black blade had landed nearby, but as she breathed a sigh of relief something crashed into the area near them and crushed the Nichirin Blade... though she had a feeling that things were about to go from bad to worse.

Mugen: Deadly Arrival

As the smoke cleared Pinkamena found that a young muscular man was standing in the rather small crater that had been made upon his arrival, where his skin was fair and seemed to be white colored, before she found that there were all sorts of blue lines all over his body, forming a pattern she didn't recognize. As more of the smoke disappeared, and Kyojuro and the others could see what she was seeing right now, she found that the figure had short bright pink hair that fluffed out around his head, which was an odd color for the people of this world, based on what she had seen so far. He was wearing a short sleeveless haori that seemed to be a dark pink-purple color and was cut of at his waist, while open in the front to reveal his chest, and there was some sort of square pattern on the back of it, before she spotted that he was wearing a pair of white baggy pants that were rolled up just passed his knees. There was a blue rope belt wrapped around his waist, likely holding up his lower wear, and, unless she was seeing things, he had a ring of prayer beads that were resting above his ankles, or maybe they were pink pearls that he likely stole from some Humans he had crushed in the past.

The reason she started to think of him as if he was a Demon was because she could sense the power inside him, in fact it explained his skin color, and when he turned to look in Tanjiro's direction Pinkamena noticed his eyes, the right had the Kanji for 'Upper Moon' while the left had 'Three', something that caused her to stall as she wondered why such a Demon was here in the first place.

Even if the Demon was here to fight it wasn't like Tanjiro could anymore, as he had to focus on making sure his injury didn't open and his blade had been crushed with Upper Moon Three's arrival, which would infuriate Hotaru when he learned what happened to it, so soon after delivering it to him. Inosuke could also tell just how powerful the Demon was, as he seemed to be shaking in the area that he had stopped in, fear having gripped him as he determined that doing anything right now, in the face of this monster, would result in his death. Zenitsu and Nezuko were off in the distance, no doubt near the car that everyone had been riding in before Enmu's minions made their move, so if a fight broke out, and she was sure one would happen so, it would be up to her and Kyojuro to stall Upper Moon Three. She knew that she had the power to deal with the Lower Moons, in fact Enmu hadn't provided much of a challenge earlier, but there was no way of telling how much of a power gap existed between the two ranks, so there was no telling how she would measure up to someone like this.

A few seconds later the Demon burst through the air and zeroed in on where Tanjiro was resting, something that caused both her and Kyojuro to move and intercept him, where Kyojuro unleashed the Second Form of Flame Breathing, Rising Scorching Sun, and sliced into the Demon's incoming fist as Pinkamena sliced into both of his legs, though he jumped back before either of them could attack again.

"Nice technique." the Demon commented, where Pinkamena was able to see that Kyojuro had sliced through most of the figure's left arm after intercepting the fist that would have killed Tanjiro, she was sure of that, and the wound healed in a matter of seconds, far faster than a Lower Moon could heal, and he even licked up the rest of the blood that remained on his hand.

"Upper Moon, why are you targeting an injured person?" Kyojuro asked, though in this moment, facing the pressure and sheer amount of dread that was coming from the Demon in front of them, he was glad to have Pinkamena on his side, as her power would ensure that everyone else would survive this encounter, even if the Upper Moon hadn't targeted her in the last few moments.

"I thought he'd just get in the way, between the two of us... your companion can do whatever she wants." the Demon said, meaning he saw Tanjiro as a hindrance and wanted him removed before engaging the pair in a real fight, as that seemed to be the vibe that Pinkamena got from him, all while showing them that he didn't consider her a threat at all.

"So, are you here to talk or to fight?" Pinkamena inquired, because right now it was hard to figure out was going through the Demon's mind right now, despite what her feelings were telling her, but she kept her guard up as she debated when to reveal her hand and show off her true power, as she suspected she would need Chaos World to actually beat someone like the Demon that was in front of them, "Either way, despite this being our first meeting, I have a feeling that both of us already dislike, if not hate, you."

"Well, I happen to hate weaklings... in fact, I feel disgusted when I look at weaklings." the Upper Moon said, his tone telling them that he was definitely a fighter and that he was here to engage them in a fight, instead of talking about the death of Enmu, which he must have witnessed with the wreckage of the train, all while Kyojuro frowned for a moment, "I can see it in your eyes, you're thinking about how we have different morals and that your dislike of me has grown... or something stupid like that. I have a wonderful proposal: how about you both become Demons?"

"Not a chance." Kyojuro stated, because he was perfectly fine with being Human, and having all the weakness that came with such a thing, before he considered the humorous aspect of this particular conversation, Pinkamena's existence as a Demon was still being overlooked by every other Demon she encountered, to the point where an Upper Moon hadn't felt it upon his arrival.

"I know the both of you are strong, I can tell that your battle spirits are quite polished," the Demon continued, informing them that he was under the impression that he could convince them to accept Muzan's blood, or his blood, and turn into new Demons, before a slight smile appeared on his face, "You, with the hair styled like flames, you're a Hashira, one that is getting close to the Supreme Territory."

"You are correct. I am the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku," Kyojuro said, as he had a feeling that sharing their names and positions might get some information out of the Demon that was in front of them, that way all of the other Hashira could be warned about one of the Upper Moons, if he managed to escape from Pinkamena's powers, before he gestured to his companion for a moment, "and this is Pinkamena, our rising star, who we, the Hashira, have acknowledged as a Hinoe not that long ago."

"Really? That much of a jump?" Pinkamena inquired, because while she didn't care much about the ranking system that all of the Slayers used, due to her focus being on hunting down and eliminating the Lower Moons, she wasn't expecting the rank increase to be that much, as she went from the lowest rank, the Mizunoto, to the third highest, Hinoe, which wasn't counting becoming a Hashira.

"You killed most of the current Lower Moons, so it's a justified rank increase." Kyojuro replied, though he was pleased to be the one to give her this information, as he had learned that the higher ups would be sending a crow in due time, to tell her this news, but had taken their sweet time talking about what it might mean if others discovered she was a Demon, and he could see that the Upper Moon was surprised.

"Well, I am Akaza... so, you are the one whose been annoying the Great One." the Demon, Akaza, said, as he heard that a Slayer had done something every Demon claimed to be near impossible, killing four of the Lower Moons in moments, as in rapid succession, and while the current ones had been weak, in fact he was sure a Hinoe could kill them easily, he felt that only a Hashira could kill four skilled Demons like that, "It's a shame that you won't consider becoming Demons, because if you stay in this weak Human state you'll grow old and, eventually, die from old age... if you accept my offer you'll be able to train for a hundred years, maybe even two hundred, and become even stronger than you are now."

"You might not like it, but growing old and eventually dying is the beauty of the fleeting creature called a Human being," Kyojuro stated, turning his attention back to the Upper Moon that was in front of them, as he knew that to lower his guard would mean certain death for him, while Pinkamena would likely tank Akaza's attacks and kill him in due time, because he had faith in her interesting abilities, "because they grow old, because they die, they are tremendous, lovable, and precious. What they call 'strength' isn't a word that is used in regards to the body. This boy, for example, isn't weak, rather he is far stronger than you know, so please, don't insult him by calling him 'weak'. It's like I said a few moments ago, you and I have different moral values, and no matter what sort of motivation might be forced upon me, I will never become a Demon, nor will I ever like someone like you."

"I see... if you won't become Demons, then I'll just kill you both." Akaza said, where he shifted his stance, moving his arms and legs for a moment like he was using a martial arts stance, before some sort of compass appeared around him, which had to be his Blood Demon Art in action.

In the following moment Akaza rushed at them and the pair moved in response, Kyojuro using Unknowing Fire to counter whatever attack was being used against him, while at the same time opening the way for Pinkamena to lash out, as she spun and used her Sixth Form, Violent Vortex Slash, against their foe. What surprised her was the power of Akaza's blows, as the collision of his attack and Kyojuro's caused a surge of flames to erupt from where they were standing and, despite losing some of the power to parrying the first attack, he countered her attack as well, though he didn't lash out at her, as odd as it seemed. She had known that an Upper Moon would be stronger than all of the Lower Moons, though in her sealed state it was quite surprising that he was able to smash and counter her Chaos Breathing like this, something that kind of excited her since this was the first time she had been challenged like this and made her wonder when to unleash her full power. Despite that happening the three of them moved around the area that was a good distance in front of where Tanjiro was resting, their attacks clashing and kicking up some wind, though Pinkamena found that Akaza was much faster than the Lower Moons had been and his strength was no joke, making her wonder how strong the other Upper Moons were, especially Upper Moon One.

While that happened, however, she found that the past repeated itself, he only countered her attacks and then focused on Kyojuro, making her wonder if he didn't like to fight people of the opposite gender, an interesting thing to consider given he was a Demon, though she continued to assist Kyojuro to the best of her ability.

As they fought, their attacks damaging the area around them while avoiding Tanjiro, Inosuke, and the train itself, Akaza said a few things that interested them, that he had killed many Hashira over the years and that this was the first time that he had fought one of Flame, along with the fact that none of the high ranking Slayers had accepted his offer. Such a thing told her that many Hashira shared Kyojuro's thoughts on the matter, that they would rather face Demons for all their days and die as a Human, instead of being turned into a Demon and being twisted into monsters that preyed on people, which simply confused Akaza. In fact he seemed surprised that none of them wanted to preserve their talents and arts, like the martial arts he had been trained in before he became a Demon, and proclaimed that if they wanted to act that way all of them might as well die while they were young, causing him to unleash another technique on them, which was him simply punching the empty air and knocking them around with the shockwaves. His fighting style was unique, even among all of the Demons Pinkamena had fought so far, and in her sealed state she suspected that she wouldn't be able to best him in battle, even if she busted out the final Form of her Breathing Style, which would require her to break out more of her own power to make sure no one got hurt by the aftereffects.

Kyojuro, upon using Blooming Flame Undulation, the Fourth Form of his Breath, realized that to end this fight one of them had to get close or they would never make progress in this fight, where he said nothing as he rushed forward and clashed with Akaza directly, searching for an opening that Pinkamena could use to cut the Upper Moon down. As he did that, and all of the Demon's attention was on him, she made sure that Tanjiro stayed where he was resting and Inosuke stood near him, as she would be the one to assist their friend in dealing with the Demon, and once they understood she moved into the area and observed them. Akaza, sensing a new change in his opponent, switched to a new move that was a barrage of blows that shook the area in front of him, just in time to counter Kyojuro's Flame Tiger, the Fifth Form of Flame Breathing, which he was able to overpower in no time and the air vibrated with their brief collision. Of course that didn't stop Kyojuro from attacking and defending to the best of his ability, trying in vain to find an opening, any opening, that would allow his ally to jump in, but Akaza sensed what he was looking for and kept his guard up, though Pinkamena joined in as well, due to the fact that two fighters were definitely better than one.

Unfortunately, despite her inclusion, Akaza proved to be quite the opponent, as he blocked any attack and barely took any damage, though there were a few instances where he lost his hands and instantly regenerated them, displaying the might of an Upper Moon, and eventually they paused as Kyojuro huffed, as his left eye was gone, some of his ribs were hurt, and she was sure some of his organs were wounded.

"Don't die on me, Kyojuro." Akaza commented, his tone showing that he actually enjoyed fighting a Flame Hashira, even if there was someone just as strong as him standing nearby, before he raised a hand to his chest as Kyojuro's slash marks, all the wounds he had inflicted on the Demon, healed in seconds, "Even if you fight me with the intention of sacrificing the entirety of your body, it's pointless in the end, as all of the wonderful wounds your techniques left on me have completely healed. But how about you? Your left eye is smashed, I've cracked some of your ribs, and my techniques have bruised a number of your organs... there's no way for you to recover from this... not as a Human, anyway. If you were a Demon you would have healed all of this in the blink of an eye, as it would have been a mere scratch to a Demon born of a Hashira turning and saving themselves from death. No matter how much you struggle, Humans cannot defeat Demons."

Kyojuro knew that, while he was a Hashira and that he was stronger than most Slayers, Akaza was far stronger than his current level, even if he hadn't used too much power on Enmu or his demonic allies, before he glanced at Pinkamena and she took a step back, allowing him to ignite the area that was around him as he shifted his stance, raising his blade so that both hands were on the handle and it rested near his shoulder.

"I will fulfill my duties! I won't let anyone here die!" Kyojuro stated, as there was one move in his arsenal that might have the power to cross the gap between him and Akaza, one that might open the way for Pinkamena to move in and cut down Upper Moon Three, and if they succeeded in taking him down he would gladly die as well, to which he focused and ignited his insides as well, "I am the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku. Flame Breathing, Esoteric Art... Ninth Form: Rengoku!"

Pinkamena watched as Akaza, pleased with his foe's determination, shifted to a new stance as Kyojuro burst forward, as if he was being shot out of a cannon and rushed towards the Demon they were fighting, while the flames that surrounded him took on the form of a serpent dragon, an amazing technique in her mind. The collision of his power and Akaza's sent a bunch of dust into the air, where she found Kyojuro swinging his blade twice, the first one cutting through the Demon's right fist before hitting his chest, with Akaza deflecting it to avoid having his head taken off. In the following seconds, just before his foe could do anything, he twisted his blade around and pulled it straight up towards the sky, as if he was trying to split Akaza down the middle or something, transforming the flames around them into a pillar of fire. While Tanjiro and Inosuke looked on in amazement, as it was quite the battle to witness, Pinkamena knew that, even if Akaza was wounded, it wouldn't be for long and she was moving already, to intercept the Demon before he could flee.

What she wasn't expecting was to find that the Upper Moon was unharmed, save for the split arm that was healing, and Akaza's right hand had pierced Kyojuro's chest, though as he proclaimed that his foe was going to die, and that he should become a Demon, they found something interesting, Kyojuro had focused his mind and trapped the hand before it could be ripped out of him. As Akaza realized that, as he did so in the same moment that Pinkamena discovered it, Kyojuro did the next thing that came to him, he raised his right arm and swung his blade, cutting into the Demon's neck a little, which surprised Akaza more than it should have. In the following seconds the Demon swung his other fist with the intent to kill his foe, where Kyojuro raised his other hand and grabbed onto the arm before it could hit him, where he stopped Akaza's attack in it's tracks, once more shocking the Demon by what he was doing. Normally this was reserved for trapping one of their demonic enemies in an area so the sun could burn them to death, but since things had happened so quickly he knew it would be some time, fifteen minutes maybe, before sunrise came and he knew he couldn't hold out for that long, as the Demon would kill him before that, hence why he was sacrificing himself to open the way for Pinkamena.

Akaza realized the true trap not a few moments after that, though while Pinkamena couldn't use some of her techniques, due to the fact that Kyojuro would be caught in most of them, she flashed up to her companion's left side and swung her blade, intending to sever Akaza's head... though in that moment they underestimated the sheer power of their foe, as he forcefully moved his arms, and Kyojuro, so that Pinkamena's swing took off half his arms and shattered Kyojuro's blade so the Demon could retreat, all while she managed to avoid the Flame Hashira's arm.

"I have to admit, that was a decent plan... but not good enough to take me down." Akaza stated, where he healed his arms and hands in a second before extracting the blade fragment that was currently lodged partway through his neck, which he tossed it to the ground once it was out and allowed that wound to disappear in no time, causing him to stare at the pair as he considered his next move, "With the Hashira broken and weaponless, and you lacking the speed to deal with me, I'll be able to finish what that worthless Lower Moon started, killing and eating the men while hunting down the few Slayers that are still here... they might not offer me much, but weaklings need to be crushed."

"Don't you dare look down on any of us." Pinkamena replied, where Akaza paused for a moment as he noticed something odd, the right eye of her mask, which she wore at all times based on what he saw, seemed to glare at him, as if it moved all on its own, before she knelt by Kyojuro for a couple of seconds, "I know you have your morals, but surely you'll let me heal you so you can continue with your duty, as there..."

"I know you mean well, and I know how I used your power before this point, but this is my limit." Kyojuro said, as he knew that if she put her mind to it Pinkamena could heal his body, because her unique Blood Demon Art was unmatched and he suspected that it would push even Akaza to his limits, but he also knew that this was as far as his power could take him, even if it worried those that were around him.

Pinkamena sighed for a moment, as while she respected his decision on the matter, she still felt it was the wrong one, but to make sure he didn't turn into a Demon accidentally she carefully removed Akaza's arm fragment from his body and set up a barrier of sorts so he didn't bleed out before his time. As she did that, however, she realized that this was the first of her friends that she was going to actually lose to one of Muzan's twisted followers, as while they weren't all that close she was sure all the time they spent training, so he could face stronger Demons, might have created the spark of friendship that Pinkie and her friends had. Such a thing enraged her, especially when she thought about the fact that Akaza had said that he was going to kill all of her other friends, those she had known for longer than a month, to which she turned as she got up and faced the Upper Moon that was still standing nearby, like he was the best fighter in the area. As she did that, however, Kyojuro noticed that crimson energy was leaking out of her body as her fox mask looked like it was twisted into a look of rage, meaning she wasn't too pleased with what was going on right now and had to be blaming Akaza for her and the others losing a Hashira.

Akaza, sensing that something was coming, rushed through the space between them as the energy covered Pinkamena, to which he swung his fist and expected to crush Kyojuro once and for all, so he could depart from this area and get back to his own duties, before discovering that the energy stopped his attack. As that happened Kyojuro noticed something else, Pinkamena's energy was darkening the area, or maybe it was more accurate to say that it was forming a dark barrier to ensure she could inflict maximum damage on the Demon, instead of allowing the sun to rise and attempt to burn him to death, before the sphere of energy started to break down. What he expected was her normal fox form, the light red orange he had seen during the Hashira meeting not that long ago, but what he, Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Akaza found was that the main color of her fur had been twisted into a dark pink color, the red marking on her hand had disappeared, and her fox tail was no longer alone, due to the fact that there were three tails now, where the tips were crimson red colored. Kyojuro wondered what he and the others were seeing, especially since he was sure that the marking that had been on her hand had reappeared on her back, or at least that was what he thought he saw under her clothing for a few seconds, like it was transparent, before the see though effect disappeared entirely.

In that moment he realized that Chaos World had evolved, elevating Pinkamena's power to new heights, and with it came a sense of dread, which Akaza seemed to be feeling, especially since his fist had been stopped by Pinkamena's crimson aura, the area just below it looking like a bone had formed, even if she hadn't been the target of that attack.

In the following moment Pinkamena grabbed onto the side of his head and moved forward, everything shifting into her control in an instant as Akaza found himself unable to resist her grip, where she rushed into the forest and hurled him at the ground without wasting even a second. As Akaza tried to figure out what was going on, since he wasn't expecting such a surge in power, Pinkamena leapt into the air and crimson energy gathered around her blade as she focused on her foe, a fact that caused Kyojuro to pause as he realized what he and the others were seeing right now, due to the fact that this was a move she rarely used against her foes. Kyojuro barely had time to process what was happening as their companion swung her arm and loosed a wave of crimson energy straight at where Akaza was resting, who seemed to freak out as he saw it coming at him, causing him to move out of the way to the best of his ability, though it sliced through his left arm, as it was the last thing to get out of the way. Pinkamena grinned as she noticed that her foe hadn't realized what was coming his way, as while Akaza was distracted she sent a second Lunar Fang straight at him, this one taking both of his legs, or at least half of each one, causing the Demon to stumble for a moment before regenerating, and, sure enough, he retrieved his pearl jewelry before moving out of the area.

She glanced at the ground for a moment, two deep gashes that were left in the forest thanks to her attacks, before she burst out of the air and smashed into the area that Akaza was running through, where the Demon shifted his stance and summoned his compass, no doubt to defend himself. Pinkamena lashed out with her blade and Akaza quickly found that his fingers, even his right fist at one point, went flying from where he was standing, showing him that while he was holding back, due to the fact that he refused to kill women and he wasn't about to start by ending her life, her new power was just as strong as his current low powered state. The surprising thing, besides the fact that he was sure that more than fifteen minutes had passed by this point, was that all of the pieces that went flying ended up just vanishing in the blink of an eye, as if something else was going on right now, which caused him to consider the rapid and sudden transformation he had witnessed. His foe, as odd as it seemed, was a Demon, a rather powerful one based on the fight that was going on right now, one that was disobeying their master by joining the very force that existed to end their kind, because that was the only thing that could explain the transformation and the odd power he was facing, it had to be a Blood Demon Art of some kind.

As he thought about that, in the blink of an eye, his foe vanished and he was kicked in the chest, sending him flying into a couple of trees as he went deeper and deeper into the forest, though as Akaza tried to regain himself he noticed strands of energy gathering around Pinkamena's left pointer finger, forming a small orb in front of it. He had no idea what she had planned for her new attack, as his instincts told him that it was an attack, but instead of sticking around to find out he did what had to be the smartest move in this situation, he turned around and fled from the scene, because with her rage he suspected it would be impossible to best her. Pinkamena, on the other hand, fired a beam of crimson energy that raced through the forest and struck Akaza in the back, causing an explosion that obliterated the entire area around him, at least five trees in each direction by her estimates, and once that was done she approached where she had last seen the Demon who attacked them. What she discovered, in addition to the crater she made, was that Akaza had fled from the battlefield, choosing to use the smoke from her attack as his cover, and while it was the smart thing to do it did show her that Akaza knew that he stood no chance against her heightened power, causing her to sigh for a moment.

With the Upper Moon gone she returned to where Kyojuro and the others were resting, all while she made sure to lower her barrier, as it seemed like killing Akaza would have to wait for later, the next time he decided to show himself, so for the time being she decided to focus on helping her friend pass before worrying about the consequences that would come from such a thing happening.

Interlude: Last Words

It didn't take Pinkamena more than a few seconds to reach the area that Kyojuro was resting in, where it looked like part of her power had kept him around for a little while longer than one normally would in this sort of situation, though the Flame Hashira smiled as she approached, with Tanjiro and the others waiting nearby.

"I told Tanjiro some things I remembered just now, about heading to my parent's house and looking for the notes that the Hashira of my family left behind," Kyojuro said, showing that he wanted Pinkamena to know the information as well, just in case her friend tried to head over there in his condition, and if Tanjiro did move he knew that their ally would make sure nothing bad happened to him or his body, "I've never read them, save for the volumes containing how to wield each of the Flame Breathing techniques, so I have no idea what's inside any of them, but I think that there might be some record of this 'Dance of the Fire God' Tanjiro was talking about. Tanjiro, I want you to tell my little brother Senjuro that he should proceed down whatever path he thinks is right, as his heart tells him... and, if you can, I'd like for you to tell my father to take care of his body... oh, and Tanjiro, I believe in your sister and I accept her as a member of the Demon Slayer Corps. While we were facing the Lower Moon's attacks I saw her do everything in her power to protect the slumbering Humans, despite the fact that she was bleeding out... those who risk their lives to fight Demons, and protect the innocent people of the land, are Demon Slayers, no matter what anyone tries to say about them."

Pinkamena found that Tanjiro was pleased with that statement, since he was working to make sure his sister was accepted by the rest of the organization, and she committed the message to the rest of Kyojuro's family to mind, just in case her friend forgot it while he was resting. Kyojuro went on to say that if any of them got knocked down, by either their own weaknesses, feelings, or their enemies, they should flare up their hearts and move forward, along with the fact that none of them should be saddened by the end, as they weren't going to stop the flow of time. He told them not to be saddened by his death, as it was natural for someone of his status to stand up and protect his juniors, making it possible for them to grow and, if they were lucky, replace him as Hashira, or at least the Hashira for their chosen Breathing Styles, like Giyu if Tanjiro continued to use Water Breathing. His words, despite trying to bring happiness by looking towards the future of all those gathered near him, caused Tanjiro and Inosuke to tear up, that much Pinkamena knew since she was feeling sad as well, where this was the first time she cursed the fact that she was a Demon, as she couldn't mourn one of her few friends properly, only to feel tears flowing out like normal.

"Pinkamena... you are more than just a Demon, you're a Demon with the heart and soul of a Human, so hold your head high and continue with your quest," Kyojuro added, as he knew that, in a roundabout way, he had addressed the people who traveled with the Corps' most important ally and hadn't spoken to her yet, but this was all he could say, as his time was short and he could feel himself fading.

As she opened her mouth to say something, anything really, Pinkamena found that Kyojuro's eyes were on something, or someone, else right now, no doubt a figure from his past that he was seeing while he was on death's door, where a rather large and proud smile appeared on his face, as if someone was pleased with him, before he lowered his head and the life faded from his body. After that she turned out most of what the others said as she sat on a nearby rock, which she likely made with part of her ability or might have been left behind by her battle with Akaza, though she left Zenitsu and Inosuke talk with Tanjiro for a time, while Zenitsu kept Nezuko's box on his back. Of course Zenitsu had been out during the fight with Upper Moon Three, so he had missed witnessing the great power of a more powerful Demon, and yet he couldn't believe, even for a single moment, that a Hashira had been killed by such a foe, without being able to take his head, even if he had used a lot of his energy to keep everyone on the train safe. Tanjiro hated the fact that he was so weak, that he had been wounded during the fight with Enmu and was unable to do anything to help Kyojuro during the fight with Akaza, who had smashed his blade before he could even join the fight, which seemed to plant the desire to get stronger inside him, to stop this from happening in the future.

Of course that didn't stop Inosuke and Zenitsu from speaking loudly and trying to cheer Tanjiro up, as he was their friend and all of them were saddened by Kyojuro's passing, and, sure enough, the former headbutted the latter to prove that he 'wasn't crying', leaving Pinkamena to her thoughts.

After a while they were found by the Kakushi, who must have witnessed the train being derailed and came to investigate, only to be surprised by Kyojuro's passing, though as they helped Tanjiro and the others, to get out of the area before the passengers came to see who was on this side of the train, Pinkamena carefully lifted the fallen Hashira. With that done all of them departed from the area, heading for the Butterfly Mansion so her friends could be checked for injuries and rest up, though she would carefully lay Kyojuro in a casket once they reached their destination, before heading to deliver the report of what happened to their superiors. On their way to Aoi's place, since she seemed to be the only one due to both Shinobu and Kanao leaving for another mission, she learned from one of the Kakushi that the two hundred passengers were fine, having sustained only minor injuries for the most part, where only a single person, the Conductor that had been inside the locomotive, was slightly wounded, having part of his lower right leg crushed by the train. It was a miracle when one considered it, Kyojuro had placed his life on the line and saved so many people, in an event that would be seen as an accident in the eyes of the public, even though it would be hard to explain the fact that the locomotive was split like that, despite the fact that they were going with the seams falling apart.

Once they reached the Butterfly Mansion, and had Tanjiro sit down with his friends standing nearby, the Kakushi departed as one headed for where Kaguya's new hideout was located, where Pinkamena followed after her and used her power to hide them entirely, making it seem like the wind moved where they stepped, allowing them to reach their destination in no time, as his mansion was only an hour from Shinobu's place. Sure enough Kaguya seemed surprised to find that she had come to personally deliver the report on what happened after they were discharged from the Butterfly Mansion, but that didn't stop him and his wife from listening to what she had to say about what happened. Pinkamena informed him of the fact that Tanjiro had sought Kyojuro out to learn more about his father's dance, as he was curious as to why it acted like a Breathing Style when he used it, before she explained that they had run into Lower Moon One, Enmu, who was now dead and the Lower Moons had been shattered, unless their foe had more lined up to replace them. Their victory was cut short as an unexpected foe, Upper Moon Three, appeared and fought them to the death, where she and Kyojuro fought Akaza to the best of their abilities at the time, but, in the end, Kyojuro fell protecting the train and Akaza fled after witnessing the power boost she received.

"Kyojuro really was an incredible child... being able to save two hundred passengers, while fighting a Lower Moon's pawns, before nearly taking out an Upper Moon." Kaguya said, speaking after Pinkamena went silent, having given the report to him in the fullest, something that caused his wife to head over to the crows and composed a letter for a number of them, to tell all of the other Hashira about this turn of events, "Pinkamena, I'm sorry that you lost such a reliable friend, but I will commit his name to memory and make sure his sacrifices for us weren't in vain."

Pinkamena knew that there was more Kaguya wanted to say, so she sat down and listened to him for a time, though while that happened she was imagining what would happen the next time she encountered Akaza, as she was going to tear the Upper Moon apart, before focusing on remembering Kyojuro and listening to what Kaguya had to say, as there would be time to worry about the future later.

Akaza kept running for a few more minutes, as he was able to find a cave to hide in so he could wait out the sun and move when night arrived, allowing him to rest and recover from the fight he had just been in, though while part of it could be called a fight he knew what the other half had been. The other half had been a beating, a one sided fight that resulted in him being treated like he was trash, like his defenses were nothing compared to the power that was in front of him, and he knew that if it hadn't been for the smoke that erupted from his foe's attacks, covering him from her sight, that would have been his last fight. As he thought about it he knew a few things, the first being that Kyojuro had been a strong foe for him to face and it made him regret not facing the Flame Hashira in the past, if that was what they could do to him before his regeneration kicked in, while the second was that his foe had stated that the weaklings weren't weak and such a thing made him curious as to what they might do in the future. The third thing, however, was what dominated his thoughts right now, as there was a wall he wasn't expecting to discover when he moved to check out the ruined train, as he had been on his way to report to the Great One before spotting it and the faint presence of a fallen Lower Moon.

He had been expecting to discover some Slayers at the scene, maybe even a Hashira, but what he actually discovered sent a chill down his spine when he thought about it, the discovery of a Demon who had betrayed her kind, sided with the foul Demon Slayers, and the death of the Hashira had tipped her emotions over the edge, awakening a new power inside her, one that matched, even surpassed, his lowest amount of power. Akaza knew of the doctor who betrayed the Great One all those years ago, as one of their unspecified missions was to track her down and bring her to their master, but she was the only Demon, in existence, who had broken her connection to the Great One. Thanks to what he had found he knew that a chance to that thought was in order, there was a second Demon who had rebelled against the Great One, which told him that she must have found a way to do what the doctor did, yet they couldn't send the weaker Demons after her. Based on what he had seen earlier, and had nearly died to, Pinkamena was as strong as an Upper Moon, Six based on everything he had witnessed, and yet he knew she had room to grow even stronger, far more than what he had seen so far, and yet that thought sent a shiver down his spine.

There was something different about her, what he had no idea, but he was able to tell that she was definitely not like all of the other Demons he had encountered over the years, especially when he stopped to consider the fact that her form was unlike all of the hungry figures who served the Great One, as he had never seen a Demon take on such a form, much less wield the power that she commanded.

Akaza spent some time hiding in the cave, making sure no Slayers came looking for him, where he could tell that any that came to check on the train must have come from another direction, meaning they missed him entirely, but once the last ray of sunlight was gone, and night had come, he left immediately. He knew that the Great One was expecting him, due to the report that he had on the objective he was looking for, and Akaza already had a feeling about what was going to face when he reached the area that his master happened to be resting in. What was interesting was that the train had been heading in the direction of the Great One's current domain, where his newest disguise was working quite well on those he had encountered, so a Hashira had been on the way to incredible danger and it was a good thing he had been eliminated, as it was unwise to waste his master's time. Based on what he knew the Great One was currently looking for a way for to conquer the sun, the greatest bane to all Demons, and that had been part of his reasoning for the current disguise he had created, while also being part of the mission that all of the Upper Moons were given, even if he knew that one of them had a problem with following directions.

It took him some time to cross the forest, taking care to make sure that Pinkamena wasn't roaming it, looking for him so she could finish the fight, before he reached the city that his master was currently hiding in and made his way over all the rooftops, eventually ending in him landing on a balcony where a young boy, who looked like a much younger version of his old male form, was standing by a bookshelf.

"I have come to make a report, Lord Muzan." Akaza said, making sure to bow his head as the figure turned, which gave him a few seconds to see the familiar crimson eyes appear in place of the boy's black eyes, his master's way of making the new disguise last longer than all of the others that came before it.

"Did you find what we talked about?" Muzan inquired, because so far most of the Upper Moons had failed to find the one thing he wanted, a special ingredient that would allow him to walk in the sunlight and not be cursed with the weaknesses his body currently possessed, and even thinking about that failure irritated him to no end.

"I have done some investigations, checked the references I have been given, but have found that, so far, I have obtained no reliable information... I cannot even confirm its existence." Akaza replied, knowing that his words were going to enrage his master and that he was likely going to be punished for his failure, he accepted full responsibility for failing and held his ground as he waited for what was to come, even though his body was still weakened from fighting Pinkamena, "so far all the people I have interrogated say that the Blue Spider Lilly doesn't exist, and I have been unable to find it in several of the harder to reach places that rare ingredients have been found in over the years."

"So? Are you proud of failing me yet again?" Muzan asked, as he knew that many of the Kizuki Demons he had created, be they Lower Moons or Upper Moons, were proud of certain things and it usually included burying the Hashira, even though none of them could find the leader that was eluding all of them, where he could tell Akaza had encountered one that had been on his way here and crushed him.

"No, I am also displeased with my failure, and I use that as inspiration to push myself further than before, be it looking for the Blue Spider Lilly or locating Ubuyashiki." Akaza stated, though he could tell his insides rupturing as Muzan's anger, the all intense anger that all Demons feared, was turned on him as he knelt there, where he stood his ground and let his lord vent his rage on his body, even though it stopped after his master realized he had more to report, "I have also found out something shocking... another Demon has betrayed us, this time joining the very organization we are sworn to destroy at all costs. I'm sorry, I underestimated her power..."

Muzan paused for a few seconds, growing a little more annoyed that Akaza had underestimated his foe, especially due to the fact that it had been a woman of some kind, before catching himself, as this was the second time a Demon had turned on him, the first being Tamayo, who had a bounty on her head that no Demon had claimed yet. Part of him was curious as to which Demon it might be, especially since his Curse should have crushed them the instant they decided to turn on him, though he was annoyed that they dared to join the Demon Slayer Corps and hunt down her own kind, a grave sin when he considered it. It was that desired to figure out what was going on that caused him to hold out a hand to the Upper Moon that was in front of him, where Akaza produced a cup, no doubt taken from the nearby nightstand, and pricked his hand for a moment, allowing him to pour some of his blood in before handing it to his master, where Muzan took it and quickly downed the contents. Normally when he looked into a Demon's memories it would be after absorbing them into himself, an ability he rarely used these days, and with the loss of the Lower Moons, as he felt Enmu's passing earlier, he needed to ensure his most loyal Demons, the six Upper Moons, were around to do their tasks, even if they had been failing him for as long as he could remember, so he wouldn't seriously harm Akaza, not yet anyway.

What he discovered, however, was the fox masked Slayer getting angry over the Flame Hashira's upcoming death, to the point where he, through Akaza's eyes, witnessed her transformation into a fierce kitsune creature, it was the only thing he could think to call her, that seemed to dominate the fight in the wake of her awakening and forced Akaza to retreat, all so he could make his report on what had happened to him.

"Begone." Muzan said, as that was all he could say right now, after realizing that the strange figure he had found a long time ago had, against all odds, survived being turned into a Demon and was now tracking him down, though he felt that it was disappointing that he had missed her initial transformation, as it seemed like a powerful Demon had been born and could have, had she been properly trained, joined the Upper Moons.

Akaza bowed his head and departed from the building that his master was residing in, because there were leads to follow and more Slayers to take down before they could kill more Demons, though he didn't want to be near his master in case certain emotions consumed him, such as anger or fear, and focused on his mission as he wondered what the future held for him and the other Upper Moons.

Pinkamena focused on keeping Tanjiro contained inside the Butterfly Mansion, as his wound was somewhat serious and he needed to recover from what happened on the train, after delivering the report about what happened to Kyojuro to their superiors, who were now sending the crows out to inform the rest of the Hashira. While she did that her friends tried to cheer him up and help him get over Kyojuro's passing, along with trying to help her get over it as well, and for the most part she was no longer angry, just upset that she hadn't activated her true power before the final blow had been dealt, as she was positive that she could have saved him if she acted sooner. As they did that a crow arrived, the one Shinobu sent a few days ago, when they were first discharged from the Butterfly Mansion, which knew the route to Kyojuro's place, so when the time came she and Tanjiro could head out and tell the fallen Hashira's family his final words, the ones he asked her friend to deliver to his father and brother. She intended for her wounded friend to remain here for some time, to get over his wound and make sure he was ready for some intense training so he and the others could get used to the higher level of the Upper Moons, as it seemed like they might be running into them more in the future, so she wanted them to be ready for anything.

During the period of rest Pinkamena glanced at her new form, finding that she might be seen as a goddess in this form, as a kitsune existed in legend, and based on what she could see her proportions were the same, though her power over all of reality was far stronger than it had been before and that, with a single thought, she could hide her new form and all of the power that came with it.

Of course, after a day or two of rest, Tanjiro departed from the Butterfly Mansion, despite the wound he had suffered and the fact that his attempts at training had really prevented it from healing all that well, causing Pinkamena to sigh, because she had hoped he'd rest up first before heading out, before tracking him down. When she found him, following the crow to Kyojuro's residence, he informed her that he had to do this and there was nothing that could persuade him to stop, to which she simply sighed and followed after him, just in case his injuries acted up. The crow lead them to their destination, one of the many houses that were in the City near where they got on the Mugen Train, which explained why he was picked for the mission in the first place, he lived the closest and it was in his jurisdiction, though she found that the residents, for the most part, were out and about, so whatever was said would be between them and Kyojuro's family. What allowed the pair to know that they had reached their destination, and not some other house, was the lone boy that was standing just outside the house, a boy that looked similar to Kyojuro in terms of overall appearance, though he was saddened by what he and his father had seen in the news.

Based on what Pinkamena was feeling there was only one other person in the immediate area, no doubt Kyojuro's father, so they didn't have to worry about anyone interrupting them, something that caused Tanjiro to huff for a moment, as he was exhausted from the walk and his wound, before facing Kyojuro's brother.

"Senjuro Rengoku?" Tanjiro inquired, his voice snapping the young boy out of whatever mental space he had be in since he learned of his brother's passing not that long ago, all while he bowed towards him and Pinkamena mimicked it just a little, keeping her focus on the area they were in, "I don't know if you've heard or read about the obituary for Kyojuro Rengoku, but we were given a message to deliver to his father and yourself."

It was easy for Pinkamena to tell that Senjuro had read the obituary, in fact he likely knew the true story since he was part of the Corps, though before anyone could say anything she felt a slight disturbance and discovered an older male stopping nearby, who looked similar to Kyojuro, only he seemed angry and drunk.

"STOP. You've just come to tell us some useless crap." the old man, Shinjuro Rengoku as Pinkamena recalled that piece of information, stated, though as he came to a stop they found that he was definitely drunk or was getting close to that state, as he had a sake container in his left hand, which definitely explained why he was already angry, "The reason he died was because he became a swordsman, despite having no great talent for the art... pathetic... Kyojuro was a fool of a son. If you didn't know, people's powers are decided upon the moment they are born, meaning a small fraction of people have talent and the rest are just riffraff... garbage without any value. Kyojuro was like that, lacking the talent necessary to do anything of value... that's why he died, due to his garbage talents. Senjuro... the funeral's over... how long are you going to make that pathetic expression?!"

"Excuse me, that's a really cruel way to speak about your son. Please stop doing it." Tanjiro said, though Pinkamena shared the anger that was building in him right now, as she couldn't believe that Kyojuro's father was acting like his son was trash and wasn't allowing his younger son the time to grieve over his brother's death.

For a moment Shinjuro seemed to focus on why Tanjiro was here, just to tell him to get lost, before he spotted the pair of earrings he was wearing and dropped the jug, meaning he knew more about them than what the other Slayers knew, but given his attitude so far Pinkamena kept her guard up.

"You... I see now. You're a 'Sun Breathing' user, aren't you?!" Shinjuro said, confirming Pinkamena's suspicions that the Sun Breath existed and that someone knew of its existence, though in that moment he rushed forward, despite being affected by his sake, before reaching out with his hands, his left grabbing onto Tanjiro's left hand and pulling it back while his right was used to grab onto his neck, all while knocking him to the floor, only to pause as he felt a blade near his neck.

"Remove your hands, scumbag, before I remove them for you." Pinkamena growled, because right now she could care less about Kyojuro's message for this guy, as he wasn't worthy of having Kyojuro as a son and he definitely wasn't worthy to hear the last words of the son who was able to fight off Upper Moon Three before his death.

Senjuro seemed to agree with her, he was worried about Tanjiro and rushed to help him, something that caused Shinjuro to loosen his left hand before he actually struck his own son, which enraged both of them as Pinkamena loosened his grip with her power and opened the way for Tanjiro to kick him away from him.

"I really don't like you right now... just what the hell have you been doing?!" Tanjiro exclaimed, where Pinkamena was glad that no one else was around this part of the city, due to the fact that this could easily bring people and she knew that her friend would definitely be arrested, given how the drunken man was acting right now, "Badmouthing your eldest son, who gave up his life to protect two hundred people from Demons, and abusing your youngest son, whose still mourning the loss of his beloved brother. What's your goal in all of this?"

"You're just making fun of us, aren't you? You Sun Breathing user... I know those earrings, for it was written down by those who came before us." Shinjuro stated, showing them that he was definitely letting the drink get to him at this point, due to the fact that Tanjiro wasn't mocking anyone, he was curious as to why Shinjuro was acting like a monster, to his remaining son no less, though as he swayed Pinkamena made no move to help the man, "That's right, Sun Breathing it's the original Breath! The godly breath that was the first one ever created, and the one that all of the others are derived from... the rest of the Breaths are nothing more than imitations of the original Breath... not only are each of them blatant copies, but each one is inferior to Sun Breathing!"

This was all the confirmation Pinkamena needed, Tanjiro had access to the first Breathing Style, the one Muzan feared, or at least she assumed such a thing due to not having all the facts, but when Shinjuro told Tanjiro not to get full of himself, due to knowing the First Breath, Tanjiro freaked out and fought Kyojuro's father for a time. She knew why he was like that, he believed that if he knew and could use such a powerful and wonderful Breathing Style, which he didn't seem to be even a little bit aware of, than why couldn't he save someone who quickly became important to him. Tanjiro couldn't be even a little full of himself because every time he thought he made progress with his training, and thought he might have the skill to take down a powerful Demon, reality slapped him in the face and informed him that he was wrong, usually followed by him facing death and losing his Nichirin Blade, or losing someone important to him. Pinkamena stood off to the side while the pair went back and forth with each other for a time, Shinjuro showing that his power definitely belonged to a Hashira, or even a former Hashira, until Tanjiro delivered a blow to his head and knocked him out, as he decided to headbutt the drunken father with all his might.

Once that was done, and she was sure Shinjuro was unconscious, she and Senjuro carried the pair into Kyojuro's old place and set his father down in one of the rooms, while she focused on making sure Tanjiro was fine, since that fight will have messed with his recovery to some degree.

She didn't care enough when Shinjuro woke up and went out to buy more alcohol, who glared at her until she unsheathed her blade a little, reminding him that she wasn't afraid to fight him if he got his old sword out, but at the very least Senjuro made some tea for Tanjiro and the two got to talking about Kyojuro. Of course the official story was much different from what had happened, as people who knew Kyojuro, ordinary Humans anyway, had no idea he slew Demons for a living, so Tanjiro explained everything that happened after they boarded the train and joined the fallen Hashira. Tanjiro was sorry for not being able to do anything at the time, especially when Kyojuro was facing the Upper Moon that suddenly arrived in the area the train had crashed in, though Senjuro told him not to worry, as it seemed like something his brother would say if he was here. Pinkamena offered her condolences as well, as she lost a friend as well, before they got to the other reason why she and Tanjiro came here, where their host informed them that he had an idea as to which book they wanted to see and go up so he could find it, meaning they might be one step closer to understanding the mythical Sun Breathing.

When he returned, however, they discovered that the pages in the middle of the journal were torn, as if Shinjuro, in one of his rage filled episodes, tore it apart, with no regard for the historic significance of the book, causing his son to apologize for wasting their time and ended with him and Tanjiro agreeing to exchange letters, that way if he fixed it up, and found out what had been written, he'd send it their way, but, despite Tanjiro's protests, he handed over Kyojuro's blade guard, as he thought it would be better in Tanjiro's hands.

"Tanjiro, once your wound is healed we'll get to work mastering your true Breathing Style." Pinkamena commented, as she knew that much from watching her friend fight, though since it seemed like this was a dead end, for now anyway, she had to make him remember everything about the Dance of the Fire God and push him to his limits, in preparation for the next mission they would be sent on.

Tanjiro glanced at her for a moment, wondering what she meant with her words, since right now he considered his 'true' Breathing Style to be Sakonji's Water Breathing, but decided that training with her might be the correct option, given what he had seen during her fight with Akaza, and knew that her sessions would be the hardest he would ever face.

Interlude: A New Mission

After departing from the Rengoku House, and leaving Senjuro to deal with his father at some point in time, Pinkamena and Tanjiro made their way back to the Butterfly Mansion, as she knew that the girls were likely upset after discovering that her friend was missing. Part of her was still mad that he had just upped and moved without any regard for his own health, as the wound could have been more serious and he was lucky that he only got off without something more serious, though what he was doing right now was aggravating his wound, however her anger had cooled off after finding something else to be angry at. She was still peeved about how Shinjuro could act in regards to his own children, one who was unable to step up and continue their family's respected history, by becoming the next Flame Hashira, and another who had perished while holding back an Upper Moon Demon, which the other Hashira likely respected him for. She wasn't sure he would change, even if Senjuro told him the last words that Kyojuro had for him, but in the end she let out a sigh as she determined that it would be best if she focused on mastering her new power and helping Tanjiro learn how to wield his Sun Breathing skills, a fact he seemed oblivious to right now.

Her thoughts were interrupted as they reached the Butterfly Mansion and found Hotaru standing some distance in front of them, though this time he was wearing black clothing, had a knife in each hand, had a headband around his forehead that had two more knives pointed at the sky, and he seemed angry, based on the veins she could see in his exposed chest, as his attire was open in the middle.

"Ho... Hotaru?!" Tanjiro fearfully inquired, because he knew why the man was here, looking like that, as it had to be about the letter he had sent about getting a replacement blade due to Akaza breaking the last one before he fought Kyojuro, but he had been expecting a letter and then this.

"What the hell were you thinking, letting that blade break so soon you bastard!" Hotaru exclaimed, confirming that he was angry right now and that there was nothing Tanjiro could say to calm down the man who made his swords, though at the same time Pinkamena said nothing as she stood off to the side, making sure to take Nezuko's box since she knew Tanjiro needed all his speed for what was about to happen, "You deserve death! You absolutely deserve death!"

Pinkamena jumped onto the roof of the Butterfly Mansion, surprising Tanjiro with her speed as she slipped inside and put Nezuko's box down in a safe area, his room anyway, before moving to a high point to watch the pair, as Hotaru rushed at her friend and Tanjiro had to run for his life. The reason she was fine with this was because it ended up training Tanjiro's body more, ignoring the wounds that weren't life threatening while increasing his speed, as he needed it to avoid his now angry blacksmith, where they dashed around the forest and Tanjiro used the trees to get up and around Hotaru, who was able to keep up with him rather well. Such a thing made her think about why her friend's blades were so different from all of the other Nichirin Blades she had seen during her time with the Corps, as, for the most part, Tanjiro's kept breaking in battle, with Rui cutting his first one in half and Akaza crushing his second with his foot, while the blades of the others were in near perfect condition and were rarely sent in for sharpening and repair. It was as if weaker Demons couldn't break the powerful Nichirin Blades, which made sense due to the fact that they were far weaker that the Kizuki, while Akaza and his ilk could likely chip, even break, the blades of those weaker than them, or at least that was her thoughts on the matter, at this point in time anyway.

Either way her blade was likely influenced by her Blood Demon Art, as in Chaos World might be reinforcing her blade to the point where it could handle anything and everything she encountered on her quest, or maybe it was due to it being forged by the best blacksmith in the land, Tecchin Tecchikawahara, whose skills surpassed Hotaru's, but in the end she decided that it really didn't matter all that much and focused on Tanjiro.

What she found that was Hotaru chased him throughout the evening, for more than an hour or two, and even went well into the night, which she found to be amazing since she wasn't even messing with reality, it was them and their own skills at work, and it only benefited Tanjiro. When dawn arrived, and both were slowing down after the sheer amount of time they had spent running around the forest that was around the Butterfly Mansion, Aoi opened one of the side doors for a few seconds and actually ushered Tanjiro inside, closing the door before Hotaru saw it. After that they delivered a couple of mitarashi dango, or rice dumplings skewered on a stick in groups of three to five, to him and he seemed to calm down in a matter of moments, meaning it had to be a favorite snack or something for the swordsmith, as he no longer desired Tanjiro's blood over losing his latest blade. Tanjiro, of course, was exhausted and couldn't really eat when breakfast was served, so Inosuke stole it all for himself and he did it with glee, but the amazing part was that, while it was wrong, he did use chopsticks to eat his food, showing them that the mountain boy was capable of learning more than weapon styles and slaying Demons.

While they ate, with Pinkamena refraining from eating demonic parts in front of her friends and the girls, Zenitsu asked her how long she was going to remain in this form, since he and the others were so used to her previous form, to which she informed him that it all depended on her mood. Sure, with her power she could hide her new form with ease and had done so not that long ago, just to test out what she could do now, but since the Lower Moons had been destroyed, and it seemed like they might be walking into the domain of the Upper Moons, she knew that she would be in this form far more often than before. If Akaza was any indication the six Demons that were Muzan's direct underlings were stronger than any of the other Demons they had faced in the past, meaning they would have to train themselves to master their skills and get ready for their next encounter with one of the powerful Kizuki. Zenitsu whined when he heard that, as he really didn't want to run into an Upper Moon, the Lower Moons were bad enough for someone like him, before going back to his food as the others focused on their own things, which Pinkamena was a little grateful for as she finished her own meal.

After that she waited for a couple of days and, when Tanjiro's wound was healed, Pinkamena dragged him into her world, bringing her friend to an area she had prepared over the last couple of days, a dojo of sorts that had everything he might need to bring out his power. Part of her reasoning was due to what she had seen back on the Mugen Train, Tanjiro's body was more in tune with his Sun Breathing techniques and less in tune with the Water Breathing forms he had learned over the two years training under Sakonji, so her training was designed to rapidly restore his body to its peak state before even worrying about his other Breath. To that extent she brought in the echoes of the Demons that they had slain, and she had taken the parts of, surprising Tanjiro when he realized that Rui, Kyogai, and a few others were standing nearby and were far more pleasing to be with, a side effect of dying and coming here. Sure, to anyone watching them it might look like her friend was playing games and not training, though since the Echoes were using their powers to help him, while holding back to avoid seriously hurting him, it was some harsh training and would help him whip his body back into shape, which was the first step they had to overcome.

While Tanjiro did that Pinkamena explained the concept of the Demon Mansion, it was where the Echoes went after she or one of the others killed a Demon and she claimed the pieces of the figure in question, though Akaza wasn't here since he was still alive, and the fact that she hadn't actually eaten part of his arm, mostly out of fear that too much of Muzan's blood at a time might rapidly corrupt her. The other aspect Tanjiro noticed was that none of the Echoes retained the dark personalities he had disliked when he encountered each of the Demons in the real world, meaning death liberated them from Muzan's influence and brought their original personalities back to the surface, often causing some conflict for those who came to this place. She went on to explain that what he was seeing right now wasn't her taking the spirits of the slain Demons and bringing them here, rather their souls moved on to the next stage of existence and might be reincarnated at some point in time, like a hundred years from now or something, so Tanjiro didn't have to worry about her disrupting the natural order of the world, despite the nature of her Blood Demon Art. What surprised her friend was that there was an Echo of Kyojuro lingering in the dojo, as she had cleaned off Akaza's arm after taking it and must have taken in some of the fallen Hashira's blood, though it was also perfect since he proved to be another great trainer for Tanjiro, due to all the respect he had for Kyojuro when he was alive.

Of course there was more for him to do in the Waking World, as their superiors sent him, Zenitsu, and Inosuke on more missions to cover the section of the land that Kyojuro had patrolled while he was alive, even alone at times, though she made sure to follow each of them and claimed the fallen bodies of the Demons they slew, as well as bringing them back to the Butterfly Mansion if they sustained terrible injuries.

After the first month of training and work, however, Pinkamena started forcing Tanjiro to utilize his Sun Breathing forms and not rely on all of his Water Breathing forms, as while he could only perform one or two at a time, in succession, she did know if he constantly pushed himself he could be able to use more of them in due time. She forced him to perform all twelve forms to the best of his ability, going from Dance to Clear Blue Sky, then to Raging Sun and the other moves that were beyond it, only finding that he seemed to be making a lot of unnecessary moves with the forms, meaning they might not have the power they were supposed to have. It gave her a chance to test out some of her own powers, as she wanted to see if she could have Tanjiro relive some of the memories that were inside his body, those he received from some of his ancestors, and she went with him to make sure he didn't get lost while he was reliving watching his father perform all the steps of the Dance of the Fire God. The success of that technique allowed her to ensure that Tanjiro adapted to her rather intense training, as when he faced deadly odds he underwent sudden bursts of growth, meaning he would be able to fight for longer and not fall as easily as he did back when he first started being a Demon Slayer, which meant he'd soon have the power to stand up to an Upper Moon.

One of the memories she refused to have him relive, for the time being, was of his ancestor who met Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the legendary Slayer that had nearly killed Muzan, where she found that she could observe the memories of those that she brought to this world, if she so desired, without having to drag the person with her, meaning while Tanjiro trained she could see what the past held. It was actually rather interesting when she considered everything, as she could observe the various Sun Breathing users in action while they were performing the dance, where the further back, closer to the time of Yoriichi, she went the less movements each dancer used, meaning it brought her closer to the true forms of the twelve forms of the ancient Breathing Style. Such a thing allowed her to accurately mimic the movements of those who learned of the Dance, if she so desired anyway, and when Tanjiro was busy training in the real world she found herself practicing the motions of each form, creating flames that mimicked what she saw in Tanjiro's memories, or at least what the users of this Breath imagined when they used it for dancing or fighting. After all of that she found what had to be the most interesting aspect of all of this, the fact that, unless her eyes were deceiving her, Yoriichi could see her, or at least sense her, as there were instances were she was off to the side, observing what was going on, and he turned his head to look right at her, as if she had been there, when the moment happened, and in the next instant he was back to normal.

Yoriichi was a legend among the Slayers, even if many had forgotten about him and his exploits, save for certain people like Sakonji, and he was said to be very perceptive of the area and people that were around him at any given moment, as when no one could use Sun Breathing he taught them how to make the other Breaths that everyone used today. It made sense that even a memory of the figure could do something like this, or at least it did when she thought about it, though part of her knew that if she told anyone they would believe it was her using Chaos World to do something while training Tanjiro so he could face what the future held for him. As such she told no one about the fact that she had seen Yoriichi in the memories of her friend, focusing on making sure Tanjiro knew the steps of each form and could use them to a degree, as it would take him some time before he fully mastered each form, despite her training. Her own training by observation allowed her to correct some of his movements, making it seem like she was only correcting how he positioned his body for each form, and when she was alone in her Mindscape she danced with the potent Sun Breathing forms, adding to her own arsenal as she waited for some new orders to arrive.

What surprised her was that it was four months after Kyojuro's death when something happened, she and Tanjiro were on the way back to the Butterfly Mansion, as she had joined him to collect the body after her training session, when she felt a visitor at Shinobu's place, though as she turned the corner she was surprised to find the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, out in front of the main entrance.

"Tengen, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company on this fine day?" Pinkamena asked, because the majority of the orders she had gotten were to make sure Tanjiro and the others survived their missions, as there were no Demons for her to fight, meaning Kaguya must have wanted to make sure her power had stabilized before sending her out again.

"Pinkamena, just the Slayer I was hoping to run into. I'm currently hunting a Demon and have need of a female member to help me out, and your power is invaluable right now." Tengen replied, which explained why he came here, as this had to be the only place that had female members that were there almost every single day, yet he had refrained from touching Aoi or her companions, meaning he wanted her power and nothing else, "My first thought was to use Aoi and the others to aid me, but then realized that you would be coming back soon and realized that acquiring your assistance was better in the grand scheme of things."

She knew that it couldn't be a low level Demon, otherwise he would have simply found the target and killed it without this happening, and with the deaths of the Lower Moons, and Enmu confirming that Muzan had dismantled the lower six, that meant he was either hunting the Demon King or one of the Upper Moons, or a Demon who had the potential to join the upper ranks at some point.

"I see. You want me to be there to prevent casualties, among other things." Pinkamena said, though a smile appeared on her face for a time, because if it was an Upper Moon that Tengen was hunting it would provide her with the perfect chance to test her new skills out, both Demon and Slayer alike, "Maybe we should bring along Tanjiro and his friends, as more sets of eyes will let us track down the target that much quicker... and, if this Demon has taken hostages, they might be able to free them before things get worse."

Tengen stared at her for a moment before glancing around the surrounding area, as Zenitsu and Inosuke had returned from their missions, without injuries no less, and all three of them seemed interested in what he had to say, to which he shrugged and guessed more eyes would be nice, to which he started to leave and the group fell in behind him as they started to depart for their next destination.

Entertainment: The Operation

"So, out of curiosity, where is this Demon living?" Pinkamena inquired, as that was the only piece of information that she and the others were missing right now, though since Tengen wanted her assistance in this mission it meant he had to answer her questions, especially since she was the closest to him in terms of rank.

"They are in the most flamboyant place in all of Japan, a place filled with lust and greed: the Red Light District." Tengen said, showing them that he had definitely done a bit of investigation before seeking Pinkamena out, or maybe it was the rest of the Corps who figured out where the Demon was hiding and sent him to confirm their sightings, while the fact that he came to her meant it was important, before he stopped and turned on them, "Let me clear on one thing, I am the highest ranking Slayer around, and, not including Pinkamena, you three will obey my commands to the letter... you might as well think of me as God! Get that information through your thick skulls, right here and now! If I command you to become a dog or monkey, you will do so without delay, and you shall humor me while imploring me for favors, especially while flattering me at all times!"

"Well, um, what exactly do you rule over as a 'god'?" Tanjiro asked, as he wasn't stupid enough to believe that the Hashira was some sort of deity, though after meeting Kyojuro, and getting to know him, he figured that getting on the good side of the others might be a good idea, even if Zenitsu thought he was stupid.

