"The Shinazugawa."
Giyu Tomioka's expressionless face, coupled with his serious tone, created an eerie sense of peace in the courtyard that had just been filled with murderous intent.
He completely ignored the tense atmosphere between Sanemi Shinazugawa and Sabito, and calmly raised the wooden tray in his hand.
There may be some misunderstanding between us.
Giyu's voice was steady and without any inflection.
"I went to the kitchen especially to bring you your favorite mochi, along with a cup of matcha. Eat it while it's hot!!"
These words...
The air in the entire courtyard seemed to freeze completely for a moment.
Even the leaves that were rustling on the trees were abruptly frozen in mid-air.
Sabito still held the broken wooden sword in his hand, his eyes widening little by little.
Meanwhile, Obanai Iguro, the Serpent Hashira sitting on the tree trunk, swayed violently and nearly fell headfirst off the tree.
The white snake -Kaburamaru around his neck terrified him so much that he shrank his head into his black and white striped haori.
Who doesn't know the entire Demon Slayer Corps?
Sanemi Shinazugawa, the Wind Hashira, is a scarred, hot-tempered, and tough guy who hates nothing more than being associated with words like "soft," "sweet," or "cute"!
His fondness for reed cakes was considered by him to be the most closely guarded secret of his life!
Anyone who dares to bring this up to his face is practically tap dancing on his sensitive spot!
Now, Giyu Tomioka not only brought it up in person, but he also announced it loudly in front of the other two Pillars in that most infuriatingly calm tone!!
Sanemi's facial expression underwent a spectacular color transformation in just two seconds.
From pale, to flushed red, and finally to a furious, dark blue.
The veins on his forehead bulged, and the whites of his eyes were filled with alarming bloodshot veins.
"Giyuu Tomioka!!"
Sanemi practically ground his back teeth to powder as he squeezed out those four words.
"Who the hell told you I like that cloyingly sweet stuff?!"
"... Are you deliberately picking a fight, you bastard?!"
A strong sense of shame instantly broke through his rational defenses. He slammed the remaining half of the wooden sword in his hand to the ground and drew the real Nichirin Blade from his waist!
"I'm going to tear you to pieces today! I'm going to chop your smug face into mincemeat!!"
With a furious roar, Sanemi transformed into a violent blue whirlwind, wielding a gleaming blade as he slashed towards Giyu.
"Wind Breathing - First Form - Dust Whirlwind - Slash!"
The raging wind blades tore through the ground, stirring up clouds of dust.
Faced with this deadly attack coming straight at him, a great look of confusion flashed in Giyu's eyes.
He simply couldn't understand why receiving one's favorite food should elicit feelings of gratitude and thanks.
Why did they still draw their swords against each other?
"Could this be the legendary tsundere?"
Water Hashira Column silently came to what it considered a very reasonable conclusion.
"Hey! Tomioka! You're not getting away!"
Just then, a voice filled with fighting spirit rang out from the side.
Sabito drew his Nichirin Blade from his waist, and his once gentle silver eyes now burned with a fierce competitive fire.
Having recently undergone Tamayo's body enhancement, he feels that his body is filled with inexhaustible power.
He desperately wanted to know just how far he was from his good brother, who was known as the strongest humanoid weapon.
"Sanemi! Count me in!!"
The Sabito roared, and continuous blue ripples spread across its blade.
"Giyu! Show no mercy! Today I will conquer this mountain of yours! I will show you my newfound power!!"
"Water Breathing - Eighth Form - Waterfall Basin!"
A massive waterfall cascaded down from above, carrying immense force, completely blocking Giyu's escape route on the left.
At that moment, Obanai Iguro, perched in the tree, finally couldn't hold back any longer.
He snorted coldly and leaped down from the tree trunk like a ghost, the strangely shaped, wave-shaped Nichirin Blade in his hand drawing a snake-like arc in the air.
Obanai's heterochromatic eyes, one gold and one green, were full of cold, nitpicking intent.
"Tomioka! You degenerate who spends all your time entangled with girls, indulging in lust and neglecting your swordsmanship!"
Obanai casually found herself an absurd moral high ground and ruthlessly attacked it.
"You hang out with the Kocho Sisters every day; the floral scent on you can be smelled from eight blocks away!"
"... A scoundrel like you, who has disgraced the dignity of a Pillar-level being, deserves my punishment!!"
"Serpent Breathing - Third Form: Coil Choke!"
A gigantic white serpent phantom coiled out, its fangs twisting and twisting, aiming straight for Giyu's back.
Gale-force winds, towering waves, and venomous fangs.
The three top masters unleashed their deadly moves, each with its own absurd reasons, simultaneously attacking from three directions.
The air in the entire courtyard was compressed by these three enormous forces, causing it to explode and crack, and the stone slabs on the ground shattered layer by layer, with dirt flying everywhere.
Looking at these three deadly attacks, Giyu sighed softly.
For once, a hint of helplessness at being disturbed appeared on his usually expressionless face.
What started as a simple act of delivering heartwarming takeout turned into a group brawl.
Moreover, each of these reasons is increasingly untenable!
"It's too noisy..."
Giyu gently closed his deep blue eyes, and when he opened them again, a faint blue light flickered deep within them.
Transparent World, fully powered.
