Three soul-searching questions

Lin Yoriichi was dumbfounded.

The man before him, dressed in a suit and a fedora, with curly hair and a look strikingly similar to Michael Jackson, was undoubtedly Muzan Kibutsuji.

He truly had never expected to transmigrate on the very night Muzan Kibutsuji slaughtered the Kamado Family!

If his Restoration Rate had been 100%—no, even just 50%—he would have been confident he could protect the Kamado Family and escape Muzan Kibutsuji unscathed.

But with a mere 10% Restoration Rate and a "Yoriichi Tsugikuni's Blade: Fake," even protecting himself was a problem.

The feeling of running into the final boss right at the start even reminded Lin Yoriichi of when he had first played Sekiro-

This is attacking, this is defending, and this is Genichiro Ashina!

Lin Yoriichi really wanted to point at himself and ask the system:

"Me? Fight Muzan?"

Faced with this "death at the starting line," Lin Yoriichi had only one thing he wanted to say:

"Muzan, I really didn't expect to run into you here."

Eek!!!

A whimper escaped involuntarily from the corner of Muzan Kibutsuji's mouth, and all five of his brains trembled violently.

Originally, only two of his brains had thought he had encountered Yoriichi Tsugikuni again.

The other three had barely maintained their composure.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni had been dead for hundreds of years!

There was absolutely no way he could appear here again!

But those words shattered what remained of his composure.

This man had recognized him!

He had hardly shown himself for hundreds of years, so how could this man recognize him at first sight?!

There was only one explanation-

The man before him might very well be Yoriichi Tsugikuni!

Muzan Kibutsuji stared at the person before him, his eyes widening involuntarily.

"You... weren't you already dead?!"

Hearing this, Lin Yoriichi immediately realized that Muzan Kibutsuji had misunderstood his words.

And he was even more nervous and terrified than Lin Yoriichi himself.

The demon stood rooted to the spot, his entire body trembling slightly.

Because they were so close, Lin Yoriichi could even hear Muzan Kibutsuji's teeth chattering.

Lin Yoriichi understood!

Right! Only he knew that his Restoration Rate was merely 10%. Muzan Kibutsuji didn't know that!

As everyone knew, Muzan Kibutsuji's defining trait was cowardice-no, caution.

And the reason he was so cautious was that he had encountered Yoriichi Tsugikuni three hundred years ago.

Having cosplayed Yoriichi Tsugikuni, Lin Yoriichi was very familiar with the original Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

He clearly remembered that, in the original story, Muzan Kibutsuji had split himself into over 1,800 pieces to escape when he encountered Yoriichi Tsugikuni.

Yet Yoriichi Tsugikuni had still slashed apart more than 1,500 of them.

He had even left wounds on Muzan Kibutsuji's body that had yet to disappear.

When Lin Yoriichi suddenly saw Muzan Kibutsuji, his first reaction had been, Holy shit, a demon!

But when Muzan Kibutsuji saw him, this "Yoriichi Tsugikuni," the terror and shock he felt could only have been greater!

Lin Yoriichi immediately calmed down.

He looked at Muzan Kibutsuji, whose red pupils were trembling as though struck by an earthquake, and said in a low voice:

"I've returned from hell, Muzan!"

Terror!

Terror like surging waves swallowed Muzan Kibutsuji in an instant!

He clenched his teeth, countless blood vessels rising to the surface of his body and writhing beneath his skin.

His seven hearts pounded violently.

The thoughts of his five brains instantly reached a consensus-

Run!

Of course, Lin Yoriichi noticed Muzan Kibutsuji's unusual reaction.

He still felt that he couldn't possibly scare Muzan Kibutsuji off with just two sentences.

To make Muzan Kibutsuji truly take him for Yoriichi Tsugikuni, he needed to display more abilities.

So he drew his sword.

Hum!

The black blade hummed, then emitted a dark red glow the instant it left its sheath.

The fine snow blown from the eaves by the wind instantly melted into water upon touching the blade.

Although it was only "Yoriichi Tsugikuni's Blade: Fake" and an incomplete Bright Red Nichirin Sword effect.

Visually, however, it looked exactly like the original!

At the same time, Lin Yoriichi played every remaining trump card he had.

Hiss!

As he employed Sun Breathing, wisps of white vapor escaped from the corners of Lin Yoriichi's mouth.

His heartbeat accelerated with it, and his body temperature climbed above 39 degrees Celsius.

Waves of searing pain immediately came from the Demon Slayer Mark on his forehead.

The world before Lin Yoriichi's eyes changed as well.

Muzan Kibutsuji's body gradually became transparent in Lin Yoriichi's eyes.

The alignment and contraction of his muscles, the workings of his organs, and the flow of his blood all became clearly visible.

The Bright Red Nichirin Sword, Sun Breathing, the Demon Slayer Mark, and the Transparent World.

Despite his current Restoration Rate of only 10%, Lin Yoriichi could still feel Yoriichi Tsugikuni's power!

Meanwhile, Muzan Kibutsuji's pupils had only just stopped trembling.

The next instant, he saw Lin Yoriichi draw his sword and witnessed the blade emitting a dark red glow and intense heat!

"Hiss-!" Muzan Kibutsuji sucked in a breath.

The keen blade in his memories from three hundred years ago overlapped perfectly with the sight before him!

What left him even more terrified and uncertain was that, in his eyes, this man's presence had actually weakened.

In his perception, his opponent was actually weaker than an ordinary Demon Slayer Corps swordsman.

This unusual situation immediately reminded Muzan Kibutsuji of his humiliating past.

Three hundred years ago, when he met Yoriichi Tsugikuni, he had also taken him for an ordinary Demon Slayer Corps swordsman.

And afterward...

Muzan Kibutsuji no longer dared to continue that thought.

He did his best to keep his body from trembling, yet he could feel every cell inside him shuddering!

All he wanted now was to use his old trick and split into countless fragments to escape this place once again.

But the cells throughout his body, trembling incessantly with fear, made splitting apart extraordinarily difficult.

No!

It wasn't just that he couldn't split apart!

Under terror beyond his limits, Muzan Kibutsuji was temporarily unable even to control his body's movements.

Yet Lin Yoriichi had already charged at him.

With the aid of the Transparent World, he clearly saw the five brains and seven hearts inside Muzan Kibutsuji's body.

Not only that, he also saw the wounds Yoriichi Tsugikuni had left on Muzan Kibutsuji three hundred years ago, which still had not healed.

To Lin Yoriichi, these wounds were practically as helpful as the dotted lines on packaging showing where to open it-

Please cut along the dotted line!

Under Muzan Kibutsuji's terrified gaze, Lin Yoriichi's first slash landed squarely on a wound Yoriichi Tsugikuni had left all those years ago.

Two slashes, three hundred years apart, became one.

"Aah-!"

Muzan Kibutsuji let out a startled roar, his eyes filled with rage, hatred, and terror.

That slash was definitely no coincidence!

Only Yoriichi Tsugikuni himself could strike the exact same spot with such precision!

He really had crawled out of his grave!

Yet even greater terror still lay ahead.

"Muzan Kibutsuji, when I opened the door, I saw you smiling."

Lin Yoriichi struck at his very soul, asking three soul-searching questions:

"What was so funny?"

"What was so amusing?"

"Muzan, what do you take life for?!"