"Nice question. I have high hopes for you." Tengen replied, where Pinkamena knew that Tanjiro was humoring him, due to what the Hashira had said not a few moments ago, and he, in turn, was humoring her friend to some degree, as he clearly assumed that he was some sort of deity, causing her to roll her eyes for a moment as she listened to them, "I am the god that rules over flamboyance... the God of Festivities!"

Inosuke, clearly impressed, informed Tengen that he was the 'King of the Mountain', referring to where he lived before he found out about the Demon Slayer Corps and all of the Demons that existed across the land of Japan, where the Hashira thought he was disgusting. After that instant he informed them of what they would be doing, they would be stopping at a Wisteria House that was on the way to the Red Light District so they could get ready for the operation, as in he would brief them and make sure everyone was disguised before they reached their destination. Pinkamena thought it was a good idea and agreed with the first step of his current plan, even though she had a feeling it would be an infiltration mission to find the Demon he had been sent to kill and that it would fall on her friends to gather information. At the same time, however, she knew that there was more to the topic than what Tengen was telling them and that he had to be waiting for them to reach the Wisteria House that was his current destination, so she decided to say nothing so they could get started on the trek and get this mission started.

As it turned out Tengen showed off his speed by rushing forward at one point and she followed after him without delay, causing Tanjiro and the others to freak out before rushing after them, as they didn't want to get left behind, though this was a good way to show off the results of their individual training. During the trek Tanjiro informed the others that they were following the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, meaning he had definitely been humoring him earlier, as per what he had said earlier, even though Zenitsu didn't care and Inosuke saw him as the 'God of Festivities'. Tengen seemed pleased that one of them was playing along, even though he already knew she wouldn't do the same as her friends and was taking this far more serious than most of them, causing the Hashira to focus as well, meaning he must have some stake in finding the Demon he was after. Such a thing made her wonder if someone important to Tengen had been taken, like a sibling or a lady he had his eyes on for some time, since a fair number of Slayers and Demons seemed to have family issues, based on all she had seen so far, but decided that she would remain quiet until he gave them the information they needed to figure out where their target was hiding.

The Wisteria House they stopped at was definitely on the way to the Red Light District, run by a middle aged man and his wife, plus their two kids were running around and stopped when Tengen approached them, who gave them some orders before ushering them to the second story, where they took a room and sat down, even though he waited for some tea and dumplings to be delivered before speaking.

"Once we infiltrate the Red Light District, your first objective will be to locate my wives, while I and Pinkamena look around for information on our target's whereabouts." Tengen explained, confirming Pinkamena's earlier thoughts on the matter, someone important to him had likely gone missing and he was worried for them, especially since they went missing in an area that a Demon was operating in.

"This is unbelievable!" Zenitsu declared, showing them that he must have only heard part of what Tengen had to say, while at the same time Inosuke was more interested his snacks and Tanjiro, who had set Nezuko's box to the side, was doing his best to pay attention to what the Hashira was saying, "Please, stop joking around! Don't use your subordinates to look for personal brides! Since you're delusional, I'm just going to say it: weird ass people like you will never be popular, as what you just said is all in your head... no Hashira would say such a thing to their own subordinates."

"You damned fool, my wives infiltrated the Red Light District in order to gain more information on the Demon, but now I've lost contact with them." Tengen angrily replied, showing them that he didn't like being challenged by those that were far below him, before he opened a pouch and hurled some lettered at Zenitsu, enough to push him back for a moment, which caused Pinkamena to chuckle a little, "Those are the letters they sent via crow, proof that I'm focused on the Demon and not on tracking down a wife."

The concept of three wives finally dawned on Zenitsu and he was even more outraged, finding it unfair that Tengen even had one and demanded that he stop spouting lies about the reality he was living in, causing the Hashira to deliver a harsh blow to his chest in the form of a punch, which ended up knocking Zenitsu out.

"So in the letters you remind your wives to do their best to not stand out," Tanjiro commented, as he had picked up some of the pieces of parchment, after seeing Pinkamena pick a few up, and had read the first one while Tengen dealt with his friend, who he knew was okay since they were needed for Tengen's mission, "How exactly are we doing to do this?"

"Well, my original idea was to utilize Pinkamena's ability to infiltrate our target locations, but with you three we'll be going in with disguises... and be plain, as much as I hate such a thing." Tengen answered, where his tone informed Pinkamena that he was pleased to find that one of them wasn't questioning him or the fact that he had three wives, while making her wonder what sort of plan he had in mind when it came to Chaos World, "You three will have to do a certain something, but after that infiltrating should be easy, even for you. My wives are top of the line female ninja, kunoichi, and we believe that the Red Light District, sometimes called the Flower District, is the ideal place for a Demon to lurk, especially with rumors of people disappearing. I tried to infiltrate it once as a customer, but, sadly, I couldn't find a trace of the Demon, or Demons, that the Corps claimed was lurking in this place, so we decided to go deeper than mere customers... thanks to the work of my wives we've narrowed down the number of suspicious stores down to three, which you three will infiltrate and gather information from. You three are looking for Suma in the Tokito House, Makio in the Ogimoto House, and Hinatsuru in the Kyougoku House, as that is where each of them were when I got their last reports."

In that moment Inosuke remarked on the fact that all of Tengen's wives were likely dead, given that they had vanished in an area controlled by a Demon, though, as Pinkamena expected, the Hashira was having none of that and punched him as well, knocking him out for the time being, leaving it to Tanjiro to explain things later.

"So, am I correct in assuming you want me to minimize casualties and search for the Demon?" Pinkamena asked, as while she understood the more mundane method of searching that her friends would have to undertake, to track down all three of Tengen's wives, he had said nothing about her or her powers, even though she was the one he had come looking for in the first place.

"Yes. Chaos World is a wonderful power and we're lucky to have it on our side, so while the boys infiltrate the stores I want you to scan the district and set up a protective zone," Tengen replied, as he had seen what she could do back during their first meeting, drawing all of them into her world with the slightest of movements, and suspected that her awakening had boosted her power to new extremes, making him wonder how much of this world she could influence, "with your ability to sense Demons we might be able to find our target's whereabouts far sooner than originally planned and might save more lives in the process."

In that moment the man and his wife opened the door and delivered the supplies that Tengen had asked them for, items to paint and mark up the faces of her friends, while dressing them up as girls, causing her to turn her attention to the rest of the information she could get on the Red Light District. It was a night district where the lust and charms of both men and women swirled around in a storm of love and hate, or at least that was Tengen's description of it, located in a place called Yoshiwara, while the name 'Flower District' came from the shape this part of the city took on. She found that it was a place where prostitutes lived and worked, either willingly or because they were sold into this life, where women were given the necessities of life in exchange for such hardships, and they had a chance to be bought into a wealthy household, if they worked hard and made their way up as prostitutes. The most prominent among them were the Oiran, ladies who were different than the lower women, as they had acquired beauty, education, and performance, though meeting one was the hard part, as men had to visit the Red Light District often, as if competing with each other.

Since Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were going undercover as prostitutes, or at least young girls who would be put to work until they were of the proper age, each one had their faces painted, their hair done up in a girly way, their attire only had a slight change to match a Red Light District, and all of their Slayer attire was hidden, but they were pretty ugly, if Pinkamena was being honest, meaning Tengen's skills left much to be desired.

With the changes made, and Pinkamena took Nezuko's box so no one would ask questions, Tengen headed out with the boys, where Tanjiro was to be called Sumiko, Zenitsu was Zenko, and Inosuke was Inoko, and the Hashira, despite his own dislike of being plain, removed most of his attire and appeared as a dashing man. Pinkamena remained on the roofs of the Red Light District as she watched them move throughout the district, as he was planning on approaching all three of the houses his wives had recently infiltrated and sell the boys to each one, so they could begin their own search for his wives and the Demon. With that thought in mind she extended her senses and determined that three demonic signatures were in this place, at the very least, and a faint fourth one that likely came from Muzan, meaning he must have come here not all that long ago, meaning if she was right they would be dealing with an Upper Moon. As she thought about that, and the potential disaster that was waiting for them, Tanjiro was taken on by an elderly couple while both Zenitsu and Inosuke, for the time being, were left with Tengen, who marched them down the street as he sought out the other houses.

While that happened she found one of the Oiran, a woman of elegant beauty and dressed in some fine clothing, walking down the same street and her friends moved off to the side to observe her movements, where she overhead Tengen say that it was Koinatsu, from the Tokito House, only for an older woman to come and claim Inosuke for the Ogimoto House, leaving Zenitsu to be dropped off at another location.

"So, what's the verdict?" Tengen asked, as he had disappeared for a few moments, leaving Pinkamena to watch over the Red Light District in his stead, and had returned with his Slayer attire on, showing her that he was ready for anything and everything, which was great considering what she had found so far.

"There's definitely a Demon here, with two more somewhat faint signatures," Pinkamena replied, something that caused Tengen to pause for a few seconds as he processed that information, as three confirmed signatures meant all three of his wives might have met some trouble, "plus Muzan was here at one point, but that hardly means anything, as he could have been hiding here before heading to a brand new hiding place. In addition to that Tanjiro and his friends have infiltrated all three of the houses you wanted to check out: Inosuke is inside the Ogimoto House, Zenitsu found his way to the Kyougoku House, and Tanjiro is in the Tokito House."

"And the barrier?" Tengen inquired, as that was the piece of the puzzle that was missing, because while he was willing to fight off all of the Demons that were in this district, at least one right now and three at the most, saving the lives of those who weren't part of this battle was also important.

"Don't worry, its up." Pinkamena said, where she beckoned down the street to their right and Tengen followed her gaze for a few seconds, though while he couldn't see anything she placed a hand on his shoulder and let him see what she had done, there was a faint line outside the district, part of the zone she was creating, "I'm copying the entirety of this district, making note of where the houses are and who lives in each one, so when we face the Demon I can knock everyone out and transport them to safety, allowing you and the others to fight at full power and, more importantly, not have to worry about innocents being caught in the crossfire."

"This is why I came looking for you." Tengen stated, his tone revealing that he was pleased with her and that they would be able to save all sorts of lives now that she was helping him and his wives out, before he turned his attention back to the rest of the district, "Now we just have to wait for Tanjiro and the others to discover something, anything really, before we make our move against the Demons."

Pinkamena nodded and glanced out at the Red Light District, knowing that the Demon they were here for wouldn't have even noticed her existence, in fact none of the Demons noticed her until she revealed her demonic nature, meaning they had time to gather all sorts of intelligence before making their move and she would be ready for when that moment arrived.

Entertainment: Gathering Information

Pinkamena and Tengen remained on the roof for some time, observing the people that were in the Red Light District and where they went, allowing her to figure out more of the layout of the district, where everyone lived, and making sure that her copy was perfect. As she did that, and Tengen focused on tracking down the Demon that they were looking for, she tried a new power out, the creation of small eyes that were invisible to everyone else and could listen to anything that was in the area they were in, as while she trusted her friends she also knew that gathering information was more important. Hence why she sent out the eyes and scoured the entirety of the Red Light District, tracking down people of importance, such as the Oiran for each house, while making sure to keep an eye out for the Demon that was here, since she was sure one was somewhere in the district. Such a thing also allowed her to keep an eye on what her friends were doing, not that she had a lot of reason to worry right now since they were trained to deal with all sorts of demonic enemies, and listen in on what all sorts of people were saying, even though most of it was trash to her.

As she set up her new technique, and considered how much of an advantage it would be in the future, she quickly decided on a name for it, that being 'Phantom Eyes', considering that she could make more than one, before focusing on where in the district her friends had ended up.

The lady who took Inosuke, for example, thought she struck gold after wiping off all of his makeup, fully believing that he was a girl and could be raised in the same manner as the others that had been taken into the various houses, but at least he had a good chance to track down Makio. Of course the lady claimed that she was going to train him well and that, in time, he would be better than two of the Oiran that were in the district, Tokito's own Koinatsu and Warabihime from Kyougoku, a fact that made her wonder if this house didn't have an Oiran. Zenitsu's new owner, the Kyougoku lady, claimed that she felt his fighting spirit and that he wanted to get back at the man who left her, confirming that everyone seemed to see the boys as girls, so Pinkamena didn't have to waste her own power on pulling the wool over the eyes of those that were inside the three houses they were currently targeting. While they did that Tanjiro was, even if he didn't mean to, showing off his strength as he carried things from place to place, though his owner was enraged by the scar on his forehead and couldn't believe that someone could do such a thing, and since he was hard at work it meant he might find some useful information.

What she wasn't expecting was for Tanjiro to meet up with some ladies that were talking about a few people disappearing, as while they called it 'losing your footing' an unexpected person came and talked with them, as Koinatsu showed up and told the girls not to spread rumors about people. It was in that moment that one of the girls mentioned Suma, the Oiran of the Ogimoto based on what Pinkamena knew of the others, an impressive feat that Tengen would be interested in once he was reunited with his wives, before finding that Koinatsu interrupted Tanjiro. Of course her friend had to lie to her, as she happened to be interested in him and seemed to actually know that he was more than what he said, meaning she had to know he was a boy, but it did get them some new information, a diary that she felt was forged by the Demon's hand, to make anyone think Suma had intentionally lost her way. It was an interesting thing to learn and knew that Tanjiro would no doubt report it when it was time to do so, though it didn't help them find Suma, who she was sure was elsewhere in the district, no doubt under the watchful eye of the Demon they were here to kill, a rather intelligent one based on what she was seeing right now.

It wasn't Akaza, this wasn't the sort of place that he could come to, especially since he seemed to have a thing about not hurting or killing women, which left five other Upper Moons that it could be, and if it was Upper Moons One or Two they were totally screwed, but they might manage it if it was Six or Five, maybe Four if they were lucky.

"Nothing's happened yet... the day is as ordinary as the last." Tengen commented, as he had been patiently waiting for a sign that there was a Demon in this district, especially since three young Slayers had been sent into the nest that he and his wives had discovered, "I have a bad feeling about this, especially since this Demon has done well to hide themselves from anyone whose hunting them down... even though they're being very plain about it."

"That just means the Demon we're tracking down has been at this for a long time," Pinkamena remarked, though while her eyes were closed, focused on learning the ins and outs of this district and the locations everyone slept in for when the battle went down, Tengen kept his eyes open and focused on the building that he was currently staring at, "I haven't found a trace of it yet, but I'm sure you know what that means."

"An Upper Moon... even with you here, we might end up flamboyantly killing each other." Tengen said, revealing that he did understand what she was talking about and didn't need her to explain herself further, a change from when she dealt with Tanjiro and her friends, and she could see, with an eye that remained near him, that he raised a hand to his chin as he thought about this new information.

Pinkamena hoped that it wouldn't come to that, as the Corps couldn't afford to lose another Hashira, so soon after losing Kyojuro, especially since there were no Flame Breathing users that had the skills of the fallen man that had trained with her for a period of time, something that caused her to think about Kyojuro's family. She still thought that it was annoying that Shinjuro didn't want to join them and replace his son, especially with the downfall of the Lower Moons, but she guessed he had a lot more emotions to deal with before being able to make a decision on that matter. As she thought about that, and what Tengen was hoping for, she overheard Inosuke eavesdropping on some girls that were talking about Makio, who they said was in her room and no one had seen her for some time, though the food left outside had been taken, so while she might be ill it seemed like she still ate. If there was a Demon in this district, and she was pretty sure there was one somewhere, it seemed likely that at least two of Tengen's wives had already been captured, Makio and Suma, and that told her that they had to find Hinatsuru, before the Demon did and captured her as well.

Sure enough Inosuke made a move and suddenly whatever was inside Makio's room disappeared without a trace, to the eyes of those that were inside the building, meaning he discovered a room and would make his report later, but she felt a slight change in the Ogimoto House and knew that the Demon was moving, or their Blood Demon Art was doing it while they were elsewhere.

As that happened, however, she paused for a moment as Zenitsu started to move, meaning he must have found a lead as well, so two of her friends were chasing the demonic trails they had found, and she moved with him, though while he did find a girl crying he tried to comfort her. In the following seconds the Oiran of the house showed up and stared at him for a time, where she found that Warabihime was a tall and slender woman, who a curvaceous and pale skinned body, while her hair was white at the top and transferred to a lime green for the lower half, or at least it would if it wasn't done up in the style of an Oiran. In addition to that she found a number of hairpins in her hair, which seemed important to the whole look she was currently going for, and there was a sash in her hands, one that definitely had the feeling of a Demon coming from it, meaning their target either liked being in this form, and forced people to work for them least it kill them for failing, or Warabihime was a Demon it had ran to, all to avoid Inosuke. She had this menacing aura that frightened everyone that was around her, as all Zenitsu could do was gulp as the girl in front of him went silent, something Pinkamena knew most of the Humans didn't have, even if they were a respectable Oiran, meaning she had to be a Demon, though it was hard to tell if she was the Upper Moon or a servant.

One thing she noted was that there were two more young girls who informed Warabihime that Zenitsu came in the day before, a fact that the Oiran didn't care much for, though it reminded Pinkamena that she had been watching this district for an entire day with nothing happening, and what she had observed so far had happened on their second day in the Red Light District. Apparently Warabihime told the crying girl to clean the dirty room, even though she had to pinch the girl's cheek to get the point across, something that caused her to cry for a little while longer as she scolded her, which told her that this had to be a common occurrence and no one tried to stop her. Zenitsu, ever the ladies man, gripped the wrist of Warabihime's left hand, something that only upset the Oiran more than she had been when she reached that room, and it only got worse when he told her to remove her hand, showing that, in that instant, he had forgotten his place in the house and the fact that he was undercover. Sure enough Warabihime struck Zenitsu so hard that he went flying through the rest of the door and through another door behind her, showing that she wasn't Human since the power required was more in the realm of what a Demon possessed, and she informed him that he required some discipline, though it told the silent observer that even someone like her couldn't see that Zenitsu was male.

Of course she put on a good show with the master of the house, putting on a smile and saying that maybe she went a little too hard on the new girl, and when she slipped into her actual room, she dismissed the two girls inside it before putting on a bit of makeup, where Pinkamena saw a flicker in the mirror, her fangs showed for a moment as her eyes became like a Demon's, and she noticed the eyes, reading Upper Moon Six.

"Tengen, what's the procedure if there's an Upper Moon here?" Pinkamena asked, as she was simply curious as to what all of them were supposed to do if they ran into one, which they would based on what her Phantom Eye was seeing, even if she knew that it had to be engage the target and hope reinforcements arrived to help take it down.

"Confirm that it is, in fact, an Upper Moon, then send a crow before either engaging or waiting for backup," Tengen said, though the question made him turn his head slightly, so he could focus on his companion for a time, as it was odd to hear such a thing from her, but while part of him guessed it was simply her curiosity he had to ask her anyway, "Did you find an Upper Moon Demon?"

"Yes. I'm currently investigating to see which rank it is." Pinkamena stated, which wasn't a total lie, as she was taking her time to see what she could learn about the Demon that was in front of her Phantom Eye, meaning Tengen could ask on what she had said so far before returning to her side, which would be when she told him what she knew about the Demon that was hiding in plain sight.

As Tengen nodded, and disappeared to write up a letter for a crow to take to their superiors, Pinkamena focused on her main target, finding that Warabihime finished her makeup, adjusted her features to hide her demonic features, and stood up so she could go about her daily business. Zenitsu, as she expected, was taken to his room and deposited by the girl he was being carried by, something he would have been pleased by had he been awake, though she did sense that another Demon was stalking him and waiting for him to be alone, which would be for some time. It confirmed something else for her, the Oiran wanted to remove anyone who angered her and likely had another Demon that did her dirty work, but that didn't change the fact that she felt another Demon lurking somewhere in this district, one who seemed just as strong as the Upper Moon she had discovered. Such a thing made her wonder if the Upper Moon Demons were different from the Lower ones she slew a while ago, like if one Demon could split itself into multiple selves and each one acted like their own individual person, which could explain why she felt more than one Demon of the same power, a fact she would have to be mindful of when they finally engaged her.

The district became alive as the day turned into night, confirming that it was an entertainment district, not that she had a need to confirm that, and one of her Phantom Eyes followed Warabihime as she went about her nightly duties, though she didn't have the odd sash she wore when she found Zenitsu. As she thought about that she noted that Tanjiro and Inosuke only did chores, carrying stuff and cleaning, showing her that the owners of the houses didn't push young girls into doing all of the more adult acts that an Oiran and the higher prostitutes did. Zenitsu, on the other hand, simply disappeared as the hours went by, where Pinkamena made sure to attach a Phantom Eye to him as another watched him be abducted by something she was expecting, the sash seemed to absorb him after slipping through some passageways in the building and vanished using the same manner. Thanks to her actions she was able to find out where all of the 'fallen' figures were, in a hole under the district, though getting down there would be a challenge for Tengen or the others, as she spotted two pretty ladies in the sash that had to be Suma and Miko, showing her where the Hashira would go first once it was time to confront the Demon.

Other than that she found that the third Demon didn't make a move, meaning it was either sleeping or lurking in the body of another Demon, and by the time morning arrived she was able to confirm the same thing, only two Demons had moved during the night, so while Tanjiro and Inosuke conversed on the roof she was on she had to wonder if she had been wrong about the amount of Demons that were in this district.

"Like I've been saying, there's a Demon at the house I'm staying in." Inosuke continued, where he made movements that he assumed the Demon had been making before he caught it, or at least chased it away from the room it had been in, so he really had no idea what it even looked like.

"Inosuke, just wait for Tengen and Zenitsu to arrive, then we can make our report," Tanjiro commented, as he didn't see a reason for them to discuss all of this while they were missing two of their members, but he did think it was really odd that Pinkamena hadn't moved since they arrived in this district.

"Zenitsu isn't coming... it would seem that, in my haste to save my wives, that I've placed him and you two in grave danger, as there's an Upper Moon in this district." Tengen remarked, having arrived silently while the pair was talking, showing off his shinobi training, while his eyes were on the buildings that were across from them as Tanjiro and Inosuke turned to face him, as they were curious about his choice of words, "As much as I hate to admit it, you two and Zenitsu are too weak to deal with an Upper Moon, even with Pinkamena backing us up... we don't know the extent of her power and I'm not willing to get you both killed."

"Before you go, take this." Pinkamena said, where she raised a hand and offered him a small stone that looked like those that were attached to his head piece, only it was rather small and caused him to raise an eyebrow or a moment, causing her to tap where a Human's ear would be, "When it is time to strike I'll be able to direct you to the Demon we're hunting, and the location of your wives, if I find them before you do anyway."

Tengen really had no idea where she came up with all the ideas on how to utilize her Chaos World, but, based on the fact that she was going to save everyone in this district, he didn't have much reason to complain, where he accepted her gift and attached it to his right ear, before departing to complete his side of things. While he did that Pinkamena heard both of her friends discussing the fact that they were a higher rank than Tanjiro thought, as he assumed they were the lowest of the ten ranks and the reality was, for him and his Human friends, that they were the seventh rank, showing off their level of experience. Of course they got to talking about the Demons in the houses and that there had to be passageways their targets were using, which had to lead to a hidden area that all of the 'fallen' had been stored in, and Tanjiro was going to act with the belief that they could be saved from the situation they were in. Inosuke also showed off the Wisteria Carving that was on their hands, to show off their ranks, though Pinkamena ignored that as Tanjiro pouted about the fact that he had no idea that this skill even existed in the first place, though by the end of their conversation both of them agreed that they would act like everyone was alive.

With that in mind Tanjiro got ready, switching into his Slayer attire and arranging some of his money to pay back those in the house he had been staying in, while Inosuke simply went back to his residence to search for the Demon, though she kept her power at the ready, as she was sure that they would be fighting the Upper Moon in no time and she was eager to see what sort of power the powerful Demon possessed.

Entertainment: Encounter

Once more nothing important happened during the day, save for Tanjiro and Inosuke doing their best to get ready for the upcoming battle with the Upper Moon that was in the Red Light District, the former scouting out part of the area in his Slayer attire while the latter remained inside the house he had been assigned to. Pinkamena remained on the roof with Nezuko's box to the side, as it allowed Tanjiro to move more freely, in case he was attacked by one of the Demons or engaged them once night fell on the district, and he didn't have to worry about his sister being in trouble. She was keeping an eye on her only target, Warabihime, as the Oiran remained in a room that no sunlight could penetrate, another fact that confirmed she was a Demon, not that she needed further confirmation due to the number in her eyes, while ensuring everything else was just fine, in case the sash Demon made a move or the hidden one showed up. Another thing she noted was that Tengen was moving all over the district, continuing to gather more information on where his wives ended up, choosing not to start with the heads of the houses and focus on people that had been mentioned in the letters he had received.

Eventually, with not much happening in terms of the Demons she was paying attention to, Tanjiro made his move once he was sure Koinatsu was alone, as he informed her that he had his reasons for dressing up as a girl and coming to the house, along with handing over a payment for all the stuff he ate during his time there. What amused Pinkamena was that she had been correct about the Oiran in question, she knew Tanjiro was male and had been curious about things, only to now figure out what was going on, before they talked about Suma for a few moments, as he had been telling the truth about being worried about her. Another thing that was interesting was that Koinatsu was leaving the Red Light District tomorrow, as she had found someone to marry and would be departing after one final night in this place, and, even though she barely knew Tanjiro, she would be sad to no longer be in the same place as him. Even with her worry about the others, and those who had 'fallen' Koinatsu found a reason to smile as Tanjiro told her that he would figure out what had happened to the others and save those that were in danger, where Pinkamena knew that if she could she would have taken Tanjiro with her.

As her friend returned to the roofs, however, that was when Warabihime showed herself behind Koinatsu, not a couple of moments after Tanjiro left, and attacked her with the sash, something that caused Tanjiro to pause as he felt something in the air, a demonic smell, which was when she stood up and held her hands out.

"Sleep, Humans, and be at ease." Pinkamena said, where her power washed over the Red Light District and the Humans that weren't interacting with the Demons or her Slayer allies collapsed, falling asleep as she ordered them to, though as it happened she waved her hand a little and released small little balls of light into the air, which zeroed in on the sleeping Humans and warped them into her inner world, exactly where they were in this world, "Tengen, Tanjiro is making contact with the Upper Moon. How are things on your end?"

"I checked Warabihime's room, but she's not there... which confirms what you just said." Tengen replied, where he kept his voice low so only she could hear his words, even though he seemed surprised by how she was speaking to him while not being in the area he was moving through at the moment, as she felt him moving towards the edge of the district, which meant he must have found something, "I'm checking out some of the houses on the outskirts, as the owner of the Upper Moon's house said that Hinatsuru got sick and headed out there, so once I check it out I'll rush back to help Tanjiro. Are the citizens safe?"

"Indeed. Everyone that's in the main portion of the district is safe in my realm, and I'm doing the same to those that are on the edge as well," Pinkamena answered, though she was pleased to find that Tengen trusted her enough to do something like this, since most Demons were known for eating Humans, so to some allowing her to snatch the entirety of this district would have been wrong, but she only wanted to ensure their safety, "Very well then, let's see what sort of skills our foes have, especially since they've been able to find themselves for so long."

Not a few seconds later she joined Tanjiro as he slipped into Koinatsu's room, where she found that the Upper Moon was wearing far more revealing clothing than what she wore when she was an Oiran, as it seemed like just a modified bra that showed off the sides of her breasts and a pair of panties, plus she had two flowers on her face, one under her left eye and one above her right.

"Two Demon Slayers... three counting that blond brat. That Hashira had better be coming soon, as you two are, too..." the Demon started to say, though in that moment she focused on Pinkamena, all while her sash was devouring Koinatsu, in the sense of absorbing her into the fabric so the Demons could feast on her later, before she recognized what her eyes were seeing right now, the more humanoid form that she showed her enemies, "No way, your that fox mask wearing Slayer that the Great One wants us to take down... you only survived Akaza because he doesn't hurt women, but you won't have that sort of luxury with me. I'll kill all of you and dine on the Hashira when they show up!"

Pinkamena reacted instantly, drawing her blade and swinging it a few times as the Demon attacked them, while Tanjiro just took the attack and his instincts seemed to save him, as he ended up crushing part of the building that was across the street from Koinatsu's room, leaving her to land nearby while keeping the eye on their foe.

"I have to admit it, your reflexes are amazing... his, however, are not." the Demon continued, taking a moment to walk out of the room, by resting her heel wearing feet on the window frame as she stared at them, her tone revealing that she did see one of them as a potential threat and the other as a liability, "I'll be sure to gouge out your eyes before tearing you two apart... might send the Hashira into a blind rage, allowing me to kill him that much quicker."

"You might want to know the names of those you'll be 'killing'. I am Pinkamena, as you no doubt know, and this is Tanjiro Kamoda," Pinkamena said, because she had a feeling that 'Warabihime' wasn't the Demon's name and wanted to drag it out of her before they started fighting, since she seemed interested in bringing both of them down, which was fine with her since she wanted to take her down as well.

"Daki, that's my name... the last one you'll ever hear!" the Demon replied, where she braced herself and leapt into the air, something that both Pinkamena and Tanjiro did without wasting any time as well, showing her that they were ready for a fight and wouldn't stop until she was taken out.

Tanjiro lashed out with the Fourth Form of Water Breathing, Striking Tide, while Pinkamena channeled the Third Form of her unique style, that being the Dance of the Phantom, where they clashed with the sash that came at them and it told the pair something new, there were only two Demons, Daki and a hidden one. The reasoning behind that decision was based on the fact that the sash seemed to respond to the Upper Moon's silent commands, much like a whip of sorts, but Tanjiro was able to slice through it and removed the section that Koinatsu was contained in. As they separated Pinkamena took it in her spare hand and landed behind her friend for a moment, where she carefully channeled her power to remove the now slumbering Oiran from the sash, sending the Human to rest with the others she had saved while adding the sash part to an area of the Storehouse reserved for the Upper Moons. Of course she knew that this wouldn't do anything to Daki, as they needed to remove her head to take her down and save this district, but at the very least it was a start, something that caused the Demon to smirk for a moment as she considered what had just happened, before a frown appeared.

In that moment Pinkamena got an update from Tengen, Hinatsuru was safe and the sash that had been coming for her, a farewell gift no doubt, had been taken care of, meaning he was on his way back, to which she pinpointed the area that she was sure his other wives were in, an underground area based on Zenitsu's position, and left him to do his thing, letting her focus on Daki again.

"Something is happening at the Ogimoto House, and Hinatsuru has been saved... great, just great." Daki said, where it was easy for Pinkamena to see that she seemed to think little of Tanjiro, who she was disappointed in since she trained him to use Sun Breathing and he stuck to Water Breathing, before the Demon sighed for a moment as she thought about what was going on right now, "So, five of you showed up... I can tell that three of you are weak, as that blond brat fainted after a single hit yesterday, the silent one who chased my part of my sash, and you, boy, don't have the power to beat me, as we clashed just now and your blade is already chipped, unlike your companion's. Whoever forged your weapon must be one of the worst blacksmiths in existence... if I was them, and produced pretty crappy weapons, I'd sooner end my life, as your blade should be able to withstand more of my power than what I just showed you two."

"You're wrong! The one who made this is a super skilled blacksmith!" Tanjiro stated, though Pinkamena was glad that she wasn't the one who brought it up, as she had seen the chipped nature of the blade after the first bout with Daki and knew that Hotaru must be a weaker smith, in comparison to the one who forged her own weapon.

"Then why is it chipped, dumbass?" Daki inquired, where she tilted her head a little, to show that she was already annoyed with him, that he was unwilling to admit that the person who made his weapon was crappy and had no idea what he was doing with the tools a blacksmith used, where Pinkamena reflected never to let Hotaru touch her blade, "Oh well, time for you to die."

In that moment Pinkamena thought she was going to have to intervene as Daki appeared Tanjiro, where he actually forced his body to move as he performed two horizontal slashes to defend himself from the sash, cutting it apart before he was touched, though the flames that accompanied his attacks told her everything she needed to know, it was Sun Breathing, Third Form: Raging Sun. In the moment that followed, where Daki paused for a moment, no doubt due to Muzan's blood recalling this particular Breathing Style from all those years ago, Tanjiro used another move against her, which happened to be the Twelfth Form, Flaming Dance, which was a two step attack comprised of a vertical slash and than a horizontal one not a few seconds later. As Daki attacked him, to intercept the incoming second blow, he utilized another move before she could strike him, the Eleventh Form, Fake Rainbow, a move that utilized high speed twists and rotations that ended up creating afterimages that people with good eyesight could be deceived by. While he started to use the Tenth Form, Fire Wheel, from behind Daki, intending on removing her head as she followed his movements, Pinkamena knew that this was doomed to fail, as the Upper Moon hadn't shown any of her true power yet, and she was proven right as Daki kept a calm look on her face and knocked him away with her sash.

Tanjiro, despite the training he did with Pinkamena, found his body in shock after successfully performing three attacks in a row, especially since they came from his Sun Breathing Forms, and failing to do the fourth one, and as Daki flashed over to where he was resting he found himself saved by his friend, as Pinkamena had moved in and swung her blade around the area in front of her, parrying all of Daki's attacks. She had been patient, allowing Tanjiro to have his chance with Daki, and she had been rewarded with him actually showing a few fruits of her labor, he could use Sun Breathing, to some level anyway, and it looked like it dealt a little bit of damage to the Demon, but now she had to step in. The two of them simply danced in the space they were in, the Upper Moon shifting from Tanjiro to her in that instant, though Pinkamena could see the look in her eyes as she realized that her blade was tougher and that all of her skills were sharper, making her the threat that Muzan had likely told her about some time ago. Tanjiro forced himself to stand and rushed into the battle once more, as he didn't want to leave his friend alone in this battle, where Pinkamena found that he insisted on producing heat, like Kyojuro said when setting one's heart ablaze, forcing some change inside himself, but she focused on Daki and less on what her friend was doing.

While they did that there was a thunderous sound, likely Tengen smashing through the ground to get to where his other wives were resting, and sure enough she got a feeling from the Hashira that more people were in need of being saved, so she grinned as she flashed through the air, appeared and snatched the 'fallen' by placing them in her world, before quickly returning to Tanjiro's side to parry another sash attack.

"Wait a moment... you were gone for a second, I felt it!" Daki commented, though such a thing caused her eyes to widen for a few seconds, because now she understood why her master wanted this particular Slayer dead, and she was happy to have the sash return to her a few moments later, as it pierced her body and she reabsorbed it, causing a number of black veins to appear all over her body, all while her hair turned white, "The Great One will be pleased with me, a Hashira and the fox mask Slayer."

In the following seconds Daki jumped onto the top of one of the buildings as her sash lashed out, cutting through a couple of buildings as she aimed at them, where Pinkamena avoided it with ease and Tanjiro, not possessing her speed, was cut a little, his left shoulder to be exact, before the area around them collapsed, causing Daki to frown as she noticed what was missing in the Red Light District.

"Where is everybody? That attack should have killed a few people." Daki remarked, as she glanced at the ruined buildings that were around them, where the roofs were cut apart and even the fronts had been reduced to rubble, and yet there was no one screaming in either pain or heartbreak, the former being from losing a limb while the latter was more due to someone losing a loved one, "Whatever, I don't care about their plain boring lives... no, their grotesque lives... which hold no value whatsoever, save for being food for us Demons."

Sure enough that sparked some outrage in Tanjiro as his eyes became bloodshot, where Pinkamena found that while he was consumed by anger his body seemed more relaxed than he should be, though what was more amazing was that her friend rushed up to Daki, without the Demon sensing his movement, before grabbing her right foot and removed the limb with a swing of his sword, causing Daki to flee for a moment. As Daki recovered, however, Tanjiro mentioned that those who died would never could back, that Humans didn't go the way of Demons, before asking her why all Demons took the lives of the innocent, why they found such joy in killing people, and why she didn't know the answers to his questions, as Daki had said nothing. Pinkamena, on the other hand, could sense what was going on, Tanjiro's scar was becoming more like a Demon's Mark, a flaming appearance that spooked Daki, a mark that reminded her of Yoriichi, though now, based on Daki's reaction, she knew why Muzan wanted Tanjiro dead so badly, he resembled the one who nearly killed him all those years ago. When talking about Humans Daki went on to say that she was a Demon now and that none of the things that Humans needed to do applied to her and the rest of her kind, which caused both of them to resume the fight as Daki lashed out with her sashes once more, though if that was all she could do Pinkamena was disappointed in her.

Tanjiro shifted his stance and utilized another Form, that being the Fourth Form: Burning Bones, Summer Sun, which was when the user unleashed a large circular slash in front of themselves, cutting through the fabric of the demonic sash as he moved in on his foe, though when he reached her head Daki turned her neck into a sash to save herself. Upon sensing the change in her neck's nature, and the upcoming attack, Tanjiro jumped backwards and switched to the defensive as more sashes came rushing at the area he had stopped in, as if he was studying the situation so he could react accordingly, all while Pinkamena watched with interest. In the following seconds he parried all of the incoming blows and gathered them in a single spot, much to Daki's annoyance as she declared that he wouldn't hurt her or do anything to her sashes, before he pierced the sashes and struck the roof, pinning them down for a time. After that, as Daki tried to do something with all of her weapons, Tanjiro went on the offensive and rushed at the Upper Moon with a flurry of attacks, moving his body so he didn't get hit as he hacked through most of her sashes, giving Pinkamena more material to gather and deposit while she observed her friend nearing the Demon's exposed neck.

It never reached, as she noticed that Tanjiro hadn't been breathing the entire time and something inside him snapped him out of the calm rage mode he had been stuck in, causing him to fall to his knees as he started coughing, his lungs hurting after what he had been through, though before Daki could attack him Nezuko appeared behind her and kicked her head, hard enough to wipe half of it out and send the Demon flying... and, based on what she was seeing, Nezuko was enraged by her brother's condition, based on the demonic veins around her left eye.

Sure enough this enraged Daki more than what happened when Tanjiro tried to cut off her head, so she ignored him and Pinkamena, who sheathed her blade for a time, just in time to observe as Nezuko rushed at her and raised her leg so she could kick the Demon again, to repeat what she had just done. This time around Daki was prepared for the attack and was able to sever most of Nezuko's right leg, surprising the young Demon in the process, before the Upper Moon slashed her with the sash again and swung her at the building across the street, severing half of her left arm and cutting a gaping gash in her left side. Pinkamena, seeing that, made sure to collect the fallen pieces of Nezuko and stored them away, because Daki seemed to be ignoring her for the most part, something that could prove to be foolish if she decided to end this fight in an instant, and the Upper Moon delighted in tormenting Nezuko by claiming that she was too weak to do anything, as in without feeding she lacked the power to regenerate. The humorous thing was what Daki said, that Demons would never kill each other, as that was what Pinkamena was doing right now, and that she would stop bullying Nezuko, as she would just store her inside the sash and burn her when morning arrived, only for them to be surprised by what happened next, though Pinkamena wasn't as surprised as Daki was.

Nezuko emerged with her leg and main body had regenerated, fully healed, something that caused Daki to pause, which was when the young Demon raised her severed left arm for a moment and instantly regenerated it, matching the speed of an Upper Moon, before a faint vine pattern appeared over certain parts of her body, which switched to an adult form, and a small horn grew out above her right eye.

"She's awakened as a full Demon... interesting." Pinkamena remarked, as now she understood part of the reason why her friend's sister was mostly sleeping and only came out when she needed to, it was like Nezuko had been readying herself for the future, when they encountered an Upper Moon, and the bamboo in her mouth shattered, meaning her rage was far more than what her brother possessed.

Nezuko's speed even matched that of Daki's as she rushed at the Upper Moon, readying another kick to smash her, and Daki retaliated by using the sash to sever half of both her right arm and leg, something that caused her to smirk, as if she was about to win this fight, before Pinkamena noticed something, the blood that sprayed between Nezuko's body and her severed limbs reattached her limbs. Such a thing lead to her exploiting the opening in Daki's defenses, allowing her to put her fixed foot right in Daki's back and smashed her into the ground, much to her surprise based on what Pinkamena was seeing, though Nezuko enjoyed the feeling of beating Daki up. In the following moment the Upper Moon lashed out with her sash and hacked her foe to pieces, spilling some of Nezuko's blood on her, causing Pinkamena to grin for a second as she realized what it meant, before sending in her weapon again to tear the other Demon apart, only for the severed limbs to react by stopping the sashes in their tracks. Sure enough Nezuko's blood ignited on Daki, setting her aflame in seconds, and while the Upper Moon howled in pain, maybe relieving a memory she thought she had buried, Nezuko brought her body together and then crushed Daki's head into the ground, as her flames didn't harm her.

In that moment, as Nezuko decided what to do next and as Daki tried to regain herself, Pinkamena dropped down into the area as she drew her blade once more, something that caused the two Demons to realize she was moving again, only for the Upper Moon to recognize the movement she was using.

"Sun Breathing, Twelfth Form: Flame Dance." Pinkamena said, her blade igniting with the flames of this Breathing Style as she swung it, the vertical slash severing Daki's left arm and leg within an instant, much to her foe's surprise, before using the horizontal slash to separate her body into two halves, right at the waist, though as Daki realized that her movement was far more refined than Tanjiro's Nezuko kicked the upper part of her body through a building, "Well then, Nezuko, shall we take care of business?"

Nezuko smiled for a moment, showing that she approved of smashing the Upper Moon into the ground, and rushed off in the direction she had sent Daki in, giving Pinkamena a few seconds to collect the scattered body parts for her Storehouse before heading for their target's location. Of course their foe had regenerated her body, she was an Upper Moon after all, but her power was only enough to deal with someone like Tanjiro, explaining why the younger Slayers that encountered her in the past had fallen, but she had a feeling a Hashira would be different. Pinkamena utilized Sun Breathing's Ninth From: Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance, a continuous set of attacks that resembled a Japanese serpent dragon, to dispatch the sash that was coming at them and also severed Daki's arms in the process, ending with her appearing behind her foe when her attack was over. Such a thing opened the way for Nezuko to smash the Demon into the ground once more, all by hitting the middle of her back again, before extracting her foot and kicked Daki through several buildings, bringing them down in the process given the damage that had been done to them, though she didn't have to worry about hurting any of the Humans since they were in Pinkamena's inner world.

When they reached the building Daki had landed in, however, she found that the Upper Moon was burnt, as in the right half of her face had been burned away and there were burn marks over her arms and legs, showing that, while she had a great regeneration power, her body had still been subjected to Nezuko's fire and her new limbs had suffered greatly, yet another fact that annoyed her.

"So, despite having eaten no Humans, you have insane regeneration and can use an annoying Blood Demon Art that only affects Demons." Daki remarked, her tone showing that she was annoyed with them and that she was going to kill them in the near future, though given what Pinkamena had seen so far she had a feeling that such a thing would never happen, as she was too weak to actually hurt her or significantly wound Nezuko.

"I see Nezuko's become more like a Demon." a voice said, where Tengen appeared nearby and stared at the figure that was standing near Pinkamena, who seemed more in control of herself than she should have been, given her history and the fact that she hadn't eaten anyone since becoming a Demon, "I guess with you here she's calmed down, especially due to the fact that there are no Humans nearby... oh, and Warabihime or whatever your name is, don't bother trying to fight me, as you aren't the Upper Moon we're looking for. You're way too weak to be one of Muzan's Upper Moons."

Daki barely had time to say anything as her head was severed from her body, causing her to fall to a sitting position as she caught her head, though in that moment Pinkamena knew that something was up, as the Demon's body wasn't breaking up after having lost her head, causing her to keep her guard up, as she had a feeling that this battle was far from over and that they needed to be ready for whatever happened next.

Entertainment: Gyutaro

"Y... You did it!" Tanjiro said, as he caught up with Pinkamena and his sister, after having gotten over his coughing fit, only arriving in time to see that Tengen had been the one to remove Daki's head from her shoulders, even if her body wasn't breaking down like all of the other Demons he had faced, "You beat Upper Moon Six!"

"Not quite, because, as you can see, she's very much alive," Pinkamena replied, which told her that her suspicions had to be accurate, about there being another Demon that was connected to her, though that meant there were only two since the sash Demon had turned out to be a weapon, causing her to raise a hand to her chin, "though after seeing this I have to wonder how one's supposed to finish her off."

"Upper Moon Demons, and those pretending to be them, have a high resistance to being beheaded, but she'll likely start breaking down in the next couple of seconds." Tengen remarked, his tone showing that he didn't care that much, since he still trusted the odd Demon that was near him and knew that she must have found the other Demon who called this place home, the true Upper Moon Six since this one was clearly too weak to do anything, "So, where's Upper Moon Six?"

"I'm right here, after you cut off my head." Daki answered, though what Pinkamena found to be humorous was that she was on the verge of actually crying, this Demon, who had killed hundreds to thousands of people, and tormented those who were beneath her during her time as an Oiran, was somehow tearing up and crying, "I'm Upper Moon Six! I'm super strong! I have the number to prove it."

"But you aren't strong, otherwise I wouldn't have decapitated you so easily." Tengen said, where he shifted his stance as he rested both of his blades against his right shoulder, because the moment Pinkamena found the Demon that they were looking for he was going to rush at it and take it out, "Even if you were distracted by my allies, and your guard was down due to being enraged, my attack wouldn't have taken the head of a true Upper Moon Demon, which means you aren't the Demon we're looking for."

"Stop talking to me as if I've lost! I haven't lost yet... besides, I'm super strong, and I'll grow stronger than my station and become Upper Moon Five in... in..." Daki stated, showing that she was unable to accept the reality of the situation, just like all of the other Demons Pinkamena had encountered during her time with Tanjiro, though as she paused she noticed the look of indifference on Tengen's face and realized that he didn't care about her at all.

What happened next was quite the shocker, Daki started to throw a temper tantrum after discovering that Tengen wasn't treating her like the threat she was, declaring that she was Upper Moon Six and that she was super awesome, that none of them would be able to stand against her true power. It was just a sad display in Pinkamena's eyes, as she had expected an Upper Moon to put up an actual fight and had been slightly disappointed in Daki, making her wonder how strong the rest of the remaining members of the Kizuki were, especially after discovering this Demon's power. Of course the only reason she kept her guard up was due to the fact that Daki's body hadn't started to break up yet, meaning they had to perform some sort of requirement to take her down, permanently, and she had a feeling that it was connected to the other Demon who was still lurking in the shadows. It was odd, the Demon seemed to be watching and observing this fight, maybe seeing if Daki had the skills necessary to be an Upper Moon or something, and yet, with Daki's head removed, no one came out to fight them, making her wonder where they could have gone wrong with their thoughts.

Daki's next word, however, was something that spurred everything into motion within a matter of seconds, as she cried 'brother' and another Demon started to grow from her back, a male Demon who looked like he was mostly bone since his body was mostly a husk of a normal Human's body. It explained so much, why she had felt another Demon's whose power was on par, or even stronger, than Daki's, and why she was unable to pinpoint his exact location, he had been hiding deep inside his own sister, why she had no idea, but now that Daki was in trouble he was coming out to help her. Tengen moved in the following instant, rushing at the husk Demon and slashed at him, finding that all he cut apart was the remains of the sash Daki had left behind when he cut off her head, before he and Pinkamena sensed some movement and found that the pair of Demons was now by a window. The newcomer was actually skinny, now that she got a good look at him, yet part of him just screamed that he was more like a husk, with a pale grayish complexion to his skin, who had black hair that came to an end in green spikes, and he wore blue baggy pants with no shirt, save for some odd red scarf pieces around his neck and three smaller ones on each arm.

Based on that brief showing Pinkamena knew they were dealing with the true Upper Moon, or maybe the two Demons just shared the position, though it didn't change the fact that they needed to figure out how to kill them, as it seemed like beheading Daki was either not the answer or it was only part of it, causing her to lean towards they needed to behead the demonic siblings.

"Cryings not going to help... come on, at least attach your own head yourself." the skinny Demon said, where he raised his hands for a moment and kept Daki steady, quickly helping her with her problem while she continued to tear up over what had happened to her, holding it there until the power of the burns left by Nezuko's flames died away, allowing her powers to come back and heal her neck, her face, and the rest of her wounds, "You might be lacking in the brains department, but you have to be more careful... and I'm going to make sure whoever burned your pretty face suffers."

Tengen, of course, rushed at the Demon and swung his blades at him, who retaliated by swinging what looked like a pair of sickles that were tainted with demonic energy, given the fleshy look to them, as the Hashira was able to stop part of the attack, but not before getting cut on the forehead above his left eye, breaking his headband in half.

"You have some nice moves, clearly befitting that of an Upper Moon." Pinkamena commented, causing the Demon to turn towards her for a moment as Tengen got used to the fact that his headband had been ruined by that attack, though he had to be thankful for placing it there since that attack could have taken his head clean off, "So, what do we call you?"

"Gyutaro, that's my name... and the Hashira has some nice moves as well, since he stopped my attack." the Demon said, to which he paused for a few seconds as he focused on her, staring at the fox mask that everyone saw when they looked at her, though he didn't seem to have much of a reaction to what he was seeing, meaning he had either seen it while he was slumbering or just didn't care, "So, you're the fox Slayer... man, you have a nice body, must be getting all the meals you need to survive... just like how he's got nice skin with no spots or birthmarks."

Pinkamena would have said something, but found that Gyutaro went on a tangent about Tengen's body, about how tall he was and how fine he looked, all while raking his nails against his skin, drawing blood in the process, showing that he had a bit of envy, or a lot, for people who lived better lives than him and his sister. What confirmed that he had to be the true Upper Moon Six was that Daki claimed that she had been working hard, all on her own, meaning she might be trying her best to live up to his expectations of her, and that she had a great plan to make them even stronger, so they could unseat a Demon called Gyokko, another Upper Moon. From what she could gather Gyutaro seemed to be a collector of some kind for his sister, so if someone hurt her or something he collected some sort of payment by killing those that wronged her, or at least that was what it sounded like he intended on doing to Tengen, Nezuko, and herself. Right now it seemed like the Hashira was their main target, as while Daki restored her body to fighting condition Gyutaro made his move, throwing his sickles at his foe and found that they were repelled without too much effort, even though they did smash through the rest of the building behind Tengen and flew through the air, only to return without Tengen taking a hit.

Gyutaro went on about how envious he was of Tengen, though when the Hashira mentioned his wives it really ticked off the Demon, or made him more envious, causing him to release a Blood Demon Technique he called Flying Blood Sickles as he released a surge of blood waves that were almost solid and looked sharp, showing them that he was serious about his desire to kill them. Since it seemed like his current target was Tengen, of course they would focus on the Hashira and not any bystanders that they considered to be weaker than them, Pinkamena did nothing as she watched, where Tengen did something interesting, he reached into a pack he wore as he swung his blades. The resulting explosion tore through the floor and allowed him to dodge the attack with ease, though Gyutaro revealed that he could manipulate the path of each attack he loosed, as a pair turned around and rushed down to where Tengen was hiding, though Pinkamena wasn't even worried at all, because he was a strong Hashira and he could overcome this. She was proven right as the floor exploded a few seconds later, showing her that Tengen was going on the offensive once more, though Daki proved that she was a bit smart as she shrouded her brother and herself in her scarf, shielding them from the flames of the explosion, meaning it would be harder to defeat them with both siblings up.

"I had a feeling that ordinary attacks wouldn't work, and it seems I was right." Tengen commented, as he arrived and saw the sash sphere break down, revealing Daki on Gyutaro's back, like she was a young child riding an older sibling or parent, though the reason he could smile in the face of this knowledge was because he had allies, especially Pinkamena, meaning this battle was going to end in his victory.

"Well, we are one after all." Gyutaro replied, though in that moment he confirmed something, all they had to do was take his head and Daki's head to defeat them, because such a comment only meant that two or more people were connected in some manner, before he considered something as he stared at Tengen and Pinkamena, "Though I have to say that you and that fox Slayer are different... you're a Hashira, we know that, but how she moves and how she acts makes me think she's one as well, and if so that's got to be a record or something, making her just as special as you are. You both have that special talent."

"Talent? Me?" Tengen inquired, where he chuckled for a few seconds, as if he found something amusing with that idea, or at least that was what Pinkamena gathered when she watched what he was doing, though neither Upper Moon moved as they waited for him to say something, "Do I look like I have any talent? If that's how you see me, you must have had such a wonderful life. You and your sister have lived for a hundred years, maybe even more, yet it seems as if you decided to just shut yourself up in this place, cutting yourself off from the rest of the world, so I'm not surprised by the fact that you have no idea how the world works... this country's huge, and there are all sorts of wonderful people, not to mention some of the really strange variety. There are those who simply defy reality, such as Pinkamena over there, and those who became a Hashira after just two months of picking up a blade... trust me, I'm not one of these 'chosen ones' that people like to talk about, as too many lives have slipped through my fingers over the years... I'm not like Kyojuro, but I'll take you two down and ensure you never harm anyone else."

Pinkamena tilted her head a little as Gyutaro mentioned that his blood sickles were full of deadly poison and that must of the people he hit with it were dead by now, a fact that caused Tengen to mention that he was from a family of shinobi and that he was used to poison, even though she could see it was starting to spread around his recent wound.

"Okay, we've spent enough time talking." Pinkamena remarked, where she stepped in between Tengen and Gyutaro for a few seconds, drawing her blade as she shifted into her new true form, surprising those who hadn't seen her kitsune form as she readied herself for battle, because it was time to bring an end to the Upper Moon, "Nezuko, you take Daki and push her towards Tanjiro and his friends. Tengen, follow my lead."

In the following moment she rushed forward and leapt into the air, where Pinkamena kicked Daki in the chest with more than enough force to send her flying, something that caused Nezuko to follow after her as she headed outside, though as that happened Tengen rushed in and parried the sickles Gyutaro used. Due to the fact that she had kicked his sister, while she was on his back no less, she instantly became the target of the Demon's wrath, meaning he targeted her with the full intent of taking her head, hence why Tengen used his own blades to parry the attack, even if he knew she had a plan for it and could have protected herself. A second later she landed nearby and tapped the ground with a hand, fully awakening the barrier around the city so they could have all the fun they wanted, without having to worry about the Demons fleeing, like what happened with Akaza some time ago, but stopped as Tengen held a hand out. In that moment she understood, as he had drawn more of the small black balls that exploded upon impact and by using the friction of his own blades, not to mention the friction of Gyutaro's weapons, he was able to set them off, blasting the Demon with something that packed a punch against Demons.

Even though he didn't know the specifics of Chaos World, and what she was capable of, he wanted to make sure she was out of the way, least she get caught in the attack and get blasted to Hell as well, before Tengen lashed out with his blades, this time gripping the very end of one while sending the other after his foe, rather amazing she might add.

As Gyutaro knocked Tengen's blade away, before it could slice open his neck or remove his head, Pinkamena shifted her stance for a moment before spinning around as she leapt forward, taking on the form of a drill as she collided with both of her foe's weapons, which was Chaos Breathing, Second Form: Piercing Drill. It was an attack she designed to both defend herself from incoming attacks and pierce the defenses of her foes, though the collision of their powers knocked Gyutaro outside, allowing her and Tengen to see that Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were already fighting Daki, with Nezuko using her power to open holes in her defenses. As she pushed her foe towards the ground, but before Tengen rushed in to deal some damage, she shifted her stance once more and this time looked like she was going to thrust her blade at her foe, so the moment her pawed feet touched the side of a building she rushed forward like she was shot out of a cannon, causing her foe to raise his sickles to defend himself. This was Chaos Breathing, Seventh Form: Deep Impact Thrust, as she made it to push her foes down into the ground, so if one used their arm to defend themselves she would break their arm for just a few moments, opening a hole in their defense so she could cut them down, and when her attack collided with Gyutaro's defenses the street sunk under the pressure of her attack.

The instant the Demon realized what her attack had done, but before he could do anything, Pinkamena moved out of the way as Tengen went on the offensive, his blades smashing into Gyutaro without much resistance, though when the Upper Moon regained the use of his arms he went on the offensive and their attacks sliced apart the rest of the building they had been in a few seconds ago.

Not a few moments later the two burst out of the hole and clashed with each other, where Pinkamena rushed forward, at a speed that matched theirs, and inserted herself into the fight, swinging her blade at Gyutaro's physical blades or using it to smash his blood sickles before they could hit Tengen in the back. One thing she noted while fighting beside Tengen was that she didn't need any of the Sun Breathing techniques she had mastered, as it seemed like her own style was enough to mess with the Upper Moon siblings, especially when her companion started to use one of his Breathing Forms against Gyutaro. Tengen used Sound Breathing, Fifth Form: String Performance, a skill that involved the user reverse gripping one of his blades and spun the other using the chain that connected them together, and coupled together with his bombs it was a rather destructive and noisy attack as he chased down Gyutaro. As that happened Daki loosed some sashes to deal with the ones attacking her brother, where Pinkamena flashed around the area, struck each sash with her sword, and was able to condense them into a single area before cutting them off from Daki, adding more demonic material into what she had acquired so far.

Part of her realized that she was playing with her food, given how much material she was gathering from Daki and Nezuko right now, even though Nezuko's power to solidify her body prevented too much from being taken, but there was one bit to this fight that none of them had noticed yet and it was connected to her barrier, where she figured she'd tell them once someone figure out what was going on.

In the following moments she found Hinatsuru standing on one of the roofs and decided to make her invisible to the eyes of both Daki and Gyutaro, though that was when she pulled out some sort of device that was packed full of kunai, which had to be laced with the Wisteria flower in some manner. Sure enough she fired a storm of kunai at Gyutaro and they just rained down on where he was standing, where, thanks to Pinkamena hiding her with her powers, he didn't see coming at all, causing a number to hit his arms and legs as his right eye, as his left was closed, snapped open in surprise. That instant was when Tengen swung his blades before the Demon could react and severed his legs, right at the knee, and as both of them realized what was going on Pinkamena made her move, as she flashed forward and swooped low to avoid the attack coming her way. This was the final of her Chaos Breathing Forms, one she hadn't used yet and found that this was a good time to do so, where she swung her blade in an upward diagonal slash, going from the right hip to the left shoulder, but Tengen and Gyutaro found that it resembled the talons of a dragon, three slashes that quickly severed the Demon's body into four sections.

