Night fell over Shizuoka Prefecture.
The streets that had been bustling during the day were now eerily silent. Most civilians had already hidden themselves indoors after hearing rumors of monsters roaming the city.
Above the rooftops, two sinister figures overlooked the sleeping district.
Upper Rank Five, Gyokko.
And Upper Rank Four, Hantengu.
Hantengu trembled violently while crouching low against the roof tiles.
"F-Four Hashira were sent here?! H-How terrifying… terrifying…"
Tears and mucus streamed down the old demon's face as he groaned pitifully.
Beside him, however, Gyokko appeared unusually interested.
His distorted face twisted into a grotesque smile.
"I merely came to discipline those ignorant Monjushiro insects," he said coldly, "yet the Demon Slayer Corps actually dispatched Hashira."
His yellow eyes gleamed maliciously.
"In that case… we shall present Lord Muzan with a magnificent offering."
At those words, even Hantengu slowly stopped groveling.
"If that's the case…" he muttered fearfully, "then we should greet the Hashira properly…"
Far away atop another rooftop, Kokushibo silently observed the situation unfold.
His expression became increasingly complicated.
"…This lineup."
Honestly speaking
Gyokko and Hantengu should have simply withdrawn.
Their natural enemies were practically gathered together in one place.
Muichiro Tokito.
Mitsuri Kanroji.
Tengen Uzui.
Giyu Tomioka.
Even Kokushibo found himself wondering whether Gyokko was fated to suffer humiliation the moment he encountered Muichiro.
Still, Kokushibo did not believe either side would lose easily.
If Gyokko and Hantengu coordinated properly, even four Hashira would struggle against them.
At the same time, however, Muzan Kibutsuji's flaw remained obvious as ever.
Overconfidence.
Even an excellent hand in battle could collapse through arrogance and poor judgment.
This time, Kokushibo chose not to interfere immediately.
He wanted to see the outcome himself.
And perhaps
Whether Gyokko could finally redeem himself after previous failures.
Inside the inn where the Hashira rested, danger suddenly descended.
Tengen's eyes widened instantly.
"Get down!"
Without hesitation, he tackled Muichiro to the floor.
At the same moment, Mitsuri and Giyu reacted as well.
Boom!
The room exploded apart.
Countless poisoned needles tore through the walls and ceiling like a storm, instantly shredding furniture into splinters.
Fortunately, none of the Hashira suffered direct hits.
Across the street, Gyokko stood atop a rooftop while several grotesque fish-like familiars floated around him.
"Ara? Not a single needle landed?" he muttered with disappointment.
Even his strange fish creations somehow looked artistically irritating.
Realizing they had been discovered, Tengen and Muichiro immediately burst from the ruined inn.
Meanwhile, Mitsuri hurried to evacuate nearby civilians before the fighting spread further.
Giyu also stepped outside, though his movements remained somewhat weakened from the poison.
"H-Hashira…" Hantengu whimpered. "How frightening…"
Before he could even finish
Tengen flashed forward instantly.
One slash.
Hantengu's head flew from his shoulders.
Both Tengen and Muichiro froze briefly.
"…That was easy."
But the next second
Something horrifying occurred.
The severed head regenerated a body.
The headless body regenerated another head.
"What?!"
Even the Hashira were stunned.
This was their first encounter with a demon completely unaffected by decapitation.
Now standing before them were two separate demons.
One carried a fan and radiated joy.
The other wielded a staff crackling with rage.
Sekido and Karaku had emerged.
Karaku laughed cheerfully while twirling his fan.
"It's been ages since I fought Hashira! Let me handle this!"
He swung his fan casually.
A gigantic wave of compressed wind erupted forward instantly.
Tengen's instincts screamed in warning.
Rather than dodge, he immediately leapt backward toward the damaged inn.
Because inside
Giyu still had not fully recovered.
Boom!
The destructive gale obliterated an entire section of the street.
Muichiro narrowly avoided the attack, though the edge of the wind pressure still tore across his shoulder, leaving blood spraying into the air.
Yet his expression barely changed.
Even he himself seemed surprised by how calm he remained during battle.
Mist gathered around him silently.
