Uzumaki Nanami is here, Dattebane!

Chapter 18: Letting Someone Else Go First

"Found it?"

"Yeah! That way! I'm picking up a powerful vibe from over there!" Inosuke said, pointing in a certain direction where the demon is at.

"You are? Way to go, Inosuke!" Tanjiro complimented him as he pushed the controlled Demon Slayer off him. His compliment made Inosuke feel soft inside and a feeling of happiness.

"Tanjiro-Kun, what that boy said earlier, I sensed five signatures including him." Nanami informed him.

"Is that so... so they really are banding together." Tanjiro said. Nanami hummed in reply as she dodges another swing from the Demon Slayers, pulling Inosuke with her to avoid it before slashing the threads.

The redhead clicked her tongue seeing the threads reattaching. No matter how many times they cut it, they were still outnumbered unless she pulls up her shadow clones but then she would have to take the risk of being questioned about her abilities.

"We gotta take care of these guys or we'll never get anywhere!" Nanami exclaimed as she continued to evade and cutting down the never-ending threads.

Hearing this, Murata looked at their situation before gripping his sword, understanding what he has to do to take the demon down. Tanjiro stared at the Demon Slayers before them. Thinking of a way to get past them without hurting them. "Damn. Isn't there... isn't there any way at all?" Tanjiro questioned.

"Dammit! What a pain in the ass! I'm just gonna demolish them all at once!" Inosuke yelled, readying his swords to slash them.

"You can't do that! Back off! There has to be a way! So, let's try not to hurt these—"

"Tanjiro-Kun!"

Before Tanjiro could finish his sentence, the puppet came straight at him at full speed as Nanami was about to activate the mark on his hand to switch places with him when Murata quickly came in front of him and blocked the sword from attacking Tanjiro.

"Murata?"

Murata turns his head to glance at them while blocking the sword. "Leave these guys to me and go on ahead!"

Inosuke tilted his head slightly. "What kind of talk is that, Mr. Pissed-My-Pants?"

"I never pissed my pants, you stupid boar! I wasn't talking to you, so you can just shut up!" Murata yelled, a tick mark form on his head as Inosuke does the same. The puppet was able to get out of his block and attempted to swing his sword at him but Murata was able to block the blade. "I know that wasn't my finest moment back there, but I'm a demon slayer, too! I'll find a way to hold them off! Now I know I just need to slash the threads, and that these guys can only make the most elementary movements! I'll watch out for the spiders, too! There has to be people under even more control closer to the demon! So, you three go on!"

"Understood! We appreciate this!" Tanjiro exclaimed.

"Murata-san, Please be careful, dattebane!" Nanami exclaimed before grabbing Inosuke as she and Tanjiro ran off, trusting Murata to hold them off for them to find the demon responsible. "Let's go, Inosuke-Kun!"

"Hey, let go of me, dammit! I wanna pound that guy's face first! Who's he calling 'a stupid boar'?"

"Would you shut up? Just drop it and get out of here!"

"I'm so gonna punch you when I get back!"
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The three of them ran through the forest more thanks to Murata's intervention with Nanami releasing Inosuke as they run. The boar-headed boy huffed angrily, a tick mark form on his head. "Dammit! I'm gonna punch that guy if it's the last thing I do!"