This was Chaos Breathing, Eighth Form: Dragon Rising Flash, a powerful attack that left Gyutaro in pieces, where they all heard Daki cry out in anger as she realized what was going on with her brother, where Pinkamena had a second to pick up all of the scattered parts of Gyutaro, minus his weapon, and store them away before shielding herself and Tengen as their foe released his blood scythes... and when the smoke cleared he had restored himself.

"I don't know why a Demon, much less two, are fighting on the side of those who hunt us, but we're going to make you pay for every wound you've inflicted on us." Gyutaro stated, though he had to flex his arms and legs for a moment, as this was a first for him, fighting a Demon whose power allowed her to bend the laws of reality, making her a threat to the Great One and, if they killed her, he was sure they would be rewarded in some manner, hence why he readied himself.

Pinkamena, on the other hand, shifted her stance as Tengen readied himself as well, with Daki and the others pausing for a few seconds so they could get back into place as well, as she had a feeling that they were going to wipe out the entirety of this district and have some real fun with the Red Light District, and she was looking forward to every second of it.

Entertainment: Explosive Finale

Pinkamena and Tengen stood still as they watched Gyutaro, while Tanjiro, Nezuko, and their friends did the same with Daki, though sure enough it wasn't long before the brother Demon lashed out at them with one of his Blood Demon Arts, which was followed by him raising his arms and releasing a spiral of slashes from both of them. Tengen rushed forward and used the Fourth Form of Sound Breathing, Constant Resounding Slashes, meaning he swung his blades around while sending out more of the bombs that he used with his attacks, causing the entire area around him and Gyutaro to explode as their attacks hit each other. While they did that Pinkamena made sure that Hinatsuru was somewhere safe, as near the Upper Moons was a mistake since it might distract Tengen if Gyutaro rushed at her, thinking that she was responsible for the kunai, before she found that the Demon was in the air, likely trying to escape from Tengen as he planned his next move. As that happened Daki fought Tanjiro and his friends again, where she noticed that the Upper Moon Demon had a third eye in the middle of her forehead, no doubt due to Gyutaro awakening and joining her in this fight, and while that did help her with Nezuko she was still being overpowered by the other Demon's power.

As she retracted the invisibility that was on Hinatsuru, however, Gyutaro proved her right by targeting the kinochi as soon as he spotted her, though Pinkamena didn't have to move as Tanjiro combined his Sun Breathing and Water Breathing into a single swift movement, allowing him to flash over to Hinatsuru's side as he removed the hand that was reaching for one of Tengen's wives. Tengen, sensing the opportunity, rushed in and swung his blade at Gyutaro's neck, intending on taking it off for real this time so they could focus on taking Daki down, which should end this fight when he considered what the Demon had said, where Tanjiro swung his blade from the other side. The plan was simple, they were going to behead Gyutaro as he recovered from the previous attack, which ultimately failed as he raised his sickles and stopped the attacks, and he even turned his head around so he could see behind him, allowing him to bite Tengen's other blade. It impressed Pinkamena, as the true Upper Moon was a worthy opponent and showed them that he wasn't one they would be able to defeat easily, and when Gyutaro started to use the arm sickle attack Tengen pulled him off the roof so it didn't hit Tanjiro.

Pinkamena also noticed that, even with Nezuko aiding them, Inosuke and Zenitsu were being pushed back by Daki, which meant that Tanjiro being there had been the key to turning the tide, to which she held out a hand and snatched the fallen part of Gyutaro, which she munched on as she considered what to do next.

"Tanjiro, return to you sister and our friends. Together, you should be able to behead Daki." Pinkamena remarked, where she paused for a moment as her body shuddered, as partaking of an Upper Moon's blood had done exactly what she had been expecting, her power was stronger than before and, as an added benefit, she gained a fourth fox tail, a sign that her power had grown, "Tengen and I will deal with Gyutaro."

Sure enough Tanjiro considered what she was saying and quickly understood, another benefit of her training with him, as it had boosted his ability to adapt to the battle that was going on and explosively grow, but it only seemed worthwhile if his foe was actually trying to kill him, so she could give him a small boost and the Upper Moons gave him a massive boost as they fought. Not a few moments later he rushed over to Zenitsu and Inosuke, who were trying to get at Daki's head as Nezuko smashed her way through the incoming attacks, though with their team restored Pinkamena knew that it was only a matter of time until they beheaded Daki. After that Pinkamena approached the area that Gyutaro was in, where Tengen was still clashing with him as he sought an opening to exploit, she gripped her blade with both hands for a moment and then pulled them apart, suddenly creating a second Nichirin Blade that was a perfect replica of her weapon. She had been inspired by Tengen's technique, using two blades to do battle with his foes, and knew that having two blades to fight with Gyutaro was a requirement at this point, to which she rushed into the space they were in and pushed Tengen back, as she had a feeling he'd miss an attack and get himself hurt, before clashing with Gyutaro.

As she did that Inosuke unleashed the power of Beast Breathing, Eighth Fang: Explosive Rush, which she knew the name of due to him proclaiming the creation of it, while Zenitsu used the First Form of his Style and Tanjiro used his Third Form of Water Breathing, allowing them to clash with Daki's sashes so Inosuke could get close, giving him a chance to change to the Sixth Fang, Palisade Bite, and removed her head.

"You annoying gnats! Stop beheading my sister!" Gyutaro remarked, as he could see the scene as he fought Pinkamena, a Demon he couldn't even begin to understand and had to question where her second blade came from, though as he tried to rush over to them, so he could stab the boar headed boy and take his sister's head back, his foe tore his defenses down and slashed into his body.

"You should be less focused on her and more focused on us," Pinkamena replied, though as she said that she sliced off a part of Gyutaro's right leg and caused him to stagger, where Tengen rushed in and sliced up the Demon's chest, all before unleashing another explosion behind their foe, knocking him forward while ruining part of his back, and he could move so quickly was because she had, while no one was looking, cancelled out Gyutaro's poison, "otherwise one of us will end up taking your head, and with both of you in that state you should begin to break down and fade away."

"You're a Demon! Why are you fighting us?" Gyutaro asked, because while he could understand why the Slayers wanted all of his kind slain, since they saw beings like him and his sister as abominations, he couldn't even begin to understand why another member of his kind would turn on them, not to mention join the Slayers and cut down her kind, "With your power over reality, based on what I've seen so far, you could have been an Upper Moon... you could have unseated Upper Moon One, if you got that far."

"You'd be surprised by what a single mistake can do." Pinkamena remarked, where she let out a sigh for a moment as she took a second to recall the event that spurred her into her decision to hunt down Demons and end them, though she was more surprised that everyone stopped for a moment, before she focused on Gyutaro, "Had Muzan waited a couple more moments, when he turned me into a Demon, there's a fair chance that I would have lived as one of you, but he claimed that I was worthless and decided to leave before seeing the fruits of his labor. Could I have been an Upper Moon? Maybe, but that path is closed to me, and right now I will stop at nothing to save Humanity and destroy Muzan, even if it costs me my life."

Gyutaro growled for a moment, no doubt hating the fact that another Demon was being disrespectful towards the one all of the other Demons worshiped and followed the orders of, to the best of their ability, though before he did anything he noticed something, Pinkamena's companions were fleeing from this place, before noticing the crimson aura wrapping all around her main weapon.

"Chaos Breathing, Eleventh Form: Lunar Fang." Pinkamena said, as she was using this due to the fact that she had cleared out the district before they fought Daki, transporting all the Humans to her private world so everyone could sleep until the coast was clear, because it was one of the rare times she would be able to fight without someone else getting caught in it, and Tanjiro and the others were able to move after seeing Tengen move.

A few seconds later she swung her blade and sent a crescent wave of crimson energy right at her foe, where Gyutaro just stood there for a few moments, showing that he had no idea how to deal with something like this, before swinging at the wave and loosed his blood sickles once more. For a moment it looked like he might be able to stop the wave in its tracks, stop it from doing whatever it was Pinkamena had created it to do, before Gyutaro felt the wave push him back a little, as his feet were being pushed backward, and in that moment he wished his sister had been beheaded, because he could use some help with this. Of course there was no telling if his sister's sash attacks would have done anything to the wave, which was pushing his attack, and himself, backwards as he fought against it's power, but right now he felt that facing it with his sister would give him better results and maybe overturn it, before glancing over to where the boar head Slayer, who was doing his best to make sure Daki couldn't get her head back. Daki's body, however, was currently under attack by the two blood siblings, the Slayer with the odd mark on his forehead and the Demon who seemed overjoyed by the idea of tearing Daki apart, all so she couldn't cause anymore damage to the district they were in, or bother Pinkamena anyway, who was observing him as he fought against her attack.

In the end, however, the attack shattered his Blood Demon Art and slammed into his chest, causing his eye to widen as it detonated with enough force to consume at least three houses in each direction, blasting a large crater into the ground as Pinkamena stood there, her blade at the ready as she tracked her foe for a time.

"As flamboyant as that attack is, you know it didn't kill him, right?" Tengen asked, though he had to admit that the attack had to be something Pinkamena designed to weaken her foes, forcing them to lose some power as they restored every bit of damage she dealt to them, no doubt something she prepared for her eventual fights with the Upper Moons and maybe even Muzan himself.

"Oh, I know he's not dead, given that Daki's still around," Pinkamena replied, where she beckoned to the figures that were in the nearby area, as Inosuke, seeing her attack for the first time, had dropped Daki's head when he heard the sound of her Lunar Fang detonating, allowing the Demon to regain her head and forced him and his friends to fight her again, even if it meant using another method to take her head, "I know they'll behead her again, so why don't you join me in taking out Upper Moon Six... for real this time."

Tengen smiled for a moment as he shifted his stance and they focused on the smoke, where Gyutaro emerged and let the pair find that some decent damage had been done to his body, there were marks everywhere and he was restoring every bit of damage the attack had done. When Tengen rushed forward, however, declared something interesting, that what he called the 'Score' was complete and that there was nothing Gyutaro could do to win, all while he clashed with the incoming blood sickles as he used his Sound Breathing to obliterate the area that was around them. Pinkamena thought back to the information the Hashira had shared with her while they were investigating the houses earlier, either waiting for night time to come or waiting for Daki to make the first move, as she knew that the Score was Tengen's ultimate battle formula, the analysis of an enemy's habits and blind spots. It was a sound based power that he had developed over the years, as in he converted his foe's movements into sound and analyzed them, allowing him to find the holes in one's defenses and land a blow that might turn the tide of the battle in his favor, or open the way for someone else to take Gyutaro's head.

Pinkamena stood back for a moment as she watched the scene in front of her, Tengen was actually pushing Gyutaro back as they moved through the district, the explosions from his bombs setting everything around him on fire or leaving rubble behind, and he even forced the Demon through some of the buildings that were blocking the way. At the same time she found that Zenitsu and Inosuke were in the middle of beheading Daki, no doubt using an opening that Nezuko provided, a fact everyone would have to get used to since it wasn't something they were expecting, and Tenjiro was moving towards the area that Gyutaro was in. The Red Light District was being destroyed before her eyes, the collisions between the skills of the Slayers and the powers of the Upper Moon siblings causing everything to break around them, or be set on fire, and she was thankful for setting up everything ahead of time, as she knew that if she hadn't set the barrier up Humans would have died over the course of this battle. In the following moment Pinkamena tracked down her target, as Tengen stopped in a clearing as he continued to use his Sound Breathing Forms, the explosions tearing the area around them apart as he parried Gyutaro's attacks, and the Demon was able to slash up Tengen's face, delivering a vertical slash that cut through his left eye and face, but he refused to stand down.

A second later he forced open Gyutaro's defenses and opened the way for someone to do something, where Pinkamena swung her blades and removed both of the Demon's arms, preventing him from using his Blood Demon Art, at least from his arms and hands. As she touched down behind him, however, Tanjiro made his move, swinging his blade down at their foe's exposed neck without delay as he seemed to channel the full power of his body into the attack, as she found that his scar took on a new shape, it became close to flames as his hair seemed to follow suit. In that moment Tanjiro resembled Yoriichi, the mark reminded Pinkamena of what she had seen in his memories during her own training, and the mark had to boost his physical powers, as he was cutting through Gyutaro's neck right now, something that seemed to shock, if not surprise, the Upper Moon Demon in the process. She smiled for a moment as she observed what happened next, Zenitsu and Inosuke successfully beheaded Daki once more, even as she cried for her brother to do something, and while Tengen stabbed his foe's legs, to stop him from moving, Tanjiro severed Gyutaro's head, meaning that, against all odds, they had beaten Upper Moon Six, something that would enrage Muzan when he found out.

Of course she noticed what was coming next and snapped her fingers after banishing her copied blade, quickly making a small Room around Gyutaro's body, which released more of his Blood Demon Art that was designed to hurt anyone who successfully took his head off, and once everything was said and done she lowered it before collecting the bodies of the slain Upper Moon Demons.

"We did it... I can't believe it, we actually did it. We beat an Upper Moon." Tengen commented, where he sat down on some of the rubble and glanced out at the ruined Red Light District as his wives, who had been watching the battle and didn't do much to help since they would have been liabilities, rushed over to check on him, especially given his wound, "With how he fought, and his precision, I thought I might lose a hand during that fight."

"Gyutaro was a worthy foe, Daki... well, not so much. They're probably bickering over whose fault this is, and I'm sure that Tanjiro is speaking to them," Pinkamena said, though as she said that she sheathed her blade and studied the cut on the Hashira's face, where she could see the skin around it was already starting to become inflamed, and recalled what she had seen back on the Mugen Train, when dealing with Enmu's Blood Demon Art, "I can deal with the poison and heal your eye, or we can call Nezuko over and have her use her flames on you... and by that I mean that her Blood Demon Art allows her to harm Demons and mess with their techniques."

"While I trust her to do the right thing, I'd rather have you deal with it... and maybe leave the eye dark, give me something to show the others." Tengen stated, where he found that Pinkamena raised an eyebrow for a moment as she glanced off in another direction, as if something else was happening, before nodding her head as she dealt with the poison that had entered his body after Gyutaro cut up his face, "So, how long will it take you to fix this district and return the people to all of their homes?"

"Not long, since I spent so much time studying the district." Pinkamena replied, though once she was done with Tengen's injury, and left the scar over his left eye, which he wouldn't be able to use anymore, she started to move as he, his wives, and the others followed after her, only for them to find that she was heading for an intact building that allowed her to look over this district.

Tengen paused for a moment when they reached the roof she was interested in, where he found that she tapped a foot on the ground and part of the barrier, which she had brought them near without them really realizing it, opened up before his eye, allowing him to see Obanai standing on the other side. The other Hashira barely had time to register what he was seeing right now, even though seeing Pinkamena helped him understand part of what was going on, before he joined the group as Tengen informed him that they had just slain Upper Moon Six. As he understood that information, which would be a cause for celebration among all of the remaining Hashira when they learned about this event, Pinkamena drew in her power and several openings to her inner world showed up, where Tanjiro and the others watched as the people returned to the Red Light District. At the same time the damage done during the battle with Daki and Gyutaro was reversed before their very eyes, cuts in the ground were weaving themselves together, buildings were piecing themselves back together, and everything else was restoring itself to what they had looked like before they found the Upper Moon Demons, all while the people she had put to sleep were returned to their homes.

It took her no time to restore the district to what it had been like before they engaged Daki and Gyutaro, though once that was done, and Tengen made a note for Daki's Human master who he would know that his losses had been avenged, they departed from the district without delay, heading out to the Butterfly Mansion so the wounded could rest before making their report to Kagaya and the others.

Interlude: Surprising Aftermath

Following the battle with Daki and Gyutaro, Pinkamena and the Hashira lead the others back to the Butterfly Mansion, all so they could make sure the wounded, which was all of her friends given what happened with the Upper Moon Demons not that long ago, and she knew the three of them would head to Kagaya once that was done. Nezuko, sensing that the battle was over, had returned to her smaller form and placed herself back in the box that Tanjiro carried almost all the time, and the bamboo had been returned to her mouth, just in case something happened when they reached their destination. At the same time Pinkamena knew that Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke had to be exhausted from battling Daki, given the power she had displayed when her brother had been awakened, so they would likely be contained in Shinobu's domain until they were ready to head out again. She also knew that, of the three of her friends, Tanjiro would no doubt send a letter to Hotaru, so he could set up a time to have the chipped edge of his blade fixed, though she had a feeling that the smith would only be upset with this information, instead of pleased that his client was asking for something else.

Obanai insisted on knowing the details of what happened in the Red Light District, especially since Tengen had lost an eye during their time fighting Upper Moon Six, where the Sound Hashira said nothing as they moved across Japan, though his wives did catch Tanjiro and the others, carrying Pinkamena's friends to the mansion.

Aoi was, as expected, annoyed that the boys were back already and that they had to admit them once more, even though she was surprised to find out why everyone, save Pinkamena, had been injured since she last saw them, because she had no idea that they would clash with an Upper Moon Demon. In the end she and the girls admitted the boys to their beds once more, where Pinkamena found that the three beds they had been in since coming here for the first time now had names on the ends of them, showing everyone that Shinobu expected them to return at some point. Of course Aoi tried to admit Tengen as well, so she could check out his scarred eye and the area around it, but he wouldn't have that and said he was perfectly fine, though he did check in his wives, as each one had been busy scouting out the area that Upper Moon Six had been in and he wanted to be sure they were fine. While the others did that Pinkamena made sure to pull out a sample of blood from both Daki and Gyutaro's bodies, having entered her personal realm for a time and used the Storehouse for a few seconds, before silently calling Tamayo's cat to her, slipped the vials inside the pouch it wore, and sent it off before any of the others noticed what she was doing.

Once that was done she found Tengen sending a message out, no doubt sending Kagaya word that they had done what a fair number of them must have felt was impossible, forcing the echelon of the Upper Moons, a faction that she knew had remained the same for at least a hundred years, to change at long last, or maybe he might be sending word that there was something he wanted to say to Kagaya and his fellow Hashira.

"What could you have discovered in the Red Light District that would require all this strange secrecy?" Obanai asked, as he, Tengen, and Pinkamena ended up sitting around a table, the Sound Hashira devouring food to get his energy back after all the fighting he had done, while he found that the Demon politely ate what he guessed was another Demon's arm, not like a barbaric Demon who just chomped down on every Human they came across.

"Obanai, I'm exhausted from fighting an Upper Moon Demon, especially siblings that shared the position," Tengen replied, which was mostly the truth, especially when he considered the fact that he would have been gravely wounded had it not been for his decision to seek out Pinkamena, whose powers had turned the tide of the battle in their favor, depriving Daki and Gyutaro of the victory they must have been seeking, "besides, we'll likely receive a crow soon, summoning us to meet with the other Hashira, and I'd rather not repeat myself too many times."

"Don't tell me, you figured out a way to kill our enemy? Is that why the Upper Moon tried to kill you?" Obanai inquired, due to the fact that Tengen's odd desire for silence annoyed him more than he was willing to admit, either because he and the others had found something that could turn the tide of their battle with the Demons, which would be nice, or he had some bit of news and didn't want to spoil the surprise just yet.

"If only it was that easy... no, we'll likely have to lure him out of his hole and fight him on our terms." Pinkamena remarked, though she could understand Obanai's curiosity, as she felt the same way as she focused on Tengen for a moment, as he had said nothing to her as well, so he must have thought of something while they fought Daki and Gyutaro, but that was when she finished her meal and returned the remainder to the Storehouse, "Maybe the death of an Upper Moon will draw him out of hiding... or maybe we'll have to do something else to force his hand... time will tell, since Muzan's been at this for a thousand years."

Obanai said nothing as he glanced at Pinkamena, who retracted her power and her Kitsune Form disappeared once more, just like she had done after first discovering the form and power, thanks to Akaza's foul action, meaning the Hashira likely saw the mask return, which was fine with her since she didn't have to explain anything. She thought back to what she had felt during the battle with Upper Moon Six, because her tails had changed number the moment she ate part of an arm, no doubt Daki's given how much she had been hacked apart, and she was able to determine that doing that had increased the number of tails she had. Such a thing meant that if she found and devoured part of Upper Moon Five she'd likely gain another tail and more power, and would likely happen for all of the other Kizuki that were following Muzan right now, so it gave her something else to look forward to, though devouring Muzan right now seemed like something she'd have to set to the side, as he'd likely eat her first, given his position. She also knew that she had to be careful, as too much power over a short period of time would corrupt anyone, and given the sheer twisted nature of demonic blood, well, there was a good chance that even she would fall if she devoured too much of an Upper Moon Demon, so taking it slow would make sure she stuck around for the battle with her target.

From what she could tell they were only sitting there for about thirty minutes before one of the crows arrived, calling for all of the Hashira to come to Kagaya's place, or at least where he would meet them since she knew that his location was a secret to everyone, and, to her surprise, Pinkamena found that she was being invited as well. Once they discovered that piece of information, much to the annoyance of Obanai, she made a stop outside the room her friends were in and found that all of them were sound asleep, which made sense given the fight they had been in not that long ago, before joining the Hashira. Without waiting for anyone to stop them they departed from the Butterfly Mansion, following the crow to the area that they would be meeting the leader of the Corps in, though another one joined them and flew near Pinkamena, as it had something to tell her, to use her power to hide their approach, so any Demons watching would lose them, and she nodded her head without delay. A few seconds later anyone watching would see that they disappeared from sight, leaving no tracks for others to follow, while she kept track of the crows as they lead the way to Kagaya, which would likely take the three of them through some mountain paths, a number of tree groves, and whatever else was between them and the well hidden domains of the one who lead the Corps.

They were moving for some time, though they had to stop every now and then so Tengen could rest since he hadn't had a chance to rest after defeating their enemies, before eventually finding where both crows were heading to, a mansion that was hidden in a nearby mountain range, either the same one they had been to before or another one, it was hard to tell, and all of the other Hashira were already present.

"Something major must have happened for all of us to be called here again." Shinobu commented, glancing towards the trio for a moment, as they were the last to arrive and that meant that the others must have been lingering in the nearby area, but that wasn't important right now as Pinkamena focused on what she and Tengen had to tell the others, though she was pleased to see that Obanai was keeping his mouth shut.

Before anyone else could say anything the little children of Kagaya appeared, one informing them that Kagaya was coming as two more sat by the main door, causing everyone to form the kneeling line once more, which was when the one who lead the Corps emerged from where he rested, the rot looking like it was eating more of his body, since his children were supporting him right now, and his wife stopped by Pinkamena for a few seconds.

"The rot has progressed further than we thought it would... is there anything you can do to ease his pain?" the lady asked, where Pinkamena could see that, while Kagaya's wife knew that she would lose her husband at some point in time, she was willing to ask her, a Demon with unusual powers, to give her and the Corps more time with Kagaya.

"I can make a Zone for him, to ease him back into the state he was in during the Hashira meeting, but I cannot promise anything in terms of healing the rot." Pinkamena replied, as while she knew that it was possible for her to heal people, due to what happened with Tengen earlier, she had no idea if the rot was something she could mess with at all, save for when she stopped it from spreading during her first meeting with the figure.

The lady, Amane, nodded her head and moved out of the way as Pinkamena walked up to where Kagaya was resting, as he had stopped where he sat during the meeting, and called forth her power once more, creating a smaller Room for the diseased man, something that caused Tengen and the other Hashira to watch as the rot decreased, retreating to what it had been like during their last meeting.

"Thank you, Pinkamena," Kagaya said, though it was easy for her to tell that he must have been coughing up blood not all that long ago, meaning the rot that was eating away at his body had to be wrecking some serious havoc on his organs and bones, and he definitely sounded grateful for the reprieve he had been given, though as they sat down he motioned for her to remain nearby, no doubt fearing that her power would be pulled away if she were further away, giving her a chance to heal his body.

As she sat down the usual greeting was given, though this time Tengen said it, no doubt because he had something that he wanted to tell everyone, so it made sense in his eyes to take the lead while everyone listened to what his news was, all while Pinkamena found that Obanai was watching her, just in case she harmed their leader.

"Allow me to explain my reasons for asking for this meeting to be held," Tengen said, something that drew the attention of everyone else to him, despite the fact that two of them knew what was going on and the crows who had witnessed their fight with Daki and Gyutaro were silent, sitting in a nearby tree as they watched, "the first reason is this: we, as in Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, Inosuke, Pinkamena, and I, fought and slew Upper Moon Six just a few hours ago."

While Obanai knew about the demise of an Upper Moon, a massive win for the Corps since Muzan had no Demons that could replace one, not for some time since he had disbanded the Lower Moons, the others were caught off guard and just stared at them in silence, clearly not believing that they had succeeded in such a thing. Tengen went on to explain how he found the Upper Moon, as they had followed a rumor that one of the crows had delivered to his residence and it lead him, and his three wives, to a Red Light District, as there were more than one in Japan, causing some Hashira to sigh, like none of them thought to search there. He explained how his wives had gone missing and he resorted to enlisting Pinkamena to help him not only track them down, which Tanjiro and his friends helped with, but also locate the Demon that was in the district, where originally they felt that it was multiple Demons. It wasn't until they started fighting the Upper Moon that he and the others realized there were just two Demons, Daki, the one they had been fighting the entire time, and Gyutaro, her brother, who came out when she was in trouble and made a mess of things.

As Tengen got close to finishing his tale, however, he threw in the fact that Pinkamena had saved the entire district, as in she copied the layout into her world, marked where everyone was supposed to be when night came, and then put all of the potential bystanders to sleep before moving them into her world, allowing them to fight the Upper Moon Demons with their full might, without having to worry about bystanders.

"Amazing... simply amazing. You guys beat an Upper Moon!" Kagaya remarked, sounding incredibly pleased with them for doing such a thing, though, due to his excitement, he coughed a few times and Pinkamena made sure he didn't cough up more of his blood in the process, as that was the last thing he needed right now, all while the man wore a smile on his face as he realized something important, "A hundred years... you guys have forced a situation that hasn't changed for over a hundred years to change... the upper echelon of the Twelve Kizuki has been altered at long last! I was right, the arrival of Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Pinkamena is the omen we've been waiting for, as fate is starting to change in a big way, and I have no doubt that the ripples that are spreading from this event will reach our foe's feet... with the death of an Upper Moon we might even achieve our goal within this generation."

It was a fact that caused many of the Hashira to pause, as the last time an Upper Moon had been slain their predecessors hadn't been able to find and kill Muzan, much less track down all of the remaining members of the Kizuki, but, with an ally like Pinkamena around, many felt like they had a chance at victory now.

"My other reason for asking for this meeting is this: after slaying the Upper Moon, my wives and I wish to retire from the front lines and live a quiet life," Tengen continued, as he knew that many of them were wondering what he he could have said and he could tell that most of the Hashira were surprised, though Pinkamena wasn't since he valued his wives over his own life, and if they wanted to retire at long last, which they did, then he'd join them, "and what I mean by that is that I'd like to become a Cultivator, seeking out skilled youths to train, much like Sakonji and Jigoro, so my Breathing Style can be passed on and used against our enemies in the future. Also, I understand that this will reduce the number of Hashira to seven, since we haven't filled Kyojuro's spot yet, so I would like to nominate Pinkamena as a replacement, not as one to take my place, but rather as the Chaos Hashira."

"Have you lost your mind? You want to make a Demon a Hashira?" Obanai inquired, which made sense that he'd oppose the idea, even though Pinkamena was surprised that Tengen would suggest such a thing as well, and she could tell that a few others were caught off guard, with Sanemi looking like he'd kill someone.

"She might be a Demon, but in her heart she's a Slayer, and a pretty good one since she tore one of the Upper Moons we fought to pieces," Tengen replied, referring to one of the Chaos Breathing Forms he had witnessed, where she tore Daki's brother apart with her well timed attack, as he had a feeling that if she stood with the other Hashira they would be able to do great things, especially since they had no idea what the future held for them, "besides, she's climbed the ranks faster than most of the youngsters that have joined us recently, so we might as well add her to our ranks... it might help the rest of the young Slayers push forward and prove themselves."

Kagaya seemed pleased with the idea of making Pinkamena into a Hashira, who simply bowed her head as she listened to them talk, though as everyone started to talk, however, she had to wonder what Muzan and the Upper Moons were doing right now, since it couldn't be good for them or the rest of Japan.

Akaza had been minding his own business, searching for clues as to where he might find the Blue Spider Lilly that he and the other Upper Moons were supposed to be looking for, when he found himself summoned into a familiar domain, the ever changing Infinity Castle. He knew that the Upper Moon Demons were rarely called to this place, as they weren't like the disappointments of the Lower Moons, who had been slain recently and possibly disbanded, given how terrible the last batch had been, rather he and the others of his echelon were called here for only two reasons. One was when the Great One had new orders to give them, like when he ordered them to search for the flower that would grant them what they all desired most, the ability to walk in the sun, starting with their master, while the other was more unthinkable, that one of the Upper Moon Demons had been slain. As he thought about that, however, he realized that what he considered to be an impossibility, given the power of the true Upper Moons, as he refused to consider Daki as a member of their order since her brother was far more skilled than her, wasn't true anymore, as Pinkamena was out there, hunting Demons, and if one of the Upper Moons had been slain he blamed it on her.

As he glanced around he found Nakime sitting in what seemed to be her usual spot, playing her instrument every now and then as she moved things around, meaning they would be meeting here and the other Upper Moons were on the way, but even then there was one Demon he was hoping to avoid, before he spotted a pot resting nearby.

"Well, well, if it isn't Akaza." a voice said, where the Demon who lived in the pot came out, a pale white skinned grotesque humanoid Demon who seemed to have no arms, while his head had his eyes and mouth warped, as he had small mouths where his eyes should be while one of his eyes was in the middle of his forehead and the other was his mouth, who he knew to be Gyokko, Upper Moon Five, "How have you been? Its been ninety years since we last saw each other, and the mere possibility of you dying made my heart leap... I mean, cringe with pain."

"This is quite terrifying... Gyokko has forgotten how to count since we last saw each other." another voice said, which came from one of the slanted staircases that existed in this world, where Akaza found a frail and old looking humanoid Demon who seemed to be cowering behind the railing of the stairs he was on, though he wore a black kimono and always looked like he was afraid of something, "We haven't been called here for a hundred and thirteen years... an indivisible number, an unlucky number... an odd number... terrifying indeed."

"Nakime, has either Lord Muzan or Upper Moon One arrived?" Akaza asked, because he honestly didn't care about Gyokko or Hantengu, the fearful Demon who stood among their number of Upper Moon Four, as his focus was on their master and why they were called to this place again, along with the Demon who stood as the greatest one between them and the Demon King.

"Hold on Akaza. Aren't you going to show some concern for me?" a voice inquired, an annoying one that Akaza wished he could be rid of, as it was the single Demon he despised more than anyone else, a Demon with pale golden hair, a red set of attire that could be crimson colored, not that Akaza cared that much about this particular Upper Moon, in fact he had been hoping that it was the one that had been done in, especially with his annoying rainbow colored eyes, "I was super worried about you guys... I mean, your my precious buddies, and I don't want anyone here to wane out now, not after all we've been through."

This was Doma, Upper Moon Two, also known as a pain in Akaza's backside and just so happened to be the one Demon he hated with all his heart, even though Doma seemed to act like they were friends, especially since he was friendly with most of the other members of their group, save for Kokushibo, Upper Moon One, who was friendly with no one. He and Gyokko were too friendly with each other, in fact Akaza was sure they were friends and shared ideas with each other, as the foul Demon claimed that he had a pot from Gyokko that he had planted a girl's severed head in, something that annoyed him more than he was willing to admit. Doma was always trying to make friends with him and everything he did just made him more annoyed with the Demon, especially when Akaza found his right arm around his neck, where he informed Doma to remove his arm and, upon being ignored, he punched the Demon hard in the mouth, crushing the area in question as he knocked him backward a little. All that did was cause Doma to comment on him getting a little bit stronger since they had last seen each other, all while quickly healing the wound to the point where it looked like nothing had happened, though all it did was piss him off even more and made him want to splatter Doma over the entire area they were in, despite the fact that he knew he couldn't kill him.

"Upper Moon One was the first to arrive... he has been here the whole time." Nakime said, something that caused Akaza to glance down across the way from where he was standing, finding another humanoid Demon resting in what looked like a room from a mansion that a normal Human would rest or live in, no doubt a reminder of his old life.

In the following moment, however, Kokushibo informed them that Lord Muzan had arrived and they glanced up at part of the ceiling, as Nakime had moved a laboratory over to where he and the others were positioned, allowing them to see that their master was in his main form, instead of a disguise, and each one prostrated themselves as he worked on a vial, likely an experiment of some kind.

"Gyutaro has fallen... the Upper Moons have waned." Muzan commented, once more sounding like he didn't care about anyone that wasn't himself, which was his normal mood given everything he had been through, though after seeing most of the Upper Moons it was easy for everyone else to determine who was missing.

"Oh, is that so? Well, I'm very sorry about that, especially since I introduced him to the Kizuki." Doma said, as he felt said to lose such a skilled Demon, because Gyutaro showed a lot of promise and could have gone on to replace either Gyokko or even Hantengu, before he considered something for a few seconds, "How can I apologize to you? Will you gouge out one of my eyeballs, or will you..."

"I don't need your eyeballs. I figured he'd lose, given that Pinkamena was his foe." Muzan remarked, something that lead to Akaza paying more attention immediately while the other Upper Moons raised their eyebrows for a moment, where he transferred one of the images he had received from Gyutaro, before his demise, allowing them to see Pinkamena in her kitsune state, only for Akaza to realize that she had four tails now, instead of three, "Even if Daki wasn't holding him back, and they fought together, neither of them would have been able to overcome her unusual might... she's a Demon whose joined the Corps and is now seeking all of us, so if you encounter you in your travels, to either put the Ubuyashiki Clan in the ground or find the Blue Spider Lilly, make sure to put her down as well."

Akaza listened as their master went on about how Gyutaro would have won had Pinkamena not been there, since he had his poison and could have killed his foes that way, and about the fact that a perfect being was someone that didn't change at all, as he really disliked change. It was clear that he was upset with them and had no idea why the Kizuki even existed in the first place, when none of them could complete any of the missions he had set for them, even if it was only the two he had asked them to complete, so everyone listened to him as he ranted. Only Gyokko seemed to have some information he claimed that might be useful in defeating the Corps, even though Muzan beheaded him during his rant and informed him that he could barely confirm the information he had discovered, so he was ordering Gyokko and Hantengu to head out on the information he claimed would be beneficial to him. Once that was done, and he dropped the Demon's head, Muzan disappeared as quickly as he appeared, meaning the mission was the same as before, find either his enemy and bury the family or find and claim the flower he was looking for, which most of the Upper Moons would do to the best of their ability and wouldn't rest until one of them succeeded in pleasing their master.

As they started to go about their own business, however, Doma started to bother Gyokko and Akaza moved in to deal with him, though he had a feeling that one of them was going to bump into Pinkamena in the near future, where he decided to focus on the here and now and leave any thoughts about the future till he was done with Doma.

Interlude: Obanai's Mission

Pinkamena found that two weeks had gone by since the meeting of the Hashira and Kagaya, informing their leader that Upper Moon Six had been defeated, and, despite some criticisms from some of the others, she had been introduced to the higher echelon of the Corps without delay. She was the 'Chaos Hashira', on account of her unique Breathing Style, and, as such, they would have given her one of the white jackets that some of the others wore, even though Tengen didn't wear one, but since she was so unique they decided on a modified kimono. It was being built with the materials that went into making the attire of a Demon Slayer, much like what she was used to wearing, and there was an area being added so her tails could slip through, both pony and fox alike, with the chest section being blue, the legging section being red, and the sashes that went with it were black. Based on what she could tell it was designed around her Nichirin Blade, since it was blue with some red spirals, so she said nothing and found that it was also altered slightly so the fabric wouldn't get in the way whenever she fought the Demons that she was hunting.

Mitsuri, the Love Hashira, claimed that she was the 'Kitsune of Hope', meaning that she and several of the others saw her as a beacon of hope in their war with the Demons, so she didn't argue with them and accepted the attire when it arrived, only to find 'Chaos' written in Kanji on the back, much like the attire that the others wore.

Her official jurisdiction was Tengen's domain, since he had retired from being a Slayer and was taking up being one of the few Cultivators who existed across the entire island, so her first order of business was figuring out the border of her zone and setting up a net with her power. Such a thing was invisible to everyone and wouldn't block anyone from entering or leaving her part of Japan, rather it was designed so she could track down any Demons that intruded upon her domain and allowed her to track them down, which would improve the lives of the Humans under her care when she took one out. She found that most of her targets were minor Demons, nowhere near Daki, Gyutaro, or even Akaza possessed, but that didn't stop her from taking them out whenever she could do so, even though she paid attention to what the crows said, leaving the ones that had been assigned to the other Hashira alone. When Pinkamena wasn't busy tracking down Demons she trained inside her Mindscape, allowing her to maintain her skills and ready her for whenever she found a tough foe, even though Akaza and the other Upper Moons seemed to be avoiding her, if they knew about her existence and what she had done to two of their members.

While she did that, however, her friends remained in the Butterfly Mansion, as while Nezuko had helped them survive with minimal injuries, especially when one considered the fact that Pinkamena had stopped Gyutaro in his tracks, the three of them had used too much energy and pushed themselves to the brink, so it would be some time before they woke up and resumed their duties. Of course when she thought about that it wasn't exactly totally true, as Zenitsu was already awake, in fact he was being sent out more often than before and he hated it, but Tanjiro was fast asleep and Inosuke was slowly recovering on his own, so it would take some time before they got up. Nezuko, from what they could tell, was just fine and she slept while she waited for her brother to wake up, though Pinkamena and Shinobu, or whoever was on hand, checked on her when the sun went down, since the sun still hurt her and they weren't about to put her through that. Such a thing didn't stop Pinkamena from gathering a vial of her blood and sent it along to Tamayo, as she was sure Tanjiro was eager to find out what was up with his sister, given the transformation she went through when they fought Daki, and it might be another key to solving the mystery the Demon doctor was currently working on.

After some time she received an unexpected arrival, a crow that was followed by Obanai, something that actually caused her to raise an eyebrow for a moment, as all the messenger had to say was that Kagaya wanted to make sure Obanai had some company for the mission he was about to embark on.

"I can understand why you were recommended to become a Hashira, even though I don't like it," Obanai said, where the two of them departed from the Butterfly Mansion and headed to the west this time, allowing them some time to talk and observe the scenery, though it was easy for Pinkamena to see that he didn't like her at all, in fact he seemed to hate most of the people he interacted with, "but I have no idea why you need to come with me. I can handle this mission on my own, without someone like you bothering me."

"Look, I get it, you don't like anyone, and you especially hate Demons, but Kagaya asked me to come along," Pinkamena replied, where she shared the Serpent Hashira's opinion, she didn't like him that much since he had bullied Tanjiro back when Sanemi stabbed Nezuko, but she was also willing to forgive and forget, which she was sure came from Pinkie, hence why she focused on the road, "think of it this way: if the Demon is endangering all sorts of Humans I can use a barrier to keep them safe, opening the way for you to deal with whoever our target is... I'm only here to protect the people that the Demon might be hunting."

Obanai glanced at her for a moment as he headed down the road, following a path that seemed familiar to him, telling her that he must have traveled the road a lot at some point in time, before deciding to ignore her entirely as his snake kept an eye on her, showing Pinkamena that it might not like Demons either. Neither of them said much as they walked, save for the fact that the snake's name was Kaburamaru, a companion that had been with Obanai for a long time, which was all he was willing to share with her, so she accepted it and focused on why Kagaya asked her to come with Obanai. As far as she could tell it could be a family matter, that a relative of Obanai's might have become a Demon and he was being sent to do the deed, regardless of whose domain the Demon was actually in, but even as she thought about that she could tell, just from a glance and what the others had told her, that most of the Hashira had lost their families. Of course Kyojuro was the lucky one, as his father and brother were around still, and Tengen had retired with his wives, but the others didn't seem to have anyone else in their lives, other than their subordinates and Kagaya, so part of her wasn't convinced that this was about one of Obanai's family members.

Based on what she could tell they were going somewhere that was near a road, so people wouldn't be suspicious, which turned out to be a large mansion that was in Giyu's domain, a place Obanai recognized as she could see the hatred in his eyes, including the dislike in his snake's eyes. That told her everything she needed to know, this had to be where he was born and had lived for a long time, a place he must have condemned after leaving it to become a Slayer, and that this had to be why Kagaya asked Pinkamena to join Obanai as he traveled down memory lane. The memories he had locked away must have come back, causing him to recall everything he had tried to forget, though as they got close Pinkamena found something that had to be different from what the past held, there were men and women who had wooden staffs in their hands, like they were guards or something. Obanai recognized that fact as well, which meant something must have gone down since his last visit to this place, especially since he didn't like what they were seeing right now, something that told Pinkamena that there had to be a Demon somewhere in this mansion, confirming the reports that the crows had told the two of them about.

As such she held a hand out, stopping Obanai before he revealed themselves to the Demon that was here, and focused her mind for a moment as she sought out the demonic presence that had to be here, where she found a pressure point coming from one of the higher rooms and suspected that the Demon might be Lower Moon material, even if Muzan had disbanded that part of the Twelve Kizuki.

"There's definitely a Demon in the mansion, in a large room based on what I can tell." Pinkamena commented, where she could tell that Obanai froze, no doubt recalling the section of the mansion she was talking about, causing her to focus on what might be waiting for them once they entered it's domain, allowing her to study the area before they made a move on their target, "I can set up a barrier to stop it from fleeing, and put the Humans to sleep so they can be transferred to my Inner World, where they won't be harmed by our foe, so you can focus on slaying the Demon."

Obanai turned his eyes to Kaburamaru for a moment, as he still wasn't sure it was wise to trust a Demon, before deciding that he might as well trust Tengen's judgement, for if she did something that sabotaged it he could take her down before telling the others about her betrayal, to which Pinkamena nodded and got to work. Not a few moments later he found that a circular barrier surrounded the mansion, something none of the guards noticed before they swayed and fell asleep, just as she said they would, and once she was done securing the area she gave him a thumbs up. With the coast clear, and the pair had nothing to fear from the Humans that had been here, they started to move inside the mansion, which happened to give Obanai a chance to see another aspect of her power in actions, the slumbering Humans were disappearing, which meant they were appearing in the duplicate mansion she had created in a matter of seconds, in her own world. It was the same as what Tengen had said, she made sure the people had a safe haven to rest in, even if they didn't realize they were being moved to the area, and when they were done clearing out the Demon she would move everyone back into place in a matter of seconds, to make it look as if nothing had happened.

Thanks to that Obanai wasted no time in traversing the mansion, heading up to the room he didn't want to be in, a room he would rather destroy and get out of his life, yet he knew it was where the Demon was lurking, and sure enough he had to pause by the sliding door of their final destination, before steeling himself for what was on the other side. What he and his companions found was a large room that was dazzling and overly luxurious, like it had been ripped from his memory or something, and on the opposite side of the room rested a familiar alter, where one would expect a statue to rest, which the people of the house would worship before going about their day. Resting in the middle of the shrine was a figure that was a near perfect copy of the Demon he had seen the previous Flame Hashira, Shinjuro, kill with his own eyes, as it was a female serpent Demon, as in everything from her waist down was that of a snake and the tail coiled around a young girl, who had likely just come of age, that was knocked out from the shock of what was going on. It was easy for him to realize why he had been picked for this mission, the Demon's layered black hair was exactly like his, only longer since hers went all the way to her back, her snake body was brass colored, not the golden color he recalled, and her face had taken on a more snake like appearance, reminding him of what happened to him in the past.

Of course this Demon was mimicking the older serpent Demon, as in she wore nothing over her chest and her breasts had three lines on them, matching what he remembered of the older female Demon, before he finally recognized the eyes that the Demon had, the stern blue that was filled with disgust for him.

"Cousin, so you return at long last." the Serpent Demon said, where Pinkamena could see that her tongue was longer than a Human's and was snake shaped as well, meaning she had left her humanity behind, while confirming the reason behind why Kagaya asked her to come with Obanai, since he was meeting a family member.

"After everything that happened, you went and became the very monster that slaughtered and ate who knows how many people, not to mention our twisted family," Obanai replied, though this time around it was far too easy for Pinkamena to hear the hate in his voice, meaning his cousin must have been a piece of work and combining her with a Demon that must have traumatized him when he was younger was just igniting the anger and hate he must have buried inside himself, but she kept quiet as she observed the pair, "you are no longer my cousin, Demon, and I will cut you down like the others I've fought over the years."

Pinkamena said nothing as Obanai flashed forward and swung his blade into the Serpent Demon's tail, slashing it apart as he avoided the girl his former cousin had been preparing to eat, though when he stopped it was by her and he dropped off the girl, where she quickly checked her and found that she was just fine, so Pinkamena sent her to where the others were resting. Of course, since they were fighting a Demon and pieces were falling, she also collected the tail sections that had been cut free and stored them away as well, while finding that the Serpent Demon had some decent regeneration, as she healed the cut parts in a matter of seconds before rushing at Obanai. It was clear, just from how he moved, that this was a fight he was going to drag out on purpose, venting all the anger and hate he had felt over the years at this Demon, a being who had once been his own cousin, but whatever kinship they had in the past was gone, replaced by the desire to fight and kill the other in a fight to the death. Part of her felt that this was just sad to watch, two family members forced to duel each other until one of them was dead, even if neither of them had seen eye to eye in the past, and the other part of her just wanted to blame this all on Muzan, who seemed to enjoy tearing families apart in his mad quest to become the perfect being, all so he could walk in the sun and rid him of his only weakness.

The only thing she was able to confirm was that the Serpent Demon was definitely a Lower Moon, in terms of power, but it didn't matter in the face of Obanai's power, who sliced his former cousin apart over and over again as the minutes went by, before he finally beheaded her and dropped the body to the ground, allowing Pinkamena to collect all of the parts, all while the other Hashira stood there in silence.

"Based on what I can tell, the people here were kidnapping people to feed to the Demon... we might be able to arrest all of them, with the girl's help." Pinkamena remarked, as she had been studying everything that was around the mansion and felt an underground area that seemed different from what a mansion would have, an area Obanai likely knew about, but she didn't pry into his past as she talked, while focusing on some skulls, blood arms, and a few blood spots they had both missed when they entered the area, "What do you think?"

"Go ahead. They deserve to rot in prison." Obanai said, his voice calmer than she thought it might be, after all the hate and anger he must have poured out in his battle with his former cousin, but at least it was out of his system and he didn't look like he was planning on doing anything drastic after finding out that one of his relatives had done all of this, copying what he had seen in the distant past.

As Pinkamena set things up, moving some of the Humans around so the innocent ones would realize the danger they had been in and the evil ones would be knocked out for a time, though since everyone else was asleep Obanai did something that surprised her, he actually talked about his past. Apparently this was his old home, where he had been the first male child born in a long time and, since his family was worshiping a serpent Demon that loved to feast on babies, he was kept around, but it was his eyes and looks that allowed him to survive for a number of years, until he actually met the Demon who would later kill his entire family. The difference between his cousin and the original Serpent Demon was that the first one had golden eyes and golden scales on the lower portion of her body, while his former cousin had blue eyes and brass scales, and, after recalling what he had seen, his cousin had been fifteen, maybe sixteen, when she became a Demon, all while the older one had been between twenty to thirty, based on their chest sizes, since his cousin's were smaller. The rest of his family served the Demon, robbing everyone they kidnapped, and, because the Serpent Demon liked him, they even cut his mouth to match her snake like maw, though he lived in fear during those years, found Kaburamaru, and escaped at long last, only to be saved by Shinjuro.

Following that event his cousin berated him for causing the death of their family, the Serpent Demon had done it in rage over him escaping, and he went on to become a Slayer to make up for all of the wrong his family had done, only for him to eventually discover that his own cousin took the Demon's place and was recreating his wretched past.

"Don't worry, no one will have to live through the pain you endured... and the others won't hear this tale from me, since it isn't mine to tell." Pinkamena remarked, all while she and Obanai walked out of the mansion that had once been his cage, as it wasn't right to call it his home, not after what he had told her, and he tilted his head for a moment, surprised that she would keep all of this a secret from the other Slayers, "Come on, let's set this plan in motion and put these kidnappers in jail, where they rightfully belong."

Obanai found that it went as Pinkamena said it would, the girl and the other kidnapped individuals found themselves in a scene that made it look like the kidnappers would eat them at some point in the future, as the Demon had arranged some of the parts with the pool of blood that remained of his cousin. That scene installed fear in each of them and caused them to flee without delay, though she had also arranged the kidnappers to make it look like they had fallen asleep after a meal, making it look like they were also cannibals, which would explain the eaten body parts. The pair remained on a hill that was near the mansion, where Obanai was able to watch over his old prison without fearing that someone might find out where they were resting, another benefit of her strange Blood Demon Art, and it wasn't long before the officials arrived to investigate the scene. Sure enough, as Pinkamena had said, the kidnappers were being hauled off to jail, as they had been found with evidence of them eating people, responsible for abducting others and holding them against their will, and even stealing from merchants whenever they had a chance, meaning they were going to jail for the rest of their lives.

It was a fitting punishment, given the lives they had destroyed to become rich and powerful, and all Obanai did was nod as he watched it go down, though once everything was said and done, and they were sure that the Demon's followers were being properly punished, the pair departed and headed back to the Butterfly Mansion, each looking forward to what the future held for them.

Swordsmith: Village of Smiths

Pinkamena found that it was two months after the battle with Daki and Gyutaro that things started to happen, as Inosuke finally got up and refused to take any of the medication that was being given to him, causing her to sigh as she pinned him down with some of her power. She really had no idea why he resisted what Aoi and the girls had to give him, only that his mountain upbringing must have caused him to reject the various medicines he needed to heal from their battle with the Upper Moon siblings, but she did her part to make sure he got the healing his body required. Zenitsu showed up every now and then, mostly because it was a safe place he could rest in after his missions, though she had a feeling it was for Nezuko, who remained in her box nearly all the time, save for when it was nighttime and was under Pinkamena's watchful eye, just to make sure nothing happened to Tanjiro's sister. In addition to them there were a few other Slayers who came and went, all injured by some of the Demons that rested all over Japan, but it seemed like all of the remaining Upper Moons were simply hiding in the shadows, after discovering that one of their number had fallen recently.

In the end she was fine with that turn of events, as it allowed the lower ranking members to do their job while the Hashira readied themselves for whenever another Upper Moon was sighted, and whenever she didn't have missions she kept up her own training, mastering the techniques she had access to. One thing she did was pull Nezuko into her world and trained with her, as she wanted to see how the berserk Demon fought and how to fight against someone like her, even though it was a little harder to do so since Nezuko wasn't angry with her, not like what happened with Daki or her brother. That, in turn, lead to her calling on the echo of Daki to aid in the training sessions, as in she would appear, Nezuko would get upset and draw out more of her demonic power, and then Pinkamena would fight her for a time, allowing her to see what sort of fighter Tanjiro's sister was and help her regain control of herself. Her attempts were to ensure that Nezuko could control her demonic side, in case she was forced into battle again, and she proved to be a better learner than her brother, as she tackled whatever Pinkamena had for her and always braced herself for whatever was next, though she did restrain her to the training ground so she didn't run off to the Storehouse.

While that was going on they received word from Hotaru, about fixing the chips in Tanjiro's blade or even replacing it if it had been too damaged during his fight with Daki, only for Pinkamena to find that he sent her friend what was basically a bunch of hate mail, claiming that the smith hated Tanjiro and that he had no sword for him, save for returning the blade that had been chipped.

On the day that was exactly two months following their battle with Daki and Gyutaro, as Pinkamena had been keeping her eyes on what date it was, Tanjiro finally woke up and those who were in the Butterfly Mansion were happy to see that he had awakened at long last. Of course one of the Kakushi had berated Kanao when she failed to announce that Tanjiro was up again, as she wanted to give him some time to regain himself before crowding him with people, though it wasn't long before Aoi and the girls came running to check on him, while Pinkamena slipped in through the window, without ruining it like Inosuke would. Speaking of the boar Slayer he was lingering on the ceiling of the room, like he had been spying on his friend while he was resting and recovering, and, sure enough, it wasn't long before he was shouting at Tanjiro and some of the girls were talking about how Shinobu claimed that Inosuke was like a honey badger. Such a thing told her that it might be in an attempt to figure out more about his odd abilities, especially when he claimed that he was able to dislocate most, if not all, of his joints and move his body with ease, or how he could shift his organs to avoid permanent damage, which he claimed made him immortal, even if the others thought he was just an idiot.

From that point on Tanjiro rotated from sleeping in his bed, to sitting up and eating to regain his strength, to standing up and stretching with the young girls, pushing his stamina back to what it had been like before the fight with Daki and her powerful brother, even though it was clear that it would take some time for that to happen, given the two months he had spent in his permanent bed.

"Hey, did Hotaru send me a new blade while I was sleeping?" Tanjiro asked, on the afternoon of the seventh day after he had woken up, where Pinkamena found that he and the girls were in the middle of one of their stretching sessions, trying to get his body back into shape so he could head out and deal with some of the Demons that were plaguing the land, just like Zenitsu and Inosuke were doing, "I would assume that he did, since I only chipped it last time, or maybe he fixed it up and sent it back, so he wouldn't have to forge a brand new blade."

"Sadly not." Pinkamena replied, where one of the girls, who had been sitting off to the side and had been preparing some herbal tea to help with Tanjiro's recovery, got up and collected the letters that had been sent while he was sleeping, so the moment he was done stretching he could see what his smith had sent him, where his face paled once he opened one up and saw the markings on the page, "Apparently he's upset and returned the last blade he made for you, chips and all, so he did nothing to it and left it in the state that Daki put it in."

"But... But I only chipped my blade this time around." Tanjiro said, staring at the letters he had been given and could have sworn that he smelled Hotaru's hate for him, since he had damaged yet another blade and someone had sent him a letter inquiring about replacing it, though it was easy for Pinkamena to see that he was distressed, "I mean, I could understand this if I had actually broken the blade during our battle with Daki and Gyutaro, given what happened to the other ones he made me... Rui cut the first in half and Akaza smashed the second... but I only chipped the blade this time!"

"People often damage their blades in battle, right? Then that means Hotaru is the one being difficult here." one of the little girls stated, as she had been thinking about it since a crow arrived with the first letter, before the other letters arrived, and this was the idea that she had come up with after spending a week thinking about it, something that caused the others to pause for a moment before they started to chow on some large rice crackers.

"Yeah, maybe you should head to the village? You know, talk things out with him?" one of the other girls inquired, which Pinkamena thought might be a decent idea in the grand scheme of things, as there was a chance that Hotaru might be a lot more calm around the other smiths, though given how he reacted when delivering Inosuke's swords, well, there was a better chance of him raging at Tanjiro.

Since it seemed clear that Tanjiro was going to have to go to the Swordsmith Village, as it was called, Pinkamena called for a crow to come to them and drafted a short letter for Kagaya, since she knew that he had to give them permission to head to one of the most sacred and secure places for the Corps. This wasn't the same as heading to Kagaya's place, using a path that was altered more than the one that lead to Hotaru's village, because it was the power behind the Corps' ability to take down their demonic enemies, as without the Nichirin Blades they wouldn't be able to kill Demons. It was a place Muzan, in her mind, was gunning for and had likely ordered his followers to find so they could cripple the Corps, because without all of the swordsmiths making weapons, and keeping them prepared for whatever the future held, the battle power of them all suffered. It made sense that it would be hidden and that only those who were given permission would be allowed to go there, and since Kagaya trusted her, more than some of the Hashira did, this gave their leader a way to ensure that, if for some reason an Upper Moon found the place and attacked, no one would be harmed and they would survive an attack, a fact he would no doubt think about.

The following morning, following the arrival of a crow, Pinkamena and Tanjiro found a female member of the Kakushi just outside the Butterfly Mansion, where she found that the messenger bared a letter informing them that Kagaya was letting them visit the Swordsmith Village.

"Hello there, I will be guiding you to the Swordsmith Village, on Oyakata's orders." the Kakushi said, though as she did so she glanced from Tanjiro to Pinkamena for a moment, clearly unsure of something she had been told and what was right in front of her, especially since there were two of them and one of her.

"Its very nice to meet you. My name is Tanjiro Kamoda, and this is Pinkamena." Tanjiro replied, bowing his head while his friend nodded a little, as he wanted to show respect to everyone, even Demons when Pinkamena thought about how he treated Daki and Gyutaro in their final moments.

"I cannot give you my name, since I am serving as your guide, but it is nice to meet you as well." the Kakushi stated, which showed them that Kagaya was being cautious about the protection of the Swordsmith Village, something Pinkamena was fine with, before she pulled out what appeared to be a blindfold and some earplugs, surprising Tanjiro for a second, "Due to the fact that the village is hidden, and is one of our greatest secrets, I will be carrying you on my back, though to be sure you don't know the way you'll have to wear these items... plus some nose plugs, given how strong your sense of smell is. In order to keep it safe, its whereabouts are kept a secret and, after a set period of time, we'll be stopping so I can hand you over to the next Kakushi, who will take you further along the path and repeat it once they reach the next point, until both of you reach the village. Oyakata said that we only needed a single Kakushi for this, as he trusts you, Pinkamena, enough to overrule our general rule about keeping the Swordsmith Village safe... so, um, I guess you'll be following us and keeping out of sight, or something along those lines?"

"I can follow you guys without being seen, and I can hide you and our allies from our enemies as well," Pinkamena said, as with her power there were a lot of things she could do to make sure the path to the village was safe from their enemy, just as Kagaya intended since she was sure he was allowing her to go without a real reason to visit the smiths, and it seemed like the Kakushi were being briefed on her presence during this event.

For a few moments no one said anything as the Kakushi explained everything once more, just to make sure Tanjiro knew what was going on, that no one member of her group knew where the village was and both they and the crows that lead the way were swapped out, to ensure the safety of the Swordsmith Village. Once he was ready to go, and Pinkamena had taken off Nezuko's box to make things lighter for his guide, the Kakushi made sure everything was in place before picking him up and ran off with him on her back, all while Pinkamena silently followed them. Based on what she knew Kagaya's place was supposed to be hidden by more complex measures, as in his actual residence and not where he met the rest of the Slayers, though she knew that soon he'd be forced to spend the rest of his days in his mansion and that he was most likely going to die before they finally brought about Muzan's downfall. Part of her was paranoid about something, as she had spent a great deal of time thinking about it before this day and determined that every time they left the Butterfly Mansion, on a big or important mission, she and Tanjiro ended up bumping into an Upper Moon, just like when they went looking for Kyojuro and found Akaza, or helped Tengen and found Daki and Gyutaro.

