"You... you bastards~" Nightmare screeched, coming to a halt.
The train had already slowed down, not only slowed but its rear end was rapidly tumbling off the tracks, intending to use the powerful impact to crush them.
Because, with the passengers gone, the Flame Hashira, Uchiha Nagi, and their group had begun to rapidly search for its neck, heading towards the front of the train where its neck was located...
"You... you all deserve to die! Blood Demon Art—Forced Unconscious Slumber: Hypnotic Whisper!"
In an instant, a massive number of eyes sprouted all over the train, each eye beginning to emit a vast wave of illusionary power.
However, even though Flame Hashira Rengoku Kyojuro fell for it, several people remained completely unaffected and continued to charge forward.
One was Zenitsu, snoring with his eyes closed. Another was Inosuke, wearing his boar-head mask. And the last was Uchiha Nagi, who had activated his Mangekyo Sharingan.
"How is this possible?! Why, why are you all unaffected?" Nightmare looked at the few in terror, and also at Tanjiro and Rengoku Kyojuro, who, even if they fell into the dream world, would shake it off and immediately awaken.
"No, it's not that they're unaffected, but rather..."
Nightmare understood. Tanjiro and Rengoku Kyojuro, upon entering the dream world, would immediately kill themselves within it and then return to the real world.
"If that's the case, then I'll use an even stronger technique!"
[Blood Demon Art: Forced Unconscious Slumber—Dream Eyes!]
An even more powerful illusionary technique arrived. This time, it was the same again; after a brief moment of unconsciousness, everyone quickly awoke.
At this moment, the train began to detach from the head, the carriages splitting off one by one to obstruct Uchiha Nagi and his group's advance. The locomotive began to accelerate, leaving the tail end behind.
"Sacrificing the tail to survive. He's trying to escape," Uchiha Nagi narrowed his eyes.
"Tanjiro, Rengoku-san, I'll send you over—"
Tanjiro and Flame Hashira Rengoku Kyojuro nodded. "Alright." "+2"
Immediately, two giant skeletal hands appeared—the Susanoo—gripping Flame Hashira Rengoku Kyojuro and Tanjiro, then tossing them forward.
"Hinokami Kagura, Second Form: Clear Blue Sky!"
"Flame Breathing, Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun!"
Two powerful arcs of flaming sword light flashed from the sky, striking directly at the connection point of the locomotive. Lower Moon One, Nightmare, trying to escape, had its neck thoroughly severed by the Nichirin blades.
Immediately, intense screams and violent shaking erupted. All the carriages tumbled and derailed. The group hurriedly leaped off the train.
"Finally, dealt with him~" Uchiha Nagi also breathed a sigh of relief. The opponent's illusionary technique was so powerful that even his Mangekyo Sharingan had struggled to resist it.
Thinking about it, to be able to trap hundreds of people, including someone of the Flame Hashira's caliber, in a dream... even Itachi, using Tsukuyomi until his eyes went blind, couldn't achieve that.
"Hey, hey, Tanpachiro, pull yourself together! Are you alright~" The voice of the little boar, Inosuke, came from the side.
Uchiha Nagi looked over. Tanjiro had been stabbed in the stomach. The one who stabbed him was the train conductor, evidently brainwashed by Nightmare beyond saving.
When they cut off Nightmare's neck, Tanjiro had saved him. And what did he do in return? He blamed Tanjiro for killing Nightmare, preventing him from having his sweet dreams, and directly stabbed Tanjiro...
Just as Uchiha Nagi was about to give that train conductor a taste of his own medicine, Tanjiro struggled up and shouted, "Wait, Nagi-nii, don't kill him! He's just an ordinary person deluded by Nightmare! He's innocent..."
Uchiha Nagi chuckled. "Whatever you say. Since you don't blame him, what can I say?"
Uchiha Nagi didn't insist. It wasn't him who got stabbed, anyway.
At this moment, Rengoku Kyojuro walked over and examined Tanjiro's wound.
"It seems you've already mastered Total Concentration: Constant. Not bad," Rengoku Kyojuro said with a smile.
"'Constant' is the first step towards becoming a Hashira. Though there are still ten thousand steps after that."
"Concentrate. Extend your control to every corner of your body, control your blood vessels, those ruptured blood vessels~"
Rengoku Kyojuro began to guide him, pressing his fingers between Tanjiro's eyebrows.
"Focus your mind~ And then, stop the bleeding."
A miraculous scene occurred. Tanjiro, who had been bleeding, saw the wound on his abdomen heal itself. Uchiha Nagi didn't even need to help with treatment.
"Hah... hah... I did it... Thank you, Rengoku-san," Tanjiro panted heavily.
"By mastering your Breathing Style to its utmost, you can achieve all sorts of things! It's wonderful that everyone is alright~ Hahahaha~~" Rengoku Kyojuro stood up and laughed heartily.
"It's a bit too early to say that..." Uchiha Nagi said.
"Hmm!?" Rengoku Kyojuro was puzzled, then suddenly sensed something was wrong.
Sometime, unbeknownst to them, a well-built, red-haired man with perfectly defined muscles was smiling, half-crouching not far away, watching them.
What was even more chilling were the characters in his eyes.
[Upper Moon. Three]
"Such a powerful scent is... a new enemy? Hiss, it hurts! Damn it!!" Tanjiro tried to get up but accidentally touched his wound, his face turning pale with pain.
Strong...Very strong...
BOOM!
A loud explosion erupted from the ground where he stood, as he kicked off and shot towards Tanjiro with incredible speed.
A heavy punch descended directly towards Tanjiro's head. This speed and power were almost at their absolute limit.
[Can't keep up.]
One glance and Uchiha Nagi knew he couldn't match the opponent's speed. It was like Sasuke facing the Raikage; against someone who had pushed their taijutsu to its peak, with speed and power maxed out, even the Mangekyo Sharingan was helpless.
Although his Mangekyo vision could follow the opponent's speed, his own physical body hadn't been tempered to that level; his speed and strength simply couldn't keep up.
However, prediction was possible. And yet, there was one person who could keep up—the Flame Hashira beside him.
"Flame Breathing, Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun!"
A blade of flame flashed, aimed precisely at the hand about to strike Tanjiro.
And Uchiha Nagi wouldn't just sit idly by. Before the opponent even arrived, he had already initiated his Breathing Style.
"Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel!"
Water Wheel: a vertical rotation of the body, slashing towards the opponent's neck. It coordinated perfectly with the Flame Hashira's Flame Breathing, Second Form—one to save, one to kill.
BOOM!!
After a cloud of dust settled, Upper Moon Three had successfully leaped back to his original position, smiling as he looked at the two in front of him.
One of his hands had been split in two from the fist downwards by the Flame Hashira but wasn't completely severed. His other hand had a fist cut off by Uchiha Nagi, and there was also a shallow bloody gash on his neck.
Just as Uchiha Nagi had slashed at his neck, the opponent had extended a fist to block. The Second Form: Water Wheel had severed his fist, but when it reached his neck, it was blocked by incredibly tough, steel-like skin, ultimately leaving only a shallow wound.
"I am Akaza, Upper Moon Three."