The Multiverse Voyager

Scar Man's POV (Takeda Itsuki, but you guys know him better as Scar-man)

The forest was eerily quiet, save for the soft crunch of leaves underfoot and the occasional rustle of the wind through the trees. I wiped the blood from my blade with the hem of my sleeve with ease, as if I had done this action my whole life while the lifeless body of a demon crumpled at my feet.

"That's three so far," I muttered, flicking my blade back into its sheath.

Above me, Arata—the red-haired girl—sat lazily on a thick branch, her legs swinging back and forth as she toyed with the hilt of her Nichirin blade. A moment later, a crumbling body fell from the branches above her, disappearing into ash before it even hit the ground.

"This is so boring," she groaned, stretching dramatically making me avert my eyes as her…nevermind. "Why does everyone keep saying this exam is so hard? I could do this with my eyes closed."

Kaede, marching ahead of us, didn't even bother looking back. "Don't let your guard down, Arata," she snapped Her shoulders were tense, her muscular arms glistening faintly with sweat and dirt. Small scratches marked her arms, but she moved as if they were nothing. "That kind of overconfidence will get you killed."

Arata rolled her eyes, sitting up just enough to give Kaede a look. "Relax, Kaede. We've got this. Besides, you're here. You're like a walking tank, right?" She stuck out her tongue childishly, swinging down from the branch in one fluid motion to land lightly beside her.

Kaede's glare could've burned holes into steel, but she kept moving forward, her blade clicking softly against her side as she walked. "Don't test me, Arata."

I fell back a little, keeping pace with Haruto, the quiet sparrow boy. His tiny bird flitted around his head, chirping softly every now and then.

"What do you think about the exam so far?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Haruto shrugged. "Tougher than I expected, but manageable. The demons here are strong, but not unbeatable. For now."

I chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. It felt strange to be with this group—a ragtag bunch of complete opposites somehow working together. Kaede was all strength and discipline, Arata was… well, unpredictable, and Haruto, though quiet, seemed to have this sharpness about him that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I met Kaede in one of my missions in a small village plagued by a demon. I met her while she was already engaged in battle. She was fierce but reckless, and the two of us ended up working together to defeat the demon. We realized our fighting styles complemented each other, with her strength balancing my speed and we decided to band together.

We encountered Arata in a random town. She operated as a solo non-official slayer and when she heard about us being in a team, she just went ahead and joined us without even asking us first.

Haruto is the newest member. He was already en route to the Final Selection and stumbled upon us fighting off a group of demons. His Water Breathing techniques helped turn the tide, and we invited him to join us for strength in numbers.

I nodded, scanning the dense woods ahead. "I wonder how that guy's doing. What was his name again? AYD?"

Arata's laugh echoed through the forest. "Why are you even bothering to think about him? He's probably fine. Or not. Either way, it's not our problem."

Kaede spoke up from the front. "He's a Hashira's student. If anyone's going to make it out of here, it's him."

Arata clicked her tongue, visibly annoyed. "Again with the 'Hashira's student' nonsense. So what if he trained under a Hashira? That doesn't make him invincible. I'd bet he's just as strong as the rest of us—maybe not even that, We've all been fighting demons for years."

Haruto gave her a sidelong glance but stayed quiet.

I laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Well, it's not like it matters right now. We've got our own problems to—"

The sparrow chirped sharply, cutting me off.

Everyone froze.

"Demon," Haruto said, his voice low.

The ground beneath us began to tremble faintly making us stumble from the unexpected tremor. The vibrations grew stronger with each passing second until it turned into a full-blown earthquake.

"What the hell is that?" Akari asked, her eyes narrowing.

Before anyone could respond, a disheveled figure burst through the undergrowth. We all readied our weapons, but let them down when we realized the figure was a slayer, his uniform torn and bloodstained. His face was pale, and his eyes were wide with terror.

"Help me!" he screamed, tripping over himself as he stumbled toward us. "Please, save me!"

But before he could reach us, massive hands shot out from the shadows, grabbing him by the legs and dragging him back into the darkness. His screams were cut off abruptly.

And then we saw it

The demon was grotesque, its body unnaturally large and covered in sickly green skin stretched tight over bulging muscles. Hands of varying sizes sprouted from every part of its torso, twitching as though they had minds of their own. Its yellow, crossed-out eyes glowed faintly, filled with malice. It stood hunched, yet its presence loomed, oppressive and suffocating.