In that instant, Sanemi's raging wind blades, Sabito's surging water flow, and Obanai's eerie serpentine trajectory all became disintegrated slow-motion images in Giyu's vision.
Giyu didn't speak, and his breathing didn't even change.
He lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his body, like a weightless leaf, glided out at an uncanny angle, defying the laws of inertia.
He sidestepped through the gaps in Sanemi's wind blades, ducked into the openings in Sabito's water flow, and slid in front of Obanai's blade tip.
It was as easy as taking a walk in my own backyard.
While dodging, Giyu even managed to place the wooden tray he was holding steadily on the intact stone table next to him.
Not a single speck of green powder was spilled from the reed cake.
"How is this possible?!"
Sanemi and Obanai's pupils contracted simultaneously, and their hearts skipped a beat.
They didn't even see how Giyu managed to slip through that impenetrable network of attacks.
"Since you all have so much energy, let's give you a little time to calm down."
Giyu whispered something.
"Clang--!"
A crisp sound of a sword being drawn echoed through the courtyard.
The deep blue Nichirin Blade traced a dazzling trail in the air.
"Water Breathing - First Form..."
Giyu unleashed his fighting spirit without reservation at this moment.
The ordinary First Form is just a horizontal slash, but in the hands of Giyu Tomioka now, this move has been completely transformed.
"--Water Surface Slash!!"
With the swing of the blade, what was once a trickle of water became... a vast, raging torrent!
Rumble!
The deafening roar of the tsunami echoed through the courtyard.
A massive, deep blue wave, several meters high, carrying terrifying, destructive force, swept directly towards the three of them!
Giant waves rolled with white spray, instantly engulfing Sanemi's blue whirlwind, scattering Sabito's blue waterfall, and smashing Obanai's white snake phantom into dust.
"What kind of hell is this Water Surface Slash?!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa only had time to utter a single cry of surprise.
"Bang!"
Huge waves crashed mercilessly against the three of them.
"Clang! Crash!"
Sanemi, Sabito, and Obanai were like a broken raft in a storm, directly blasted away by this giant wave!
Sanemi tumbled twice in the air before crashing onto the top of the courtyard wall, hanging there questioning his existence.
Obanai, along with the snake, was swept into the bushes in a corner. Her black and white striped haori was covered with weeds, and she had eaten a mouthful of mud.
Sabito, who was most eager to prove himself, was swept away by the current to the gate of the courtyard, where he fell to the ground with a thud, his Nichirin Blade flying out of his hand, completely dumbfounded.
One move.
The three masters, who were just moments ago brimming with murderous intent and seemingly ready to destroy the world, were all swept away by this unreasonable giant wave, leaving them in a sorry state.
The entire courtyard was washed clean by the water flow, and the air was filled with fresh moisture.
Click.
Giyu flipped his wrist and smoothly pushed the Nichirin Blade back into its scabbard.
He didn't even glance at his three colleagues who were so devastated they were questioning their existence. Instead, he turned his head and his gaze fell once again on the wooden tray on the stone table.
"There's a limit to being arrogant; wasting food is wrong."
Giyu looked at Sanemi, who was hanging on the wall panting heavily, and said in a serious tone.
"Remember to eat the snacks while they're hot, they won't be soft and chewy when they get cold! Also, please don't practice in the yard next time, it'll make the snacks dirty!!"
After saying that, Giyu didn't linger.
He turned around, and with unhurried steps, walked out of the water-washed courtyard without any hesitation.
Only Sanemi Shinazugawa remained hanging on the wall, staring at the perfectly intact plate of green hajime mochi on the stone table.
His face turned pale and then red, finally culminating in a roar of extreme frustration and utter helplessness.
"Tomioka, you expressionless bastard!! I absolutely won't eat this!!"
Night gradually enveloped the Butterfly Mansion.
Having completed his task of delivering the snacks, Giyu returned to his room.
He didn't take the one-sided blast he had just experienced to heart.
After all, in his view, mastering the art of Water Breathing required a lot of practice, and the three of them were a good way to warm him up.
Just as he was preparing to sit cross-legged for his evening meditation...
"Fluttering--!"
A sound of flapping wings came from outside the window.
A beautiful Kasugai Crow landed steadily on the windowsill, with a pink bow tied around its neck.
--It's Kanae Kocho -Kasugai Crow.
The Kasugai Crow carried a letter in its beak, which still emitted a faint fragrance of Wisteria.
Giyu walked over, took the letter, and opened the seal.
On the letter paper was Kanae's delicate and beautiful handwriting:
Mr. Giyu:
If you have some free time in the evening, please come to the main hall of the Butterfly Mansion for a gathering. There is something very important that requires your participation.
Don't be late!
--Kanae
Giyu's brow twitched as he looked at the brief invitation.
Something very important?
The image of Kanae holding up two fingers and asking him expectantly, "Do you know what day it is today?" flashed through his mind again.
"Could it be that it was the half-price sale day at that radish and salmon shop, and she bought a lot of ingredients and needs me to help her taste them?"
With this conjecture in mind,
Giyu folded the letter and put it in his pocket, straightened his unusually colored haori, pushed open the door, and walked towards the main hall of the Butterfly Mansion.
In any case, since she said it was very important, he would definitely go.