Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

"Was it successful?"

Shinobu looked up at the reagent in Tamayo's hand.

"I don't know, but we can give it a try."

Tamayo pursed her lips, her eyes gleaming with excitement, and almost impatiently took the reagents to a deeper underground room.

Bound by chains, a ghost was trapped here. Upon hearing the sound, it suddenly opened its eyes.

"Roar……"

The demon roared almost immediately, but a pair of scarlet eyes flashed with fear. Having been used as a test subject repeatedly, this captured demon was already terrified of Tamayo and Shinobu Kocho.

Shinobu Kocho ignored all of that and immediately injected the reagent into the demon's body.

The moment the reagent was injected into the blood vessel, the ghost suddenly arched its body.

"Roar--"

The ghost's limbs twitched violently, the chains rattled as they were pulled, and the iron rings scraped against the cement pillar with a grating sound.

The ghost's skin began to change at a visible rate. It was no longer the healthy, blood-red color of the previous experiments, but a grayish, dry, wrinkled appearance, like soil exposed to the scorching sun, cracking open in layers.

Shinobu Kocho took a step back, her eyes fixed on the experimental subject.

The ghost's hair was falling out. Clumps of it, mixed with gray and white, drifted down onto the dusty ground.

The ghost's back was hunched over, and its joints made a clicking sound, like a rusty machine being forced to operate.

That face, which once retained some youthful features, was rapidly sunken, with high cheekbones, deep-set eyes, and loose, sagging skin that had accumulated deep wrinkles.

aging?

"Zhu Shi!"

Shinobu's voice became urgent.

Tamayo's gaze was also fixed on the demon: "Aging phenomena... telomeres shorten rapidly, and the number of somatic cell divisions reaches the limit of a normal person's lifetime within seconds..."

Her voice trembled, filled with barely suppressed excitement.

The ghost's struggles gradually weakened.

It wasn't the sedatives that were working; his body was failing.

Muscles atrophy, bones become brittle, and even the sounds of the chain reaction become dull and weak; each breath sounds like a bellows leaking air, producing a hoarse and unsettling sound.

"Still getting older."

Shinobu Kocho murmured, and as she spoke, she drew her Nichirin Blade.

A flash of light.

The Nichirin Blade precisely severed the demon's left arm, leaving a clean cut from which a dark red, viscous liquid slowly seeped out, resembling years of stagnant blood.

The severed arm lay on the ground, its fingers still twitching slightly, but soon stopped moving.

Then, they both held their breath.

There was no regeneration.

At the cut surface of that severed arm, the granulation tissue that should have been growing and wriggling wildly was now quietly and slowly oozing some tissue fluid.

The skin around the incision was a deathly gray color, showing no signs of healing, and even the most basic hemostatic response was sluggish and weak.

The ghost let out a weak groan, a sound that no longer resembled a ghost but rather the sigh of an old man on his deathbed.

"Regenerative ability...completely lost."

Tamayo's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

Shinobu Kocho slowly sheathed her sword, her gaze falling on the demon's face, which was so aged that it was almost unrecognizable.

The ghost's eyes remained open, but the crimson had faded considerably, replaced by a murky, bloodshot grayish-yellow.

The eyes resemble those of an elderly person.

"The drug's effects are still ongoing, but they are getting weaker and weaker. In fact, the regenerative ability has started again, and the vitality seems to be recovering."

Shinobu Kocho was somewhat unwilling to accept this.

"It appears to have an expiration date."

Tamayo spoke.

"It still needs improvement."

Shinobu clenched her fist, her face beaming with excitement: "Even so, if this medicine could be injected into that demon, it would make it even weaker."

Before she could finish speaking, Shinobu Kocho had already swung her sword, severing the demon's neck and ending its life.

Seeing this, Tamayo glanced at Shinobu Kocho. Shinobu's hatred for demons ran too deep, because this demon was no longer worth studying, and she ended its life almost immediately.

………………

For the past few days, Giyu Tomioka has been standing by the water, pondering the ultimate meaning of 'water breathing' that Su Mu had mentioned.

Silently close your eyes and feel everything around you.

A gentle breeze was blowing

The grass and trees sway

The water surface rippled as the wind blew.

The world seemed to freeze at that moment.

For a moment, Giyu Tomioka felt as if he were standing on a calm body of water, with everything around him still and time seemingly frozen in time.

"Tick tock..."

Suddenly, a drop of water fell onto the surface, causing ripples to spread across the calm water.

At that very moment, Giyu Tomioka drew his sword.

"Water Breathing. Ultimate Technique. Eleventh Form. Nagi"

With a single, instantaneous strike, even the howling wind that rushed towards him froze in place.

"Is this the ultimate secret of the Breathing of Water?"

Feeling the ultimate peace within oneself, and the state where everything that enters one's own space turns into still water...

He finally experienced a state of ultimate tranquility, just as Mr. Su Mu had described.

at last

"I finally figured it out."

Even the usually taciturn Giyu Tomioka clenched his fist and couldn't help but excitedly speak out at this moment.

Filled with excitement, Giyu Tomioka also returned.

As he walked along, many people greeted him, but Giyu Tomioka just nodded and rarely spoke.

On the way, Giyu Tomioka saw many swordsmen learning swordsmanship from a man named Kenshin Himura. He heard about things like the so-called Flying Sword Style and the Drawing Sword Slash.

I had a vague feeling that the other party was a very powerful swordsman.

Perhaps sensing something, Kenshin Himura raised his head, nodded slightly, and smiled.

Giyu Tomioka nodded slightly. He could vaguely sense extreme sharpness emanating from the other man. He wondered if the other man's sharp attack could break through the ultimate secrets of his 'Water Breathing' technique.

…………

Soon, Giyu Tomioka arrived at a courtyard and went inside.

Upon entering the room, one sees Kanao, with black hair, purple eyes, pink hair tips, and a single side ponytail, battling Nezuko.

Both were moving at extremely high speeds, leaving afterimages in the air. Ordinary people would probably not be able to see their speed at all.

"They're getting more and more impressive."

Tomioka Giyuu sighed inwardly, noting that the two girls who followed Mr. Su Mu were increasing in strength almost every day.

Su Mu was slightly surprised to see Tomioka Giyu arrive. These days, Tomioka Giyu had been staying by the water and rarely came out.

"It seems you've grasped something?"

Su Mu asked with a smile.

"Ah."

Giyu Tomioka nodded, and the man of few words did not even mention that he had comprehended 'Nagi'.

"congratulations."

Su Mu smiled and said, "Perfect timing. I'll be leading a mission soon, and then..."

Tomioka Giyu was slightly surprised, as he rarely saw Su Mu take such actions.

Su Mu was about to say that he had been given the task of hunting down Upper Moon Two, and then he prepared to invite Giyu Tomioka to join him.

"Oh dear... we've finally made it."

A sound came from outside the door.

Su Mu looked outside.

A tall, slender girl stood in the sunlight, her delicate face exceptionally radiant. Her long, pink hair, with tips tinged with green, swayed in the wind…

Ganluji Mili

Invited to participate in the hunt for Upper Moon Two, the Ice Demon, Doma.

"Hello, is this Mr. Su Mu's residence?"

Kanroji Mitsuri asked curiously.

I need to take a day off + some issues with the book.

As the title says, I'm taking a day off today.

I'd like to ask the readers a few more questions about this book.

The story is nearing its end, with about 100,000 to 200,000 words left. I'm still considering how to finish it, but I haven't fully decided yet.