And extremely ugly.

"This thing..." Arata whispered, her voice trembling. "It's hideous."

Kaede stepped forward, gripping her broken blade tightly. "Stay sharp! Don't let your guard down!"

The demon grinned, its many hands twitching with anticipation. "More snacks? How delightful. Let's play."

…

(3rd Person POV)

"Everyone" Kaede barked while unsheathing her Katana "Diamond Formation now"

Kaede stepped forward, her blade already ignited with the fierce glow of her Flame Breathing. She planted her feet firmly, her broad shoulders squared against the demon. If there was one thing Kaede excelled at, it was drawing attention. Her strikes were slow but powerful, like cannon blasts, each one meant to force the demon to focus on her and no one else.

To her left, Itsuki darted into position. He was fast—faster than anyone else in the group—and his Thunder Breathing amplified that speed even further. His job was to pick apart the demon with precision strikes, exploiting openings Kaede created and zipping away before the demon could retaliate.

Arata rushed to Itsuki's side, standing on Kaede's right side.Her attacks were precise and calculated, the gusts of air from her swings suppressing the demon's movements and keeping it from overwhelming Kaede. She moved like a shadow, always just out of the demon's reach, her strikes finding their mark with unnerving accuracy.

At the back, Haruto hung slightly behind Kaede. He wasn't as fast as Itsuki or as strong as Kaede, but his Water Breathing gave him something neither of them had: adaptability. He kept his eyes on the entire battlefield, ready to block, counter, or redirect an attack the moment it threatened to break through their formation. If anyone faltered, Haruto was the one who would step in to cover them.

This was their formation. Kaede held the line, her presence a wall that the demon had to contend with. Itsuki and Arata struck from the sides, harassing the demon with speed and precision, forcing it to divide its attention. Haruto tied it all together, his fluid movements filling in the gaps and ensuring no one was left exposed.

Kaede attacked first as she rushed at the demon with her blade.

"Oho? A group of slayers? That's rare" The hand demon said in glee, giggling as multiple hands emerged from it's torso heading straight for Kaede. "Let's see if you insects are worth playing with for now"

"Thunder Breathing: First Form- Thunderclap and Flash"

"Ho?"

Instead of dodging or taking the hands head on, Kaede didn't bother stopping as the assault of hands was cut through in one clean motion by Itsuki. Itsuki then tilted, stabbing his blade in the air. Kaede jumped up from the ground onto Itsuki's blade.

Kaede braced her legs and dashed at the exact moment Itsuki roared as he swung his blade forward, launching Kaede forward with a large amount of momentum as she gripped her Nichrin sword

The Hand Demon slammed his foot into the ground, as multiple hands emerged from the ground, just like roots, below Kaede covering every area near her and cutting off all forms of escape.

"Wind Breathing: Second Form – Claws, Purifying Wind!"

Not that she needed to of course, Arata arrived afterwards immediately as she swung her blades down at the ground, cutting off most of the hands surrounding them both. The massive swing at the ground lifted off dirt covering the entire area in a smokescreen.

"Nice tricks, but this smoke" The Hand Demon said, agitated now as it lifted up another leg "WILL NOT SAVE YOU"

"Water Breathing: First Form – Water Surface Slash!"

"What?"

The Hand Demon exclaimed in surprise as both of it's legs got cut off before they touched the ground, making it tumble down as it lost it's balance. It looked behind itself as he saw Haruto behind him, who had somehow quietly sneaked behind him.

With both of it's legs lost, the Hand Demon helplessly fell down. It tried to regenerate it's legs, but the speed of regeneration was not enough to regenerate his legs fast enough to avoid Kaede, who had already arrived in front of him.

"Flame Breathing: First Form- Unknowing Fire"

Kaede swung her blade forward towards the neck of the demon just below it's disgusting yellow eyes, decapitating it and ending the fight.

*ting*

Or so they thought.

Everyone glanced in surprise as the blade failed to cut the demon's neck, barely going in an inch before stopping with a metallic sound, as if the demon's neck was made of steel.

"G-GHAHAHAHAHAHA"

The Hand Demon's previous expression of panic was immediately replaced by glee and laughter as it swung one of its main hands forward, catching Kaede in its grasp, before raising her upwards and tossing her up in the air.