Pinkamena hoped she was wrong about this, that they were heading to the Swordsmith Village and might end up facing an Upper Moon Demon, given the trigger seemed to be leaving the Butterfly Mansion, and that this would be a simple visit on their end, but she had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.

While they traveled, however, Pinkamena stopped every now and then as she scanned the area they were in, as she just wanted to be sure that no one was following them, both Human or Demon since some Demons used Humans to do some of their dirty work, before tracking down her friend and his guide. Whenever Tanjiro was moved from one Kakushi to one of the others she noticed that he would thank whoever was carrying him, showing appreciation for their hard work, while also entrusting himself to whoever would be guiding him next, which she found the Kakushi enjoyed. Another thing she was able to determine was that the crows seemed to be leading them in random directions, across bridges and up hills, all to make sure the location of the Swordsmith Village was safe from Muzan's forces, and the further they got from the rest of humanity the less she felt anything demonic. Eventually they reached a forest that seemed close to the area that Mitsuri was in charge of, if her memory was correct, where she discovered a small village, with a number of tall buildings that the tall treeline covered, that had to be their destination, since the Kakushi was slowing down.

Sure enough the Kakushi removed the restrictions she put on Tanjiro, allowing him to see, hear, and smell everything that was around him at the moment, and once she was sure the coast was clear Pinkamena landed before retrieving Nezuko's box from her personal domain, since it had been the easiest way for her to carry her, all while Tanjiro figured out that a hot spring was nearby.

"You should head to a large house that's down to the left of here, as the village elder is awaiting your arrival," the Kakushi said, informing them that there was something they needed to do before tracking down Hotaru, to speak with the smith about the blade and his refusal to even repair the chips, before he bowed his head towards the pair, as he was done with his part in all of this and it was time for him to rest for a time.

After saying thank you, and bowing their heads as well, Pinkamena and Tanjiro followed his instructions and found their way to the building in question, where two smiths were waiting for them, both wearing masks, and a third, smaller smith sat in the middle of the chamber they were brought to, causing the pair to sit down so they could speak with him about Tanjiro's smith.

"Hello there, I am the Chief of this village, Tecchin Tecchikawahara. It is very nice to meet you two." the smaller smith said, something that interested Pinkamena far more than Tanjiro, as this was the one who forged her blade a long time ago, after she cleared the Final Selection and sent in her chosen piece of ore for someone to work on, before he shifted ever so slightly as he focused on them, "I may be the smallest in the village, but I am the very best at our craft and my blades are usually reserved for the Hashira. Now, Tanjiro Kamado, lower your head so it touches the mat."

Tanjiro did so immediately, almost slamming his head into the mat that they were sitting on, though to show respect, and not to appear to be overly rude, Pinkamena lowered her head a little as well, though she was sure the two other smiths shared a light chuckle at her friend's expense, before Tecchin let Tanjiro have some dough cakes and offered her some as well, which they took before he spoke again.

"Unfortunately, Hotaru has gone missing and we are trying to find him, so please be patient with us." Tecchin continued, a fact that told them something interesting, Tanjiro's smith had to be sulking after being told to work on his client's blade again, even though he disliked the fact that each of the blades he has made so far have either been broken beyond repair or shipped in battle, "Interesting fact, but I gave him his name... and he keeps badmouthing me because of how cute it is. He's also been like this, ever since he was small, throwing tantrums whenever he's upset or angry about something, then he'll go off and sulk somewhere, usually hiding from everyone until he's ready to come back... though this time its his own fault for creating a Nichirin Blade that can actually break. Pinkamena, may we see your blade?"

"Certainly." Pinkamena replied, where she pulled the scabbard and blade from her sash and handed it over to the smith in front of them, something that caused his fellow smiths to turn their heads towards it as Tecchin drew it, finding that her blade was pristine and well maintained, undamaged from all of the fights she had been in, "Thank you for forging it, as it has served me well in the battles I've been in."

"This is what a Nichirin Blade is supposed to be: unbreakable and well maintained." Tecchin said, though Pinkamena could tell that he was pleased to see that his work was in pristine condition, that there were no chips or cracks that would force them to make another one for her, even though she knew that an Upper Moon could break such a blade, after seeing the battle between Akaza and Kyojuro.

The other smiths informed them that they would track Hotaru down and seize him so he could get back to work, which caused Tanjiro to ask that they not become too violent with him, otherwise he was sure that the smith would blame him in some manner, before Tecchin sheathed the blade and returned it to Pinkamena.

"Tanjiro, we've heard that your body, while healed enough to travel and resume your training, hasn't healed to the point that you're sent back into the field," Tecchin remarked, switching to the Slayer that wanted to come here in the first place, who was patiently waiting for them to speak so he could learn what was going on, "so if Hotaru doesn't resume work on your blade by the time the crows come for you, we'll have someone else do it in his stead... also, we have some wonderful hot springs that do wonders for the body, so I would suggest you visit it during your stay. Pinkamena, Oyakata sent word about why you joined Tanjiro on his journey to our village, so if you want to get to work setting up, um, whatever it is that you set up, then be my guest."

Pinkamena smiled as she bowed her head, thankful for Kagaya sending word about why she was coming along, since she didn't need any work done on the blade that she carried at all times, though once that was done she and Tanjiro headed outside, following the smith that would take them to the springs, but she had a feeling that things were going to get more interesting for her and her friend.

Swordsmith: The Battle Doll

After speaking with Tecchin, and learning that they were still searching for Hotaru, one smith, a male based on their body, lead them outside and quickly lead the way to a carved stone path that went up into part of the forest, with a number of signs pointing the way to the hot spring. He also informed them that he and some of the others would be making dinner, as it was getting dark out and that meant Nezuko could come out if she wanted to, before mentioning that they were going to use matsutake mushrooms tonight, an interesting fact as he walked off to complete his duties. As they walked up the set of steps, however, Pinkamena focused her mind and started work on the barrier that would protect this place while she and Tanjiro were here, since they were a team and Kagaya likely knew that sending them to the same place was for the best, or at least that was an assumption. One thing she noticed was that in addition to all the signatures she discovered, which were the smiths, there were two more people on the path they were walking along and another one was somewhere else, but she was positive those three newcomers were Slayers, given what she was feeling.

Sure enough they ran into Mitsuri as she ran down the stone steps, only this time she was wearing a kimono that looked like it was designed for relaxation, meaning she must have been in the hot springs when they arrived at the village, though due to her large chest size it sure looked like her breasts were going to spill out at any moment.

"Ah, Tanjiro! Pinkamena!" the Love Hashira said, showing that she was pleased to see them, even though it was easy to see that she was upset about something that must have happened recently, though what lowered Pinkamena's opinion of the person was that she got on her knees and started crying when she neared them, "Listen, I got ignored! I greeted him and he ignored me! I don't know who he is, because when I asked him for his name he just turned around and ignored me! Isn't that cruel?! I'm one of the Hashiras, I shouldn't be getting ignored like this."

"I'm, um, sorry to hear that... but I know they'll be done with dinner soon, and they're using matsutake mushrooms in the dishes they are preparing." Tanjiro replied, as he wasn't sure how to react to this turn of events, especially since this was one of the Hashira that Pinkamena worked with, given that he had learned of his friend's ascension to the rank, but due to what he had heard previously he was sure the Love Hashira loved food.

Sure enough Mitsuri's mood changed at the mention of food and wandered off while doing her best to sing a happy tune, causing the pair to resume climbing the stone steps that were in front of them, which eventually brought them to a rather large hot spring, which seemed to be about half the size of the room Tanjiro and his friends usually slept in. Pinkamena quickly found the figure that Mitsuri had mentioned, the scarred male that had bullied Kagaya's kids at the end of the Final Selection, though it seemed that he was currently tearing out some of his teeth, given that one he threw hit Tanjiro's head before he caught it. She knew his name now, as one of the girls at the Butterfly Mansion called him Genya Shinazugawa, no doubt the younger brother of Sanemi when she thought about it, and the reason he was at the mansion was due to a check up on his health, just like the other times he had visited the place while Tanjiro and the others were resting. She had no idea why he was here in the Swordsmith Village, nor did she feel like asking to figure out what was going on, since that wasn't important to why she and Tanjiro had come here in the first place, even though she was more interested in who the third signature was, since they hadn't found them yet.

Tanjiro, on the other hand, tried to make friends with Genya, who told him to drop dead and then dunked him in the hot spring when her friend decided to strip and jump into the water to make friends with him, causing Genya to leave, though as Sanemi's brother departed Pinkamena gave Tanjiro some privacy so he could relax in the hot spring.

Once he was done with the water, using the time to consider why Genya didn't want to be friends and why making new friends was hard, Tanjiro and Nezuko joined her in heading back down to the village, where they were escorted to an area where guests could eat their meals. What they discovered was that Genya didn't join them for dinner and Mitsuri was, as Pinkamena expected, definitely at the table, allowing her and Tanjiro to find out that she was a glutton, as she ate and ate as if her stomach was a bottomless hole, or something to that extent. It was quite the surprise, since neither of them had seen her eat before this point in time, and while Tanjiro ate far less than Mitsuri did, in fact it was one plate compared to her eight plates, thirty-six bowls, three cups, and two large tea kettles, showing them that she was definitely someone who could put away food. Pinkamena found that they were fortunate that she wasn't a Demon, otherwise she would likely eat an entire town or settlement a day and all of Japan would have been lost in no time, though the smiths likely knew she was coming ahead of time and had prepared accordingly, or the Kakushi went out for supplies to prepare for her arrival, just to make sure the village didn't go hungry.

While they ate Tanjiro made small talk about Genya, allowing him and Mitsuri to talk about the fact that he was related, in some way, to Sanemi, even though the Wind Hashira claimed he didn't have any siblings, telling Pinkamena that they likely had a painful past that neither of them wanted to forget about.

"You know, I have five siblings and I get along with all of them." Mitsuri continued, as they had been talking about siblings for a time and Pinkamena had been listening to her and Tanjiro talk about their own families, or more like her talk about Sanemi and Genya while Tanjiro talked about his family, doing his best not to get sad over the fact that they were head, to which the Love Hashira shrugged, "Honestly, I have no idea why the Shinazugawa siblings are like this... though to be fair, both of them are pretty scary when they want to be. What about you, Pinkamena? You've been silent the entire time we've been talking."

"I... don't have any siblings." Pinkamena replied, though she wasn't sure if that was a lie or the truth, as she had been part of Pinkie Pie for a long time, where one could argue that they were sisters, which could mean that Pinkie's own siblings, in a sense, were hers as well, but she just wasn't sure about it and didn't want to commit to anything, though she did think that having four sisters and a brother would be nice.

"According to Sakonji, Pinkamena lost all of her Human memories when she became a Demon," Tanjiro explained, as that was the story that her mentor had come up with, to explain her interest in learning more about Humans and the land she had been living in for some time, and she had decided to roll with it, since it was far easier than trying to tell everyone that she came from another world.

"Oh, you poor thing. Hopefully you get your memories back and remember who you were." Mitsuri said, showing that she did have concern for others, which was more than what some of the other Hashira had, even though she switched from eating to playing with Nezuko for a time, another good thing since that meant she was on Tanjiro's side about her and not on Sanemi's side.

From there they went into a small conversation about how they would pack some leftovers for Genya, so he didn't starve while he was in the village, and Tanjiro even asked Mitsuri as to why she joined the Slayers, finding that it was so she could find a gentleman, basically a boyfriend, which caused the pair to sigh as a Kakushi approached them.

"Lady Mitsuri, your sword will be done very soon, and the smiths are asking for you to come to the workshop to make the final touches on it." the Kakushi said, confirming why she was here, she happened to be getting a new sword made, likely due to either her old blade breaking or she wanted something that wasn't the standard weapon, just like how Obanai and Tengen had special looking blades.

"Really? Okay, I guess I had better get going." Mitsuri replied, where she looked sad, as she liked hanging out with them and just chatting her spare time away, though as she said that, and her guide started to move so she could leave, the Love Hashira turned towards the three of them for a moment as she considered something else, "Tanjiro, I don't know if we'll ever see each other again, given what happened to Kyojuro and what could have happened to Tengen, but lets continue to do our best. I mean, you survived a battle with an Upper Moon Demon... there's nothing more valuable than surviving an experience like that, as that's equal to five or ten years worth of training, meaning you're already stronger than when we last saw each other. Pinkamena... well, there's not much I can say, as the experience boosted your power and pushed you into the ranks of the Hashira, which is extraordinary when you think about it."

"Mitsuri, we only 'won' because Tengen was able to counter Gyutaro and Pinkamena's power prevented us from falling to our enemies." Tanjiro said, as that was the truth, he knew that his strength at the time had been nearly worthless and that he needed to be stronger so he could face any of the remaining Upper Moons that were in the Kizuki, as there were five more and there was no telling when he'd run into another one, "I will work even harder than before and push myself even further, so I can take down Muzan at long last!"

Mitsuri glanced at her guide for a moment, who was squirming as she considered how to get the Hashira to move, before she drew up close to Tanjiro's ear and informed them that there was, according to a rumor she heard, a weapon in this village that could make someone stronger, which she encouraged them to find before departing. Tanjiro, upon learning of the existence of such a thing, got as much rest as he could that night, showing that he wasn't going to let this disrupt his sleep, all while Pinkamena glanced out at the village and the surrounding area from the roof, simply wondering what sort of weapon it might be. Since there was no telling how long they would be here this seemed like a good way to kill time as they waited for the smiths to track down Hotaru, so she was fine with Tanjiro going on a treasure hunt of sorts as the two of them searched for this weapon that could make someone even stronger. She had a few ideas as to what the weapon in question might be, since they were in a village of smiths who specialized in making swords, but until they found it she was going to remain silent as she maintained her barrier over the village, only glancing off to the side once as Mitsuri and her guides departed for her home.

When morning arrived, and breakfast had been downed, the pair departed from their temporary residence as they sought out the mystery weapon that was said to be here, heading into the forest since Pinkamena knew a few people were on the outskirts, two smiths in different areas and one who had to be yet another Hashira, which she was able to confirm in no time as she found Muichiro Tokito standing near a little boy with a smith mask on.

"I said go away!" the young boy said, where it was clear that they were having an argument over something, though as the pair approached where he and Muichiro were standing Pinkamena was sure that they found a clue as to where they might find the weapon Mitsuri had mentioned, "I'm not handing over my key to you, nor am I teaching you how to use it!"

In that moment Muichiro raised his right hand and struck the boy's neck with the edge of his hand, showing them that he didn't care much for what was being said right now, meaning he wanted whatever the boy had and certainly didn't care about what he was doing, as if all he cared about where slaying Demons and nothing else. In that moment Tanjiro rushed forward and demanded to know what was going on, all while gripping Muichiro's wrist as the Mist Hashira grabbed onto the boy's attire to continue whatever they were doing before hand, and from there it spiraled out of control as Pinkamena just watched the pair. Muichiro even attacked Tanjiro, hitting him in the stomach while his guard was down, since he felt that no attack would be coming his way, and when he reached for Nezuko's box Tanjiro actually swatted his hand away as he carried the boy off, which caused the Hashira to pause for a few seconds. Of course the boy didn't seem to appreciate being saved from whatever was going on, rather he seemed to be more interested in what he was withholding from the Hashira that had been talking to him, something that made Pinkamena even more interested in what they might discover over the next few minutes.

"I told you, I'm not handing this key over to anyone... even if you torture me for it, I won't hand it over." the boy said, once more showing that he had to be the one who could show them the way to where the mystery weapon was located, or to the first clue in a chain, before he considered something, "Besides, 'It' is going to break soon anyway."

"Have you ever endured torture? Not even adults can endure it, so someone like you wouldn't last long." Muichiro replied, once more confirming that he didn't seem to care about anyone else, save for his mission or whatever he was doing, like harassing one of the smiths who helped the Slayers out, "It seems like you're a dumb brat who doesn't know their place in the world. So what if it breaks? You and your family made it, so just repair it or make another one. You know, with all the time that we've wasted on your whining and grumbling, there's no telling how many people have died."

"That's why we have so many Slayers, as there are others hunting down and dealing with the Demons while we're here, in the hidden Swordsmith Village," Pinkamena remarked, causing Muichiro to turn towards her for a moment, with a look on his face that suggested that he had no idea that she was even there until she made herself known, though she stood there as she talked, showing her fellow Hashira that she wasn't intimidated by her senior, "No one can hold the weight of this world on their shoulders, as everyone is important to dealing with our ancient enemy, so don't act like you're superior to this young smith, before you aren't."

"Be quiet. An Hashira's time is important, which he'd understand if he thought enough." Muichiro stated, meaning he had either forgotten that she was the same rank or had chosen to ignore her ascension, just like she was sure that a certain Wind Hashira had done after the meeting was over, before he glanced at the boy, "Swordsmiths can't fight, nor can they save lives... they exist only to make us weapons, so we can go out, risk our lives, and slay Demons. Now, hand over the key that you're carrying."

In that moment, as Muichiro held his hand out for the key to whatever he wanted to use, Tanjiro turned on him and just slapped his hand with an annoyed look on his face, as he didn't approve of what was going on and likely had some words to share with the Hashira, or maybe he'd repeat what Pinkamena had just said.

"This... this just... doesn't sit right with me and I don't know why! What about consideration? You can't just forget to be considerate here, as you're being cruel." Tanjiro stated, as he really had no idea what to make of this situation, save for the fact that Muichiro had no idea that the smiths were important to what the Slayers did, just like Pinkamena had said before the figure told her to be quiet, "You're just being overly cruel, for no reason. Yes, everything you've said is more or less correct, but even if you aren't wrong about most of what you said, you're wrong about the swordsmiths, as they have an important and critical role in all of this. They possess amazing skills that are far different from what we, as swordsmen, possess, and without them making our swords, well, frankly we wouldn't be able to do anything but be food for the foes that linger in the shadows... we need the swordsmiths to be able to function properly..."

Muichiro decided that he didn't have the time to waste on the conversation and struck Tanjiro again, this time on the neck, knocking him out for a time and allowed him to approach where the boy was standing, though as Pinkamena got ready to move, to intercept him, the young smith handed over the wooden key he had. It seemed more like a small peg or item that could be inserted into something else, though with it in hand Muichiro turned and departed from the area they had been standing in, where Pinkamena watched as Hotaru, who had been hiding behind a tree, helped the young smith check on Tanjiro, before escaping once he realized his client was starting to awaken. As that happened Pinkamena decided to follow Muichiro, as she was interested in what the Hashira wanted the key for, only to find a clearing that looked like it might be a training ground of some kind, before she spotted what she was looking for and paused, as she hadn't been expecting the scene before her. What she was looking at was a near perfect replica of Yoriichi, back when he was alive, and it had most of his defining features, as his face was recreated with a surprising degree of accuracy, it was wearing the same attire she had seen the legendary figure wear in Tanjiro's inherited memories, complete with shoulder pieces, it had his long black hair, and it had both his earrings, which her friend was wearing, and his Mark.

The only thing that wasn't accurate to Yoriichi was the fact that the doll, as that was what it had to be, had six arms, three on each side, and none of the held his blade, rather each one held an ordinary blade in their hand, though right now she found that Muichiro was training against it.

Eventually Tanjiro and the young smith, Kotetsu she learned, arrived and witnessed the battle for themselves, where she discovered that this was a battle doll, a mechanical training dummy that his ancestors had created all the way back in the Sengoku Era, which they called 'Yoriichi Zeroshiki'. The reason behind why Zeroshiki had six arms, as opposed to two, was due to the fact that Kotetsu's ancestors had to have that number so it could actually use the movements of the man that it was modeled after, or the swordsman, since that was what he had been told. Apparently no one knew who Yoriichi was, a fact that saddened Pinkamena a little when she thought about it, so Kotetsu didn't have the information to share with the pair, but he did know that, with the passing of his father and his lack of skill, they wouldn't be able to create something like it, so it was going to be a lost art once it broke. During their conversation Muichiro's crow informed them that his Hashira was a genius, as he was a descendant of the Sun Breathing users, even though there was only one in history, not counting all of Tanjiro's family members, even though both she and Tanjiro knew that the Mist Hashira wasn't using Sun Breathing, otherwise he would have become that Hashira, annoying the crow to no end, especially when they talked about the idea of inherited memories.

When Muichiro damaged Zeroshiki, just a tiny bit anyway, Kotetsu ran off and Tanjiro followed him, though Pinkamena stayed behind to watch the Mist Hashira train, finding that his movements were good and that he could keep pace with his foe, but she had a feeling that there was more to Zeroshiki than what they were seeing, though when he broke off one of his arms, and dropped it to the ground, she stepped out as he picked the arm up.

"I broke the blade. Even though it is close to breaking it can still break our blades." Muichiro commented, due to the fact that his weapon had snapped in half in that final moment, because one half of it was attached to the handle that was in his hand and the other half was resting nearby, to which he collected the scabbard for the blade as well.

"I see that you want a replacement, and that's fine," Pinkamena said, where she approached the Mist Hashira and rested a hand on the shattered arm he was holding onto, where the figure seemed confused as to what she was doing, to the point where he remained silent as he waited for her to tell him what was on her mind, "but leave the arm behind."

Muichiro stood there for a moment before removing the shattered arm from the blade he was taking, allowing Pinkamena to take it so the other Hashira could depart from this part of the forest, causing her to sigh as she walked over to where Zeroshiki had fallen and started to tend to it. She knew that she had no talent in making or repairing battle dolls, in fact this was the first time she had heard of such a thing, and yet, despite that fact, her power over reality aided her in fixing it up, as she rested the arm where it was supposed to be and carefully mended it back into place. While she worked on the battle doll, making sure it was in the condition it had been in before Muichiro fought and damaged it, her ears twitched as she heard the sound of Kotetsu arriving to check on it as well, though she also set up a Room around them to prevent the incoming rain from degrading the insides any further. By the time she finished tending to Zeroshiki, with Kotetsu aiding her in making sure no lasting damage had been done to it, she was pleased to announce that it was back at the level that it had been in before Muichiro fought it, they just had to replace the stolen blade and it would be back at full power, which Kotetsu could replace since his family had a storehouse of supplies and spare swords for it.

In the following moment Kotetsu, having taken a liking to Tanjiro, ordered him to train with Zeroshiki so he could stand up to Muichiro and knock him down a peg or two, which Pinkamena approved of since it would allow him to boost his power as he waited for his smith to be found, and she was looking forward to killing some time as they waited to see what the future held for them and the village.

Swordsmith: Intense Training

The first thing Kotetsu did, after making sure that Zeroshiki was fine and Muichiro's attacks hadn't damaged it, was head to his family's storehouse to retrieve a few things, namely a spare blade since one had been stolen and some wooden ones in cause Tanjiro couldn't stand up to the might of the battle doll. Kotetsu was of the opinion that Tanjiro could get stronger, to the point where he could be more aggressive and talk down to someone like the Mist Hashira, saying all sorts of things that suggested that the young boy wished harm on the one who wronged him. Pinkamena knew that since the boy mentioned a few things like slitting open one's belly, cutting off one's long hair, that it would be better to slice off his head and place it on a prison gate, and a few other things that suggested that he needed some help, instead of venting to whoever was nearby, as it might be taken the wrong way. Even Tanjiro didn't want to do it because he knew that Muichiro was better than him in so many ways, as he was smaller and thinner than he was, yet he was so much stronger than he was, a fact that surprised him and caused him to look forward to his new training, even though he really wasn't sure he wanted to fight Zeroshiki, given what he had seen earlier.

Of course, when Tanjiro actually started facing off against Zeroshiki, due to Kotetsu's encouragement, he found himself being put in immediate danger as it swung at him and knocked him around, even though they had taken off Nezuko's box so he had access to his full speed. Kotetsu was of the opinion that Tanjiro was moving by habit, instead of not making decisions after seeing his foe's movements, which was something many of the more experienced Slayers used in battle, causing him to realize that the boy was also speaking of Pinkamena's movements, which he had seen many times now. Basically, when one thought about it, Tanjiro had no foundation and it was surprising that, against all of the Demons he had faced, that he had been able to survive everything he had been through, and Kotetsu claimed that he would help Tanjiro find his footing. The other thing he did was take away all food and water until Tanjiro improved, using the life and death situation that others used to draw on more of their inner power to force open his own dormant power, and until he did good he wouldn't be getting anything to eat or drink.

Another thing they learned was that there were other ways to change Zeroshiki's movements, besides turning the key in the back of it's neck, and Kotetsu inquired if they knew about puzzle boxes, as it had the same principle as what he was talking about, one had to move everything in the right order to get the desired result. With Zeroshiki all one had to do was rotate it's fingers, where a smith who observed someone training would rotate the fingers to match the doll's movements to whoever it happened to be fighting, in the sense that they found out what someone's weaknesses were and used that knowledge to alter Zeroshiki. Kotetsu claimed that if someone didn't do this, rotating the fingers, there was no way for the swordsmen facing it to improve, thus, since he hadn't turned the fingers for Muichiro, that meant that the Mist Hashira had basically wasted his time with Zeroshiki, something that caused the little boy to laugh, like he had scored a victory of some sort over the Hashira. Pinkamena kind of understood why Kotetsu didn't like Muichiro, given what they had seen not that long ago, but even then she felt that he was going too far with his dislike for him, as it might sour his relations with whoever his client might be, since he should be learning how to forge blades at some point in time.

While Kotetsu was firm about Tanjiro not being given any food or water, at least until he proved that he was learning from his experiences by hitting the doll in some manner, Pinkamena convinced him to allow her friend to sleep and rest, as no rest would ensure Tanjiro would die before the third day was done, but she had another reason for wanting her friend to rest and recover.

"Wait, you want to train with the doll as well?" Kotetsu asked, as he was surprised by the statement, because he could see that Pinkamena was strong, in fact he knew that she was far more suited for being a Slayer due to the Village Chief telling them that her blade, against all odds, was undamaged and pristine, so it confused him.

"Yes, I'd like to face Zeroshiki and test my skills." Pinkamena replied, because while she had been training by using some of Tanjiro's inherited memories, the ones she felt that he wasn't ready to learn from, facing off against a doll that was made in Yoriichi's likeness, and possessed a range of movements that matched his own with a surprising degree of accuracy, was something she couldn't pass up on, "Besides, I know you want Tanjiro to learn from it, so I won't break it like Muichiro did... even though I can repair it with my powers, in case something unforeseen happens."

Kotetsu said nothing, other than tell Tanjiro that it would be in his best interest to observe her while she trained, before she stepped out and drew her blade, using her power to create a Room around her and Zeroshiki, so the others weren't caught in the middle of what was about to happen, before the gears in the doll whirled to life and her foe took on one of it's many battle stances. Once they were both ready Pinkamena made the first move and rushed forward, moving through the air as her blade followed suit, where Tanjiro noticed that, for the time being, she seemed to be going on the defensive, blocking the incoming attacks that were coming her way, while Kotetsu observed to see how she could improve her skills with her training. Both of them were impressed by all of her movements, as her arm moved faster than a Human's did, a fact that Tanjiro knew was due to her demonic nature, which the young smith likely couldn't see thanks to Pinkamena's enchantment on her fox mask, and yet she was countering all of Zeroshiki's blades as she dodged as well, since being cut and instantly healing would reveal her nature to those who weren't in the know. Tanjiro found that he was thankful for the Room his friend had made, as she and Zeroshiki were slashing at each other and seemed to be hacking apart the area, as trees were falling and being hacked to pieces, but since they were on the other side of the barrier none of the attacks even came close to hitting him, Kotetsu, or Nezuko's box.

When the pair paused, however, Kotetsu noticed something weird, Zeroshiki seemed to adjust himself to her style, as the doll's hands, the ones that altered it's movements, sheathed their blades for a few seconds before he watched as several of the fingers rotated on their own, meaning Pinkamena knew how to use it and didn't need him or something else was causing this, like the soul of the swordsmen this doll was modeled after.

As the two trained Kotetsu discovered something very interesting, when Pinkamena trained Zeroshiki acted more like the rumored person it had been modeled after and altered it's movements all by itself, but when it came time for Tanjiro to take over it acted more like a doll, as if Pinkamena was influencing it in some manner. He wondered what was going on as he watched the pair, as it sure seemed like someone had to be messing with the doll without him doing anything, due to the fact that it seemed to remember the rotation of it's fingers between the two, especially when he made an alteration to Tanjiro's training. Another thing he had to do, after the first few sessions of Tanjiro's training, was change out the blades for six training sticks, because the swordsman in question clearly didn't have the skills of a Hashira and he knew that if the doll had real swords it would end up killing Tanjiro, regardless of whatever power Pinkamena had, so when they changed places he also had to switch out the weapons. Still, he wasn't sure if Tanjiro was learning from watching Pinkamena fight, given what whenever it was his turn he kept dodging and didn't do anything, while his companion dodged attacks and also lightly struck the doll, not hard enough to shatter it since this wasn't her time to shine, given that she was far stronger and more skilled than Tanjiro was.

That pattern followed for five days, Tanjiro failing, repeatedly, to do anything to Zeroshiki and it's training sticks, which was just annoying for Kotetsu to watch after seeing the Slayer stand up to Muichiro, while Pinkamena and the doll dueled as if they were two ancient warriors, as their movements were so identical it was like someone fighting their shadow. While he wasn't paying attention Pinkamena gave Tanjiro a private Room to at least get some water, so he didn't die of dehydration while he trained, but the lack of food and any real sleep, as he only gave her friend a few minutes of rest before forcing a new routine on him to boost his skills, really hindered his progress, despite her warnings. When he finally switched back to forcing Tanjiro to face the real blades of Zeroshiki, likely growing tired of switching them every time the pair switched who was facing the battle doll, Pinkamena nearly stepped up to stop her friend from being cut down, but he actually ducked under one of Zeroshiki's attacks and struck the doll. While the attack was worthless, as it did nothing to his foe, he did do something this time around, even if he ended up hitting the ground due to not breaking his fall, to which Kotetsu lived up to his end of the bargain and informed Tanjiro that he could finally have some food and drink, much to Tanjiro's joy since he was nearly on death's door during the last few moments of this session.

With the ability to predict movements, while not having the skills of a Hashira, Tanjiro had improved thanks to his training and was able to sort of stand up to Zeroshiki once he was done eating, to the point where he actually looked like he might be able to deliver a blow to the doll, which Kotetsu encouraged... though when it happened Zeroshiki's head split open, as the blow was to the neck, as it fell to it's knees, revealing an ancient sword and it's scabbard.

"Pinkamena, Kotetsu, do you see that? Something came out of the doll!" Tanjiro said, his voice full of excitement, due to the fact that Zeroshiki hadn't cut him down while they were training, even though a small part of his hair had been cut off before he delivered that final strike, which shattered his blade in the process.

"It must be a three hundred year old sword, from the Sengoku Era!" Kotetsu replied, where he was equally excited by this discovery, especially since it meant that Muichiro couldn't claim the blade that was in front of them, one that had clearly seen better days since the handle looked like it might fall apart soon.

Pinkamena said nothing as the two excited boys pulled the scabbard out of Zeroshiki, where once it was out she moved in to mend the battle doll since she wasn't about to let it fade into memory, before they carefully drew the blade out, only to find that it had been rusted from old age and they fell to the ground in despair, allowing her to pick it up and find that the back edge was black and the cutting edge was bright red.

"No way... this... I recognize this blade." Pinkamena commented, because she had seen it many times in her training with the legendary Demon Slayer, the one who nearly killed Muzan and helped establish the first Breathing Styles with those he had fought beside, and had wondered where in the world it might have gone, her favorite theory being Muzan taking it so he could sleep better at night, "This is the blade of Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the first of the Sun Breathing users!"

"Well, now it belongs to Tanjiro. My doll, my ruling!" Kotetsu said, not that he cared who the blade belonged to, rather he knew that Tanjiro had been looking for his smith and that giving him a blade forged during the Sengoku Era was the best way to thank him for everything he had done since arriving in the Swordsmith Village, hence why he held a hand out so he could accept the blade from her.

"Oh hell no! I'm not giving this legendary weapon to him!" Pinkamena stated, something that surprised Kotetsu, as he was expecting her to abide by his wishes and hand the weapon over, where she sheathed it without delay and focused on him for a few seconds, due to the fact that there was no telling what the little boy would do when something didn't go his way, like she had seen since meeting him, "No offense, Tanjiro, but I'm not about to let such a treasure be broken."

Tanjiro nodded his head, as he suspected that him breaking his swords all the time was why she was doing this, but as he did that they found someone walking towards them, which turned out to be a buff Hotaru that wore no shirt, though while he frightened him and Kotetsu, due to his sudden arrival, Pinkamena wasn't intimidated by him at all.

"I heard everything. Leave the blade to me." Hotaru said, where he reached forward and found that a fox tail swatted his hand out of the way, causing him and the boys to find that Pinkamena had shifted her tail upon his arrival and that all four were at the ready, as one had dealt with his hand and the other three waited for someone to make a move, "What are you doing? Only I can restore that blade to what it used to be!"

"You aren't the only smith in this village, and given your history I wouldn't trust Yoriichi's blade to you either." Pinkamena replied, as part of her was worried that Hotaru would snap the blade out of spite, regardless of who the weapon ended up with, though while everyone was distracted she opened a portal to her realm and Zeroshiki stepped through it, as she was the center of attention right now, and once that was done she started to head towards the village, "I think I'll talk with the Chief and see if he'll work on it... after all, he made my blade and I've had no problems with it, so he should be able to do what you do in record time."

Hotaru jumped at her, intending on taking the blade so he could refine it with his skills, though Pinkamena smiled as she vanished without a trace, where all she did was use her power to mess with his eyes so he couldn't see her, and headed down the path back to the village, leaving Tanjiro to deal with his smith and Kotetsu. It didn't take her all that long to reach the village, where some of the people welcomed her back, using her new title since the news of her ascending to the rank of Hashira was now circulating around all of the places the Corps had a presence in, causing her to nod her head towards them before reaching her destination. Tecchin was surprised by her return, which she expected, while the reveal of the blade used by Yoriichi was even more surprising to him, though the request to restore it didn't come as a surprise, as he, along with a number of swordsmiths, dreamed of finding the blade and working on it. Of course he also knew that there were others who would seek to interrupt the process if they found out what sort of weapon he was working on, where he and Pinkamena arranged for him to stay in her inner world for a few days, where he would be able to peacefully work on it, all without the fear of being interrupted, and even if she had to evacuate the others to her world he'd be the only one to have access to the forge he had her make for him.

Pinkamena informed him that her world played by different rules and, if he so desired, he could work without exhaustion and clear multiple days in a single go, where he considered the information before telling her that he had to add the icon that all Hashira had on their blades to her own, since she was one as well, which he would do after working on this blade, so once they were done he took Yoriichi's blade into her world and got to work.

After that Pinkamena found that Tanjiro sought out Genya the following day, as nothing important happened during the rest of the day they discovered the legendary blade, save for finding that Hotaru had trained himself to make a blade that would keep him alive. While she respected the smith's desire to keep his only client alive, given that the other Slayers had to hate him for his inferior blades, Pinkamena was firm in her decision, he wasn't touching Yoriichi's blade, nor was she going to hand it over once Tecchin was done working on it. Genya, on the other hand, seemed to be hanging out in part of the village, his room of the guest house, and Tanjiro went to him to explain things and figure a few pieces of information out, though since she didn't care, due to it being none of her concern, Pinkamena remained on one of the roofs and just glanced out at the village. She was making sure the perimeter was set and that everyone was inside, save for Hotaru who was out in part of the more mountainous section of this place, especially since she was sure that two demonic energies were lingering in some hidden tunnels that were out in the wilderness, meaning the evacuation might take place anyway and braced herself for when night eventually fell.

When the moon came out, however, two large demonic signatures came their way and she found another smith was still out, where she flashed through the wilderness for a moment and found a demonic pot and some old Demon coming right towards the village, to which she snatched the one outside and silently sounded the alarm for the smiths to evacuate to her inner world, as she had a feeling two Upper Moons were on their way and didn't want anyone caught up in the fight that was about to take place.

Swordsmith: Upper Moon Assault

As the Swordsmith Village started to empty out into her inner world, where the smiths would be safe from the Demons that were coming, Pinkamena made sure some of the crows came over and sent them out, one tracking down Mitsuri, since she was near this area, and another heading for Kagaya, to inform him that the village had been discovered. Of course Tanjiro and Nezuko were resting right now, and would be for some time since neither Upper Moon had reached their area yet, so she wanted them to be well rested for when the fight started, given their abilities when working together. Based on what she knew the Demons had to be Upper Moons Five and Four, as neither seemed stronger than Akaza, so that left three more of their rank unaccounted for, something she would have to worry about at a later date. What she discovered, as she thought about that, was that Muichiro was heading into Tanjiro's room, and her senses informed her that one Demon was on the way to their location and the other seemed to be scanning the perimeter, no doubt hunting for anyone who was outside the village.

After figuring out that the pot Demon was heading outside the village, and wouldn't be back for some time, she focused on the older Demon, who kept muttering that they found this place due to Gyokko's efforts, where she had to assume that it was the one she was ignoring right now, so she silently joined Tanjiro as she waited for her target to arrive, only to find that Muichiro was pinching her friend's nose.

Apparently Muichiro was looking for Kozo Kanamori, who happened to be his new swordsmith, and couldn't find him, and since most of the other smiths were missing now, thanks to Pinkamena evacuating them, so he resorted to asking Tanjiro, as he couldn't find Genya either. Tanjiro, after his nose was released, informed the Mist Hashira that he knew the man and, while he had no idea where to find Kozo, he was sure that he was somewhere near Hotaru, who was working on his newest blade, since Pinkamena had taken the blade he and Kotetsu found in Zeroshiki. That information interested the Hashira, as he wasn't expecting to hear that sort of information and wondered what else he might have missed, though in that moment Tanjiro asked if he wanted to join him and Nezuko in finding the pair, as helping others was beneficial in the grand scheme of things. That statement caught Muichiro's attention and seemed to trigger something inside him, though it didn't last long as Nezuko woke up and interrupted everything, where the Hashira called her weird and couldn't recall if she had met her in the past or not, meaning he had memory problems that hadn't been solved yet.

The amusing thing to Pinkamena was that neither Slayers, nor Nezuko for that matter, noticed her presence in the corner of the room, nor did they realize a Demon was nearing them, as when the door opened they thought it was a smith, only to find the elderly Demon entering the room, causing Muichiro and Tanjiro to move in unison. Muichiro drew the blade he took from Zeroshiki and lashed out with the Fourth Form of Mist Breathing, Shifting Flow Slash, where the user quickly unsheathed their blade as they rushed forward, to deliver a slash from below their foe, and while he was fast the Demon dodged it by jumping up to the ceiling. Tanjiro, in the following moment, drew his chipped blade, showing that he was, in fact, prepared to depart if he was dispatched before Hotaru made his new blade, and quickly used the Eighth Form of Sun Breathing, Sunflower Thrust, to attack the Upper Moon while he was near the ceiling, who had, now that Pinkamena could see his face, been wounded by a slash to the face. Of course Tanjiro, not possessing the power of a Hashira, missed and it meant that the Demon landed behind him, like he was heading for Nezuko, though it proved to be fatal as Tanjiro's sister kicked the Upper Moon in the chest and knocked it backwards, opening the way for Muichiro to swing his blade downward and behead their foe.

In that moment Pinkamena appeared, as neither part of the Demon faded away, rather the body changed form before it even hit the floor and the head did the same, where the former had two promanent horns with no bump in the middle of his forehead, while carrying a staff with rings at the top, while the latter wore just kama pants and two sashes over both shoulders, with his weapon being a leaf shaped hand fan. Such a thing told her everything she needed to know, as she felt the number of demonic signatures increase from two to four, two in front of them, one out near where Hotaru might be working, and another in the forest, meaning this Demon, Upper Moon Four, had to be like Daki and Gyutaro, he had some sort of condition to take him down. Muichiro went after the fan Demon while Tanjiro went after the staff Demon, which showed any observers that they weren't about to let their foe do anything that might benefit him in battle, only for the fan Demon to swing at Muichiro and unleashed a powerful gust of wind that broke the room and building, sending him flying off in to the forest. As that happened, and Nezuko transformed into her Demon form to make sure she and Tanjiro didn't go flying, while Pinkamena just voided the power with her own power, she learned that the fan Demon was called Karaku, meaning 'relaxed', while the staff Demon was Sekido, or 'anger', meaning the main body seemed to be cowardice, given what she was feeling right now.

In the following couple of seconds Sekido tapped his staff against the ground and a surge of lightning coursed throughout the entire area they were in, or at least it would have had Pinkamena not appeared near her friend and created a Room all around them, cancelling out the attack in no time.

"No way! Man are we lucky... we get to crush the swordsmiths and the fox mask Slayer at the same time." Karaku said, as he was definitely the more relaxed of the two Demons, though he also seemed to think that he and his companion were incredibly lucky, but as Pinkamena stood there she didn't draw her blade, as there was something the Demons seemed to have overlooked during their transformation.

Genya had appeared on the whole section of the roof and pointed what appeared to be a gun at the Demons, a weapon that was suited for ranged combat and had two short barrels that the bullets could fly out of, something she had learned about during her time in some of the Human settlements, including from one of the smiths. Not a second later he pressed the trigger and blasted both Demons in the neck, though Pinkamena already knew what was going on before Genya even hit his targets, Sekido and Karaku saw it coming and tanked the attack like it was nothing, openly allowing their neck to be severed in an instant. Of course only the former lost his head, as Karaku's was still attached and it caused him to laugh for a second, though as Genya moved in to cut his head off, thinking it would be the end of the Demon, Pinkamena realized what they were seeing right now, Upper Moon Four's ability was to personify his emotions. It made sense when she took a moment to think about it, as the Demons had the Kanji for their emotions written on their tongues, and as Genya severed Karaku's head, despite Tanjiro calling for him to stop since he figured out their foe had intentionally allowed him to do so, she found two more Demons forming.

Sure enough she found a sorrowful Demon forming from Sekido's severed head, who had rope accessories and carried a yari, a spear with a blade at the end, while Karaku's was stranger, his appeared to be more joyful and had a pair of large eagle wings on his back, while his hands and feet were bird talons and his legs also seemed bent like a bird's as well, all while he carried Tanjiro into the air.

"Oh what fun! Someone figured us out, for the first time in forever, and we get to kill the fox mask Slayer!" the joyful one said, where Pinkamena suspected his name was Urogi, since that meant 'joy', and was sure that such a thing meant that the sorrowful Demon's name was Aizetsu, meaning 'sorrow', all while he ignored Tanjiro as he carried him off into part of the forest as Genya was stabbed by the other newcomer.

"It seems that you guys are underestimating me." Pinkamena remarked, where this time around she decided not to hold back with her power, hence why she shifted into her Kitsune Form and surprised the three Demons that were in front of her, since Urogi seemed to be playing with Tanjiro, all while she felt that Muichiro was going to clash with the other Upper Moon soon, so she kept a small fraction of power there, just to see what happened.

"So the report was right, she's a Demon... just looking at her pisses me off." Sekido said, though in that moment Aizetsu attempted to pull his blade out of Genya and his head was blasted off, leaving Nezuko an opening to rush in and engage Karaku before he did anything else, causing the angry Demon to growl as he faced Pinkamena.

Pinkamena found that she didn't need her blade at the moment, as she used her arms to block and parry the staff attacks that Sekido sent her way, all while Aizetsu pulled his yari out of Genya as he regenerated his head, where she found that the wounded Slayer uttered something known as the Amida Sutra. She really didn't care what that was, since it held next to no importance for her, though for Genya it seemed to steady his breathing as he avoided the incoming attack and was able to appear behind his foe, and since she was holding off Sekido, while Nezuko was matching Karaku's strength, he cut through his target's neck. Of course he failed to do anything to the Demon, which Pinkamena expected since he seemed like he didn't have access to any Breathing Styles, save for speed equal to what his foe possessed, though Nezuko let her foe kick through her stomach so she could kick his head, nearly taking it off in the process, and then used her blood to set Karaku on fire. The more interesting aspect of it was that Karaku tore off her right hand and part of her arm, though she was more than willing to exchange that for his leg he had used to pierce her and, more importantly, his own right hand, a fact that allowed her to take his fan and use it to send the Demon flying out of the ruined building, all while Pinkamena let a bit of her power wash over the fallen body parts and snatched them.

Sekido turned on Nezuko, so he could use his staff and lightning to stun her into submission, but found that his hands just disappeared, as Pinkamena sliced them off without him realizing that she had even moved a muscle, and while the fallen hands disappeared she snatched his staff and struck Sekido with it a few times, finding that it was the source of his power and that he couldn't use any lightning without it in his hands. As that happened Aizetsu continued to focus on Genya, who he struck with the side of his yari and found that the Slayer was still able to stand after the couple of blows he had quickly delivered to his body, especially while he was repeating his sutra in the middle of combat. When Genya got ready for the next round of battle, however, Pinkamena noticed the odd look in his eyes and spotted his fanged teeth, much like what a Demon had, causing her to realize that he must have figured out a way to be of some use to the Corps and that involved eating any demonic body parts he encountered, taking their power into his body. It was an interesting power, even though it was similar to what she had been doing since she became a Demon, but she also kept an eye on Genya, due to the fact that he might sense her power and come over to tear into her, which would either overwhelm and kill him or make him a monster for everyone.

As she thought about that she felt a slight change in the area that Muichiro was in, where the Hashira was meeting up with the three missing smiths, those being Hotaru, Kozo, and Kotetsu, and the other Upper Moon was there, Gyokko based on what Upper Moon Four had said, even though she had no idea what her foe's true name was. As that happened Tanjiro returned to the building by crashing Urogi through the wall, where Sekido called forth a new staff to stab him and found that Tanjiro had part of his foe's leg to block the attack, as in his own power couldn't work on his own cells. Pinkamena did nothing as Karaku appeared in the air above her and the others, where he swung his now enlarged fan down at them and attempted to flatten the building, causing Pinkamena to sigh as she summoned a Room around them, protecting her and her friends from the attack. As they took in what happened, and their foes did the same thing, she swung her hand toward the emotional Demons and knocked them all backwards, allowing her to vanish as she zeroed in on where Gyokko was, as it seemed like he might fall first, so she was checking the fight out before worrying about Upper Moon Four.

What she discovered was a disappointment, as Muichiro was trapped in a sphere of water and Gyokko, a fish like Demon who liked the ugly pot he happened to use to travel, was tormenting Kozo as he headed for the house that Hotaru was in, working on Tanjiro's blade, so she summoned a barrier around Hotaru's place.

"So, you're here as well." Gyokko commented, as he tried to attack the house and found that nothing happened to it, due to none of his attacks reaching it, causing him to turn for a moment as Pinkamena landed nearby, though this pleased him to no end, as they would be able to take out the village and the Great One's rival at the same time, "However, is it really okay for you to leave the village unattended? My fish will make short work of the swordsmiths and smash the rest of this unsightly place to pieces."

"Normally I would be... had I not evacuated nearly everyone when I felt you two arrive." Pinkamena replied, though in that moment she found a shocked look on Gyokko's face, or at least she assumed it was his face since his eyes and mouths, as he had more than two of that, were arranged so weirdly, but that was when she chuckled for a moment, "However, all of the fish that you left behind are swiftly being taken care of by another Hashira, as I sent word of your attack to Mitsuri and she's arrived at last... and Muichiro should be more than enough to deal with the likes of you."

Sure enough, despite her initial disappointment in the Mist Hashira getting caught in Gyokko's technique, Kotetsu came to his rescue, meaning he must have saved the boy earlier, and Muichiro burst out of his watery prison within seconds, a fact that Gyokko didn't know about just yet. She could see the figure remove several needles that had pierced him, signs that he had protected someone by sacrificing himself, and he frozen for a few more moments after expelling some water that had gotten in his lungs, no doubt recalling something about his past at long last. When Muichiro arrived Pinkamena found something that was very interesting, there was a misty mark on his face that reminded her of Tanjiro's marking, which had to be some sort of ancient Slayer Mark when she considered Yoriichi's own mark, and he attacked Gyokko without even wasting a moment. Of course he drew some blood and caused Upper Moon Five to alter his tactics as he used a pot that had octopus inside it, using large tentacles to crush his foes, to which Pinkamena made sure everyone besides the pair of combatants were inside the barrier, all while Muichiro's blade broke in half, causing Kozo to toss the blade to him, which was when Pinkamena warped it over to the Hashira and he grabbed it, hacking the octopus tentacles apart.

"Thank you, Kozo, for forging this blade for me." Muichiro said, holding the blade out as he placed the scabbard where it belonged on his attire, while readying himself for what was to come, meaning Pinkamena had a front row seat to the end of Upper Moon Five and even more demonic blood to add to what she had claimed so far.

Apparently Kozo was shocked by that statement and told the Hashira that he only followed the instructions that his first smith, Tetsuido, had left in cause Muichiro needed a new blade, even though the older smith seemed to have died from a heart attack some time ago, explaining why he found a brand new smith and was looking for him. In that moment, as he was talking with Kozo and recalling the past, Gyokko launched another attack with a massive amount of octopus tentacles, where Muichiro took one look at them and rushed forward as he unleashed a wide flurry of slashes, hacking the mass to pieces as he zeroed in on his foe. That was Mist Breathing, Fifth Form: Sea of Clouds and Haze, which surprised Gyokko as it happened, as his vision of his opponent was obscured for a moment and it nearly cost him his head, because when the Demon fled to a nearby branch his neck had been slashed, meaning if he had stalled for a second more that attack would have killed him. In that moment Muichiro informed Gyokko that he wasn't playing games anymore and, more importantly, the next time such an opening was presented he was going to take his head off, which only pissed Gyokko off, though he did tell the Demon that he shouldn't be upset, due to the fact that he was stating the truth, especially since he was feeling a lot better right now.

Pinkamena assumed that the Mark was the key to this awakening in Muichiro's power, though she mostly ignored the rest of the bickering between him and Gyokko, who seemed to be about beauty and caused her to realize that beauty was in the eye of the beholder, as Muichiro called the Demon ugly, his 'art' was ugly, and even his pot was misshaped, where the last one really set the Upper Moon off. It was actually hilarious to watch, seeing an Upper Moon Demon, one of the most fearful beings in the Demon world, get so upset over having his pot being labeled as misshapen, causing his blood vessels to burst a little as he summoned more pots and released a storm of fish with sharp teeth. Muichiro responded with the Sixth Form of Mist Breathing, Lunar Dispersing Mist, where he backflipped into the air and quickly delivered countless ranged attacks down at his foes, decimating the fish before they had a chance to reach where he had been standing not a few moments ago. Both she and Muichiro noticed some poison inside the fish and he shifted to the Third Form, Scattering Mist Splash, to disperse the remnants of the slain fish, the force of his attack pushing everything away from him so they could break apart without anyone being hurt by the poison, showing Pinkamena that he had improved as a person over his time in the Swordsmith Village.

That moment left Gyokko open and he molted before his head could be taken, revealing that his true form was more like a merman, as he had a muscular body, strong arms with webbing between his fingers, scales all over his body, something he claimed could break diamond, and a serpentine tail in place of his legs. When he rushed down at Muichiro, who quickly dodged the attack, fish appeared around where his fist landed, a pretty worthless power since all it did was cut into part of his foe's shirt, meaning that this battle was Muichiro's, as speed, alone, wouldn't be enough to take down this Hashira and Pinkamena knew that. She was proven right not a few moments later as the two fought each other and moved all over the area they were in, Gyokko trying in vain to hit Muichiro, who seemed to be seeking an opening to use against her foe, and it looked like he might have found one as his foe appeared at his backside after a few moments. Of course that was when Muichiro activated another Form, one Pinkamena didn't recognize, as she knew the six existing Forms of Mist Breathing thanks to her studies, and figured that this was a new Seventh Form that only Muichiro knew how to use, where he was able to change the tempo of his movements and disappeared, making his foe think the area was covered in mist, due to his failure to hit where he thought his foe was standing.

Whatever Form Muichiro was using did the trick, as he was able to distort his enemy enough and discovered an opening that allowed him to remove Gyokko's head, causing the Upper Moon to silently rage as he realized he was dying, though as his head broke apart Pinkamena collected his body and put it inside her Storehouse, before returning and catching the Hashira before he collapsed on the ground.

"You did well, Muichiro... I wasn't needed at all." Pinkamena remarked, where she walked over to the barrier and quickly placed the Mist Hashira inside it, due to the fact that it would heal his wounds and exhaustion, as it looked like poison was coursing through his body and the Mark had disappeared, to which she turned for a moment, "We just have to deal with Upper Moon Four and everything will be back to normal."

Instead of waiting for anyone to say anything, or even ask her what was going on, Pinkamena rushed through the forest as she zeroed in on where Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya were located, as she knew that nothing much had changed since her departure and suspected that it would be a while before they took down Upper Moon Four, and she was looking forward to seeing what other powers their foe might have to share with them.

Interlude: Hashira Council

Following the battle for the Swordsmith Village, which included the total destruction of the village, everyone surviving, and two Upper Moons perishing over the course of the night, Pinkamena made sure that Kecchin and the others were safely transported to one of the copy villages that had been made in the past, to hide their location. Now that it had been found, a fact that had likely been reported to Muzan, everyone had to be moved to a new residence and she assisted them, since it was far safer to travel in her inner world and be deposited when the crow reached the location that had been picked out for them. Of course, thanks to another aspect of her power, no one lost anything and everything the Demons had destroyed had been returned to them in no time, meaning everyone was able to resume their lives as swordsmiths and didn't have to worry about another attack, and even if such a thing happened Pinkamena added a permanent barrier, finding that her power was far stronger after devouring the two Upper Moons. As such she had more influence over the world around her and was able to set up multiple safe locations, so she gave Tecchin a crystal that, in the event of a Demon attack, would teleport the new village into her inner world in an instant, an extra safety feature for them.

The other thing she did was allow her blade to be modified, carrying the character that all Hashira blades had, though as soon as the work was done she returned it to her sash, allowing it to rest with Yoriichi's blade, something she would carry with her at all times, before returning to her duties.

Tanjiro, Genya, and Nezuko were brought back to the Butterfly Mansion, including Muichiro and Mitsuri, as while they had been subjected to Pinkamena's healing abilities, much like Tengen, Shinobu wanted to be sure they were fine before she allowed the pair to be sent out on missions again, causing her to nod her understanding. What she discovered was that the pair slept for two whole days, which made sense when she thought about the Slayer Marks they had unlocked during their fights with the Upper Moon Demons who attacked the Swordsmith Village, before recovering enough to be let out, all while her friend kept sleeping. Genya, on the other hand, seemed to be fine, despite the pieces of Hantengu, Upper Moon Four as Pinkamena discovered from what she gained from the slain Demon, that he had devoured to aid them in beating the Demon, and he also did nothing in regards to her, as he suspected that biting into her would be painful for him, given all of the power she had access to. Nezuko just sat around and helped Aoi with some of the chores, even though she had to be taught everything from the ground up since it was clear that she didn't have access to any of her Human memories, save for those Sakonji gave her some time ago, and while the others were worried for her safety, given that Demons were known to burn in the sun, they found that she was just fine, shocking them in the process.

When Inosuke returned from a mission, as he had a slight injury he had to recover from, he had Nezuko remember his name, something that came out when Zenitsu arrived and really pissed off the boy that had a crush on her, even though Aoi wanted the sleeping swordsman to have a heart attack, or at least lower his voice so they didn't suffer whenever he said something in excitement.

Other than that nothing happened, confirming Muzan did know about Nezuko and that he had to be building his power to claim her for his own ends, so when Muichiro and Mitsuri were discharged the Hashira were summoned to Kagaya's place again, meaning that things really were changing at a rapid pace and they had to be ready for whatever the future held for all of them. Sure enough they happened to be the first ones to arrive, where Amane directed them to where this meeting would be taking place, inside this time around, though Pinkamena had to wonder what sort of condition their leader was in, given what she had seen during the last meeting he had attended. This one would be even more important than all that came before it, as not only were two more Upper Moons slain, which had to enrage their foe to no end since those were hard positions to fill in such a short period of time, but they now had a Demon who could walk in the sun, despite the fact that she had done so a long time ago. That information changed literally everything, as Muzan was likely going to pull all of his forces back to his base and prepare for an assault that would decide the fate of this entire world, because if they won it meant the end of most Demons, and if Muzan won he'd spread his darkness across everything, taking control of the world with nothing to stop him.

Of course she was also a Demon who could walk in the sun, thanks to conquering it back when she first found Muzan, a fact she needed to correct during the meeting, though Pinkamena kept her thoughts to herself as Sanemi and the rest of the Hashira finally arrived, everyone sitting down as they waited for Amane or Kagaya to arrive so they could figure out the next move they needed to make.

"Aagh, I envy you guys, dammit." Sanemi commented, showing that he must have been hoping to run into an Upper Moon Demon at some point in time and had been disappointed to find none of those Demons, though to be fair he likely went in the exact opposite of Daki and Gyutaro, Pinkamena didn't see him heading into a Red Light District to look for a Demon, and the other two seemed good at hiding, "Why can't I bump into any Upper Moons?"

"Its not like people run into them all the time." Obanai remarked, no doubt thinking about what Pinkamena had thought about the Upper Moons, showing her that the others might be on the same page and didn't need to be told useless bits of information, before he glanced at the other two Hashira, starting with Mitsuri, and lingering on her, before checking on Muichiro, "How are the two of you feeling?"

Mitsuri was clearly thinking about something else before informing them that she was feeling better, while Muichiro told them that, while he had healed quite well, he still wasn't at full strength and he would regain his full power in due time, a fact everyone thought about.

"The three of you were admirable, defeating two Upper Moon Demons without any casualties." Gyomei added, because it was a feat that displayed all of their strengths, Pinkamena saving everyone while the two Upper Moons were slain by the two other Hashira that had been in the village and the Slayers that were there as well, plus he was happy to hear that his friends had survived.

