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Pat*eon : Belamy20
Pat*eon : ilham20
Exactly!
Just like Shuya had said.
Sometimes the biggest obstacle standing in front of the Demon Slayer Corps wasn't their lack of raw power to fight Muzan or even the Twelve Kizuki.
It was the simple fact that even when they knew Muzan existed, they could never find his trail.
So even if the Corps one day gained the strength to kill him, it would all be pointless without a way to actually locate him.
After all, compared to demons who could casually live for hundreds of years, human lifespans were ridiculously short.
Short enough that even if Muzan lost a fight, he could just hide in the shadows the same way he had against Yoriichi Tsugikuni—wait for his enemy to grow old and die.
Using the Blue Spider Lily, the very thing Muzan had hunted for a thousand years, as bait to draw him out was genuinely the best plan.
Over the past thousand years of conflict, the Ubuyashiki clan had considered leaking information about the flower to lure him out.
But just like Muzan himself, no one except the doctor who operated on him a thousand years ago even knew what the Blue Spider Lily actually looked like.
Without real knowledge of it, any lie claiming the Corps had found the flower would be exposed immediately.
Now that they had solid information straight from Shuya, everything changed.
All they had to do was spread the truth about its properties, then claim the Corps had discovered the legendary bloom.
Given Muzan's paranoid personality, the moment he heard the Corps had the Blue Spider Lily, he would never trust any of his Twelve Kizuki with the task.
He would come personally.
That left only one last problem.
Once they actually dragged him out into the open, did they have the power to finish him?
If they failed and Muzan learned the truth about the flower, he would start forcing humans to search for it during the day.
Given enough time, he would eventually succeed.
Shinobu couldn't help the worry creeping into her voice. "Will we win?"
"We will."
Shuya shot her a strange look and swallowed the word that had almost slipped out between "we" and "will."
Close call. He had nearly set the worst flag imaginable.
Good thing he caught himself in time—otherwise he might've gone from "Shuya" to "Shuya the Flag Guy" in record speed.
He quickly changed the subject and turned to Kagaya Ubuyashiki. "Finally, my third request. And my last one."
"Mr. Ubuyashiki, could you tell me where Lady Tamayo is?"
"You know Lady Tamayo?"
Kagaya blinked, the words slipping out before he could stop them.
He quickly recovered. Shuya already knew everything about Muzan and the Blue Spider Lily in perfect detail—knowing about Tamayo wasn't strange at all.
Kagaya's expression turned serious. "Can you tell me why you want to find her? If your intentions are harmful, I'm afraid I must refuse."
Even though he had never met Tamayo in person, Kagaya knew exactly who she was. She had once been a brilliant doctor whose skills caught Muzan's eye. The Demon King turned her into a demon to increase his own chances of overcoming sunlight.
More importantly, she was the only demon the Ubuyashiki clan knew of who had broken free from Muzan's control.
She had also witnessed the legendary battle between Yoriichi Tsugikuni and Muzan during the Sengoku era. Yoriichi had helped her escape Muzan's influence, brought her back to the Corps, and she had shared everything she knew about the Demon King.
That was how the Corps first learned Muzan's true goal: finding the Blue Spider Lily.
After some discussion, Tamayo had agreed to cooperate with the Ubuyashiki clan, though she stayed hidden in the shadows and kept only loose contact over the centuries.
Shuya hadn't been completely sure Kagaya actually knew her location—until he saw the man's instinctive reaction. Now he knew he was in the right place.
He wasn't stupid enough to reveal his real reason for wanting to find her, though.
Instead he made up a convenient story on the spot. "As far as I know, among everyone who hates Muzan, Lady Tamayo is the only person who has ever seen Yoriichi Tsugikuni fight at full power."
"I get the feeling you all still have doubts about my strength."
"So why not let the woman who witnessed that battle firsthand judge for herself?"
"Besides, I'd really like to hear what she thinks of me compared to Yoriichi."
It was a fabricated excuse, but Shuya was genuinely curious about Yoriichi—the strongest swordsman this world had ever produced and, in his eyes, a fellow Nen user from four hundred years ago.
He wanted to know what someone who had actually met the man thought of him.
"Is that really all?"
Kagaya studied him with clear suspicion.
"Well… there are a couple of other reasons too."
Shuya patted Nezuko's head and smoothly pulled her in as a shield. "Lady Tamayo is the only doctor even Muzan himself acknowledged. If possible, I'd like her to develop a drug that can turn demons back into humans."
"Shuya-nii——"
Nezuko's eyes filled with emotion as she looked up at him.
Not only had he saved her and her family from the demons, but he was still going out of his way to help them even now.
She was so touched she couldn't speak. She simply hugged him tightly and nuzzled her head against his chest.
The other Kamado siblings watched with the same grateful expressions. They hadn't expected him to still be thinking about reversing what had happened to their mother and brothers.
Out of the three conditions he had given the Corps, two of them were clearly for the Kamado family's sake.
Tanjiro's nose could tell the difference between truth and lies to some extent.
It was true!
Meeting Mr. Shuya had been the greatest stroke of luck the Kamado family could have asked for.
He glanced at his little sister clinging to Shuya and thought, If only Nezuko could end up with him…
Shuya stayed silent, gave Nezuko a small smile, then looked back at Kagaya.
"Very well."
Kagaya still had his doubts, but he didn't refuse outright. "I'll have the Corps' crows contact Lady Tamayo. If she agrees, I'll give you her location."
His gaze swept across everyone present.
The return of Sun Breathing. The arrival of a powerhouse like Shuya. The long-lost information about the Blue Spider Lily.
All of it piling up at once made Kagaya feel something he hadn't felt in a long time.
Perhaps… they really did have a chance to end Muzan Kibutsuji once and for all.