The Strongest Thunder Breathing Swordsman in History

That night, members of the Demon Slayer Corps' Kakushi arrived in Black Mountain Township to handle the aftermath.

This time, though, the amount of work was hard to put into words...

They were amazed by the terrifying strength of the new Rumble Hashira, but cleaning up Black Mountain Township would probably take as much effort as a dozen ordinary missions.

The Kakushi supervisor stared blankly at the vast stretch of ruins before him and murmured:

"This is going to be a real headache..."

Unfortunately, Kujo Tachibana had already fallen asleep and had no chance of learning about their troubles.

The next morning, Kujo Tachibana was back at full strength. Accompanied by his Kasugai Crow, Zhong Kui, he set out once again to slay demons.

This time, though, after facing a "life-or-death crisis," Kujo Tachibana had gotten smarter!

He not only packed a backpack full of jerky, but also strapped a brand-new iron pot to it.

What? You're asking why he didn't bring rice balls?

Come on, who eats rice balls when they've got meat?

Was the Demon Slayer Corps broke? Or did Kujo Tachibana not know how to spend money?

He'd even packed all the seasonings he could need!

From now on, Kujo Tachibana would become a man who could camp out in the wilderness without needing supplies!

But as the saying went, everything came at a price!

Kujo Tachibana had only regained his good looks a couple of days ago, and now a huge iron pot had firmly sealed them away again!

And so a legend began to spread across Japan: a swordsman who roamed the country with an iron pot on his back and two swords at his waist, righting wrongs—and possessing monstrous strength!

With a sword in each hand!

One blade to cut down every injustice under heaven.

One blade to slay every man-eating demon in the world.

One was called Evil Slayer! The other, Soul Suppressor!

(Kujo Tachibana: I'm in charge of both the living and the dead!)

Truthfully, Kujo Tachibana couldn't be entirely blamed for all the stories spreading about him!

Thunder Breathing made so much noise that there was no hiding it!

Wherever he went, the thunder of lightning heralded his arrival. The demons who devoured human flesh! The wicked who preyed on the innocent!

Against this pot-carrying swordsman, they were like infants!

They couldn't fight back in the slightest, and he swept them all away!

Among them were even demons on the level of the Twelve Kizuki.

Before long, countless versions of the swordsman's tale were circulating among humans and demons alike!

Meanwhile, many determined people whose lives had been plagued by man-eating demons were inspired by the "pot-carrying swordsman" and eagerly joined the Demon Slayer Corps.

Thanks to Kujo Tachibana alone, the Corps' decline was reversed, and its morale soared!

The members of the Demon Slayer Corps came to revere him as:

"The Strongest Thunder Breathing Swordsman in History!"

Meanwhile, the ordinary people of Japan, who had been saved by Kujo Tachibana's acts of chivalry but knew nothing of the demons, hailed him as:

"The Thunderclap Sword Saint!"

Spring passed, and autumn came again.

A year had flown by. Fortunately, time never let down a hard-working employee!

After a year of grueling work, Kujo Tachibana, the Demon Slayer Corps' business division manager, had just turned sixteen. Following a year of continuous travel on assignments, he had delivered a flawless performance report to the company!

Until now, Ubuyashiki Kagaya had been astonished by Kujo Tachibana's reports every few days.

But after it happened so many times, he'd gradually grown numb to it.

Yet when the complete annual performance report was finally compiled, Ubuyashiki Kagaya, chairman of the company, was still left stunned!

"Ah..." Ubuyashiki Kagaya sighed. If only Tachibana would meddle in fewer people's affairs.

The Corps' Kakushi had spent the past year cleaning up after Tachibana time and time again!

Otherwise, with the number of people Tachibana had killed, wanted posters would probably be plastered across every village in Japan by now!