Shinobu thought it was odd that they had recovered, to this extent, so quickly and Giyu claimed that it was something that might be discussed, though as everyone else spoke Amane came by and asked Pinkamena for some assistance, causing her to excuse herself for a few moments. Sure enough it was due to Kagaya's condition, which had advanced to the point where he was bedridden and was likely wrecking terrible havoc on his body, though thanks to her power boost she knew that her healing power had to be far stronger than it had been before. As such she went to work and ensured that the rot was pushed back again, restoring him to the point that he could walk and talk without having to rely on others, though, as before, it would only last while he was in the Zone she made for him, though this time, with her enhanced power, the area she could create would cover the entirety of his mansion. The added benefit to that fact was that she could hide him even more, so even if Muzan somehow found the path to this place she could ensure he was totally safe, in the one place their foe couldn't get to, but that was a conversation for when this meeting was over.

Once she was done with her treatment, and ensured them that the Zone existed all over the house section of this area, Pinkamena returned to the other Hashira for a time as she waited for Kagaya to emerge with his wife and two of his kids, as while he might have been healed they were still worried for his health, though it wasn't long before they joined her and the Hashira, meaning it was time for the meeting to start.

"Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Pinkamena, for the timely aid... I'm afraid that, even with your aid, I don't have a lot of time left." Kagaya said, where his wife and kids helped him into the area he would be sitting in, all while the Hashira turned in their seats so they could face the master of the Corps, and soon to be master since his son was attending, so he could learn his duties in case Muzan was still alive after his father fell.

"Understood. I shall pray for your flickering flame to last a bit longer, Oyakata, even for just a day, and I will pray that you stay strong as well, Amane." Gyomei stated, taking a moment to clap his hands together before he said that, as if he was leading all of them in prayer before the meeting really got started, though his words eased the pain Amane and her kids had to be feeling, since they knew it wouldn't be long until Kagaya was no longer of this world.

"Thank you, Gyomei. And thank you, everyone, for your hard work." Kagaya said, showing them that he was pleased with what everyone had done since Pinkamena and her friends had been revealed to the Hashira, especially since he had been kept up to date on everything that had happened over the last couple of months, "I'm sure all of you have heard, but we now have a Demon who has conquered the sun, Nezuko Kamado to be exact, and she is currently residing in the Butterfly Mansion, though I would like to move her at some point. With this discovery, not to mention the loss of two more Upper Moon Demons, Muzan will have most likely altered his plans to go after her so he can absorb her and conquer the sun at long last... the time for the all-out battle is approaching. Also, Mitsuri, Muichiro, we received strange reports about Marks appearing on your bodies during your battles with Upper Moons Four and Five respectively... we would like to ask you two about them and, more importantly, what the conditions are for obtaining them."

"Allow me to explain: during the Sengoku Era there were some swordsmen of the First Breath who were on step away from ending Muzan Kibutsuji... and these Marks resembled demon crests." Amane continued, showing them that she was going to do some of the speaking so her husband didn't overexert himself while they were having this meeting, regardless of the power that Pinkamena wielded, and most of the Hashira were clearly surprised by this information, "We know this bit of knowledge has been passed down throughout the years, so there should be some people who still know of it."

"Sakonji might, given everything I've learned from him." Pinkamena commented, though this time around she found that none of the other Hashira seemed to care that she was present, as in they were fine with a Demon standing with them, in the sense of fighting on their side and not fighting on Muzan's side of the conflict, though she knew that Amane's brief statement about the end of Muzan was connected to Yoriichi.

"Still, this is the first time I've heard about this. Why are we keeping this a secret?" Sanemi asked, which annoyed him just a little bit, since he wasn't used to people withholding information from him or those who worked to save Humans from all of the Demons that were scattered across Japan.

"People were brooding over never getting the Marks, though there's another reason behind why this information turned out this way," Amane replied, where it was clear that she and her kids must have done a lot of research before this point and had wanted to be prepared for the meeting, while Kagaya remained silent as he likely considered something he might say in due time, "and that's because a lot of information about the Marks became hazy over time... or maybe it's because the knowledge was never set in stone properly. Also, you have to remember that there were several instances where our organization was on the brink of extinction, so the succession of that information might have died out and became what scraps we have been unable to recover so far."

"We do have one consistent piece of information about them, and that is that once someone has the Mark, it will spread to others, as if they're resonating." Kagaya added, though Pinkamena knew where he was going with this conversation, as she had already pieced it together on her own and she could see that there was a smile on his face, because he knew she must have figured it out without him saying much, "That is how the swordsmen of the First Breath put it, according to our records... and the first swordsmen of our era to discover the Mark was none other than Tanjiro Kamado."

"However, when we asked him about it we were unable to get any useful information from him, so we dismissed it... until two of the Hashira awakened their own Marks." Amane said, where the silence informed Pinkamena that the Hashira were thinking about the information and what had been reported after what happened in the Swordsmith Village, thanks to the pair of crows that gave missions and news to Muichiro and Mitsuri, "So please, Mist and Love hashira, would you inform us as to what happened?"

In that moment Mitsuri spoke up and described what she had felt in that moment, using words like 'badaam', 'duurr', 'scree', and 'tinkle tankle', something that caused everyone to look at her in disbelief, or neutral in Giyu's case, though at the same time Obanai brought a hand to his face as Pinkamena held back her laughter, which lead to Mitsuri bowing her head as she apologized for her actions.

"To be honest, I wasn't aware of any Marks... but when I look back on my fight, there were a number of things that were different for me." Muichiro said, as he had an idea as to what Kagaya and Amane were looking for, especially since what Mitsuri had said wasn't the key to the Marks that allowed them to overcome or match the Upper Moons, and he could tell that everyone was focused on him, "Allow me to explain what happened: during my battle with Gyokko, as that is what Pinkamena says is Upper Moon Five's name, I was trapped and poisoned, where I used my Breathing Forms in an attempt to slow the poison down, to stop it from circulating in my bloodstream. The actions of a young smith, who I had saved not that long ago, freed me from my prison and, against all odds, helped me awaken my old memories, to the point where I was so angry that I lost control of my emotions... I think my heart rate went above 200 BPM, and my body was burning hot... I believe the girls at the Butterfly Mansion said my body temperature went above 39 degrees."

"There's also the desire to live, based on what I was able to observe." Pinkamena added, because she was sure Muichiro, with the return of his memories and his past, had spurred on his desire to survive and do something important, while the same couldn't be said for Mitsuri, she just wanted to live and punish the evil Demons that served Muzan, which was why she was so sure that the desire to live was a key component to earning a potent Slayer's Mark.

"We should be able to use this information to awaken more of these Marks, a training session that everyone should take part in," Kagaya commented, as he had been thinking about this since they started talking about the Marks, because now that Nezuko would walk in the sun there was no telling when Muzan would make his move, and, since he could see due to Pinkamena's powers, he could see that the Hashira agreed with his proposal, "also, we received word that something was found in the Swordsmith Village, something special that had been lost for the last three hundred years. Pinkamena, can you tell us what you and Tanjiro found?"

"The blade of Yoriichi Tsugikuni, hidden away in the battle doll known as Yoriichi Zeroshiki," Pinkamena said, where she could see that Muichiro was surprised by that information, especially since he had fought the battle doll before and could have found it had he fought it for longer, but he didn't seem annoyed at all, rather he seemed pleased, and she drew the blade from it's sheath, allowing them to see it in all it's glory, "however, there is something I must confess... there is one thing I lied about when we first met."

In that moment, as she sheathed the blade, Pinkamena stood up and approached the opening that lead outside, where she called upon her power and made a show of transforming into her Kitsune Form, while also making a sun icon that she broke, indicating that she was cancelling that part of her power... though as Kagaya and some of the others called for her to stop, to prevent her from burning, they stopped as she stepped out into the sun and turned to face them with a smile on her face.

"I told you that Chaos World protected me from the sun... well, that was a lie, as I conquered the sun shortly after being turned into a Demon." Pinkamena continued, where she could see the disbelief that was on everyone's faces, save for Giyu, though she was pleased to finally be able to reveal this 'secret' to them, especially since they felt that she was such a figure of hope for the Corps, "I didn't want anyone to know that I had already conquered the sun, as Muzan would have come for me while I wasn't ready... I don't even want to imagine what would have happened had he found me before my power granted me this form. I'm sorry that I kept this from all of you, but I wanted to be sure our foe was left in the dark, at least until such a pivotal moment in our battle against him and his Kizuki... with three Upper Moons dead, the discovery of both Slayer Marks and Yoriichi's sword, and Nezuko gaining the power to walk in the sunlight, this seemed like the best time to reveal my secret."

"Given that two of us tried to kill you when you first showed up, that's understandable." Muichiro said, where he and some of the others understood why she decided to keep her truth to herself, given Sanemi's nature and how Obanai hated most people, and now that things were heating up, and they would be going to war with Muzan, this was the best time for her to spread even more hope.

Kagaya nodded as well and they got to talking about the specifics of the training that would be happening, where most of them would be using special doors or portals to move into Pinkamena's realm, so they could train without Muzan knowing what was going on, and if they didn't want to do that he knew she could make Zones to cover their training areas, just as she had done when Amane approached her. There was one more thing that Kagaya wanted to talk to Pinkamena about before she and the other Hashira departed, though for now he wanted her to focus on the training method that she was going to put everyone through, where she smiled for a moment, as she had the perfect way to make sure everyone in the Corps gained from their training. Most of the other Hashira were interested in what she had planned, given that she had powers that were even stranger than most Blood Demon Arts they had seen, and she informed them that Zeroshiki wasn't the answer, though if someone wanted to train with it she wasn't against such a thing. In the end she listened to what the rest of the Hashira, excluding Giyu, had to say and what sort of training they would be putting everyone else through, all while glancing over to Kagaya, who moved his head just a tiny bit to indicate that he understood and agreed with her on what they had noticed, allowing them to listen to the conversation without revealing anything.

Pinkamena knew that, when it was time for the war to start, the Slayers would be ready for anything and everything that Muzan might throw at them, and she had a feeling that, in due time, she and the Demon King would meet, in a battle that would decide the fate of the entire world, and she was looking forward to it.

Interlude: Hellish Training

Following the Hashira meeting with Kagaya, and determining what everyone was going to do, Pinkamena got to work on her end of things, using her chaotic powers to hide each training ground, linking them together via 'Doors' so the trainees would be able to head from place to place in seconds, and preparing her own training for everyone else. While she did that Inosuke heard about their training session and informed Tanjiro and Zenitsu about it, even though he had no idea what they were going to be doing, and Hotaru insisted on seeing her so he could see the blade in its full glory. The only reason she did so was because the man was so annoying and would threaten to break things until he got what he wanted, so the smith got his wish, though she prevented him from touching it, as she didn't know if he was going to do something drastic once it was in his line of sight. All he told her was that it was a wonderful blade, forged by a master who only left the character she had seen on all of the Hashiras' weapons, that being 'akki messatsu', or 'destroy all evil demons', and he bemoaned the fact that he had been forbidden to work on such a weapon, causing Pinkamena to sigh as she sheathed Yoriichi's blade and returned to her new duties.

Once she was done setting everything up, and informed the other Hashira via special crystals like the one she gave Tengen during their mission together, the training started and every member of the Corps, those who would be fighting Muzan and the remaining Upper Moon Demons, plus anything else that was thrown at them, was called in, as once Nezuko gained her ability to walk in the sunlight the other Demons just disappeared. It was the calm before the storm, she and Kagaya knew it and many of the Hashira knew that, so most of the duties that a Hashira had were retracted so they could prepare for the main event, so all they had to do was train during the day and patrol at night, with some time to sleep so they didn't fall over and die before Muzan made his move. Pinkamena knew more about Akaza, Doma, and Kokushibo than she did before, as those were the three remaining Upper Moon Demons that they had to worry about, thanks to the information she gained from Gyokko and Hantengu, the Demons who attacked the Swordsmith Village, though while she also learned about Nakime, and what her power might be, she didn't see any new Upper Moons being born. As she took the time to gather more information the first wave of Slayers arrived at the start of the training course and, sure enough, Zenitsu ran to Tanjiro to tell him that it was living hell, as he seemed to hate putting forth the work to improve himself, a sad fact since she knew that, if he applied himself, he might become even stronger than before.

Pinkamena learned that the first bit of training that the Hashira wanted the lower ranks to go through was training their stamina, similar to what Tanjiro did so he could utilize his abilities better than he did in the past and to help him stay up for longer periods of time. It was being overseen by Tengen, who had agreed to come and help them so the other Hashira would focus on their own methods of training, while all three of his wives focused on making food and ensuring that the lower ranks didn't pass out from the constant training. After that anyone who passed Tengen's basic training, and it was basic when Pinkamena thought about it, moved through the Door that she had created, a white set of double doors that only let those who had permission to leave to pass through them, preventing someone from running to the next challenge while they were stuck on the current one. The Door in his training area connected to Mitsuri's residence, where she put all those who came to her through some sort of training to improve their flexibility, though when Pinkamena investigated it she found that the Hashira forced her trainees to dance before used her strength to aid them in flexing and making it far easier for others to move.

From there one would move onto Muichiro's training, who would be training others to make quick movements, such as how he fought when he engaged Gyokko, which might as well serve as a barrier for most of the Slayers, since many of the lower ranks didn't have the skills that Tanjiro and his friends possessed. Obanai would follow that up with some training that was designed to improve one's sword skills, he called it 'revision', meaning he was likely going to attack others with his serpent movements and force them to adapt to the situation, much like how someone had to adapt to how a Kizuki might fight. After him the lower ranks would be sent to Sanemi for what he called the 'infinite pounding' training, which seemed to be the Wind Hashira venting his frustrations by beating down all of his trainees with his wooden sword and had no real purpose, but Pinkamena guessed that it might be to survive being torn down and get back up, even when one's own body was screaming for them to stop. Those that survived Sanemi's intense training would travel to Gyomei's place in the mountain, where they would begin his muscle reinforcement training and fulfill some intense conditions to move onto the next and final stage of training, they would enter Pinkamena's training ground, an area of her inner world that had been specially made for this event.

Her training was for the Slayers to face the Echoes of the Demons she had collected since her quest had started, meaning they would start with some of the weaker Demons, such as the Temple or Swamp Demons, and when she was sure they were ready they'd move onto Kyogai, who stood as the barrier between the weaker foes and the Kizuki. Once someone made it passed him, by using a wooden sword since she didn't want the Echoes to die, they would move onto what she liked to call the 'Tower of Peril', where they would face the Kizuki Demons in an area suited to match their Blood Demon Arts. Of course Rui and the others weren't allowed to kill anyone, but they were allowed to push them to their breaking points, to try and force each Slayer to manifest their Marks, and when one was 'beaten' the Slayer would be allowed some time to rest before being sent to the next member of the Twelve Demon Moons. Given the power of the Upper Moons, a fact she had seen for herself, those three were off limits to the lower ranks of the Corps, rather they were reserved for the Hashira who came to train with either her or Zeroshiki, both being good ways for one to improve themselves and gain all sorts of experience.

Sanemi called her training 'more hellish than anything else', meaning that he believed that she had knocked the ball right out of the park with her special training session, especially since it was designed to push them past their limits and bring out each of their Slayer Marks, though once they knew about it the Hashira got to work preparing for those who would be training with them for some time.

Of course, as that happened, Tanjiro was called away for some time to deal with Giyu, as it appeared that he wasn't going to be taking part of the Hashira training, nor was he offering to help the others master part of their body, so, since Tanjiro had a way of talking to people and bringing them around, Kagaya had silently agreed with Pinkamena to send him to talk with the Water Hashira. She had a feeling that it would work, in fact she would be surprised if her friend failed since there was only one person who wouldn't listen to Tanjiro, that being Sanemi, and she had already advised him to not enrage the Wind Hashira, rather just mention how important family was and go about his business if they interacted with each other in the future. At the same time she found that Shinobu wasn't going to be training either, rather it seemed like she hoped to defeat Doma by presenting herself as a weakling and be absorbed into his body, to use poison against him since she didn't have the strength to behead him or do what the other Hashira would do in her place, though upon knowing about Pinkamena's place, and how Echoes existed there, it made her offer her a vial of her blood. Apparently some of them got the idea that part of them could live forever, after seeing Kyojuro insisting on joining the training so the Slayers could be better prepared for whatever the future held for them, and, after some time, she accepted some vials from Shinobu and Kagaya, plus Amane and two of his kids.

While she considered what he was asking of her, as they came with a letter explaining his plan and that Amane was in on it as well, a crow that was far more intelligent than the others came by and asked Pinkamena to join her, to which she did so and found that they were heading to one of the cities of Japan, one that reminded her of Asakusa, and that they found out where Tamayo was living.

"Good evening, Tamayo. You should know that it is dangerous to leave the window open," the crow said, speaking as he landed on the open window that he had mentioned, though the fact that he was speaking confirmed that he had special training, more than all of the other crows that worked beside the Corps, and sure enough Tamayo turned as he said that, surprised by his arrival, "especially at night, given who is hunting you, but the moon looks quite lovely tonight, so I can't fault you for that. It is very nice to meet you, for I am Kagaya Ubuyashiki's messenger... to be honest, you are rather good at hiding and it took us quite some time to find you, long enough for my master to stop moving."

"How... How did you find me?" Tamayo asked, though at the same time she felt a familiar change in the air, as she had felt it back when Pinkamena fought beside Tanjiro's side and stopped those two Demons from taking her head to Muzan, so she had a feeling that the Demon was somewhere, no doubt protecting this area with her power.

"People's connections. We looked up the previous owners of this place, who you bought the property from, and during the evenings I observed Yushiro... I might have special training, but almost no one pays attention to us." the crow answered, a fact that Pinkamena found to be interesting and had to wonder if she was one of the few that he was referring to, though his statement was correct, most people didn't pay attention to the animals around them, save for the Slayers who got all of their orders via crow delivery, "Please be at ease, my master and I aren't planning on doing you or Yushiro any harm... in fact, you can hear him upstairs, going about his business... besides, even if someone wanted to harm you, we have an ally who would lecture our heads off."

"Pinkamena." Tamayo stated, as she had a feeling she knew who the crow was talking about and understood the position of the strange Demon she had encountered, she was like a Slayer but insisted on protecting the innocent, in fact she had to agree with the bird, if someone in the Corps had decided to threaten her they would have drawn the fury of the strange Demon in no time.

"Correct. Long time to no, Tamayo." Pinkamena said, where she stepped into the room with little effort, causing Tamayo to raise an eyebrow as she spotted her for the first time since their last meeting, only for her eyes to widen in shock when she noticed the amount of tails she possessed, far more than when she first pulled her, Yushiro, and the others into her inner world to keep Asakusa safe, "I was briefed on the way here, but the reason we're here is to ask if you'll join us in our efforts to take down Muzan... one of our Hashira is well-versed in Demon physiology and pharmaceuticals, and Kagaya wishes to ask that you join our research efforts, especially after the change in Nezuko. You also don't have to worry about being attacked, as the other Hashira have learned that there are good Demons out there... and they know that if they try anything, well, they'll have to answer to me."

Tamayo considered her options for a moment, she could refuse and Pinkamena would likely see to it that she was ignored by the Corps, so they could focus on Muzan, or she could accept the invitation and finally open the way for them to take down the Demon King, causing her to sigh as she realized that it wasn't much of a decision, with Pinkamena as a guardian angel she had nothing to fear and joined them, and she made sure to drag Yushiro along. Besides the desire for revenge, against the one who ruined her life, she understood what hadn't been said, that Pinkamena, who was a Demon, had been accepted into the ranks of the Hashira and was likely seen as an equal to the others that supported the Corps, meaning the statement about them accepting good Demons had to be correct. In addition to all of that this gave her a chance to see Pinkamena and understand that her powers over reality had grown since the last time they were near each other, in an explosive manner based on what she was seeing, and she carried herself in a refined manner, like she was a goddess who came down to help them with Muzan. Of course this was with only six tails, as she knew that kitsune could have nine tails and that their power was said to be connected to the amount of tails one possessed, so it made her wonder what in the world would happen if she got her hands on the remaining Upper Moons, a thought that caused her to focus on taking down Muzan, as once again Tamayo found that she didn't want to think about Pinkamena's madness.

After that Pinkamena focused on observing the training sessions that the other Slayers went through, keeping an eye on where everyone was and if anyone would be coming to her realm, though in the early days she trained with Zeroshiki, just to keep her skills sharp, especially since the restored battle doll was more impressive than when Muichiro fought it back in the Swordsmith Village. Tengen and his wives, as she discovered, were happy to see Tanjiro, because as soon as Giyu was convinced to join the training, despite it taking four days to actually convince him to do anything, her friend started facing the training that each of the Hashira, both former and present, had created for them. Due to the fact that Tanjiro knew the basics of stamina training, even though his body had suffered a little from being in bed for a while, Tengen released him after ten days of hard work, allowing him to pass through the Door and head to Muichiro's place. Of course, thanks to his memories returning, the Mist Hashira was in a far better mood than he was used to and was pleased to see that Tanjiro had come to tackle his training, where the two clashed with their weapons and, once again, Tanjiro showed that his skills had improved since the last time the two of them were near each other.

Such a thing lead to Muichiro allowing him to leave his residence and head to Mitsuri's next, though he frowned when the batch of Slayers he had been working on for two weeks asked if they could go on as well, which he refused since none of them had met the conditions he was looking for, even though it still took Tanjiro five days to get through his training, a fact that showed everyone that he understood the basics.

From there he joined the ones who had moved onto Mitsuri's training and Pinkamena chuckled as she observed them, as her friend had to dress up as a dancer and do all sorts of moves to improve his flexibility, and when they weren't dancing to her music she was helping them stretch with her strength, much to the dismay of the trainees. After five days of that type of training Tanjiro moved on again, once more showing everyone that he understood the skills needed to be a decent Slayer, before he ran into Obanai and found that the Serpent Hashira didn't care much for him, due to the letters that he and Mitsuri shared with each other. Apparently his training consisted of sword swings while avoiding targets, those being the lower ranking Slayers that had annoyed him in some manner, so he tied them up and attached them to each of the wooden targets he had set up, which worried Tanjiro when he saw it. Pinkamena found that Obanai's serpent style was a good way for Tanjiro to continue to improve, given that he adapted to battle much faster than anyone else, and fighting a Hashira who hated him, and struck to hurt him, seemed to do exactly what she had been expecting, he got better at just reading his foe's movements while avoiding the obstacles, which annoyed Obanai to no end.

It took him four days of training to reach that point, where he was able to deal damage to Obanai's haori, something that caused the Serpent Hashira to dismiss him as he waited for someone else to come challenge him, leading to Tanjiro being sent to Sanemi and Pinkamena made sure he remembered her earlier warning. Apparently Sanemi hadn't accepted him or Nezuko yet, so he told Tanjiro not to get cocky since he was friends with Pinkamena, where she chuckled as her friend informed him that he didn't accept Sanemi either, due to the fact that he had stabbed Nezuko once upon a time, though he did have to carry Zenitsu back to the next training ground. Sure enough Sanemi's training was brutal and hard on those he fought against, especially since he gave no breaks, unlike Obanai and the other Hashira who came before him, and this was the second time Tanjiro encountered a hard wall that he had to climb over. He also encountered Genya talking to his brother, who denied his existence, though this time Pinkamena stepped in to prevent Tanjiro from doing anything stupid, despite her earlier thoughts on the matter, and told the Wind Hashira that they had no idea what the future might hold for all of them, so bridging the gap between him and his brother was a worthwhile thing to do.

Of course Sanemi blew her off and went back to his training, but at the very least he'd think about it, how could he not due to the fact that she had talked to him about it, and she found that Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Genya were pushed onward after five days of training, all because Sanemi didn't want to think about them, so sending them to the next Hashira meant that he could focus on other things and not them.

Gyomei's training was up in the mountains, by a mighty waterfall that he had people stand under to train their muscles to some degree, while the Hashira himself was standing in a ring of fire, with three full logs resting on his shoulders and were weighed down by two large stones each. When he explained it to the new arrivals Pinkamena learned that he trained their core, as in their limbs, and while the first thing was having the waterfall beat down on you, while repeating a sutra that let others know if you were conscious or not, before moving onto carrying three huge logs on their shoulders and finishing up with pushing a huge boulder through a town. With Pinkamena assisting him the town they had to move their large rocks through was deserted and they could focus on their training, all designed to match Gyomei's desires, and he even had the Slayers fish for their dinner, which also served as another part of their intense training. While Tanjiro and the others talked about the Marks, however, Zenitsu initially believed that Gyomei was lying about the boulder pushing, only to find that the Hashira in question was pushing a larger boulder down the other side of the river, much to their surprise, causing many of them to either give up or fueled their desire to pass this part of the training.

Those who decided to give up, despite not passing the training that Gyomei offered, were allowed to move on anyway, but it was up to him who did enough to pass and who failed, though those who 'passed' came to Pinkamena's training ground, an area that many of the lower ranks called 'Hell on Earth' after seeing the Echoes of the Kizuki. Eventually the Hashira, as in those who no longer had people to train, came and joined those that were training under her, while those who still had trainees would come every now and then to pick up where they left off, and Pinkamena found that while many were able to pass Kyogai and his Lower Moon replacement, Kamanue, the roadblock for many was Rui. The former Lower Moon Five displayed why Pinkamena thought that the lower ranks of the Twelve Kizuki had been arranged wrong, as he was stronger than most of the other members of his sect, in fact she believed that he was worthy of being Lower Moon Two, and most of the lower ranking Slayers were unable to defeat him, or get close to even beating him. The Hashira, of course, were able to beat him and moved onto the rest of the Lower Moons, before heading to the three Upper Moons who resided inside the Demon Mansion, which proved to be quite the challenge given the powers that Daki and Gyutaro possessed, including Gyokko's water based powers and Hantengu's emotional powers.

While that happened, and Genya taught Tanjiro about repetitive actions, she knew that Muzan was out there, preparing for the big event, especially since she found an eyeball in one of the cities and left it alone, as it had some demonic energy to it and meant he was getting ready, so all Pinkamena had to do was be patient and wait for the war to begin.

Final Battle: Fateful Encounter

Based on what Pinkamena found it took Tanjiro a week after joining Gyomei's training before he was able to manifest his Slayer Mark again, which allowed him to push the rock that Inosuke then pushed by force, which only worried the rest of the lower ranks as they witnessed it happen. Her attention, for the most part, was on preparing for the start of their war with Muzan, because Tamayo and Shinobu were concocting an elixir that would turn a Demon back into a Human, which was why they were planning on giving it to Nezuko as soon as their foe made his move. If they were right it would erase the only one who had conquered the sun, at least in Muzan's eyes, so even if most of the Slayers perished this would set the Demon King back quite a bit, because Sanemi and the Hashira were tasked with eliminating the Upper Moons, so they might put him back to square one if they were lucky. To aid them in their efforts Kagaya had sent crows to the Cultivators and asked them if they would come and aid them, in defending Nezuko from Muzan or his allies, and to make sure each one was brought in without wasting time Pinkamena opened Doors for them to get to Nezuko's place in seconds.

When one of the eyes found the path to Kagaya's place, however, that's when things started to move, as Pinkamena let it leave before informing their leader that Muzan now likely knew of his location, even though Kagaya laid on his bed with all sorts of bandages over his body, indicating that he only had a few days left before his death. Once more she asked him and Amane if this was the path they wanted to walk down, to get their final battle with the Demon King started, and both of them agreed that, even if they had more time to think of another plan, this was the best plan that would spur the Slayer into battle and ensure their survival. As such she made sure Tamayo was ready for her part of their plan, that Yushiro was resting in the members of the lower ranks of the Corps, and that Gyomei, despite his protests, was ready for what was to come, all while she made sure all of the crows were sent out to inform the other Slayers that this final day was for them to rest, indicating that they would be at war soon enough. The Hashira were scattered around the mountain range that Kagaya's mansion was hidden in, in houses for them to rest in so they could get up and rush to battle as soon as the plan was set into motion, all while Pinkamena condensed her Zones into shadowy auras that would follow the Hashira, as she had her own plan added to Kagaya's.

Other than that there wasn't much she could do besides wait for the day to go by as everyone got ready, though when it got dark out, and the sun went down, Amane opened the door so Kagaya could get some fresh air and tended to him once more as two of their kids, twin sisters no doubt, played in the courtyard, though it wasn't long before Muzan, in his male form this time, appeared nearby.

"Hey... you're finally here... nice to meet you, Muzan Kibutsuji." Kagaya commented, as he heard the footsteps as soon as they happened, plus Amane squeezed his hand as soon as the figure appeared nearby, all while he knew that Pinkamena was watching them as she waited to contact the crows.

"...Well, you sure look horrible, Ubuyashiki." Muzan replied, where Pinkamena found that he was wearing a suit again, to the point where if he had been wearing his hat from their second encounter she would have thought he had retreated into the shadows, instead of becoming a woman for some time, all while finding that he glanced around, no doubt looking for anyone who might attack him while he was standing there, "So this is where you've been hiding."

"Yes, this is my home. I am lucky... to have lived long enough... for you to come visit me." Kagaya said, where he could tell that Muzan didn't care about the mansion, a place he was likely going to destroy on his own if they left him alone, just so he could stomp out the remnants of the family that had been hunting him for a long time, though he coughed for a couple of seconds, "Muzan... the Demon my family... has been hunting... chasing, really... for a thousand years. Amane, tell me, what form does he wear?"

"He looks like a man in his late twenties, wearing a business suit, but he has plum red eyes that have vertical silts, much like a cat's." Amane said, though she wasn't afraid at all, as she and her family, those that were around her, had prepared for this event since Nezuko conquered the sun, and by offering Pinkamena vials of their blood they should have Echoes in her inner world, so part of them would live on, especially when she considered her husband's plan.

"I see. I had a feeling you'd come for me... you must be extremely angry at my family, though I had a feeling that after all that we've done you would kill me yourself." Kagaya commented, because the more they talked the more time they took up, in the sense of stealing Muzan's ability to remain safe from the sun, even though he and everyone else knew that he would flee the moment something happened, hence why he showed no bloodlust.

"I am disappointed, Ubuyashiki." Muzan said, which seemed to be his default emotion, disappointed in everything and everyone that he encountered over his long life, though Pinkamena remained silent as she observed from the shadows, because if their foe thought they were alone he'd keep talking and waste time, "I have lived for a thousand years, without showing signs of aging, and yet the family that has been hounding me all the time, getting in my way, has been reduced to this pathetic state... how repulsive, especially since you already smell like a corpse... you'd probably taste like garbage if I took the time to devour you."

Kagaya coughed for a moment as he forced himself to sit up, with Amane aiding him, where he told Muzan that he was correct, as the doctors told him half a year ago that he would be dead in a few days, yet, despite their predictions, his body was able to last much longer and allowed him to dedicate more of his life to bringing him down. He went on to explain an interesting fact that Pinkamena didn't know about him and his family, apparently they were related to Muzan, which told her that Muzan must have had a sibling, or multiple siblings, who suffered after Muzan became a Demon. He went onto the fact that the Demon King came from their family and the Human side had been cursed with the rot disease that the males from his family suffered from, while an order of priests told them to dedicate their souls to defeating Demons and that they would be provided with wives, to allow their children to survive until thirty. That told Pinkamena why the heir to Kagaya's line had four sisters, either because they had been born at the same time and he was the middle child of them all or their Leader wanted to ensure that he had some family, in cause something bad happened during his life.

Muzan informed him that such a thing didn't matter to him, as he had eaten so many people and had suffered no curse for his actions, especially since he had seen no gods or Buddah's over his long time, showing that he really didn't care for the consequences of what he did to those who were trying to go about their lives.

"Tell me, Muzan... what is your dream?" Kagaya asked, as he had a feeling he knew what the answer might be, given that the Demon King was seeking immortality, without the fear of burning in the sunlight so he could go about his life and do whatever it was that he wanted, "Its been hundreds of years... what sort of dreams do you have?"

Muzan tilted his head for a moment as he thought about that, though he was likely thinking about the fact that this was a strange occurrence, that his hated foe was speaking to him in this manner and yet he felt nothing, not even a shred of his own hate for the Ubuyashiki family. As he thought about that the two girls continued to play nearby, without a care in the world and not even a bit of fear when they considered the fact that the Demon King was standing in front of their parents, while the song they sang while doing that didn't seem to do anything to Muzan. In fact he seemed to think that everything was far too peaceful, that no one had come out to stop him since his arrival, though Pinkamena found that Muzan didn't have his guard up after discovering that there were no guards in this entire mansion, meaning he couldn't tell that she was lurking nearby. He actually seemed repulsed by what he was seeing right now and kept a straight face, not that there was a reason for him to do so since Kagaya couldn't see him and Amane didn't care about his presence at all, and both of their kids weren't worried about him either, though he simply stood there as he considered his remaining options.

While all of that happened, however, Kagaya felt that Muzan's focus wasn't on him, thanks to Amane's help, and gestured to Pinkamena without doing much to draw attention to himself, allowing her to contact the crows within seconds, which meant it was only a matter of time until reinforcements arrived, and to let him know the deed was done she tapped his wife on the shoulder and she squeezed his hand twice.

"Allow me to guess: you dream of immorality, of being able to walk under the sun without fear." Kagaya continued, as he found the silence to be odd and decided to roll with it, especially since there was no telling what Muzan might do while the two of them were exchanging words, though once things either went south or he activated their trap he knew the others would make their move and assault Muzan.

"Exactly, and it will come true soon, once I find out where you've hidden Nezuko." Muzan remarked, showing them that he had definitely been seeking them out and only came out here once he figured out where Kagaya was hiding, meaning he likely had no idea where to find Tanjiro's sister and her guardians, "I know you are confident in your skill to hide her, but, unlike you, I've had a lot of time on my hands and I'm positive I've found out where you've hidden her."

"Let me tell you something: I know something about eternity... Human thoughts are eternal." Kagaya said, showing them that he didn't care about Muzan's thoughts on the matter, rather he was continuing to make sure he wasted time talking to him and his wife, and while the Demon King told him to be quite, which he knew based on Amane's touch, he kept at it to disrupt their foe's concentration, "The Demon Slayer Corps have been fighting your kind for a thousand years, as while we've come close to being exterminated several times over the years, thanks to your efforts, we've never died out... true, a lot of unfortunate children have died to stop you, but they haven't disappeared at all. The thought of 'never forgiving those who have taken the lives of one's loved ones away' is eternal, as no one has forgiven you for all you've done, not in the thousand years our organization has existed... you have stepped on the Tiger's tail too much, Muzan, and soon you will face the wrath of the Dragon. In essence you have awoken a slumbering creature that has been sleeping for all these years, and, I'm sorry to say, they utterly despise you, to the point where they'll sacrifice everything to make sure you don't get away with your crimes."

"Is there a point to all of this, or are you wasting time on purpose?" Muzan remarked, as while he was fine with talking with Kagaya, even though part of what he was saying infuriated him to no end, he wanted to see what the point was before he laid waste to this entire area and killed the head of the family that had been hunting him, and if there were more children hidden nearby they'd die as well.

"If you kill me, I know my Slayers won't feel anything at all... in fact, they don't need me that much." Kagaya replied, as if he was telling Muzan there was no reason for him to even raise his hand to strike him down, that he should just leave him to die on his own terms, especially since his time was limited and he would perish to the rot in no time, "This connection of Human thought is something you wouldn't understand... not that it matters, since most of your kind will perish once once you cease to exist."

"That's a big if, don't you think?" Muzan inquired, showing his arrogance for those that were around him, where he took a step up onto the edge of Kagaya's area and approached the weakened man, while his wife remained at his side and both of his daughters stopped playing, simply curious as to what was going to happen next, "Not that what you said matters, as you'll be dying in the next couple of seconds."

"Maybe, but that's all I wanted to say before my death." Kagaya said, referring to the rot and nothing else, which Muzan seemed to understand when he thought about it, since he was losing the desire to actually take his head and display it for all of the Slayers to see at some point, before the weak man considered something, "Oh, while I said that the Slayers don't need me, that doesn't mean my death will be inconsequential... I am fortunately, yet undeservedly, loved by the members of the Corps, especially the Hashira, and if I die their moral will be boosted. Anyway, I wasn't expecting you to listen to me talk so much, let alone let me speak at all, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Muzan."

In that moment, just before the main event happened, Pinkamena wrapped herself in a barrier and watched as the entire mansion exploded with enough force to wipe out every inch of the place, to the point where Kagaya, Amane, and both of their daughters were reduced to ash, leaving nothing behind for Muzan, who had lost his suit in the explosion and was, at that very moment, starting to regenerate. He had lost a good portion of his face, plus his arms and legs were scorched in most places, going all the way to his flesh since the explosion had been laced with the very powder that Genya used with his gun, including Nichirin spike traps, though the upper part of his pants had survived as he lost his shirt. It was all made to delay his regeneration, to make him think about everyone that was coming from their residences, meaning he'd focus on all of the Slayers and not the silent figures that were moving into position around him, causing her to smile as Tamayo made her move, calling forth black seeds around Muzan, transforming into black spikes that pinned him down. This was, as she explained to Pinkamena, the Blood Demon Art of the man who had been transformed in Asakusa, meaning she had figured out how to take it to let him live a normal life, and while this didn't do all that much to Muzan there was a reason behind the attack.

That reason was that he would absorb the technique and, in the moment he did that, Tamayo would pierce his wounded stomach with her left hand, with the drug that turned Demons back into humans, but that was just the cover she quickly presented to him, as there was far more than that inside it, and as soon as he started to absorb her, taking that poison into his body, Gyomei, hidden by Yushiro's technique, smashed them into the ground with his weapons, a spike ball that was attached to an axe.

"YOU ANT! DID YOU THINK THIS WOULD KILL ME?!" Muzan shouted, as his regeneration, even slowed down by what was around them, rebuilt his head enough so he could speak to Gyomei and anyone else who happened to be in the area, but in that moment, as Tanjiro and the Hashira showed up, each unleashing their Forms to get close so they could begin the battle and make him pay, the Demon King smiled, "Nakime! Pull us in!"

Pinkamena smiled as multiple doors opened beneath Muzan and everyone else, as she had thought that he would flee to his private dimension when his enemies came to fight him, hence why she prepared her power ahead of time and sent it straight down into the depths of his domain as she followed him and Tamayo. In addition to all of the Hashira, who Muzan had scattered across his strange and twisting realm, made out of what looked like pieces of houses that connected in their own way, all of the lower ranks were brought in as well and she felt Yushiro among them, meaning the Demon King really wanted to exterminate all of them tonight. As the lower ranked Slayers dealt with the Demons, who had been empowered to the rank of a Lower Moon, Pinkamena sent out her power and infected the dimensional fortress, allowing her to sense all sorts of things and collect the fallen parts of the slain Demons without having to be nearby, before sensing three rather powerful demonic signatures and two more that were close to them. It informed her that Muzan must have gained two new Upper Moon Demons, from where she really had no idea since the candidates had been slain beforehand, but, at the same time, she knew that everyone had prepared for this and kept her focus on what was in front of her, a plum red orb, a cocoon, that Muzan was contained in.

In the end Pinkamena shifted into her Kitsune Form and sat down on the edge that was nearby, setting up a barrier that would keep her safe from attacks as three copies of her, each with two tails, rushed out and disappeared into the fortress they had been brought to, as she wanted to make sure the Upper Moons were dead before making her move against the Demon King.

Final Battle: Rage Unleashed

Pinkamena focused on the energies that were scattered throughout the dimensional fortress, turning most of her attention away from the fake Lower Moon Demons, as none of them possessed any eye markings, to focus on the Upper Moons that were scattered all over this place, where she was able to confirm that there were five. She knew that three of them were Kokushibo, Doma, and Akaza, those being Upper Moons One, Two, and Three respectively, and based on the memories she gained from the other Upper Moons it looked like Muzan had empowered Nakime, who likely stood in Hantengu's place. Such a thing told her that the fifth signature had to be a Slayer turned into a Demon, a rather powerful Slayer based on the electricity she was feeling from their direction, making her wonder if the person in question had been one of Zenitsu's fellow students trainees, under the Thunder Breathing Cultivator to be exact, and it seemed like the Slayer in question was on his way to that area. As such for now she sent one of her clones over to where Doma was lurking, the next was tracking Akaza as he literally smashed his way through the dimensional fortress, not caring about anything and everything that was around him, while the third tracked down Zenitsu, even though that one would focus on Kokushibo once the upcoming fight was over.

As she thought about that, however, Pinkamena also noticed that Muzan didn't seem to react to her presence, meaning he was far too busy with Tamayo, who was sacrificing herself to ensure their foe could do nothing else, especially after she, like Kagaya and his family, gave her a blood vial to make an Echo, so she focused on the clone following Zenitsu.

"I know you're there. Come on out." Zenitsu said, as he had stopped in front of a set of doors, right where the newcomer for the Upper Moons was positioned, though it was easy for Pinkamena to see that he was annoyed, especially after the letter he got while he was training.

"That's no way to talk to your senior." a voice replied, where a clawed hand opened the door and pushed it out of the way, revealing a young Demon who had black hair and four black flame markings on his face, two on each side, who wore a black kimono over his Slayer attire, an insult to his former organization, "You look a little better than when I last saw you, but, as expected, you're still shabby... it's been a while, Zenitsu."

"Kaigaku... after what you did, you are no longer my senior." Zenitsu stated, where, for the first time since she met him, Pinkamena could sense the intense anger that was in his voice, anger that was far beyond anything he felt whenever he was arguing with people, like Tanjiro or Inosuke.

"I take back my comment about you looking better, you haven't changed at all." Kaigaku said, where he stepped into the area that he and Zenitsu would likely be fighting in for some time, unaware of the fact that Pinkamena's clone was hidden off to the side, observing them as they talked, "You're puny... you look like chickenpox... and you seem as weak as ever. I know you aren't a Hashira, especially since you can only use the First Form."

"That's funny, coming from someone whose happy to play stopgap as the bottom rung Upper Moon." Zenitsu remarked, showing Pinkamena a side of him that she had debated whether or not it even existed, an angry side that, if provoked by an enemy, would strike with the fury of a god, which stunned Kaigaku, "Tell me something: why did you decide to become a Demon and forsake your duties? Why did you, the rightful successor of the Thunder Breath, become a Demon? If you hadn't done this, and become the very thing you swore to destroy, GRAMPS WOULDN'T HAVE KILLED HIMSELF!!!"

In that moment everything clicked into place for Pinkamena, as one of the Thunder Breath Cultivators, Jigoro Kuwajima, had committed suicide recently, before she was able to reach him on Kagaya's orders, and based on Zenitsu's rage that meant he and Kaigaku had learned from Jigoro. Sure enough it was emotional for her friend, as the letter he had gotten during his training had revealed that their mentor had slit his own stomach after hearing of Kaigaku's defection, just like how Sakonji and Giyu would have done the same if Nezuko ate someone. Sadly Jigoro suffered because no one was there to behead him or slit his throat, or stabbing his heart for that matter, and it enraged Zenitsu when he considered that it was all because his own senior joined Muzan's forces, as Kaigaku only thought about himself. Such a thing was confirmed as Kaigaku informed Zenitsu that it wasn't his problem and that he was glad Jigoro, or the 'old geezer' as he called him, had died a painful death after all the hard work he put in to please him, especially since he never received the successor title that he apparently coveted.

Apparently he would always side with those who valued him correctly, so if he had been given the title he craved, even if Zenitsu knew he was the rightful successor, Kaigaku wouldn't have changed sides, but, after all of this, Pinkamena knew that he valued his life and would have followed this path no matter what, and he even called Jigoro senile.

"Gramps was not senile... let me tell you something, Kaigaku, if I'm dirt, like you say, then your garbage." Zenitsu stated, a fact that was followed by rage overtaking his face, showing Pinkamena that he was beyond outraged by what was going on at the moment, even though his words happened to be causing his foe to feel the same thing as he spoke, "I can only use the First Form, and you can use all but the First Form... Gramps died a miserable death because he wasn't even lucky enough to have a worthy successor!"

Kaigaku, enraged as well, unsheathed his blade and released the Fourth Form of Thunder Breathing, Distant Thunder, an attack that normally was a single sword slash that struck multiple locations at the same time, a crowd control technique, but thanks to his new powers he actually generated a ball of electricity and sent out multiple waves of lightning. Zenitsu, on the other hand, shifted his stance and flashed through the space between him and Kaigaku, utilizing Thunderclap and Flash in an instant, before landing behind his foe before Kaigaku even realized what was going on. What shocked Kaigaku and amazed Pinkamena was that he was moving like a different person, as he was moving at his peak, when he slept to be exact, without having his eyes closed, meaning his rage had, at long last, shattered his limits and allowed him to obtain his true power. His attack sliced through Kaigaku's neck, the left half since the Upper Moon had realized his foe had moved in an instant and moved his body in time to avoid having his head removed, though one could argue that this was Zenitsu's doing, to make Kaigaku suffer for his crimes before ending his life.

In that moment, due to the unexpected happening, Kaigaku exploded as he assaulted Zenitsu, unleashing move after move as he shouted at his foe, quickly performing the other four Forms of Thunder Breathing without delay, showing that his unlimited stamina was in effect. The first one was Rice Spirit, the oddly named Second Form, which was five arched slashes designed to deal damage to a Demon's body and open a path to their head, before moving into the Third Form of his Breathing Style, Thunder Swarm, which the user used to surround a foe from all sides with arched attacks, though the user moved like they were spinning. After that was the Fifth Form, Heat Lightning, a long ranged upward sword slash that was used to cut down fleeing Demons without the speed of Thunderclap and Flash, and the Sixth Form, Rumble and Flash, a series of slashes designed to inflict maximum damage on a Demon, rendering them incapable of fighting back, but, just like the first move, all five Forms were twisted by black lightning. Zenitsu, despite his speed being superior, simply tanked Kaigaku's attacks, either because he was trying to understand his former senior or because he knew Pinkamena was near and would heal him once the battle was done, and it came to the point where his skin cracked and burned under his foe's attacks.

As he was pushed into a vertical corridor, however, Zenitsu found a place to land and summoned his power, where this time Pinkamena was sure that lightning flashed all around her friend for a moment, before he flashed right up to where Kaigaku was standing and removed his head with a single swing, all while she was sure that it was accompanied by what looked like a Japanese serpent dragon made of lightning.

It was a Seventh Form, one created by someone who could only use a single Form of his Breathing Style, and Kaigaku just accused Jigoro for playing favorites, though as Zenitsu talked about how their mentor wasn't like that, along with why he had created the technique, Pinkamena collected the fallen Upper Moon's body. With that done she stored it away before collecting her friend and placed him inside a barrier that would mend his wounds, where she found that the Form had, in accordance with the sheer speed he had done, shredded his yellow attire and left him in his Slayer attire. It was a rather magnificent Form, one with the power and speed to behead a newly born Upper Moon Demon, and as Zenitsu talked he told them that it didn't have a name, as he had been perfecting it and wanted to use it alongside Kaigaku one day, but in that moment she offered up a potential name for it. She thought that it should be called 'Flaming Thunder God', given the scene she had witnessed over the last few moments, and if one wanted she guessed they could call it Honoikazuchi no Kami, which meant the same thing as the name she offered, something that caused Zenitsu to chuckle before he slipped into unconsciousness.

A few moments later, with Upper Moon Six destroyed, Yushiro and his squad of Slayers arrived, where Pinkamena quickly ordered them to watch over Zenitsu in the barrier and move when he was ready to do so, and once that was done her clone continued to move... though while that was happening she switched over to the one that was currently following Shinobu towards Doma's personal garden.

"You are getting close to Upper Moon Two's position." Pinkamena remarked, where Shinobu showed no reaction to her clone being there, in fact the Hashira knew she would be watching over them while they fought and, if they needed some sort of assistance with their foe, the clones could move in with ease.

"Yes... and I can smell blood, meaning he must have hunted before we were brought here." Shinobu said, showing that the knowledge of what she was getting into didn't bother her at all, especially when Pinkamena considered that her plan was to die at the hands of Doma and be absorbed by him, though after hearing the original plan she had, of course, offered up a modification to trick her foe.

Neither of them said anything for a moment as Shinobu found the door she was looking for and opened it, finding that it lead to a rather large area that looked like it had a bunch of wooden walkways above a gravel ground, due to the stones resting among them, and sure enough Pinkamena found Doma in the middle of a pile of dead ladies, all dead as he took his time feasting on them.

"Hm? Someone's here?" Doma inquired, as if he had been so focused on his food and less on the fact that Nakime had brought him here on Muzan's orders, to defend him until he was ready to emerge from his cocoon, before he turned for a moment and spotted Shinobu as she and Pinkamena entered his domain, "Whoa, it's a girl... one who looks rather fine and delicious... I'll have to thank Nakime later. And she brought the kitsune Demon with her... you know, its a shame that you're a Demon, as you're also rather fine and delicious looking. Oh, where are my manners? I am Doma, and it is very nice to meet the two of you... it is a rather beautiful night, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is... a fitting setting for the end of the war between Humans and Demons." Pinkamena remarked, though while Shinobu really didn't like Doma, for killing her sister once upon a time, she maintained a neutral stance on liking or hating her foes, though most Demons she felt pity for, given their reasons for accepting Muzan's dark offer.

In that moment one of the girls, somehow still alive after everything they had been through, called out for help and, just as Pinkamena expected, Shinobu flashed through the air and grabbed onto the girl, though she was already dead before the Hashira could get her away from Doma, who swung a small metallic fan and used some bits of ice on his target, as when Shinobu landed the girl was hacked to pieces in seconds.

"You can just leave what remains of her over there, as I'll gobble her up once we're done." Doma said, where he raised his fans for a moment, which were made of solid gold and the edges were sharpened, so if someone got hit by them it would hurt, and both had two lotuses engraved on them, "I know you don't know anything about me, so let me say that I am the founder of the Eternal Paradise Cult, where it is my duty to make sure all of my followers, especially myself, are happy, as I'll offer advice to my followers and select a few as offerings every now and then... so don't worry, I'll be sure to eat up every speck of that girl."

"Make everyone happy? You must be insane, as she was crying for help!" Shinobu stated, though she knew more about this Demon than most did, thanks to what happened to her sister before she passed, and this just confirmed that Doma was someone that needed to die, least he continue his spree without stopping.

"And that's why I helped her... I mean, she's not suffering anymore, nor is she in pain. Honestly, there's nothing for her or the others to be afraid of." Doma replied, showing them that he had thought out the ins and outs of his cult and knew the twisted nature of the rules he had set up a long time ago, before he smiled for a moment as he considered what he told newcomers that came seeking his cult and what he offered them, "Everyone, at some point in their lives, fear the embrace of death, which is why I eat them all up so that my followers can live together, with me, forever... I take in all their flesh, blood, and feelings as I make sure to accept, rescue, and guide them all toward enlightenment."

"Okay, quick question: where does Muzan find people like you in the first place?" Pinkamena inquired, because while she did know that the Demon King had a habit of going out and visiting sick people, those desperate to continue living, even if their circumstances were horrible, that wouldn't consider the consequences of their actions until the deed had been done and there was no turning back.

"Actually, he came to my cult in the middle of the night, after a sermon I gave, and offered me power and eternal life, so I could continue leading my followers." Doma answered, where Pinkamena raised an eyebrow for a moment as she learned that, meaning there were individuals who the Demon King sought out that weren't dying from a disease or wound, which reminded her of Kaigaku and what he said in the presence of her other clone, "I'll admit it, at first I had my doubts about it all... I mean, my parents were stupid to form a small cult around me because of my eyes and hair... but the Great One's promises were genuine."

"There is no way you're sane or right in the head... I feel like I'm going to vomit." Shinobu remarked, showing them that her intense anger for Doma was either clouding her judgement or she was just sickened by everything he said, similar to how Tanjiro got disgusted with how certain Demons treated Humans, like Daki's disgust for example.

"How come you're being so hostile towards me, even though we just met? I mean, I know Slayers hate Demons, but even if that's the case, well, you're displaying more hostility than what's normal." Doma commented, something Pinkamena did agree with, as she could see the veins popping in Shinobu's forehead, cheeks, and even her hands, "Oh, I know, if there is something bothering you, whatever it might be, go ahead and speak up... I'll be sure to listen to your feelings and taken all of them to heart."

"Something bothering me?! You're the Demon who killed my sister! Don't you recognize this haori?" Shinobu asked, which was where she gripped the edge of her custom attire and informed Pinkamena of the item's history, it belonged to her own sister and that she had taken it to remember her by, even though the memories attached to it had to be painful for her to bare.

"Oh right, the Flower Breathing girl from before... a shame I didn't get a chance to eat her, but the sun was coming up and I, obviously, didn't want to die." Doma said, showing them that, despite the slow start his memories took, he did recall the figure that Shinobu was talking about and it caused him to smile for a few seconds, likely remembering the fight that they had gotten into before he ended up mortally wounding her, "I mean, I really really wanted to eat her up..."

Whatever he was going to say next was lost as Shinobu, in the blink of an eye, drew her altered blade and stabbed him in the left eye, slipping through his fingers that Doma raised to stop her, though as Shinobu said there were four Forms to her unique Breathing Style, which mimicked the movement of insects. Based on what she was seeing this had to be the Second Form, Dance of the Bee: True Flutter, and the tip of her needle shaped blade pushed out of the back of Doma's head, surprising the Upper Moon for a couple of seconds. As he remarked by her speed and power, and the fact that he was unable to stop it from hitting him, Doma swung his fans as he activated his own Blood Demon Art, creating lotuses of ice that rapidly dropped the temperature in the area they were in, a technique designed to cripple Slayers since they had to breath to use their Forms. Of course the Upper Moon informed her that, while her speed and power were impressive, it wasn't enough to kill him since she had to take his head off, where Shinobu informed him that she knew that, but, at the same time, she wondered if the same was true about poison and watched as Doma's face turned purple around where he had been struck.

Pinkamena had the feeling that nothing would happen to Doma, rather this was designed to slow him down until one or more of the other Slayers showed up, like another Hashira or one of Tanjiro's friends, as she seemed to want to keep her demonic ally as a final trump card, so she leaned against the wall and watched, knowing this was going to be a good fight when Shinobu's reinforcements arrived and watched to see what might happen next.

Final Battle: Important Discoveries

Pinkamena watched Doma for a time, all while the Upper Moon coughed and Shinobu waited for him to die, though what was amusing was that the Demon moaned and coughed up blood, revealing that it was stronger than what she had used against one of the other enemies she had slain in the past. It confirmed that information was shared between Demons, at a slow rate given how the Kizuki had been surprised by her transformation into her Kitsune Form, though it also caused the Insect Hashira to pause, as there was a chance that her poison might not work. Of course she had been working with Tamayo for some time before this point, so there was a chance that her poison could cripple Doma and open the way for someone else to remove his head, which Pinkamena would do if no one else showed up. She also had to admit that the Demon was vomiting a decent amount of blood, which she silently claimed as he did that, sending it through a cleansing area to remove the bits of Human she spotted from where she was leaning.

In the end, however, Doma was able to decompose the poison, even though his left eye was dark red from the poison and the purple skin was starting to recede, where he laughed it off as he made sure there were no more side effects from what he was feeling at the moment.

"You know, your sword makes a unique sound when it is sheathed," Doma commented, as after the first strike Shinobu had returned her blade to her scabbard, allowing Pinkamena to determine how she crafted and applied her poison while she was out in the wilderness, "that's how you mix the poison and change the mix, right? Oh man, this is going to be fun. I've never fought a poison user like yourself, so who knows, I might actually like fighting against your poisons. Tell me, do you think your next poison will work against me?"

"Who knows... either way, I was expecting this to happen." Shinobu replied, because her target was Upper Moon Two, as in one of the strongest Demons that served under Muzan, so there was no telling whether or not her poison was going to even affect her foe, before she assumed her battle stance once more and got ready to attack.

Pinkamena observed as the pair went at it for a few minutes, neither saying anything as Shinobu moved with the speed to match the upper three Upper Moons, allowing her to keep up with Doma as she avoided, to the best of her ability, most of his ice techniques and his fans. Of course she also picked her openings with care, either stabbing him the brain, the chest, or any other vital organ that would quickly spread her poison throughout his body and cripple Doma, who simply took all of her attacks, showing Pinkamena that he was having fun with this. It gave her a chance to see the other three Forms of Insect Breathing, the First Form being Butterfly Dance: Caprice, an attack that allowed the user to 'sting' their foe multiple times in an instant and deliver a shocking dose of poison to Doma. After trying that out, and her foe adjusted to that level of poison, Shinobu went with the Third Form, Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon, six powerful thrusts that were aimed at the foe's weak spots and was designed to use an even stronger poison than before. As Doma adjusted to that, even quicker than before, Shinobu used her final technique, the Fourth Form, Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag, a rapid movement that shook the ground a little as her speed exceeded what she used in the past, all to stab Doma in the neck with new poison.

That didn't last very long and the fifth poison, delivered to his heart while stabbing through his hand, didn't do much for her either, in fact Pinkamena was sure that the Hashira was slowing down due to the ice in the air, which explained how he was able to kill so many Slayers over the years, by crippling their lungs.

"I know I was excited to face your poison, but that was pretty pathetic." Doma commented, watching the marking on his hand disappear in no time, as his resistance to Shinobu's poison was getting far better as time went on, where Pinkamena had to wonder if he and Muzan were sharing information about the poisons they were feeling, "I mean, its only the fifth one I've felt, but even I can tell that your attempts are getting less and less effective as time goes on... and I can see that, despite the power behind your attacks, that you're having trouble breathing."

Part of the problem was that Doma's Blood Demon Art allowed him to slowly freeze his foe's blood and, when they were struck by his fans in some manner, turn it to mist, so not only was the cold air crippling Shinobu, making her easier to kill once he was done having his fun, his ability was targeting other parts of her body as well. Of course Shinobu knew that, in fact she had figured it out and went with it, since the more information they had on their foe the more openings someone else could exploit once they reached this garden area, and she fought to keep his attention on her. Pinkamena found that the Hashira continued to use her Forms, picking and choosing when to attack and when to move, making her wonder if Shinobu was going to reject the offer she had given her earlier, before Muzan pulled them into his dimensional fortress so the Upper Moons could kill them. It eventually got to the point where Doma, growing bored of her hits, cut Shinobu when she unleashed another Form on him, striking her left lung and her left shoulder in that instant, causing the Hashira to fall to her knees and make her vision hazy, likely forcing her to see something that only she could see, which might kick her in the rear and get her to defeat Doma.

