Offline Meetup in the Demon Slayer World

More than ten minutes later.

In the basement of Tamayo's Residence.

"So... this Miss Uchiha Hikari is Tanjiro's friend, and she came all this way specifically to help you?"

"Yeah. Miss Hikari is an incredibly skilled ninja. I'd never seen her fight in person before, but I never expected her to be this strong!"

Uchiha Hikari calmly drank some water as she listened to Tanjiro talk with the two people across from him.

Well... more accurately, two demons.

Even now, Tamayo and Yushiro still wore stunned expressions, as though they could not reconcile Hikari's delicate, youthful face with the person who had taken down a member of the Twelve Kizuki in just a few moves.

That was right.

Strictly speaking, aside from Nezuko, Uchiha Hikari looked younger than anyone else present.

Tamayo and Yushiro had both become demons after reaching adulthood. Tamayo had even had children when she was still alive, putting both of them around twenty or older. Even Tanjiro was already fifteen or sixteen. Compared with them, thirteen-year-old Uchiha Hikari seemed especially petite.

However, after witnessing the overwhelming strength she had displayed earlier, along with her icy, razor-sharp aura, it was difficult to treat her like a child.

"Miss Hikari, could I ask you to release that demon from earlier for a moment? I would like to collect some of her blood and see whether I can find any clues for creating a cure..."

Tamayo asked softly.

"Sure."

Uchiha Hikari nodded. "But I have one small request as well. Miss Tamayo, could you lend me your research materials on demons? I have a friend who is very interested in this field of study."

"...A friend?"

Only after confirming with Uchiha Hikari that this "friend" was not a demon and had nothing to do with Muzan did Tamayo take a stack of documents from a drawer.

"My apologies, there's rather a lot."

Tamayo spoke with an apologetic expression. "I began researching this a long... around a hundred years ago. Some of the earlier materials have been lost or discarded. I don't know whether Miss Hikari will be able to understand what remains, but if there's anything you don't understand, you may ask me at any time..."

"No problem."

As Hikari said that, she opened the documents and activated the chat group's photo function, photographing each page and sending the images to the group.

She could not even be bothered to read them, because she knew she definitely would not understand them.

While Uchiha Hikari was "reading" the documents, Tamayo could not help quietly asking Tanjiro a few questions.

"Um... I don't know much about Miss Hikari either, but Mister Forever with Sis and the others said she seems to be over a hundred years old too. Just like you, Miss Tamayo, you really can't tell her age at all!" Tanjiro scratched his head and answered honestly.

"?"

Over a hundred years old??

Could humans really live that long? And still look so young... Was she some ancient monster born during the Edo Period? Which kind of monster in those strange tales was good at using fire again?

And who was "Forever with Sis"? Was he a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps?

Tamayo was completely bewildered. She secretly glanced at Uchiha Hikari several times from behind, beginning for the first time to doubt whether her understanding of this world was still insufficient.

Photographing the documents took more than half an hour.

By the time Hikari was finished, Tanjiro had packed up as well. He and Nezuko sat together, looking at her expectantly.

"Miss Hikari, Nezuko and I need to continue carrying out the Demon Slayer Corps' mission. Miss Tamayo and the others are planning to stay behind and clean up the traces before leaving, so..."

"Let's go together."

Uchiha Hikari yawned. "It's almost morning already, right? Let's rest for a while first. Then we'll go find somewhere to pick up Bulma, and continue on our way."

Aside from demons, Uchiha Hikari was also quite interested in the Breathing Techniques of the Demon Slayer World.

However, the location of the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters was strictly confidential, making it difficult to find.

But according to the original plot, Tanjiro would soon be sent there for judgment because of Nezuko. So, she could travel with him for a few days and catch a few more demons along the way. One Susamaru was not nearly enough if she wanted to assist Yachihoko with cultivation and trade with Orochimaru.

That night, the group rested for a while on the tatami mats in the basement.

Early the next morning.

After parting ways with Tamayo and Yushiro, Uchiha Hikari's group left the residence. Then, beside a secluded path, she tagged Bulma in the group chat.

A few minutes later.

Bulma appeared on the streets of Asakusa, dressed in a casual jacket, carrying a shoulder bag, and wearing a camera around her neck, looking as though she were heading out on a sightseeing trip.

"Wow, so this is Tanjiro's world?"

"It's my first time traveling to another world!"

"So this is what Tanjiro looks like. He's pretty cute! Why is your default nickname in the group 'Iron Head Kid'? Is your forehead really that hard? And is the little sister Nezuko you mentioned inside this wooden box? How did she squeeze into such a small box?"

Bulma fired off questions like an endlessly curious child.

Tanjiro answered a few at first, but he was soon stammering under the barrage of rapid-fire questions.

In the end, Uchiha Hikari walked over and grabbed Bulma's restless hand.

"It's broad daylight. Letting Nezuko see sunlight would be very dangerous. You can meet her tonight. Also... Tanjiro's head really is hard, so don't go thinking about headbutting him to test it."

It was obvious Bulma really had been considering it.

But don't even get started on her.

Uchiha Hikari figured that if she and Tanjiro butted heads once, she'd be hurting for half the day. After all, that was a super headbutt powerful enough to knock back even a wild boar...

In terms of forehead hardness alone, he might even be able to go toe-to-toe with Little Goku at this point in time.

After quite a while, Bulma finally calmed down from the excitement of meeting an online friend in person. After looking around and confirming that the area was spacious enough, she took the Capsule Corp case from her pocket and casually tossed one out.

Boom—!

As the smoke cleared, a car appeared.

Tanjiro: "?? What is that thing? How did it suddenly appear? Is it a demon?!"

"It's a car. Huh, doesn't your world have them?"

Bulma looked a little confused.

Uchiha Hikari coughed beside her and explained, "Just think of him as Little Goku."

Strictly speaking, Tanjiro's situation wasn't quite the same as Little Goku's, since there really weren't many cars in Japan during this era...

But with that explanation, Bulma immediately got it. "Oh, so that's how it is..."

"Anyway, get in first!"

Bulma opened the car door and waved Uchiha Hikari and the others over. "My car's pretty roomy. You can sleep inside if you get tired from playing. Tanjiro can put down the box later too—the windows inside are all lightproof, so your sister can come out and move around."