Chapter 2: Encountering the Slayers
Anzhong sat on a cliff as he overlooked a town filled with people working before dawn. The sun's rays emerged from the mountain range signifying a new day in Anzhong's life.
It had been about three months since he encountered the first demon. Since then he had encountered a couple more, lower leveled demons, however, there were still no traces of demon slayers.
During his time Anzhong learned that in this world the size of Japan should be able to rival the whole of Asia, either that or the world itself is huge. He traveled the whole 3 months but had encountered only 5 other villages.
'From my calculations, I should be reaching the area of a town...there I should find a demon slayer. Soon I will have Nichirin blade...' Anzhong thought to himself.
While Anzhong possessed multiple blades and abilities that may counter a demon, a Nichirin blade is the only true solution to upper moons as far as his knowledge goes.
'I wonder...what should I do after I find one...' Anzhong thought. Despite demon slayer being one of his favorite anime he didn't have much to do here. His strength should already be on par with this tier level of Demon King Tanjiro and with a Nichirin blade and Youriichi bloodline he should have already had the way to end him. So what was next for him?
'Perhaps join the final selection...that way I can get my own perfect Nichirin blade...that seems feasible' Anzhong thought as he leaped from the cliff and slid down the slope towards the town in question.
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Walking along with the people of the town Anzhong merged with the crowd as he made small talks with the locals and merchants regarding the town's current situation.
'The town seems normal for the most part...yet the aura that my observation caught could not be faked. There is a demon here but seems like he is involving himself with the town even during the daylight' Anzhong thought he narrowed his eyes and continued to wander about.
'hmmm...these kids...they seem to possess the highest fighting capabilities than anyone I have encountered so far in this world...they must be demon slayers of Kano or Kanoe rank' Anzhong thought as he glanced towards a group of three males and a female who seemed to be searching for someone in the crowd.
'They are missing their blades...well the demon won't attack them in the daylight anyways' Anzhong thought as we walked away from the marketplace and dissolved in the shadows of an alley.
'Their hunt should begin when the sun sets...it has been some time since I had a taste...I was barely able to hang in the urge to kill' Anzhong thought as he lurked the demon slayers waiting for their battle to commence.
Anzhong followed them as they carelessly scaled the parameter of the town. Scanning from alley to alley like a lost ghost they were unable to find anything.
Over time the night came to an end as the demon slayers laid with thier backs to each other, exhausted to the bone. They did not see left or right as they lay in an alley that was covered with sunlight at that time.
"I'm so tierddddd! I feel like my legs are falling off" The shortest one with ash-blond hair complained and whined a little.
"be patient Satoshi...demon-slaying was never an easy job. We must be persistent in our search to keep the place safe." The one with short hair but a muscular body said as he patted the hair of thier youngest member.
"hai~ Shinichiro-san what do we do now? I don't think we will be able to fight if we stay awake during the day as well" The only girl on the team asked as she was barely able to stand and talk.
"We should head to the road that leads outside the village and rest near the path under sunlight...we cannot risk being in shadows
'They are careless and immature...they have yet to think of a strategy to hunt the demon...it seems that I overestimated their ranks they should be nothing but the newbies. ' Anzhong said to himself as he studied their way of work and thier way to conduct and it was anything but impressive.
'Although the Shinichiro guy seems to have a reasonable head the others barely have any weightage in the team. I have seen Sakura being more useful' Anzhong thought as he decided to strike the demon slayers and take thier Nichirin blades.
'It is time to reveal myself' Anzhong thought as he traveled a little distance away from the group of slayers and emerged from the shadows.
"People should not lie in an alley...especially with a girl among you," Anzhong said as he approached the exhausted demon slayers.
"ahhh! our apologies we were about to move on our way," One of the demon slayers said as he stood up and the others followed his example.
Shinichiro slightly gripped his Nichirin blade out of instinct as he picked us thier luggage using his other hand.
"You seem to be exhausted...and with those Katana...are you four ronin?" Anzhong asked as he approached the four slayers.
"huh? oh about that...umm...uhhh" The slayer tried to defend their belongings as he slowly backed away from nervousness.
'The demon slayers corps are not related to government...if Konoe ranks as we get in trouble we might get demoted to lower ranks or be stuck in jail forever' The slayer thought as he hesitated when faced with Anzhong's questions.
"We are just students of the Shisuki dojo we are just passing by after training the whole night," Shinichiro said as he patted the shoulder of his fellow demon slayer.
