With Tanjiro gone, Inosuke was left alone by the river.
Inosuke looked at the massive figure, always ready to attack, and felt an inexplicable fear. Their brief clash earlier had already made him acutely aware of the difference in their strength.
As he hesitated between fighting or fleeing, Tanjiro's last words echoed in his ears.
Driven by competitiveness, Inosuke temporarily forgot his fear. He believed that even without Tanjiro's help, he still had the strength to fight this big guy.
Putting aside his fear, Inosuke faced the Demon Father and sneered, "Hmph, let's see whose arms are tougher, yours or my blades."
With both blades in hand, Inosuke charged toward the Demon Father. Knowing his own strength limitations, he decided to switch from dual-wielding to a single blade.
When he was five meters away, Inosuke leaped from the river, slashing at the Demon Father with his right blade. As expected, the Demon Father raised his arm to block, and the force of his wrist limited the power of the Nichirin Blade, causing it to embed just a few inches into the Demon Father's arm.
Inosuke quickly followed with his left blade, smashing it against the embedded blade, striking repeatedly until the blade slowly cut deeper.
After several hits, the Demon Father's arm was finally severed, blood splattering everywhere.
The Demon Father let out a piercing scream, took a few steps back, and turned to flee into the forest.
Inosuke laughed triumphantly, thinking that even without Tanjiro, he could still kill this giant. He followed the blood trail and soon arrived at an open area.
Scanning around, he couldn't see the Demon Father. Using his "Spatial Awareness" skill, he sensed the Demon Father hiding in a tree.
Inosuke pointed his blade at the Demon Father and cursed loudly.
Perhaps enraged by Inosuke's behavior, the Demon Father slowly stood up on the tree branch, roaring continuously.
Then, Inosuke witnessed something bizarre.
Under the moonlight, the Demon Father was tearing at his own body, with pieces of dark skin falling to the ground.
Inosuke realized he was shedding his skin.
The Demon Father, after shedding his skin, leaped down in front of Inosuke, roaring at him as if to scold him for being so relentless.
The evolved Demon Father was clearly stronger, with a deeper, shinier skin. His severed arm had fully regenerated and now sported numerous sharp spikes. The atmosphere around him was wild and violent, exuding an overwhelming sense of power.
The Demon Father swung his fist at Inosuke with a speed that shocked him, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
Inosuke barely had time to block with his arms before the punch landed, sending him flying into the forest.
The searing pain made Inosuke wonder if his arms were broken.
Even worse, he felt the force pressing on his chest, unable to use his breathing technique to lessen the secondary impact.
Inosuke, in agony, collided with a tree and rolled to the ground, almost losing consciousness from the intense pain. Fortunately, his years of living in the mountains had built a resilient body.
The Demon Father entered the forest, searching for Inosuke.
Dizzy and disoriented, Inosuke took a moment to regain his senses, picking up his fallen blades.
Knowing he couldn't defeat the Demon Father, he planned to slip away quietly.
But Tanjiro's words haunted him again, making him worry about what Tanjiro would think if he fled, and fearing that Tanjiro might come looking for him and encounter the now stronger Demon Father.
This thought rooted him in place just as the Demon Father found him, rekindling their enmity.
Inosuke resolved to stay and wait for Tanjiro (he still couldn't remember Tanjiro's name, calling him 'Tontaro' instead).
"He said he would come, so he will."
Inosuke, though his arms were weakened, decided to fight. Leaping to dodge the Demon Father's punch, he landed behind him with a backflip.
"Beast Breathing, Third Fang: Devour."
Inosuke's crossed blades targeted the Demon Father's neck, trying to saw it off. But he was shocked to find that the evolved Demon Father's muscles were so hard that even his neck felt like stone, breaking Inosuke's Nichirin Blades.
With his blades broken, Inosuke lost his last defense.
The Demon Father's punch hit Inosuke's chest again, sending him flying across the river, crashing into a tree and coughing up blood.
The Demon Father leaped, ready to crush Inosuke like a mountain.
Inosuke thought he wouldn't survive this time and wouldn't be rescued by Tanjiro.
But as the Demon Father's attack came, he made a series of strange movements, shifting from offense to defense as if disturbed by something.
The massive fist didn't hit Inosuke. Instead, the Demon Father landed nearby and quickly retreated.
Inosuke, puzzled, saw a white figure emerge from the forest.
Who was it?
The outfit was the Demon Slayer Corps' uniform, and the waist tag was unique to the Corps.
An ally.
Inosuke, overjoyed, propped himself against a tree and sat up despite the pain.
It was Kanroji Nae.
Following the directions of the white-clad girl, Nae had come to the river to find the Twelve Kizuki's Rui. She saw the powerful figure about to strike the fallen Demon Slayer and immediately intervened, using her "Love Breathing" technique to drive back the Demon Father and save Inosuke.