Tanjiro had no intention of hiding anything and answered directly.
"That was a demon just now, and I'm a swordsman specifically responsible for killing demons. If you're alright, please go home without worry. That demon won't appear again."
With that said,
after confirming that the girl was unharmed, Tanjiro turned and walked out of the alley.
The girl behind him watched his retreating figure and asked, "Can you tell me your name?"
Thinking of the current situation, Tanjiro replied without looking back.
"I'm sorry, but I can't."
With that, he vanished into the alley.
Alone beneath the cover of night, he hurried toward the next location. He could not waste the time the other Corps members had bought for him!
Right now,
he was either hunting demons or on his way to hunt demons!
Meanwhile,
Yokohama.
Inside an abandoned mountain village.
There were also rumors here of demons devouring people, but several demon hunters had appeared here today. Among them was even Obanai Iguro, the Serpent Hashira.
Besides that,
there was a boy among the group wearing a fox mask, a Demon Slayer Corps uniform with a checkered haori, earrings, and twin blades at his waist.
At first glance, he looked remarkably similar to Tanjiro.
The group advanced through the darkness.
With great fanfare, they caught a man-eating demon inside a warehouse.
Before it was captured, the demon had already seen the attire branded into the minds of all demons by Muzan.
It was clearly the demon hunter that person wanted dead!
Amid such intense emotional turmoil,
although it could not relay the information to Muzan, Muzan, who had been watching for this all along, immediately noticed it.
When his sight shifted to that demon,
he saw the figure within the crowd through its eyes. Inside the warehouse, where even the moonlight could barely penetrate the darkness,
he truly could not confirm the figure's identity at first.
But that outfit, along with those earrings, was enough to indirectly reveal the identity. As for why the person wore a mask, he did not think much of it.
The lack of any news these past days had nearly driven him mad. Now that there was news, whether it was real or false, he had to send someone to verify it!
He immediately sent word to the Upper Ranks.
The closest one was Upper Rank Five, Gyokko.
He was a demon whose body resided inside a pot. His mouths were where his eye sockets should have been, while his eyes were positioned one each on his chin and forehead.
He looked utterly bizarre.
His body was also covered in numerous infant-like arms.
After receiving the order, one of his mouths extended its tongue and licked its lips, while another mouth spoke excitedly.
"That demon hunter has appeared? I'll go kill him at once. Let me turn him into an artwork and present it to Lord Muzan!"
His body shrank back into the pot, and the pot burrowed underground, speeding toward that mountain village.
Inside the warehouse,
the figure who resembled Tanjiro also used Water Breathing to sever the demon's head with a single strike.
After witnessing that, Muzan became even more certain of this "impostor's" identity. It was Tanjiro!
He gave a cruel smile.
"Found you!"
After severing the demon's head, Obanai Iguro and the others, who had been targeted, immediately left the area.
They planned to follow the plan and hide for a while first.
By the time Gyokko arrived, there was no trace of anyone left. Dawn was also approaching, so he could only hide for the time being.
Brothers Are Heart-to-Heart
This time, he had come up empty-handed. Once night fell, Gyokko began following the traces left behind by the Demon Slayer Corps.
Inside Infinity Castle, Muzan was also watching the situation.
But after searching for two consecutive days,
he still could not find those departed swordsmen, as though they had vanished from the face of the earth. Just as Muzan could no longer suppress the fury in his heart,
another demon's emotions began fluctuating violently. When he shifted his sight over, he once again discovered that demon hunter's figure!
But this time, he had appeared in Asakusa!
It was already extremely far from Gyokko's location, and there were no Upper Ranks nearby. Muzan could only summon him back to Infinity Castle first.
With an indifferent gaze, he removed Gyokko's head, held it in his hand, and coldly stared at him.
"Gyokko, that group of demon hunters has appeared in Asakusa. I want you to go there immediately and kill them all!
"I do not want what happened before to happen a second time!"
Yet Gyokko was not frightened in the slightest. Instead, he was filled with enjoyment, and even a faint blush appeared on his pale face.
Lord Muzan is holding my head. This feeling... is simply wonderful...
