Reincarnation as Lower Rank Five in Demon Slayer

In the quiet of the night, in the silent forest, two cautious figures moved about. One was in front of the other, each carrying their own Nichirin Blade and Samurai Sword.

Li Lei, who was walking behind, suddenly asked, "Was it you who killed the evil spirit in the town before I came here?"

"You mean the Mist Demon in Wood Forest Village three days ago? Yes, I killed it. I also learned from it that there was another evil demon in this forest, so I came here specifically to hunt it down."

"You're asking this because the Mist Demon ate one of your relatives?" Tanaka Naoki asked, puzzled.

Li Lei said, "No, not at all."

"Then why did you ask me?" Naoki Tanaka was speechless.

"Isn't it out of curiosity?" Li Lei said with a happy expression.

"Then is it difficult for you to kill the Mist Demon?" Li Lei asked again.

Hearing Li Lei's question again, Tanaka Naoki looked utterly helpless. If he didn't answer, this kid would definitely keep asking. How annoying!

Having no other choice, Naoki Tanaka thought for a moment and said, "The Mist Demon has a Blood Demon Art that can create mist. Its mist can make people lose their way. If the Mist Demon is not killed, even I wouldn't be able to escape."

"However, the weakness of the Mist Demon is obvious: he cannot leave the mist he creates, otherwise the mist will disappear."

"He himself is only slightly stronger than an ordinary ghost. He would be 100% successful in dealing with ordinary people."

"However! The success rate of ghost hunters killing ordinary people is already very high, so his Blood Demon Technique is the same for ghosts whether he has it or not."

Li Lei's heart was bleeding at this moment, and he thought to himself:

"My Blood Demon Art of Mist! Your master arrived only a few days late, how could you be gone like this?"

At this moment, Naoki Tanaka's eyes suddenly turned serious: "Kid, be careful, we've reached the depths of the forest, and evil spirits may appear at any time to ambush us."

"Don't worry, Tree Planter! We have two people and two knives. Dealing with a mere evil spirit is a piece of cake. There's nothing to worry about," Li Lei murmured.

"It's because of you that I'm worried. You've never seen a demon, so you don't know how powerful they are. In the dark, demons can't be killed except by decapitation with a Nichirin Blade."

"Some demons also possess powerful blood demon arts, and the upper and lower moons of the Twelve Demon Moons are beings that even the Pillars must deal with with extreme caution."

"What is a pillar?" Li Lei, who already knew, still asked, mainly to prevent Tanaka Naoki from becoming suspicious.

"A Pillar is formed by killing 50 demons on a single day or by killing the Lower Moon of one of the Twelve Demon Moons."

Naoki Tanaka replied.

"What about the upper winding?" Li Lei asked again.

Naoki Tanaka, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped. The veins on his right hand, which held the Nichirin Blade, bulged. His face was filled with both sorrow and anger, and a hoarse voice came from his mouth:

"I don't know! None of the Demon Slayer Corps members who encountered it, including the Pillars, survived."

"Our Demon Slayer Corps doesn't even have information on one of the Upper Moons? And my master, the previous Water Pillar, died while on a mission when he encountered an Upper Moon."

Li Lei said with pity, "Please accept my condolences. I did not know that raising the string would remind you of painful memories."

"Everything's alright now, let's focus on dealing with the evil spirits that might appear!"

Naoki Tanaka said calmly.

However, the trace of sadness in his eyes still reveals the importance of his master to Tanaka Naoki.

Li Lei thought to himself, "As expected, it still has some influence on Tanaka Naoki."

Suddenly, Li Lei sensed someone spying on him from the shadows. The spying had just begun, so the spy had just arrived.

Naoki Tanaka, still recovering from his grief, was unaware of this.

“A demon hunter and a boy, it seems I, Motohisa Furukawa, can have a good meal today! But I must deal with the demon hunter first, as his Nichirin Blade is a great threat to me, while the boy has a katana, which is not a threat.”

"What I need to do next is to destroy the Nichirin Blade that poses the greatest threat to me."

"Blood Demon Art - Weight Stacking!"

Motohisa Furukawa imbued the iron rod in his hand with Blood Demon Art, allowing the weight to be varied between light and heavy at will.

With a whoosh, Motohisa Furukawa immediately appeared in front of Naoki Tanaka and swung his iron bar out suddenly.

Just as he was about to strike the Nichirin Blade in Tanaka Naoki's hand, Li Lei instantly pushed Tanaka Naoki away and tried to block Furukawa Motohisa's attack with his katana. Suddenly, the character "重" (chóng, meaning heavy) appeared on the back of Furukawa Motohisa's hand with a loud thud.

