The Best-Looking of the Twelve Kizuki

"Oh? You've got a good eye, rookie. I only just started to suspect something myself."

Tengen Uzui looked at Ye Chen in surprise. He had assumed this troublemaker only knew how to let his fists do the talking, but apparently, his brain worked pretty well too.

"Hey, that look is a bit much, isn't it? Don't assume I'm an idiot just because I'm a badass. Have you seen me make any mistakes so far?"

Faced with Tengen Uzui's look of "Who knew you actually had a brain?", Ye Chen strongly objected. Sure, he only knew because he had read the original story, but he wasn't some brainless musclehead. He was acting so cocky now because he had the strength to back it up. There was no need to keep a low profile anymore.

"Fine, fair enough. Let's just finish this and call it a day." Tengen Uzui shrugged helplessly. This troublemaker was arrogant, sure, but he really hadn't done anything wrong. If there was one thing to complain about, it was that this rookie showed his seniors far too little respect.

"You actually think you can kill us? Ridiculous! Ridiculous!!"

Hearing their conversation, Daki became furious. As an Upper Rank, being looked down on over and over left her seething with anger and humiliation.

"Blood Demon Art: Eightfold Chaotic Dance!"

"Blood Demon Art: Backblood Scythe Blade!"

Amid Daki's furious roar, she and Gyutaro unleashed their Blood Demon Arts simultaneously. Daki's attacks came from every direction, while Gyutaro's shot straight ahead.

"Sound Breathing, Fourth Form: Resounding Slash: Endless Interval."

Tengen Uzui's eyes narrowed slightly. Of the two, Daki posed little trouble for him, but there was also Gyutaro. Gyutaro alone could suppress him, and with Daki added to the mix, the pressure was truly immense. He swung his twin blades and unleashed his Breathing Style.

"Hey, rookie, you're still holding back, aren't you? Hurry up and help me take these two down." Tengen Uzui struggled to fend off their attacks as he shouted at Ye Chen, who was watching from the sidelines.

"All right, all right."

Ye Chen scratched his head. He had only wanted to see how strong the Demon Slayer Corps' top fighters-the Hashira-really were. From what he had seen so far, this Sound Hashira was probably around C+. That might not sound like much, but the next level up was B-, which probably only the unenhanced Stone Hashira and Upper Rank Three could reach. Upper Rank Two and Upper Rank One in his normal state were roughly B-rank. As for Daki, she was probably just a little above C-rank.

Even as Ye Chen considered this, his hands never slowed. He drew a deep breath, and his blade turned blue-white. Then he stamped down and vanished in a burst of speed, shattering the ground where he had stood. In the next instant, he was already in front of Daki and Gyutaro.

"This brat-?!"

Seeing Ye Chen suddenly appear before him, Gyutaro realized his speed had risen another whole level. That meant the brat had overpowered him earlier without even going all out. Gyutaro snatched up Daki and darted backward.

Netherworld Breathing, First Form: Cherry Blossom Spirit Blade Slash!

The instant Ye Chen activated his Breathing Style, he swept his long blade around and swiftly caught up with the retreating Daki and Gyutaro. His swinging blade struck them both, cutting their bodies apart.

"That... that's impossible. Who the hell are you?"

Gyutaro's upper and lower body were severed completely. Ye Chen's slash had cut off Daki's head, but Gyutaro had reacted a little faster and kept the blade from reaching his neck. Even so, he had still been sliced in two.

"Brother, hurry up and do something! How can you not even beat a little brat?"

Daki's head fell to the ground again. This was already the third time she had been beheaded, but now she felt no anger-only panic from deep within. Things had reached the point where she could no longer think about anything else. All she could do was find a way to escape.

"Damn it! This little brat!"

Gyutaro's upper body fell to the ground, but he didn't give up. He quickly regrew his missing half, only for Ye Chen's second attack to follow.

Netherworld Breathing, Second Form: Qi Refinement Release: Crescent Moon Slash!

Ye Chen unleashed his Breathing Style again, following it with a spirit blade combo that pushed his sword energy to its absolute limit. In less than a second, he sliced Gyutaro into chunks. Before Gyutaro could react, the world spun upside down, and his head fell to the ground, rolling to a stop beside Daki's.

"Brother? Why did you get your head cut off too? Why? How can you not even handle a little kid?! You're completely useless!"

When Daki saw that Gyutaro's head had also been severed and both their bodies were beginning to crumble, despair washed over her. It was over. With both their heads cut off at the same time, their fate was sealed.

"Shut up!! You're the one who dragged me down! And you're blaming me? Yelling at me? If I didn't clean up your mess every single time, you'd have died ages ago!!"

As Daki screamed insults at him, Gyutaro twisted his already ugly face into a vicious grimace and shouted back.

"What? Someone like you could never be my brother! You ugly freak! How could you possibly be my brother?"

"Huh? I don't have a pathetic weakling for a sister either! A weakling! A weakling who gets her head cut off every other minute!!"

"Are they... arguing?"

Tengen Uzui was still reeling from Ye Chen's strength. Both demons had been beheaded, and their bodies were crumbling away, yet at a moment like this, they had actually started arguing.

"All right, stop fighting. You're both pretty strong, but unfortunately, this is what happens when you run into me. Do you know the Trash Boss? Oh, I mean the boss above you. Come to think of it, I've beaten him up too."

Unable to keep watching, Ye Chen cockily stomped on the floor twice, making the ground shudder. "Well, this female demon's strength does make the Upper Ranks look a little bad, but at least she's got the looks to make up for it. You're the best-looking of the Twelve Kizuki. Keep it up!"

"..." After Ye Chen said this, Tengen Uzui, Gyutaro, and Daki all stared blankly. They had expected some ruthless declaration, only for him to spout a whole bunch of baffling nonsense.

"He does have a point."

After a moment of stunned silence, Tengen Uzui lowered his head and thought it over. Put that way, it did seem true. He had also discovered Daki's human identity. She was apparently the Brothel's oiran, and she was certainly attractive, whereas most demons had hideous, ferocious faces.

"So that's it. Something seemed to have happened to Lord Muzan recently. You were behind it..." Gyutaro's gaze darkened, though he also felt a little more at peace. If this man had beaten up the boss, getting beheaded by him didn't seem quite so embarrassing.

"Damn it... damn it!! Waaaah... Brother..."

After cursing a few more times, Daki began to cry again, her head already crumbling away.

"Yeah... I'm here, Ume." Gyutaro murmured a word of comfort, his head crumbling away as well.

[Ding! Killed one top-tier demon. Exchange Points ×1397.]

[Ding! First Upper Rank Demon kill. Reward: Exchange Points ×1000.]

"Impressive, impressive. Just what I'd expect from an Upper Rank Demon."

Ye Chen clapped his hands. Upper Ranks really were different. Although these two demons had been counted as one, the Exchange Points were by no means lacking.

"Hey, rookie, who exactly are you?"

Tengen Uzui looked at Ye Chen in astonishment. He could utterly crush an Upper Rank Demon, and hadn't he also said he had beaten up Muzan before? Could this guy be the person Oyakata-sama had mentioned?