(COMPLETED)
Giyuu is worried. All her life, Shinobu has been searching for her sister's killer. A certain Upper Moon 2. Douma. However, her madness escalates to the point of pushing everyone she loves away, including him. Everything falls apart once...
He desperately blocked the shadows' attacks, but as they fought, he suffered cuts and bruises, one by one. No matter how many times Tanjiro cut off their heads, they always grew back.
As Tanjiro was beaten and bloodied, Akihiro watched in satisfaction. Although Urokodaki-sensei never got to watch his student suffer, he knew that if he managed to wipe out the entirity of his legacy, and possibly even destroy the use of the water breathing technique, it would be the absoloute greatest possible way to disrespect everything Urokodaki-sensei stood for.
Tanjiro fell on his knees and flinched as the shadows started kicking him in the side of the abdomen. He tried to get up, but was instantly brought back down by the shadows. However, as he was being kicked, he noticed that all the shadows had thin umbilical cords on their heels, all connected to Akihiro.
In a daring turn of events, Tanjiro jumped away from the shadows. He used his Nichirin blade to sever two of the cords, which caused two of the shadows to dissolve into ashes. However, as he brought down his blade on the third umbilical cord, the blue-eyed shadow stopped his swing. Tanjiro tried to push him away, but the shadow grabbed him and threw him away from the cord. As Tanjiro got up and looked at the shadow, he noticed something odd.
The way the blue-eyed shadow held it's sword.
It was an extremely stiff pose, almost statuesque in nature. Tanjiro could hear the faint sound of Total Concentration Breathing. Finally, Tanjiro realized what this was.
The shadow held it's sword the exact same way Tanjiro did when he first trained with Urokodaki-sensei.
Tanjiro looked to his left, at the red-eyed shadow. This shadow held it's blade much more expertly. It held the sword's blade behind it, the handle close to the waist, in a permanent horizontal plane.
The red-eyed shadow reflected the pose a student makes when still mastering the first form of Water Breathing.
Water Surface Slash.
Tanjiro finally understood. The shadows were the depictions of Akihiro's demon slaying abilities, level by level, as he got progressively more skilled.
The remaining two were at the higher end of the spectrum.
He tried his absolute best to become a demon slayer, but in the end... Urokodaki-sensei abandoned him.
The blue-eyed shadow struck first, bringing down it's blade on Tanjiro's shoulder, which Tanjiro blocked. Tanjiro blocked a few more attacks, and figured out that this shadow only struck downward, and in no other direction.
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Tanjiro took advantage of this. As the shadow swung it's sword once again, Tanjiro dashed behind it and cut off it's foot, severing the body from the umbilical cord.
