Looking at Tanjiro Kamado in front of him.
Muzan Kibutsuji let out a disdainful sneer in his heart.
Ah, foolish and pathetic human swordsmen!
Whether it's four hundred years ago or four hundred years later, you self-proclaimed righteous guys always like to take the lives of those weak and incompetent mortals on your own shoulders and put shackles on yourselves!
Since you enjoy protecting these ordinary people who are like ants so much... then I'll find you something to do now!
"Since the child has simply mistaken someone for someone else, we won't take up any more of your time."
"It's getting late, and I need to take my wife and daughter to buy some snacks up ahead. Excuse me."
Muzan, with his impeccable smile still on his face, nodded to Tanjiro.
And just as he finished speaking!
Muzan Kibutsuji's left hand, which was hanging by his side, moved with lightning speed and lightness in the shadows where no one noticed!
"Laugh!"
Muzan's fingernails suddenly grew longer and lightly grazed the back of a man's neck behind him!
A barely perceptible scratch appeared on the neck of the passerby!
This ambush was so well concealed that even Muzan's human wife, who was standing Muzan to him and holding his arm, and the hundreds of pedestrians huddled together around them, did not notice anything unusual!
Only Tanjiro Kamado, who possesses Pillar-level vision, had his pupils contract:
"What did you do?!"
Muzan completely ignored Tanjiro's exclamation, and with the little girl in his arms and his wife by his side, he turned and left.
And beside Tanjiro.
"Ouch... That's strange, why are there still mosquitoes in the middle of winter..."
The young man stopped and touched the back of his neck.
"Plop! Plop! Crack--!"
"Ouch... Ouch! It hurts! My head hurts so much!!"
In just two seconds, the man's once clear eyes were instantly flooded with violent bloodshot veins!
Its stark white fangs bulged out, and its entire body skin turned bluish-gray!
He turned into a demon on the spot!
Under the impact of the Demon King's Blood, this honest and law-abiding young man completely lost his mind in an instant!
"Honey?! What's wrong?! Don't scare me!!"
His girlfriend, standing beside him, was terrified and quickly knelt down to help him up.
However!
"Aaaaaah--! I'm so hungry! Meat! I want to eat meat!!"
"Pfft--!"
"Ouch--! It hurts so much! Help!!"
The woman whose shoulder was bitten let out a heart-wrenching scream!
After a second of silence.
"Boom--!"
The bustling commercial street instantly erupted in chaos!
"Someone's killing people!! Someone's gone mad and biting people!!"
"Blood! So much blood! That man's mouth is sprouting fangs! It's a monster! A man-eating monster!!"
"Run! Don't push forward! Help me!"
Ordinary people who were leisurely strolling around the streets were suddenly gripped by a wave of panic!
The entire street turned into complete chaos in the blink of an eye!
"You bastard!! Muzan Kibutsuji, you--!"
Tanjiro's eyes widened in fury at the sight, and he instantly saw through Muzan's extremely vicious scheme!
This inhuman demon calculated that as Demon Slayer Corps swordsman, he would never stand idly by and watch innocent civilians be bitten to death by evil spirits right before his eyes!
Muzan simply creates a tragedy on a whim, using innocent lives as bait so that he can escape unscathed amidst the chaos!
The crazed demon on the ground had already released his girlfriend's bloodied shoulder and was about to bite down on her throat!
"Shut up!!"
Even if Tanjiro was filled with a thousand resentments, he had no other choice at this moment!
He had no choice but to completely abandon the idea of pursuing Muzan!
Immediately afterwards,
Tanjiro transformed his right hand into a chopstick and delivered a powerful blow that lulled him to sleep!
"Miss! Are you alright?!"
"Quick! Press this cloth against the wound on your shoulder to stop the bleeding, and don't let go!"
Tanjiro pulled a roll of hemostatic bandage from his pocket, stuffed it into the hand of the terrified woman, and loudly reassured her.
On the other end of the surging, fleeing crowd.
Muzan Kibutsuji was walking slowly and steadily into the distance, following the direction in which the crowd had retreated.