Doma went on to talk about her size and how sorry he was for making her suffer, which was the best opportunity Shinobu could ask for as she carefully raised her head and nodded to Pinkamena, who weaved her power over her and mended her body back to what it was like at the start of this fight. Doma, of course, was under the impression that everything was the same and that Shinobu had to be on death's door, as he cut through her collarbone, lung, and ribs, she found that out as she mended the Hashira's body, so he wasn't expecting what was coming his way. In that instant, once the procedure was done, Shinobu stood and shocked Doma, as he clearly thought she'd either be dead or laying on the wooden bridge she had landed on, which was when she called forth all of her power, as she had been restored by Pinkamena's ability to alter reality, and launched her attack. It was another usage of the Hundred-Legged Zigzag, where this time her speed just broke everything in her path as she attacked the Upper Moon, as she had mixed what should be a killer poison this time while her opponent was distracted, and as Doma lashed out Shinobu ducked down, avoiding the incoming attack, before trusting upward and pushed her foe into the air with her might.

It was a beautiful attack, even a desperate one in some sense, as she smashed him into the ceiling and pierced Doma's neck again, though, like before, he adapted to her even stronger poison with rather shocking speed, to the point where he pushed her back and reached out to grasp her, which was when Pinkamena pulled the wool over his eyes and made him believe he had grabbed Shinobu when, in reality, he was holding an orb of poison.

"I am moved by your dedication. You might not have your sister's talent, but it is wonderful to see that you survived for so long and did so much." Doma stated, where tears graced his eyes for a moment as he absorbed 'Shinobu', who was now in Pinkamena's clone's shadow, hidden from his sight, where the potent Wisteria poison, an entire years worth that Shinobu had taken and distilled so that her entire body contained it, meaning it should have a massive effect on Doma once his body fully absorbed it.

As that happened Kanao came in and, as was planned by her and Shinobu, attacked Doma to push him back, though as she landed Pinkamena shared her sight with her, allowing the young girl to see that her mentor was alive and that they had started the other plan they had talked about... but as Inosuke came this way Pinkamena turned her attention over to the clone following Akaza, just in time to see Tanjiro dodge an attack and hack off most of his left arm.

"Impressive." Pinkamena commented, as the clone was watching from Giyu's position, though she had seen Tanjiro use the Tenth Form of Sun Breathing, Fire Wheel, and as Akaza swung at him again Tanjiro utilized the Eleventh Form, Fake Rainbow, to confuse his opponent and disappeared as he slashed through his foe's head, even though it quickly healed in a few seconds.

"What was it he said? 'This boy isn't weak, don't insult him'? I can now accept that Kyojuro was right." Akaza said, because he once assumed that Tanjiro was one of the weaklings that he despised, something Pinkamena got from how he acted, though as he talked she also grabbed the fallen pieces of his body, adding to her collection, "Tanjiro Kamado, you aren't the weakling I once thought you were... I shall show you my respect, by facing you with my full power."

In that moment Akaza shifted his stance and summoned his compass beneath his feet, showing them that he was ready to do battle with Tanjiro and Giyu, even though he likely had no idea who the Hashira was since this was his first time even meeting the figure. In the following moments Giyu attacked Akaza and quickly used the Third Form of Water Breathing, Flowing Dance, something that surprised Upper Moon Three for a moment as he claimed that it had been about fifty or so years since he last fought a decent Water Hashira. Sure enough it wasn't long before Akaze shifted into one of his rather powerful techniques, his Disorder attack, which was a wall of shockwaves created by him rapidly punching the air in front of him, different from the Air Type, a shockwave that was produced from whatever range he wanted by hitting the empty air, and his Annihilation Type, the massive twin shockwave attack that broke Kyojuro's final attack. Giyu, however, used a move that Pinkamena had only heard of when she talked with Sakonji again, the so called Eleventh Form of his Style, Dead Calm, a move that seemed to be a perfect shield, to some degree, that was him instantly shattering a foe's attack with a single swing of his sword, even if it looked like he didn't move his body at all.

Even Akaza was surprised, as this was a Form none of the other Water Hashira used, and the attack opened the way for Tanjiro to unleash the Third Form of Sun Breathing, Raging Sun, allowing him to utilize two horizontal slashes to try and take his foe's head. Sadly the attack ended up missing as Akaza sensed where he was coming from and opened him up to another attack, though before he was hit, and either slain or knocked into a wall, Giyu came to his rescue with the Second Form of Water Breathing, Water Wheel, allowing him to cut through the Demon's arm. As Akaza moved to attack Giyu they found that even with his back turned to Tanjiro he knew where his other foe was coming from and kicked him into the air with one of his legs, an attack that was joined by a shockwave that dealt a bit of damage to Tanjiro since he coughed up a bit of blood. Akaza also wanted to know Giyu's name, as he was strong and seemed to like collecting the names of those he deemed to be powerful, and when the Hashira refused to give it the Demon punched him into a wall and got it out of Tanjiro, who called out to Giyu before having to defend himself with Burning Bones, Summer Sun, the Fourth Form of Sun Breathing, as the Demon attacked him once more.

Sure enough Akaza was elated by this turn of events, in fact he praised Kyojuro for doing a good job of motivating Tanjiro before his death, even though he was glad that he died that night, especially given his 'dumb' worldview of wanting to stay Human, which just set Tanjiro off. Akaza was of the opinion that all weaklings were to be eliminated, as they made him sick and he couldn't stomach their existence, even though Tanjiro informed him that he was wrong and that everything he had said was entirely incorrect, since babies were weak and the strong had to keep them safe. Pinkamena, to be honest, just tuned out the conversation as she observed the pair, finding that Akaza was annoyed with Tanjiro and actually swung at the air behind him, as if recalling a memory of his time as a Human, before declaring that he realized just how unpleasant Tanjiro really was, to him at least. In the following moments Upper Moon Three went on a rampage, unleashing a couple of his moves as he focused on crushing Tanjiro, the shockwaves disrupting everything around him as he tried to crush his opponent into the ground, to the point where her friend had to utilize the Sixth Form of Sun Breathing, Solar Heat Haze, to attack his foe.

Akaza dodged the attack for the most part, as part of his neck was cut, though he laughed and claimed that the move was another fun one for him to experience, even though Muzan's cells should have freaked out after seeing multiple Forms of Sun Breathing, as the hazy nature of the sword swing interested him. As the battle raged, however, Pinkamena found that Tanjiro's crow was nearby and recalled that all sorts of crows were in the dimensional fortress, likely showing Kagaya's remaining children, the new leaders of the Slayer Corps, everything that was going on, so she extended her barrier for a few seconds and brought him close to her. She also found that he bared a letter for Tanjiro and she collected it, mostly to keep it safe, even though her curiosity got the better of her and she found that it was a meeting between Yoriichi and the Flame Hashira, going into how he defeated Muzan, or nearly killed him as people chose to remember that event, and that it detailed a 'Thirteenth' Form. Pinkamena chuckled as she folded up the letter and returned it to the crow's leg for now, as she had access to all of Tanjiro's memories, even the inherited ones, though she had a feeling she knew what Senjiro was talking about, as she had learned something while watching the Forms in action and realized that she might have figured out the nature of the mysterious Thirteenth Form.

The battle reached a pause as Akaza grabbed onto Tanjiro's blade, like he was going to snap it as he ignored a headbutt and a kick, though it was Giyu attacking him again, removing his hands to free Tanjiro, that saved the day, though as he revealed that he was annoyed Pinkamena found a watery Slayer Mark on his face.

In the following moment Giyu attacked Akaza with greater speed and power than before, both a mix of the Mark and what Pinkamena assumed were his own sealed abilities, as now he was fighting like an Hashira should, and he clashed with the Demon they were fighting, cutting his neck a few times as they fought. For a second it looked like he would overwhelm his foe and carry Tanjiro to victory, though the reality was that Akaza was fast at adapting to his foe's movements and quickly matched Giyu's boosted power and speed. As Tanjiro considered how he could help Giyu, and delved into his memories for the solution, Pinkamena thought back to some of her own training with Yoriichi, or mimicking his movements, where she thought about his calm nature and found that, without realizing it, that she had become more like him. To master his Breathing Style she had either sealed most of her emotions or simply sacrificed them, such as her anger, to make herself stronger, given that her own Sun Breathing was a copy of Yoriichi's now, before she focused for a moment and found that she could, if she erased her presence from the battlefield and focused her mind, she could see a Transparent World, one unlike anything she had seen so far.

At the same time Tanjiro attacked Akaza, who caught his blow from behind and swung to kill him, causing her friend to actually move his body and avoid the attack with a single light cut to his stomach area, allowing her to understand more of what she was seeing, as she could see everyone's blood vessels, bones, and muscles like they were transparent, hence her naming scheme for the technique. It was a fascinating technique and wondered how Yoriichi had awakened it, though as she thought about it, and the figure in question, it was possible he had been born with it, and a Slayer Mark, which had to be why he was so unsurpassed during the time he was alive. Surprisingly enough it seemed like Akaza was focused on his fight with Giyu and wasn't worrying about Tanjiro at all, though things changed in an instant as Upper Moon Three swung his right hand at an incoming attack and snapped Giyu's blade in half, confirming that the attacks of a Demon like him were far stronger than their blacksmithing techniques. In the following second Tanjiro, tapping into the Transparent World at last, moved forward and sliced off half of Akaza's right hand, taking his fist before he was able to punch and kill Giyu in the same way he killed Kyojuro, something that caused the Upper Moon to realize that a threat had appeared and quickly loosed his technique as he unleashed a barrage of countless thin shockwaves in this area.

As Pinkamena claimed the fallen part of Akaza she found that even Giyu's Dead Calm was unable to withstand the amount of attacks and it forced him to the ground, though Tanjiro had avoided everything and ruined the element of surprise by shouting at Akaza... though when his foe readied himself he found that he was unable to track Tanjiro and Pinkamena just watched as her friend unleashed the Fifth Form of Sun Breathing, Setting Sun Transformation, severing Akaza's head from his body.

"It's over." Pinkamena commented, though what was amusing was that Akaza didn't seem to agree with her and grabbed onto his head, to try and reattach it with his sheer force of will, leading to Giyu throwing his blade at his head, sending it flying into another part of the room they were in, causing her to form a barrier around the fallen Demon, "This should let him cool down... and I'll heal you two as well."

While she did that Pinkamena, Giyu, and Tanjiro watched as Akaza tried to nullify one of his weaknesses, as in losing his head like this, and he lashed out at the barrier with his powers, though something stopped him after a few moments, as if someone from his past was talking to him. What was amazing was that it seemed to be working, as if Akaza had heard her comment and was trying to make this fight last longer so he could kill Tanjiro and Giyu, but something in his past kept him rooted, even though his head was starting to reform. Tanjiro, on the other hand, seemed to consider something and asked if she'd open the barrier for a moment, where Pinkamena did so and found that her friend, unable to grip his sword after his brief delve into the Transparent World, punched Akaza in his right cheek. In that moment, as if the punch had triggered something, Akaza smiled as he delivered a powerful shockwave punch to his own head, where his iron will crumpled right in front of them as Pinkamena felt Upper Moon Three expire, causing her to collect his fallen body like she did to every Demon who died near her.

Once that was done, and she was sure this battle was over, Pinkamena left her clone near Tanjiro and Giyu, allowing them to rest and heal before worrying about what the future held for them, before switching back to the clone near Doma, only to find Kanao tormenting Upper Moon Two with her words, despite her injuries. Apparently he felt Akaza's death and was shocked by it, in fact he even cried over his friend's passing and stopped his assault to mourn him, meaning that, while he might be mentally unstable in his viewpoint, he might be the most Human Demon of them all. Kanao, however, didn't care all that much about his feelings, showing them that her hatred for Doma was far stronger than his sadness and grief over losing one of his friends, making Pinkamena wonder how he reacted to losing Gyokko and Hantengu. Before anyone really did anything Inosuke joined the battle and joined the assault on Upper Moon Two, though both Pinkamena and Shinobu were still surprised by the intense hatred that lingered in Kanao's heart, even if she knew that her mentor was alive thanks to Pinkamena's powers.

It was surprising to see the loathing and disgust that rested inside the young girl, as until this point she had been mostly emotionless and only opened up thanks to Tanjiro, so this was quite the surprise to her and Shinobu, but what was even more surprising was Inosuke's new technique, that being the Ninth Fang of Beast Breathing, Extending Bendy Stretch, as he dislocated every joint in his right arm to slash Doma's eyes.

"That's one messed up technique." Doma remarked, where he had been expecting the attack to miss, since he had been out of range when Inosuke swung at him, only to be surprised by his new foe's power and skill, especially since Kanao was stronger than Shinobu and the newcomer was on the same level.

"I can agree with that." Pinkamena said, where Shinobu nodded her head, even though all Doma could see was her right now, as they wanted to keep the Hashira's survival a secret from him for some time, but the Upper Moon turned towards his foes once more as he considered what was going on right now.

As Doma removed Inosuke's mask, a fact that irritated him to no end, the Upper Moon realized that he had seen him from someplace and, while her friend denied such a thing, stabbed a finger into his brain to stir his memories, confirming that he was the oddest Upper Moon of them all. Despite their feelings on the matter it seemed to work, Doma recalled meeting a woman about fifteen years ago who was carrying a baby, where her husband beat her and her mother-in-law bullied her all the time, leading to his cult taking her in, a lady who had the same face that Inosuke had. It explained so much, as in why Inosuke thought he had no mother, because he had sealed his memories of those early years away and became who they were used to dealing with, and the clue that brought everything to the surface was a pinky promise song that Doma recalled Inosuke's mother singing all the time. Sure enough Doma had tracked down and killed Inosuke's mother when she tried to flee from his cult, leading to Inosuke landing in the situation that lead to him being raised by boars, and this just awakened a new rage inside him, as he had one more reason to kill Doma.

Sadly, with Akaza passing, Doma informed them that he didn't have the time to waste on them and started creating dolls made of ice to fight the pair as he continued to spread his ice, intending on slowing them down to the point where he'd be able to learn all of their moves and then kill them in seconds... but as he started to retreat, however, Shinobu's poison acted up at long last, burning his insides as one of his eyes fell out of its socket.

"I see the poison is finally working." Shinobu remarked, where she emerged from her hiding place and joined the pair, all while Doma's ice dolls shattered in an instant, while the Upper Moon glanced over to where she and Pinkamena were at the moment, allowing Inosuke and Kanao to regroup with them, "I see you're confused. In preparation for our fight with you, just in case we ever crossed paths, I ingested a high concentration of Wisteria poison and pushed myself so that every part of me, from my fingertips to my organs, were tainted with the potent poison... which you absorbed not that long ago, after 'absorbing' me, and I can tell you that this poison is seventy times the lethal limit."

"You... how did you... Pinkamena!" Doma said, as at first he seemed confused as to how Shinobu survived, but recalled the figure who had been watching them, untouched by his Blood Demon Art, the entire time and understood what had just gone down, but while he had no idea what he had absorbed he had a feeling that it was something that mimicked his old target in some manner.

"That's right. Finally, at least someone understands when I'm using my power." Pinkamena stated, as most of their foes didn't notice her alterations until it was far too late for them, but Doma knew she had pulled the wool over his eyes, not that it mattered since his bones were melting and his flesh seemed to be burning, though he still had the strength to call forth a massive ice statue.

As impressive as the ice Buddha statue was, because it was to some degree, Pinkamena could see that Tamayo's side of Shinobu's poison was working as well, crippling Doma's power to the point where there were cracks in the ice and part of it didn't look well at all. In the following moment Shinobu rushed forward and dodged the statue's attacks, allowing her to get close to Doma and slice off both of his hands, as his regeneration was greatly crippled in this state, opening the way for Kanao and Inosuke to launch their portion of the assault. With both the Upper Moon and his statue stalled by the vast poison in his body it was easy for Kanao to get close and slash at Doma's neck, which was still thick despite the poison he was feeling, to which Inosuke, true to form, did something reckless by hurling his blades through the air. Both blades just flew through the air and locked onto Kanao's with ease, allowing his swords to push hers further than before and quickly removed Doma's head, eliminating Upper Moon Two as well.

Pinkamena smiled as the statue shattered and Shinobu rejoined Kanao as Inosuke collected his mask, where she took the time to collect Doma's body and purify it of the poison that was inside it, allowing her to add every bit of Upper Moon Two to her Storehouse, before she set up a barrier around them.

"This will heal and keep you safe, so you can rest after the battle you've just been through." Pinkamena said, though at the same time Shinobu knew that she was just a clone, as she suspected that the real one would have fought back and not just stand on the sidelines, before she turned her head for a moment, "I must shift my focus for a time, as someone is approaching the area that Upper Moon One is currently resting in."

Pinkamena had no idea what would happen when Muichiro reached the area that Kokushibo was resting in, other than a fight given what she had witnessed so far, but she wanted to be there to see what might happen next, given that he was the strongest Upper Moon and wanted to be sure he was defeated before even fighting Muzan.

Final Battle: Upper Moon One

Pinkamena found that Kokushibo was standing in a large open area that had a much of lattices and framework, like he had designed this place after joining Muzan's forces, and he was an imposing figure, standing as tall as Yoriichi and baring a Slayer Mark much like the legendary Slayer's. He also possessed the same hair style and several facial features, save for the fact that he clearly had six eyes, the middle pair being the original ones while he had a pair above and below them, while he wore a purple kimono with a black checkered pattern. Upper Moon One looked majestic, dignified, and powerful at a glance, while carrying a blade that looked like a Slayer's weapon, confirming that he must have been Yoriichi's twin before joining Muzan's side and becoming the imposing figure that he currently was. The only difference she could see right now was that he didn't seem to have the insane sensory powers Yoriichi had, as he hadn't noticed the arrival of her clone in his portion of the dimensional fortress, though as she stood there she could also tell that Obanai and Mitsuri were trying to take down Nakime.

In the following moments part of the wall above her broke open as Muichiro was pushed through by part of the fortress, a fact that gave her more information on Nakime's powers, and when he landed he found himself in Kokushibo's domain, all while Pinkamena silently told him that she was nearby, in case he needed assistance.

"So, a Slayer has appeared before me... hm, you seem strangely familiar." Kokushibo commented, where Pinkamena was able to tell something immediately, he was able to see the Transparent World as well and, given his demonic nature, his body wouldn't be under any strain from using it, as he narrowed his eyes for a moment as he studied Muichiro, "I figured as much."

What instantly worried Pinkamena was the fact that the battle had barely started and Muichiro seemed terrified of his foe, as his hands were trembling, like his body was refusing to do battle with the Demon that was in front of him, and due to the fact that so many of their allies were far away she had a feeling that she'd have to step in soon.

"Tell me, what is your name?" Kokushibo asked, showing some interest in his opponent, much like how Akaza valued the strong before his death, but, at the same time, Pinkamena had a feeling that his question was due to some other reason, as he didn't seem like Akaza at all.

"Muichiro Tokito." Muichiro replied, though he was confused as to why the Demon wanted his name, though speaking did allow him to focus on something else as he thought of a way to overcome his sudden fear and fulfill his duty as a Slayer, as Upper Moon One was in front of him and he had to cut him down.

"Alright, I see... then that means that the Tsugikuni name has died out." Kokushibo said, confirming what Pinkamena had been thinking, he had to be a member of Yoriichi's family, his brother given what she was seeing right now, though, like all of the other Upper Moons, he didn't seem sad by that fact, before he noticed that Muichiro was confused, "It has been hundreds of years, so it was inevitable that people would forget about them or the name died out... either way, my name when I was Human was Michikatsu Tsugikuni. Muichiro, you are a member of this family, a family that I left behind... the descendant of my own child... an offspring of mine that survived to this day."

Muichiro, shocked by this revelation, did the only thing that he could do, he sealed his emotions and calmed himself, as if he had regressed back to what he was like before he awakened his missing memories, though Pinkamena remained silent as she observed, as listening to Kokushibo talk was interesting.

"Your mental strength is worth some praise, as you were able to calm your panic in such a short moment." Kokushibo said, showing that he was still a swordsman at heart and that he seemed somewhat delighted to face an Hashira again, as there was no telling when he had last fought one, though in the following seconds Muichiro attacked, using the Second Form of Mist Breathing, Eight-Layered Mist, against his foe.

Despite Muichiro's speed and power, especially in making eight slashes on top of each other in rapid succession, none of it mattered as Kokushibo appeared behind him, even though Upper Moon One did approve of his foe's technique and the fact that he was an Hashira. Muichiro, on the other hand, instantly shifted his stance and utilized the Fifth Form, Sea of Clouds and Mists, to attack his foe, covering a wide area with his attack as he lashed out at Kokuchibo, who moved behind his opponent in an instant, showing Pinkamena that he wasn't to be underestimated. She had witnessed the power and speed of the other Upper Moon Demons and had to admit that Kokushibo was nearly on Yoriichi's level, in speed anyway, meaning that there was a chance that Muichiro might not succeed in beating his foe, and even the other Hashira might not have the power to take him down. If that was true than there was no reason for the crows to bring anyone else to this area, they'd likely all either die, be seriously injured, or be converted into Demons to tear down the other Slayers, so she kept herself at the ready, or at least ready her clone for whatever might happen next.

"Based on your appearance you would be fourteen this year, and yet your skills are refined to this point at your age, yet another thing worthy of praise." Kokushibo commented, showing that right now he was just playing with Muichiro, hence why Pinkamena was getting ready for what might be coming next, while the Mist Hashira considered his options while he listened to what the Demon had to say about his techniques, "Despite faltering against me earlier, you had the courage to surpass that emotion in order to cut me down... I expected this much from my descendant, even if my blood has been watered down after all these years... but that's trivial, because even if my name has died out my cells have only increased inside you."

Muichiro didn't seem to care about that at all, as his Slayer Mark appeared, which interested Kokushibo as he noticed it, before unleashing the Seventh Form of Mist Breathing, Obscuring Clouds, to hide his presence and change his speed so his foe wouldn't see him coming, even though Kokushibo dodged the first attack, showing that he was studying Muichiro's speed, despite the tempo change.

"I should unsheathe my blade as well, or else it would be rude of me." Kokushibo said, showing that he did view Muichiro as a warrior and that he knew that constantly avoiding his foe's attacks was rude, where in the following seconds he did just that, unleashing a single swift horizontal slash that followed a crescent motion, an attack that took Muichiro's left hand in an instant, and Kokushibo was able to sheath his blade without Muichiro even seeing it move, "Moon Breathing, First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace."

Pinkamena paused as she heard that, as she knew about all of the Breathing Styles that were in existence, those used by the Corps anyway, even those used by only specific people, like how Shinobu was the only Insect Breath user or how Obanai was the only Serpent Breath user, but this was the first time she had heard of Moon Breathing, all while she was able to see Muichiro tie off his left arm with cloth to stop himself from bleeding out.

"Wonderful. You have the guts to immediately stop the hemorrhaging and come at me with another attack." Kokushibo stated, once more showing that he approved of Muichiro and how he fought, and how he acted when facing events like the loss of his hand, before he held out his right hand, caught his foe's blade between two of his fingers, and in an instant pinned Muichiro to one of the pillars by stabbing him in the right shoulder with his own weapon, "My descendant, allow me to turn you into a Demon... so you can be of use to That Man... I never thought that I would meet someone of my own blood again, so our meeting moves my heart. Do not be afraid... if it's about your arm, or any woulds you have suffered, you'll return to normal upon becoming a Demon, as I believe that That Man will welcome you with open arms, since I am the only Kizuki that can fight at the moment."

Muichiro, upon hearing that, actually let go of the cord in his mouth and let out a chuckle, something that caused his foe to pause for a moment, before he beckoned with his right hand and Pinkamena made her move, snatching the Hashira and placing him in a barrier that also housed Genya, who had tried to sneak up on Kokushibo and she stopped him from doing anything stupid, and she grabbed the severed hand as well.

"How strange... reality shudders, as if someone intervened to save you." Kokushibo commented, where he glanced at the area his descendant had fought him in and noticed something interesting, the hand was missing and all the blood had just disappeared in an instant, something that caused him to grip his sword's handle as he focused on what was around him right now, "Pinkamena... you're here, aren't you?"

"Indeed." Pinkamena replied, where she emerged from where she had the clone place the barrier and drew in the power of the other clones, leaving small foxes behind as her tail count boosted to six once more, allowing Kokushibo to see her in her full power, even if a small fragment was still observing Muzan's movements, as she had instantly switched spots to face the Upper Moon Demon, "Allow me to properly introduce myself: I am Pinkamena, the Chaos Hashira."

"Chaos... Hashira?" Kokushibo inquired, as this was a first for him, that out of all the Slayers he had fought he had never fought one who used what he assumed was 'Chaos Breathing', something that instantly raised his guard, because there was something about her that had freaked Akaza out and he needed to be ready for whatever it was.

"That's right. Allow me to demonstrate." Pinkamena said, where she shifted her stance for a moment and gripped one of her blades, hers to be exact, as she focused on the move she wanted to use, which was followed by her rushing at her foe and swinging her weapon in an upwards slash, resembling a dragon's talons, though as Kokushibo dodged it he found his kimono was slashed and three light cuts appeared on his chest, "Chaos Breathing, Eighth Form: Dragon Rising Flash... one of eleven Forms that exists in my unique Breathing Style."

"I see. A Breathing Style that actually influences the world around the user, only capable by ones whose power alters and changes the world." Kokushibo remarked, where he raised his hand for a moment and touched his chest, feeling the bit of blood while his wounds mended in a second, just like Akaza and Doma whenever they were wounded by someone else, to which he drew his blade, allowing Pinkamena to see that there were eyes along the demonic weapon, "Only you can use this particular Breathing Style, for no other Demon would have a power like yours... allow me to respect you as a fellow warrior, and fight you with my own blade."

Pinkamena nodded as she altered her stance for a moment, moving in a manner that reminded her foe of someone, due to the fact that she could see surprise in his eyes, before rushing at Kokushibo and swung her blade, forcing him to parry her attack, all while she found that the Transparent World might not be too useful here. Both she and Kokushibo were calm as they clashed with each other, something that caused her foe to remember something he had seen before, likely during his days following Yoriichi, but she was fine with it as they clashed and moved around the area. Sure enough she also found that Sanemi showed up at some point and she sentenced him to reside inside the barrier as both she and her foe unleashed another Form, smashing the area around them with the sheer power of their techniques. Pinkamena went with her Sixth Form, Violent Vortex Slash, while her foe quickly utilized the Second Form of Moon Breathing, Pearl Flower Moongazing, which was several crescent slashes designed as a defensive measure, so the collision of her attack and his shook the area around them, even though neither stopped as they continued to fight and test their foe's limits.

Of course she only knew the names of Kokushibo's techniques because he, like all Slayers, said them when he used them, just like how he figured out what her moves were called when she said their names, though as she clashed with him she found that Upper Moon one was studying her movements, trying to place them. One thing Pinkamena discovered as they clashed was that when Kokushibo used his techniques he also included spinning crescents on his attacks, which were no doubt designed to inflict maximum damage on his enemies and the surrounding area, while keeping his foes away from him. Some of his attacks were massive, some formed a vortex of danger that had to be avoided, and some crescents just broke everything that was around them at the moment, where she countered with every Form in her Breathing Style, save for the Eleventh Form and her Sun Breathing. What was interesting was that when she tried to hit him with her First Form, Reality Slash, Kokushibo swung his blade and parried the attacks to the best of his ability, sacrificing the edge of his blade several times to cancel out her attacks, though it wasn't a loss since she collected the fragments before he noticed what she was doing, and since the blade was attached to him it could infinitely regenerate.

She even used the Ninth Form of Chaos Breathing, Inversion, to mess with Kokushibo and open the way through whatever defenses he had, yet he was able to regain himself in no time at all and came after her, though after that they shattered the area around them and separated for a time, allowing them to alter their stances for a moment.

"Moon Breathing has sixteen Forms, finely crafted over four hundred years of training and intense practice." Kokushibo commented, once more showing the warrior side of Pinkamena's foe, which was interesting since most Demons were far too different from the majestic being in front of her, where he shifted his sword's position for a moment, clearly thinking about something he had seen, "Your Chaos Breathing is impressive, if a little hard to deal with at times. How many Forms does it have?"

"Eleven, ten of which you've already seen." Pinkamena replied, as Kokushibo was one of the more interesting Demons she had fought, especially since he was an Upper Moon and was clearly different from Akaza, Doma, and the others she and her friends had encountered since starting her quest to find and bring Muzan down.

"Based on our shared information, your Eleventh Form only requires a single blade." Kokushibo said, informing her that there was no reason for her to hide the Lunar Fang from her foe, in fact he knew of it from either Daki and Gyotaro, back during their trip to the Red Light District, or from Hantengu, before he glanced at her second weapon, the one that hadn't been drawn yet, "Yet you carry a second blade, one that has yet to be unsheathed."

"Because it is more suit for another Breathing Style... I can use it, if you want to see it." Pinkamena stated, though this was a lesser secret, as she was sure that Muzan knew of her ability to use Sun Breathing from both Daki and Hantengu, where she found that Kokushibo nodded his head just a tiny bit, causing her to sigh as she sheathed her blade and quickly drew the second one, where Upper Moon One froze for a couple of seconds, "Here I come, Kokushibo."

In the following moment Pinkamena utilized two Sun Breathing Forms, Fake Rainbow and Beneficent Radiance, while her foe utilized the Sixth Form of Moon Breathing: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon: Incessant, a move that utterly shattered the area around them to pieces as he hacked everything apart, a wide ranged attack that would seriously wound someone like Sanemi, though Kokushibo had to avoid her second technique to avoid being slashed up.

"Sun Breathing... the Breathing Style that my brother used while he was alive, reborn with incredible accuracy," Kokushibo said, though now he understood why his master wanted Pinkamena dead, more than the fact that she was a renegade like Tamayo, before all six of his eyes widened as he realized the truth, she wasn't just replicating the dangerous Breathing Style with such incredible accuracy, she was fighting like she was Yoriichi reborn, "and you carry my brother's blade. You are dangerous... I cannot allow you to leave this place alive."

"Do you really think that such a thing would be easy?" Pinkamena inquired, where she shifted her stance for a moment, a fact that caused Kokushibo to recognize another form that his brother used while he was alive, causing him to remember some memories that he would prefer to keep buried for the rest of his life, before she considered something as she took a look at her second blade, "Allow me to demonstrate why you'll find some difficulty with that quest."

At first it looked like nothing was happening, though Kokushibo noticed that crimson energy was gathering around her blade and no harm was being done to it, only for the energy to ignite into a surge of intense flames that he felt were like flames produced by the sun. It was as if she was combining two Forms together, creating a version of Sun Breathing that did produce actual flames, though this instance was more like layering Sun Breathing on top of her unique Forms, given that this had to be the Lunar Fang he had learned about. In the following moment, once she was done with whatever she had been hoping to accomplish, Pinkamena shifted her stance and swung her blade, releasing a wave of solar flames that rushed right towards where Kokushibo was standing. When he attempted to move out of the way, however, he discovered that his foe had laid a trap for him without him even noticing it happening, as she had moved the instant she loosed her attack and appeared behind him, this time calling forth a wave of crimson energy that she sent his way.

As such he spun around and swung his blade twice, using the crescents of his Breathing Style to block the waves and open the way for him to get out of him, only for them to smash through his attacks with ease and detonated when they collided with each other, blasting the area around him apart, only for Pinkamena to find that her attack had burned away the chest part of his kimono.

Instead of saying anything Kokushibo got serious as he transformed his blade, doubling, if not tripling, the length while also adding three additional blades on the edges, adding more cutting edges for him to use against his foe, where he took a moment to shift his stance before releasing another Form of Moon Breathing. This one was the Seventh Form, known as Mirror of Misfortune: Moonlight, which was a multi directional attack with long ranged slashes, showing Pinkamena that her foe had to be scared of her and her power, given that he seemed to be trying to keep her away from him. Following it was the Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ringtail, a massive crescent slash that decreased in size, so the first instance of it was the largest and the last instance was the smallest, causing her to flash through the area as she sought an opening to use against her foe. The Ninth Form quickly followed after that, a Form called Waning Moonswaths, which was an immense amount of vertical and horizontal slashes, and soon enough the Tenth Form, Drilling Leaves, Moon Through The Bamboo, appeared as well, creating a triple layered slash twister to try and take her down.

Pinkamena was honored to witness the sixteen Forms of Moon Breathing, allowing her to imagine how they worked when Kokushibo had been a Human, especially the final technique, Sixteenth Form: Moonbow, Half Moon, which was a barrage of extremely long and wide crescent slashes that struck the area in front of him, creating crates around where they struck, before she flashed forward and swung her blades, removing his head.

"You were a worthy foe, Kokushibo, but I'm afraid that our battle is over." Pinkamena said, as part of her purposely let the battle drag out to give Upper Moon One the fight of his life, given what she had seen with the other two Demons, though before she could move her foe's body started to change before their eyes, growing a monstrous head, spikes pushed out of his body, and thorny appendages grew out of his back.

As she opened her mouth to say something, however, her foe paused and stared at his reflection on her blades, taking in his new monstrous form, something that wasn't betting of a warrior, or samurai she guessed, before part of his side burst open, showing her that he really didn't know what he wanted. In that moment Pinkamena sighed and swung her blade for a second, taking his head once more, though this time she could see both confusion and maybe even gratitude in all six of his eyes, just before the appendage turned to dust. With that done she severed his body into pieces as well, just to make sure Upper Moon One was defeated, before collecting the pieces and storing them inside her Storehouse, though as soon as that task was done she snapped her fingers and dismissed the barrier as she divided her back between the clones once more, all while noticing that Muzan might be getting ready to awaken. Once the others were fine, even though Sanemi was annoyed that he didn't get a chance to fight Upper Moon One, despite his gratitude that she had fought him since he had no idea how they would have overcome his Moon Breathing techniques, she turned and disappeared, allowing the clone to race through the fortress as she turned her attention back to Muzan's prison.

The moment she returned her focus to the heart of the fortress, however, several doors opened and the lesser Slayers, at least thirty or so of them, appeared around her, which was when the sphere burst open and Muzan appeared, causing her to raise barriers around the others as Muzan attacked, allowing her to see that his lower body was blood red colored, he had mouths with sharp teeth on his arms and legs, and his claws were sharp, ready for battle, all while holding the last bit of Tamayo's head in his left hand.

"Pinkamena... I had a feeling you'd be here... not that it matters, since Tamayo's poison didn't work." Muzan remarked, to which he crushed Tamayo's head, who smiled as soon as she saw Pinkamena, the last thing she ever saw, while telling her that the Demon King thought of her medicine as poison, which was fair given what it was supposed to do, especially with his long white hair.

"Its over, Muzan, the Upper Moons are dead, and your fake Lower Moons have been slain." Pinkamena said, though she found that the Demon King didn't seem to care about them, likely thinking they were worthless since none of them killed anyone, which was when her clones returned and her six tails flared to life behind her, surprising her foe a little, before she flashed in front of him and kicked Muzan in the chest, sending him through the air, smashing part of the fortress in the process, "Get ready, because I won't be holding back."

She knew that the kick wouldn't do a lot of damage to her foe, but it was to show him that she wasn't playing around, but, at the same time, she was ready to bring this long fight to an end and finally make Muzan pay for his crimes, all while putting on a show for anyone who might be watching them, to which she braced herself for whatever might happen next.

Final Battle: The Grand Finale

Pinkamena said nothing as she waited for Muzan to step out of the area she had sent him into, where it didn't take the Demon King long to emerge from the wrecked area of the dimensional fortress, looking the same as before, though she knew that it would take some time before her foe could be brought down.

"I can tell that you have gotten stronger, and even more persistent than before... such a thing bores me." Muzan said, as if he felt no desire to fight, rather he likely thought that, as the progenitor of the Demon race, such a thing was beneath him or something, truthfully Pinkamena had no idea what he was thinking right now, "You, and all of the Slayers, sicken me from the bottom of my heart... all you can think of when you open your mouths is revenge, be it avenging your parents, siblings, or loved ones. Honestly, the Humans should be thankful they survived and just move on with their lives... think about it this way, being killed by me is like being killed by a calamity. You can't get revenge on, say, rains, winds, volcano eruptions, and the like, no matter how many lives they take... your companions should have just accepted that they were lucky to survive and moved on with their lives, but I know why they won't do that: they're deviants, and I am tired of dealing with them... I am the only one who really wants to end this."

It was easy to tell that his words were annoying everyone else that was observing them, as Tanjiro and the others arrived at the edge of the area she had found her foe in, but she chuckled a little as she listened to him, as he clearly thought he was a supreme being and no one could challenge him.

"What's so funny?" Muzan inquired, though this was one of the rare times that someone dared to laugh at something he had said, where his desire to crush her into the ground grew more as the seconds ticked by, especially since he had a feeling that if she fell it would cripple the moral of the other Slayers.

"If you're a calamity, then I'm far worse." Pinkamena replied, where she tapped into her power for a moment and called forth a piece of Akaza, a fragment of Doma, and a chunk of Kokushibo, allowing her to chomp down on all three of them in rapid succession, causing Muzan to raise his eyebrow for a moment as her tails shuddered and three move grew in, giving her a total of nine, before reality itself seemed to shake a little, "Allow me to demonstrate."

Muzan and the others barely had time to react as Obanai and Mitsuri were dropped into the area that the Slayers were in, before Pinkamena moved her hands as if she was yanking something back and pulled Nakime from where she had been resting, as she appeared nearby, allowing her to rapidly slash her to bits before turning towards Muzan. For a moment he had to wonder if she was insane or something, even though the pieces of the Demon in question disappeared in seconds, unlike what happened when a member of his kind died, though he also found that the dimensional fortress didn't shake at all, in fact it was too still for it's creator being dead. Pinkamena grinned for a moment as she focused her mind, which sent a wave of crimson energy out and allowed everyone to see her symbol, the marking of Chaos World, appear on the walls around them, before they simply melted away and she had them appear in her World. Thanks to devouring the rest of the Upper Moons her power was far greater than before, where she was able to integrate Nakime's power into her own in a matter of seconds, so now the dimensional fortress was part of her World, dragging everyone into her domain, but that was only the start of things.

She shifted her stance and another chaos marking appeared around where she was standing, causing Muzan to stand still as Pinkamena enforced her will on the rest of her domain, forcing mountain ranges to form, forests to appear in seconds, made the ground split in places to add rivers, and even added a place for Tanjiro and the others to stand on while she and Muzan fought each other, and once she was done her power died down.

"Reality responds to my command... what can you do, Mr. Calamity?" Pinkamena inquired, because this show of power, a scene that took plan over ten to fifteen seconds, was enough to convince everyone in the Slayer Corps to understand that she wasn't to be underestimated, in fact they knew facing her might very well be suicide, and she was taunting Muzan, as it would blind him to what was going on.

Sure enough Muzan, now annoyed by her actions, raised his hands and transformed them into long whips, which had all sorts spikes and blades along their edges, that he swung in her direction, allowing Pinkamena to see that he was able to hack and slash through all of the trees that were around him like they were made of paper. She was fine with that, since her power allowed her to restore the area in no time, as she rushed forward and swung her arms as well, where Muzan found that she had drawn her blades and was dancing around, swinging at his attacks and parrying them with ease, just annoying him further. One thing he did find, however, was that when she cut through part of the whip, and severed a tiny fragment of his body off, it was removed from reality and disappeared instantly, why he had no idea, but decided that he didn't care all that much as he continued his onslaught. Another fact was that, despite her remarks that she could control reality, Pinkamena couldn't call forth the sun to burn them both to dust, especially since it was still night out, so while she might have taken away Nakime's power it meant nothing in the end, as the ball was still in his court.

Such a thing would have amused him in the past, though he had lost all of his kind in this attack and he was left with two renegades, this fool and Nezuko, but right now he was annoyed beyond belief, because of the fact that this Slayer seemed to think that she was better than him, even if she happened to be a Demon as well.

"Your 'reality' matters little to me, as everything will collapse under my power," Muzan remarked, something that caused Pinkamena to pause for a moment as his whips stopped as well, showing everyone that he believed himself to be the far more superior being of the two, "I'm not sure when I sired you, but tonight you will meet your end, just like the rest of the Slayers that were brought to my Infinity Castle."

"Wait, do you seriously not recognize me? Well then, allow me to reveal myself." Pinkamena said, where she sheathed her blades for a moment and raised her left hand to her face, calling upon her power as everyone watched her, observing as her Kitsune Form was sealed inside the mask, which she pulled off to show Muzan her true form once she was sure the process was finished, "There. Remember me now?"

Muzan's eyes widened as he finally realized who Pinkamena was, she was the fallen person who he found over two years ago, who he thought had died after taking in his blood to mend her wounds and had been burned away by the sun, but, in that moment, he realized something else, either her power allowed her to walk in the sun or she had gained Nezuko's sun immunity in no time.

"That's right, I'm the one you tried to save and left once I didn't immediately transform into a Demon, but I did turn and unlocked the power to walk under the sun's beautiful light." Pinkamena continued, where she was pleased to find that her foe did remember her, something that annoyed him further when he realized that the figure he had been waiting for had been missed by his own annoyance over her not transforming instantly, before she returned her mask to her face and let her body shift back into her Kitsune Form, "Nezuko wasn't the first Demon to unlock the power to walk in the sunlight, rather that honor belongs to me, which I kept as a secret until I was ready for this day, because I knew that if you found out about me before this point you'd come while I was weak... now, however, I have the power to stand up and face your might."

In that moment, as Muzan growled, Pinkamena smiled for a second as his back tore open and bladed whips erupted out of his body, showing her that his body was just packed full of weapons that were designed to kill everyone that dared to challenge him. By her count there were ten new whips, giving him twelve tools to cut up the surrounding area and kill whoever got in the way of their fight, to which she made sure Tanjiro and the others were up in their safe section, though she didn't wait for a response as she drew her blades and rushed forward. A moment later the Slayers watched as the entire forest area that they were current observing started being carved up as Muzan unleashed his power on the area, tracking down his foe to the best of his ability, all while finding that their champion was dancing like she was a goddess or something, as her movements were far too refined. Tanjiro recognized them from two places, the first being the Zeroshiki battle doll he and Muichiro had used for training, to boost and refine their own abilities, while discovering that the second was several of his inherited memories from the time that Yoriichi was alive.

As they watched the fight, however, Tanjiro finally realized that Pinkamena had been studying his inherited memories, to learn Sun Breathing from the one who used it and match her fighting style to Yoriichi's own, and such a thing messed with Muzan more than he realized, as he likely thought his foe was back from the dead.

Pinkamena confirmed something as she clashed with Muzan, who was getting annoyed that he couldn't hit her, and that was the fact that his regeneration was off the charts, as anything aimed at his neck, at this power, healed instantly, while any wounds dealt to any of his ten whips was slower to heal. That was due to the fact that she usually took the head of his weapon clean off, allowing it to be transported to a section of her Storehouse that she had prepared for the Demon King, forcing a slower regeneration upon the section she cut into, which just annoyed Muzan. She was trying to annoy him, to make him lose focus on what was going on around them and open himself up to attacks he wouldn't see coming, though at the same time there was another way for her to annoy him, fight without her weapons. One nice thing about being a Demon was that her body was tougher than a normal Human's body, and with the blood of the Upper Moons being added to her body, combined with her own innate powers, her body was now far tougher than a Nichirin Blade, in fact she was sure that next to nothing could cut her, in terms of mortal weaponry.

Such a thing meant that she could lash out with her fists and legs, parrying, blocking, and overcoming Muzan's attacks as her sharpened claws slashed through his limbs with ease, though if she wanted to her blades could dance without her needing to hold them, something she did just to annoy Muzan even more. Pinkamena also continued with the melee for a time, allowing everyone to see that her foe was desperately trying to take her down while she was just dancing, or at least that was how some of the Slayers were classifying her elegant movements. The reality of the situation was that she had a move she wanted to test out, a melee attack that utilized her true power, now fully unlocked thanks to the Upper Moons, and could only be used in her inner world, making it just like the Lunar Fang, hence why she made sure Muzan couldn't see her right hand. She suspected that this wouldn't do a lot of damage to her foe, since it wasn't a Sun Breathing Form, but she wanted to try it anyway, just to see how effective it really is with her own eyes, and when the opening in Muzan's defenses opened she took it immediately, flashing through his whips as she swung her right fist, which had a sphere of energy around it, right into his chest.

In the following moment everyone watched as the ground around her buckled, as if an earthquake was happened before their very eyes, cracking the very mountains and breaking the region in half, like it was made of something soft, though as everything settled down Pinkamena grinned as Muzan coughed up some blood, where she kicked him across the gap and resumed the fight with her fists.

"You're keeping up with me... either Chaos World allows you to cheat to match your foe's power, or you have a mark like Kokushibo had." Muzan commented, showing her that he was still thinking about what was going on and had several new ideas on what might be happening right now, though he frowned for a moment as she fought off his whips like they were nothing, which was just annoying to see, all while he wiped his mouth and refused to acknowledge what happened just a few seconds ago, "You remind me of that monster... it makes me sick."

"If this makes you sick, than you'll really hate this." Pinkamena remarked, finding it humorous that Muzan didn't know of her other Breathing Style, to which she called her blades to her, sheathed her own blade, and then shifted her stance as she released two burning horizontal slashes that slashed through Muzan's attacks like nothing, "Sun Breathing, Third Form: Raging Sun."

"You... know his cursed Breathing Arts." Muzan said, though his hatred for Pinkamena rose to new heights with this new and terrible discovery, as he had been convinced that Yoriichi was the only one with Sun Breathing, in fact Tanjiro's was so different he couldn't call it Sun Breathing at all, but her movements and attacks matched Yoriichi's perfectly, and, unless his eyes were deceiving him, she had his blade in her hand.

"If it helps, just think of me as 'Yoriichi Reborn', as much as that freaks you out." Pinkamena replied, though as she shifted her stance for a moment, replicating the legendary Slayer, she tapped into the Transparent World and found out why her foe was so hard to kill, he had seven hearts and five brains scattered throughout his body, which seemed to move every now and then.

Muzan, in response to that, resumed his onslaught as he tried to take her down, where Pinkamena found that he had a new plan to make such a thing happen, he was trying to pull her in with the sheer rotating force of his whips, to knock her off her balance so he could cut her up and kill her. It was amusing to watch him do this, evolve to take down his foe, but it meant nothing as she danced along with his attacks and removed a good portion of his right arm, though as it vanished he regenerated it in no time and attacked as if it hadn't been taken away from him. A moment later she discovered the true source of his ability to pull her in, some of the mouths on his arms had the power to create small gusts, which amused her to no end as her power forced them to detonate earlier than he intended, even though they tore craters into the ground as that happened. Her sword strikes were clear and smooth, with the precision of Yoriichi, cutting through Muzan's arms while he tried to do something, anything, to take her down and end this fight, and any part of him that was severed quickly vanished as they fought, even though she was patiently waiting for something to happen before really going all out on the Demon King.

Of course she also discovered that Muzan really didn't like the coloration of Yoriichi's blade, the crimson color had much more of an affect than an ordinary colored blade, and her blade followed suit as she slashed at her foe, cutting into his instant regeneration more than before, which annoyed him even more, before he started to notice something, his strong movements were slowing down.

Pinkamena, of course, knew what was going on, as this was part of Tamayo's plan in case her power wasn't enough to take down their foe, she purposely created a poison with multiple effects and the first was the cover, turning a Demon into a Human, but there were more after that. The second one was that, once Muzan's body started to decompose the poison, it would flow throughout his body and force his body to age fifty years per minute, and while the Slayers had been fighting his Demons for a long time it had been roughly five hours since Kagaya was slain. Muzan himself likely decomposed most of the poison three hours ago, meaning his body had aged by nine thousand years and his power had been chipped away to stave off the aging drug, and he should have known this sooner since his hair had started black and now it was white, a sign of old aging apparently. There was, however, a problem with what they were doing, as Tamayo knew that it might age Muzan's blood like wine, given that Pinkamena took in the blood and flesh of her defeated foes, so there was a chance this might increase the potency of his blood and make her even more overpowered than before.

As her foe realized that fact, something that annoyed him to no end as he cut up the surrounding area, Pinkamena let a smile grace her face as she slashed at the attacks and danced around the area they were fighting in, though the far more interesting aspect about this was that she was now able to predict his movements. Muzan was getting slower and slower as time went by, making his attacks easier to predict, and while he was unable to hit her in the first place, due to her skills in combat, this just meant he lost the ability to actually hit her, which just annoyed him. That was the reason she had done so much to annoy the Demon King, to make sure he didn't notice the aging drug that was coursing through his veins and weakening his body to the point that it was far slower now, as it was constantly eating at his stamina. Even if he was able to decompose the poison, and stop the aging process from claiming him, his body would be forever altered, but she was going to kill him, she was just waiting to see what else Tamayo's poison could do before she ended the fight.

This also came with an unexpected side effect, old scars appeared all over Muzan's body and caused his eyes to widen, as he was now no longer able to hide them from anyone, though in that moment Pinkamena realized what she was seeing, it was the positions of his cores. To many it would look like Yoriichi was guiding the tide of this battle, given that these were the wounds he inflicted on Muzan, wounds that were constantly being burned and couldn't heal, but with her power, her two Breathing Styles, and the Transparent World she knew that this would end in her victory. Muzan likely assumed that she and Yoriichi were the real monsters of this story, given their skills and abilities, and she sort of agreed about herself, but, in the end, she didn't mind her foe thinking of her in that manner, rather she focused on the fight and continued to waste his time as she waited for Tamayo's poison to work it's magic. As she considered that, however, Muzan raised his left arm and it started to expand, like he was going to detonate himself, causing her to realize that he was going to use his escape method, just like he used against Yoriichi, but, in the end, it failed and surprised her foe, where Pinkamena knew that the third drug was now taking effect, a drug to prevent his splitting ability.

As he vomited blood, however, she knew that the fourth and final drug, one designed to destroy Muzan's cells when they were at their weakest, was starting to effect him as well, all to cripple him and open the way for someone to end him, to which she landed nearby and sheathed her blades, while her foe started to huff, showing that he was reaching his limit for the first time.

"As grand as our fight was, I think its about time we ended this." Pinkamena commented, where Muzan's eyes widened for a moment as he recognized the stance she had taken, it was the same one that Yoriichi had used before giving him these scars, and her hand rested near Yoriichi's blade, "Originally I had planned on using my Chaos Breathing against you, but it just seems like overkill to be honest... so I will send you to your doom with the beauty of Sun Breathing's Thirteenth Form."

"Thirteenth... Form? Sun Breathing only has twelve Forms!" Muzan replied, as he knew what he had seen when he faced Yoriichi, a battle he wished he could have avoided given the sheer power that the figure possessed, because he had seen twelve sword strikes that brought his flesh to this point.

Pinkamena drew a breath before attacking, unleashing the shimmering flames of Sun Breathing as she linked the twelve Forms of Yoriichi's style together in perfect harmony, attacks that hacked and slashed through Muzan's body before the Demon King had a chance to understand what was going on, and when she landed behind him all she did was shake off the blood on the blade before sheathing it, reducing Muzan to a pile of parts.

"Sun Breathing, Thirteenth Form: Dance of the Fire God." Pinkamena said, as she knew that the Thirteenth Form was the only unnamed Form in the set, though she had named it in honor of Tanjiro's family custom, the dance they performed at the start of the year, which was oddly fitting since they had created the dance to keep Yoriichi's techniques alive, before she focused on what she had just done, "Begone from this world, Muzan."

For a few moments nothing happened, his body didn't put itself back together and no piece pulled itself out to make him a new body, because Pinkamena had done the impossible, she had slain Muzan without needing the power of the sun, due to the fact that she could use Yoriichi's techniques. The Demon King was dead, his kind was finished, and right now only two Demons existed, Yushiro and herself, as Tamayo had given Nezuko the elixir to make her Human before the battle had started, something she was sure had worked out quite well. As she started to move the parts of her foe to his portion of the Storehouse she also held a hand out and gathered his potent blood in a sphere above her fingers, finding that her thoughts were true, Muzan was dead, where she could hear the observers cheering for their success. They had worked hard to make this reality come true, many of them sacrificing everything to ensure that Muzan and his Kizuki fell, to rid the world of evil Demons, and as she glanced up at where everyone was standing she smiled as she found Tamayo's Echo with the others, overjoyed that Muzan was dead at long last.

As they started to celebrate, however, Pinkamena claimed her reward for all her hard work, condensing the blood sphere into a marble that she proceeded to swallow without delay, something that caused a pillar of crimson energy to envelope her as it surged into the sky, all while she found herself in an empty space with Muzan staring at her.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, Kagaya was right... feelings are eternal." Muzan remarked, sounding like he hated the fact that he had to say such a thing, though all Pinkamena did was stare at the Echo that was in front of her, simply out of sheer curiosity, before he raised his right hand for a moment, "That is why, Pinkamena, I will pump my power and blood into your unique body, making you the carrier for my emotions and desires... with all of your powers, and the cursed arts of that man, you will become the strongest ruler of Demons, the Queen of Demons. I know now that nothing can kill you, a feat I tried, in vain, to complete, so you can carry on my work and bring about the complete destruction of the Demon Slayer Corps..."

"Yeah, I'm not interested in killing my friends and comrades," Pinkamena replied, interrupting Muzan before he could even finish whatever he was trying to say, as he wanted her to continue with his position and slaughter everyone around her, a fact that she wasn't too happy with once he told her what he wanted, though in that moment iron chains erupted from the floor and started to wrap around Muzan, "but I will take your blood and push my power to new incredible heights... as for you, however, your soul will be dragged down into the depths of Hell, where you belong, while this Echo of you, which was made by taking in your blood and flesh, will be locked away in the deepest reaches of the Demon Mansion, never to see the light of day. Goodbye, Muzan."

As Muzan cried out, for her to inherit his feelings or something like that, the chains wrapped around him and dragged his Echo into the ground without delay, though once he was gone Pinkamena focused on her new power, dismissing the pillar of energy that had appeared around her before glancing at the others.

"Its time to celebrate! Muzan is dead!" Pinkamena stated, where she found that the cheering resumed without delay, as all of her friends were happy with what had happened, though she also made sure to bring them back into the real world, all while ensuring that Yushiro was safe from the sun.

She smiled as she watched her friends and comrades for a moment, as they deserved some rest before they celebrated the end of the long fight that they had been fighting, but she knew it was going to be a glorious affair, and she was eager to see what the future held for them.

Interlude: Interrupted Celebration

Following Muzan's defeat Pinkamena pulled them back into the real world, allowing everyone to see the sun rise on a world without the King of Demons threatening everyone that they loved or cared about, and she found that many of them had smiles on their faces. She was sure that even the likes of Obanai and Sanemi, who hated her because of what she was, had to be enjoying the new day that they had brought about, as while they hadn't fought with Muzan, in fact many were happy to avoid fighting him after seeing how he fought Pinkamena earlier, everyone was pleased with the results. At the same time she found that Tanjiro was reunited with Nezuko, who had broken out of her demonic haze thanks to the medicine she had been given earlier, though with their foe defeated there were only two Demons left in his world, though to everyone there was one and Pinkamena preferred to keep it that way. Her plan was to go down as the last existing Demon in the world, all while Yushiro, the only other remaining Demon in existence, faded into the background now that Muzan had been bested by her power, and right now the only ones who knew about Yushiro were Tanjiro and Kiriya, Kagaya's only son.

Pinkamena smiled as she found that many were embracing each other, excited that they had survived the night and that none of them had fallen to the false Lower Moons that Muzan had created to tear everyone down, likely a result of what she put everyone through with her training, but she was just happy to have saved as many as she could.

After that it wasn't long before they gathered in a large area to celebrate their victory over the Demons, where the Slayers cheered once more as food and drinks were provided to everyone, showing them that Kagaya knew they would succeed and that he had likely prepared this ahead of time, though no one complained as they dug into the food. It still amused her when she thought about Kagaya, who had been one of the best leaders the Slayers could have asked for in their pursuit to bring down their foe, and everything he had gone before he set the trap to weaken Muzan enough for Tamayo to do what she did to him. There was no speech to give, rather it was just a celebration to their achievements and the fact that Humans didn't stand down when Demons threatened to overtake the land, though to be honest Pinkamena knew if any of the Hashira were asked to say something they would likely turn it down in favor of partying, before she changed her mind as she realized that Tengen might do it if he was asked. The retired Hashira, however, was in the middle of hugging his wives and celebrating their victory over their ancient enemy, honoring the sacrifices of the fallen so the normal people of this land could live their lives without Demons killing them, even if many of the people didn't believe that they existed in the first place.

"When were you going to tell me that you were delving into all of my older inherited memories?" Tanjiro asked, as while he wanted to celebrate, in fact he had started to do so with Zenitsu and Inosuke, he wanted to confirm something with her before he got too involved with what was going on right now, all while noticing that his wounds from the fight with Azaka had been healed while they were in Pinkamena's world.

"I figured it was enough to show you what I had learned... plus, at the rate you were moving, I'm not sure you would have been able to use them effectively." Pinkamena replied, where she didn't mean to sound like she was beating Tanjiro down or anything, in fact he understood that his training, even what she put him through, hadn't allowed him to match the level of Yoriichi and meant he could be found lacking to some degree, "However, had we spent a few years training, drilling all twelve moves and their movements into your body, I'm sure that you and the others would have done a lot better against the remaining Upper Moons and Muzan... who knows, maybe at that point you wouldn't need me to lend a hand."