Name: Kujo Tachibana

Position: Demon Slayer Corps Business Division Manager

Age: Sixteen

Work History: Joined the Demon Slayer Corps after slaying Lower Moon Two Rokuro one year ago. In the year since, he had slain eighty-six man-eating demons, including four demons on the level of the Twelve Kizuki!

They were:

Lower Moon One—Ubume

Lower Moon Three—Yuki-onna

Can't find it by searching the book title? Try searching for the author instead—it may have been renamed!

Lower Moon Four—Mukago

Lower Moon Six—Kyogai

Throughout that year, Kujo Tachibana never took a day off and was never injured. He was either killing demons or on his way to kill demons, averaging one demon slain every four days.

Don't think that slaying more than eighty demons in a year isn't much!

Remember, demons are solitary creatures, each with their own territory.

They don't gather together in groups!

Tachibana spent most of the year traveling and meddling in other people's business. His fights were usually over in an instant.

Now, when weak, ordinary demons ran into the pot-carrying swordsman, their first instinct was to flee!

Unfortunately, they couldn't get away from Tachibana.

The main reason Kujo Tachibana had achieved such an impressive record was that he traveled fast and had such keen senses that it was as if he had a demon-finding radar!

When demons ran into Tachibana, they really couldn't escape or hide.

Of course, Kujo Tachibana's own formidable strength was also the foundation of his record.

It wasn't just Ubuyashiki Kagaya who was stunned. The other business division managers were also floored by Kujo Tachibana's soul-crushing performance report!

By comparison, the rest of them were practically drawing salaries for doing nothing.

The six of them together couldn't match a single person!

They felt guilty even taking their pay...

Only the newly appointed Stone Hashira, Himejima Gyomei, remained as composed as ever.

He simply murmured, "Namu Amida Butsu," and calmly rolled the prayer beads in his hand, seemingly unaffected by Kujo Tachibana in the slightest.

But no one knew that, deep down, he silently thought:

I've known for a long time that I'm a mediocrity.

I accepted my own mediocrity long ago.

(Heh... I'm just kidding. The Hashira in Demon Slayer are worthy of respect. With nothing but their courage, they fight demons with their mortal bodies...)

Inside the Infinity Castle's alternate dimension.

"Pling..." A lingering note from a biwa suddenly rang out.

Our second male lead had finally made his entrance!

The Progenitor of demons, the Demon King, Kibutsuji Muzan.

Today, Muzan wore a red kimono patterned with flowers. His glossy black hair was pinned up at the back of his head, and his features were stunning!

Unfortunately, perhaps he hadn't slept well the night before.

His complexion looked rather poor.

His face was ashen, and veins bulged and throbbed across it!

Everything about him showed just how furious their Demon King was!

"Nakime, gather all the Upper Rank Demons for me!!"

"I want to see them later!"

"Pling..."

The biwa rang out once more. In the next instant,

the buildings in the Infinity Castle turned upside down, and space shifted!

Seven figures of different shapes suddenly appeared in various corners of the castle...

Among them, a muscular young man with short red hair and blue stripes covering his body slowly opened his eyes.

In the pupils of this oddly dressed young man,

three small characters were inscribed!

Upper Rank Three!

That's right, this was Upper Rank Three of the Twelve Kizuki!

Akaza!

"This is... the Infinity Castle!"

"Does that mean another Upper Rank Demon has died at the hands of a Demon Slayer?"

At the thought, Akaza's body began trembling with excitement, beyond his control!

"Was it that pot-carrying swordsman?"

"I hope I get to fight that Demon Slayer!"

"More than that, I hope the Upper Rank Demon who died this time..."

"was you, Doma!!"

Eager to confirm his suspicions, Akaza wasted no more time. He leaped toward the central platform below him in the Infinity Castle...

The Infinity Castle was the Blood Demon Art of a female demon, an exceedingly rare spatial-type technique.

It could transport Muzan's subordinates to the castle at any time and from anywhere for a meeting.

Yes, that was exactly how Boss Muzan used it!