"Oh dear, it seems there's a drunkard causing trouble and injuring someone behind us. The public security situation is getting worse and worse."
"Madam, don't look back, be careful. I'll take you through the alley next door to catch your ride home."
Even,
While weaving through the chaotic crowd, a panicked young man accidentally bumped into Muzan's shoulder, knocking Muzan's white top hat askew.
In any other place, anyone who dared to offend him would have vanished long ago.
But at this moment, Muzan Kibutsuji showed not a trace of anger. Instead, he bowed slightly to the waiter who had bumped into him.
"Excuse me, am I blocking the way? It's chaotic behind here, please watch your step."
Right in the middle of the street.
Tokyo police officers are pushing through the crowd and closing in on Tanjiro:
"Don't move! You over there, kid with the knife! What are you doing?! Put your hands up!!"
Blocked in place by the chaotic crowd and uninformed police officers, Tanjiro cannot draw his sword and harm the innocent!
He could only watch helplessly as that black figure walked step by step toward the distant horizon!
We can't catch up!
The goal he had painstakingly trained for a whole year was standing right in front of him, his hand was already gripping the other's shoulder, and his Nichirin Blade was already drawn an inch... but now he could only be pinned to the spot by a tragedy casually created by the other, watching helplessly as his enemy disappeared into the crowd with a hypocritical smile!
For the first time Tanjiro Kamado truly experienced the terrifying power of Muzan Kibutsuji, the thousand-year-old Demon King.
His most terrifying aspect has never been just his world-destroying power, but also his ruthless cunning!
He mingled with human society like a parasite, taking human kindness as his weakness, treating the lives of the innocent as mere smokescreens to be discarded, and regarding all things as straw dogs!
"Ughhh--!"
Tanjiro tilted his head back, completely ignoring the shouts of the surrounding patrol officers, his eyes fixed on the last remaining figure about to disappear:
["Muzan Kibutsuji--!"]
"No matter where you run to! No matter what glamorous disguise you wear to blend into the crowd!!"
"I will absolutely, absolutely never let you get away with this!"
And a hundred meters away,
Muzan Kibutsuji paused almost imperceptibly.
He didn't turn around.
"Just a mere experimental subject that escaped control and happened to evolve a few interesting traits..."
Once you enter the back alley, you are cut off from the hustle and bustle of the main street.
Muzan handed the little girl in his arms to his wife, took out a wad of banknotes from his pocket and stuffed them into her hand, his tone still gentle:
"Madam, there are rickshaws at the intersection ahead. Please take Reiko and ride back to the villa."
"I suddenly remembered I have an urgent, top-priority task to handle with the Chamber of Commerce. I'll go home and spend time with you all after I finish that."
"Okay, honey, please be careful."
The human wife, unsuspecting, nodded, took the little girl's hand, and quickly walked out of the alley.
Watching his fake wife and daughter disappear completely from sight, Muzan was finally left Muzan alone in the dark alley.
"Call..."
Muzan raised his hand and removed the white top hat that had been bothering him. The hypocritical mask that had been on his face all night vanished without a trace, leaving only the coldness and tyranny of the thousand-year-old Demon King!
"Although I don't know why that brat is in Tokyo, I can't use the identity of Tsukihiko for the time being."
Muzan snorted coldly.
As he walked deeper into the alley, he mentally issued commands to Nakime in the Infinity Castle:
"Nakime! Move the Infinity Castle to Asakusa first, then bring me back!"
"In addition--"
However!
An unexpected change occurred!
"Buzz--!"
The few withered leaves that were originally drifting down with the wind suddenly defied the law of universal gravitation and were suspended in mid-air!
Immediately afterwards!
"Boom--!"
What is that?!
The hairs on Muzan Kibutsuji's body stood on end in that instant!
P. S.: I originally wanted to skip this part of the story, since I don't really like following the original plot!
However, since it's a classic scene— Tanjiro's first encounter with Muzan —after careful consideration, I'll just leave it at that!
This is the only part; the rest is basically unrelated to the main plot.
Ϟ(๑⚈ ․̫ ⚈๑)⋆