Giyu's "Double Standard," and a Desperate Situation!

The colossal puppet, standing ten meters tall, was like a tower of calamity, turning the entire quarry into a suffocating, high-pressure Rengoku.

Hundreds of meters away from this Rengoku, on the edge of a very high cliff.

Two figures had somehow appeared on this high vantage point, overlooking the fierce duel below.

Giyu Tomioka's deep blue eyes remained completely still in the night, even as the earth below was being ravaged by the Rock Demons.

Beside him, Shinobu Kocho's short purple hair danced wildly in the night wind.

The sly, confident smile she wore in the city was long gone from her delicate, doll-like face. Her purple eyes were fixed on the black and white striped tattooed figure covered in blood, desperately trying to escape through the gaps between the giant puppets.

"This is a very bad situation, Mr. Giyu."

Shinobu Kocho brows furrowed, her small, fair hands already resting on the Nichirin Blade at her waist.

In her eyes, Obanai Iguro below was in extremely bad shape.

A single punch from that ten-meter-tall Desolate Prison Giant Puppet could create a large crater in the ground, and its terrifying gravity field suppressed Obanai's speed to one-third of its usual speed.

This kind of absolute numerical superiority cannot be compensated for by technology alone!

"Mr. Iguro's stamina is almost gone; he simply can't break through that level of rock armor."

Shinobu Kocho's voice carried an obvious sense of anxiety.

"If this continues, he'll definitely be smashed into a pulp!"

"We... can't just stand by and watch anymore!"

Before she finished speaking, Shinobu Kocho's toes had already touched the cliff face, and she was ready to swoop down like a purple butterfly.

However!

"Snap."

Without warning, a large hand reached out from the side and wrapped around Shinobu Kocho's slender waist.

The force was astonishing; it forcefully pulled Shinobu Kocho back.

Shinobu Kocho turned around in surprise, looking at the cold-faced man beside her.

"Don't go. No one is allowed to interfere now."

Giyu Tomioka didn't even turn his head; his deep blue eyes remained fixed on the battlefield below.

"Hey? Mr. Giyu, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Shinobu Kocho was angered by those words. She struggled a little, but couldn't break free.

"Mr. Iguro is our colleague! Are you really going to just stand by and watch him die?"

In response to Shinobu Kocho's question, a glint of light flashed in Giyu's eyes!

"Iguro is currently on the verge of breaking free from its cocoon."

"That kind of 'Transparent World' that can see through the essence of the world... he has already touched the threshold."

Giyu released Shinobu Kocho's slender waist and put his hands back into his sleeves.

"If we were to forcibly intervene on the battlefield at this moment and shield him from that potentially fatal pressure, he might never be able to take that final step in his life."

"He was a proud and arrogant swordsman; for him, this might be more cruel than killing him."

???

Shinobu Kocho stunned for a full three seconds.

Then,

A playful smile suddenly appeared on her delicate, doll-like face.

"Oh dear, Transparent World? The edge of breaking free from the cocoon?"

Shinobu Kocho stood with her hands behind her back, tilting her head slightly. Her purple eyes crinkled into two beautiful crescent moons as she smiled. She deliberately leaned forward, staring at Giyu's expressionless face.

"Mr. Giyu's rhetoric is truly masterful; it's so polished that you can't find a single flaw in it!"

"But..."

Shinobu Kocho deliberately dragged out the soft, sweet ending of her voice, her tone carrying an undisguised mockery.

"How come I remember, just ten minutes ago, on that rooftop in Nara Prefecture Town, that Water Hashira Master who advocated 'extreme pressure can make people break through' wouldn't even let me suffer the slightest injury~"

"Back then, I was clearly playing incredibly hard, and maybe I was on the verge of a breakthrough!"

"But someone, completely lacking in sportsmanship, rushed out and stole my monster with a single strike!"

Shinobu Kocho became increasingly excited as she spoke, her eyes gleaming with a mischievous light.

"Why is it that when it comes to Mr. Iguro, Mr. Giyu suddenly becomes so cold-blooded and has such a broad perspective?"

"Does Mr. Giyu really discriminate between men and women? That's textbook double standards!"

"Boom!"

???

The muscles on Giyu Yong's icy face twitched almost imperceptibly.

His deep blue eyes even shifted slightly to the side, as if he didn't dare to look directly into Shinobu Kocho's teasing purple eyes.

"That... that's different."

Giyu managed to squeeze out a few words.

His mind was racing, trying to cover up his blatant favoritism.

"What's different?" Shinobu Kocho, asking with a smile.

"Cough..."

"Different statuses!"

"Within the Demon Slayer Corps, you are the medical supervisor, a non-combat technical staff member."

"If you get injured, it could cause the entire Demon Slayer Corps' logistical and medical support to collapse."

Giyu's story became increasingly fluent, to the point that he almost believed it himself.

Therefore, you need to be forcibly protected.

"And Obanai Iguro..."

Giyu glanced coldly at his colleague below, who was being smashed by the giant golem and coughing up blood.

"He's a pure fighter!!"

These words were spoken.

Shinobu Kocho was completely dumbfounded by this absurd "double standard theory"!

What kind of ingenious thought process is this?!

To make favoritism and bias sound so noble and refreshing!

"Pfft--Haha!"

Shinobu Kocho finally couldn't hold back anymore. She clutched her stomach and laughed so hard on the cliff face that tears were almost streaming down her face.

"Mr. Giyu... you... you're truly a hopeless idiot!"

Shinobu Kocho to hold back her laughter, but deep down, she felt as if she were immersed in a honey pot, so sweet it was almost overflowing.

This kind of unreasonable favoritism from a powerful man, even if it's disguised with the clumsiest lies, is more deadly than any sweet words!

"Okay, okay, I believe you now~"

Shinobu Kocho wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes and stood obediently beside Giyu, no longer mentioning the matter of going to rescue people.

Giyu Tomioka, on the other hand, maintained his aloof and expressionless demeanor, though his slightly reddened ears betrayed his inner unease.

The two stopped talking and turned their gaze back to the Rengoku below.

In the center of the quarry.

The earth shook violently, as if the end of the world had arrived.

"Boom--!"

The Desolate Prison Giant Puppet, towering ten meters tall, let out a roar!

Those two giant rock fists, each the size of a car, slammed into the spot Obanai Iguro had just stood, accompanied by a sonic boom that tore through the air!

"Bang--!"

A cloud of gravel and dust billowed into the sky.

"Hiss--!"

The white snake, Kaburamaru, coiled around Obanai's neck, let out a painful scream. Its snow-white scales were already marked with bloody scratches from the flying pebbles.

And in a pile of rubble a dozen meters away.

Obanai Iguro rolled on the ground in a disheveled state, trying to dissipate the overwhelming shockwave.

"Cough..."

Obanai braced herself with one hand on the muddy ground and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"This is outrageous... This kind of power, this kind of defense... there's no way a demon of this level could possess it!"

Desperate situation!

This is the most suffocating and desperate situation Obanai has faced since joining the Demon Slayer Corps!