Amane Ubuyashiki quickly directed the Kakushi to pull the utterly broken Rengoku away for treatment.
This battle served as a quick wake-up call for the Demon Slayer Corps. Sukuna was never acting out of kindness. From beginning to end, he was an evil and capricious existence.
But the members of the Demon Slayer Corps could not muster the will to resist Sukuna. After all, he was a true demon god in their eyes.
...
One day later, Sukuna stood before a mansion in the mountains and muttered to himself. "Pretty strong smell of blood. This must be the place. Hey, is this the one with the Twelve Kizuki?"
Shinobu checked the location information, then shook her head. "No, this is not that location. This one was only described as having a powerful demon."
Because of everything that had happened, Kagaya had decided to keep Shinobu assigned to Sukuna's side. On one hand, she could handle communication with the Demon Slayer Corps. On the other, she could try to prevent Sukuna from causing too much unnecessary killing beyond just demons.
After all, aside from Shinobu, who had already spent some time with Sukuna, there was no better candidate for this role.
"Even if a Twelve Kizuki is there, you wouldn't necessarily know about it right away, correct?" Sukuna pressed Shinobu.
"That is true. Against demons of that level, it is very difficult for scouts to send back accurate information," Shinobu explained seriously.
"Whatever. Doesn't matter. But you two over there—have you been watching long enough?"
As he spoke, Sukuna turned and fired off a slash, instantly cutting down several distant trees.
The trees fell with a dull crash, followed by the sound of a child crying in fear.
Shinobu volunteered. "Sukuna-sama, allow me to handle this. They might know something useful."
Since Shinobu had offered, Sukuna said nothing else. He waved a hand, telling her to get on with it.
He could not rule out the possibility that they actually knew something about the Twelve Kizuki or Muzan. The last time he had seen Muzan was in Asakusa, a crowded place.
She quickly reached the fallen trees. There she saw a boy and a girl, the boy shielding his sister tightly in his arms, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
Just from the tears streaming from their squeezed-shut eyes, Shinobu could tell how terrified they were.
She approached them, gently stroked their backs, and patiently soothed them. "It's alright. Everything is alright now."
The older brother, perhaps feeling the kindness coming from Shinobu's hands, slowly opened his eyes. He looked around, still shaking.
He was not fully calm. His mouth opened slightly, but he did not know what to say.
Shinobu gently guided him. "Are you children from this house? What happened?"
Something in her question struck a chord with the boy. He finally spoke. "A monster... There's a monster... This... This isn't our house...!"
"Then how did you—"
Before Shinobu could continue her question, a man came flying backward out of a second-story window. He hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Blood sprayed from the wounds on his body.
Before Shinobu could move, Sukuna was already standing beside the man. He looked down at him coldly. "What's the situation inside?"
The man only looked up once. When he saw the curse marks on Sukuna's face and those four cold eyes staring down at him, he spoke in despair. "Ah... ah... I finally... finally managed to escape outside..."
He did not finish. He died right in front of Sukuna. Not that Sukuna considered his life worth saving. Without waiting for Shinobu to finish with the children, Sukuna walked straight into the house.
Shinobu moved to follow, but the boy beside her spoke up. "That person wasn't my brother. My brother was wearing a brown jacket..."
"Stay here. I will find your brother for you," Shinobu said, then quickly hurried after Sukuna. Outside was far safer than inside for now.
The moment Sukuna stepped into the house, he heard a drum sound from somewhere within.
He did not think much of it at first. But then he realized his surroundings seemed to have shifted. The entrance behind him was no longer there.
Unlike Tanjiro, who would have been helpless in this situation, Sukuna could sense the cursed energy he had left at the entrance. He quickly confirmed the distance between himself and the door.
Sukuna rubbed his chin and muttered. "A Blood Demon Art? And one that moves entire spaces?"
Just then, a demon crawled out from another doorway. It had a long tongue and, like Sukuna, four eyes.
It was that similarity to his own appearance—this thing crawling on the ground like garbage—that annoyed Sukuna.
"Neck... neck... A little child. Biting into a neck like that should feel pretty good, right?"
Sukuna checked the demon's eyes. No numbers neither any symbols. "No numbers in your eyes.."
"...What?"
The crawling demon was thrown off by Sukuna's reaction and his meaningless words.
It was only then that he noticed the curse marks on Sukuna's face and those four strange eyes.
Before he could react, Sukuna vanished from his sight. Then he felt an enormous pressure on his back like a boulder was crushing him, as if all his internal organs were being ground to pulp. He vomited a massive spray of blood.
"Hey. Do you know where I can find the Twelve Kizuki?"
The demon had clearly not paid attention to Sukuna's words. Pain and rage consumed his mind. He did not understand what was happening, but he attacked anyway.
"What the hell are you?! Die!!"
The demon opened his mouth wide and roared in fury. His tongue shot out like a whip, lashing toward Sukuna behind him.
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