For the three young ones, their current situation left them with only one choice: retreat and find Horitake to save their lives. They were truly at the end of their ropes; this was an enemy they simply could not handle.
Yae, who was darting left and right to dodge the relentlessly rolling Tsunanami, felt a bitter sense of frustration. However, she had no other countermeasure. She could only grit her teeth and agree to Zenitsu's proposal.
With a tacit understanding, the three of them clustered together and began a desperate dash toward the edge of the forest.
Behind them, the rapidly spinning Tsunanami maintained a terrifying momentum, as if he intended to crush and destroy everything in his path. He thundered after the trio, crashing through obstacles with reckless abandon.
Outside the forest, by a roadside campfire, Horitake had been observing the battle from a distance.
At first, he could see the details quite clearly, but once they vanished into the thicket, his vision was obscured. However, the commotion coming from the woods was anything but quiet.
Watching from afar, Horitake noticed that initially, trees were simply falling one by one. But as time went on, the trees were being shattered and sent flying into the air.
Looking at the broken trunks soaring into the sky, Horitake muttered with a hint of curiosity, "Such a huge disturbance? What's happening in there? Hmm, they're getting closer. Are they coming out?"
Just as Horitake suspected, the panicked trio burst out from the tree line.
Hardly a second after they emerged, the massive, rolling ball of flesh that was Tsunanami smashed through several more trees. With a horrifying aura, he barreled out of the forest, continuing his relentless pursuit.
Observing the rapidly spinning Tsunanami, Horitake expressed a bit of surprise. "That fat guy can do that? This rolling technique is actually quite interesting. Not only does it provide incredible speed, but it also enhances his defense and killing power. Wait... why does this move look so much like the Akimichi clan's Human Bullet Tank?"
Indeed, the moment Horitake saw Tsunanami in his rolling state, his first thought was of Choji Akimichi's signature move from Naruto. The resemblance was uncanny.
While he was lost in thought, the trio came charging toward him in a frantic blur. The terror on their faces was palpable—they looked like people screaming for their lives without saying a word.
From their expressions, Horitake understood that they were truly out of options.
Ah, well, he thought. He is one of the Twelve Kizuki, after all. For these three fledglings to fight a demon of this caliber to this extent has already exceeded my expectations. To have held out until now is quite impressive.
Nezuko, who had been standing by Horitake's side, was growing anxious.
Seeing her brother being hunted, she stomped her feet in a worried, frantic rhythm. She then gave Horitake a firm push, signaling him to hurry up and save her brother.
"Alright, alright, stop pushing. I'm not going to just stand by and watch," Horitake reassured her. "Nezuko, you stay here and wait patiently. Watch how I sent this big idiot flying."
The moment the words left his lips, Horitake vanished from Nezuko's side.
With a flash of purple lightning, he reappeared directly behind the fleeing trio, standing face-to-face with the oncoming Tsunanami. He stood there with an air of absolute authority, like a lone guardian holding an impregnable pass.
The fleeing trio skidded to a halt. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Yae turned back to look at Horitake. Seeing him standing calmly in their path, they couldn't help but feel a surge of nervous tension.
Can he handle this? He has to be able to handle this, right?
Since they weren't entirely sure of the full extent of Horitake's current strength, a certain level of apprehension lingered in their hearts.
However, what happened next shattered their understanding of the world!
Horitake remained stationary. He lowered his center of gravity, dropping into a horse stance that made his body as solid as a mountain, rooted firmly into the earth.
Facing the incoming, high-speed collision of Tsunanami, Horitake made no complex movements. He simply thrust his right hand forward in a sudden, powerful palm strike to intercept the demon!
BOOM!
A deafening explosion echoed through the clearing. A massive cloud of dust billowed into the sky, and the resulting shockwave turned into a violent gale that swept across the surroundings.
Tsunanami's strength in his high-speed rolling state was indeed immense. Although Horitake blocked it with a single hand without so much as a change in expression, his feet were still forced back, plowing two long, deep furrows into the ground.
Finally, Horitake came to a dead stop. With just one hand, he had completely halted the momentum of the rampaging, rolling demon!
Because he was blocked so forcefully, Tsunanami could no longer move forward, and thus, he could no longer spin.
The obese demon now sat somewhat pathetically in front of Horitake. Horitake's hand was pressed firmly against Tsunanami's massive belly, preventing the demon from moving a single inch forward.
To have such a massive frame, such heavy tonnage, and such immense power stopped by a single, plain-looking hand... Tsunanami felt a surge of humiliated rage.
He raised an arm several times thicker than a ham hock and swung it down viciously toward Horitake, intending to crush the "little person" before him into a puddle of gore!
Horitake was unhurried. He raised his left arm, swatting away Tsunanami's descending elbow with a casual flick. Then, his left palm shot upward like a bolt of lightning, slamming heavily into Tsunanami's chin with a resonant thud.
The strike was sharp and swift—impossible to dodge. With a sickening crack, the demon's jaw was pulverized. Simultaneously, the sheer force of the blow snapped his cervical spine.
Yet, this was merely the appetizer. The main course was yet to come!
Horitake took a calm, deep breath. Heavenly Thunder Breathing, activated.
Dazzling arcs of purple electricity began to gallop across the surface of Horitake's body. This lightning then converged all at once into his right hand. Carrying the weight of a surging thunderstorm, Horitake unleashed a devastating palm strike!
The blow landed with the force of a crashing tsunami, slamming directly into Tsunanami's bloated stomach.
Because the demon's belly was composed entirely of flab, Horitake's palm strike actually sent visible ripples through the layers of fat!
The demon, weighing several hundred—nearly a thousand—pounds, was utterly incapable of withstanding the terrifying power of Horitake's strike. Despite his massive size and weight, he was sent airborne!
Yes, he was literally swatted into the sky!
Tsunanami, whose broken neck had not yet begun to regenerate, felt the horrifying power erupting from his gut. As he felt himself being launched into the air, his face twisted into an expression of pure, unadulterated terror!
And so, with that look of horror, the massive demon flew through the air in a high arc before crashing violently into the distant ground. The impact was so great that it caused the earth to fracture over a wide area.
Behind Horitake, the three young ones were stunned silent.
The terrifying enemy they had been helpless against was completely outmatched by Horitake. He had swatted the demon away as if he were nothing more than a nuisance!
How was this possible? They knew exactly how heavy that fat demon was. To be able to launch such weight with a single blow... that kind of strength was simply terrifying!
On the other side of the clearing, a dazed and disoriented Tsunanami struggled to crawl back up.
In the very center of his belly, a distinct, scorched handprint had appeared.
There was no doubt—that charred mark was the result of Horitake's palm strike.
Combined with the inherent property of Heavenly Thunder Breathing to suppress demons, this handprint was something Tsunanami could not regenerate.
Not only was the external mark permanent, but the catastrophic internal damage caused by that single strike was also beyond his ability to heal.
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