Chapter 44: Battle Against the Hand Demon

As soon as Tanjiro heard Haru's words, he swiftly hid himself within the dense forest.

Seeing this, one of the countless arms on the Hand Demon's grotesque body extended like an arrow, shooting straight toward Tanjiro's back.

Haru immediately unsheathed his sword and slashed, severing the demon's attacking arm before it could reach its target.

"Your opponent is me," Haru said calmly.

"You damn brat!" The Hand Demon seethed with rage, its hatred for Haru intensifying. It wanted nothing more than to rip out his tongue and torment him bit by bit.

"Die!"

In an instant, countless arms shot toward Haru like a barrage of projectiles. Without hesitation, he leaped high into the air. The arms that had no time to change course smashed into the ground, shattering it upon impact.

However, one of the arms quickly adjusted its trajectory and lunged toward Haru midair.

"Water Breathing, Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin!"

Water Breathing's Eighth Form, Waterfall Basin, is a powerful downward slash. When executed by a master, the water's flow manifests as a fierce water dragon. Those with lesser mastery generate a powerful cascading water current instead.

Haru swung his sword down with immense force, and a massive blue water dragon surged forth like a beast leaping from the sea, tearing through the incoming demon arms. Any arm caught in its path was instantly severed.

The sheer force of the attack sent Haru plummeting toward the ground, but instead of pausing, he immediately launched another strike in midair.

"Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel!"

Spinning his entire body midair, Haru slashed in a full circular motion. The blade's arc was followed by a razor-sharp crescent of water, slicing through even more demon limbs.

With the momentum of his attack, Haru landed back on the ground, assuming a defensive stance.

He had expected the Hand Demon to falter after losing so many arms, believing that the wounds wouldn't heal quickly. However, to his surprise, the severed arms regenerated—albeit with noticeable delay.

Haru's eyes narrowed. Had the properties of the Nichirin sword been nullified? Why wasn't the demon's regeneration being suppressed as expected?

No, something was off. Haru, ever observant, quickly realized the truth. Though the Hand Demon had regrown its arms, it hadn't done so instantly—it had taken about three seconds.

More importantly, the regeneration process didn't seem effortless.

It wasn't that the sword's properties had failed, but rather that the Hand Demon's healing ability had grown far too powerful. The Nichirin blade's suppressive effect still worked—it was just far weaker against a demon of this level.

Clearly, consuming over a dozen of its own kind had drastically strengthened the Hand Demon in every aspect.

If even the Nichirin sword struggled to suppress it, a standard Demon Slayer blade would be even more ineffective against these monstrous arms.

"Three seconds… Tanjiro, can you make use of those three seconds?" Haru murmured to himself.

The Hand Demon, noticing the delay in its healing but still confident, let out a sinister grin.

"I don't know what kind of sorcery you used to make my wounds heal slower, but it doesn't matter anymore! Your tricks are useless now!" it cackled triumphantly.