"Want me to call you Dad?"
Kaigaku's expression darkened until it seemed like water could drip from it. Veins bulged on the back of his hand as he slammed it onto his sword hilt.
"You're just a Tei-rank who got lucky…
I'm the future Thunder Hashira!"
"Too much nonsense."
Inosuke didn't even let him finish.
"Get your ass out here!"
He lunged forward, moving so fast he left an afterimage in the air.
Amid Zenitsu's terrified scream and Kuwajima Jigoro's stunned gaze, Inosuke grabbed Kaigaku by the collar and dragged the tall young man straight out of the courtyard like a dead dog.
"Let go! Inosuke! That's my senior brother!"
Zenitsu panicked and rushed forward to stop them.
"You can't fight! It violates Corps regulations!"
"Get lost, Zenitsu.
I'm teaching him how to be a human."
Without even turning his head, Inosuke flung Kaigaku away. Kaigaku traced a miserable arc through the air and slammed hard into the mud beneath a peach tree.
"Cough—cough… you lunatic…"
Kaigaku scrambled to his feet, covered in dirt, hatred in his eyes thick enough to congeal.
Before he could steady himself, a fist rapidly filled his vision.
Bang!
A dull, bone-chilling impact rang out as Inosuke's heavy punch smashed squarely into Kaigaku's face.
Puh—
Several blood-stained teeth flew out with his saliva.
"Hinoe?"
Inosuke rolled his neck, standing under the sunlight with a vicious sneer on his handsome face.
"That's all you've got? You climbed your rank by freeloading, didn't you?
Or is bullying a crying Zenitsu the only thing that makes you feel strong?"
"Bastard… I'll kill you!!"
Kaigaku completely snapped.
Humiliated like this in front of his master, that useless junior brother, and outsiders—his fragile, bloated pride shattered instantly.
At that moment, reason disconnected. He no longer saw Inosuke as a fellow Demon Slayer, but as an enemy.
"His breathing changed!" Tanjiro's face went pale as his hand shot to his sword hilt.
"Zenitsu, get back! That's killing intent—real killing intent!"
"Thunder Breathing, Fourth Form: Distant Thunder!"
Zzzra—BOOM!
Golden lightning erupted around Kaigaku as he turned into a streak of electric light, thunder roaring as he lunged straight for Inosuke's throat.
A killing blow.
"Senior brother! Don't! That's Fourth Form!"
Zenitsu screamed in despair.
Yet facing that lethal lightning, Inosuke didn't even take a defensive stance.
"Too slow."
He merely tilted his body slightly. His twin blades struck later—yet arrived first.
Rin-Sun Breathing, Second Form: Azure Heaven — Iceflame Wild Dance!
CLANG!!!
Blue-and-gold sparks exploded in the air, followed by the shrill screech of metal snapping.
Half a broken blade spun through the air, reflecting Kaigaku's wide, horrified eyes before embedding itself deep into the old peach tree.
The thunder stopped dead.
Kaigaku froze.
He stared blankly at the remaining half of his Nichirin sword—the cut clean and smooth.
That was a Nichirin blade… a swordsman's life…
cut in half with a single strike?
"Y-your sword…" Kaigaku's voice trembled as he stared at Inosuke's strangely colored blades, speech failing him.
"What? Never seen a good sword before?"
Inosuke sneered, lifting his leg and kicking Kaigaku squarely in the chest.
"Ugh—!"
Kaigaku crashed to the ground. As he struggled to rise, a foot slammed down on his head, grinding mercilessly, forcing his face into the mud.
"Future Thunder Hashira?"
Inosuke increased the pressure, crushing Kaigaku's face until it warped, his voice icy.
"Trash like you—worthy of that title?"
"Inosuke…"
Tanjiro tried to step forward, but the oppressive aura radiating from Inosuke stopped him cold.
That presence…
It wasn't just anger—it felt eerily similar to the violent undertone Tanjiro had once sensed from Inosuke's father.
Inosuke bent down, staring into Kaigaku's venom-filled eyes.
"You think I don't know your background?"
"An orphan taken in by Gyomei Himejima.
Kicked out of the temple for stealing money.
To save your own skin, you lured demons in—got all the children killed—and sent the Stone Hashira to prison under false charges…"
The courtyard fell dead silent.
Zenitsu clapped a hand over his mouth in disbelief. Kuwajima Jigoro was struck as if by lightning—his teacup slipped from his hand and shattered.
"Kaigaku… you…"
Kaigaku's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Fear—
an unprecedented, overwhelming fear swallowed him whole.
That was the darkest secret of his life.
