Ubuyashiki and the Hashira

The residence of the Ubuyashiki Clan is very secluded.

A black Kasugai Crow circled down from the sky, flew into the elegant courtyard, and landed on the long corridor.

Ubuyashiki Clan and leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, strolled over.

The man had long, smooth black hair that reached past his ears, an approachable demeanor, gentle eyes and brows, and wore wooden clogs.

"It's Liu Yuan..."

Ubuyashiki Kuno recognized the Kasugai Crow.

Liu Yuan is an exceptionally skilled swordsman among the Demon Slayer Corps' Class B members and a master of the Wind Breathing technique. He was dispatched to a place called Camellia Ridge to search for and slay demons. The return of this Kasugai Crow most likely indicates that the mission is complete.

Kuno smiled slightly, feeling relieved.

He was concerned about the safety of every member of the Demon Slayer Corps.

We are all shouldering a mission, working together to fulfill a common goal.

Kill Muzan Kibutsuji.

Unfortunately, in his generation... Muzan's whereabouts were never found.

"A mysterious figure! A black haori... a strange breathing technique, he killed the demon..."

The Kasugai Crow hopped over to Kuno's feet, tilted its head, looked at its lord, and suddenly cried out.

"Um?"

Upon hearing this, Kuno's expression changed slightly.

He quickly crouched down, took the letter from the Kasugai Crow's foot, unfolded it, and read it carefully.

Then, his gaze became vacant...

The paper contained Liu Yuan's report on the mission, which mentioned a man in detail.

With an ordinary samurai sword, he killed the demon with a single blow, severing its head.

"..."

The white paper fell from his hand, and Kuno's expression changed from stunned to ecstatic and excited.

His clan's bloodline was cursed because of Muzan, and most of them do not live long... In order to fulfill their long-cherished wish, the Ubuyashiki Clan does everything they can to help the Demon Slayer Corps members.

Although they cannot personally wield swords in battle, they spare no effort in making contributions in other ways. For example, they try their best to learn about each demon in advance through the intelligence network they have built, so as to avoid casualties among the Demon Slayer Corps members, or they use the Shogunate to make some connections.

There are also 'hidden' units, and their collaboration with frontline members.

To ensure the Demon Slayer Corps remains a unified entity, to protect the information of each member, and to prevent them from suffering retaliation from demons, etc.

There are also plans to be made for different tasks... He has to deploy all these details, there are too many to list.

It takes a lot of energy.

But there's nothing he can do... As Ubuyashiki Clan, Kuno also wants to hunt demons with his team, but he can't.

He tried to wield the knife, but even the simplest action like swinging a knife was incredibly difficult for him.

This is the only way to burn oneself out.

Every generation of Ubuyashiki family heads, like him, has tried to train... to express their resentment towards their fate, but the curse imposed on them is too great.

Everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps is like him; they don't care about their own lives or death. What they care about more is... the inheritance of their will.

Overcome with excitement, Kuno couldn't hold back and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Blood splattered on the wooden board, but he paid no attention. His hands, which were supporting his body, slowly clenched into fists. His usually calm and peaceful eyes suddenly became sharp, and his tone was excited. "It has appeared... it has actually appeared. The wheel of fate has finally begun to turn."

"I have finally seen the glimmer of dawn in the darkness."

A white-haired woman stood close behind him, comforting her husband.

Kuno's two children quickly turned around and skillfully went to get the medicine.

"Ena...do you know what this means? This person...this swordsman who can execute demons in the darkness with ordinary weapons! His appearance has opened a new door of hope. Besides sunlight, demons have a fatal weakness! Muzan Kibutsuji ...an indelible rift has been added to his fate..."

Ubuyashiki Huina calmly replied, "I understand."

As a descendant of the priestly family, Ena had a premonition of some scenes in her dream a few days ago, though they were very blurry.

She could only sense a sliver of opportunity.

Suddenly, a force appeared—an arm—that gently pushed them out of the 'mud'.

That's right, they're stuck in a quagmire.

Looking at the achievements of the Demon Slayer Corps over the past few generations, although they have been constantly eliminating demons and fighting against Muzan, their actual results have been minimal. Not only have the Demon Slayer Corps failed to find Muzan, the mastermind behind it all, but many of its members have also died at the hands of demons, including some Pillar-level swordsmen.

From this perspective, they were always at a disadvantage in their war against the demons.

If it weren't for the Ubuyashiki Clan uniting everyone's will, and if everyone hadn't held onto their beliefs, the Demon Slayer Corps would have been in constant danger of annihilation... losing the right to fight demons.

The current Muzan may not even take the Demon Slayer Corps seriously.

Whenever news of a member's death came, Kuno appeared calm, but his wife, Ena, knew all about the pain and torment he was going through.

So, a few days ago, she told Kuno about her premonition.

However, after analyzing the situation, Kuno still couldn't find the trigger she had a premonition about, in what aspect... He originally guessed that it might be that one of the Pillars in the Demon Slayer Corps suddenly 'awakened' and possessed unparalleled combat power, or that the Swordsmith Village had invented some kind of technology to amplify the power of the 'Nichirin Sword'.

However, he ultimately rejected them all...

