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The viewing screen lit up.
"Hey, that's enough already! Even as a prank, this is way over the line—let them go! Put down Genya and Nezuko-chan right now!"
Mitsuri Kanroji, the Love Hashira, shouted furiously, cheeks puffed up in indignation.
"Silence, you harpy. In this world, the only one who has the right to command me… is him."
Zohakuten's voice was cold and cutting.
"...Harpy?"
Mitsuri froze on the spot.
"M-Me? Are you talking about me? Unbelievable! How could that boy say something like that? He looks about the same age as my little brother! Wait—no, right, demons don't age normally… but still! That's way too much!"
Across the multiverse, countless viewers were practically melting.
"Mitsuri-chan is too cute!""Her moves are adorable!""Even when she's angry she's adorable!""I-I'm gonna die of moe overload!!!"
"Raging Roar of Thunder!!!"
The sudden double detonation of sound and lightning snapped everyone out of their daydreams.
At that moment, Mitsuri charged in.
Breath of Love, Third Form: Cat-Loving Shower!
Clang!Shing!
She cleaved through thunder and sound alike, slicing the attacks to pieces.
"I've had enough! I don't care if you look like a kid—I won't forgive you!"
She leveled her blade straight at Zohakuten.
Breath of Love, Second Form: Swaying Love, Wildclaw!Breath of Love, Sixth Form: Catfoot Wind of Love!Breath of Love, Fifth Form: Swaying Chaos of Love!
She threw everything she had into her strikes, cutting down one wooden dragon after another. Finally, she reached him and wrapped her flexible blade around his head.
But in the next instant—
Zohakuten's jaws gaped wide.
"Crushing Roar!!!"
The sound wave erupted point-blank, detonating in her face.
An ordinary person's body would've been torn apart on the spot.
Only because Mitsuri's muscles were denser than any normal human's could she endure it with her own flesh and blood. Even so, her body stiffened from the shock, unable to move.
And the next strike was already coming—
At the last possible moment, Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya leapt in, grabbing the unconscious Mitsuri and sprinting away.
"Wooooahhh!!""Nice save, Tanjiro!""Genya too—for once you actually did something useful!""Thank goodness! Mitsuri-chan's safe!"
People across worlds let out a breath of relief.
Mitsuri's eyes fluttered open. "Everyone… thank you. And I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be a Hashira, but I messed up… But I won't ever let my friends die! The Demon Slayer Corps is my precious home. I don't care if you're Upper Rank or whatever—I'll never lose to evil! Get ready, because this time I'm giving it everything I've got!"
She gripped her sword tight, fire blazing in her eyes.
"I'll protect everyone!"
Faster—Faster!Even faster!
Her heartbeat thundered, her body temperature soaring under the surge of emotion.
And then, on her exposed chest, two faint heart-shaped marks slowly surfaced.
"She awakened it… that girl has the Mark too."
In the world of One Piece, Shanks arched a brow.
"Boss, you're not Beckman—stop staring at her chest like that," Lucky Roo teased with a smirk.
In a single line, he managed to offend both captain and first mate. Lucky for him, being an old crewmember kept him from getting kicked off the ship.
"So Mitsuri's awakened her Mark, huh? That means she can hold that brat of a demon back. All that's left is for Kamado and the others to finish off the real body."
Rengoku's eyes burned with conviction.
"Can I… really hold him off?" Mitsuri muttered nervously, fingers twisting around her hilt.
"You can. I know you can," Iguro Obanai said firmly, nodding with all his heart.
Meanwhile, in the shinobi world…
"Good thing that isn't Grandfather's Wood Dragon Technique. If it were, even ten—or a hundred—little girls like her wouldn't be able to stop it."
Fifth Hokage Tsunade crossed her arms, relieved.
Mitsuri, with her stripes awakened, clashed with Zohakuten in a grueling war of endurance.
But against a demon, stamina was always a losing game—even a Marked Hashira couldn't outlast them.
The real outcome of this battle rested with Tanjiro and his friends, chasing after Hantengu's true body.
They knew it too, and so they pushed themselves past the limit.
Genya even resorted to biting through tree trunks, making onlookers across worlds shake their heads in disbelief.
"Man, these kids' teeth are insane."
The desperate chase continued.
"Damn it, how can something so small run so fast?!" Sanji fumed, practically willing to lend Tanjiro his legs. "Every second that little brat lives, Mitsuri-chan's in more danger!"
"No good! I can't keep up!" Kazuma from Konosuba pulled at his hair. "How can such a tiny thing run like that?!"
"Wendy! Buff them, speed 'em up!" Natsu barked.
"I-I can't! It's out of my range!" the little Sky Dragon Slayer whined helplessly.
"Come on, Tanjiro! Faster!!""He's right there—just one last step!!""Losing just because you couldn't catch him would be the lamest thing ever!"
"ZA WARUDO!!!" someone screamed from the peanut gallery.
On the viewing screen, Tanjiro finally answered their cries.
He remembered Zenitsu's words—concentrated everything into his legs—then burst forward like thunder, lightning crackling at his heels.
In a flash, he caught up. His flame-wreathed blade fell toward the tiny demon.
But at the very last second—
The mouse-sized Hantengu suddenly expanded, swelling into a hulking brute that swung back at him.
Just when it seemed Tanjiro was finished, Nezuko and Genya rushed in, blocking the counterattack.
Yet the fleeing clone still managed to drag both Tanjiro and Nezuko over a cliff.
His sword was stuck in the demon's neck, his body at the limit, hands bare.
Another crisis.
And then—at the critical moment—
From above, Tokito Muichiro, on the verge of collapse, hurled Yoriichi's blade down to Tanjiro.
With his last strength, Tanjiro seized it.
Total Concentration—Dance of the Fire God: Flame Dance Flash!!!
CLANG!
Hantengu's head flew.
"Uooooohhhhhh!!"
The multiverse erupted in cheers.
But then, just as quickly, the celebrations died.
Because even with his head severed—Hantengu still wasn't dead.
And also… because…
The sun was rising.
"..."
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