"Rest assured, Lord Muzan. This time, I will definitely kill that demon hunter and turn him into a perfect artwork!"
"Do not disappoint me!"
Muzan casually threw the head away. Along with the sound of a biwa,
Gyokko was once again transported to a town near Asakusa. He placed his head back onto his body, twisted his form, and returned to the pot beneath him.
Then he silently disappeared into the night.
Meanwhile,
Tanjiro had also arrived at another ruined village. He had come here following the Kasugai Crow's warning, but the moment he stepped into the village,
his nose twitched, and he could smell the foul stench of demons in the air.
Azhuromaru in his blade gave him a timely reminder. "There are at least seven demons in this place, though they aren't very strong. They're inside the abandoned estate directly ahead of you."
"Thanks, Azhuromaru."
Hearing that, Tanjiro immediately hurried toward the abandoned estate. Perhaps it had been deserted for too long, or perhaps it was simply ancient.
The estate looked extremely dilapidated. Its outer walls were on the verge of collapse, and most of the building had been reduced to little more than load-bearing pillars.
The moment he stepped inside,
Tanjiro drew Azhuromaru from his waist and immediately spotted a muscular demon standing in the courtyard.
"Though I'm sorry, I still have to cut you down!"
The demon turned around at those words and saw a human beneath the moonlight, holding a sharp blade and wearing a fox mask.
It could not help but sneer.
"I was just planning to go hunting, but food has delivered itself right to my door! I'll eat you until not even a scrap of bone remains!"
The commotion here also drew the attention of the demons inside the ruined house behind it, and several more demons emerged one after another.
"A human actually came to us?"
"Such good fortune? Eat him!"
"Get lost! I found this human first!"
Before Tanjiro could make a move, the demons had already begun fighting among themselves over who would get the food.
Tanjiro, who had been treated as food, merely looked at the demons. After confirming that all seven of them had appeared,
he held his sword in one hand and advanced alone.
Using Water Breathing, he cut them all down.
Then, without pausing for even a moment, he rushed toward the next location. He could not waste even a single second!
As time passed,
seven days went by in the blink of an eye. Muzan finally noticed something strange. Every time that demon hunter appeared,
he would immediately disappear, then appear roughly a day later in another faraway location. And all of them wore masks.
Only then did Muzan realize
that he had clearly been played by the Demon Slayer Corps!
At this rate, there was no way he could ever find that demon hunter!
Muzan Kibutsuji: Brothers are heart-to-heart, and you're playing mind games with your brother?
Inside Infinity Castle, Muzan's face was gloomy. He could no longer even continue the experiment before him, and he immediately turned to Nakime behind him.
"Gather all the Upper Ranks for me!"
If he could not find him, then he would lure him out!
In the blink of an eye,
half a month had already passed. During this time, the Demon Slayer Corps' operations had remained safe and uneventful, but Kagaya Ubuyashiki understood
that the calmer things appeared on the surface, the more turbulent the undercurrents were!
It was like the final calm before a storm!
Meanwhile,
Tanjiro had hunted more than a hundred demons over the past half month. His physique had undergone another qualitative transformation, and Azhuromaru had also unlocked Sky Riding once more.
The Kasugai Crow flying overhead
once again brought intelligence, opening its beak to call out.
"Southeast-southeast! Southeast-southeast! The Ripper has appeared there!"
"Another new mission?"
After cutting down the demon before him, Tanjiro sheathed his sword and turned to look at the Kasugai Crow that had landed on his shoulder.
Perhaps because he carried too many people's hopes, Tanjiro had become much steadier now.
"Let's go, Azhuromaru!"
He said it to himself, even though he received no response.
Not far behind him, Sanemi Shinazugawa had also completely changed his opinion of Tanjiro during this time. Though Tanjiro was so kind that he sometimes sympathized with demons,
when it was time to strike, he showed no mercy whatsoever.
He was absolutely a qualified demon hunter. This only made Sanemi believe even more firmly that Tanjiro could ultimately kill Muzan Kibutsuji!
The two did not stop and immediately hurried toward their next destination.
Before you continue