"The Master has arrived."
A clear child's voice rang out.
The moment they sensed Kagaya Ubuyashiki's presence, every Hashira present—including Sui, the new Thunder Hashira—reined in their edges and lowered their heads in silence.
Supported by his wife Amane, Kagaya Ubuyashiki stepped forward slowly. His face had been ravaged by the curse, his skin cracked like weathered bark, his eyes clouded white and sightless.
He came to the lower side of the courtyard and knelt, calling each Hashira by name one after another, his voice hoarse, yet distinct.
"Gyomei, Tengen, Kanae, Giyu… and Sui. My children, it has been too long."
"Master, your health…" Kanae began softly.
"Kanae, I will be all right." Kagaya shook his head. "The Hashira Meeting is held only once every half year. Simply having all of you still here is encouragement enough."
"Miss Sui." Kagaya inclined his head toward her.
Sui returned the gesture.
"Everyone, Miss Sui has successfully slain Lower Rank One of the Twelve Kizuki in Osaka and will inherit the title of Thunder Hashira, which has stood vacant for twenty years. It seems you have all already become acquainted. Well done, Miss Sui. In such a short span of time, you have already won everyone's trust." Kagaya smiled gently. "So then, the matter of the Thunder Hashira ends here. There is, however, an urgent matter this time that we must discuss."
"At the same time, Giyu, please explain the strange occurrence you encountered in Osaka."
All eyes turned toward the man standing at the very edge.
Giyu paused, then answered calmly, "Near Osaka Station, I may have encountered a demon of Upper Rank caliber."
"Upper Rank?" Tengen shouted. "An Upper Rank demon—the kind we've never even seen the shadow of—was in Osaka? Now that is flashy!"
The other Hashira all knew Osaka was Sui's territory, so their gazes shifted toward her as well.
"If an Upper Rank demon was in Osaka… Miss Sui?" Kanae asked quietly.
"That is correct. An Upper Rank demon did appear in Osaka, and I had an encounter with it," Sui replied evenly.
"What?" Kanae covered her mouth in disbelief.
"You came face to face with an Upper Rank demon? What did it look like? What abilities did it have? Which of the Upper Ranks was it? And you…" Tengen gave Sui a careful once-over, only to find not a single wound on her. "You weren't even injured?"
It was not that Tengen doubted Sui's ability. It was simply that the power of an Upper Rank demon was too strange and too violent. Since the founding of the Demon Slayer Corps, generations of Hashira had come and gone, yet there had never once been a recorded case of an Upper Rank being slain. Any swordsman who encountered one—whether Hashira or otherwise—had died.
Which meant the Corps' understanding of Upper Rank demons was effectively zero.
So any scrap of information was priceless.
At that moment even the Stone Hashira turned his face toward Sui, tears already running down from the corners of his blank eyes.
Among the five Hashira present, including Sui, this mountain of a man was unquestionably the strongest. His sensitivity to aura was finer than that of the others, and he had realized at a glance that Sui excelled in explosive, fast-killing techniques, not in drawn-out battles. Her stamina was even poorer than Kanae's; it was only the force and speed granted by Thunder Breathing that compensated for that weakness.
In her current state, she could not drive back an Upper Rank demon alone.
That was the judgment Gyomei reached.
Faced with the gazes of the Hashira, the Master, and Amane, Sui organized her thoughts and began to speak.
"When I slew Lower Rank One in the kabuki theater, Mr. Fujiwara of the Wisteria Crest House relayed some information to me. A woman named Moriyama Yuko had not been eaten by Lower Rank One. The reason was that she was reserved as food for another demon—someone Lower Rank One could not dare offend. That leaves only one possibility: an Upper Rank."
"The kabuki theater… what a flashy place for a decisive battle," Tengen commented.
"But that alone doesn't prove an Upper Rank demon appeared in Osaka," Kanae said, frowning.
"True." Sui nodded. "But after that, the space inside the theater underwent a distinct change. Every sound vanished. Every object fell into dead silence. Mr. Uzui, as someone who uses Sound Breathing, you should understand exactly what kind of condition that description suggests."
