Akino's death left Michikatsu and Yoriichi grieving for a long time. Amid his own grief, the head of the Tsugikuni family finally read his wife's final letter and sank into remorse.
Perhaps he should have given Yoriichi a better place to grow up from the start.
Meanwhile, Michikatsu learned that the weak little brother he was supposed to protect was actually a genius. Their father would surely swap their positions, leaving him to live in that dilapidated room before sending him off to a temple.
That added anxiety and jealousy to Michikatsu's grief.
But when he learned that his brother had absurdly decided to leave, and that he treasured that broken flute, Michikatsu found it even harder to understand.
That evening, when Muzan saw Yoriichi being sent out through a side gate, he darted after him.
Yoriichi, who was supposed to go to a temple, did not follow the arrangements. Instead, he headed somewhere far away.
Only seven years old, Yoriichi took just a little dry food and a sword, wandering aimlessly into the unknown, step by step. Muzan followed at a distance.
Elsewhere, Tsugikuni Michikatsu also read his mother's diary.
"Yoriichi is a child beloved by the gods." Moreover, Yoriichi had stayed close to their mother's left side not to seek affection, as Michikatsu had imagined, but to support her. It was as though the diary was telling him-you are not as good as Yoriichi!
Veins bulged on Tsugikuni Michikatsu's hands as he clutched his mother's diary, his nails digging deep into it.
He grabbed his sword and headed outside to the practice grounds.
His face twisted ferociously, his eyes reddened, and veins stood out on the hand gripping his sword. He hacked at the dummy like a madman, letting out low, animalistic growls:
"Why?! Why?!
I've worked so hard for so long! Why does it have to be him in the end?!"
He had no idea how many times he had struck. Sword marks covered the dummy, but because he was still so young, they were only superficial. Yet his little brother could easily cleave it open!
At that thought, jealousy and resentment surged through the exhausted Tsugikuni Michikatsu, twisting his face beyond recognition.
Bang!
He hurled his sword to the ground and, panting heavily, made his way toward Yoriichi Tsugikuni's cramped room.
Crash!
The door was wrenched open and slammed hard against its frame.
Michikatsu stormed inside and searched the room.
Is he hiding?
Suddenly, he spotted a note on the table. He strode over and snatched it up.
The furious distortion of his face gradually faded. Confusion crept into his eyes, and he blankly set the note back on the table.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni really left?
Then Tsugikuni Michikatsu suddenly rushed outside.
No!
I can't accept charity like this!
I don't need it!
Sooner or later, I'll surpass Yoriichi!
Come back!
Sooner or later, I'll become the greatest samurai in the world!
Tsugikuni Michikatsu wanted to bring Yoriichi Tsugikuni back. If Yoriichi left like this, they might never see each other again, and he would live in Yoriichi's shadow forever. He had to find him!
But after chasing blindly for a long time, Tsugikuni Michikatsu finally realized that Yoriichi Tsugikuni was already far away.
He stood rooted to the spot, his face full of helpless confusion.
Meanwhile, several days passed, and Yoriichi's food dwindled. He had no idea where he was when a field appeared before him.
The field was empty. As he walked through it, gazing into the distance for a long time, a figure came into view.
It was a strange girl, standing blankly in the field with a wooden basin in her arms.
Their eyes met.
"You..."
Since it was daytime, Muzan could only hide in the distant woods and watch their meeting from afar. With his superhuman hearing and eyesight, he saw them exchange a few words and decide to stay together.
Shi led Yoriichi toward her home.
Muzan hurried after them.
Here's my chance to find the Blue Spider Lily!
By then, it was dusk. The last trace of sunlight began to fade, the moon rose, and night fell.
Muzan suddenly sensed some creature approaching from behind.
He immediately went on alert.
The next moment, a "monster" nearly two meters tall charged toward Yoriichi and Shi from the other side.
Neither child noticed, as it was still some distance away.
The monster was a half-demon.
The half-demons had long been devoting themselves to eating people and leaving him to take the blame. Its sudden appearance now made its intentions obvious.
Muzan darted forward and seized the half-demon by the throat.
A half-demon was still only a half-demon.
To ordinary people, it might be an unbeatable man-eating monster, but in Muzan's hands, it was nothing but trash he could kill at will.
The half-demon clearly had not reacted in time. Its face filled with terror, and with death looming over it, it let out a piercing scream. Muzan's arm abruptly transformed into a huge maw and swallowed it whole. He hoped to gain its memories by devouring it and find out what was going on with these things.
Naturally, its scream also caught the attention of Yoriichi and Shi in the distance. They looked back, only to see Muzan's hideous arm, transformed into a monster of flesh and blood, swallow something and writhe as though chewing. All that remained on the ground was a pool of blood.
Though he had been neglected, Yoriichi was still a son of the Tsugikuni family, and naturally knew that man-eating demons existed. He immediately recognized the creature before him as a demon and assumed Muzan had eaten a person.
And the instant he laid eyes on the demon, he realized that this creature was dangerous!
He's the Demon King!
My extraordinary talent was given to me so I could kill him!
But he was only seven years old.
And the two of them were merely children of seven or eight, facing a demon...
Yoriichi hurriedly pulled Shi behind him. "Shi, run!"
I'll hold him off!
Although Yoriichi was extraordinarily gifted with a sword and could defeat adults, he was still only a seven-year-old child. That was nowhere near enough to face a demon.
Yoriichi drew the sword, nearly as tall as he was, and held it toward Muzan.
Muzan: "..."
Shi hid timidly behind Yoriichi. Although she was frightened, she did not want to abandon him.
Muzan wanted to explain, but suddenly sensed more half-demons attacking.
Eight half-demons took advantage of Yoriichi's attention being fixed on Muzan and lunged at Shi from behind.
Muzan could no longer worry about Yoriichi's wary stance. He hurried forward.
Damn half-demons!
They're ruining everything!
Even with their sudden attack and superior numbers, the half-demons were no match for Muzan.
In an instant,
Yoriichi thought the demon before him was attacking him and swung his sword to block Muzan. At the same time, Muzan darted past him and appeared in front of Shi behind him.
Yoriichi's heart lurched. He hurriedly turned and swung at Muzan.
But what he saw was eight demons attacking from behind, and Muzan's back.
The next instant, Muzan drew the long sword from his back and drove back several of the attacking half-demons with a sweep of his blade.
At the same time, however, Yoriichi failed to stop his own sword, and it struck Muzan's back.
Skin that even members of the Demon Slayer Corps could not cut was slashed open by Yoriichi, leaving a huge wound several millimeters deep.
"Hiss-" Muzan could not help sucking in a breath. It hurt!
Fortunately, Yoriichi was holding nothing more than an ordinary sword. A second later, Muzan's back was restored.
Yoriichi also realized something was wrong. He stood with his sword pointed at empty air, at a loss.
Muzan glanced back at the two children, then surged forward and sliced off the half-demons' heads in an instant.
Only after dealing with those half-demons did Muzan breathe a sigh of relief.
He suddenly felt that the half-demons were not simply stupid. They were more like an ant colony.
These individual half-demons might not amount to much, but there was an intelligent being behind them, coordinating their actions.
Just now, for instance, a single half-demon had not only drawn his attention but also made him careless enough to let Yoriichi discover that he was a demon. Then the others had attacked Shi while Yoriichi was distracted.
And why attack Shi? Naturally, it was to cut off Muzan's chance of following her to the Blue Spider Lily.
Before you continue