The Hypocrite (Himejima vs Hantengu)
Himejima Gyomei heard the sounds of bodies crunching, as the anger demon forcibly absorbed the joy, calm, and sorrow demons.
“I thought those four were each too weak on their own,” he observed as he swung his ball and chain at his side. He suppressed the excitement he felt. Each of the four demons he had been slapping down over and over had the strength of a mere lower moon. But now, all of a sudden, the Stone Pillar felt a gale force of pure, unadulterated hatred.
“So this is your strongest form…” he observed, as he felt the presence rise.
A new voice now spoke. “A beast as large and powerful as you tormenting the weak… Utterly repulsive! Unforgivable!” the spite seethed through his teeth as he spoke. “You tried to bludgeon with your mace; a small creature barely a 1/1,000th your own size… revolting!”
Himejima chuckled. “The hypocrisy and delusion of this demon, is the greatest I have seen of any demon ever.”
At this, Zohakuten snarled with even greater vindictiveness boiling up. The bloodlust in the air between the two fighters was now palpable, as Gyomei shot off towards his target! Zohakuten banged the drums for a second time, and the battle was on!
In their corner of the infinity castle, they clashed! Gyomei weaved in and out of attacks by the wooden dragons controlled by Zohakuten, swinging his mace with practiced precision, its spiked head smashing through the oncoming dragon’s snout, splintering wood and sending debris scattering. More dragons snaked behind him, their jaws snapping shut with lethal intent.
With a quick pivot, Gyomei hurled his axe in a spinning arc, severing the creature’s head before yanking the chain to retrieve the weapon.
Gyomei moved with an uncanny grace for his massive size, twirling in the air as he dodged the dragons and cut them to shreds with his ax! Each strike of his weapons calculated to maximize destruction!
Zohakuten growled from afar, and beat his drums, commanding the dragons to pull back, and attack the blind man from a greater distance.
Sekido’s lightning attacks had been like bee stings to Humejima.
Karaku’s wind attacks were mere breezes against the massive Stone Pillar.
Now, having assimilated them, Zohakuten released those same attacks through his dragons with much greater power!
Himejima was zapped, and felt his body tense up as electricity coursed through his muscles! Then came the blast of wind, which sent him flying backwards! Crashing through the shifting walls and platforms of the infinity castle, smashing the wood and tatami mats as though he were a falling boulder, until his chain wrapped around one of the dragon’s necks, and the Stone Pillar had anchored himself to the demon. He propelled himself forward, burnt and cut, but laughing.
“My blindness has become a boon… I believe I can now predict his attacks by the way he beats his drums.”
He weaved through the dragon heads, now dodging the lightning attacks before they even had a chance to fire! As the dragons converged on him, he drew a heavy breath that reverberated the air around him.
Stone breathing, Third Form: Stone Skin!
The omnidirectional attack from his ax and ball smashed every wooden dragon around him! He twirled to the optimal position to press the attack, and swung the ball and chain, right towards Zohakuten! Smashing the protective wooden shell he had formed around the shrunken Hantengu!
The cowardly demon screamed as he was flung through the air, and nearly killed. Zohakuten began to positively glow with hatred… “DAMN YOU!!!” He cried to Gyomei, and began beating the drums rapidly! He commanded the dragons to weave into more complex patterns, their attacks growing in coordination and unpredictability. One dragon lunged low, forcing Gyomei to leap onto a higher platform, only for another to crash through the air above him. The Hashira twisted mid-air, his flail spinning like a comet, shattering the dragon into splinters before landing heavily, only for a sonic boom to hit the spot right where he had landed!
The blind man’s ears were now ringing, but he had trained for this. Decades of meditation allowed him to now completely block his senses, and to move and fight based on pure instinct alone.
But it was still a handicap. Lightning coursed up the length of his chain, and into his body through his hand! A dragon’s head swooped in from under his guard, with its mouth opened!
With a mighty battle cry, Himejima punched with his fist, breaking the dragon’s head, but it would regenerate, and more were coming!
Sweat gleamed on Gyomei’s brow, his breathing steady but heavy. His blows were becoming slower, each movement costing more energy than the last. The wooden dragons reassembled faster than he could destroy them, their durability a testament to Zohakuten’s growing advantage.