As the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kuno has an extremely thorough understanding of everything and dares not be careless... He knows the strength of each Pillar and is also aware of the foundation of the Swordsmith Village.

He firmly believed in his 'comrades-in-arms,' but he dared not underestimate Muzan...

To be honest, the probability of the opportunity arising within our own camp is extremely low.

He had even prepared to do his best to maintain the current number of Demon Slayer Corps members in the limited time he had left... to pass on this will intact and in good condition.

He had lost all hope in his generation.

They began to focus on nurturing the next generation.

Passing the baton on...

This is his mission, and the greatest effort he can make for the Demon Slayer Corps.

He hated his own incompetence.

However... the balance was broken.

With the arrival of a certain person...

Who is he? This was Kuno's subconscious thought. Over the years, he had fought against Muzan Kibutsuji... The Demon Slayer Corps had gathered all the outstanding juniors and collected all the information and intelligence that could be used to deal with demons. Logically speaking, there should be no omissions.

If such power truly existed, the Ubuyashiki Clan would have already discovered it...

Their appearance at this time can only mean... it's a dereliction of duty by the Ubuyashiki Clan.

After the initial excitement, Kuno felt more self-blame and regret. If he had known earlier that such a power existed in the world, there would have been far fewer of his companions who would now lie buried beneath the tombstones on the mountain.

"A black haori..."

"Summon all the pillars!"

Kuno grabbed his wife's sleeve and said in a deep voice.

"Good."

A few days later, the Demon Slayer Corps Pillar-level swordsmen who had received the news arrived at the mansion one after another.

There are seven in total.

Five of the representatives are the inheritors of the five major schools that evolved from the Sun Breathing.

Water, thunder, rock, fire, wind.

Or rather, among all the Demon Slayer Corps throughout history, those who became Pillars were primarily from these five major schools.

The remaining two are, one of which is a variant derived from the Thunder Breathing, the Light Breathing Thunder.

One is Iron Breathing, which is derived from Stone Breathing.

The five basic breathing techniques are relatively well-preserved and have been developed in greater detail, making them suitable for most people. Compared to niche breathing methods, they are easier to learn and therefore have the largest user base.

Breathing techniques like Light Breathing or Iron Breathing, which are niche and unconventional, are difficult to pass down because they were created by a particular generation of swordsmen based on their specific circumstances. They are not suitable for everyone, and their training methods and foundations are often incomplete... leading many lineages to eventually be lost.

Throughout the Demon Slayer Corps, many variations of Breathing have appeared, some with considerable power, others relatively mediocre... most were fleeting, and very few were remembered.

Niche breathing techniques have too many limitations and no real significance for inheritance... Others who want to learn them may not be able to.

The requirements for cultivation methods and one's own physical constitution are relatively strict, making it difficult to find successors.

It's like a tailor-made skill; therefore, among all breathing techniques, only those five remain unchanged.

To put it bluntly, the time allotted for creating a school of thought was too short, and there wasn't enough time to study and develop it in detail.

The swordsmen were all focused on the demons and had little energy to spare for anything else, so they couldn't compare to the breathing techniques that had been refined over time by the five basic schools.

The seven pillars gathered together, all of them looking very young, with the oldest being no more than thirty years old.

It is not difficult to see from this the frequency of the replacement of Pillar-level swordsmen... and the extent of casualties in the battles against demons.

In one era, the dire situation was so dire that the Demon Slayer Corps changed several Pillars in just one year... Some of them took over when they were just over ten years old, all of them very young.

Of course, to become a pillar, one must possess both strength and talent.

Before they arrived, the seven pillars had already received the news and had a general understanding of the situation.

Liu Yuan, who was acting as the messenger, also arrived at the residence.

In front of everyone, I gave a report... recounting how I was saved by a mysterious person that night.

"Is it possible that he coated his knife with some kind of drug, which produced the effect?" The man currently holding the water pillar in the arena expressed his opinion after listening.

After all, destroying a demon's life force with ordinary weapons is... too absurd.

He prefers to make inferences based on 'reasonableness'.

You mean wisteria?

Lei Zhu, sitting Fuza, pinched his chin and looked at his friend.

"Hey, are you sure it's just an ordinary samurai sword? Did you see it clearly? It might be Nichirin Sword, just with a rather ordinary appearance, and it's definitely fused with Tamahagane..." another person stared at Liu Yuan and questioned him.

"Liu Yuan can't be mistaken."

The Wind Pillar's junior brother spoke up, "Besides, every Nichirin Sword comes from the Swordsmith Village... they're limited in number, and it's impossible for one to fall into the hands of an outsider. Furthermore, no one else could possibly possess the methods and techniques for forging Nichirin Sword..."

Where is he?

"I made some inquiries and found out that someone as important as him is very conspicuous. Before I set off for here, he should have stayed in a town at the Mount Kumotori."

"Mount Kumotori, where is that? I think I've heard of it..."

A man with fiery red hair asked with great interest.

"Idiot."

The woman kneeling beside him rolled her eyes.

"Ah... I remember now!"

Rengoku Chijuro clapped his hands, revealing a set of bright white teeth.

"No matter what, we have to see this person."

At this moment, Ubuyashiki, who had been smiling silently, glanced at the group of pillars in front of her who were discussing amongst themselves, and said softly.