Chapter 89: With the two of us Hashira here, no demon can escape!
Meanwhile, in the forest, in a clearing.
"Rustle... rustle..." Two figures emerged from the bushes one after another, arriving at the spot.
When Rengoku Shinjuro saw the scene of carnage before him, "Crack, crack, crack..." Shinjuro's fists clenched tightly.
"Unforgivable..." He gritted his teeth. "These damned demons... to cruelly murder these young swordsmen... They risked their own lives to protect ordinary people, only to meet such an end!"
He strode over to the remains of Zhizhi and Yohei, slowly knelt on one knee, and closed the eyes of the two members who had died with such lingering resentment.
"Rest in peace, young swordsmen."
"You have fulfilled your duty. Leave the rest of the battle to us Hashira. I, Rengoku Shinjuro, swear here that I will slay the evil demon responsible!"
He stood up. He had been ordered by Oyakata-sama to come to this area to search for the Flower Hashira, Kanae Kocho, and that demon, Tatsu.
Yet he had not expected that before finding them, he would first see the tragic sight of his comrades' deaths.
"Anger is useless." Just then, a voice as calm as still water came from behind Shinjuro.
The speaker was the man following behind Shinjuro. He wore a Haori with two completely different patterns on the left and right sides; the left side was a tortoiseshell pattern, and the right side was solid red.
His features were handsome and refined, but his deep blue eyes were like two pools of stagnant water, devoid of any emotional ripples, as if everything in the world had nothing to do with him. The Water Hashira, Giyuu Tomioka.
He had just finished a subjugation mission in the nearby area and was preparing to return to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters to report.
On the way, he happened to run into Rengoku Shinjuro, who was searching for clues.
Since he was currently in a lull between missions, he did not refuse when Shinjuro suggested traveling together, and so he had silently followed along.
His words just now were not meant to mock Shinjuro; they were his honest thoughts.
In his view, the profession of a Demon Slayer was inherently accompanied by death.
When facing demons, sorrow and anger would only dull one's blade. Only by maintaining absolute calm could one seize the enemy's opening in the instant between life and death.
This was the cruel lesson he had learned from the death of Sabito.
But he had completely failed to consider how jarring those words would be at this very moment to a comrade who was in the midst of extreme grief and rage.
Hearing this, Rengoku Shinjuro turned his head abruptly, his eyes burning with rage as he stared fixedly at Giyuu Tomioka.
"Giyuu!" Shinjuro's brows furrowed tightly, his voice suppressing dissatisfaction.
"In the face of a comrade's tragic death, do you not feel even the slightest ripple in your heart? We are human, not machines that swing blades! Is this noble spirit of sacrificing oneself to protect others not worthy of our anger and sorrow?!"
Faced with Shinjuro's questioning, Giyuu Tomioka merely lowered his head slightly, avoiding the other's scorching gaze.
He did not refute, nor did he explain; he simply remained silent. He did not feel that he had said anything wrong, but he was not good at arguing with others.
Watching Giyuu Tomioka's "tight-lipped" demeanor, Rengoku Shinjuro sighed helplessly.
Although he was dissatisfied with Giyuu Tomioka's indifferent attitude, he was, after all, a mature Hashira.
He knew that Giyuu Tomioka simply had this awkward personality; although he appeared cold on the surface and often said things that could infuriate people, his determination and strength in slaying demons were unquestionable.
Now was not the time for infighting between comrades.
"Forget it, I know you're just like this." Shinjuro shook his head, forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart.
Giyuu Tomioka took a step, stepped over the two corpses on the ground, and walked straight toward the large tree.
He stopped in front of the headless corpse that had lost its arms and was pinned to the tree.
He crouched down, his deep blue eyes carefully observing the incision on the corpse, his brows slightly furrowed.
"It's a bit strange." Giyuu Tomioka suddenly spoke. He extended a finger, pointing at Masashi's decapitated corpse, turned his head to look at Rengoku Shinjuro, and raised his doubts.
"This Demon Slayer Corps member was decapitated, but... the corpse was not eaten."
"Judging from the traces at the scene, those two members were violently torn to death by a demon with a voracious appetite. But this corpse is different; his fatal wound was an extremely clean and swift decapitation. The incision is very smooth, caused by an extremely sharp blade. More importantly, the flesh of this corpse is intact; that man-eating demon had no intention of feeding."
Giyuu Tomioka stood up and looked at the head that had fallen in the distance: "What kind of demon would, while in a state of hunger, kill just for the sake of killing, yet abandon the flesh right in front of it? Or perhaps, the one who killed this member was not the demon that had been feeding at all?"
Such an extremely abnormal scene did indeed not fit the behavioral logic of a typical demon.
However, Rengoku Shinjuro did not delve deeper into Giyuu Tomioka's line of reasoning.
As the Flame Hashira, his fighting style and way of thinking were as straightforward and upright as fire.
He did not like to waste too much time speculating on possibilities regarding such trivial details.
In his view, no matter how strange the turn of events at the scene, and no matter what kind of conspiracy or scheme he was facing, as long as it was a demon harming humans, he could just slay them all with the nichirin sword in his hand!
This was his absolute confidence as a Hashira!
"No need to think so much, Giyuu!" Rengoku Shinjuro laughed loudly. He swung the flame Haori behind him abruptly and walked to Giyuu Tomioka's side.
"No matter what happened here, whether it was one demon or two that killed them, and no matter what the enemy's purpose is! As long as they are still committing evil in this world, they will absolutely not escape our blades!"
Shinjuro extended a broad palm and patted Giyuu Tomioka's shoulder heavily.
"With the two of us Hashira here, no demon can escape! Instead of guessing wildly here, we might as well take action immediately! Let's search the vicinity; we must drag that scum out!"
Having said that, Rengoku Shinjuro turned around and walked directly toward the outskirts of the forest.
Giyuu Tomioka watched Rengoku Shinjuro's passionate back.
Although he felt there were many suspicious points at the scene, such as the smooth cut looking very much like it was caused by some powerful sword technique, he thought about it and felt that Rengoku Shinjuro was also right.
In the face of absolute strength, excessive suspicion was indeed meaningless. Since two Hashira were working together, they could handle any demon they encountered.
Moreover, he was not good at refuting someone who was overly enthusiastic and had already made up their mind.
Giyuu Tomioka gripped the nichirin sword with the water-blue hilt at his waist and walked toward Rengoku Shinjuro's figure.
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