Yoshi! Big time! What are you doing?

He was being pinned firmly to the ground by four or five villagers in ragged white robes, their eyes vacant but their strength astonishing.

The sword at his waist had also been tossed aside. The Corps member's face was smeared with dirt and ash, and his uniform had been pulled into disarray. He had clearly been tangled up with them for quite some time.

Beside him, another fanatical believer was trying to stuff a crude sheet of doctrine into his mouth, which was wide open as he struggled.

"Heretic! Seize this heretic! Offer him to the true god for purification!"

The villagers holding him down repeated this mechanically, clearly already out of their minds.

"Purify! Purify!" The believer stuffing paper into his mouth had fanatical eyes.

"I'm not a heretic! I'm here to help you! Come to your senses!" The young swordsman struggled in vain, his voice full of despair and frustration.

Following the screams, Kirishima Bupai took a closer look. The man was none other than Murata, the extra nicknamed the Road Hashira.

He was a Demon Slayer Corps member renowned as the "Strongest Extra King" and the "Survival Expert."

Just then, Kirishima Bupai's striking white-and-gold cloak bearing the character for "slay," along with his distinctive presence, instantly drew everyone's attention.

The villagers pinning Murata down paused, their vacant eyes turning toward this newcomer, who looked like a more valuable target.

Murata also spotted Kirishima Bupai, as though he had found a lifeline.

Taking advantage of the villagers' momentary distraction, he slammed an elbow into one of those restraining him, then scrambled and crawled to Kirishima Bupai's feet.

Ignoring his disheveled state, he immediately assumed the air of a senior lecturing a newcomer and growled rapidly, "Hey! You there, rookie! Judging by that getup..."

"You just joined, right? Take a senior's advice! This place is seriously creepy! Whatever you do, don't badmouth their church!"

"These villagers have all gone mad! They try to drag everyone into their religion, and if you refuse, they grind you into the dirt!"

"I haven't seen so much as a single demon hair, and these lunatics nearly burned me for firewood!"

"Hurry... hurry and retreat with me! We can figure things out later!" As he spoke, he nervously glanced at the fanatical villagers closing in again, fumbling to retrieve his sword.

Kirishima Bupai looked down, his eyes reflecting Murata's dirt-and-ash-smeared, anxious face, which all but screamed for him to run.

He fell silent for a second, clearly somewhat speechless.

Just as Murata thought this newcomer had been scared senseless...

"Caw-! Caw-!"

The Kasugai Crow on Kirishima Bupai's shoulder suddenly flapped its wings and shouted in a harsh, cracked voice:

"Caw-! Insolence! Disrespect! Open your eyes and look properly!"

"The man before you is the tenth Hashira, personally appointed just recently by the Master! Lord Kirishima Bupai, the Void Hashira!"

"Caw, caw, caw! Pay your respects at once!"

"Ha... Hashira?!" The senior's expression on Murata's face instantly froze, as though an invisible bolt of lightning had struck him.

His eyes went perfectly round, his mouth opened wide enough to fit an egg, and his entire body stiffened as though turned to stone.

Even the hand reaching for his sword stopped in midair.

Only several seconds later did immense terror and shame sweep over him like a tsunami!

"L-Lord Void Hashira?! The tenth Hashira?!"

Murata's voice abruptly shot up eight octaves, trembling with disbelief and utter panic.

With a thud, he dropped almost completely flat on the ground, his forehead knocking hard against the cold stone slabs, his voice thick with tears:

"My deepest apologies! Lord Void Hashira! I was blind! I offended the dignity of a Hashira! Please... please forgive me!"

"I... I was only... only scared out of my wits by these lunatic villagers... boohoo..."

Thinking of how he had just been lecturing a big shot of Hashira rank, he wished he could dig a hole on the spot and crawl into it, his body shaking like a leaf.

Sure enough, Hashira really were terrifying!

The fanatical believers closing in were also left somewhat bewildered by the Kasugai Crow's cries and Murata's exaggerated reaction, momentarily forgetting to move.