Time seemed to slow down, as the demon seemingly opened up half of its body with a disgusting wet squelching sound as Kaede started falling downwards towards the disgusting mouth.

"Thunder Breathing: First Form- Thunderclap and Flash"

Itsuki arrived suddenly in a burst of speed, catching Kaede mid-air just as the Hand Demon snapped its mouth shut. He caught Kaede mid-air as they both tumbled away from the demon, stopping as they slammed into a tree.

"HAH" The Hand Demon barked in laughter "Not bad, not bad at all. It's been a while since someone survived more than a few seconds in front of me"

"I-i couldn't cut it" Kaede said in ragged gasps as she lifted herself off of Itsuki, who also lifted himself up with a groan, and almost fell down again as his legs started shaking from overexertion.

"I used two moves consecutively, in just a matter of seconds" Itsuki gasped in pain, putting a hand on his knee "I'm not sure how much more my legs can take"

"Ahh, don't feel bad for yourself" The Hand Demon giggled, as it lifted one of it's main hands, tracing the spot where Kaede swung her blade. "My neck, it's almost as tough and thick as steel, of course someone like you won't be able to kill me"

"Steel?" Itsuki said in surprise "No, that's impossible, how can a demon as durable as steel be defeated? No one can cut through steel"

"No one?" The Hand Demon said, his voice calmer now "He-hehe, HAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAH" The Demon burst out in laughter as he heard Itsuki exclaim so

"HAVE YOU EVEN MET OTHER SLAYERS?" The Hand Demon mocked him, raising his hand "THERE ARE DOZENS OF SLAYERS THAT CAN CUT THROUGH MY NECK LIKE IT'S NOTHING, AND YOU SAY IT'S IMPOSSIBLE?"

The Hand Demon started scratching it's body, leaving deep gashes and spouting out massive amounts of blood that regenerated instantly "ESPECIALLY THOSE DAMN HASHIRA, DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL"

"He's hurting himself?" Itsuki said in astonishment

"ESPECIALLY THAT DAMN UROKODAKI, I'M STUCK HERE BECAUSE OF THAT BASTARD. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN HERE? ME NEITHER, IVE LOST COUNT AT THIS POINT, IT MUST HAVE BEEN DOZENS OF YEARS SINCE I LAST RAIDED A VILLAGE"

"AND YOU KNOW THE WORST PART" The Hand demon started shaking, the floor below him now completely red "THAT FUCKER DIDN'T EVEN KILL ME, HE THOUGHT I WAS SO WEAK HE TRAPPED ME HERE TO BE KILLED BY ROOKIE SLAYERS, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?"

"H-He's insane" Arata whimpered as tears formed in her eyes

"HA! LOOK AT YOU" The Hand Demon pointed at Arata, startling her "PATHETIC, TO THINK I WAS SUPPOSED T BE KILLED BY SOMEONE LIKE YOU IS INSULTING"

"Though, I guess Urokodaki's brats do provide a good challenge. Ah, that reminds me did you see any of them enter?"The Hand Demon then calmed down from his tantrum, instead it started shaking in glee "I just LLLOOVVEEEE KILLING THEM and imagining that look of SADNESS on Urokodaki when his students don't come home, HAHAHAHA, THAT'S WHAT I LIVE FOR"

The Hand Demon waited for a response but was met complete with silence. It then looked down only to see no-one around. It turned around it's huge body as it looked everywhere but saw no signs of the team anywhere.

"Did they leave when I was monologuing?" The Hand Demon then placed a hand under it's chin."Hm, that's smart, very smart, they're the first ones to think of doing something like that… FUCKING SMARTASS BRATS, DON'T THINK YOU CAN RUN ONCE IV'E SEEN YOU"

The Hand Demon then put all its hands from its torso infront of its head. The Hands sharpen at the edges, gleaming like metal. The Hand Demon then jumps up from the ground onto his head and starts violently rotating his hands, drilling himself underground.

"Hehehe, Where are you Where are you Where are you"

The Hand Demon muttered while giggling crazily as it drilled through the ground while leaving small hands across the area containing multiple eyes to scan the area, creating an impenetrable perimeter around the area.

A short distance away, Arata and Haruto dashed away while carrying Itsuki and Kaede who panted heavil while lying on their back. The speed at which they were running was far faster than they have ever ran in their life, but they didn't bother thinking about it.