"To be honest, while I trust our Slayers to get the job done, I'm not sure we would have been able to beat Muzan without you," Kiriya said, walking up to where she and Tanjiro were standing, as many had been pulled into her world to see the final battle with the Demon King, where both of them found that he was wearing the same attire that his father had, as in he had assumed his position as the head of his family and the leader of the Slayer Corps, "at least, not without significant loss of life and the utter destruction of the surrounding area that we eventually pulled him into so he could be burned to death by the sun. I know you were playing around with him, to test Muzan's power out and see what sort of attacks he had to throw at you... in fact those whips terrified me since they hacked apart the surrounding area... but that just showed me how lucky we were that you were there to help us out, and I'm sure that all of the other Hashira are happy that you were the one to fight Muzan, especially after that display."

"I, for one, am grateful that we recruited you into the Demon Slayer Corps." a voice said, where they found that Sakonji, who had been watching over Nezuko during the start of their assault, and had let her go once she started to outrun him earlier, though while he still wore his mask, something he didn't seem interested in removing at all, she could tell that he was overjoyed of what they had accomplished, "So, I have to ask: when will you put down your power?"

"Honestly, I have no idea... don't worry, I won't be making any new Demons." Pinkamena replied, as she knew that he, and all of the others for that matter, were interested in hearing when she would take Tamayo's medicine and become Human again, even though there was an error in their thought process, which she needed to clear up soon, "Let's just say I have a feeling that I might need my power at some point in the future and losing it now would be a bad thing... that's the best way I can describe my reasoning."

Kiriya figured that she wouldn't make new Demons to keep them busy, to keep the organization intact, and knew that she would revert back to her Human form once she was good and ready to do so, to which he and the others moved off to the side and started chatting with the others. Pinkamena spoke to several of the Hashira, as many were interested in her fight with Kokushibo earlier, since he had been a Slayer before being transformed into a Demon by Muzan, and she described his Breathing Style to them, another unique one that no one would be able to replicate. Of course they knew that she had access to his echo, what was left of him since his physical body was no more, and Tengen even said that she seemed to be collecting unique and powerful Breathing Styles, as she had Chaos and Sun right now and, with due time, Moon would be part of it. She couldn't disagree with him, especially since it gave her more options while she was in the middle of battle, in the off chance that someone countered some of her moves, but she didn't dwell on that for long, mostly so she could take some time off and enjoy the celebration that was going on.

As the minutes went by, however, Pinkamena became aware that someone was watching them and set down her drink for a moment, where she felt the air around them and knew it wasn't like anyone she had met in the past, something that caused the Hashira and Tanjiro to pause as she did so. She knew it wasn't a Demon, because she knew that Yushiro was already in hiding, away from the rest of the Slayers so he could run when the sun went down, and it certainly wasn't one of the Humans, since they were nowhere near all of the cities and settlements that dotted the land. Such a thing made her wonder what in the world was going on, since it seemed darker than anything she had felt in the past, where she walked over to the edge of where the Slayers were celebrating and glanced out at the surrounding area for a time. She also knew, from her memories of being in Pinkie's Mindscape, that it couldn't be anyone from Equus, meaning someone else had to be watching her right now and that worried her more than she was willing to admit, especially since she was in the dark as to who might be silently observing them.

A few moments later she found what she was looking for, as a portal made of darkness, in the shape of an oval, tore open some distance away from where they happened to be celebrating, where a figure wearing a black robe with silver pieces near the neck stepped out of it a few seconds later.

"Whose that?" Zenitsu asked, though he knew this was the last thing anyone wanted right now, as they were tired from all of their fights in the Infinite Castle, or whatever that place had been called, and even if Pinkamena could fix them up with her powers, which he knew she was capable of, most of them didn't want to get into another fight, so soon after seeing the battle with Muzan.

In the following instant Pinkamena threw her hand back, knocking Zenitsu and the others back as a barrier surrounded all of them, protecting them as she quickly drew both of her blades and swung them, parrying an attack from the figure, who was holding onto a katana, before shifting her stance to knock her foe back.

"I have no idea, but they mean business." Pinkamena remarked, though what was interesting was that the blade her foe carried seemed to be of a similar construction to the blades she and the other Slayers used in battle, before she glanced off to the side and found a second robed figure standing on some rocks, looking more like an observer than a fighter, but she kept her guard up anyway, just in case it was a trap, "Tell me, stranger, what brings you and your friend here?"

The figure said nothing as they rushed forward, swinging at Pinkamena as if they were trying to take her head clean off, a useful idea since she knew that most of the powerful Demons had survived without their heads, at least she figured the fallen King of Demons had eliminated that weakness, though she parried the blow. Such a thing caused the air to shake, as if two great energies were clashing with each other as they fought for supremacy, though she pushed her foe backwards and knocked them away from the barrier, as she had a feeling this was beyond what a normal Slayer could deal with, and that included the other Hashira. She quickly realized that there might be a problem, if the figures had been watching them for some time, which she was only now aware of thanks to adding Muzan's power to her own, that meant they knew all of her moves and techniques, meaning her forms would be ineffective to them, but she was hoping she was wrong and that it was just her overthinking things. In the next moment she shifted her stance a little more, where Tanjiro noticed that one of her tails was gathering power, before a massive dome formed around Pinkamena, the surrounding area on the other side of the small shield, and the pair of figures who seemed to be new troublemakers, before energy started to surge into the area that Pinkamena was currently standing in.

A second later she disappeared and reappeared behind her foe, where she swung her blades as Tanjiro found that she had summoned her Lunar Fang, a rippling force of energy that would wreck her foe, before the figure turned and used a wave of darkness, identical to Pinkamena's own attack, to quickly counter it... causing a massive explosion to rock the area and kick up some smoke, though he wasn't surprised to find his friend unharmed while finding a cut on the right sleeve of the stranger's arm.

"I knew it, you've been spying on us." Pinkamena remarked, though she was fortunate to have made the barrier, as while she had been willing to test the stranger out, to see if she was right or not, she wasn't expecting to have the figure copy and use the Lunar Fang against her, meaning fighting the figure was going to be a pain.

"I wouldn't call it 'spying', rather I'd call it seeing what you and the others are capable of, and you pass," the figure replied, where Pinkamena realized that the speaker was female, letting her know the gender of her foe, before she pulled back her hood and revealed that it happened to be a wolf person with gray fur, who had red eyes, while the other figure kept theirs up and made no movements to lower it, "It would seem that you Equestrians have some phenomenal warriors, ready to tackle whatever dangers are thrown your way... which is good, since Dymalis and his demonic empire will be setting their sights on your world in the near future."

"Excuse me?" Pinkamena inquired, as while many would assume that the wolf figure was speaking about this world, since all of her friends and comrades assumed she was from this world, she understood that her home planet was now in danger, not to mention the fact that these two didn't seem interested in fighting the demons themselves, all while noticing that the figure had long light gray hair, "If you know about them, why don't you do something about it? Sounds like things would be better for all of us, since they might be a threat to you as well."

"Sorry dear, but we're observers, interested in how the powers of this universe are shifting due to your interference." the wolf figure answered, no doubt referring to Pinkie and everyone else that seemed to go missing, before they visited where the Tree of Harmony was located, though in that moment she glanced up at the sky for a few seconds, as if she was seeing something, before chuckling as she pulled her hood up and a portal opened behind her, "Especially since two of your kind brought down one of the other great demonic forces not all that long ago, not to mention that you just beat someone who would have done some serious damage had he learned how to get off this planet... things are changing, and we're eager to see what else your kind is capable of."

As Pinkamena opened her mouth to stop them, to keep them here and learn more from them, a crack in reality appeared nearby and Discord, a figure with a noodle shaped body with body parts from different species, stepped out of it, though as soon as he locked eyes on the two strange figures the strangers used their oval portals to leave.

"Great, now there's more than one of them." Discord commented, though at the same time Pinkamena sheathed her blades and withdrew her barriers, allowing the land to revert back to it's original form and the crater disappeared, causing the odd figure to turn towards her for a moment as he eyed her form, "Let me guess... Pinkamena?"

"Correct. I'm the one that was separated from Pinkie a long time ago, for me anyway." Pinkamena answered, though all this told her that her adventure in this world was at an end, which she was fine with since Muzan was no more and there were no more Demons for her to worry about, before she considered the information that she had been given by the strangers, who Discord knew about, "So what's this about a demonic army baring down on Equus?"

"Oh good, you already know about them... long story, but we're gathering warriors and soldiers to save our world, and we have a number of displaced that are on adventures right now." Discord replied, confirming her thoughts on the matter, she wasn't the only one out there, she had figured such a thing after seeing Pinkie's memories and being separated from her all those years ago, though he turned his head for a moment and opened a portal back to what looked like Ponyville, "Would you care to join me?"

"Sure, but let me break the news to the others. Some of the Hashira look like they're getting their blades." Pinkamena said, as while she was more than willing to go back home, and figure out everything that was going on, where Discord glanced at the area behind them and found that many of the Slayers were gripping their weapons, fearing that he might be the same as whatever enemies they were used to fighting.

Discord said nothing as he nodded his head and sealed the portal for a time, where Pinkamena flashed through the air for a second and landed near the edge of the area she had set up when the strangers showed up, though she wasn't even a tad bit surprised to find Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke standing nearby, with the other Hashira starting to gather.

"What's going on? Are we under attack?" Inosuke asked, readying his blades for the potential battle that might unfold in the near future, especially after everything he and the others had seen so far, while Pinkamena could see that Tanjiro and everyone else seemed at ease, because if they were under attack she would have said something by now.

"No, you aren't. However, it would appear that my home world is going to be attacked by demons in the near future, or at least Discord and the strangers claimed it will happen." Pinkamena answered, as if it was perfectly normal to talk about such a thing, which it kind of was since they had been fighting Demons for a long period of time, but she could tell that her words had surprised those she fought beside since joining the Corps, "Right, that reminds me, you've been calling me a 'Human' the entire time I've been apart of the organization, but it's about time I corrected that... I'm not Human, rather I'm an Equestrian, from the planet of Equus... to be more precise I didn't even have a body until I came to this world over two years ago, as I was just a part of Pinkie until we separated from each other."

"How does that even work?" Tanjiro asked, though he had a feeling that it was more like her Chaos World, where she had all of the Echoes of the Demons she had taken the parts of during their quest, and given how she started he had a feeling this 'Pinkie' was more of a pacifist, or at least had no experience fighting enemies.

"Don't know, just blame it on magic and call it a day." Discord said, where Pinkamena knew he had some experience with this sort of thing, given how he discorded Pinkie and her friends when he was first freed from his statue, but she figured he wanted to speed things along so they could get back home, especially since there was more information for her to get on the current ongoing situation, "Oh, that reminds me, I still haven't located Pinkie yet... she's good at hiding, I'll give her that much, even if it means giving me a headache in the process."

"Of course she is." Pinkamena commented, as she wasn't even remotely surprised by the fact that her other self was just a pain in Discord's backside, where it seemed like the Spirit was responsible for hunting her and the other missing down, or whatever they were called back home, causing her to turn not a few seconds later, "Tanjiro, you, Zenitsu, and Inosuke can come along... wouldn't want to freak the others out if we arrive with a large force, as they might assume their under attack if everyone shows up at the same time."

"I wouldn't worry about that, the other displaced beat you too it." Discord stated, though as the trio mentioned gathered near him and Pinkamena, even if one girl wanted to come with and the boy with the scar told her he'd be right back, he used a bit of his power to open a new portal back to Equus.

Pinkamena braced herself for what was on the other side of the tear in front of them, as this would be her first time doing anything on her home world without having to worry about being sucked back up into Pinkie's Mindscape, though she was looking forward to whatever might happen next.

Equus: Heading Home

As they walked through the portal Pinkamena really had no idea what to expect this time around, as in the past she had an idea of what might happen due to studying what the Demons were capable of and what her companions or friends could do in any situation, but now she was going in blind. On the other side of it she found Ponyville, just like how she remembered it from all her time in Pinkie's Mindscape, and she was happy to lay eyes on it for the first time in a long time, with her own eyes and not the eyes of her former other self. What she wasn't expecting to find were a number of odd archways off to the right, in the large clearing beyond the town, all of which looking like something that didn't exist on this world, as some were far more elegant than what she was expecting to see, all made of materials she was sure were foreign to Equus. Each one also had a power source attached to them, likely allowing one to use them to move to another part of this world, or even to another world when she considered what she had learned from Discord earlier, and she could see that the figure was just ignoring the surroundings, while Tanjiro and the others were taken aback by everything.

She knew why they were surprised, as this was their first time seeing such a peaceful world, especially after meeting her and traveling with her for some time, but even then she knew that it was no longer the same as what she remembered, due to a significant change she wasn't expecting to find.

"What in the world is that?" Tanjiro asked, referring to a couple of humanoid creatures that had hooves like Pinkie, more cloven in nature, though each one had curved horns that were either pointed at the sky, shaped like a rams, or curved in some manner, and while one had blue skin another had crimson red with eerie green markings.

"Residents from Azeroth, a planet that two of the displaced went to." Discord replied, though as soon as they were all on the other side of the portal he closed it, likely to make sure no one else followed them from the world Pinkamena went to, before he glanced at the pair in question, "The blue one is a Draenei... a shaman, to be exact, due to her hammer and the lightning shield around one of her hands... and the red one is an Eredar, a mage who once joined the demonic Legion with most of her kind... they aren't enemies!"

Discord had to say that because he and Pinkamena noticed that the trio were reaching for their blades, as they heard the word 'demon' and started to act, though Tanjiro and the others stopped before they could do anything drastic, which she was grateful for since she didn't want a fight to break out because of their actions.

"Heh, sorry." Tanjiro said, as out of the three of them he was the only one who would say something like that, since they knew Zenitsu would likely remain silent on the matter, or focus on something else, while Inosuke sulked over not being able to fight a Demon that was right in front of them, "You said 'demonic' and we responded immediately... guess we're still on edge after what happened in the Infinity Castle, and seeing the battle with Muzan."

"Thank you for showing some restraint." Pinkamena stated, though at the same time she nodded to the pair of strangers, where the Eredar raised an eyebrow for a moment, as if imagining that she had seen her somewhere, or maybe it was due to whoever had been sent to 'Azeroth', but she focused on something else for a moment, "Let me guess: this 'Legion' has been beaten by some of the displaced?"

"Yes, Spitfire and Rainbow to be exact... though to be fair it's more Rainbow's fault." a voice replied, a female one, where Pinkamena glanced off to their right and found a lean female dragon, whose scales were blue, she stood roughly as tall as she did, and she was dressed in what looked like the armor of a warrior, though the Eredar flinched for a moment before realizing that the figure in question wasn't present, causing the pair to depart, "You'll get used to it... most of the demons who have joined our forces are afraid of Rainbow, as they're afraid that she'll eat their souls, especially after everything all of them encountered during their war against her and Spitfire."

"Ember? Is that you?" Pinkamena inquired, as she knew Pinkie had encountered the Dragon Lord several times before she and Spike suddenly disappeared, something that only made her wonder if they had actually been displaced, as Ember was far more warrior-like than what she remembered her being.

"Yeah, it's me... though if you're surprised by my changes, just wait till you meet Spike." the dragon, Ember, answered, to which she glanced at Pinkamena's companions for a moment and noticed that they had blades, making her wonder what sort of skills they had, or at least that was what Pinkamena suspected she might be thinking about, "In fact, he sent me to see who Discord had brought back this time, and warned me that you wouldn't be the Pinkie I remembered... now I see what he meant."

Pinkamena raised her eyebrow for a moment as she glanced between Ember and Discord, finding that they knew what was up with Spike and didn't want to tell her anything, causing her to wonder what was going on right now before nodding her head, allowing Ember to guide them to wherever the others were waiting. While they walked Ember asked about their blades, since they seemed interesting to her, and Pinkamena explained things to her, allowing her to understand that all of them were forged to suit the members of the Demon Slayers Corps, even if many started with a common design, since the lower ranks needed to prove themselves before getting a custom weapon. She went into explaining the arts that she and her friends utilized to help them defeat the Demons of the world she had been sent to, though Ember interrupted her for a moment and told her to save the long explanation for later, as Spike was going to want to hear everything, which only made her interested in what might have happened to Spike. Of course Inosuke declared that he wanted to fight her at some point, as Ember seemed like a skilled warrior and he wanted to test her skills for himself, causing her to chuckle for a moment before accepting his challenge, which told Pinkamena that she had definitely changed.

Ponyville was still a location where every race came together in harmony, just like she remembered it, but she found that all sorts of races had come to their world, as there were individuals who had pointed ears, Elves according to Ember, a couple of them were half the size of an adult Human, as in Dwarves, and even small Gnomes and Goblins. In addition to that she and her friends found a few more races, the hulking green skinned Orcs, bovine creatures called Tauren, beings with tusks in their mouths known as Trolls, and even a few others that caused Pinkamena to raise her eyebrow for a moment. It seemed as if the races of Azeroth had all sorts of occupations, as there were warriors, priests, paladins, warlocks, druids, and a few others, including demon hunters, which were Blood Elves and Night Elves who took Fel energy into their bodies to become more demonic, allowing them to hunt the forces of the Legion. As she nodded her head Pinkamena found a group of small fox people walking around Ponyville, roughly the size of the Goblins that were talking to their friends, called the Vulpera, and near them was a somewhat taller figure with serpent features, a Sethrak, where Ember told them that the two races used to dislike each other and the displaced fixed that in no time, so now they were friends.

As Pinkamena took in the sights, and accepted what Spitfire and Rainbow had done, she discovered that their destination was the crystal castle that Twilight called home, though it appeared that they were heading to the chamber that the large crystalline table was located in. What she discovered was that the area had been changed somewhat, as the chairs had been either moved or returned to their crystalline state, there were books and scrolls all over the place, including quills, ink pots, and parchment for writing, and there was a whiteboard with names written on it. She assumed that the names were those of the displaced, which she confirmed once she noticed her name on it, though after looking at it for a time she could see that whoever had been working on it put a lot of time and effort into making it as accurate as they could, in fact it seemed like something Twilight would do. In fact that was who Pinkamena was expecting to find in front of it, but who she found was a surprise, as it was a lean purple scaled dragon that stood as tall as Ember did, though unlike Ember he, as Pinkamena was sure it was a male dragon, wore a mage's robe and had a wizard hat resting on a nearby stand.

The spring green coloration on the underside of his tail told her exactly who she was seeing, though at the same time, even with her eyes showing her the truth, Pinkamena now understood what Ember meant, this was Spike, but he radiated magical energy that far surpassed whatever he had the last time Pinkie had seen him.

"Spike?!" Pinkamena asked, something that caused the figure to turn towards her, confirming that it was, in fact, the dragon in question, though Ember's words rang true, the air around him was different and he carried himself differently than she was used to seeing from her old place in Pinkie's Mindscape.

"Pinkamena, it's good to finally meet you... you're wearing a mask of some kind, which has bonded with the power that you unlocked during your adventure," Spike replied, where Pinkamena paused for a moment, as he quickly figured out that she wasn't Pinkie and that she was her own individual now, while at the same time figuring out what happened to her mask, all in the span of a couple of seconds, which no one else had figured out yet, "How interesting, seeing your power up close like this... you can switch between two forms, by applying and removing the enchanted mask, right?"

"I... that's right." Pinkamena said, as she wasn't too sure how to reply to that comment, because Spike was far different from what she remembered him being, in fact he seemed more like a scholar or magic user at this point in time, though since he had figured out part of her routine she raised her hand and touched her face, causing her power to be sealed in the mask, allowing Spike and Ember to see her original form as she pulled it off, "This is the form I took on when I landed in the world I was sent to... for the most part, anyway, as I gained the sharpened teeth and crimson eyes after a run in with the Demon King Muzan, who declared me a failure and left me to burn under the sun's light. Of course that failed since I was able to adapt to the demonic transformation, not to mention that I gained the power to walk in the sunlight... what I mean is that the Demons of Tanjiro's world can only come out at night, or used to since I'm the only one left... and the bit of power you witnessed just now is my Blood Demon Art, Chaos World, which allows me to bend reality to my will."

"Many of our superiors thought she was using that to move around during the day, until she showed them the truth and shocked them." Tanjiro remarked, as that was the truth of the matter, based on what Pinkamena had told him, though at the same time he and the others noticed that Spike was making notes on what they were saying, no doubt to ask them all sorts of questions later on.

"Fascinating. I have so many questions about the world you were sent to, I even have a journal prepared for everything I might learn from you." Spike stated, where Pinkamena found that he was speaking the truth, as he pulled out a journal a few seconds later and discovered that it had a marking that matched the symbol of Chaos World on it, which only made her wonder if he did this for each of the displaced that came back, "I also find it interesting that you were sent to a world where you would be forced to fight demons for the safety of the entire world, even if they are different from the ones that Spitfire and Rainbow had to fi..."

For a single moment Pinkamena wondered why Spike would cut himself off, though in the next she felt it, reality itself was shuddering as the ground beneath them shook, something that caused the dragons to rush outside and she followed not a second later, causing Discord and the others to move as well. What they discovered was a number of cracks forming in the sky and air around Ponyville, as if the sky was made of glass and was in the middle of breaking, and sure enough they witnessed something that was incredibly alarming, the crack above the Everfree Forest burst open with fragmented pieces of reality pausing some distance away from the cracks. When Pinkamena focused on the massive crack she found that it showed them something amazing, an advanced city that looked like it was under siege, with two displaced standing by an odd feline creature, one that was a unicorn and another that Spike identified as a kirin. There were also a large number of metallic beings moving around the area they were staring at, even though she had no idea what in the world they were, but she was able to tell that some sort of climatic battle was taking place and that reality seemed to be breaking around the pair and their enemies.

As Pinkamena focused on the massive tear in reality, for that was what it was, she noticed something else, several of the smaller cracks were breaking open as well, no doubt revealing what some of the other displaced were going through right now, and she was proven right as she peered through one of them. She spotted a buff humanoid creature that, with a quick glance, one might assume was a displaced unicorn, but when Pinkamena focused on him she discovered the truth, he had two curved horns, one on both sides of his head, much like the centaur known as Tirek. In addition to that she was able to see that the figure's hair and tail were flames, as if he had taken on the power of the sun or something, and while he had a grin on his face she could see that he had a gauntlet on one hand, with six different colored stones attached to it, why she had no idea. He even had an army of knights, giants, and even dragons in front of him, as it looked like he was in the middle of conquering part of the world he had been sent to, enforcing his rule over everything that was on the planet in question, and if he was Tirek, and Pinkamena knew he had to be, it was only a matter of time until he set his sights on Equus once more.

She found another crack that showed an entirely different world, one that had blue grass and green water, meaning it was far different from any of the other ones that she and the others had seen so far, since Pinkamena could see that Spike and Ember were surprised by it's sudden appearance. On the planet she found someone who looked a lot like Twilight Sparkle, in fact she was sure of that because Spike recognized her, meaning he either encountered the other one, Sci Twi she was called, or their Twilight was missing and this is what happened to her. What she could tell was that Twilight was part of an army of some kind, as there were some alien creatures, a fat pink one with spikes on his arms and a lean green one who wore a tiara on his head, who wore armor that was close to what she was wearing, a chest piece with shoulder protectors, or at least Pinkamena assumed that was what she was seeing. In addition to that there was a short white alien who had a few purple gemstones in his body, or at least they looked like gemstones, which were placed in his chest, his shoulders, his ankles, and even his head, meaning it had to be part of his body and not some addition.

Following that another crack burst open, revealing a pair of individuals that looked like Octavia and Pinkie, something that caused Pinkamena to glance back at Discord for a moment, who shrugged and indicated that it couldn't be her, who were in a world made of blocks that they could mine and place however they wanted.

She spotted a few more off cracks to her left, finding that the first one showed a world where a young girl, who looked like Princess Celestia, save for her hair being one color and not her multiple colors, who seemed to be hanging out with a few humans who were around the same age. One of them was a dark green haired boy who seemed to have one of his arms in a cast, like he had done something to bust it before this point in time, while another one had spiky blond hair that had an anger problem, as he seemed to be shouting at the other boy. From what she could tell this one seemed to be a world of powers, as there was a lady with a giantification power, the blond boy made explosions with his hands, a girl who had a skill that allowed her to manipulate gravity, a girl with a frog's posture and tongue, and a few others. That world seemed to be an interesting one, something that made Pinkamena wonder if Celestia retained her solar powers, which would make her one of the best fighters of that world, or if she awakened something else to help her out.

The second one showed a shadowy figure that reminded her of King Sombra, who was floating behind a male adult who had lightning dancing around his hands and arms, though the city they were in seemed more modern than what she was used to seeing in Tanjiro's world and also had some weird people who had powers, like an old man who seemed to be able to move things with his mind.

After that she found two more cracks, the last of the major ones, where both seemed to be showing them the same figure, an amber unicorn who reminded her of Twilight, meaning they had to be Sunset Shimmer, though both seemed to be in totally different worlds. Her reasoning for that was because one seemed to be on a ship in the middle of the ocean, or sea since she had no idea, with someone who was wearing a straw hat, another who had three swords and short green hair, a guy in a suit of some kind who seemed to be a chef, since he was carrying food, and a girl with orange hair that seemed to be the navigator. It appeared that they were exploring the seas of the world that that version of Sunset had been sent to, which included flashes of a ship that served as a restaurant, a port town which she felt was more of a tourist spot since it held something people were attracted to, and even a diagonal mountain path of some kind. In addition to that she found that there were navy ships, Pinkamena was able to figure that out because they had the word 'Navy' written on their sails, and pirate ships, due to the jolly rogers that were on them, and Sunset happened to be on a pirate ship.

As she considered that, however, her eyes showed her the dark nature of the other Sunset's world, as it seemed like she was a force of darkness fighting beside the undead, fighting those who happened to be in her way while she caused parts of the ground to decay, especially with those slain being raised into undeath in due time.

"The dimensional damage is getting worse... reality might be torn asunder before the demons attack us." Spike stated, all while he noted down the worlds they were seeing, as they weren't like the images he and the others had seen so far, even Ember agreed with that, despite the fact that Spike hadn't asked anything, before he spotted something else.

Pinkamena noticed it as well, there was another version of Sunset that suddenly appeared in one of the cracks, one who wore the attire of a god of some kind, where she frowned for a moment before being consumed by a flash of light that caused all of them to divert their eyes, though once the light was gone she noticed that the cracks had sealed themselves while they were distracted.

"We had better check on the Tree... those cracks cause all sorts of harm to it, and Equus herself." Ember remarked, though it was easy to tell that she was worried as well, even though everyone else seemed to be relaxing after witnessing that odd event in the sky, meaning there might be more to this than she and Spike were telling them.

Pinkamena had no idea what was going on right now, but she was willing to following the pair to the Tree of Harmony, as it might give them some answers on what was going on and help them figure out what in the world they needed to do to prepare for what the future held for them, and she was looking forward to whatever they might learn next.

Equus: Friendly Clash

Following the dimensional mess they had witnessed in the sky, which Pinkamena was still processing since it had been something she hadn't been expecting to see when she decided to go home, she and her friends followed Spike and Ember as they entered the Everfree Forest. Such a thing told her far more than the pair might know, normally the residents of Ponyville, even visitors, stayed away from the dangerous forest, but now, after their adventure in another world, both of the dragons had nothing to fear from it, as if they had faced greater dangers over the years, just like how she was no longer even remotely scared of this place. She was interested in what might have happened to them, given how Spike was totally different from what she remembered and Ember was more like a warrior than she remembered her being, but for now she was interested in returning to the Tree of Harmony and seeing if she could learn anything about Pinkie. She also noticed that none of the creatures seemed interested in approaching them, which was fine since she didn't want to knock them down with her new powers, allowing her to follow after the pair without having to worry about anything.

When they reached the old castle she found that nothing had changed since the last time she was here, which she kind of understood since no one came out here for the most part, before they headed down into the cave that lead right to the Tree of Harmony, leaving Pinkamena to stare up at it for a few seconds.

"It would seem that things are much more stable this time around, despite the earthquake we suffered." Spike said, where he stared at the tree for a time and seemed to be studying the magical nature of the area around them, in fact she found that bits of magic danced around his horns and hands for a few moments, "Usually those cracks in the dimensional barrier cause our planet to scream in pain... her World-Soul, anyway, since Equus is a living being... but it seems like everything is fine: her magic is stable, her vitals are stable, and no damage has been done to anything."

"Okay, you're going to have to explain things to me so I can understand what you are talking about." Pinkamena admitted, as she had understood what Tanjiro and the others were capable of by watching or speaking with them, though this seemed far above what she had learned so far, meaning it would take some time for her to figure things out, before she found Ember letting out a light chuckle, "What's so funny?"

"Spike's a scholar, and he's read pretty much everything on the planet we were sent to... prepare to have your head talked off and be stunned by his intelligence." Ember remarked, showing Pinkamena that she was used to dealing with Spike and his newfound smarts, as he now seemed more like Twilight when she thought about things, though it only made her a tad bit interested to see what she might discover next.

"First, I'd like to learn more about the world you were sent to, even though Ember might be interested in fighting you or one of your friends before that happens." Spike said, where he nodded his head and started to leave the cave, as it seemed like he had done everything he had set out to do in the span of a few seconds, which was rather impressive and made her take a moment to wonder what sort of adventures the pair had gone through.

"Well, Tanjiro fights to protect those dear to him, and Zenitsu only fights when necessary, so Inosuke is your best bet if you want a fight." Pinkamena commented, where she noticed that Ember seemed excited for the possibility of her engaging in a brief clash with one of her friends, even though it was also clear that it would be a test run before focusing on her, so this might allow her to gain some information on Ember before the fight began, "Also, a few of the Hashira would had accepted the challenge, but they're back on the world I was sent to, tending to the aftermath of our fight with Muzan... I'll tell you all about it once everything has calmed down... though it'll be interesting to see what you can do."

Ember smiled for a moment as they quickly returned to Ponyville, where Pinkamena found that there were portal structures off in the distance, no doubt for all of the worlds that the displaced had been sent to, and one matched the demonic taint of the Eredar, which interested her to some degree. When the trio regrouped with Tanjiro's group Ember challenged Inosuke to a fight, as she wanted to see their techniques with her own eyes and, more importantly, to see how she measured up to a warrior from another world, and, sure enough, Inosuke accepted. A few moments later they walked over to the portals, as it seemed like Ember wanted them to fight on another world so Ponyville and the surrounding area wouldn't be harmed by a stray attack, before they passed through the tainted portal and appeared in a new world. The new world was tainted by all sorts of eerie green flames, including lava for that matter, with twisted spires, corrupted land, and all sorts of things that made it seem like something was wrong with this world, like it was demonic in some nature, along with a floating fragment of land that seemed untouched.

Pinkamena had no idea what they were looking at, even though she could tell that this world was tainted by some sort of dark demonic energies, but it didn't seem to bother Spike and Ember as they took up their stances, Spike using his magic to form a dome around them as Ember walked out into the surrounding area.

"Welcome to Argus, the former home of the Legion." Ember said, confirming Pinkamena's thoughts on the matter, that this world was corrupted by a demonic force and, according to Discord, that had to be the Legion, before she beckoned to the one she would be facing, causing Inosuke to walk out as he gripped the handles of his blades, "Come, show me the might of the skills you possess."

"With pleasure! I'll show you the might of my Beast Breathing Style!" Inosuke replied, where he rushed forward and drew his blades without wasting time, though what interested Pinkamena was that Ember didn't seem to have any weapons on her, but since the dragon didn't seem bothered by it she decided to stay her hand for the time being.

Sure enough Inosuke was being more cautious about how he approached his foes, as his battle with Doma told him that he had to be careful, least he be taken down by something he didn't see coming, especially since there was no telling what sort of powers Ember had awakened during her adventure with Spike. Ember shifted her stance for a few seconds, more like it was a response to what Inosuke was doing, as her bracers glowed and a pair of curved daggers appeared in her hands, as if they had been in some sort of storage area and responded to her silent command. A few seconds later both of the combatants clashed with each other, where it looked like Ember either didn't have skills to use against Inosuke or she was biding her time, to see what her opponent was capable of, though her movements were refined, as if she had trained in the art of combat for a long time. By that Pinkamena could see that Ember swung her arms and used her daggers just to parry the incoming attacks, almost as if she was silently taunting her foe into using his techniques, even though Inosuke studied her movements as he came up with a plan of attack.

The interesting thing in Pinkamena's eyes was that the daggers, being a quarter of the length of a Nichirin blade, were far stronger than she originally thought, as they were able to stand up to the jagged nature of Inosuke's weapons and didn't appear to be taking damage, before Inosuke jumped back for a moment.

"Beast Breathing, Ninth Fang: Extending Bendy Slash." Inosuke said, where he swung his right arm and Ember stood still as he dislocated his joints so his blade could reach her, just like what Pinkamena had seen during the battle with Doma, but before the attack could reach his target Ember turned to the side for a moment and the blade missed her entirely, which was followed by Inosuke returning his arm to normal, "Fuck! I like this new move, but aiming it sucks... I can't hit anything with it!"

"What are you talking about? You hit Doma with it." Pinkamena remarked, though what impressed her was that Ember, in the face of something entirely new, wasn't even remotely surprised by this turn of events, which really made her wonder what in the world she and Spike faced during their own adventure.

"Yeah, I cut his eyes... even though I was aiming at his neck." Inosuke stated, showing them that he was disappointed by his attack missing his mark all the time, even though she knew it would hit at some point, but before he could get ready for the next stage of their battle something landed nearby, creating a small crater around them.

Pinkamena could tell that the newcomer was powerful, even with them being covered by a layer of dust, but when all of it cleared she found an Equestrian who had been corrupted by demonic energy, complete with a thick reptilian tail, a pair of large leathery bat wings, one red and one blue colored, clawed feet with scales on her legs, a crown of horns on her head to show her power, and a mane of rainbow fire.

"I knew I felt a fight going on." the figure said, where Pinkamena found that it was none other than Rainbow Dash, though at the same time she found that the athletic pegasus reminded her of Mitsuri, in terms of her body since her chest was at least the same size as the Love Hashira's, and she was wearing some leggings and a short shirt, designed like armor based on what she was seeing, "Oh, hey Pinkamena. I guess you're the next displaced Discord found?"

"That's right. Looks like your adventure gave you some interesting benefits." Pinkamena remarked, referring to her body shape, as it appeared that Rainbow might have devoured the energy of some succubi, even though she noted a couple of curved spikes on her arms and the blades that were attached to them, likely her personal weapons, "You seem ready for a fight... were you fighting demons, or were you just prepared in case one of the displaced decided to fight you and see the skills you unlocked during your quest?"

"Discord said your power was interesting and I just had to come see it for myself." Rainbow answered, where Pinkamena glanced over to Ember for a moment, finding that she was slightly disappointed in this turn of events as she sighed, where she took to the field as Inosuke and the adult dragon walked over to where Spyro was waiting, "Although, you might want to activate your full power from the beginning, otherwise this won't last too long."

As Pinkamena wondered what Rainbow was talking about, while walking out into the arena that Spike had brought them to, she barely had time to react as her new foe punched her in the chest, the sheer force of the sudden blow sending her flying through the air and into one of the nearby mountains, creating a crater around her as Pinkamena's group looked at her in shock.

"I know Discord told you about how we fought the Legion, but Spitfire and I are stronger than one might assume by just looking at us." Rainbow remarked, where she flexed her fingers for a moment, as she noted that Pinkamena was tougher than she originally believed her to be before the first punch was thrown, hence why her check to be sure her hand was fine, before turning her attention back to her still foe, "As you can see, without using too much of my power I can end this fight in a single punch... if you want to challenge me, and not be knocked down, you'll have to come at me with your full power."

Instead of saying anything to that, however, Pinkamena pried herself out of the crater and landed on the ground, where her next move was to pull her mask back into place as she activated her power, giving Rainbow and everyone else a few seconds to see her transformation into her true form. Of course it started with her hands and legs, along with her muzzle changing, though as everyone took in that change her nine fox tails emerged with ease, which caused the area around her to shake for a few seconds and put a smile on Rainbow's face. In the next moment she rushed forward, swinging her fists at Rainbow while her opponent did the same thing, causing them to clash in the center of the battlefield and released a brief burst of wind as their energies collided with each other, which seemed to be cancelled out by Spike's barrier so all of the watchers would remain unharmed. Following that the two of them clashed, fists meeting each other while the air just shook under the pressure of their blows, before Pinkamena slipped one through Rainbow's defenses and struck her right in the chest, knocking her backwards for a moment, even though she knew that it was only the first portion of this battle and that things could change in an instant.

Tanjiro watched as Pinkamena and Rainbow flashed around the area they were fighting in, where his friend summoned a number of stone pillars from the ground to give them some obstacles to move around, yet every collision caused the air to shudder until one knocked both of them into a pair of pillars and knocked them down as the pair clashed again.

Neither fighter had to say anything as Rainbow shifted her stance and her blades emerged from the bracers she had on, a fact that reminded her of Ember's odd armor, to which Pinkamena drew both of her weapons and got ready, because she knew that this wasn't going to be easy, while the pair stared at each other. For a few seconds neither moved from where they came to a stop, allowing their auras to gather around them as they did so, before they rushed at each other and let the battle continue as they swung their weapons, causing lightning to flash in the sky as both of them did so. Pinkamena was using this as a way to test Rainbow, as she wanted to know how far she could push her opponent before she needed to use any of her numerous Breathing Forms, since she knew how to use three different Styles perfectly. At the same time she noted that Rainbow, while having some skill with her weapons, the 'warglaives' as she called them, she didn't have the skills of a Hashira or even one of the lower Slayers, if she compared both of their styles, but that didn't mean she could be sloppy in how she went about this.

As the two clashed the pillars that were around them collapsed under the pressure of their battle, even though Rainbow kicked her in the chest and sent her flying through the remaining ones, those that happened to be lined up, where she came to a stop in the side of a mountain. Such a thing told her that Rainbow was definitely stronger than she assumed, in fact this fight was much funner than when she fought Muzan, and she was eager to see what sort of powers her foe had up her sleeve, especially since the area behind Rainbow was breaking as she rushed forward. In the following moment her foe leapt into the air and flew towards her, the sheer power around her breaking the rest of the pillars before spinning so she could kick Pinkamena further into the mountain, where Pinkamena dodged and found that the side of the mountain shattered under the intensity of her blow. As the fragments fell the pair moved from piece to piece, using them as footing for their battle, something that shattered each one with ease, before Pinkamena used the side of her leg to kick Rainbow down to the ground and landed nearby, this time kicking things up a notch with her own powers.

As Pinkamena swung her blades together she knew Tanjiro would see that it was the Lunar Fang attack, though this time it was massive, enough to cut a mountain in half if she so desired, even though the crescent wave separated into three and rushed towards Rainbow from different directions, who tanked the attack as it smashed a large crater into the ground, showing her foe that she was getting serious.

"Chaos Breathing mixed with Sun Breathing, a potent combination for sure." Pinkamena remarked, though this time she also tapped into her full power, instead of holding back just enough to test Rainbow's skills, causing reality to shudder as she did that, which only caused Rainbow to grin as a silvery eerie green aura wrapped around her body.

As Pinkamena rushed into battle she noticed something, both she and Rainbow seemed to be moving as if their instincts, in some way, were helping them against their foe, where they left craters behind as they danced through the air, which had to impress and worry those who were watching the battle unfold. At the same time, however, Pinkamena was able to bend reality to her whim and she was able to move things in such a way to interrupt Rainbow's movements, such as when she moved a rock into position, causing her opponent to trip, or shrouding her foe's sight so she could appear behind her, delivering a punch that knocked Rainbow into the ground. Such a thing allowed Pinkamena to seize the flow of battle, the flow that had been on her opponent's side since this started, and she let her blades dance as she pushed Rainbow around the massive battlefield they were in, the sheer power of her punches and kicks breaking the peaks of everything she went by. Her assault came to an end as she kicked Rainbow into the center of the sky above where they had been fighting, only to deliver a powerful kick with the side of her leg that sent her flying up into the atmosphere, though she didn't stop there as Pinkamena formed a moon out of the rocks of Argus, allowing Rainbow to crash into it and shatter the entire thing with ease, leaving only tainted rubble behind.

In the following moment Rainbow crashed into the ground nearby, around the same time that Pinkamena landed, and it looked like her attacks had done a bit of damage, even though it only excited her foe, reminding her of Sanemi when she thought about it, and she suspected that if they continued to fight they would wreck Argus.

"The power to manipulate reality however you want." Rainbow remarked, as she had learned much during her own quest and it allowed her to figure the nature of Pinkamena's power, though in that moment she knew a dragged out battle, one that would be interesting to both parties, might end up in a tie and she wasn't about to have that, hence why she took a moment to raise her left pointer finger and gathered her energy into a single point.

Pinkamena knew that something was coming, in fact Argus itself seemed to be shuddering, meaning Rainbow had to be doing something to the energy of the planet while she prepared her attack, to which she shifted her stance as she held her blades together once more. Her Lunar Fang was, in terms of sheer destructive power, her strongest attack, a fact that wasn't counting the earthquake inducing punch she used against Muzan, and this time around she wasn't backing down, as Rainbow would be disappointed if she held back now. As such the solar energy wrapped around her blades, where she found that her foe was smiling, indicating that this was what she wanted as she formed a sphere of energy that rested just above her finger, indicating that it had to be a long ranged attack as well. When both of their attacks were ready the pair shifted their stances and released their attacks, the sphere turning out to be a beam attack of some kind as she swung her crescent fang, and, just by feeling both of their powers, Pinkamena knew that this was going to cause some damage to the surrounding area.

In the next moment something appeared in the space between both attacks, extinguishing both of them in seconds, and as the smoke cleared Pinkamena found Spitfire, of all people, standing between them, though she was wearing some sort of grand robe... and, more importantly, she had six feathered wings, one golden, one purple, one green, another looking like it was made of darkness, another eerie green, and one that looked like it was dead in some manner.

"You two need to chill, as that could have cracked Argus in half." Spitfire remarked, though while Pinkamena felt that she would be angry over all of this, as she should be since they went all out to test each other, she discovered that Spitfire was much calmer than one would think, as if she was in balance with the universe or something, "Come, let us return to Equus and discuss things, namely the sword techniques you guys learned."

Pinkamena nodded her head as she followed Spitfire and Rainbow, who were joined by Spike, Ember, and the others, as they headed back to Equus, because she was interested in what they had to say and she had a feeling that it would be very enlightening for all of them.

Equus: Back to the Rock Farm

Upon their return to Equus, where Pinkamena was amazed by the sheer speed of them moving from planet to planet, the group quickly headed back to the crystal castle and stopped inside a room that reminded her of a ballroom, similar to where Pinkie and her friends had gone for the Grand Galloping Gala.

"Please excuse the mess, I've been busy researching the other worlds the displaced have been to." Spike said, where they found what he was talking about without delay, as there was an area set aside for a scholar, because there were all sorts of tomes, scrolls, journals, and enchanted books that were neatly arranged on several circular tables, causing him to chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head, "Each one has their own unique history, conflicts, customs, and even powers in some cases, and I've been devoting having of my time to studying all of it... the other half is spent trying to find the worlds the others were sent to so Discord can head there sooner, to get ahead of those odd observers."

"And if you think this is excessive, I should warn you that by the age of ten he had nearly cleared out most of the archives in Dark Hollow," Ember remarked, as she knew that the others would be surprised by this discovery, since it looked a lot like what Twilight Sparkle did in the past, before and after being sent to Ponyville, before she thought about something for a few seconds, "not to mention the fact that by the age of twelve he had nearly read everything in the Magic Crafters homeworld, and by the time we matured, at the age of fifteen to be exact, he became the second most intelligent dragon in the world we were sent to."

"That's... amazing!" Pinkamena replied, though while she knew that Spike was no longer the dragon Pinkie had known, due to how he cared himself and the magic he had wielded previously, it was still a shock when she thought about what Spike was like before she was separated from Pinkie, before Ember's statement stirred a question in her mind, "If Spike's the second most intelligent dragon, whose the first?"

"That would be Malefor, the first purple dragon... I could talk your ears off talking about his great adventures and all of the mighty deeds he had done in the ancient past." Spike answered, where Pinkamena noticed that he spoke the name with great reverence, confirming the legendary status of the dragon in question, though it was clear that he and Ember knew a few things that Pinkamena's group didn't know, likely based on the smile on his face, "Oh, and his not dead... that's the thing about purple dragons, they're long-lived, since he's over a thousand years old and looks like he's between twenty to thirty years old."

Pinkamena had no idea what to say to that comment, so instead of focusing on Spike and Ember's adventure they gathered near one of the other tables and Spitfire asked a few questions about the world that Pinkamena had been sent to, leading to Spike pulling out a journal, several quills, and a few ink pots. She carefully explained the nature of her world, or at least what she had seen during the two and a half years she had been there, explaining how she had run into the Demon King, Muzan, who turned her into a Demon before declaring her to be a failure as he left, which was wrong since she turned shortly after his departure. She went into how she spent two years training with Tanjiro in the Demon slaying arts, learning one of the many Breathing Styles of the world, that being Water Breathing, though she had to clarify that Humans didn't have powers like Demons had, so they visualized the movements while swinging their blades, like how Tanjiro used to imagine water as he fought his opponents. Demons, after a time, developed their Blood Demon Arts, the special powers that allowed them to kill more Humans and clash with the Slayers who hunted them down, and hers was, in the words of her companions and the rest of the Hashira, the most broken power of them all, Chaos World, the power to manipulate reality.

She also informed them that there were fourteen Breathing Styles, twelve if one didn't count Sun or Moon Breathing, while also not counting her Chaos Breathing, and there were users of each one, some even having Cultivators to ensure new Slayers were ready for the future, but with the downfall of Muzan they would go back to their normal lives.

"It might not be that simple. Spike and I have been discussing things, and we've agreed on something, that while it's a good thing our displaced are gaining skills, there's a downside," Spitfire remarked, as while there was more to the story she and the others wanted to hear, especially since the Breathing Styles seemed like something they could incorporate into what all of their soldiers were learning right now, she needed to tell them the important information they had, "and that downside is that our arrivals leave a potent magical signature that can be traced by anyone... there's a chance that our enemies could track down the planets we were sent to and attack them first."

"So our fight isn't over yet? We have to fight another force of demons, one stronger than the one we just wiped out, with Pinkamena's aid?" Zenitsu asked, though while Pinkamena could tell that he wasn't too happy about this, especially since he was more cowardly than the others were, she also noticed that he seemed to have steeled himself, likely to keep himself from freaking out over this information.

"Yes, and we're recruiting more soldiers into our growing army... we can train your 'Slayers' to access their inner powers, on a level that is far beyond what you are currently using." Ember stated, informing them that some of the training that they put their recruits through allowed them to access new skills or powers, which would grant each one a better chance of surviving the eventual war that they were preparing for, "Just think about it, you wouldn't have to imagine seeing the aspects of your Breathing Styles, rather you would be able to call forth the element in question and attack your enemies with it... though it seems that Pinkamena might be able to teach others two of the lost Styles."

As Tanjiro informed them that he would deliver the information to the leader of the Corps, who might come to speak with them with the rest of the Hashira, Pinkamena said that she'd be able to do such a thing since she knew the movements of both Sun and Moon Breathing, all while setting her mind on something to do while Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke returned to their world to speak with Kiriya.

After discussing things with Spike, Ember, and Spitfire, mostly informing them about her adventure so Spike could write it all down in one of his journals, the group was offered a chance to rest before doing anything else, but her friends had used one of Discord's portals to return to their world. Pinkamena, on the other hand, excused herself for a time and rushed through the air, heading towards and area that she knew thanks to Pinkie's memories, because there was an important question she needed to answer before worrying about everything else that was going on. Her target was a farm that was a fair distance from several of the towns and villages that dotted Equestria's landscape, one that a certain mare, Trixie she recalled, spent some time at so she could earn enough Bits, the currency of this world, to purchase a powerful amulet that was now in the hands of someone else, under their watchful eye anyway. The difference between this particular farm and the others was that most of the others made food, sometimes even flowers and trees, while this one tended to rocks, all types based on her memories of this place, while the main thing they were trying to do was cultivate magic crystals, which fetched a high price in all the circles of the world.

Pinkamena chuckled a little as she landed on the outskirts of her destination, as the farm looked the same as she recalled, the barn looked well maintained, the windmill appeared to be in pristine condition, the sections that all of the rocks were in looked like nothing had changed for some time, and the farmhouse looked like it had been tended to for some time, as it was pristine as well.

"It doesn't look like anything has changed... if that's the case, Limestone should be defensive as soon as she sees me, and the others will be somewhat cautious." Pinkamena commented, recalling her memories of this place and her family, or at least Pinkie's family, hence why she came here first, as she wanted to see if she actually had a family or if she was going to be an unwanted extra in their lives, not that it would change her plans for the future.

As she walked into the farm Pinkamena quickly understood something, she had figured out how Trixie was able to earn so much money working here, even for the short period of time until she could purchase that amulet, it was due to the magic in the air and, even without proper training, the unicorn had figured out how to maximize the farm's profits, earning her more Bits in the process. While that crossed her mind she spotted a few figures tending to several of the rocks and what looked like an entrance to a mine shaft, a light brown coated stallion who had a gray mane and tail, while wearing a black hat and had a white collar with a black tie around his neck. Standing next to him was a light gray coated mare who had a gray opal mane and tail, like a slightly dark green when she looked at it, though her mane was done up in a bun and she wore a pair of glasses with the chair wrapped around her neck. These were Igneous Rock Pie and Cloudy Quartz, Pinkie's father and mother, and right now it looked like they were doing what they always did, carefully hauling stones over to the area that they would get the most benefit from while using small chisels to break open the rocks that were ready, which would reveal the beautiful stones hidden inside each one.

Working near them was Marble Pie, a gray coated mare with a two tone gray mane and tail, and Maud Pie, a gray coated mare who had a light violet mane and tail and wore a light blue frock, covering a good portion of her body while she did her portion of the work, along with a stallion with a gray coat, who also had the same mane and tail color that Marble had, while wearing a short purple shirt of sorts, meaning he was Octavio Pie.

"Wh... Who are you?" Marble asked, as she had spotted Pinkamena standing near the outer area of the farm and walked over to investigate, while at the same time the others paused for a moment to see what was going on, even though she was surprised to see that Limestone, the last of Pinkie's siblings, was nowhere to be seen.

"Right, you wouldn't recognize me like this." Pinkamena said, where she raised her hand and removed the mask, allowing all of the energy and her kitsune form to be sealed inside it once more, and when she removed it she allowed the others to see the form she had been given upon entering Tanjiro's world, "There, that's better. I am..."

"Pinkamena Diane Pie... or at least that's who I think you are." Cloudy stated, where she and Marble found that the others had stopped working and walked over to where Pinkamena had been standing upon her arrival, no doubt interested in the stranger that had interrupted them, even though they recognized her coloration and the color of her hair and tail, due to it being like Pinkie's before she saw the Rainboom, "You are our daughter... correct?"

"Yes and no. Yes, I am Pinkamena Diane Pie... but I'm not the 'Pinkamena' you're remembering." Pinkamena answered, to which she raised her right hand for a moment and sought out a stone that didn't have crystals growing inside it, one that came from the area outside of the rock farm's domain, which came to a rest above her hand and her power cracked it, as in making it into the yin yang symbol she heard about during her adventure, an item she broke in half, "As you no doubt know Pinkie Pie has, well, gone missing and her friends are currently looking for her, though when she visited a cave that is located near the Castle of the Two Sisters she was knocked out by some intense magic... resulting in her being sent to another world, while I, a remnant of her old depressed self, was separated from her and sent elsewhere. I have all of her memories, from the time she spent on this farm to whenever she'd visit to see her sisters again, but I don't have her, um, joyful personality... in fact, while I might have started out depressed and angry, I've mellowed out and developed into my own person, or pony I guess I should say."

"What about Limestone? She went out one night and never returned." Octavio asked, as while he was the youngest of the five siblings, six if Pinkamena was counted among their number, he showed them that he was worried about his sister, all while informing her of something she didn't know about, something that Igneous and Cloudy were likely going to tell her as soon as they were comfortable with her existence.

"I had no idea she was missing as well... fortunately, I'll be returning to Ponyville soon, so I can lend them my assistance in figuring out what happened to Pinkie and Limestone." Pinkamena said, though she wasn't happy about this, because she had been eager to see how everyone reacted to her arrival, where she could see that Pinkie's siblings had accepted her arrival and her short explanation, even if her parents seemed on the fence right now, "I think I'll also be a trainer for some soldiers or something for some time, so I'll have more than enough chances to track them down and..."

She was cut off by something she wasn't expecting, Octavio walked up to her and wrapped his front legs around her leg, to which she smiled as she knelt down to give him a better area to hug, before the rest of the family neared her and either placed a hoof on her or nodded their heads, causing her to smile as they headed into the house, as there was much she wanted to talk to them about and knew that training would come later.

Epilogue: Journey's End

After checking in on the rest of her family, where Pinkamena found that they accepted her and her explanation of what had happened to her and Pinkie, she returned to Ponyville and quickly discovered that Kiriya must have been told about the situation while she was gone. Her reasoning for that was due to the fact that he and the remaining Hashira were present in the castle, even though they were far more surprised by the existence of a peaceful world and the fact that it produced a warrior like Pinkamena. Of course some of them were far more interested in the existence of a demonic empire, one that was far larger and more dangerous than Muzan and his forces, especially Spike's worry that the displaced heroes might also be endangering other worlds, if their enemies were smart enough. As such Kiriya decided to join forces with the rest of the heroes, allowing his Slayers to join the force that was preparing for the eventual invasion that Ember told them about, as all of them knew the demons were coming, they had no idea when.

Such a thing lead to them walking over to the arch area that they had passed through to go to Argus, where they found that one of the portals brought them to an amazing sight, a series of floating islands that seemed to contain the power of various elements, like fire, water, and earth, before discovering a massive school building in front of them.

"Welcome to the Skylands Academy, where our recruits train in the various arts that we discovered on the worlds we were sent to." Spike explained, where he lead them to an area where several figures, as there were dragons, both from Equus and the planet that he and Ember were sent to, ponies, griffins, and all sorts of races that Pinkamena hadn't seen before, such as a female bipedal rabbit who seemed to be a sorceress, a pair of bipedal cheetahs who were archers, and a female figure that was half dragon and half something else, maybe a faun, "We have warriors to teach you fighting techniques, magic users to help you tap into your inner potential, archers for long ranged fighting, and so much more... just know that Titan and the other Peace Keepers will want to see your techniques, to help you refine and master them."

"We've mastered our Breathing Styles, so we don't need additional training." Sanemi replied, once more showing them that he was the arrogant prick that Tanjiro had headbutted back during their first encounter, even though Pinkamena wasn't all that surprised at this point, he had a chip on his shoulder and it didn't seem like that would be changing anytime soon, so she kept her mouth shut on the matter.

"There's no such thing as perfection, as everyone can learn something new to improve their abilities," the hybrid remarked, where she spun around and delivered two powerful kicks to the training dummy in front of her, plus a tail slam, before she stopped, picked up a towel to wipe off her sweat, and walked over to them, allowing them to see that she wore a green robe that was more casual wear than armor, "Isn't that right, Spike?"

"You are correct, Elora." Spike said, where he smiled as he and the hybrid embraced each other for a moment, though at the same time Pinkamena stood there with shock on her face, as while she had been surprised by Spike becoming such a smart dragon in such a short period of time, and witnessing the knowledge he possessed, finding out that he had a girlfriend was a shock she wasn't expecting to discover, before they faced the group again, "The vast majority of the dragons that call the world Ember and I were sent to spend years, if not decades, training and mastering their individual talents, be that painting, sculpting, the art of war, the power of magic, potion making to heal beasts, patrolling the dreams of others to make sure no nightmares endanger them, and so much more. Spyro, Ember, and I, along with Elora, Hunter, Cynder, and the rest of our friends, spent years mastering our own techniques and improving our various skills, especially since we faced several adventures and even faced the Dark Master in battle... don't ask, as that's a lone tale that's better to be shared on another day."

"I understand, which is why I spent so long perfecting my own special Breathing Style, even refining after every fight I got into and ever foe I faced." Pinkamena commented, and it was especially true when she thought about learning the Sun Breathing techniques from Tanjiro's inherited memories from his ancestors, that took her some time, even with watching Yoriichi's echo performing each of the Forms as he effortlessly cut down his enemies, "Tanjiro, this is what you and the rest of the Slayers should do, if you want to join the fight against the demonic empire that is apparently targeting not only my home, but your home and who knows how many other planets... plus you won't have to worry about working yourself to death or fainting from exhaustion, as the trainers here look like they're extremely helpful and watchful."

"Yeah, we might actually learn... something." Tanjiro said, where the pause was more due to the fact that there was one dragon, who looked like he was wielding a rather interesting looking dagger, or knife according to Spike, who happened to be dueling a powerful warrior dragon who carried a battleaxe into battle, the pair fighting at impressive speeds while also showing no openings in their own defenses, "It's like watching two Hashira fight... I mean, we saw several of them during our training session, before the assault on Muzan's hidden stronghold, and I even fought besides a few during some of the more intense fights, but this... wow, I don't even know where to begin."

"I do! I want to fight the strong guys!" Inosuke proclaimed, something that caused the group to chuckle, even those who were getting used to him and his strange ways, or not so strange when Pinkamena considered that there were far more dragons than what they were used to seeing, so really Spike and Ember's group seemed to accept him with ease.

Inosuke, true to form, got his wish as soon as the two dragons were done fighting, where the knife wielder accepted his challenge and welcomed him to the ring, though that was when Pinkamena found that he was stronger than they thought, especially since he lost to the older dragon, as he stopped Inosuke's blades with a single short weapon. It was interesting to see such a thing happen, where his opponent made remarks about his stance and his swings, showing that he was also a trainer and that even they preferred to train and improve their skills, confirming Spike's comment from before, not that Pinkamena thought he was lying about it. Sure enough the dragon knocked Inosuke to the ground, caught Zenitsu and just knocked him out of the ring, and captured Tanjiro when he tried to challenge him, as all three decided to face him, but it just showed them the difference between the dragons of the new world and the Slayers she was familiar with. While she watched the training going on, tracking down all sorts of lessons that happened to be going on right now, Pinkamena just nodded her head, as this was the training that the Slayers needed to become true warriors, not just people who slew the Demons of their home world.