\text{Mist Breathing Fifth Form: Sea of Clouds and Haze}
Muichiro vanished into flowing mist before unleashing an overwhelming barrage of slashes against the two newly formed demons.
Gyokko reacted instantly and slipped back into one of his pots to avoid the attack entirely.
Meanwhile, Sekido and Karaku made no effort to retreat.
Instead
They smiled.
"Go ahead."
"Cut us again."
Muichiro immediately sensed danger.
But it was already too late.
The moment their heads were severed
Their bodies split apart once more.
Lightning erupted.
Winds howled.
And two additional demons emerged.
Urogi, the winged demon of pleasure.
And Aizetsu, the sorrowful demon wielding a spear.
Now the battlefield had transformed into one Hashira against four separate manifestations.
Yet Muichiro showed no fear whatsoever.
He charged forward again immediately.
Sekido raised his khakkhara staff and slammed it downward violently.
\text{Blood Demon Art: Thunderclap}
A massive bolt of lightning erupted toward Muichiro.
The strike landed directly.
Even a Hashira could not endure such voltage unharmed.
Muichiro's body convulsed violently before he lost consciousness and fell backward toward the street below.
At the critical moment
Tengen appeared instantly.
The Sound Hashira caught Muichiro before he crashed onto the ground.
By now, the antidote inside Giyu's body had finally taken effect completely.
He slowly stood upright.
Then he gripped his Nichirin Blade tightly.
For once, his usually empty expression seemed oddly determined.
"Tengen risked himself to protect me…"
"…So I'm not hated after all."
And with that, Giyu moved.
\text{Water Breathing Third Form: Flowing Dance}
His movements flowed like water itself.
In an instant, Giyu arrived directly before Gyokko.
Gyokko nearly panicked.
"Wait, I wasn't the one who attacked you just now!"
Without hesitation, the cowardly Upper Rank abandoned his current pot entirely and escaped into another one before Giyu's blade could reach him.
The empty pot shattered instantly.
At the same time, the four emotion demons attacked Giyu from behind.
Aizetsu stepped forward sorrowfully and thrust his spear.
\text{Blood Demon Art: Piercing Rain Drop}
Countless spear thrusts surrounded Giyu from every direction.
Yet before they could land
Boom!
Explosive sound erupted across the battlefield.
\text{Sound Breathing First Form: Roar}
Tengen's twin Nichirin Cleavers smashed directly into Karaku.
The sheer force of the attack blasted the demon through an entire building.
At the same time, Urogi attempted to dive toward the others from above.
But suddenly
A ribbon-like sword flashed across the night sky.
\text{Love Breathing First Form: Shivers of First Love}
Mitsuri's flexible blade wrapped violently around Urogi before hurling him straight into the ground.
Now only Aizetsu remained temporarily unoccupied.
He attempted to retreat into the air
But mist suddenly surrounded him.
The next instant
Slash!
Muichiro had awakened.
His blade sliced cleanly through Aizetsu's neck before immediately stabbing through his torso from behind.
Aizetsu blinked slowly.
Then calmly picked up his own severed head and reattached it.
"You were awake…"
His sorrowful expression never changed.
Muichiro quietly pulled back his sword.
"…You talk too much."
Thus, despite four Hashira being present
All of them had become entangled by Upper Rank Four alone.
Meanwhile, hidden far away in the shadows, Gyokko watched everything with gleaming eyes.
"Hehehehe…"
"If Hantengu keeps all four Hashira busy…"
"Then I can simply strike at the perfect moment and claim all the credit!"
His face twisted excitedly.
"Lord Muzan will definitely reward me…"
"Perhaps he'll even grant me more blood!"
Completely absorbed in his fantasies, Gyokko never noticed the figure silently appearing behind him.
Kokushibo stood there calmly, observing one of Gyokko's pots with slight curiosity.
"…What happened?"
"Your pottery finally became symmetrical?"
The words instantly shattered Gyokko's mood.
Without even turning around, he exploded in rage.
"Which blind fool dares insult my art "
Then he turned.
And saw six eyes staring directly at him.
Gyokko froze completely.
Kokushibo smiled faintly.
"Tell me," he asked gently.
"Who exactly is blind?"