Anime/Manga: Bankai Starting with Demon Slayer

The next second, the people who were just celebrating their victory were now quietly asleep in their seats.

Whose dream was all that just happened...?

He carefully tied the ropes around the wrists of the men and waved towards the other end of the carriage.

Four young men and women, looking just as haggard as him, walked in.

“You each pick one, I’ll take this one…” He pointed to Asuka, the boy with a furrowed brow in his sleep.

As he spoke, he pulled a cone out of his pocket.

"Are you ready?"

A chilling voice came from above his head.

One hand, just one hand, using its five fingers as legs, twisted and crawled down from the ceiling.

It had blue eyes on its hand, and a mouth on the back of its hand, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

The gaunt-faced men looked respectfully at the hand and responded in deep voices:

"What should we do now?"

"Wait a little longer, and these people will fall into a deep sleep... You only need to use my Blood Demon Technique to invade their dreams."

"Find the spiritual core of their souls in their dreams and destroy it."

"No matter how powerful a ghost hunter is, they are powerless in a dream. Killing them is a piece of cake, so don't be nervous."

Ghost Hand sized up Asuka and Kyojuro Rengoku, then added, "However, these demon hunters have very sharp senses. They might be awakened by the killing intent and demonic energy. Be careful not to touch their bodies..."

"Please... let me see my dead daughter..."

The flight attendant suddenly spoke, and respectfully knelt before the ghostly hand.

"Okay, as long as you complete the task, I can give you any kind of beautiful dream."

It chuckled, making a sound of rapture:

"How blissful it is to die in a beautiful dream..."

Chapter 54 Dreams Are Hard to Fulfill

"Little Bean, come here quickly!"

In the peach orchard full of fruit, Zenitsu held Nezuko's hand and ran carefree:

"These peaches are delicious! Oh, and I'll make you a wreath of white clover, it'll be so pretty!"

"Mmm! Make me lots and lots!" Mizuko's pink eyes sparkled as she looked at Zenitsu with adoration: "Zenitsu-kun~"

"Yohoo!!!"

He jumped up happily.

.....

Wearing a boar's headgear, Inosuke, with Nezuko who has rabbit ears, strode confidently into a stalactite cave.

"Exploration team! Exploration team! We are a cave exploration team!"

"Boss!!!"

"What's wrong! Little Brother Number One! Little Brother Number Two!"

He heard a call from behind and turned around to look.

A boy who looked remarkably like Tanjiro, but had raccoon ears and a tail, respectfully reported, "The scent of a giant beast is coming from ahead! Popoko!"

“I can still hear snoring, chu~” The other boy who responded looked a lot like Zenitsu, but he had a lewd face and rat ears, and his attitude was extremely respectful.

"Alright! Bangjiro! Chuuichi! Follow me! Let's take it down!!"

"Yes, boss!!"

Led by the wild boar boy, the expedition team rushed headlong into the depths of the cave...

Such a strange scene could not possibly have actually happened.

At this moment, the two of them were lying crookedly on the train seats, having their own sweet dreams.

The menacing demonic hand, now leading the withered children, looked towards the slumbering Demon Slayer Corps members:

“Remember this: with these dreaming ghost hunters as the starting point, dreams have boundaries.”

"As long as you find the boundary and break it, you can find the core of the dream's owner's spirit. Keep it up!"

After saying that, Ghost Hand left the carriage on his own, leaving the children to carefully tie their wrists together with the ropes made of blood demon magic.

A boy who looked exceptionally weak coughed violently for a while and wiped away the bloody foam with the back of his hand.

"...Don't blame me, it really hurts so much..." he said as he picked up the rope that belonged to Tanjiro.

As he silently counted down, he too sank into the other person's dream.

The wind and snow howled, and the cold penetrated to the bone.

Tanjiro wandered aimlessly across the snowfield, looking at everything before him with a face full of confusion:

"Where is this? This place looks so familiar..."

He drew his Nichirin Blade, cautiously guarding against any potential dangers, but the next second he froze in place.

Not far in sight were two figures that could never possibly exist.

"Ah! It's my brother!"

"Brother's back! Are you out of charcoal?"

Those were his family members whom he longed for day and night, and whom he would wake up crying whenever he dreamed of them: Shigeru and Hanako!

“This…how is this possible…”

Tanjiro's Nichirin Blade slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. He was overwhelmed with unbelievable ecstasy, his body trembling.

"Ah! Brother!!"