As she observed them, however, she found a purple scaled dragon with a yellow underbelly, who seemed dressed like he enjoyed a flight every now and then, while his opponent was a black scaled dragoness with a scythe-like curve to her tail, who was dressed like a warrior princess of some kind, and yet she could tell that they were stronger than she thought at first, given the energy she was feeling from them. They weren't the only ones she was feeling the energy of, as there were several other powerful dragons and figures around the floating islands, where Spike explained that the Guardians, those who were connected to the elements of fire, earth, lightning, and ice, were teachers as well, in both magic and weapons, while several Elders from another set of islands, including a dragon named Red, were present. There was so much to take in, that much Pinkamena could tell by just observing everything around the strange Skylands, before she felt the power of a dragon that was far stronger than Spike, Ember, and everyone else she had felt so far, where Spike informed her that she was likely feeling the power of Malefor himself.

Such a thing caused her to sweat a little, as the first purple dragon's power was far greater than Muzan's, in fact she was sure that he would be the best person for her to train with to boost her skills even higher, to which she let a smile grace her face as she looked forward to what the future held for them and their brand new friends and allies.

Prelude: Arrival

Pinkamena was bored out of her mind, stranded in the mindscape that was Pinkie Pie's mind, something that was almost always under her other half's control and shifted according to whatever her overactive side wanted at the time, though the only times she had control of it was when Pinkie either allowed her to mess with it or if she seized control of their main body, the latter only happening a few times over the years. Today Pinkie was in control and that meant Pinkamena had to walk down some of the streets of Ponyville, one mixed with Canterlot and a few other locations to create a 'super city' as her other side liked to call this creation, and it was packed to the brim with all sorts of creatures, Earth Ponies wandering and selling produce to others, Unicorns performing their arts or talking to some of the other species, and Pegasi flying through the air and making sure the weather was as perfect as it could be. Of course there were also Dragons hanging around, some fighting each other in specially made arenas to put on a show for everyone else while others were simply chatting, plus one or two that looked like they were capable of magic oddly enough, Griffins were walking and chatting with ponies as both munched on snacks, instead of the former being annoyed with the latter, and other species, like Zebras, Donkeys, Kirin, and everything else that Pinkie discovered, joined them as well. It was, in essence, a perfect existence of sorts when she took a moment to think about it, with the races of their world being friendly with each other without any petty rivalries bothering them, which wasn't how reality worked since even friends kept things from their closest allies and even went behind their backs from time to time, but Pinkie refused to give up on uniting the races in her vision, no matter how many times she tried to convince her other half of her opinions.

The reason she was bored out of her mind was because, even with everything that was inside their mindscape, she had already experienced everything that Pinkie had discovered so far, hence why she had a frown on her face as she walked down the road that was in front of her, though she had to pause for a moment and raise a hoof to move some of her hair, her straight raspberry colored hair, out of the way. She and Pinkie were Earth Ponies, as they didn't have a horn like what the Unicorns had, so it meant that they couldn't use magic like Rarity could, nor did they have wings like the Pegasi, so it meant that neither of them could fly through the air either, though that didn't stop her other half from taking the form of an Alicorn, which was a mix of the three main species of their land, and proclaiming that she was the 'Alicorn of Parties', as it was one of her favorite activities. Pinkamena didn't care about that fact as she resumed walking down the street she had picked out, even though she was heading to a place that only she and Pinkie could enter, something that allowed them to see what the other happened to be seeing at the moment, so if her other side was in control she could see everything that was going on, and when she was in control Pinkie could see and hear everything as well. Technically speaking the building didn't have a name, mostly because her other half didn't name a lot of things in this world of theirs and simply made it so everyone knew where they were going, so if they wanted to head to a restaurant they would know where it was, but she called it the Observatory, mostly because it allowed them to observe what the other was doing.

The structure in question was on the outskirts of the massive city and happened to be circular in nature, where she found that none of the others bothered to come near it and allowed her to walk inside, her four hooves going from the dirt and rock street she had been walking on and touched the smooth stone flooring she had picked for this place, as Pinkie let her create this place and Pinkamena had, of course, put it away from everypony else, to which the doors closed behind her as she approached the 'window' that allowed her to see what Pinkie was seeing, which she sat in front of.

What she found as she looked through the window was something that she was fully expecting to see, Pinkie was walking, or rather bouncing like her usually bubbly self, through the Everfree Forest, one of the most dangerous places that rested near Ponyville, even though she and her friends didn't seem scared of it and the dangers that were lurking inside it, even Pinkamena wasn't afraid of them, making her wonder if her strength had rubbed off on Pinkie. Normally she would speak up and have a conversation with her other half, something that actually made her friends worried about her when they first heard one of their little conversations, which one she couldn't remember at this point in time, but right now she just wanted to sit and watch whatever Pinkie happened to be doing right now, which seemed to be heading for the Castle of the Two Sisters, where Princesses Celestia and Luna once lived in. It was an interesting tale, about how one sister held a grudge towards the other one and let the dark thoughts twist her into something else, a beast with the desire to take out her sister and impose her order on their world, a Nightmare Form as Twilight Sparkle had called it at one point, and part of her wondered what it might have been like at that point in time, to see a fight like that and witness the power that the two sisters possessed. Of course such a thing reminded her of something else, that several of Pinkie's friends had disappeared recently, to the point where her other half actually dismissed or temporarily removed their representations in this space, a reminder of what was going in the real world, all while Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, was actively looking for all of them, to which she sighed as she watched her other half for some time.

There were some words being thrown around when she thought about Discord, such as 'displaced' and 'power', as if those that had been lost were going to acquire power or something, making her interested in such a thing, even though she had no way of going on an adventure since she was stuck in Pinkie's mindscape most of the time, but while she thought about it for some time her other half found her way into a familiar cave and came to a stop in front of the crystalline tree, which was the Tree of Harmony... and not a few moments later she swayed, like she was drunk or exhausted, before collapsing on the ground in front of the large tree.

"Hey, get up! This isn't the place to be falling asleep!" Pinkamena said, her voice reaching out to her other half's side, as it was how they communicated with each other, or at least from the one who was stuck inside the mindscape, but a couple of seconds ticked by and nothing happened in the real world, causing her to wonder what might be happening right now, especially since this was the first time she had seen something like this happen.

It was in that moment that things changed, as she felt what had to be a violent tremor shake the entirety of the mindscape and even crack the walls of the Observatory in the process, to which she got up and rushed over to the doorway, only to find a rather shocking sight as she pushed herself through the doors, the sky above the city had turned dark, like a storm had suddenly developed. That wasn't the most shocking thing in her eyes as she glanced around where she was standing, as all the ponies and creatures who had been walking down the streets were no longer in the mindscape, as if whatever was happening in the real world was affecting this world, something Pinkamena could accept since this place was mostly made by Pinkie, but it was still so strange when she considered thought about it. Not a few seconds later another tremor stuck the mindscape and caused part of the ground to actually break up, breaking the Observatory away from where the rest of her other half's city rested, to which she ran forward and jumped into the air, landing on the ground as she turned for a moment, allowing her to watch as the tremor struck the building and crushed it into pieces. It was as if a massive earthquake had stuck this place, tearing it apart while forcing her to watch as it broke around her, though she got up and rushed off into the heart of the crumbling mindscape, even though she didn't get too far as the ground in front of her just cracked opened and split in half, her side remaining still while the part in front of her was raised into the air, making it look like the world was ending all around her.

Before she could even think about what was going on, and what it might mean for her, Pinkamena stumbled as she felt a strange and unnatural feeling overtake her very being for a few seconds, her connection to her other half was gone, and as she accepted that fact, that Pinkie was being displaced, she stumbled and slipped off the edge of the ruined area she had been running on, though she allowed the feeling of exhaustion to overtake her as she closed her eyes and waited for whatever was at the end of her long fall into the abyss.

Pinkamena had no idea how long she had been falling, or how long she had been sleeping due to the strange feeling that had washed over her earlier, but something did snap her awake rather suddenly and without warning, which happened to be her body colliding with the branch of a tree, sending a wave of pain through her body as it forced her to wake up, but that was only the start of what happened to her. She smashed into the first branch and broke it with what had to be the weight of her body, an actual body and not the mental state that she had been stuck in for a long time, though she could tell that it wasn't anything like what she and Pinkie shared, as the fall, as painful as it was, gave her some time to study her new form before she hit the ground, because she knew it was coming at some point. Based on what she could tell she was still, in part, an Equestrian, as she seemed to have the muzzle, ears, and tail that she possessed back in the mindscape, but her body had been twisted into a bipedal form, like a minotaur based on what she remembered of Iron Will, and her front legs had been altered accordingly, becoming the arms of a bipedal being, such as a human, and her hooves became what she felt were fingers, four long ones and a thumb. Her hind legs remained the same, for the most part, as they shifted to allow her to stand on two legs all the time, without the fear of breaking her body or something, and there were a pair of mounds on what she assumed was her altered chest, though she also had a black robe of some kind over her body, likely something given by the displacement process so she didn't arrive in a new world with nothing on.

Her thoughts returned to the pain she felt as she smashed through several more branches, though it was far more painful than what she originally thought, because several of the branches that shattered actually cut through the attire she was wearing and even stabbed her new body in several places, like the sides of her arms and legs, before she eventually came into contact with the ground, which she survived thanks to the branches slowing her fall, even though it was incredibly painful when she came to a stop. The reason behind that was because of a sharp rock that happened to be on top of the other ones, or maybe it was partway buried in all of the other stones and this was only the tip, where it stabbed into her body like it was a dagger, going into her body with ease and she was sure that it had pierced either her liver, or maybe it was her stomach, causing her to cough up blood in the process. Pinkamena silently admitted something to herself as she laid there on the ground, this entire situation sucked, as she was sure that the other displaced had landed on their planets they had been sent to without something like this happening, as she was pretty much on the verge of dying without being able to do anything of importance, almost as if whatever had displaced her had sent her to another world to die, but even as she thought about that she quickly pushed the idea off to the side. When she thought about everything that Pinkie had learned, in the brief time before heading to the cave that the Tree of Harmony was located in and falling asleep, whatever had done this to her intended for her to gain power for some reason, so dying wasn't an option when she really thought about it and that meant that she needed to figure out what to do and how she was going to survive this event.

As she thought about that, however, her vision started to darken before she noticed a figure approach her, a male figure who wore black loafers, a black tuxedo with a white tie over a black dress shirt and white dress pants, who happened to be wearing a white fedora that had a red ribbon on it, though she found that he had silted cat like eyes that were crimson red colored and had sharpened nails that were blue colored, who came to a stop near her and looked down at her.

"You pitiful thing." the man said, who seemed to speak in a monotone and detached voice, even though in her failing body Pinkamena could sense that he had an unbelievable amount of strength in his body, something that was confirmed when he used shifted his stance and pulled her off of the rock she had landed on, even though he did leave her on the ground near it like he didn't care, before raising his right hand and pricked his pointer finger with the nail of his thumb, allowing him to bathe her wounds with his blood, "I'll save you."

A searing fire surged through her body, like her very nature was being altered once more, and in her weakened state she had no way to cry out in pain, not that she wanted to do such a thing since she could tell that she was going to hate this person with every fiber of her being, as he seemed to be looking at her in a way that made it look like she might be more of a tool or something, but before anything happened the feeling disappeared and her vision darkened, causing the man to do nothing as he pulled back, the wound on his finger closing in a second.

"It appears that you are of no use to me." the man said, once more speaking in the same manner as before, where he just stood up and brushed off his clothing for a moment, no doubt hating the dust or dirt that had gotten on it during his time in this area, while his words confirmed that he likely saw people as tools, to do whatever it was he wanted with this world, before he turned and left her laying on the ground, even if she felt the darkness closing in around her.

Pinkamena laid there for a time, listening to the sound of the man leaving her to whatever he felt her fate was, before the darkness receded as the feeling from before surged through her body once more, this time awakening something as her eyes flared, likely becoming crimson colored and silted like the man's had been, all while a pair of her teeth became more pointed than before, but she knew a few things for sure, she had been saved from certain death, her very nature had been altered into something entirely new, and she was going to track down the man who did this and kill him.

Interlude: Encounter

Pinkamena laid there for a few moments, taking in what had happened to her, before discovering that her sight had come back in no time at all, allowing her to see all of the trees that were all around her, even the ones she had collided with on her way down towards the ground, as she could figure it out by the fact that they were damaged and a few happened to have little pieces of fabric that no doubt came from her robe. That was followed by her carefully pulling herself up into a sitting position, where she felt the ground around her, confirming the fact that she happened to be in a real body, and not in Pinkie's mindscape like usual, something that actually seemed like a dream and that she would wake up at some point in the next few minutes, only to find that she was stuck in the Observatory and had fallen asleep watching her other half, which had happened a few times in the past. As she sat there, touching everything to be sure it was real, Pinkamena came to the decision that she had been given her own body, that she had been separated from Pinkie and had likely been sent to an entirely different world than her other half, as she found it unlikely that she would have been sent to the same place as Pinkie, otherwise they would have landed in the same place. Thinking about that made her take a moment to consider what had to be the final and most real piece of evidence, that this was really happening to her and, more importantly, that it wasn't a creation of her own mind or Pinkie's mind, which happened to be the blood that was resting nearby, all thanks to the sharp rock she had landed on, something that had nearly killed her and could have put an end to whatever she was supposed to do in this world, before it even started.

Such a thing made her consider what happened next, the person who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and used his own blood to heal all of the wounds that had been inflicted on her body, something that was incredibly odd when she took a moment to think about it, though she suspected that he was trying to forge a new tool for whatever his purposes were, but had been disappointed by what happened her with... causing her to chuckle for a moment.

"Oh, if only you waited for a few more moments," Pinkamena said, as she found it to be incredibly funny, that the person had been in such a hurry and had figured that whatever had happened to her body would have gone by quickly, instead of the period of time she had taken to be altered into her new form, and if he had waited for a few more moments he would have discovered that whatever he had done to her had been successful, "I should be thankful, since he did save my life in a matter of seconds, but treating others like tools or trash isn't the best way to go about things."

She really had no idea why the person had stopped here and bothered with her, or where he had come from, but the way he acted told her all she needed to know, in addition to the power she had felt as she stared at him, screamed that he was someone who had ill intentions for the rest of this world, so if one were to believe what Pinkie thought about the missing Equestrians, about them being heroes or something, this meant that her mission had appeared before her. It was hard to say where the being had gone, since she had nearly lost her sight before it returned in full force, so the first thing she had to do was figure out how to move her new body, which would involve falling onto her knees and hands, and then finding a surface of some kind so she could look at her new body, just to see how she had been altered, both by the magic that had brought her here and what the figure did. Based on what she could tell it was still the middle of the night, or at least in the hours before the sun came up, though she didn't hear the sounds of a stream, meaning it might take some time for her to find an area where she could see herself, to which Pinkamena sighed for a moment before trying her luck by raising both of her front legs, or arms as she reminded herself, and placed them on the ground. From there she forced herself onto her hooves so she could stand up and see what was wrong with her, where she staggered for a moment and fell back not a few seconds later, causing her to sigh as she realized that just standing up was going to be far harder than what she first thought, so walking was going to be like a nightmare, especially in a place like this.

It took her some time to get the grasp of things, even though she kept falling and had to get back up before being able to repeat the motions, but eventually she was able to walk with her new legs, where she knew it would take some time for her to get used to them completely, allowing Pinkamena to head out and see what was in the area that she had landed in, before worrying about her mission and the man who had done this to her. Based on what she could tell it looked like she was in the bottom of a ravine, or maybe she was at the bottom of a cliff since she discovered a tall stone wall after a few minutes of walking, though her luck did improve as she heard the sound of running water, to which she followed her ears for a few more moments and smiled as she found what she was looking for, a small river that cut through this place, even if it might have been larger in the past. With it found Pinkamena walked over to it and quickly discovered that her earlier thoughts were right, her body now looked like an Equestrian had been merged with a Human, when she thought about all of the things that Princess Twilight said another the race that was on the other side of the mirror portal, and she had been right about the other alterations to her body, her eyes were now crimson colored and had become silted thanks to what that man had done to her, plus she had the fangs or sharp teeth in her mouth. It made her look more demonic, if she was being honest with herself for a moment, but she also liked it, though that was when she found an odd marking on the back of her left hand, eight directional arrows that were pointed outwards and had a circle that connected them near the tips, though what it meant she had no idea.

Instead of moving and resuming her search, like one would think in her situation, Pinkamena decided to take a seat for a time and thought about what was going on right now, how her body looked like a Human's mixed with an Equestrian's, the fact that this world was likely inhabited by Humans and other monsters, otherwise she would be totally Human, the figure she had burned into her mind, and the fact that she didn't actually need water anymore, though that didn't stop her from drinking some before taking her seat.

"This is going to be hard, tracking down someone in an unknown world." Pinkamena said, mostly out of habit since she did speak to Pinkie every so often inside their mindscape, or rather the Observatory so she didn't bother the echoes of those her other side brought into her created space, though she continued to stare at the stream and the ravine, trying to figure out where she might have landed and where to go from here, something that told her she needed a map before trying to do anything else, causing her to let out a sigh, "I need to track down someone and talk to them... though that might be a hard thing to do, if the people of this world don't speak the same language as me... maybe the process of coming here did something else to me, to make that not a problem at all..."

She raised her left hand for a moment, allowing her to stare at the odd design once more as she wondered what it meant, as the being who changed her form once more, giving her crimson demonic eyes and the sharpened teeth, which could be fangs in some sense, didn't seem to have any markings on his body, not that she could tell since he had a suit on and she had been slipping into unconsciousness, before she thought about something else. It was something that Pinkie had said at one point, before starting her trek to the cave that the Tree had been resting in for a long time, about the awakening of powers or something, that those who were lost might gain power beyond imagining, but at the time she had just thought it was Pinkie being weird and spouting nonsense, even though now she had to assume that such a thing was right and made her wonder another fact. If she was one of the displaced, and Pinkamena was sure of it thanks to everything she had been through so far, that meant that some sort of power would awaken within her at some point in time, though given that she had been part of Pinkie for a long time it was likely that whatever skills or power she might have would be similar to what her other half would gain, or maybe she would gain something entirely different. In fact there was a chance there might be something slowly awakening inside her, no doubt caused by the figure who had altered her already altered body into what it currently was, though she had no idea as to what might accelerate the process of awakening her power, except maybe using whatever skills and powers this world possessed, using one to power and reinforce the other.

As she thought about that, however, something struck the ground behind her and she turned her head to see what in the world it might be, only to discover an ashen gray skin colored body resting nearby, with two green lines that happened to be on the upper parts of his arms, and she was sure it was male based on the missing mounds on it's chest, though it did fall from such a great height, causing the body to be splattered in a mess near her, arms and legs resting apart from the chest, while only the head was missing.

"What... is this odd feeling?" Pinkamena inquired, as the moment she noticed the body, and saw all of the blood, two new things happened, something inside her informed her that this was a demon, how she had no idea since this was her first time encountering such a thing, maybe second considering the first being she encountered in this world, the second was an odd hunger that suddenly awakened out of nowhere, one that was unlike anything she felt while she was in control of Pinkie's body.

As she turned her attention to the body behind her, however, all of the blood did something odd, it seemed to awaken the power that was inside her, as she found something odd about her marking, a crimson color seemed to be coming from it, which could be a sign that the power she was after was already waking up, where the blood stirred before bursting into the air and formed an orb in front of her within a few seconds, like she was controlling all of it. In the following moments she found that the pieces of the demon's body seemed to regenerate, where new arms and legs seemed to be coming out of the main body, before it collapsed, like it had used a lot of energy or something, though after a few seconds she stared at what was in the area she had stopped in. Not a few seconds later she decided to go with the feeling that was starting to get a little crazy, like a voice telling her she needed to eat to grow stronger, or something to that effect, where she grasped the blood orb and found that she could shrink it down to the size of a marble and swallow it, something that lead to a new sense of power surging through her body, before she turned towards the body. What happened next came as a surprise to her, as the hunger drove her to lift one of the arms up and dig into it, like she was a carnivorous being now, tearing meat off of a bone, though as it happened she sensed the slumbering power within her body awakening, forming a faint aura in the area around her, or at least Pinkamena assumed that was the case, and a new strength grew in her as well, something she would have to find out about at some point in time.

For a few moments nothing else held her attention, besides tearing apart the limbs that had been separated from the rest of the body, before she felt a rather painful burning sensation wash over her as the sun rose, where she screamed in pain as that man's alterations to her body were set ablaze, her arms and legs being charred as if she was being burned alive, as it was all she could think about, before the pain receded before any of her bones could be exposed to the light, where she found that the burns faded away and her body returned to normal.

"So, the sun is fatal to demons... and part of my power is to nullify that pain... good to know," Pinkamena remarked, where she knew it would have sucked if her adventure had ended there, burning alive as the sun's rays touched her transformed body, but as she thought about that she noticed that the demonic body that had landed nearby was surrounded by what had to be a dome of swirling energy, causing her to glance at her marking again as something came to mind, "I see... this is my power... Chaos World, the power to make my will known to the world... no, to enforce my will upon this world, to alter it as I see fit."

The reason she came to that decision was because, even with her nature as the displaced sent to this world, she was sure that it was impossible for someone to be turned into a demon and then suddenly gain the power to walk in the sunlight, a feat she felt that the odd man wasn't even capable of and might be a cause for them to interact with each other again, in the future, and she was sure that her power had reacted to her unspoken desire to survive the sun's rays. Of course she also assumed that another unspoken desire might have been fulfilled, as she wasn't sure what a demonic being had to eat to survive, even though it looked like she was capable of preserving the flesh of a fallen demon and devouring them, but as she thought about that the body sunk into the ground and disappeared. In that moment she discovered something as she considered this, she still had access to her mindscape, one that was no longer tied to Pinkie, though right now it appeared as an empty field of some kind, meaning she was going to have to work and remake the place at some point, though just before she returned to reality Pinkamena created an area that could expand as much as she wanted and stored the body of the fallen demon inside it. If her suspicions were correct this would give her an infinite amount of food, to pull out when she needed to eat something, though she sighed as she locked the door and returned to reality in the blink of an eye, as it looked like she might be able to move between her own mindscape, a real world only she could access that was near and far at the same time, and the waking world, as Pinkie preferred to call it.

With that done she heard the sound of something screaming, the demon whose body had fallen down here, and knew that he must have been burned alive by the sun's rays, where she sensed that it was coming from the top of the cliff that was far above her and she grinned for a moment, as this would be an interesting test of skill, before she leapt at the sheer wall of stone, found a very small foothold for her hoof to touch, before launching herself up the wall. Even after nearly being burned alive by the sun, and the discovery of what had to be her new power, Pinkamena found that she felt incredible, as in she had far more strength and endurance than before, meaning if she maintained a constant diet of food she would no doubt stay in this state, something she would have to test in the future, before she returned her attention to the wall and used several more stones to reach the summit. Once she reached the top, and landed on the flat surface in front of her, she found that there were more trees in front of her and kept walking without delay, where she found a small building that looked like a shrine or temple, even though there were two figures outside it, one looking like a young male, dressed in a checkered coat of some kind that seemed to alternate between black and sea foam green, a blue scarf, and a white shirt with black pants. The other figure appeared to be an older male, once more based on the form of the body, who wore a blue coat of some kind over a black shirt and pants, though he had short silver colored hair, to show his age likely, while the younger male had black hair, but Pinkamena could tell that the older one was wearing some sort of red stern looking mask over his face, preventing others from seeing what he looked like.

Neither of them seemed armed, not that she knew what the weapons of this world looked like, but as she walked towards the pair, emerging from the trees and finding a smooth stone path leading to the temple, Pinkamena found that both did pause for a moment and turned to look in her direction, where the older male seemed to find her first while the younger only took a few more seconds to spot her.

"Her scent... it's like a demon's, but also different." the younger male said, his tone showing her that he seemed worried about something, no doubt because of the fact that he must have encountered the demon whose body Pinkamena had stored inside her Storehouse, though she had no idea what he meant by her 'scent', even if it might mean that he had the power to smell certain things that others couldn't, "Urokodaki-san... what is she?"

"...I do not know..." the masked male replied, though Pinkamena had to assume that the younger had used his last name, and not his first name for some reason, since she felt that 'Urokodaki' was too odd for it to be the first name of the man in question, before he turned his head towards her and studied her for some time, no doubt taking in her demonic features and recalling whatever legends he had heard about, "Demon... how many people have you eaten? How are you able to walk in the sun?"

"First off, my name is Pinkamena, not 'demon', and I haven't eaten anyone... not unless you count the body part of the demon who landed behind me earlier," Pinkamena replied, where she had to assume that he was speaking of Humans, as in how many Humans she must have eaten to gain the power that allowed her to walk in the sun, just an assumption on her part and might be wrong when she thought about it, "also, I haven't been a demon for too long... maybe just an hour or so by my reckoning... so I have no idea what sort of rules a demon is supposed to follow, and I'm still trying to figure out how I'm doing this."

True, the last part of her statement was a lie, though with these two being suspicious of her, given that a demon had likely been burned alive in front of them and the younger one had to be following the lead of the older male, meaning he might be just as inexperienced as Pinkamena was in this sort of situation, though she didn't want to reveal her hand yet, as there might be information she could gain before revealing her unique power to them.

"You may join Tanjiro, his sister Nezuko, and I... but the moment you try to eat us, I'll kill you." Urokodaki stated, showing her that demons were definitely enemies of humanity, at least on this world, and that he might have a way to figure out if someone was about to kill Humans, likely honed to deal with demons, all while meaning that she had a tight rope to walk if she wanted to get out of this situation alive, since she was still experimenting with her powers and skills, but she had no desire to be slain right now.

Pinkamena nodded her head for a moment, allowing them to see that she understood what he was saying, to which the old man beckoned for them to follow, hence why Tanjiro collected a bamboo basket that he carried on his back, which had to be where his sister was resting right now, as she smelled another demon nearby and assumed that was the case, before the two of them followed after Urokodaki and headed toward whatever the future held for them all.

Mugen: Final Preparations

Pinkamena, following the defeat of four more Lower Moons, returned to the Butterfly Mansion and sent her crow back to her superiors so they knew of her success, even though there was a chance that they ask for verification to make sure she had killed the current Lower Moon Demons. As she considered that she knew what she had done, taking out four of the five remaining members of the lower section of the Kizuki would have slightly crippled Muzan's fighting force, leaving whoever stood as Lower Moon One and the six Upper Moons, a thought that excited her to no end. Of course the crow was surprised to find that she had returned to where Tanjiro and his companions were resting, so soon after departing, which meant that it had been expecting to rest a little before tracking her down, since they were capable of finding their Demon Slayer partner with ease, but that didn't stop her from writing her note and sending it off. Once that was done she took her place on top of the roof of the Butterfly Mansion and carefully watched over the area they were in, despite the fact that she knew nothing would come since Shinobu seemed to be stationed here, or at least for the time being.

While she rested there Pinkamena considered the powers of the other four Lower Moons, one being of shadows, one that had the power to potentially put targets to sleep, another with a great deal of speed, and one who fought more like a brute with a heightened regeneration speed and a more reptilian form, before sighing, as they weren't as exciting as Rui, much to her disappointment.

"You got back rather quickly." a voice said, where Pinkamena found that Kyojuro was standing nearby, meaning he must have had business near the Butterfly Mansion and might have come to check on Tanjiro, since he had been involved in the defeat of one of the Lower Moons, "I take it you finished your mission already?"

"Yep. Sent out to deal with a Demon, possibly a Lower Moon, and found Lower Moons Six, Four, Three, and Two waiting for me to arrive." Pinkamena replied, where she stood up and jumped down to where the Hashira was standing, who had raised one of his eyebrows as he listened to her talk, to which she chuckled for a moment as she called out the heads of the four Demons in question, allowing him to see their faces and their numbers, "With them dead, and the fact that Rui was slain earlier, all that remains is the one who stands as Lower Moon One... unless Muzan ends up replacing all of them with brand new members."

"Still, four Lower Moons so close to each other... must have been having a territory discussion or something," Kyojuro said, taking a moment to confirm that these were, in fact, the Demons that he and the other Hashira had been hunting, a fact that would annoy some of the others when they learned about her deed, which caused her to return the heads to the area she stored all the body parts of her slain Demon enemies in, "Killing Lower Moon Five is one thing, and might have earned you a rank up, but taking down four more, in such a short period of time, is unheard of, even for us Hashira... we are lucky to have you on our side."

"Truth be told, I don't care about the rankings that much, but I'll take whatever Kaguya decides on," Pinkamena stated, as that was something she really wasn't focused on, not like some of the other Demon Slayers that were out there, but, at the same time, she only accepted it since the money would allow her to blend in with the Humans, especially when her power made the mask hide her true form, "Also, I have a feeling that you came here for more than just a friendly chat about the mission I just finished... you want to spar with me, don't you?"

Kyojuro nodded, as while most of the Hashira were pleased with their current skill, and were lax in their training, he had a feeling that sparring with Pinkamena, a Demon whose power matched that of a Hashira, might allow him to prepare for when he encountered one of the Upper Moons, since it seemed to be heading their way a lot sooner than what he of the others were expecting. His reason for thinking that way was due to the fact that most of the Lower Moons were gone, save for Lower Moon One, and that meant there was a chance that he or one of the others might run into one of the stronger Demons that served the Demon King, Upper Moon Six or higher. Such a thing made him think about the fact that they had no real information on most of the Demons who served as the Upper Moons, save for rank Two since Shinobu seemed to have some history with the monster in question, so there was no way for them to prepare for the battles with them. With that thought in mind his decision was a simple one in the end, Pinkamena was the only one who could help someone like him perfect his fighting style and prepare him for whatever the future held for them, hence why he was here, seeking to spar with her for a time while she waited for her friends to heal.

Pinkamena beckoned for a moment as they departed from the Butterfly Mansion, where she headed down the path that led out into the wilderness, before coming to a stop in an area that seemed perfect for them, plenty of room to engage each other in with obstacles that required them to be mindful, causing them to stop as she turned to face Kyojuro for a couple of seconds as she tried something new.

"Chaos World: Room." Pinkamena said, where she power wrapped around her before spreading out to cover the majority of the area they were in, though Kyojuro discovered that she wasn't covering everything, meaning she had seized control of this particular area and placed it under her immense control, "I have created a bubble around us, that way we can fight to our hearts content without having to worry about anyone interrupting us... basically, no one can enter without getting my approval, while at the same time we won't ruin the area, as once I lower the barrier everything will return to how it was before we arrived."

Kyojuro said nothing as he drew his blade, which Pinkamena repeated as she spoke, where he understood that she was different from most Demons, who existed to destroy everything around them and kill anyone who stood in their way, as she preferred to keep people alive and preserve the area around her. She was, by all accounts, a strange Demon, one that broke the thoughts that one held when they considered the monstrous race that devoured Humans to sustain themselves and grow their own power, and yet she was the only one like this, going out of her way to preserve the world and save all of the Humans she could. While several of his fellow Hashira didn't like her, especially Sanemi and Obanai, he knew that having her on their side was a blessing, even through she clearly disliked Demons, in fact he suspected that she hated the Demon King with every fiber of her being. Such a thing made him think of Tanjiro and the others for a moment, where he had the feeling that Pinkamena having friends would help her grow out of her hatred and allow her to become more like all of the other Demon Slayers that were currently in the Corps, before he focused his mind and rushed at her, which was when they lashed and the air shuddered.

To ensure some fairness Pinkamena removed her mask and had it float nearby, that way it was within rear if she needed it or wanted to wear it, though she found herself grinning as she trained with Kyojuro, as he was a great individual to spar with and it made her eager to see what he was capable of, without anyone interrupting their match.

As time went by Shinobu, who watched over the Butterfly Mansion when she wasn't out on a mission, found that all three of her wards, four if she counted Nezuko and five if she threw in Pinkamena, eventually moved from bed rest and started their functional recovery with her and the others. While the Demons that bested them had done quite a number on them, in fact it was a miracle they had survived and suspected that it was due to their friend intervening at the right moment, as Pinkamena's powers allowed her to do all sorts of things and saving those close to her was part of it. Tanjiro was no longer suffering from the abrasions and wounds he had suffered, Zenitsu had gotten over the spider related illness he had been infected with, and Inosuke's throat had recovered just fine, allowing him to return to his former persona in no time, much to his joy. Despite being in relative safety she also found that Nezuko preferred to sleep in her box, instead of in a bed that was in the darker corner of the mansion, though they did have to pull her out so Aoi could patch up her box, because they had gotten a letter from Sakonji, which explained all of the materials that went into its construction, and allowed her to fix the damage Sanemi had done to it before the meeting with their leader.

Pinkamena, on the other hand, spent some of her time training, either on her own or creating a 'Room' when Kyojuro came to train with her, which she considered doing a few times since fighting the odd Demon seemed to be a good way to boost one's skills, while she used the rest of her time to hang with her friends. It was the strangest thing, Pinkamena was friendly with Tanjiro, which made sense due to the fact that he knew her the longest, and the dark look in her eyes simply vanished when she talked with him or her new friends. Kyojuro had shared that particular piece of information with her, after his first true training session with the Demon, and she agreed with his assessment, she disliked the other Demons, who simply slaughtered anyone and everyone that got in their way, and she hated Muzan, why they had no idea, though both also suspected she wouldn't share that information with them. Talking with Tanjiro and the others seemed to be the remedy she needed to get over her intense hatred towards the Demon King, though one thing she discovered, by listening to the conversations they had, was that Pinkamena had either forgotten her past after becoming a Demon or she didn't want to share it with anyone, even her closest friends.

It made her curious as to what sort of past she might have, especially since Muzan targeted anyone and everyone, be they petty criminals, sick children, cult leaders, artists, monks, musicians, and even murderers, and her curiosity was increased when they found no information on her, which was understandable since they had no idea what her previous form, before she became a Demon, looked like.

Following their recovery Tanjiro and Inosuke were pulled out to start their recovery training, with Pinkamena joining them to observe what they would be going through, and when the first day ended both of her friends seemed depressed or just exhausted and Pinkamena was laughing. Shinobu felt that there was some success for the first day, especially since they cut into the seriousness that the Demon possessed all the time, and while that was good she and the other Hashira knew that showing emotion, to some degree, was important from time to time, to remind them of what they were fighting for, or whatever their individual reasons might be. Of course the following day they found that Zenitsu was surprised by what the functional training entailed, the three younger girls that worked in the Butterfly Mansion, assisting her, Kanao, and Aoi in their duties, would be massaging their bodies, working out all the kinks from resting in bed for a good amount of time, loosening them up for the next obstacle. It, as she told Pinkamena, was the reflex training and was where one competed with one to snatch some of the medicated broth that was inside some prepared teacups, something that was hard due to how fast all of them happened to be, which Tanjiro and Inosuke knew from experience, while the last test was basically tag with Kanao and Aoi.

Zenitsu, as they discovered, was enraged by how both of his friends had returned after their first day, as their appearance had suggested that it would be some 'hellish' training, when in reality he found this to be 'heavenly', but also explained the reasoning behind Pinkamena's laughter, it was due to how two of her friends did and how the third would react. Of course he pulled both of his friends to the side and shouted at the pair for a time, confirming that he was annoyed with them and their actions, as he assumed that this was heaven and not hell, though Pinkamena stood back this time around and simply watched what happened next. What was interesting was that Zenitsu seemed to invigorate himself and Inosuke, making both of them eager to face the training, while Tanjiro didn't share their opinions on the matter, taking a more serious and thoughtful approach to what they were doing. What ended up happening was that Zenitsu enjoyed the massage, even if his body was in pain from what the girls were doing, he overcame the teacup challenge and made a fool of himself with a cheesy line Pinkamena decided to ignore, and he was able to catch Aoi, who ended up slapping him in return, which just caused Inosuke to replicate his motions, to some degree.

When it came to Kanao, however, neither of them could overcome her speed with the teacups and neither could catch up with her speed, which actually discouraged both Zenitsu and Inosuke, while Tanjiro seemed to be thinking about how she was so much faster than they were, especially given that they started at the same time. Pinkamena had a feeling that part of it was due to her nature as a Tsuguko, the heir appointed by Shinobu, meaning that she would become the next Flower Hashira if a Demon happened to take down her mentor, so since she was being trained by a Hashira it was easy to figure out why there was a gap in their respective skills. Despite that fact, which two of her friends ignored, she found it slightly amusing to watch her friends being decimated by Kanao in their recovery training, especially when they ended their days in defeat and were totally drenched from constant failure, where Inosuke sulked and Zenitsu acted like he was giving up for some reason. It got to the point where the pair eventually gave up on their recovery training and just did whatever they wanted, which irritated Aoi to no end, but Tanjiro continued at it and tried to figure out what could be between him and Kanao, what he could learn to catch up with her, all while refusing Pinkamena's aid, saying he wanted to figure this out on his own.

As Tanjiro repeatedly tried to best Kanao, and spent ten days failing to do so, Pinkamena decided to try her hand at facing her, despite the fact that she didn't need the training, and created a Room for them, just in case they damaged something, before they played their game. Since her speed was roughly around the level of a Lower Moon, thanks to all the Demons she had taken down and eaten so far, Pinkamena found that she and Kanao matched each other quite well, and when one picked up the pace the other did so not a few seconds after them. Another part about this session, one that was kept from Kanao, was that Pinkamena was getting used to her evolving powers and this was the best way to train right now, due to the fact that Kyojuro was busy and Shinobu didn't feel like facing her, especially since she was slowly adding the blood of the other Lower Moons into her body. Integrating Kamanue's blood into her body had been easy, since he was far weaker than Rui had been, though she had to go slow when adding Mukago, Wakuraba, and Rokuro's blood to her own, since she was afraid that going too fast might cause some serious side effects, plus after adding their bodies to her Storehouse their echoes appeared in the Demon Mansion and she learned their names.

One thing Pinkamena discovered, after those ten days had passed, was that the three young girls offered help to Tanjiro, in the form of a cloth to clean his face and explained the 'full focus breath' to him, the difference in power between those who could use it and those who aren't using it, along with the fact that Kanao could destroy gourds by blowing into them, a feat that shocked Tanjiro. As she hung around the Butterfly Mansion, and did her own training while hanging out with her friends, something that brought a smile to her face and made her focus less on the Demon she was aiming for, where she found that Tanjiro forced himself to go back to the basics to pull off the Full Focus Breath. It went on for quite a while, fifteen days to be exact, and her first friend pushed himself to the limit, forcing himself to rediscover his stamina and also boost his lungs to the point where he could do more than before, which he was pleased with and made sure not to rush his training, all while Zenitsu and Inosuke continued to laze about. The only other thing she found was that Tanjiro had a talk with Shinobu during one of the nights, something that caused her to chuckle for a moment as she left them to their conversation, as she had a feeling that it would be of great benefit to Tanjiro and his training.

She was proven right ten days later, after being beaten repeatedly by the three young girls and blowing into gourds, as he was able to shatter a large gourd on his own, his improved base stamina allowed him to catch Kanao, who was surprised when it happened, and he even yanked a teacup out of the way before putting it on Kanao's head, showing them that his training had been successful. After that they discovered something interesting, Zenitsu and Inosuke noticed it and failed to listen to Tanjiro's bad explanations when he tried to teach them what he had done, so she and Shinobu stepped in while he went to rest, giving them a better idea of what their friend had done. Even though both seemed to have different ideas on straightforward work, where Shinobu taunted them in some manner to get them to put forth the effort necessary to do what their friend had done, causing Pinkamena to chuckle a little as she watched both of them. Nine days later they had succeeded in reaching the constant Full Focus Breath state, which meant they were able to finally beat Kanao, something that caused Shinobu to praise them, even though it meant all of them were fit enough to head out, which she was holding from them for a few more days.

Pinkamena found out why not a few moments later, as it was when Tanjiro and Inosuke's blades arrived, as a crow arrived ahead of the smiths to deliver the news, and she found that two figures were approaching, even though Hotaru actually came running at Tanjiro with a knife.

Apparently he was enraged by the fact that Tanjiro had broken his blade, even though he had been facing off against one of the Kizuki, where she learned from the other smith, Kozo, that he was very passionate about his blades, in fact he was a smith that loved blades more than people. It made sense when she thought about it, smiths were artists and got annoyed when something happened to their works of art, though after an hour of watching them she stepped in and separated the pair, allowing them to head inside and see the blades that had been brought. Sure enough Hotaru replaced Tanjiro's blade and the new one turned black as well, while Kozo was the one who made a new pair of blades for Inosuke, whose swords had broken during the battle with the Father Brute, and both were pristine, free of the cracks that his blades had been plagued with before Pinkamena and her friends found him. In the following moments she and the others found that both of Inosuke's turned a dull indigo grey, a somber color apparently, and, true to form, Inosuke took a fine rock and chipped his blades so that they matched his old ones, which only enraged Kozo to no end when it happened.

In the end Pinkamena waved the pair of smiths off when the time came for them to leave, after making sure neither one tried to murder Inosuke for the damages to his blades, and let her friends rest after their exhausting day... though when morning arrived, and everyone was fully prepared to leave, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke put on their slayer attire back on before joining Pinkamena outside, as it was time for them to head out and get back to work.

Swordsmith: Fighting Hatred

It didn't take Pinkamena long to track down her friends, finding that Nezuko was buried under some of the rubble and Genya was dealing with Azietsu, though the interesting thing was what the siblings were doing, Nezuko was heating Tanjiro's blade with her Blood Demon Art, turning it red, the same red on Yoriichi's blade, while setting it on fire. Urogi, Sekido, and Karaku seemed surprised that he had survived what happened to the house he and the others had been in, where the joyful Demon rushed forward to cut him down and Tanjiro stepped out to oppose his opponents, summoning the power of his Slayer Mark as well. Sure enough she caught the surprise that flashed across Sekido's face, as Muzan's cells seemed to be remembering Yoriichi, as Tanjiro did look a lot like him, save for the missing long hair and expression, where her friend took advantage of their surprise and attacked them, unleashing the Ninth Form of Sun Breathing, Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance. This Form was identical to the Water Breathing one Tanjiro had used against Rui, the user unleashing a continuous attack that took on the shape of a serpent Japanese dragon, allowing him to either break through multiple barriers or decapitate multiple targets in an instant.

Thanks to the Mark she found that Urogi was nearly hacked apart, Karaku nearly lost his head, and Sekido's head rolled as Tanjiro attacked them, though Pinkamena also discovered that he aimed at their tongues, which seemed to slow their regeneration to some degree, a useful piece of information for later, though that was when Genya overpowered Azietsu, stabbed the Demon to the tree with his yari, and removed his head.

"You guys did well, but, unfortunately, you missed one." Pinkamena said, where she noted that Genya's eyes had turned red, much like a Demon's when she thought of it, though both he and Tanjiro seemed surprised by what she had said, where she gestured out to the rest of the forest, "There's a fifth Demon out there, likely the main body... all you're doing is wasting time by fighting these four."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?!" Genya demanded, where he tossed his foe's head to the side and marched over to where Pinkamena was standing, even though Tanjiro joined him as Nezuko burst out of the rubble, making sure to add a bit of her blood to ensure the four Demons burned for a while more, to be sure they weren't attacked while they were in the middle of a conversation.

"Because if I did everything, none of you would improve... but, if things go south, you can count on me to move in and do what needs to be done." Pinkamena replied, as Tanjiro was still improving, far more than most of the Slayers she had met so far, and she knew that in no time he would have the power to fight an Upper Moon on his own, maybe Akaza based on everything all of the other Demons had shown her.

"Genya, you should focus on the last Demon while we hold off the other four," Tanjiro stated, as he knew that the figure wanted to speak with his brother at some point, even if Sanemi claimed that he didn't have one, while understanding that Pinkamena was hoping he'd learn from his experience with an Upper Moon Demon, just like what happened when he and the others fought Daki and Gyutaro, "I'll help you find him by giving directions from the smell I'm getting."

As the pair agreed on that, however, Pinkamena rushed over to her target and kicked Sekido away from his staff, causing him to hit the ground, while finding that she had misjudged Tanjiro's attack, as he had beheaded all three Demons that he had struck not a few moments ago. Of course most of the fallen body parts were missing, she had snatched them before the emotional Demons had noticed them and tried to fix themselves, so they had to regenerate everything that had gone missing, though right now, despite Tanjiro resembling Yoriichi, their enemies targeted her, which she was fine with, even if she kept her blade sheathed. Not a few moments later her foes found that none of their abilities were bothering her, due to her power being exerted over the area they were in, so she clashed with Urogi and pushed his talon back without them even drawing blood, Azietsu tried to strike her multiple times and failed as she knocked him back, Karaku was smashed into the ground, and Sekido hit a tree. As that happened Tanjiro found where the final body was and directed Genya over to where their target was moving through, where she felt that Cowardice, or whatever he was called, was much smaller than Sekido and the other emotional Demons, but none of them left the area she was in, as she refused to allow them out of where they were fighting.

The unfortunate thing was that Genya's blade shattered upon hitting the fifth Demon's neck, causing Tanjiro to rush out to where he was located as Pinkamena pushed the emotional Demons around and smashed them into her surroundings, a fact that happened to annoy one of them. She could hear Tanjiro telling Genya not to give up and that they could bring an end to this battle by working together, though the impressive thing was that he was allowing Tanjiro to deal with the fifth Demon, as his blade was useless and he doubted that he had the power to do anything. As her friend hit the Demon's neck, and he let out a cry of anguish, Sekido did something interesting, he smashed both Karaku and Urogi's heads while he absorbed their bodies, before repeating the process with Azietsu, where his clothing looked to be a combination of all four Demons, or more tribal in some cases, and five drums with the Kanji for 'hatred' appeared behind him, which were linked by a wooden circle. This time around the Demon was younger, like a teenager, and he carried two weapons that looked like daggers, only they had two blades on them, where his speed was much faster than the other Demons, due to the fact that he rushed over to where Tanjiro was standing and, upon striking one of the drums, was able to save the small Demon before his head could be removed.

His attack, however, called upon tree roots and surrounded the smaller Demon, where Pinkamena saw the Kanji for 'fear' on his tongue as everything died down, and found that Nezuko had rushed to save her brother from harm, though with everything dying down everyone faced the new Demon as they considered what to do next.

"Savages who torment the meek... spite, enmity, hatred, for those who bathe in pure evil." the hatred Demon said, where he turned to face them for a moment as he tapped the same drum again, something that caused more roots to wrap all over where the small fearful Demon rested, though as Tanjiro stepped up and started to call for him to stop, however, he released a bit of his power and stalled both him and Genya, "What? Scum... you don't like what I'm doing here? You little... evil... shitheads."

"Tell me... why are we the evil ones?" Tanjiro asked, though Pinkamena really didn't care, as most Demons made up their own justifications to go along with whatever they happened to be doing, and give the nature of these emotional Demons it was clear the main body was a weakling and the others were there to protect it.

"You four are tormenting the weak. I mean, you were just about to cut off the head of the small meek one, a figure who is tiny enough that he can fit in the palm of my hand." the hatred Demon replied, confirming Pinkamena's thoughts on the matter, each of the emotional Demons served to wreck havoc on Upper Moon Four's enemies and save him from danger, before the Demon gripped both of his weapons a little tighter, "That right there is pure injustice. Only a savage, like you for example, would do such a thing."

"That's a warped sense of justice if ever I saw one." Pinkamena remarked, as it seemed like the hatred Demon was the last line of defense against attackers, if someone figured out that there were actually five Demons and that the smaller one was, in fact, the main body, though after having seen the Demon's power she drew her blade, "However, there's one thing you're wrong about... we aren't the evil ones."

"Indeed, he's killed hundreds of people... maybe more, but it's hard to tell with the smell of blood on his hands." Tanjiro said, where he shifted his stance as he readied himself for battle once more, though he was also annoyed by the fact that the Demon claimed that they were evil, for wanting to protect the innocent from beings like him, especially when they all heard that their foe was displeased with them targeting the main body, "Tell me, Demon, what did all those innocent people do to you, to warrant you taking their lives? Did you do it arbitrarily as payment, for the crimes they committed, or did you just kill them for fun, like all of the other Demons we've fought so far? Regardless of what your answer is, all I have to say is this: you have to stop playing the victim, especially after killing and eating the people who brought you to this very point in your life... you have a sick mind, evil Demon, and we will take your head here and now!"

The hatred Demon, Zohakuten as Pinkamena decided to call him since it meant 'hatred', stared at them with indifference in his eyes, though as soon as he locked eyes with her, and recalled what had been said about her in the past, he started to beat his drums and started the battle. She was perfectly fine with that since she was eager to see what sort of power he had, in comparison to the other emotional Demons, finding that Zohakuten manipulated the wood around him and was able to form a five headed wooden dragon that he stood on, before sending them after her. Pinkamena flashed forward, showing everyone that she was going to fight the Demon while Tanjiro focused on tracking down the main body with both Genya and Nezuko, which happened to be the moment that the dragon attacked her and revealed the true nature of this Demon's power to them. Not only did Zohakuten look like he was the merged form of the other four emotional Demons, due to his clothing, he also had access to all of their powers, only they were amplified and were far stronger than what she had seen when the Demons were apart from each other, as one head fired lightning strikes, another channeled powerful gusts of wind, one had large sound waves, and the fourth used spear attacks out of thin air.

Another thing she discovered was that when someone went beyond twenty meters from where Zohakuten was standing he tapped the drum for his power and the final head extended outward, using smaller heads to track down his target and grab onto whoever it happened to be, but Pinkamena stopped the attack with the edge of her blade and rushed forward in a spiraling pattern as she hacked the attack to pieces. Such a thing told Zohakuten all he needed to know, she had to be the first one he took down, otherwise she was going to get in the way of him going after the other Slayers as they sought out the wooden ball that contained the main body, even though she had a feeling it wouldn't be there. It made sense that once he had been found, and devised a hiding place in front of their eyes, that the smaller Demon would be hiding out in the surrounding area, leaving his foes to waste time and energy on what was essentially a worthless target, an interesting ploy that she kept to herself, just to see if the others figured it out. Still, all of that didn't stop her from slashing at the large bolts of lightning that came her way, smashing each one to pieces, as well as swinging her blade to break the gusts of wind that happened nearly at the same time, standing still as the sound waves came at her, which did nothing since her power was stronger than his, and she parried the yari barrage with her blade.

While this showed Zohakuten the difference between their powers, even though she knew he wouldn't give up, they had a new arrival show up, in the form of Mitsuri as she slashed through one of the heads and landed nearby, though her blade was actually a whip sword that must have been made special for her at some point.

"Sorry I'm late, I was dealing with some fish Demons inside the village, only for them to disappear on me." Mitsuri said, all while revealing that she had been fighting Gyokko's summons, as Pinkamena had figured out that the fish were summons and never bothered to collect any of the fallen fish when Muichiro cut them down, before the Love Hashira thought about what she hadn't seen earlier, "though now that I think about it, there weren't any people inside the village."

"Yeah, I already evacuated them, long before the Upper Moons showed themselves." Pinkamena commented, where she had to wonder why Mitsuri even bothered to stop in the village, since the other Hashira knew that she and Tanjiro were still here, waiting for Hotaru to reveal himself so they could get her friend a new sword so they could head out and make sure his body was ready for deployment.

"You... wha... that's cheating!" Zohakuten stated, where Pinkamena was sure that part of Sekido was showing through the hateful expression she and the others were seeing right now, though it was amusing that a Demon would accuse others of cheating, given that it was hard to take a Demon down, especially Upper Moons since some seemed to have rather special abilities that prevented the initial beheading from killing them.

"Not really. I was sent here with the express purpose of making sure the swordsmiths were safe, just in case Demons, like you or Gyokko, found and attacked this place, and that's what I did... that reminds me," Pinkamena said, informing their foe as to why she had come here, something that surprised Mitsuri, before she summoned one of Gyokko's arms, causing Zohakuten to raise an eyebrow as he realized who it belonged to, and tore into it, causing her four tails to shudder for a few seconds before a fifth one appeared, "Upper Moon Five is dead, slain by Muichiro, and now my power is far greater than it was before."

In the following moment she jumped and zeroed in on Zohakuten, who focused on her and tapped his drums accordingly, intending to rain lightning and sound on her, though Mitsuri, figuring that she likely had a plan, joined in the fight as she lashed out with her blade, using the Third Form of her Breathing Style, Love Breathing, which was called Catlover Shower, an odd name for sure. It was basically a series of ranged attacks that greatly utilized Mitsuri's whip sword, in addition to all of her brute strength for that matter, and she slashed through all of the incoming attacks with ease, an interesting feat as Pinkamena considered Zohakuten's strength. It was hard to tell if Mitsuri knew about their situation or if she was fighting to keep Tanjiro and Genya safe, given that she hadn't been there to see the pair nearly take the small Demon's head, but in the end she decided that it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, as Zohakuten split his attacks between them, a fact that allowed them to ensure Tanjiro and the others found their foe. Of course that fact caused the Demon to unleash more of his power, increasing the number of wooden dragon heads so he could overwhelm both Pinkamena and Mitsuri in no time, though she smiled for a moment as she heard something from her inner world, where she sheathed her blade and changed her battle stance in seconds.

Zohakuten and Mitsuri had no idea what she was doing, which was fine with her as she withdrew the item that had been prepared for her and attached it to her sash, near her main weapon, before she drew it and activated her other Breathing Style so that when she swung the blade a flaming gash ran across the ground, running up the right side of Zohakuten's body, severing his arm and part of the drums.

"That... power... no way..." Zohakuten said, where Pinkamena was sure that there was some fear in the hateful Demon's voice, all while her power snatched the fallen pieces as he slowly reformed his missing body parts and weapons, though she knew it would take some time for him to fully heal, after seeing Tanjiro's earlier attack.

"Sun Breathing. A lost Breathing Style, now reborn, combined with the blade of Yoriichi Tsugikuni himself." Pinkamena replied, bringing the blade close to her once more as she said that, finding that the blade had been restored thanks to the efforts of Tecchin and his skills, the rust was gone and the blade looked like it was ready for battle once more, which was what she was going to do.

Sure enough that information surprised and shocked Zohakuten, allowing Pinkamena to rush forward as she was followed by solar flames and slashed apart the dragon head that was coming at her, causing a shiver of pain to shoot through her foe's body, while Mitsuri pushed herself to defend Tanjiro's group from the other attacks. Of course some of Zohakuten's attacks shredded the Love Hashira's attire, or at least her Hashira clothing, revealing her base Slayer attire, though as the two of them fought she noticed something else that was interesting, a Slayer Mark appeared on the side of her throat, like a four leaf clover, which boosted her own power to brand new heights. Together the two of them slashed through every single attack that their foe sent at them, where Pinkamena was able to cut into him and removed sections to slow down his speed, while also adding more bits to what she had claimed so far, all while finding that Genya tore into the vine that Tanjiro had brought them to, as in he was eating it. She guessed that his organs were special and that was why eating the flash of Demons or their Blood Demon Art empowered him, though once the vine fell Tanjiro and Nezuko combined their powers and slashed into the sphere, only to find that the smaller Demon had fled again, just like she thought, though as soon as Tanjiro found him something interesting happened.

Her friend informed the Demon that they'd make him pay for his sins, Genya tore a tree out of the ground and hurled the poor log at their foe, surprising him as it happened, before he hurled three more and opened a hole for Nezuko to rush through, only she missed as well. Tanjiro, seeing that, did something weird, he seemed to recall what Zenitsu said at one point in the past and rushed through the air like he was loosed from a bow or something, allowing him to swing his blade into the Demon's neck and actually started to cut into it. As he did that Pinkamena sensed a slight disturbance, likely one more emotional Demon they had missed, causing her to realize that Upper Moon Four was good at hiding his presence, all while the meek one transformed into a larger foe and grabbed onto Tanjiro while his blade dug into his neck. Zohakuten, sensing that they were getting closer to killing the main body, started to move and Pinkamena stopped him, unleashing the Ninth Form of Sun Breathing, Sun Dragon Halo Head Dance, to hack his entire body apart, cutting the hateful Demon to pieces and making it impossible for him to move.

As that happened Genya tore off the meek Demon's arms as Nezuko burned him, through she, Tanjiro, and their foe fell over the edge and Pinkamena stepped up to the cliff edge they had been fighting near for some time, finding that their foe was wandering off with no arms and a blade stuck in his fat neck. In that instant she sheathed her new blade as Muichiro, in an unexpected arrival since she expected the Hashira to sleep through the rest of the battle, appeared nearby and just hurled a blade down to Tanjiro, which pierced the ground in front of him. It was another black blade, his replacement for the chipped one he had been using so far, and sure enough Hotaru was pissed that Muichiro had taken it before he had completed all of the work he had planned for it, though as that happened their foe started to wander off, likely seeking a Human to devour to regain his strength. In that moment he utilized the new sword and the First Form of Sun Breathing, Dance, to zero in on their foe and sliced his head off, only to discover, by Nezuko pointing it out, that the tongue character was wrong, as this one was 'resentment', Urami as Pinkamena understood, and that the body was still moving, meaning their foe was still in the surrounding area.

In that moment the sun started to rise and Nezuko caught on fire, her body reacting to the sun in the way all Demons did, and Tanjiro moved to save her, to find some shelter to ensure she didn't perish, completely unaware that Pinkamena was watching them, before something interesting happened, Nezuko launched her brother at the fleeing Demon. Tanjiro, with that boost, was able to catch up with their foe in no time and removed his hands, just to stall him, before slashing right at where his heart was located, which was where the final Demon, the main Demon who controlled the others, was located, a fact that meant all the others were doomed. Sure enough he slashed the body diagonally in half and ended this battle in that moment, all while Pinkamena grinned as the pieces of Upper Moon Four were added to her collection, granting her a sixth tail once she tore into part of the Demon's arm, but there was another reason behind her grin. Tanjiro had thought he had sacrificed his sister to finally slay their foe, to end this fight and deprive Muzan of another pawn, but the reality was different, Nezuko's body had stopped burning and now she was walking in the sunlight, bringing a look of joy to Tanjiro's face as he embraced his sister.

Pinkamena let that happen, as she had no place in this long awaited reunion between the two siblings, as Nezuko felt like a living person again, only more demonic like herself, and she was sure she had uttered her first words in forever, though as she thought about that she knew they had to prepare, because with a Demon who could resist the sun being made it was only a matter of time until Muzan made his move and they had to be ready for when it eventually happened.