The fight dragged on,and. Gyomei began to feel the strain in his muscles, the weight of his weapons becoming heavier with each swing. His stamina, though prodigious, had limits, and Zohakuten’s tireless assault was beginning to show its toll.
Beam-like projectiles, a more powerful version of Aizetsu’s attack, pierced through Gypomei’s defenses, and his body. Himejima gritted his teeth, as blood sputtered through them.
He had barely steadied his balance as another dragon came barreling toward him… His resolve remained unbroken, but the realization dawned on him… he would not outlast this demon if the fight continued at this pace…
An old memory played through his mind… we was much younger back then, but the voice of his elder monk remained in his mind as though it were yesterday.
“Begone from this temple,” he decreed, his voice calm, but his heartbeat betraying his righteous anger. “You snuck into our good graces with falsehoods, only to steal from us, and from the people of this community.”
The man who was being rebuked, lashed out in anger, and Gyomei could tell from his voice that there were tears in his eyes. “I haven’t stolen from the people you cruel old man. You claim to serve the people, but you’re just hoarding wealth for yourselves! Hypocrites!”
The elder monk said nothing more, and the man’s protests grew fainter as he was escorted out. Himejima stood still, his thoughts swirling. The man’s words buzzed in his ears like gnats, and he struggled to make sense of the anger and deceit he had just witnessed.
After a moment, the elder returned. Himejima turned toward him, and asked him in a curious but steady voice; “What was that about Hoshi-sama? Why does that man continue to attempt his deception after you have exposed him? He only makes a fool of himself.”
The elder monk exhaled softly. “There are those, young Gyomei, who are lost not because they cannot tell right from wrong, but because they choose to twist what they know. They deceive themselves as much as others, building walls of righteousness around their actions, no matter how wicked.”
Himejima furrowed his brow. “But if they know the difference, why do they still act wrongly?”
“Because,” answered the monk, “they are deceivers by nature. But what makes this one so much more pitiful, is the fact that he does not see his own deception as wrong. A wicked man who knows he has strayed from the path, may hesitate in his evil. He may feel shame, and thus, mitigate his bad Karma, or even repent fully. But for a man like that, it will be extremely difficult for him, because he is incapable of feeling shame. Guiding him back onto the right path may be impossible.”
Gyomei heard his elder’s beads rustle as be held them up, and said a prayer…
“Forgive me Hoshi-sama,” Himejima thought to himself as we fought Zohakuten with all he had. “I could never feel pity for such people. I tried to have pity, but every time I thought of it, my heart would fill with anger.
Third Form: Stone Skin!!
The attacks that converged on Hijemija were dispelled by his omnidirectional counter attack! And now he remained in that mid-air dance, his chain, and the splinter’s of the wood dragon’s seemed to float around him, above Zohakuten’s stoic but hateful gaze.
“It is true that demons are humans who fell victim to Muzan’s curse,” He thought as he felt that old anger rise within him, “But some humans were already demons from the beginning.” He felt a hot sensation, and suddenly, his head felt much clearer.
His heart was racing… on fact, his pulse was dangerously heightened, and yet, he did not feel afraid in the slightest. His fatigue was gone, as though he had never felt it in the first place… and even more so than the mark that manifested on the Stone pillar’s face, was the dramatic awakening of a new sense within him. “What on earth… I can sense his pulse? I can see him!”
Everything was clear. Everything was crystal. The Stone pillar aligned his footing, against one of the dragon’s heads, and leapt upward into the infinite void!
Zohakuten slowly waisted his head as Himejima flew up trough the infinity castle, and then his momenteum stopped. He crossed his arms in front of him, and the chain floated around him.
Stone Breathing, First Form: Serpentinite Bipolar!
Gyomei’s dual weapons bore through the dragons as he descended! He manipulated the ax and ball with the chain, making them crush and chop everything in their way! Again and again and again! He dispersed the dragons, and faced forward as he fell down towards his target! Zohakuten was right there!
“This may be the demon’s strongest form, but he is hiding the smaller body for a reason. I’ll decapitate both at the same time!”
Second Form: Upper Smash!