He had thought changing his name, growing stronger, would bury it forever.
"H-how do you know…"
Kaigaku's voice shook, hoarse and broken.
"For the sake of living, you'd betray benefactors and comrades alike."
Inosuke's voice dripped with disgust.
"People like you only believe in power.
You think as long as you're strong, you won't die.
So if one day you meet a stronger demon, you'd kneel without hesitation—licking their feet like a dog, begging to become a demon, wouldn't you?"
Having his most hidden darkness laid bare, Kaigaku's face went deathly pale—then the extreme humiliation twisted into hysterical madness.
"So what if I would?!"
Pinned to the ground, Kaigaku still roared madly, mud and spit spraying.
"What do you know about how I grew up?!
Without power, you get crushed like a bug—just like now! Trampled underfoot!
Justice? Feelings? All bullshit! Only surviving matters!"
Inosuke frowned.
"So what? Didn't that old man take you in? Didn't that idiot Zenitsu treat you like a real senior brother? People cared about you—wasn't that enough?"
"Not enough! Nowhere near enough!"
Kaigaku howled, eyes blazing with terrifying obsession.
"All of it is temporary! That old man will die sooner or later! The Demon Slayer Corps will eventually be wiped out!
Humans can't defeat demons! Demons have endless lifespans and regenerative bodies! No matter how hard humans try, they're just food!"
"Only becoming a demon… only that power is eternal!"
At those words, Zenitsu lowered his head, tears dropping one after another.
Tanjiro clenched his fists, eyes burning with rage.
And Inosuke… went quiet.
Slowly, he lifted his foot off Kaigaku's head.
Kaigaku thought Inosuke had been shaken, that his logic had worked. He started to rise with a twisted grin.
"So you finally understand—"
"Heh."
Inosuke lowered his head. His shoulders began to tremble, a low chuckle escaping.
"Haha… hahaha!"
Suddenly, Inosuke raised his head.
Demonization.
"Tanjiro, Zenitsu—don't blink.
I'll show you again."
BOOM!!!
An overwhelmingly terrifying yet strangely sacred seven-colored aura exploded outward from Inosuke.
The peach trees instantly frosted over. Petals froze midair—then shattered.
Before their horrified eyes, Inosuke's appearance changed drastically.
The black-blue tips of his hair faded rapidly into moonlit silver, faint crimson flames dancing at the ends.
Two bewitching ice-lotus patterns slowly emerged on his forehead.
Extreme cold and extreme heat—
that presence… stronger than anyone present, more terrifying than any demon Kaigaku had ever seen!
"So cold… yet so scorching…"
Tanjiro staggered back several steps under the pressure.
"Inosuke looks like he did on Mount Natagumo…"
"D-demon…?!"
Kaigaku collapsed onto the ground, shaking violently as he stared at the monster before him.
Wasn't he Tei-rank?
This was clearly a demon wearing human skin!
Inosuke seized Kaigaku by the throat.
"You said earlier… only demons are eternal?"
He leaned in close. Those seven-colored, glass-like eyes fixed on Kaigaku as he smiled—
a merciless, mocking smile identical to Doma's.
"Then look at me now.
Am I human… or demon?"
"L-let go…!"
Kaigaku struggled desperately. His instincts screamed that resistance meant death.
"Listen carefully, trash."
Inosuke's voice was no longer youthful—it carried an eerie, hollow echo.
"The one who stepped on your head earlier—that was the human me.
The one standing before you now—is the demon me."
"Human or demon—
a coward who only bullies the weak like you will always be the bug beneath my foot."
BAM!
Inosuke slammed Kaigaku into the ground and drove a fist into his abdomen.
"URGH—!"
Kaigaku vomited bile in huge gulps, curling up like a shrimp, tears and snot streaming down his face.
Inosuke crouched, grabbed his hair, and forced him to stare into those seven-colored demon eyes.
"Remember this."
He whispered into Kaigaku's ear, his tone gentle enough to send chills down the spine.
"Don't ever think about seeking power by becoming a demon."
"Because…"
"My dad is Upper Rank Two."
Kaigaku's pupils convulsed violently. His heart nearly stopped.
Upper Rank… Two?!
"If you ever dare become a demon—
I won't show anyone mercy.
I'll personally send you to hell."
Inosuke released him with clear disgust.
Silver hair faded. Crimson flames vanished. Demonization ended.
He returned to being the same arrogant youth, dusting off his hands. Turning back to the completely petrified crowd, he flashed a bright, carefree grin.
"A disobedient senior brother like this—
one beating is enough."
"From now on,"
he declared cheerfully,
"I'll be the one supervising your senior brother."
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