Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began When I Became Yoriichi's Sister

Chapter 734 Fierce Battle at the Construction Site

As darkness fell, the night wind on the construction site grew chilly, carrying the smells of cement dust and rusty metal.

Ichigo shook the water off his Zangetsu, his face turning slightly pale. The impact had taken its toll, leaving his clothes mostly wet and sticking uncomfortably to his body.

"I have to say, these two brats are really tough to deal with." Renji panted as he swung the snake tail in his hand. The serrated blade danced wildly in the air, but could only cut through the water curtain, making a futile splashing sound.

While dealing with the tentacles, he looked around and exclaimed, "Damn it, I can't find it anywhere!"

Pan and Peng stood side by side, each holding an open water bottle, their smiles seemingly innocent yet radiating a chilling cruelty.

“It’s no use.” The water in the red-hatted man’s ankles was already submerged. He pointed to the rising water level on the ground. “As long as there is water here, Gulu and Jintai are invincible.”

"Tch, all talk and no action, but he still obediently hid the core." Ichigo took a deep breath and glanced back at the crowd on the second floor.

The distribution of combat power at this point was quite awkward. Chad and Inoue protected the powerless Ishida and Rukia, leaving them on the still unfinished second-floor platform.

The current water flow has not yet reached the second floor.

"Tsk."

Peng, whose source of power had been revealed, clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Hurry up and take care of them, Pan!"

"Well, I see!"

Putting aside the fact that they already know Gulu and Jin Tai's weaknesses, if they find Gulu and Jin Tai's core... and with that strange red-haired woman around, we must finish this quickly.

"Haha, what good luck!"

Just then, it seemed as if even the heavens were on their side, and rain began to fall from the sky.

It wasn't just the water seeping from underground pipes; as the rainfall increased, the water on the ground quickly reached their calves. Under the brothers' control, this water seemed to have a life of its own, transforming into countless transparent tentacles that passed over Ichigo and Renji in front of them and crashed into the buildings behind them, frantically weaving through them.

"Is their target Ishida?!"

Ichigo turned around with a serious expression, and suddenly, tentacles shot up from the water beneath his feet, blocking his and Renji's path.

"Damn it, this is infuriating!"

Ichigo swung his massive Zangetsu again, the black blade cleaving an oncoming torrent in two, but it was all in vain. The severed stream of water quickly twisted strangely in the air, regrouping into a huge net that covered him.

"Roar, Zabimaru!"

Renji suddenly swung out his Zanpakuto after its release, the snake-like blade sweeping across like a long whip, forcefully shattering the water net.

The onlookers also noticed the attack, and Rukia shouted:

"Run uphill!"

When everyone arrived at the stairs, water was already gushing up from downstairs.

Upon observing the group, it immediately began to wriggle, its originally rounded tip transforming into sharp water spikes that shot towards them at an accelerated speed.

"I refuse to form a shield in three days!"

With a sharp cry, Orihime's hair ornament transformed into a golden streak of light, instantly unfurling a triangular light shield that protected everyone behind her. A series of clanging sounds rang out as water spikes struck the light shield, turning into splashes.

Lillian leaned on Orihime's shoulder and gave her a thumbs up: "Well done!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the water that had been pushed back suddenly surged up, and two giant transparent slimes, Gulu and Jintai, stood up from the water.

Rukia exclaimed in surprise, "The core is here!"

Ishida adjusted his glasses: "Are you taking us as a weakness?"

It means that even if they reveal their core secrets to us, there won't be any problem, right?

“Use this move.” Rukia assumed a fighting stance, her palms facing the two puppets, “Hado #31…”

Fearing that the opponent would attack if they were too close, Rukia used the safest method: a no-chant Hado.

Her skill in the Kido (Demon Path) is not particularly high, but she can basically use Kido below level 60 without chanting, although the power will be slightly weaker.

But dealing with this monster formed entirely of water shouldn't be a problem for her, even in her current state.

"Red Fire Cannon!" Take one down first.

The orange-red flames shot straight at one of the slimes, but unexpectedly, before the attack arrived, the core that was originally located in the slime's head suddenly moved, causing the fireball to only wear away half of the head, emit a little steam, and quickly recover.