Tanjiro, who was staring in disbelief, suddenly felt his body go limp.

Looking down, he saw his younger brother, Rokuta, wearing only a thin cotton coat, rush into his arms like a small cannonball!

He rubbed his cold little face against Tanjiro and giggled, "Brother, Rokuta missed you so much."

"Rokuta... everyone..."

Tears welled up uncontrollably in Tanjiro's eyes, blurring his vision. He hugged Rokuta tightly and wept bitterly.

"Ah—!! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm late, I...I missed you all so much!!"

Seeing him crying like that, Shigeru and Hanako, who were building a snowman, scratched their heads in confusion and ran home calling for their mother.

"Oh dear, child, what's wrong?"

A gentle voice rang out, and Tanjiro looked up, his eyelids swollen from crying.

His mother, Aoi, looked at him with concern: "Are you alright, Tanjiro? Are you hurt?"

"mother!!"

Tanjiro hugged Rokuta and nestled into Aoi's arms, causing her to chuckle: "Alright, alright, are you upset? Don't cry, child, don't cry."

"Haha, even your older brother can be a little clingy." Shigeru looked at Tanjiro, who was sobbing uncontrollably, and teased him with a smile.

Hanako, who idolizes her brother, was a little unhappy and threw a snowball at him.

"Hey you, what are you doing!"

"You're so long-winded! Stop talking nonsense!"

"Who's making a scene?!"

The two siblings started arguing, which caught the attention of the second son, Takeo, who was inside the house. He quickly came out to see what was happening.

"Haha, you two made Big Brother cry, didn't you? Watch me teach you a lesson!"

As he spoke, he piled up a snowball and began attacking the two little guys.

The family in the kitchen is always noisy and lively, yet warm and harmonious.

"Welcome home, Tanjiro."

After calming the agitated Tanjiro down, his mother, Aoi, put on a clean apron and began preparing noodles in the kitchen: "Let's make pancakes today. Isn't pancakes Tanjiro's favorite food?"

"Ha, I want some too!" The little ones outside heard their mother's words and quickly voiced their opinions.

"Alright, alright, let's eat together." Aoi smiled and clapped the flour off her hands. "Hanako, could you get me the sieve?"

"Let me do it, Mom! Oh, right, where's Mi Douzi?"

Tanjiro helped with the cooking while looking around the house and the surrounding area with a puzzled expression, but he couldn't find Nezuko anywhere.

"My sister went up the mountain to pick wild vegetables."

"What! It's daytime now!"

Tanjiro shouted anxiously, but then froze the next second.

Daytime... What happened during the day...?

The fire crackled and popped, scattering tiny bits of charcoal.

Tanjiro snapped back to reality and realized he was standing on the riverbank.

Huh? What am I doing? Oh right, I was going to get some water for the house...

He scratched his head in confusion, carefully lowered the bucket into the river, only to find his own reflection in the water...

Is he shouting at himself?

Wake up! Wake up!!

Huh? He was pulled into the river by his own reflection with a splash!

Wake up! This is a dream! We've been attacked!

Tanjiro felt like he had forgotten something, but he also vaguely remembered a lot of things.

I think I'm on a train... I'm... playing ghost hunting!!

[Get up! Get up and fight! Wake up!!]

.....

"Brother, give me the pickled radishes instead of eating them."

Tanjiro, who was just yelling angrily at his own reflection, suddenly found himself back in the house, having lunch with his family.

Tanjiro was stunned when he saw Takeo's grinning face.

"Why are you taking advantage of your older brother again! Can't you eat your own?" Hanako, still defending her brother, interrupted the shameless Takeo and started arguing with him.

What's going on?! This is a dream! This isn't real!!

Tanjiro was in turmoil and desperately shouted at himself in his heart.

How do I leave? How do I escape this dream?

Boom!

Just as Tanjiro was at a loss for what to do, his body was suddenly engulfed in bright red flames!

This is! Nezuko's Blood Demon Art!

"The smell of blood... Midouzi is injured!"

Tanjiro nearly sprang to his feet, knocking over the bowl and chopsticks in front of him, startling even the most terrified man.

"What's wrong with my brother?"

"It's all your fault! Your brother is angry!"

No! That's not how it is! Everyone, I'm not angry!

Tanjiro was extremely anxious and rushed out of the house in a panic, running towards the depths of the boundless snowfield!

After he ran out of the house, the Nichirin Blade reappeared in his hand, as if it had never fallen.

"Big brother! Where are you going! Are you abandoning us?!"