As soon as Tanjiro and I got to where we had left out boxes I raced to my box and opened it, grabbing a few things before closing it and swinging it onto my back. Seeing Tanjiro gently put Nezuko into the box and then put it on his back after tying the strap together again. With a single glance we nodded at each other before heading back the way we came, we still had to help the others deal with those two demons.
With Uzui, Hikaru's POV still
Uzui was standing facing Gyutaro who had Daki on his shoulders after they had revealed themselves from the ball made from Daki's belts.
"Huh! This really pisses me off, you're good looking, you have three wives and on top of that you're full of swagger. You're different aren't you? You're not like the other Hashira I have killed, you must've been special since the day you were born. A chosen talent, right? That makes me so jealous! I need you to die as soon as possible!" Gyutaro said.
"Talent? He" Uzui scoffed with a smile.
"Do I look like someone with any talent? If someone like me gives that impression you really are living a blessed life" Uzui said.
"Huh?" Gyutaro questioned.
"You may be centuries old but if you've stayed shut up inside a place like this I guess you can't help being ignorant of the real world" Uzui continued.
"What do you know about it?" Daki demanded.
"I know, all right but you don't have a clue do you? See, this country is vast, it's teeming with people who'd blow your mind. Some are complete enigmas" Uzui said as he thought of Gyomei.
"Some can take up a sword and become a Hashira in two months," He said as he thought of Muichiro.
"There are even some that have such a care heart that they bare the scars and wounds for others with no worry about their own safety" Uzui said as he thought of me.
"Me, chosen? Don't give me that crap! Just how many lives do you think I've let slip through my fingers until now?" Uzui yelled.
'That's right, I can't be like Rengoku!' Uzui thought.
"Then how do you explain it? My blood sickles are drenched with deadly poison, yet you simply refuse to die!" Gyutaro yelled as he got worked up and started to scratch deeply into his neck again.
"I come from a line of shinobi, I've become resistant, so poison doesn't work on me" Uzui answered.
"The Shinobi were wiped out back during the Edo Period! Don't give us that crap!" Daki said.
"That's no lie," Uzui said.
'The shinobi exist, I had nine brothers and sisters. Seven of them died by the time I turned 15. Panicked by our clan's decline, my father, just like a man possessed, forced us to submit to brutal training and the only survivors were myself and my brother, who was two years younger. My brother was exactly like my father. The same mindset, the same mannerisms as my father...His subordinates were pawns, his wives were expendable so long as they produced heirs. No one else ever had any say. Resolutely indifferent and I... Didn't want to become like him!' Uzui thought to himself.
Flashback
Uzui was seen kneeling with his wives in front of the Master in a garden with a beautiful flowering sakura blossom tree.
"It's hard isn't it, Tengan? The path you have chosen" Master said and Uzui looked at him shocked.
"Rejecting the values that shape you, that were instilled in you during your childhood, even as you place yourself on the battlefield...That's surely agonizing. Carrying all that conflict and quandaries inside yourself. You still... All of you still persist in moving forward and battling on? Isn't that right? So that you can protect other people's lives" Master continued before turning to them.
"Thank you, you're a remarkable child," Master said.
Flashback end
'I'm the one who should be grateful. Master, for your sake, I'd never think twice about laying down my life. I can surely accomplish everything. Those who have baggage like conflict or quandaries are spineless fools. That's always been the story of my life,' Uzui thought as he panted and sweat ran down his face.
"Huh? Huh? Huh?" Gyutaro said, tilling his head before he started to laugh.
"What the hell are you laughing about?" Uzui demanded.
"The posion's affecting you after all! Slowly but surely! Claiming it didn't work on you was just bravado! Pretty humiliating huh?" Gyutaro laughed. Uzui slammed one of his sword tips into the ground near his foot and stood tall with a large smile on his face.
"Oh no! It has absolutely no effect on me! Wanna see me dance? I'm so on fire I could eat 100 bowls of tempura udon! In a flashy way, that is!" Uzui exclaimed out loud. He ran towards Gyutaro and flicked his sword around to try and cut them but the two demons moved back from the attack but that didn't stop Uzui. Once again he swung his sword this time aiming for Gyutaro making the male demon move to avoid it and Uzui then kicked Daki in the stomach making her fly into the air with a gasp.
"Don't you dare kick my Imouto!" Gyutaro yelled as he went for the attack.
"You scumbag!" Daki yelled as her belts moved to attack. Uzui quickly got our more balls like earlier and threw them out. Gyutaro moved and made sure not to touch them but Daki didn't stop making the balls explode when her belts touched them with a bang. Moving Uzui quickly dodged Gyutaro's swing.
'Well, those are unique explosions, they can inflict damage on a demon's body and explode with the slightest friction from a strike. She got hit because she slashed one without realizing that. She's always taking a hit, that one!' Gyutaro thought as Daki's body and head dropped to the ground once again separated. He didn't have any time to do anything as Uzui's sword came towards him. He thought he was safe since the blade was short of his neck but it suddenly extended making his eyes widen.
'The blade is extended-...He's holding onto the tip of his sword! What kind of insane grip does he have?' Gyutaro thought as he saw Uzui holding the blade with his fingers.
'Go' Uzui thought but Gyutaro quickly swiped up but it wasn't quick enough as there was a cut on his neck.
"Damn, I botched the chance to finish off this one!" Uzui cursed as he grabbed his swords in his hands again.
"He beheaded me again! Damn you! Damn you! I'll make you pay for this! Not fair! Not fair! Why am I the one who's always getting beheaded?" Daki whined while screaming.
"Hold on, you're onto us aren't you?" Gyutaro asked.
"About what?" Uzui questioned back with a smile.
"Not that finding out about us will do you any good! Since you're going to die a slow and steady death, anyway! Even as we speak, we're creeping toward victory, aren't we?" Gyutaro said as he scratched at his face.