"We're leaving" Arata shouted in panic as her voice wavered slightly "We can hunt demons without becoming a part of the Slayer Corps anyways, who cares about this stupid selection"

"If we can't even take on this demon" Haruto quietly said "Then how can we expect to take on Muzan Kibutsuji?"

"Damn it, we'll train more and come back here two years later then" Arata shouted, as tears started flowing out of her eyes "But we're leaving this damn place right now!"

"Arata…" Itsuki muttered on Haruto's back in surprise, this was the girl who mocked challenges on the daily but now? "I've never seen this desperate side of her before"

"Shut up" Kaede hissed on her back "If you scream this loud, you'll attract the attention of demons"

Arata opened her mouth to retort, but immediately yelped as she fell down on the ground, dropping Kaede who rolled away from the sudden stop. Arata immediately got up as she spat dirt out from her mouth

"What the he-" Her words got stuck in her mouth as she saw what she tripped on. It was a green hand coming out of the ground with an eye on it, staring directly at her.

"THERE YOU ARE" The Hand Demon giggled underground, as he immediately changed his trajectory to head towards them.

"We're dead" Arata said in a defeated tone "We're going to die here, in the final selections without ever becoming a slayer"

"SHUT UP" Kaede yelled as she got up, "EVERYONE IN DIAMOND FORMATION NOW"

As soon as Kaede yelled at everyone, a huge tremor shook the ground. The Hand Demon burst out through the floor along with multiple hands that burst through as well. The sudden tremor created a huge smokescreen of dust.

Suddenly, multiple hands burst through the smokescreen, each aiming at the group. Itsuki and Arata barely dodged while Haruto weaved through them with ease. Kaede brought out her Nichrin Blade as she tried to parry the hands.

*ting*

The sword however, immediately broke as the hand continued on, slamming her straight her in the chest. She let out a loud gasp of air and Saliva as she got launched backwards, slamming into a tree and breaking it apart from the force.

"KAEDE" Itsuki yelled as he tried to sprint towards her, but Kaede raised uo her hand "I'm fine, worry about yourself right now idiot"

"She's right you know" The Hand Demon said, picking it's ear "You can't really distract yourself in a battle. That's why I never teamed up with any demons, they would be nothing more than distractions"

"Shut up" Kaede yelled, as she slowly strolled to the front of her group maintaining a diamond formation and raised up her broken Nichrin Blade "I won't stoop so low as to have a demon agree about something with me"

"HAHAHAHA" The Hand Demon laughed "You remind me of one of Urokodaki's disciples, had peach coloured hair and a scar on his face, oh also he had a small girl as his companion. That was probably the most entertainment I received in this forest"

"Do you know what he did" The Hand Demon said, giggling excitedly "he somehow rallied most of the slayers in that exam against me. Can you believe it? I had to face atleast a dozen participants at once, AND I WON, GEHAHAHHAHAHA"

As the Hand Demon was laughing, Haruto tapped his head, alerting the sparrow who immediately flew off.

"Huh? Sending a rescue signal or something" The Hand Demon said as it just watched the bird fly away "Awww, you shouldn't have, I won't even have to look for people to eat now, you just sent them to their death. Makes me wonder who the demon really is among us"

"Shut up" Kaede barked "Everyone Diamond Formation now"

'Please' Haruto thought 'Someone help us, please'

…

…

…

(AYD POV finally)

"Shut up" Kaede barked "Everyone Diamond Formation now"

"I'm not wasting my time on this" I muttered unsheathing my sword "I'm killing this demon right here"

The Demon launched a massive assault of hands towards the group as they immediately braced for impact.

*slick*

"Water Breathing: Third Form- Flowing Dance"

Only for me to suddenly appear and slash apart all the hands.

"Huh?" The red-haired girl, Ara-something muttered as she processed what happened "Wait, you're that foreigner, when did you get here? You just suddenly appeared out of nowhere"

"Just now" I said as I raised my Katana towards the demon "I was just too fast for you to see. Quite pathetic really after that huge dramatic speech you gave before the exams."

"YOU" The Hand Demon roared with saliva splurting out everywhere as his body started to shake "THAT MASK, YOU'RE ONE OF UROKODAKI'S AREN'T YOU"

"Mm, and you must be the demon killing off all his disciples" I said casually, treating the demon's madness as a temper tantrum which just pissed it off even more

"Urokodaki? Is that the Water Hashira's name?" Arata muttered, only for Kaede to shake her "No, he's a retired Hashira, the current one is called Giyu Tomioka"

"You sure are knowledgeable about the Demon Slayer Corps despite never having joined them" I turned to Kaede "You some sort of spy?"

