Priceless Smile 2

Chapter 20: Defeat

Sanemi and Giyu used their breathing to stop the bleeding. Yuichiro and Muichiro then woke up now too as they hold their swords. Kazumi then dashed forward as she attempted to slash Shinobu but Kanae covered her making Kazumi slash Kanae instead.

"Nee-san!" Shinobu exclaimed as she saw Kanae's blood splatter.

Right after that, the vines connected on Kanae's nape slashed Kazumi's eyes as she backed away a little to regenerate. Gyomei moved his iron ball again as Kazumi dodged it by jumping up. While she's in mid-air, Shinobu and Giyu took the opportunity to attack her.

"Insect Breathing, Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter!"

"Water Breathing, seventh form: Piercing Rain Drop."

The two dashed forward as they leapt up. Shinobu sent a single thrust attack with an incredible speed aimed at her abdomen as Giyu also sent a fast and accurate stab aimed at her neck. Kazumi then twisted her body as she grab Giyu's sword and pull it making it hit Shinobu. Because of this, Shinobu has to defend herself, the both of them missing the chance to stab her with their swords.

"Sound Breathing, fourth form: Constant Resounding Slashes!"

Tengen held his swords apart by the chain as he spins them rapidly in conjunction while releasing his bombs making his attack both as an offense and defense. As the bombs cause smokes and dusts to rise, Mitsuri leapt up above her and Obanai came from behind.

"Love Breathing, third form: Catlove Shower!"

"Serpent Breathing, second form: Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head."

Mitsuri released a series of ranged arc slashes while she's above Kazumi. Obanai dashed behind her in a blinding speed as he send his sword to her neck to lop it off. Kazumi just smirked as her blood that dropped on the ground from Tengen's attack turned into spikes again and stabbed Obanai's right arm stopping him. She then grabbed the tip of one of the spikes breaking it as she threw it towards Mitsuri that hit her left shoulder.

"Kanroji-san!" Obanai exclaimed as he catch her from falling.
"Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you for catching me." Mitsuri answered as she stood up immediately.

Right after that, the dusts subsided down as everyone of them were met by a wave of spikes from under the ground.

Tengen received a stab that went through his left foot before he could even jump away to dodge more. Kyojuro received a stab on the left side of his stomach as he also jumped away preventing the spike to go deeper. Shinobu then received a slight scratch on her right cheek and left thigh. Mitsuri's sword and Gyomei's iron ball then broke the other spikes preventing more injuries for the others. As Gyomei does this, Kazumi then appeared in front of him using her right hand to give him a clean slash across his chest but Sanemi cut it.

"Not bad." She said as she jump away.
"How about this?"

Instead of her right arm fully regenerating, it turned into a long double-bladed whip. She then moved her right arm as she nearly beheaded Tanjiro if not for Nezuko pushing him down from the back. She moved it again as the Pillars deflected it with their swords.

'Now a whip. How many more is she going to use?'
Muichiro thought as he deflected the whip coming towards him.

'I nearly lost my head there.... Thanks to Nezuko pushing me down.... She really is going to kill us.'
Tanjiro thought as he touch his neck.

Tanjiro then stood up again as he dashed forward to send an attack. Kazumi then looked at him with her covered eyes as she smirk, as Tanjiro took another step, a spike emerged out of the ground again directed at him. Because of this, Nezuko pushed him away and got herself stabbed instead. The spike that stabbed her lifted her up from the ground as Kazumi summoned more to stab her. The pain made Nezuko pass out as the new spikes stabbed through her righ chest, left shoulder, thighs, arms, and her neck.

"NEZUKO!!!" Tanjiro screamed seeing his sister.

'I must do something! I should do something! None of us could even get near her!'
Tanjiro frantically thought as he held his sword tighter and looked at Kazumi.

"THIS IS NO TIME FOR ZONING OUT!" Obanai yelled at him as he slash another spike aimed right in front of Tanjiro's face.

Kazumi then split her whip into two as it sliced towards Kyojuro nearly cutting him in half from the torso but he tripped from a tree root making him fall down saving him. The other one sliced towards Mitsuri that she barely dodged it as it hit her left thigh giving her a deep slash making her cry in pain. The twins then dashed towards her together with Giyu, Sanemi, Obanai, Tanjiro, and Shinobu fully surrounding her. As her whips attempted to slash them, Kanae used her vines from her nape and her palms to cut them together with Gyomei and Tengen. Spikes then emerged out of the ground again as Giyu moved his sword.

"Water Breathing, third form: Flowing Dance."

He swung his blade in a way that mimics the movement of waves as he cut the spikes down together with Obanai whose sword also moved like that of a slithering snake.

"Hinokami Kagura: Burning Bones, Summer Sun!"

Tanjiro made a circular slash as he cut down the whip coming in front of him.

"Mist Breathing, second form: Eight Layered Mist."

As their surrounding got enveloped in mist, Muichiro released multiple slashes on top of one another slashing the spikes.

"Mist Breathing, fifth form: Sea of Clouds and Haze."

Yuichiro then charged forward too at high speed as he unleashed a flurry of slashes alongside the slashes Muichiro made as they break the spikes and cut her whip. As her whip and spikes got cut down, Gyomei moved.

"Stone Breathing, first form: Serpentinite Bipolar."

He threw both his iron ball and axe towards Kazumi as he manipulated the chain by rotating it causing the iron ball and the axe to rotate too, as his attack reached her, it hit the right side of her body crushing it. As she attempted to jump away, Sanemi stopped her by stabbing her right thigh making his blade pass through and reach the ground.

"Flame Breathing, first form: Unknowing Fire!"

Kyojuro then attacked from her left sending her multiple burning slashes. His attack manage to cut her left arm from the shoulder which she used to defend herself. Because of this, the spikes holding Nezuko cracked a little too in which Kanae managed to break as she catch Nezuko who started regenerating while still unconscious.

'Make it reach her! Don't hesitate! Don't hold back!'
Tanjiro exclaimed in his mind as he step on Giyu's back to send an attack towards Kazumi.

"Hinokami Kagura: Dance!"

Tanjiro release a single vertical slash with his sword that got wrapped up with red flames and slice Kazumi's neck. But his sword stopped midway as he struggles to move it.

"Insect Breathing, Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon!"

Shinobu sent a six-strike-based attack on Kazumi as she inject the six different parts of her body with poison. Tanjiro's sword then moved a little as Giyu also helped him by holding Tanjiro's hands with his right. The blade successfully passed through her neck cutting her as her head flew away before landing on the ground. As her head land on the ground, they all saw her rank, 'upper one'. As this happen, her body fell on her knees while they're still around her.

"Great.... seems like holding back a little isn't that bad at all."