Himejima threw his ax and ball between Zohakuten, and the thicket of wood that hid Hatengu’s shrunken body. They clanged against each other, and shot off in opposite directions towards their targets!
Zohakuten did not even see it coming, as Gyomei’s ax came down on his neck! And the thicket he had created to shield hantengu, was smashed by the ball…
Himejima landed between his two targets, yet, something was still amiss… he did not since the main body’s presence at all. And then he heard the drum again! One of the dragon’s heads hit him from behind! And he held it’s jaws open with his bare hands!
“That body regenerated… of course. This demon will not die until I have destroyed it’s main form… the one that cowards behind these others.”
He focused everything on his senses.. It was there, no larger than a rat! And scurrying away from the battlefield!
“I will have to turn my back to this monster and kill him quickly… this will prove to be difficult.”
Using his immense strength, he broke free from the dragon’s jaws, and shot forward towards the sound of the demon’s tiny footsteps, as the dragons closed in from behind!
The cowardly Hangtengu turned around, seeing the giant closing in. “Don’t you…” it puled, tears streaming down it’s face, “don’t you… DON’T BULLY MEEEEE!!!!” It’s small voice became a shrill cry as it rapidly began to grow until he was the size of Gyomei himself! It opened it’s resentful mouth, to prepare an attack! Now it was the stone pillar who was caught in a pincer!
The Hatred demon behind him, and the Resentb=ment demon in front of him! But he could now see with his newly awakened senses, that the demon’s true body was still hiding in the chest of that larger one.
Things now seemed to move in slow motion. Himejima was still in mid-air, with one enemy attacking in front of him, and the other attacking from behind.
He calmly exhaled…
Stone Breathing…
Fifth form…
ARCS OF JUSTICE!
The ax and ball worked in tandem. Crushing the resentful demon’s chest, and destroying the cowardly imp that hid inside!
The dragon, and every other form of the demon, disintegrated instantly. Himejima Gyomei, though now wounded, had won.
***
Shinazugawa Sanemi huffed, as Akaza adjusted his battle stance before him.
“You fight well Sanemi!” he cried. “There is still time to accept my offer! Die valiantly today, or become a demon and fight forever!”
“Shut up!” Sanemi cried. “Hold fucking still so I can cut your head off!”
Akaza began to laugh. “Thats too bad then. I will take your life Sanemi, and I will remember you!”
Sanemi gritted his teeth as he prepared to defend. He had been fighting Akaza long enough to know by now; that he stood no chance of victory.
Akaza’s body was practically beamed forward! A belligerent smirk on his face as his fist was raised in preparation to strike! Sanemi had to jump back to buy himself precious nano-seconds to defend! Wind Breathing Third Form: Clear Storm Wind Tree!
Akaza jumped back, as his right leg was cut off, but it instantly began to regrow before he had even completed his mid-air flip!
“Your not getting away!” Sanemi cried, swinging his blade above his head, Second Form: Claws-Purifying Wind!
Akaza crossed his wrists and ankles together, blocking the four simultaneous slashes, and then began to listen his joints; Blood Demon Art!
Annihilation Type!
Sanemi tried to block the attack, but only managed to mitigate the damage as the shockwaves of Akaza’s blows knocked him backwards into the air!
Akaza was not done yet… he lunged forward to deal the finishing blow, his p-alms heavy with demonic energy, and Sanemi braced himself for the fatal strike-
Water Breathing, Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin!
Akaza clashed with Giyuu’s blade in an explosion of power! Sanemi grunted as his back hit the ground, and Akaza leapt back, as his arms regrew.
“Right in the nick of time…” Sanemi grunted as he rose uneasily to his feet. He walked over to Giyuu, whose eyes did not leave the demon’s. “Gotta be honest,” Sanemi huffed, with a twinge of pain on the edge of his voice, “Your one of the last people I was hoping would show up.”
“And yet here I am,” Giyuu answered dryly, although If you feel like you can handle this one on your own, I’ll return to my search for Kocho…”
“Hah!” Sanemi scoffed. “I was actually supposed to have Kanae’s back, but we got separated. I’d be the one to leave this guy to you so I can go and look for her, but if I’m bein’ honest, you don’t stand a chance against this guy alone.”
