He had an emaciated body and an aged face, with a huge lump between the two demon horns atop his head. His eyes rolled upward until only the scarlet whites showed, and every movement trembled, as though a gust of wind could knock him over.
Yet this very demon had managed to enter the courtyard without a sound.
With a single glance, Kanzaki Kumo confirmed his identity-Upper Rank Four, Hantengu.
Because of Gyokko's death, Muzan had put the Upper Ranks under much greater pressure, forcing even Hantengu, who had a talent for concealing his presence, to go around gathering information.
Tonight, as he passed a dead end, he kept feeling that something was off about one of its walls.
Skilled at concealing his own presence, he was also more sensitive to the presence of others.
An extremely faint trace of a demon's presence lingered on that wall.
Deciding to give it a try, he reached out to test it and discovered that the wall was fake.
Then he passed through that wall, entering a courtyard and coming face-to-face with Kanzaki Kumo.
"Kanae, take them and go!"
Calling out without looking back, Kanzaki Kumo kept his eyes fixed on the figure slowly rising to his feet.
Despite the openings all over his opponent's body, Kanzaki Kumo simply did not attack.
Although Kanae did not understand the situation, she still followed Kanzaki Kumo's instructions, taking Tamayo and Yushiro in one hand each and leaping over the courtyard wall with them.
Naturally, Kanzaki Kumo refrained from attacking to buy time.
He had yet to master the Transparent World, nor did he have a nose like Tanjiro's. He had no way to locate Hantengu's true body and simply could not kill him.
That being the case, he naturally would not waste his effort. He