The night gradually grew dark.
Uchiha Bing walked alone on the northbound mountain path, the terrain he had scouted during the day unfolding clearly in his mind.
The valley where the Hand Demon resided had a narrow entrance and steep cliffs on both sides, with only a single path for entry and exit—a textbook trap terrain.
Entering such a valley, combined with the abilities of the Hand Demon, would make it a struggle even for an ordinary Demon Slayer Corps Member to escape.
When he was still one or two hundred meters away from the valley, the scent in the air changed.
The stench of rotting corpses grew stronger and stronger, and the scent of a demon mixed with the mountain mist, almost forming something resembling a miasma.
Not knowing whether this thing was poisonous, Uchiha Bing didn’t rashly advance; he stopped on the branch of a large tree outside the valley and quietly kept watch here.
This was the only exit of the valley, and the evil demons on Fujikasane Mountain were in a state of year-round hunger, so the Hand Demon would definitely not miss the opportunity to feed during the period of the Final Selection.
Uchiha Bing held his breath and concentrated, waiting quietly until the moon reached the middle of the sky.
The ground began to vibrate.
A huge shadow surged out from the depths of the valley, countless arms reaching out from the darkness, clawing at the ground, cliffs, and vines, moving toward the valley entrance at an uncoordinated yet extremely fast speed.
Uchiha Bing saw its full appearance clearly.
That was a monster piled high with arms; every single arm had once belonged to a different person—some robust, some slender, some still wrapped in shattered fabric.
Its two eyes were in the center of the arms, which should be the head.
This demon looked as though it were composed of only two organs: a head and hands.
At a sudden glance, it looked like a mop head used for scrubbing the floor.
This was the Hand Demon, an evil demon that had devoured over fifty examinees.
Uchiha Bing leaped down from the tree and landed in a clearing among the woods.
Under the moonlight, his shadow was drawn out very long.
“The aura of a living person.”
Almost instantly, the two eyes of the Hand Demon simultaneously turned over, locking onto Uchiha Bing.
Its voice came out from beneath the layers upon layers of arms, sounding incomparably muffled.
“Let me count, you are the fifty-second.”
Uchiha Bing did not reply, instead slowly drawing the nichirin blade at his waist.
The Hand Demon was not in a hurry to attack; its two eyes looked up and down at Uchiha Bing, then it drew a little closer, as if perceiving something.
“A Breathing Style,” its voice was low, “You are using Water Breathing.”
Uchiha Bing still did not reply.
The Hand Demon split its mouth open, dozens of arms spreading out simultaneously, the entire demon extremely excited.
“You’re not wearing a Ward Fox Mask; it seems that old bastard Sakonji Urokodaki has learned to be smart.
But it doesn’t matter, I am far too familiar with Water Breathing.
Even without a mask, I can still see right through your background.”
“You are Sakonji Urokodaki’s disciple, right?
Do you know how many of his disciples have been eaten by me?
Thirteen, a full thirteen.”
Its voice grew higher and higher, finally turning into a roar.
“Every single one of them shouted their master’s name before dying, and every single one thought Water Breathing could save their lives, but they were all eaten by me.”
The Hand Demon’s voice was high-pitched, carrying the exhilaration of revenge, but after hearing it, Uchiha Bing’s emotions did not fluctuate in the slightest.
“I am not Urokodaki’s disciple; you’ve mistaken the person.”
“Not?” The Hand Demon froze for a moment, and then laughter gushed out from the depths of its throat, “Then there’s no need to say more, go die!”
One arm smashed over first.
Uchiha Bing dodged aside.
The arm smashed into the ground, sending gravel flying, followed by the second and third—the Hand Demon’s attacks lacked system or order, but won in terms of sheer numbers and unceasing continuity.
At the same time, seven or eight arms smashed over from all directions, sealing off the dodging routes of an ordinary swordsman.
Uchiha Bing did not perform conventional dodging either.
With Chakra attached to the soles of his feet, he executed a large jump, stepped onto the incoming arm, sprinted three steps upward along it, and leaped up before the next hand could smash over.
Flipping in mid-air, he landed on the cliff wall on the other side.
With Chakra adsorbing to the rock wall, he stood sideways on the cliff, looking down condescendingly at the Hand Demon.
The Hand Demon’s eyeballs rolled, and it looked up at Uchiha Bing.
“You don’t look like an ordinary swordsman,” it said.
Uchiha Bing did not respond; he was pondering the Hand Demon’s attack pattern.
In that previous round of attacks, the Hand Demon had mobilized twelve arms simultaneously, but its main body did not move.
At most, it could control twelve arms at once—perhaps more—but while attacking, the main body seemed unable to move.
The Hand Demon’s arms varied in size; the thick ones had a diameter of one to two meters, almost rivaling some medium and large summoning beasts in the Ninja World, while the thin ones were only the size of a normal person’s arm, moving flexibly, but seeming a bit lacking in lethality.
Meanwhile, although the outer arms were thick and large, and looked to have formidable strength, their attack range was very large.
With a large mass came large inertia, and the speed of their attack and recovery was correspondingly slow.
To use gaming terminology, when the big hands attacked, their movements were slow and had stiffness.
This was the flaw.
When the Hand Demon launched its second attack, Uchiha Bing directly jumped onto its largest arm, charging inward along the arm.
All sorts of slightly smaller fists smashed over indiscriminately, yet he merely swung the nichirin blade in a circle, severing them all completely.
“Water Breathing — First Form: Water Surface Slash.”
This single blade strike had not a shred of excess movement.
The explosive power of Total Concentration Breathing was entirely concentrated on the blade’s edge, and the blade light flashed past like splashing waves.
The nichirin blade cut into the neck, sending the Hand Demon’s head flying without any obstruction.
Its proud, hard arms hadn’t protected its neck at all.
The Hand Demon’s head rotated twice in the air and then dropped to the ground.
Its eyes were still rolling, seemingly still not understanding what had just happened.
When did Water Breathing become so powerful?
Could it be that the thirteen swordsmen practicing Water Breathing whom it had killed previously had all failed to truly master it?
It lowered its head to take a look, seeing its own body collapsing, its arms turning into ashes one by one.
“…Just what kind of person are you?” Its lips moved for the last time, but without waiting for the answer it wanted, its head turned into ashes.
Uchiha Bing landed, the tip of his blade hanging downward.
He raised his head.
Under the moonlight, the Hand Demon’s ashes were blown away by the night wind, falling onto the vines on both sides of the valley.
“I am just a Ninja.”
He sheathed his blade back into its scabbard.
A system prompt flashed before his eyes.
[Slain Hand Demon (Elite), Influence Value +300]
Uchiha Bing let out a breath.
On the entire Fujikasane Mountain, only the Hand Demon was slightly formidable.
Now that the Hand Demon was dead, the next step was time for a massive slaughter.
Musou-style mowing down enemies and the like really made one happy.
Uchiha Bing turned and walked toward the depths of the forest.
More than half of the night had already passed, so he had to hurry up.
Places in this world with numerous demons like Fujikasane Mountain were few and far between.