Let's rewind a few minutes.
In a secluded and desolate alley in Asakusa Ward, Tokyo.
Outside on the streets, the whistles of Tokyo police and the clamor of citizens had gradually subsided and faded into the distance.
"I'm sorry... I couldn't save you, nor could I catch the culprit who turned you into this... Please rest in peace."
With tears welling in his eyes, Tanjiro Kamado gripped his Nichirin Blade tightly and swiftly drew his sword, lightly slicing across the neck of the newly born demon before him.
"Pfft--"
The demon, which had been transformed from an innocent passerby, was beheaded in an instant, its peaceful expression turning into ashes and dissipating in the night wind.
"Click--"
Tanjiro sheathed his Nichirin Blade and collapsed onto the cold bluestone floor, as if all his strength had been drained.
He clutched his hair tightly with both hands, his face filled with deep remorse.
"I'm so useless... Muzan Kibutsuji in front of me, and I had my hand on his shoulder..."
"As a result, not only did I fail to land a single blow, but I also turned innocent bystanders into demons... I even tried the suppressant Ms. Tamayo gave me, but it was no use... What kind of Demon Slayer Corps swordsman am I...?"
Just as Tanjiro was sinking into deep self-loathing.
In his mind's Sea of Consciousness, the Demon Tanjiro, who had just woken up, rolled his eyes and muttered with a pout:
"Alright, alright! Stop crying like a wronged woman! You're giving me a headache!"
"In that situation, Muzan was holding a human cub in his arms and a human woman was right next to him. Even if you drew your sword, you would have killed the mother and daughter first. Can you blame yourself?!"
The demonic personality scratched the back of its head and said with a hint of doubt:
"And didn't you just hear a loud bang in the sky? I could smell the sword aura of that deadpan guy Giyu Tomioka, even from ten miles away!"
"If I'm not mistaken, Giyu Tomioka should already be fighting Muzan! What are you standing there dejected about? Get up and go find someone!"
"Why?!"
Tanjiro was taken aback by these words, quickly wiping away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and sniffing the lingering scent in the air with his sensitive nose:
"Really?! Was that loud bang in the sky just now really Mr. Giyu coming over?!"
Tanjiro's eyes lit up, and he quickly stood up from the ground, supporting himself on his knees. He turned around and prepared to rush out of the alley to find Giyu's whereabouts.
However--
Just as Tanjiro took that first step!
"Zheng--!"
A strange, unsettling sound of Biwa being plucked rang out without warning in this dead-end alley!
What was that sound?!
Tanjiro's hair stood on end, his steps froze in place, and his right hand instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword!
Right in front of him, the air suddenly twisted at a ninety-degree angle!
"Splash--!"
Two Japanese-style wooden doors, carved with simple cloud patterns, appeared out of thin air and were then slowly pulled open from the inside to the left and right!
Behind the door was a dark, upside-down corridor with no bottom in sight!
It turns out that half an hour earlier, in order to capture Tanjiro, the experimental subject, Muzan fail, Muzan had dispatched his top henchman—
Go to Asakusa! Capture that Demon Slayer Corps brat wearing the Sun Wheel Hanafuda Earrings alive! As long as he's alive, cut off his limbs and bring him back!
"Tread--"
A steady footstep sounded.
A tall, imposing figure, nearly two meters in height, stepped out of the spatial portal!
He wore a black and purple snake-patterned hunting robe, with a long katana at his waist with a scabbard covered in eerie eyeballs. His long black hair was tied into a high ponytail, and his forehead was covered with dark red flame Demon Slayer Mark.
On his imposing and cold face, there were six eyes that radiated a golden light!
In the very center of the eyes, four large characters are clearly etched: Upper Rank One!
Kokushibo, the leader of the Twelve Kizuki, has descended!
"Buzz--!"
The moment Kokushibo stepped out of the portal, the entire narrow alley seemed to turn into a vacuum!
Tanjiro's breath hitched, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead!
Such a strong sense of oppression!!
If the oppressive feeling when facing Muzan Kibutsuji on the street was a heavy, suffocating pressure;
So, at this moment, facing the tall swordsman with six eyes, Tanjiro felt an unparalleled sword intent that was sharp to the extreme!
Even though the other person hadn't even touched the hilt of the sword at his waist, just standing there looking at him, Tanjiro felt as if thousands of invisible, sharp blades were pressing against his throat, brow, and wrist!
If you dare to move even slightly, you'll be shredded in the next second!
The evil personality within his Sea of Consciousness was so terrified that it jumped up on the spot and screamed in a piercing voice:
["WTF! Upper Rank One, Kokushibo?! Muzan gone mad? He sent out his strongest guy just to capture a brat like you?!"]
"Tanjiro, stop daydreaming! If you don't want to die, you have to fight now!!"
However--,
Just as Tanjiro was enduring the biting pressure and gripping his sword hilt, ready to fight to the death...
Across from them, Kokushibo, in the cool moonlight of the alley, fixed his six eyes on Tanjiro's face.
When you see Tanjiro's red hair, the flame scar on his forehead, and especially the two Tanjiro -Sun Wheel Hanafuda Earrings on either side of his earlobes that are swaying gently in the wind—
The Upper Rank One, who had lived for over four hundred years and whose heart was as hard as iron, suddenly shuddered, his six golden pupils contracted simultaneously, and he was momentarily dazed!
That face... that Sun-wheel earrings...
In Kokushibo's vision, the red-haired boy before him and the figure of his own younger brother Yoriichi Tsugikuni, whom he had envied and hated for four hundred years but could never surpass, were strangely superimposed at this moment!
"Those earrings... Yoriichi...?"
Kokushibo slowly placed his right hand on the hilt of the sword "Kokyū Shinku" at his waist, his six eyes fixed on Tanjiro, his deep voice echoing eerily in the alley:
"No... you are not Yoriichi... you are his descendant, or the inheritor of the Sun Breathing?"
"No wonder that lord ordered me to personally capture you..."
P. S.: 27,000 words, twelve chapters in a row, the moment I broke through my limit, I felt like I had to settle this privately!
┗( TT )┛