Demons who could use Blood Demon Arts aside, the Breathing Styles humans used had no visible effects.
In other words, no special effects.
A guy suddenly showed up with flames all over him...
The way he addressed Muzan was so rude... Surely he wasn't a demon?
The flames had died down a little, and everyone saw the Ubuyashiki Family.
Tears slid down their faces, soundless and without their even realizing it.
"Master..."
"Leader..."
"Leader... You're still alive... Thank goodness!"
Kagaya Ubuyashiki had misjudged one thing.
Although his death would help boost the Demon Slayer Corps' morale, the power awakened to protect him was no less impressive.
--
The moment he met Uchiha Sora's gaze, three tomoe appeared in Muzan's already-crimson eyes.
A blazing sun rose within the mental space woven from flesh and blood.
Muzan hadn't seen the sun in a thousand years.
His psychological defenses were breached in an instant, and flames dragged his naked body out into the sunlight.
This guy had almost no resistance to genjutsu. He was even weaker than ordinary people with strong wills.
Uchiha Sora quickly rummaged through Muzan's memories.
But he wasn't good at genjutsu, so he couldn't find useful memories as quickly as someone like Shisui.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have missed such important information about the Infinity Castle earlier.
There wasn't much time...
From the outside, all anyone saw was Uchiha Sora approaching, and Muzan's gaze going vacant as he became unable to move.
The man pressed a hand to Muzan's head, and Muzan didn't even react.
This was... a power they couldn't understand.
The severed connection left Nakime unable to determine Muzan's location.
At that moment, a chain reaction left nearly every demon frozen in place, unable to move.
Among the memories Uchiha Sora searched through, the one Muzan remembered most vividly was naturally that man.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
The undisputed strongest fighter this world had ever seen. Hundreds of years ago, he had nearly killed Muzan in an instant, leaving him with permanent scars.
Transparent World...
A weakened version of the Byakugan? That was a pretty good ability.
Breathing Styles... They were a little like Taijutsu. If this guy had been born in the Shinobi World, he would've become a strong fighter, too.
Uchiha Sora flipped through Muzan's memories as quickly as he could, only to find that the guy's mind was full of Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
Seriously... Was his trauma that bad?
After finally getting past that shadow, he reached Muzan's lifelong ambition.
Find the Blue Spider Lily, overcome sunlight, and become the ultimate life-form!
Yeah, right. The last ultimate life-form to overcome sunlight was now floating in space, having stopped thinking.
There was too much...
Muzan's thousand years of memories were a mess. There was no way to find out how to take over the Infinity Castle!
Damn it! Your own home is important! Pay a little attention to it!!
Ding--
"Thirty seconds remaining on the countdown. Once it ends, travel will begin. Please prepare."
What a pain...
I shouldn't have lifted the danger from those guys.
This contract would end automatically once the mission was complete, unlike the time-based contract Uchiha Sora had taken out with Rayquaza.
That was probably related to whether the other party had a platform...
Tch!
This is all your fault! I barely used any force, so why did you stop wanting to kill them?
The thousand-year-old monster I know had way more courage and Guts than you!
There's no time...
Even if Uchiha Sora figured out how to take over the Infinity Castle, he wouldn't have time to act.
Take Muzan with him...
That wouldn't work. If taking him caused the demon called Nakime to die, his connection to the Infinity Castle would be severed.
Then...
He'd store him for now.
--
Uchiha Sora left the mental world and looked at Tamayo, who was pressed against Muzan.
"Um..."
He grabbed her by the shoulder and flung her away before she could say anything.
His hands flew through Hand Seals as he shouted.
"Gather some planks and make a wooden barrel! I'm going to seal Muzan!"
"Do as he says!"
Yaozai, who had been watching the battle closely, shouted urgently.
The Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps immediately switched jobs and turned into carpenters.
Clatter, clatter—
In just a few seconds, they'd nailed together a crudely made barrel.
"Put it over him!"
The towering Stone Hashira, Himejima, picked up the barrel and dropped it over Muzan. He even thoughtfully brought over a mostly intact floorboard to use as a lid.
Uchiha Sora pressed both hands against the barrel. Black seals spread across it, and sweat appeared on his forehead.
Once the black markings had covered the barrel, Uchiha Sora pulled five sealing tags from his ninja tool pouch and stuck them onto it.
After a low hum, the markings and tags disappeared, and an invisible barrier enveloped the barrel.
Ninja Art: Triple Seal Barrier!
The sealing tags, connected to Uchiha Sora's chakra, were placed at three points. Within their range, ninjutsu that could transform the area into a barrier space could be used.
To undo the barrier, the three sealing tags had to be removed.
Until then, physical attacks couldn't break it.
Its principle was the same as Pain's Five-Seal Barrier, just much weaker.
It was more than enough to trap Muzan.
He'd had them make a barrel so the sun wouldn't kill Muzan. He couldn't let the guy die.
Less than ten seconds.
Uchiha Sora would soon be ending his journey to this other world.
As if by inspiration, Uchiha Sora realized how to leave behind a mark, just like Rayquaza.
The mark was a sign connecting the two worlds.
To put it simply, it was the business card of an employee at the interdimensional lending company.
Once someone accumulated enough credit points, they could submit a loan application through the mark. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say they could exchange credit points for power.
After all, when someone without a platform applied for a loan, their credit points were consumed.
Yaozai must have had the most credit points here before. He'd surely prayed for Muzan to be defeated, but the platform hadn't responded.
In other words, he didn't have enough credit points to defeat Muzan.
It seemed...
If he wanted to descend here again, he'd have to make sure they didn't ask for too much—like wishing for world peace.
He looked at Kagaya Ubuyashiki first.
No... This guy was close to death.
He looked around.
He saw a guy with a white snake coiled around his neck and bandages wrapped around his face.
There were so many telltale signs. He looked just like Orochimaru—clearly the long-lived type.
Snake Hashira Obanai Iguro hadn't even reacted before Uchiha Sora used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared in front of him.
So fast!
I couldn't see his movements at all!
Uchiha Sora pressed a finger to the Snake Hashira's forehead, and a black-and-red tomoe mark appeared.
There wasn't much time. Uchiha Sora hurriedly said, "My power can maintain this seal for a hundred days at most. During that time, you need to form as many connections with people as you can."
"Help others fulfill their wishes, or lend them money and have them pay you back..."
His body began to fade, but he kept talking.
"Look for my business card and apply every day... Pray for me to come help you."
"It can't be something like killing Muzan; you can't afford the price. It could be as simple as saving a cat... Anyway, ask your boss. He should understand."
"Don't destroy my Infinity Castle. When I come to claim it, I'll take care of Muzan for you."
"Lastly."
"Learn from your predecessor in another world. Treasure your life, and don't you dare die!"
He let out a long breath. It was the first time he'd said so much in such a short time.
As his voice faded, Uchiha Sora vanished from this world completely.
Only the barrel containing Muzan reminded everyone that it hadn't all been a dream.
The Snake Hashira touched the fading mark on his forehead, at a loss.
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