Shinobu ultimately had her own work, and being able to help them despite her busy schedule, Tanjiro was already very grateful.
Shinobu instructed, "Kamado-kun, during the time I am not here, you all must still act carefully. You must absolutely not expose Nezuko's identity."
Tanjiro nodded and replied, "Miss Shinobu, I understand."
Shinobu said, "I know you are a well-behaved child. It's just that there is a certain delinquent that I am not so reassured about."
Tanjiro blinked his eyes, knowing she was talking about Jotaro. "That… Miss Shinobu, Jotaro-san is already not in the Butterfly Mansion anymore."
Shinobu was stunned, and suddenly felt an ominous premonition. "Where did he go?"
Tanjiro replied, "Jotaro-san said he wants to find demons on his own. He left before dawn."
Hearing this, Shinobu's expression turned somewhat frightening. She had repeatedly advised him to give up that kind of unrealistic and dangerous behavior. But Jotaro turned a deaf ear and still acted on his own accord.
Even Shinobu was quite angry. In her eyes, Jotaro's behavior was completely irresponsible toward his own life. A person like that was simply not worth saving, Shinobu even didn't want to care whether he lived or died.
However, in the end, she still had the Kasugai crow transmit Jotaro's appearance and features to the other members, telling them to be cautious of that guy who doesn't understand human language.
Tanjiro said, "Miss Shinobu, I think you don't need to worry so much about Jotaro-san. Jotaro-san is stronger than you think, at his side there is..."
Before he finished speaking, Tanjiro suddenly felt a cold aura envelop him.
Shinobu's face darkened. "Kamado-kun, I'm not concerned about Jotaro-san, I am merely fulfilling the responsibility of a demon-slaying swordsman. Do you understand?"
Such a gentle smile could still give off such a terrifying feeling. Cold sweat broke out on Tanjiro's forehead as he woodenly nodded.
Watching the back of Shinobu as she left, Tanjiro believed that she had greatly misunderstood Jotaro.
'Jotaro-san was a very reliable person, not as unbearable as Miss Shinobu thought. If she spent enough time with Jotaro-san, she would surely come to understand this.'
———
To Muzan, demons were a species superior to humans. Given his personality, only he himself was worthy to become such a being; he would never allow others to become demons.
The reason he created other demons was because he needed manpower to search for the Blue Spider Lily. Therefore, demons were generally not gathered in groups, but scattered across the entire country.
This allowed Muzan both to monitor the movements of the Demon Slayer Corps and to increase the efficiency of demons searching for the Blue Spider Lily.
However, as Muzan fell silent and disappeared, this distribution pattern of demons gradually began to change. After all, not all demons were created directly by Muzan.
Many demons had never even witnessed Muzan's terror. Where there are people, there are conflicts; the world of demons was the same. Without Muzan's restraints, some demons had begun to lie flat, enjoying the benefits of their superior status.
But even more demons began to form gangs and divide territory. Weaker demons were captured by stronger ones, becoming subordinates who worked for the strong.
Originally, demons rarely acted in groups, but lately, more and more demons were doing so.
Because of this, recently, a large number of demon-slaying swordsmen were injured or sacrificed.
As the head of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kagaya Ubuyashiki had already begun to pay attention to these changes.
Whenever demons attacked and ate people, the Demon Slayer Corps would record the cases. He sat quietly, while his two daughters softly read to him the recent incidents of demon attacks on people.
Muzan was not the type to allow demons to group up unchecked.
'Has something happened to entangle Muzan? Or…'
Kagaya Ubuyashiki speculated that something must have happened to Muzan.
"Seven days ago, in Saitama Prefecture's Mount Kumotori, a demon attack occurred."
"The responsible person was Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka. Due to delayed information, he did not arrive at the scene immediately. However, the attacked family suffered no casualties, and the demon also disappeared without a trace."
"Eight days ago, in Gunma Prefecture…"
Kagaya quietly listened to his daughter's reading. After she finished recounting nearly half a month's worth of demon attacks, he finally slowly spoke, "In half a month, there were seven demon attacks. In six of the incidents, the demons were already eliminated; only one case resulted in the demon escaping due to delayed information."
"The increase in demon group activity began after this…"
Kagaya pondered, "The cause of this change likely relates to the attack on Mount Kumotori seven days ago."
He faintly had a premonition that this incident might concern the future of the Demon Slayer Corps.
"Hinaki, spread the message. I want to meet that family who survived."
His scar-covered face became exceptionally solemn. All kinds of information indicated that the demon who attacked that family was most likely Muzan himself.
Besides confirming that, he also wanted to know why someone could survive Muzan's attack.
———
The wind howled, people wailed. The small town near Mount Kumotori was now completely shrouded in the stench of blood.
Even the bright moon in the sky appeared crimson red. Under the moonlight, a long shadow appeared on the ground. A tall figure stood at the town's entrance.
Even standing outside the town, one could feel the eerie and terrifying aura that surrounded it.
"Yare yare…"
Jotaro had originally intended to stay overnight in the town, but now it seemed unnecessary.
His eyes glowed with a ghostly green light, like a specter in the dark. He walked slowly toward the town, hands in his pockets.
Since Muzan, he had not encountered any other demons, but today…
"Run! Hurry and run!"
A panicked young man, his face filled with fear, ran frantically toward Jotaro. "The whole place is full of man-eating monsters! Run!!"
Jotaro silently watched him.
That black uniform, without a doubt, this person was a demon-slaying swordsman. However, right now he looked quite battered. His sword was gone, and even the hand that once held it was missing.
He waved his only remaining left arm, signaling Jotaro to run.
"Hurry…" Just as he spoke one word, he felt a piercing cold strike his back. A shadow of blood was about to tear him apart.
"Hey! Are you alright?" Jotaro looked at him and said.
"Uh?" He stared blankly at the strangely dressed man in front of him.
'How odd.' Just now, this man was still several meters away, how did he arrive in front of him in the blink of an eye? And just now he clearly felt a demon was right behind him, yet now…
He slowly turned around. Behind him, it was empty, not even a trace of a demon.
'What the hell is going on!?' Now was not the time to think about that. He panted heavily and said, "Run quickly, there are at least seven demons in the town, the residents here have already been killed by them. If we don't run now, we'll die here too."
He struggled to get up, but as soon as he pressed his hand to the ground, his whole body began trembling.
Six thin shadows appeared on the ground. They were already surrounded by demons.
"So this is the Demon Slayer Corps? Pretty weak, huh."
One demon with a blue face and fangs stood on a rooftop and mocked.
"Yeah, we used to be so scared of these nobodies, hiding from place to place. Thinking back, it's laughable." A scantily clad female demon laughed seductively.
"Well, it couldn't be helped. The Demon Slayer Corps had strength in numbers, while we were scattered and few. It was inevitable we suffered."
A bearded brute of a demon said in a deep voice, "But now that we're gathered together, how can the mere Demon Slayer Corps possibly be our opponent?"
"That's right!" the seductive female demon laughed. "Other than the Hashira, the rest of the Demon Slayer Corps aren't even worth mentioning."
"If we hadn't been scattered all over the place before, these useless swordsmen would've been wiped out long ago."
The one-armed Demon Slayer's face turned pale, and he dropped to his knees in front of Jotaro.
Everyone fears death when it comes, he was no exception.
He nearly died fighting just one demon, and now there were six, without a doubt, he was dead.
"It's over… it's over…"
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