Kirishima Bupai ignored Murata's pleas for forgiveness, his fierce gaze sweeping across the surrounding villagers, whose eyes were vacant and bodies gaunt, yet whose strength was considerable.

Pressing his lips together, he looked at the barren fields and dilapidated streets in the distance before his gaze finally settled on the fellow tied to a pile of firewood who had nearly been burned to death.

A simple, crude, but possibly effective plan instantly took shape in his mind. Didn't these people love religion? Then let them have their fill!

He ignored the villagers trying once again to lunge forward and stuff doctrine into his mouth.

Clearing his throat, Kirishima Bupai slowly stepped forward. His voice was not loud, yet it clearly cut through all the noise and chanting.

That anger-filled voice carried an unquestionable authority. "Ignorance."

As soon as he spoke, all the believers paused, their vacant eyes turning toward him.

Kirishima Bupai raised his hand and pointed toward the dead farmland and dilapidated houses in the distance.

"The Eternal Paradise you seek means turning your home into scorched earth? Reducing your loved ones to walking skeletons? Becoming living corpses yourselves?"

After a moment of silence, offended anger appeared on the believers' faces.

But Kirishima Bupai's next words carried a strange persuasive power that struck straight at the core of their doctrine:

"Abandon the flesh? Ridiculous! True paradise comes from labor! From using these hands to create prosperity and peace you can see and touch!"

He abruptly drew his sword, though the Nichirin Blade remained sheathed. Instead, he pointed sword and scabbard together toward the heavens, his white-and-gold cloak stirring without wind.

"From this day forward, a new religion shall be established here-Laborism!"

"It has only two tenets:"

"First: labor brings prosperity!"

"Second: wealth is created by your own two hands!"

"Those who follow this path shall wash away confusion with sweat! Exchange cultivation for renewed life! Welcome true peace through creation!"

This declaration founding a religion was so sudden and so utterly bizarre that even Murata, lying on the ground, forgot his fear.

He raised his head blankly, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground. "L-La... Laborism?!"

The Kasugai Crow also tilted its little head, seemingly wondering whether its master had been possessed by something strange.

The fanatical believers were even more utterly dumbfounded. Their minds had long been poisoned by the cult.

Now, confronted with this completely contrary new doctrine that nevertheless seemed so "justified," their reasoning briefly fell into confusion.

That momentary blank was exactly what Kirishima Bupai wanted. He pointed his scabbard at Murata. "You. Overseer."

"Huh? Me?" Murata pointed at his own nose, looking utterly bewildered.

"You." The scabbard pointed at several villagers who looked the strongest. "Fetch farming tools and handcarts."

He pointed next at the gaunt believers slumped on the street corners. "Them. Put them to farming, hauling, and repairs!"

"Those who refuse to work..." Kirishima Bupai's voice abruptly turned cold, and a faint blue, chilly gleam seemed to flash across the Nichirin Blade's scabbard. "Will get a taste of my big stick!"

Before his words had faded, he flicked his wrist, and the scabbard became a blur.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Three crisp reports, like a whip lashing the air, erupted precisely beside the feet of several nearby believers whose eyes remained vacant and dull.

Several shallow white marks instantly appeared on the hard ground, sending dust flying.

Those believers shuddered as though struck by electricity. For the first time, an emotion called fear appeared in their vacant eyes.

The other believers also instinctively shrank back like startled quails.

"You! Big time! What are you doing! Get to work!" Kirishima Bupai's voice boomed like thunder. Seeing that they still did not move, he immediately pulled out a rope and lashed them with it like a whip.

Sheathing his sword, he grabbed a wooden stick and struck them hard, cursing as he beat them. "Stop standing there howling your heads off! Go to work!!!!"

"Caw! Labor! Work! Get moving! Anyone who dares slack off will get a taste of Lord Void Hashira's big stick!" The Kasugai Crow screeched obligingly, flapping its wings as it circled above the crowd and herded them along.