“And if you're here,” Giyuu replied, “Would you help me fight him, or get in my way?”
Sanemi laughed, as he got into a lower battle stance. “As if I'd get in your way, dickhead! You're gonna be my backup, and I’m gonna take this bastard’s head.”
Giyuu managed a rare smirk. “Whatever you say, Shinazugawa.”
Akaza beamed at the two of them. “Hurry up and come at me, I’m dying to see what you two are made of!”
The three squared off on their large platform in the infinity castle. The Wind and Water Pillars, against Upper Moon Three.
***
Along a more private corridor of the infinity castle, Kibutsuji Muzan huffed breathlessly as he staggered along, leaning against the wall for support.
His ears were ringing so terribly that he was barely able to focus on his surroundings. His body was still dripping with blood, now unusually slow to heal, and such a quantity of Tamayo’s poison had been injected into him by Sasori, mixed with countless other toxins, that bits of flesh were still falling off of him.
“If I don’t find some human flesh soon, I’ll be done for. Damn him! Damn that Sasori!!!!” He wheezed as he staggered forward, his vision blurred ahead.
“Nakime! Transport a human to me this instant!”
There was no answer.
“Namike! Do you want me to hurt you!? I said send me a human! That puppet master’s corpse! Any of the demon slayers who have entered my castle! Send them to me NOW!!!”
There was still no answer.
“Ara, you don’t look so well, Muzan-sama.”
Muzan began to rapidly sober up, as Orochimaru came into focus. “Orochimaru,” he growled, “why the hell does Nakime not respond to my commands!?”
“I am afraid she has been hijacked by one called ‘Yushiro’. He is one of the rare demons you do not control.” Muzan’s eyes turned into slits from the rage mounting inside him. “He has not fully taken control over her yet,” Orochimaru continued. “Their minds are now locked in a delicate dance for dominance, but Yushiro is winning. When he gains more control, he will evict all of us from this infinity castle, and there is nothing we can do to stop him.”
“You mean,” Muzan began accusingly, “You choose not to stop him!” Orochimaru gave a mischievous smirk, like a child who had been caught, yet felt no guilt. “We still have an ALLIANCE!” Muzan barked, “I killed your puppet master! You are bound by the terms of our agreement to assist me! Where is the girl you kidnapped!? Have her brought to me!! Once I have consumed her flesh, I will have regained enough of my strength to take care of the rest of these pests myself!”
“No,” Orochimaru replied correctively, “Sasori is still alive, and the girl has been rescued by her sister. Am afraid I cannot bring her to you at this exact moment.”
“You bastard! I know I killed him! I cut his throat and watched him fall!”
“I am afraid that is not enough to kill a shinobi of Sasori’s caliber. He is wounded, but still in this infinity castle, very much alive. ”
“It doesn’t matter,” Muzan snarled impatiently. “We still have an alliance.”
“On that you are correct,” Orochimaru replied. “We both wanted to find the blue spider lily, and you can still help me find it.”
Muzan was beginning to become dizzier, but now with a mix of fear, as the insinuation of Orochimaru’s words began to creep in. “What are you saying? We will find that flower TOGETHER!”
“Indeed we will, but I am afraid you are in no state to be of use to me. Your Upper Moons will not be able to fight as effectively without you to command them.
“THEY DON’T NEED MY COMMAND!” Muzan roared, his eyes bulging. “MY UPPER MOONS CANNOT BE DEFEATED BY MERE HUMANS!!!! THOSE DEMON SLAYERS WILL DIE! ALL OF THEM!!! THEY WILL ALL DIE!!!!”
“I am uncommonly happy to hear it,” Orochimaru said smiling, “And I am sure that they will serve me as well as they have served you.”
“Serve you???” Muzan cried, his voice trembling with fear and anger. Without further hesitation, he attacked!
Tendrils shot out from Muzan's clawed hand, and slashed through the narrow corridor, its movements a blur despite his waning strength. Orochimaru’s serpentine grace allowed him to slip past the attack, his body undulating unnaturally as he pressed against the corridor wall.
Muzan’s tendrils surrounded Orochimaru, cutting off his escape. Then, detaching his tendrils, Muzan took a more direct approach. He lunged at Orochimaru fangs bared!
