Crossover Anime: Starting with Bankai from Demon Slayer

"Promise me you won't hurt him, okay?"

It's that woman's voice again...

"Of course not, sister. This isn't about harming him... it's all for..."

Who? Such a sticky, chilling voice... What are they saying...?

Am I dreaming again...?

Since freeing himself from the name of the raccoon, Asuka felt that many things had started to change.

The demons' attacks began to slow down in his eyes, and the state of those around him became easier for him to perceive with his spiritual pressure, allowing him to more intuitively judge their next move.

Most importantly, he started dreaming, very long dreams.

When you're making a living on the streets, sleep is a luxury.

Always be vigilant and on guard to avoid being attacked when you are most vulnerable.

For fourteen years, he had hardly had a good night's sleep, often waking up in a start after falling into a light sleep. This only improved during his two years in Hayama.

And now, he has started to dream frequently.

He would dream of a boy wearing a straw hat with arms that could stretch infinitely, and he would also dream of a blond ninja wearing a headband and holding a blue spirit ball in his hand.

These dreams had no pattern or origin; they were like real people and events that appeared out of thin air in his mind.

The one that appears most often is a woman.

The woman's face was obscured; all that could be seen was her long, dark green hair draped over her shoulders, a loose light green kimono, and the fact that she was constantly holding a baby and crying.

The bird turned its neck, which had no body, and looked around in a daze.

The room features a classic wall painted with pine trees, exquisitely made tatami mats, and a subtle aroma of incense.

This feels so familiar...

"But I know... the other children, they're all dead, aren't they...?"

The woman suddenly trembled and whispered to the misty figure before her:

"I don't want to concern myself with your ambitions... but you absolutely cannot interfere with this child..."

"Sister, please stop this nonsense." The figure spoke coldly, "This child wasn't yours to begin with. Even overflowing maternal love has its limits..."

The man reached out and roughly grabbed the baby's swaddling clothes, causing the baby to cry.

As the crying came, the bird felt a splitting headache, and the whole world began to collapse.

The next second, the Japanese-style room shattered, and he plummeted as if into an abyss, crashing deeper and deeper into darkness...

boom!

After an unknown amount of time, the bird felt itself fall onto a soft, fluffy cloud and groggily got up.

The space here was much larger, and dazzling light shone everywhere, so bright that he couldn't open his eyes.

Amidst all the brilliance, he vaguely saw a familiar face.

Isn't that Shinobu Kocho-senpai...?

"Sister! Don't go! Sister!!"

Shinobu's voice trembled, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, falling drop by drop onto the pale cheeks of the woman in her arms.

The woman looked very much like Shinobu Kocho, and also wore a butterfly-shaped hairpin. She was so weak that she could barely speak, and she couldn't stop crying.

"Shinobu...please leave the Demon Slayer Corps..."

"I hope...you can be as happy as any other girl...I hope you live a long and healthy life, until your hair turns white..."

"don't want!!"

Shinobu screamed and grabbed the other's cold hand, tears streaming down her face as her emotions surged.

"I will never back down! I must avenge my sister!"

"Big sister! What kind of demon has attacked you?! I will never let him get away with this!!"

"...That was a...ghost...with double fans...that looked like it had been doused with blood on its head..."

The woman's voice grew weaker and weaker until she finally managed to squeeze out the words with almost all her might.

After she uttered her last word, her arm fell limply to her side, and she lost all vitality.

"elder sister!!!"

Shinobu buried her face in the other's neck, her shoulders trembling violently, causing the entire Asuka's mental space to shake.

Who is this? Is she Ninja-senpai's older sister? Why would I dream of this scene?

Is this the root of her inner anger? That overwhelming hatred for evil spirits would deeply move even an ordinary person.

Suddenly, Shinobu Kocho, who was holding the corpse and crying, raised her head and looked at Asuka with her red eyes, which were covered in tears but still held a gentle smile.

"Are you alright, Mr. Asuka?"

Huh? Asuka felt a twitch in her consciousness, and the world of her dream began to distort.

Shinobu's voice echoed continuously in the spiritual world, growing louder and clearer...

"Well--!!"

Just as the sound was making her dizzy, the bird suddenly opened her eyes, gasped, and sprang up.

"Allah!"

At the same time, the lithe figure gracefully leaped backward, dodging the bird's suddenly bobbing head.

Turning her head in surprise, Asuka discovered that Shinobu Kocho was actually in her room.

"It's already noon, Mr. Asuka." She said with a smile, "I noticed you hadn't come to cultivate, so I came to check on you. It really is a nightmare."

Cultivation... Oh, right.

Seven days have passed since the meeting of the Sun Pillars.

He stayed at the Butterfly House for those seven days.

For the first three days, I trained in movement techniques with Shinobu Kocho, and for the next three days, I went to Muichiro Tokito to train in swordsmanship and sparring.

He originally wanted to spend a day learning Flame Breathing, but Shinobu Kocho felt that such high-intensity Pillar-level training was enough, and it was more important to leave a day to recuperate.

"Sorry... I startled you." Asuka wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, feeling apologetic for her lapse in composure.

If Shinobu hadn't reacted quickly, she probably would have been hit.

Shinobu Kocho didn't seem to care, but she spoke with some concern: "Mr. Asuka's nightmares are getting longer and longer, which isn't a good sign. Is it because the training is too strenuous?"

Because Tanjiro and the other Demon Slayers who were seriously injured at Spider Mountain were receiving treatment at the Butterfly Mansion, Shinobu Kocho also worked at the Butterfly Mansion during this period and did not go out on field missions.

During this period, besides looking after the children who were cultivating the [Complete Collection - Normal] while asleep, she also paid extra attention to the situation of the birds at night.

As she said, Feiniao has been having nightmares for longer periods of time lately.

At first it was just brief sleep talking, but now it's gotten so bad that I need to be woken up by external force.

"It's okay, it'll be fine in a while."

Asuka looked at Shinobu Kocho, who was smiling, and couldn't reconcile her image with that of the girl screaming in her dream.

He adjusted his collar: "Thank you... Senior Ninja, we can begin training now."

"Are you really okay?" Shinobu Kocho looked suspiciously at the still throbbing veins on Asuka's forehead and sighed inwardly.

She had learned a little about Asuka's past from the lord:

A homeless boy believed to possess natural breathing abilities, capable of fighting demons with just a broken sword... After being taken in by the Hayama Training Center, he trains and grows stronger with several times, even dozens of times, the effort of an ordinary person...

What obsession was driving him to fight so desperately...?

A moment later, Asuka had changed into her training clothes and stood in the field, holding a wooden sword.

Dozens of green bamboo stalks intertwined at an angle, each with a copper bell tied to it, and scattered copper coins on the ground.

His training was very simple:

While weaving through the green bamboo, dodging the copper bells, we also picked up the copper coins scattered on the ground.

During this time, Shinobu Kocho will continuously throw stones around to interfere with Asuka's movements.

If you get hit, you have to start all over again.

During training, Shinobu Kocho would not hold back, and every hit would leave Asuka with a bruise, which was also to strengthen Asuka's sense of danger.

"I hope I won't get hurt too badly today, Mr. Asuka." Shinobu Kocho smiled, tossing pebbles with her hand, and looked in Asuka's direction with a hint of worry.

"It's okay, give it your all."

In the corridor not far away, besides the female members of the Butterfly Mansion and the young swordswoman Asuka had met that day, three noisy figures were sitting and looking in his direction:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Asuka!!"

"Huh? Another training session?! Do we have to do that kind of tough training every week?"

"Hmph! That Toritarou over there! I want to join the training too!!"