"Does it have intelligence?" A bead of cold sweat trickled down Rukia's face. "Or are those two guys controlling it?"

"It's almost too late to hold them off."

Orihime's face was somewhat pale, and the golden shield in front of her shimmered slightly.

"Let's run upstairs first," Ishida suggested.

No one dared to linger and ran up the stairs, which showed no signs of renovation.

……

The scaffolding on the construction site creaked in the wind, and the fine drizzle turned into a downpour in just a few minutes.

For the Pan and Peng brothers, this was a battlefield sent from heaven.

"Haha! Look, even the heavens are on our side!" Pan stood in the ankle-deep water, arms outstretched, a twisted and wild smile on his face. "On a rainy day like this, our Gulu and Jintai are omnipresent gods!"

"You brat, you've got quite the nerve." Ichigo wiped the rain off his face, swung his massive Zangetsu sword, and shattered several incoming water arrows.

"Tch, we can't possibly cut them all down!" Renji, standing nearby, frantically brandished the Zabimaru, its blade slicing wildly in the rain, splashing up large sprays of water. Each swing felt like hitting soft cotton, the powerlessness driving him nearly mad.

Since the ground had turned into a pool of water and the water level was still rising, Ichigo and Renji had to use Shunpo to frequently change positions and stand on some high places that they could reach.

"Don't fight them down there, that's their territory!" Rukia shouted from the high-rise platform, leaning against the railing. "Ichigo! Renji! Come upstairs! Their dolls are up there!"

"Tsk!"

The two clicked their tongues in displeasure.

"Got it!" Ichigo replied, slamming his feet against the concrete pillars at the construction site and leaping into the air.

Pan stretched out his right hand: "Don't even think about escaping!"

However, just as he jumped, two huge, transparent tentacles suddenly rose from the water on the ground, closing rapidly like a Venus flytrap and tightly binding Ichigo's ankle.

"What?!" Ichigo lost his balance and was pulled back into the water by a tremendous force, choking on several mouthfuls of muddy water.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue Orihime exclaimed, instinctively trying to rush down, but Chad grabbed her arm.

“Calm down, Orihime. Going down there will only make you a target,” Chad said in a deep voice. He looked at the two slimes that had surged into the passageway, clenched his fist, and crimson lines appeared on the giant’s right arm. “Leave this to me. You two keep going up.”

He handed Ichigo's body over to Ishida and stayed alone in the stairwell.

Rukia glanced around and said, "Inoue, take Ishida and run upstairs. Chad and I will follow right away."

"Yes, Ishida-kun, let's go!"

Ishida watched this scene, his eyes flickering slightly, and his fists clenched unconsciously.

Damn it, am I holding everyone back?

below.

"Are you alright?" Renji pulled Ichigo out of the water, his face covered in water droplets.

Ichigo choked a couple of times: "Yeah, I'm fine."

Renji looked at the two of them cautiously and said calmly, "You go upstairs, I'll take care of things down here."

"Is it alright? You probably don't have the power..."

Renji frowned: "Don't worry, this place is already flooded like this, but those two guys' attack frequency is still only that level."

"This means that without the puppets, the power they can control is very limited."

Upon hearing this, Pan and Peng revealed a gloomy expression.

"I understand, be careful."

"You're the idiot."

Ichigo didn't argue with him this time, and turned to jump towards the tall building behind him.

The twins tried to stop him, but Renji stopped them.

"Where do you want to go?"

Pan and Peng exchanged a glance, then waved their hands, directing the water to rush towards Renji.

Ichigo leaped up the outer wall and quickly caught up with Chad and Rukia, who had been cornered by the slime.

Even Chad's abilities have no effect on this?

Ichigo was somewhat surprised, as Chad's power was no weaker than his and Ishida's attack power.

"Chad! Are you alright?!"

Rukia used her Destruction Technique to repel an attack from a slime, then turned to ask Chad behind her.

Chad punched the water column, but the water column dispersed and transformed into a water ball that enveloped Chad's entire body.

"Chadu!"

"Get out of the way! Rukia!"

Ichigo fell from the sky and was slashed to the side by a sword.

There was no way around it; that guy's crest and Chad's body were almost in a straight line, so an attack would likely accidentally hurt him.