Orochimaru laughed in a smooth blend of mockery and amusement, before making the sign of the ram and bringing it up in front of his head.
HOAH!
Muzan was stopped mid-lunge. A sharp, searing pain radiated from his palm, spreading rapidly like liquid fire through his veins. He froze mid-movement, his predatory instincts overridden by confusion.
"What... what is this?" Muzan growled, his voice a mix of fury and alarm. He clutched at his arm as black, vein-like patterns began to creep up from his hand, spiraling up toward his shoulder. His limbs betrayed him, stiffening under an unfamiliar weight.
Orochimaru’s golden eyes gleamed with a predatory light, and a smile crept across his face. "One who has cursed others all his life, finally meets a greater curse. How Ironic..."
Muzan snarled, his crimson eyes narrowing. "What have you done to me, snake?!"
“I placed a curse mark on your hand,” Orochimaru answered. “Its only a partial one, not as powerful as the ones I place upon my underlings, but in your current weakened state, Its more than enough to make you docile.”
“But how!? When!?”
“Nufufufufufu” Orochimaru chuckled, the sound low and venomous. "It was when we first made contact, Lord Muzan/"
Muzan’s gaze flickered with dawning realization… The moment they first shook hands as they forged their alliance… that was when!!! His fury was rising.. He tried to move, but the curse combined with the poison aging and destroying his cells, was too much for even him to escape from.
Muzan’s lips curled into a snarl, his hatred radiating like heat. "You think this will be the end of me? You will not die a quick death, I assure you of this Lord Orochimaru…"
"Is that so? Well then, Lord Muzan, I suppose we will have to wait and see whether or not you survive this. You see, while your regenerative abilities are something to be envied, it appears that even you are not immune to being... tamed."
Orochimaru leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a whisper that was both mocking and cold. "How does it feel to be on the other side of the leash, Kibutsuji Muzan?"
“I swear upon all that I am, and all that I have…” Muzan threatened in a low voice, “That you will not return to your world, Orochimaru. You will remain here, for the rest of your immortal life, begging for death!”
Orochimaru only smirked, and licked his lips.
Muzan’s breaths came faster, but his body betrayed him, locking into place as the curse rooted itself deeper. For the first time in centuries, the demon lord felt the stirrings of helplessness clawing at the edges of his mind.
Orochimaru’s unsettling grin widened as he observed Muzan’s futile attempts to resist. The curse mark had rendered the demon lord’s body immobile, his monstrous form locked in a pose of barely-contained rage and defiance.
“Any more of this conversation would be meaningless” Orochimaru murmured, pulling a small scroll from the folds of his robe. The parchment unfurled with a snap, revealing intricate diagrams and kanji written in dark ink. Orochimaru placed it on the ground in front of Muzan and began drawing an elaborate sealing circle with practiced precision.
Each brushstroke was deliberate, the symbols woven into patterns that radiated power. The circle’s design glowed faintly as Orochimaru inscribed the final strokes, the energy pulsating like a heartbeat. Satisfied, he rose to his feet, his hands already beginning the first sequence of hand signs.
“Now,” Orochimaru hissed, his voice carrying an edge of satisfaction, “I’ll show you a technique perfected through decades of experimentation. You should feel honored; your essence will become mine.”
His fingers began to move, weaving through the intricate signs—dragon, serpent, ox, rat, tiger, deer, dragon—his chakra surging and intertwining with the power imbued in the seal. The air grew heavy, vibrating with oppressive energy. Muzan’s crimson eyes widened as he felt an invisible force pulling at him, tugging at his very essence.
The seal on the ground came alive, glowing a brilliant crimson as it formed a dome of energy around Muzan. Orochimaru’s voice grew louder as he intoned the final words of the jutsu, his hands pressing together in a final sign.
“Fuuinjutsu: Kyuuin no Noroi!”
The diagram flared, tendrils of chakra lashing out and wrapping around Muzan’s paralyzed form. He roared, a guttural, primal sound, as the tendrils began to siphon away his power. The feeling of his own abilities being stripped from him was an agony unlike any he had ever experienced.
“You think you can contain me?!” Muzan spat, his voice trembling with fury. “I am eternal! I am—”