Tengen pondered for a moment. "In nature, total silence only means one thing: something has arrived that suppresses all else. In other words, that Upper Rank demon had entered the theater itself. It may even have been standing somewhere inside, facing you."
"I stood in a standoff with it across the theater for several dozen seconds. In the end, that Upper Rank demon chose not to attack and left instead."
"Ah! Then we still know nothing at all! Not flashy in the slightest!" Tengen cried in frustration.
"No." At that moment, the Master's calm voice slipped into the conversation. "Let us hear what Giyu has to say."
"Mr. Tomioka?" Kanae nudged the absentminded man beside her.
Only then did everyone realize that Giyu should have been the first to continue speaking.
"Ah…" He raised his eyes, then looked at Sui, as though making a silent plea.
Giyu Tomioka was utterly unsuited to this sort of scene. He and Sui had already compared information beforehand and pieced together a full "portrait" of the Upper Rank demon. Giyu had no awareness of how poor his own explanations were, but he did know that Sui's ability to describe things was far superior to his.
"Allow me to explain instead," Sui said, rescuing him.
"Moriyama Yuko had another identity as well—she was a believer in a religious sect. When Mr. Tomioka left the station, he happened to come across a procession connected to that religion. Inside a sedan chair carried by eight followers, he sensed something unusual. A Hashira's instinct for detecting demons is precise. If we combine those two pieces of information, then the figure inside that sedan chair was most likely the Upper Rank demon."
For the first time, a crack appeared in Giyu's glacier-like expression. He had never imagined the matter could be laid out so cleanly.
Without meaning to, he looked at the girl with unmistakable admiration.
"Oi, Tomioka, what's with that expression? Are you upset that Miss Sui stole your chance to shine?" Tengen accused loudly.
"Mr. Tomioka's expression means admiration, Mr. Uzui. Please sit down, please sit down," Sui said, tugging at the flamboyant Sound Hashira before he could fully rise.
Giyu looked toward her and saw that she had opened one eye just a little and winked at him in secret. Summer sunlight spilled across her luminous face, gilding each thick lash in gold.
Something in his heart shifted, just slightly.
"With that, all we need to do is investigate Moriyama Yuko's religious ties. If we determine which sect she belonged to, then we may be able to trace the Upper Rank demon's whereabouts." Sui continued, "I have already entrusted Mr. Fujiwara of the Osaka Wisteria Crest House with that task. We should have an answer soon."
"Namu Amida Butsu." The Stone Hashira pressed his hands together, equally impressed by the beautiful young woman before him.
Her way of doing things was rigorous and efficient. Every gear meshed perfectly in her hands.
"Truly too flashy!" Tengen declared in admiration.
Kanae brushed a strand of hair from beside her ear, her eyes shining as she looked at Sui.
The thought that they might finally have a lead on an Upper Rank demon filled every Hashira with joy.
Below them in the courtyard, the Master felt the liveliness spreading through the garden and smiled gently.
"By the way," Sui said, "why is Lord Rengoku not here?"
Rengoku Shinjuro, the Flame Hashira, had been the one to bring Sui into the Corps only half a year ago. He should have been present at this Hashira Meeting.
The instant that name was spoken, the smile on Tengen's face froze.
The warm, bright atmosphere seemed to be hurled into an ice cellar, the cold sinking straight to the bone.
Sui was sensitive enough to notice the change at once, and a bad feeling rose in her chest.
But that couldn't be possible… could it?
In her senses, Rengoku Shinjuro had been like a volcano in human form. Among the Hashira present, only the Stone Hashira might have surpassed him. Without opening her Mystic Eyes, Sui had no confidence at all that she could defeat the Flame Hashira.
"Namu Amida Butsu… Namu Amida Butsu…" Tears streamed from the Stone Hashira's eyes as he could only continue murmuring his prayer.
"Lord Rengoku…" Kagaya said softly, "has fallen."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
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