"How pitiful, elder brother."
When he heard those words, Kokushibo had only one thought left-
What the hell!
Had Yoriichi Tsugikuni really come back to life?!
No! Impossible!
I saw Yoriichi Tsugikuni die right before my eyes. I even cut his corpse in half at the waist.
The dead could never come back to life!
The one standing before me was merely a despicable imitator of Yoriichi Tsugikuni!
Kokushibo felt as though even his brain was trembling, as if it had split into two factions in an instant.
One frantically denied the scene before him.
The other kept telling him.
If someone looked like Yoriichi Tsugikuni, dressed like Yoriichi Tsugikuni, and even knew the conversations Yoriichi Tsugikuni had shared with him.
Then, no matter how impossible it seemed, he probably had to accept the fact.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni had truly come back to life.
He had appeared before him once again.
Kokushibo instinctively drew his sword, yet felt utterly at a loss.
A powerful emotion from long ago suddenly surged into his heart.
As he looked at the "Yoriichi Tsugikuni" before him, understanding suddenly dawned.
Kokushibo knew what that emotion was-
Jealousy!
Why, even after becoming a demon, could I still not defeat you when you were at the end of your life?
Why could you return from the dead hundreds of years later and appear before me in human form once more?
If people really could come back to life, then why did I become a demon...?
After saying those words, Lin Yoriichi clearly sensed a change come over Kokushibo.
All six of his eyes were filled with jealousy and bewilderment.
To Lin Yoriichi, it looked as though all six of Kokushibo's eyes had turned into lemons-
He was sour with envy.
But if that was all, the only thing Lin Yoriichi would get next was a battle with Kokushibo.
And even with his fidelity rising to 45% after he spoke those words, he might not necessarily be able to finish Kokushibo off.
That fell far short of the "surprise" Lin Yoriichi wanted to give Kokushibo and Muzan Kibutsuji.
So Lin Yoriichi decided to add more fuel to the fire.
Seeing Kokushibo draw that katana made of flesh and blood, Lin Yoriichi did not draw his own sword.
He lowered his eyes, slowly extended a hand, and said softly:
"Elder brother, have you seen that flute?"
"I have always treasured that flute as though it were you..."
Kokushibo froze.
He, too, had mastered the Transparent World, so he could clearly perceive every movement of the person opposite him.
From his perspective, "Yoriichi Tsugikuni" showed no intention of attacking at all.
He was truly only holding out his hand, asking him for that flute.
Kokushibo felt the flute beneath his clothes, broken into two pieces, pressing against him until even his heart ached.
The little boy who had accepted the flute with joy all those years ago, the old man at the end of his life who still carried it close to his body, and the young man before him, holding out his hand to ask for it back...
The three images finally merged into one.
At that moment, however unwilling Kokushibo was to accept that fact, he had to admit it.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni had truly come back to life.
Inside the Infinity Castle.
Nakime sat upright on a platform, slowly playing the instrument in her hands.
As its strings rang out, the many rooms of the Infinity Castle slowly shifted.
When the piece ended, Nakime placed a hand over her heart, silently assessing the state of her body.
On the surface, her body seemed to have been restored once again.
But only Nakime herself knew that after serving as that lord's outlet for his anger twice in succession, she had already lost a considerable amount of the blood he had given her.
Under these circumstances, not only had her strength declined, but even the wounds on her body healed very slowly.
I wonder when that lord will grant me some more...
Nakime suddenly stopped, trying hard to clear such thoughts from her mind.
That lord could read every demon's thoughts.
Some things, even if merely thought about, were unforgivable sins in that lord's eyes!
"Nakime! Why did you stop?"
A gloomy voice suddenly rang out.
Nakime shuddered and hurriedly began playing her biwa again.
Yet the next moment, that voice spoke with extreme impatience:
"Damn it, stop that biwa! You're disturbing my thoughts!"
Nakime was somewhat at a loss, but could only put down her biwa again in bewilderment.
Muzan Kibutsuji had been reclining on a nearby platform, but now he rose irritably and paced back and forth:
"It's been so many days. Why hasn't Kokushibo sent word yet?"
"Didn't he see Yoriichi Tsugikuni die with his own eyes, and even cut him in half at the waist?"
"He only had to return to that place, find Yoriichi Tsugikuni's Grave, and open it to see whether that fellow's remains were still there."
"It's such a simple task. Why has Kokushibo still not sent any wor..."
His muttering abruptly stopped.
Muzan Kibutsuji distinctly sensed an unusually powerful surge of emotion from Kokushibo!
"Why would his emotions fluctuate so intensely?"
"It's been hundreds of years. When was the last time Kokushibo's emotions fluctuated this violently?"
Muzan Kibutsuji tried to retrieve the memories of that time from his five brains.
But when he actually remembered, his entire body froze in place.
He remembered. The last time Kokushibo had experienced such intense emotions was when he encountered the elderly Yoriichi Tsugikuni!
Muzan Kibutsuji's pupils suddenly began to tremble abnormally:
"So, Kokushibo, did you encounter that fellow too?"
"Is that fellow really Yoriichi Tsugikuni, back from the dead?"
"Calm down! I have to calm down!"
Muzan Kibutsuji continued pacing anxiously, trying to convince himself:
"Kokushibo spent hundreds more years training arduously after that."
"He should be able to... survive one more slash now?"
Of course, he had his reasons for making that conjecture.
Even he had only managed to escape from Yoriichi Tsugikuni in a wretched state back then.
When Kokushibo, who had become a demon, faced the elderly Yoriichi Tsugikuni, he had suffered extremely serious injuries from just a single slash.
Afterward, Kokushibo had frankly told him that he absolutely could not withstand a second slash.
At that thought, Muzan Kibutsuji grew even more agitated:
"But that makes even less sense!"
"If that fellow isn't Yoriichi Tsugikuni, Kokushibo could kill him instantly."
"But if that fellow really is... he could kill Kokushibo instantly."
"Yet after all this time, why can I still sense Kokushibo's emotional fluctuations?"
"Could my only option be..."
Muzan Kibutsuji took several deep breaths, a hesitant expression appearing on his face:
"It seems that if I want to find out what's happening, I can only link my vision to Kokushibo's..."
Before you continue