The attack was somewhat effective; although it failed to break the core, it at least saved Chad.

"Ichigo!"

"Step back, Rukia."

Ichigo stared intently at the two slowly writhing slimes, a glint of white light gradually appearing in his eyes.

Rukia was slightly taken aback; this spiritual pressure...

Whether it was Ishida and Inoue above, the three below, or even Ikuko cooking at home, everyone felt Ichigo's rising spiritual pressure.

"This is bad. Call Gulu and Jintai back," Peng suggested, sensing something was wrong.

The distance is too great, and it is difficult for them to fully control the puppets.

Pan nodded, and the two reached out to try to call the doll back.

but……

"Crescent Moon..." Ichigo held his sword horizontally to his side and unleashed a horizontal slash forward, "Heavenly Slash!"

An arc of blue crescent light shot out from the blade and flew straight toward the two slimes.

Gulu and Jintai tried to move the emblem in their heads, but even when they moved it to the bottom, the huge spiritual energy slash easily dissolved it.

The lingering force of the crescent moon severed the slime's body, cleaved the supporting stone pillar in half, and shot towards the sky above the rain curtain, tearing through the rain and soaring into the sky, bursting forth with blue light.

This flash of light composed of spiritual particles was invisible to ordinary people, but it was clearly visible to Yuuko, Kariya, and the others.

"That slash was..."

Standing on Yuko's balcony, Yoshino, sensing the spiritual pressure and looking in that direction, witnessed the moment when spiritual energy slashed and ascended.

Yuko came up behind her: "Did you deliberately wave it in the sky because you knew you couldn't control your spiritual power yet?"

"Who is the enemy?"

"They look like twins."

"Pan and Peng?"

"I have no interest in getting to know them."

"..."

"It seems to be over." Yuko had no interest in watching any longer. "My meal is almost ready too."

You know what, sometimes cooking a meal when you're bored can be quite fun.

Below the construction site.

Iwa and Ho, who had been in a tense standoff with Renji, wore expressions of disbelief: "How is this possible..."

The two didn't even have time to leave a complete last message before their bodies aged rapidly and turned into dust, leaving only two identical sets of clothes soaking in the stagnant water.

The water that had accumulated on the surface of the construction site gradually receded along the underground passage.

"..." Renji silently put away his Zanpakuto after seeing this.

A short while later, Ichigo and his group came down from upstairs.

"Wow, you're quite capable, aren't you?"

"Well, once we find their weakness, these guys don't seem too hard to deal with." Ichigo had already returned to his body.

Seeing his smugness, Rukia rolled her eyes at him: "Don't be so proud. With your level of spiritual pressure control, you'll get scolded when you get back."

"...Let's not say such unlucky things at a time like this, shall we?"

"Unlucky words? From whom?"

"Hey! Rukia! What do you think you're doing?!"

Orihime couldn't help but laugh.

Seeing this scene of laughter and joy, Ishida clenched his fist and walked towards the entrance of the construction site.

"Hey, Ishida, where are you going?!" Ichigo noticed this and quickly chased after him.

Without turning his head, Ishida said, "It's all over now. I'm going home."

"No, you're alright. Didn't we agree to take turns protecting you?"

“I’ll take care of things tonight,” Chad said, chasing after her.

Ichigo didn't insist, and nodded slightly: "Okay, I'll leave it to you. Contact us immediately if there's any danger."

"Ok, I know."

After the two left one after the other, Rukia walked over, stared in the direction they had gone, and said calmly, "Ishida seems a little off."

Ichigo nodded silently: "Yeah, that guy is a proud guy, he must feel disobedient."

Rukia looked at him with some surprise.

Ichigo was annoyed by that expression: "What kind of expression is that?"

"No, I'm just surprised that an idiot could say something like that."

The veins on Ichigo's forehead throbbed.

Renji complained, "The Quincy are indeed a tough bunch to deal with."

Rukia glanced at him sideways: "You talk as if you've seen other Quincy before."

As childhood friends with Renji, the two knew each other inside and out.

Joining the Seireitei as a Shinigami is only a matter of the last hundred years; Quincy, such a rare species, have long been extinct.