"DON'T THINK YOU CAN IGNORE ME" The Hand Demon roared as it slammed his feet down. Immediately the ground below me trembled.

"WATCH OUT" Kaede shoutout as she raised her hands towards me "HE'S GOING TO-"

"Shut up" I said as i slammed my feet down with enough force to splatter the sprouting hands into bloody mush "i hate loud noises, I prefer the calming sound of rain as I log on my computer to play some games"

"WHAT?" The Hand Demon roared "HUMANS DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF STRENGTH, WHAT ARE YOU?"

"I just said" I said crouching down "I hate loud noises"

"Water Breathing: Fourth Form- Striking Tide"

One moment, I was standing there chanting the name of my technique, the next moment, I was standing on top of the Hand Demon as I sheathed my Katan back into my scabbard.

"Eh?" The Hand Demon muttered as he turned his eyes upwards towards me. "Ha, looks like you misse-"

Before it could finish, blood spouted from all directions as the Hand Demon tumbled to the ground. It tried to get up, but couldn't feel anything. He turned his eyes towards his body, as he saw all his arms and feet minced up into tiny pieces

I jumped down towards the tumbling demon body "I didn't cut your head on purpose just now" I said, looking him straight in the eye "Did you really think you could kill off innocent people and children, and just die a quick and merciful death?"

"N-NOO I WON'T DIE" The Hand Demon roared, as it tried to regenerate, but the regenerated hands immediately got cut up. To the demon and the slayers present, it was as if the hands just got cut on their own as they were too slow to perceive my movements

"What? Scared" I mocked him, continuously cutting off his regenerating body "I wonder if that's how others felt when you tried to kill them, Karma's a bitch huh?"

"P-please" The Hand Demon said as it stopped regeneration "M-"

"If you even say the word mercy I'll cut your head off this very instant"

The Hand Demon immediately shut up as I continued to mock him "Look at you, pathetic, thinking you're some sort of big deal because no slayer has been able to kill you yet, when you're just stuck in a mountain filled with rookies"

"I wonder how pathetic you were that Urokodaki-Sensei thought you were better off staying here to be killed off by a swordsman that wasn't even a slayer" I said looking him up and down "You think you're strong? You're a waste of space for even comparing yourself to these malnourished demons."

"You're nothing, useless, you should apologize to the plants that produced the oxygen you wasted" I said in anger "I bet you were just as pathetic when you were a human weren't you? Someone incompetent who was jealous of people better than you"

"Ah no, I think I'm wrong about that" I said shaking my head "there's no way you had that much jealousy, after all, everyone you met must have been better than you. My apologies for getting that wrong"

"Y-you" The Hand Demon muttered as tears formed in his eyes

"Crying?" I scoffed "Not even a fit of rage? Damn, I underestimated how pathetic you were, you don't even respect yourself. You were pathetic as a human and you're still pathetic as a demon. I mean look at you, you might be the ugliest demon I've ever seen. You should apologize to me for showing me something that terrible really, I might have to go to therapy now"

I then took out my blade "I don't know if there's a god or devil in this world, but if there is, I ask the both of them to send you to hell."

…

…

…

And that's the end of the final selections arc. I know a lot of you were excited to see the fight between AYD and the Hand Demon, but I really didn't think it was much of a fight. I mean, AYD has mastered Total Concentration Constant, slashed a boulder with just a wooden sword, fought a demon stronger than lower moon 1 and invented two Water Breathing moves, not to mention the overwhelming natural strength and speed he has thanks to his combined physique, I just couldn't see the Hand Demon equaling to that power.

That's why instead of unnecessarily dragging out the fight and making AYD look weak for struggling against someone as weak as that guy while having faced someone much stronger, a trope which I hate by the way (and am ashamed to say have done once before in one of my fanfics where my MC beat Orochimaru in base but still barely won against Rock Lee during the Chunin Exams by opening three inner gates) I just made the Hand Demon fight against the group and just have AYD roast the Hand Demon.

I already got a few ideas for the demons he;s going to face in the future, no spoilers. I've also already planned out his path for this world and am currently deciding the next world he's going to go after this, but that's going to happen after a good amount of chapters so that's that.

Ight, cya