Giving Shinazugawa special training—honestly, there wasn't anything particularly special about it.
He was also a seasoned swordsman. Many times, without others explaining, he could figure out the next training direction himself.
So besides actual combat, I didn't arrange other training.
Shinazugawa was very interested in using my strength to estimate the Upper Ranks' and Muzan's power. After each training session ended, always had to ask about the Upper Ranks.
I said between Upper Ranks and Upper Ranks, combat ability couldn't be measured too crudely and directly.
Like the Upper Rank Six we encountered before—her combat power might only reach the Upper Rank passing line, but combined with her Blood Demon Art, she was extremely terrifying.
Akaza had told me about the Upper Rank demons' abilities. Also, using sparring as an excuse, fought them once.
So his judgment was basically still very valuable as reference.
Only Shinazugawa was too sharp. I clearly didn't say anything particularly detailed, yet he still strangely frowned. Asked with a solemn expression: "This intelligence is extremely valuable. Lady Chihaya, do you have your own information channels?"
I was stumped by him. If he didn't trust me enough, he'd probably be suspecting I had secret dealings with Muzan right now.
Even if he vaguely seemed to guess something, I couldn't tell him about Akaza.
The most important thing about being undercover is secrecy.
I casually deflected a few sentences, steered the topic away.
Fortunately, he also had proper boundaries. Didn't dig to the bottom with questions.
Besides this, Shinazugawa and I got along unexpectedly peacefully.
Even rarer—he actually liked sweets! Same as me!
Just that in specific varieties, Shinazugawa still preferred traditional confections. Didn't like those Western cakes and cookies.
But when he bought ohagi and red bean cakes, I could accept them all.
Especially ohagi!
After staying at Shinazugawa's place for the allotted time, originally Muichiro should be next.
But unfortunately, Muichiro was at the Butterfly Estate. Kanae said she'd visited a doctor who returned from studying in the West. Learned new treatment methods. Wanted to try them on Muichiro.
Anyway, he was still very young. As his body developed better and better, combat ability would naturally improve. Still far from hitting a bottleneck.
Originally thought—having been out for several months, I was preparing to go home and check.
Result—Tengen sent me another message. Wanted me to find him.
He wasn't in his own territory. But in some city. Calculating the location, it was roughly in Muichiro's territory.
I suspected his undercover mission wasn't finished yet. Didn't know what he was calling me over for.
But I still made full preparations before going to find him.
Found him on a bustling street. I held a pitch-black umbrella walking back and forth.
Sharp-eyed children eagerly came over. Asked if I came to visit, did I need a guide.
Fortunately, Tengen came over in time. These children immediately scattered.
I looked up to examine him. Tengen wasn't wearing his Corps uniform. Didn't have his exaggerated makeup on either. Wore very ordinary kimono.
This outfit thrown into a crowd was completely inconspicuous. He also didn't enthusiastically greet me like usual. Mouth pressed into a straight line. Looked rather unhappy.
I looked him up and down before asking: "Ran into trouble?"
Tengen didn't speak. Instead led me twisting and turning east and west. Passed through an alley with few people. Walked to a shop front.
I poked my head to look inside. Met Hinatsuru's gaze from inside the house.
"Miss Chihaya!" She happily came out to greet me. Also dressed as an ordinary housewife.
"Haven't seen you in so long. How have you been? Did you just arrive today?"
I hadn't seen her in quite a while either. Chatting idly while walking inside.
Discovered Suma and Makio weren't in the house. Asked where they went.
Hinatsuru's smile slightly restrained. Calmly answered: "They found work. Gathering information right now."
This shop sold common daily necessities. Probably their intelligence exchange point.
Not until walking inside and sitting down did Tengen speak of the trouble he encountered: "My younger brother—pretty sure he's turned into a demon."
Tengen came from a shinobi family. Everyone in the family practiced cold and ruthless ways. Even between family members, no warmth was seen.
However, this era no longer had room for shinobi. Even samurai couldn't openly carry swords when going out. Much less shinobi who could only do assassination work.
But the more this was the case, the more Tengen's father wanted to restore shinobi glory.
He even continued a cruel selection method. Made his several children fight each other masked. Only those who survived could become his successor.
Tengen was completely different from his family. He himself was unwilling to accept this cruel method. That's why he ran away from home with Hinatsuru and the other two.
After joining the Demon Slayer Corps, Tengen almost never went back.
But his three wives also came from shinobi families. Though they left their hometown with him, their families' attitude toward them wasn't bad.
Therefore, they still corresponded with relatives back home.
Half a year ago, communication suddenly stopped.
After not receiving replies for a long time, they realized something was wrong.
Tengen took them back to that shinobi village. After entering, discovered the people living there had all disappeared.
Some houses had blood splattered inside. The scenes looked quite messy.
Other houses were intact. As if the owners just went out.
But Tengen found some fresh corpses at the bottom of a cliff. Could vaguely recognize some as his distant relatives. Others were Hinatsuru and the others' family members.
Not all the villagers' bodies were here. Clearly the deaths stemmed from a "purge." The remaining people had moved away.
Instincts honed from years of fighting demons made him judge this wasn't an ordinary internal conflict. Very likely related to demons.
Then he tracked clues all the way. Finally found this city.
I originally thought he'd discovered more clues about demons colluding with high-ranking human officials.
Tengen shook his head. Said: "Not officials. An underground fighting ring."
I was a bit puzzled: "Are demons hiding inside?"
Hinatsuru supplemented from the side: "Haven't discovered demon traces. Just that fighting ring—has quite a few audience members of noble status who place bets. For this, many impoverished people come here to risk being fighters."
Underground fighting ring sounded nice. Actually was life-or-death brawling... Unless truly desperate, no one was willing to risk participating in matches.
They discovered shinobi among the fighting ring's guards.
Also, some street punks who liked fighting would try to make money here... So there really were a few undefeated champions attracting audiences.
Makio and Suma, when they stayed home before, didn't like going out to interact with people. Few knew them. So they were sent in as waitresses to gather information.
They discovered those who won five or more victories would often be invited to speak with the boss. Then would be secretly sent to another place. Never appear again.
Tengen said: "I suspect those people were taken to be transformed into demons."
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