Ubuyashiki Kuno's Heart Ailment

The next morning, Yuki, the magistrate, rushed to Oboro's residence to report.

The incident is simple: someone committed a violent crime in Entertainment District last night, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries.

Subsequently, having anticipated this, and without any surprise, Oboro led the magistrate's office to the crime scene.

Even after an hour or two, the scene still looked shocking.

Even some houses collapsed into ruins.

Many corpses covered with straw mats were laid out in the street... and there was congealed blood everywhere.

Actually, the magistrate's office received the news quite early and rushed over to handle it.

However, since it was late at night and I was afraid of disturbing Long, I delayed reporting it until early in the morning.

"Sir, an eyewitness said that the murderer is a boy, an orphan from this area, Zekawa Zechuan, and he seems to have a vicious dog with him..." the magistrate's office explained to Oboro.

"Fine."

However, Oboro didn't listen to his words at all, and just silently said it in his heart.

Zekawa didn't unleash his killing intent on everyone; he selectively targeted his victims, demonstrating that he wasn't blinded by his sudden power and instead calmly carried out his plan. Those who died were all wicked criminals, drunkards, and some samurai who frequented the area and bullied others.

Some civilians were also killed or injured, but the proportion was not large.

In this way, the births of Gyutaro and Ume will not be affected.

Hundreds of people have died... This is a rare and serious incident.

Once the news gets out, it will be enough to shake the entire city.

"Just block the news and send a few people to investigate. They're just a bunch of lowly commoners," Long said indifferently.

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, Daisuke Hayata honestly agreed.

Yu Li is considered to be the position of police chief.

He wasn't surprised by Oboro's attitude, because in slums, people die almost every day for various reasons, and the officials patrolling there rarely come to such areas. Furthermore, the common people are rarely valued, let alone a high-ranking figure like Oboro who has ties to the Shogunate ... It's just that the number of deaths, several hundred at once, is quite alarming.

In addition, things related to the murderer are a bit strange. How could a teenager do something like that?

After giving a few instructions, Long returned home.

The whole case was characterized by a perfunctory approach.

Businesses in the slums may be affected for a while, but they will soon return to normal.

Time can always heal all wounds.

These people still need to earn money and survive.

"Um?"

However, before getting into the palanquin, Oboro noticed several swordsmen dressed in strange clothes, dressed as demon slayers, members of the Demon Slayer Corps.

At this time, the Demon Slayer Corps' standard uniforms were not the same as those in later generations.

"That's fast enough..."

Watching the group wander the streets, constantly asking survivors about what happened last night, he smiled slightly.

Long was certain that Zekawa had left Entertainment District.

Since the goal is to save the world, it is necessary to start by purging the ruling class. So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Zekawa has already headed to Edo Castle.

This is the impact of differing wills. If it were Muzan's demons, they wouldn't do such a thing. Attacking the Shogunate would attract the attention of secular official forces, potentially drawing the Shogunate's attention, which they had been turning a blind eye to. This was not Muzan wanted; doing so would only make the demons' situation more difficult.

Furthermore, Oboro's blood carries his personal will. After being absorbed by Zekawa, it can suppress the power and curse of Muzan's cells, which means he can get rid of Muzan's control, but he will still be fatally injured by sunlight and Nichirin Sword.

Similarly, to become stronger, one also needs to eat people.

The matter involving Entertainment District was neither a major nor a minor issue, but under his management, it did not cause any significant disturbance.

For a period of time afterward, Long stayed at home, exercising and honing his physical skills every day.

He doesn't practice Chinese Martial Arts as intensely as he did when he was Hunter x Hunter; he only practices for three or four hours a day.

We continuously gathered information from the magistrates' offices in the north and south, as well as from the Shogunate, to observe the current situation across the country.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Demon Slayer Corps.

As time went by, the swordsmen became more and more familiar with and knowledgeable about breathing techniques... Demon Slayer Corps' overall combat strength finally made significant progress.

Especially the pillars.

The results are encouraging.

In just one year, the number of pillars increased from six to eight, and several lower moons were killed in succession.

One day, at the residence of the Ubuyashiki Clan.

Ubuyashiki Kuno's health was deteriorating, and it seemed that her days were numbered.

He summoned all the pillars to announce that his son Ubuyashiki Hideo, the next generation of the Ubuyashiki family, would succeed him after his death.

Although Hideo is only twelve years old, he has always followed his father around since he was old enough to understand things, learning and growing... Judging from his eyes, he is ready for this.

There was no objection to the eight pillars.

"Has that ghost been found?"

Kuno looked at the Shiwei who had his head down and asked.

"Sorry, we couldn't find any trace of it."

The Shiwei calmly said.

"Sigh... it really is difficult."

Kuno sighed.

"That demon's power is clearly different from other demons. The boy Zekawa is a local from the Entertainment District and caused such a big mess, killing so many people. As the leader of the magistrate, Oboro couldn't possibly be unaware of this. The concentration of the blood he received is very similar to that given by Muzan himself... but it shouldn't be Muzan who did it."

"What exactly does this man want?"

A layer of worry was hidden in Kuno's eyes.

After saying that, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"My lord."

The expressions of the pillars changed.

For the past year, Ubuyashiki Kuno has been thinking about Oboro's purpose and what the purpose behind his actions is.

Constantly expending his energy and focusing on this kind of thing will naturally shorten his lifespan.

First he helped the Demon Slayer Corps, then he taught a lesson to a Pillar-level swordsman... He disdained the identity of a demon and the bloodline of Muzan. All of this seemed to be biased towards the Demon Slayer Corps.

However, he has now created new monsters with his own hands and allowed them to wreak havoc.

Even with Ubuyashiki Kuno's mindset, he couldn't see through it.

Is he trying to replace Muzan? If that's his goal, there's absolutely no need for him to help the Demon Slayer Corps...

Transforming a boy into a demon, even if the source of the boy's blood is unknown... it should have nothing to do with Muzan, as Oboro did not join forces with him.

Kuno had already looked into the boy's background.

Orphan...

About half a year before the deaths and injuries in Entertainment District, the boy received money from a powerful figure and bought a puppy named Dark Ball as a companion. Zekawa loved Dark Ball very much, but because of the corrupt atmosphere in Entertainment District, the boy was powerless to protect his beloved dog if it were to be shown to others. Therefore, when Zekawa went out, he always kept the puppy locked in a box at home, protecting it very well.

A man and his dog depend on each other for survival.

However, as the puppy grows bigger, it becomes more difficult to hide.

Until one day, someone finally discovered that he had a puppy... In order to protect his beloved dog, Zekawa was forced to pay the person who discovered him a sum of money every day to keep quiet. In order to earn money, the boy resorted to all sorts of means, such as stealing and begging, and was almost always exhausted...

Kuno didn't need to think about what happened next to understand the situation.

The boy's abilities were limited after all; he couldn't keep earning money forever... Once he stopped paying hush money, his fate was predictable.

As for the important figure who gave the boy money, according to the descriptions of the locals in Entertainment District, it was undoubtedly Long.

His black haori was very distinctive.

"Saving the teenagers?"

Kuno muttered to himself, thinking of Oboro's appearance, and shook his head. "Impossible... There are many ways to save people. With his skills, it would be very easy for him to reform the boy and make him good. There is no need to cause the deaths of the people afterward. Like Otomo Issui, he does things... with a deeper meaning, and this deeper meaning is almost always related to human lives and bloodshed."

"Father... don't think about it anymore."

"My lord, you should rest now."

Seeing that he was still racking his brains to think, everyone around him tried to dissuade him.