The iron rod in Furukawa Motohisa's hand clashed with the samurai sword in Li Lei's hand. Li Lei felt the immense force from the samurai sword, and his palm immediately cracked. Li Lei was also sent flying by the powerful force.

Once he came to his senses, Tanaka Naoki instantly used the Breathing of Water - Type 1 (One) Horizontal Slash, and Tanaka Naoki's Nichirin Blade slashed out from the plane.

Just as it was about to strike the neck of the demon Furukawa Motohisa, the heavy character on the back of Furukawa Motohisa's hand instantly changed to light, and Furukawa Motohisa's speed instantly increased, dodging Tanaka Naoki's horizontal slash.

"The Breath of Water - The Flowing Dance of Form Three (Three)"

Tanaka Naoki then used his fastest technique, the San no Kata Ryuubu, moving like flowing water. His sword speed increased instantly as he slashed at the demon Furukawa Motohisa, but the demon dodged all of them.

Next, Naoki Tanaka and the demon fought rapidly in the forest. After a while...

The demon Furukawa Motohisa mocked Tanaka Naoki, saying, "I thought you were so strong! Turns out you only know two moves!"

"Now all I need to do is stall you and keep your stamina depleted until you can no longer use your sword skills. Then I can devour you."

"It's a pity that the boy got away. But—!"

The demon Furukawa Motohisa's face suddenly turned gloomy as he said:

“If he takes my Blood Demon Art head-on—weight stacking—his hand should be broken too. He can’t run far with his badly injured arm.”

"After I've dealt with you, I'll go catch him and eat him, so you can reunite inside my belly, okay? Hahaha."

Taunting laughter came incessantly from all directions as the demon moved.

Naoki Tanaka looked at the demon moving at high speed and muttered to himself, "Looks like I'm doomed today. I guess my talent is really bad. Kid! With your speed, you can definitely escape."

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of the high-speed moving demon, Furukawa Motohisa, in a flash. The newcomer was none other than Li Lei, who had been knocked away by him. Li Lei exerted force with both hands, and immediately swung his katana at Furukawa Motohisa.

Bang.

Furukawa Motohisa was knocked away in the same way by Li Lei, who looked at Tanaka Naoki beside him and said, "Ueki-kun! You're in a bad state right now!"

"Hey kid, why didn't you run away? Don't you know we can't beat this evil spirit right now? According to our agreement, you'd better run away right now!" Tanaka Naoki yelled at Li Lei.

"How will we know we can't beat them if we don't try?" Li Lei said, looking at the evil spirit without turning his head.

Furukawa Motohisa quickly turned back to the two people who were fighting against him and laughed loudly, "Hahahaha! It seems I can save some energy and send you two to your deaths in one go."

Li Lei and Tanaka Naoki exchanged a glance, gripping their sword hilts tightly, before simultaneously attacking Furukawa Motohisa. Furukawa Motohisa used his Blood Demon Art to lighten himself and increase his speed, dodging their attacks.

In the ensuing confrontation, Motohisa Furukawa used his speed advantage to keep up with Li Lei and Naoki Tanaka.

Time ticked by, and Tanaka Naoki was drenched in sweat, panting heavily. In contrast, Li Lei's breathing was steady and strong, as if he had just warmed up.

Tanaka Naoki thought to himself, "This kid's stamina is amazing! What a pity! Today he's going to die alongside someone like me with mediocre talent."

"Kid, I'll hold him off for now. Run if you can! It's not worth dying with me," Tanaka Naoki said to Li Lei.

Li Lei approached Tanaka Naoki from behind and calmly said, "You're overthinking it!"

"boom!"

Li Lei knocked Tanaka Naoki unconscious with a single chop and then used the Silk Thread Blood Demon Technique to wrap him into a 2-meter-high silk ball.

When Furukawa Motohisa witnessed this scene, he also sensed a ghostly aura emanating from Li Lei and asked in shock, "You—you're not human! You smelled like a human just now, but now you smell like a ghost!"

"Yes! I'm not human, I'm a ghost! And a very strong ghost at that."

Li Lei faced Furukawa Motohisa, his hands turning blood red, and his hair beginning to turn white from black. Just as Li Lei was about to make his move...

"and many more"

Furukawa Motohisa hurriedly said, "We're all demons, there's no need to fight over food. How about this? I'll give it to you, and you and I will go our separate ways."

Li Lei calmly looked at Furukawa Motohisa and said, "I finally encountered a demon with such strong blood demon magic as you, how can I let you leave?"

Furukawa Motohisa said with a gloomy expression, "Don't think that just because you can hide the aura of a demon, you are necessarily stronger than me."

Li Lei smiled, his eyes bloodshot, and said, "Yes! How will we know if we don't compare?"