Mountain of Blood Mist

This was a small town in the vicinity of the Kyoto region.

As soon as Sarutobi Hiruzen and his group entered, countless gazes from within the town converged upon them.

In an era of war, aside from prosperous cities that had escaped the ravages of conflict, most small towns lacked military defenses and had essentially been baptized by soldiers and bandits.

They were often filled with starving corpses and bones stretching for miles.

Yet, Sarutobi Hiruzen and his party all had rosy complexions and were equipped with swords, clearly appearing as wealthy individuals who lacked neither food nor clothing.

They stood out particularly starkly in this dilapidated little town.

Sarutobi Hiruzen swept a faint glance over the refugees huddled nearby, and the refugees' gazes all instinctively averted.

There was no need to even look at the swords they carried; the mere fact that their physiques were more robust than ordinary people was enough to extinguish any thoughts the refugees might have had of swarming them to rob them.

Sarutobi Hiruzen ignored these refugees; such scenes would exist in any era of war.

Although he had the ability, Sarutobi Hiruzen had no intention of playing the saint.

Even from the perspective of Space-Time Source Energy, only the fluctuation trajectories of extraordinary power could generate large amounts of source energy.

Merely changing ordinary history was, to Sarutobi Hiruzen, entirely thankless and exhausting.

Perhaps even unifying the island of the Land of Days would not be as effective as Sarutobi Hiruzen spreading his own seeds of Chakra and Ninjutsu.

Tsugikuni Yoriichi looked at these impoverished refugees, and his kind heart could not bear it, so he distributed some of the food he had on hand to them.

Of course, Tsugikuni Yoriichi also had no desire to change this era; this was his conviction.

The group had not walked long on the road before a man dressed in simple attire approached them.

"Are you Lord Sarutobi?"

"And Lord Tsugikuni as well, I presume?"

The man bowed respectfully to the group.

"I am Zheyi."

"I am a subordinate of the Ubuyashiki clan..."

"I have come specifically to receive you, my lords."

Clearly, the Ubuyashiki clan's enterprises were spread throughout Kyoto and the surrounding regions, and they naturally possessed their own influence and intelligence networks.

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded.

"Let's go, lead us to a place to settle down first."

Zheyi respectfully led the way in front, and before long, he brought the group to a stronghold.

It was a tavern, which also seemed to be an enterprise of the Ubuyashiki clan.

In a spacious room within the tavern, the group finally settled down.

There was some relatively sumptuous food and drink in the room.

Of course, due to regional limitations, supplies in the small town were limited, so these provisions appeared somewhat humble.

"My apologies, my lord."

Zheyi knelt on the floor and bowed slightly.

"Conditions here are limited,"

"I cannot entertain you properly."

Sarutobi Hiruzen was indifferent to this and asked directly, "What is the situation..."

"I heard that three batches of Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen have already fallen here..."

Ever since the swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps learned Breathing Style, they had been sent out by the Ubuyashiki patriarch to purge the demons in the Kyoto region.

Ordinary demons were naturally no match for swordsmen who had learned Breathing Style.

However, there were some special, powerful demons that even swordsmen who had learned Breathing Style could not defeat.

"The demons here are located within Mist Island Mountain."

Zheyi explained, "It is the hill to the southeast of this small town."

"It was originally famous for the white mist that drifted over the mountain all year round."

"But later, a demon occupied it and frequently captured humans who went up the mountain to feed on them..."

"Mist Island Mountain has since been renamed Blood Mist Mountain by many."

"As for the swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps who went in..."

A trace of sorrow flashed across Zheyi's face; he felt deeply grieved for those comrades.

He was also a pitiful person whose relatives had been killed by demons, but he lacked any talent for swordsmanship or martial arts, so he could not join the Demon Slayer Corps to become a swordsman.

They could only serve as peripheral intelligence members.

"None of them have come back out..."

"And no one has been able to bring back any information regarding that demon."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded upon hearing this.

The Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen sent there were naturally stronger than the last, and there was no lack of genius swordsmen capable of quickly mastering a Breathing Style.

And for the demons in Blood Mist Mountain to be able to kill them all, it was clear they possessed at least the strength of the Ranks from later generations.

I just don't know if it's an Upper Rank or a Lower Rank.

Sarutobi Hiruzen weighed the situation and said, "Then we must act with urgency."

"Let's head over there directly."

"What do you think, Yoriichi?"

Tsugikuni Yoriichi also nodded.

"That is only natural. The sooner we can eliminate the demon, the fewer human casualties there will be..."

Although they had endured the fatigue of travel for many days, Sarutobi Hiruzen and his party were no ordinary individuals, and they felt little exhaustion upon reaching their destination.

As for Masahiro, who stood to the side, he had no say in the matter and naturally had no objections.

Leaving the city once more, they traveled for a moderate distance until they reached the foot of Mist Island Mountain.

Once they arrived at the base of the mountain, Zheyi's mission was naturally complete; a battle against a demon was not something an ordinary person could intervene in.

Mist Island Mountain was indeed just as the legends described.

Starting from the mountainside, the entire mountain was shrouded in a thin layer of mist due to the water vapor and the terrain.

Coupled with the beautiful natural scenery of the mountain, it possessed a hazy, ethereal beauty.

Yet beneath this beauty lay not only the danger posed by the evil demon, but for ordinary people, even the rugged mountain paths were enough to get them lost.

In this environment, even many scouting Ninjutsu were rendered ineffective.

Fortunately, the original Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen had left behind unique marks within the mountain.

The Demon Slayer Corps of this era did not yet have magical crows to transmit information, so they generally used secret marks and codes to pass on intelligence regarding demons.

Following the information left by the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen, the group arrived at an area near the summit.

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly frowned.

As the altitude increased, the mist before them grew thicker. Not only that, but from a perspective invisible to ordinary people, within the white mist before them, a layer of extremely faint red mist was smeared, hiding within.

A deep, pungent scent of blood began to spread unnoticed.

"So this is what they call Blood Mist Mountain..."

"It's quite fitting."

Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at it indifferently, not taking it to heart.

No matter how flashy the demon on Mist Island Mountain might be, with a combination like Tsugikuni Yoriichi and Sarutobi Hiruzen, even the Demon King would have to kneel here and beg for mercy.

For Sarutobi Hiruzen, this target was no different from a sightseeing trip.

"Clack, clack, clack, clack."

Suddenly, a faint, rhythmic sound of chopping reached them, drawing everyone's attention.

"Over there, my lord!"

Masahiro's ears twitched. With the enhancement of Chakra, his five senses surpassed those of an ordinary person, and he immediately discovered the source of the sound.

The group rushed over.

They saw that in the midst of the thick fog, a middle-aged man dressed like a woodcutter was chopping firewood on a flat patch of ground, with a wooden hut behind him.

He looked like a resident living in the mountains.

Seeing the man lift a massive axe and easily split a tree trunk as thick as a person in two, it was clear he possessed strength not found in ordinary people.

Combined with the legends of Blood Mist Mountain, the identity of the fellow before them was self-evident.