As the oldest one in the group, he had more experience in demon-slaying missions than others as compared to the other three. He had dealt with such situations before although he was a low ranking demon slayer back then.
"I see...however Shisuki dojo only teaches bare hand martial arts you know," Anzong said as he approached the slayers. He lifted his Kimono a little revealing the hilt of Enma his prized blade.
"what do we do? he is going to capture us and sell us to the authorities!"
"well, we just hit his head. I heard that it causes people to lose memory"
"well, what if he forgets something important!"
"he is coming towards us! Atsuki quick engage him in a conversation"
The slayers whispered to each other as Anzhong slowly approached them. They were nervous because of Anzhong's words and his demeanor. He seemed too calm and collected while trying to face four people with weapons.
"You all are...too slow to react," Anzhong said as darkness emerged from below his feet like gas and engulfed the demon slayers along with Anzhong and disappeared leaving the alley barren of life.
"aahh~" With a low painful moan the slayers crashed over some 'black colored floor'. Nothing but pure darkness surrounded them. Despite such darkness, they were still able to 'see' each other.
"that boy...he was the demon!" The slayers exclaimed as they all pulled out thier katana ready to fend against Anzhong.
"Do not show fear! Even if he is stronger than one of us there are four of us here present with Nichirin blade! we won't lose!" Shinichiro said as he tried to raise the morale of the team.
'This Shinichiro seems promising...he would have reached a higher level if he had not encountered me' Anzhong thought as he observed the slayers while hiding in the darkness
His steps seemed to emit an eerie aura as the slayers trembled in fear. He walked slowly and confidently as the slayers were unable to even look at him properly.
'this is...the pressure of just his walk!! He has to be one of the moons! we need to find a way out' Shinichiro thought as he took in a deep breath.
"Don't worry everyone! Calm down and take deep breaths! remember your training and get ready" Shinichiro said as he along with others got in a stance ready to face anything thrown towards them.
"I see...one of you is a capable leader at the very least," Anzhong said as he emerged from the shadows and face the slayers head-on.
"In the name of the corps, we are going to slay you vile demon! charge everyone!" Shinichiro yelled as they all used thier respective breathing to close the distance between them and Anzhong.
"Water Breathing fourth form: Striking Tide!" Shinichiro yelled as he weaved towards Anzhong like a tide paving his path to decapitate him.
'A breath user intres-' Anzhong's thoughts were cut short as he was unable to belive what he experienced. His eyes were wide open as he could see actual water droplets following Shinichiro's blade.
'It could be...that is actual water...does that mean that the latent power that I was using for comparison was actually some type of energy like mana?' Anzhong that as the world truly started to show its colors to him.
Indeed in this world, everyone is born with a latent power that is termed by the demon slayers as Fa Jin. To them, it is a way to use thier internal potential to conjure the power of the elements if used with proper forms.
'So this is what the R.O.B. meant when he changed this world to suit tier-8. I should be able to utilize it as well with my moon breathing' Anzhong thought as he pulled out Enma and held it with both of his hands and gripped it tightly.
'Sun Breathing, First form' Anzhong thought he took in a deep breath and got in a stance. Shinichiro despite this continued to make his way to slash Anzhong's neck.
Just as Shinichiro's blade was about to reach Anzhong's neck, Anzhong opened his eyes.
'Dance' Anzhong thought as he performed a single slash that was covered in red hot flames and sliced through Shinichiro's body like butter.
Before the other slayers could even recover from the shock of seeing a demon use a breathing technique they were stabbed by multiple blades that were launched from the darkness.
"*cough* *cough*" Anzhong coughed loudly as he got on his knees. 'I was barely able to pull that off...I have little to no reserves of this latent power...I need to start my training again or else I would be left behind
Not wanting to starve any longer Anzhong slowly ripped the bodies of the slayers apart and started his feast. He had been hungry and starved for months his mortal instincts had long started depleting.
Since his death from the so-called normal world, Anzhong had gone through a total of four reincarnations. Each reincarnation had a specific path he had to follow.
In the world of BNHA(tier-4) he has all but a normal human to the standards of that world. In the world of Naruto(tier -6), he was known as a demi-god throughout the land for his strength and feats that almost wiped the whole shinobi world, and in the world of One Piece (tier -8), he had everything given to him since his birth, his life was simply heavenly has enjoyed it as much as he could before the incident.
However, this reincarnation was different, while the early reincarnations heavily depended on him doing a good deed with a good heart to gather positive karma in this life he was free from these bindings.
In this life, he is but a Hungry Ghost.