Chapter 28 : 28th Stance

TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!

Following a crow in-front of them were two of the Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku and Shinobu Kocho.

Whilst in search of Takeo, they heard the yell of a Kasugai Crow. With so many Demon Slayers searching for him, the possibility that a group had found Takeo wasn't slim, so they immediately followed the sound.

Running through a forest, the putrid scent of blood and urine spread through the air.

Looking at each-other whilst they ran, Rengoku and Kocho nodded, before bursting out of the forest, appearing right where the smell was the strongest.

WOOOSH!!!!

Glancing around, they were met with several Demon Slayer corpses, all carved and cut with what seems to be a sword.

'That rules out a demon attack...' the two of them thought.

Suddenly, they both heard something a few metres away....

RUSTLE!

In a bush on their left, they both heard movement. Walking closer towards it, they could hear...

"t-that's not human..." "....going against that is suicide..."

Looking through the bush, they saw a demon slayer, curled up in a ball....shaking due to fear.

'...So It was a demon?' The two thought listening to his mumbling.

"Hey, what happened here. It's alright you're safe now." Kocho stated. To which Rengoku replied, "Yeah. We'll hunt down what killed those fellow slayers." with a bright smile, befitting of his cheerfully eccentric personality.

"...Eh..." the demon slayer proclaimed lowly, still shaking.

When he saw two of the Hashira in-front of him, he immediately tried standing up to show his respect...but he couldn't move his legs....

Noticing his efforts, "It's alright, you don't need to stand up. Now tell us what happened here." Rengoku proclaimed.

After a couple seconds of silence, the demon slayer finally spoke out.....

"....We were looking for the traitor, Takeo Yasushi....but then we heard what seemed to be fighting in the distance", he looked down to his dead partners before he continued, "When we arrived we saw a pool of blood....and felt an ominous pressure in the air. Thinking it was a demon, we followed a trail of blood leading out here. When we came here....we found an injured Takeo right in-front us."

When the two heard that, they instantly darted their heads around their surroundings, gripping their blades, they looked around for a couple of minutes before they turned back.

'If he was injured....' Rengoku thought whilst he briefly stared at the corpses on their side.

"How did he kill all these men if he was injured?" Rengoku asked seemingly confused. Even if they were much weaker than the Hashira, some of the slayers were of Hinoto rank, which was fairly respectable. 'With him injured, they should have atleast held on till help arrived.....but they were swiftly dealt with, to the extent of giving trauma to this survivor.' Kocho thought deeply before paying attention to the demon slayer's response.

".....It wasn't anything normal....he dispatched them in a flash. And the look he gave me before he disappeared...." the slayer recalled before he shook in fear.

Knowing it was too much for him, Kocho leaned closer and stroked his hair like he was a child, "There's nothing to worry about any more. Were going to try and find where Takeo disappeared to, so can you wait here until the Kakushi arrive?" she asked.

".....Yeah that's okay....thank you." he stated, expressing his admiration before Kocho stood up.

Rengoku and Kocho looked at the slayer one last time, smiling, before they vanished.

"....Thank you." he mumbled under his breath.

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With news of his appearance, several demon slayers made their way over to where he was last sighted. Everyone searched the surrounding area, not leaving any bush unturned, they searched throughout the night, but couldn't find anything.

Whilst all this was going on, Takeo was sleeping in a cave. Completely covered in wounds, he ripped part of robe and used that as a make-shift bandage for the time-being. He was sleeping like a baby, his face would even make you question whether he was even injured, as he appeared to be perfectly fine.

Resting on-top of him was Yuko.

The state Takeo was in, even made Yuko worry. 'So many things have happened....and yet you can sleep so calmly.' he thought, staring at Takeo's sleeping face.

After a couple minutes of mindless thinking, he then crawled into a little ball, tucking his tail before he went to sleep.

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Whilst those two were asleep. A group of 8 were wide awake, discussing something in an unknown location.

"Hello everyone. I would like you to know that Akaza has perished." " He was slain by a former demon slayer, and I would like you all to exterminate him. I don't care how you do it.....just make sure it's done." Muzan proclaimed with a terrifying expression as he recalled what he'd seen.

After he finished speaking, he showed them a picture of Takeo.

'I thought he'd be a bit older if he was a former demon slayer....' Doma, the Upper Rank Two of the Twelve Kizuki thought as he stared at the photo.

After a few seconds.....

"It shall be done Lord Muzan." Kokushibo, the Upper Rank One of the Twelve Kizuki stated.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

Muzan didn't need to say anything more as Kokushibo was about to leave, but just before he could....

"Lord Muzan, may I ask....Is there really a need for all of us to head out for one little boy?" Gyutaro, the Upper Rank Six of Twelve Kizuki asked.

Due to his arrogant and prideful, Gyutaro didn't feel the need to have to go, as he grew to underestimate his opponents because he'd lived over a hundred years and battled many Demon Slayers and Hashiras.

Right when he was about to continue, he felt a terrifying pressure pile up on him. Confused on what was going on, he looked up and saw Muzan glaring at him a deathly expression.

BANG!!!

Suddenly, his whole body crashed down to the floor causing a bang to echo throughout the room.

All the other upper ranks, including Gyutaro's sister just watched.....nothing could be done against Muzan and they didn't want to get involved.

"What did you say?" Muzan asked, still having a deathly expression.

Gyutaro's statement had unknowingly made Muzan angry as it made it seem like Gyutaro had no care for his orders.

"I'M SORRY MY LORD!" Gyutaro shouted, "I don't know what came over me, I must've gone crazy!" he screamed as sweat began to rain down his forehead.

After a couple minutes of silence, the pressure Gyutaro was feeling had been lifted and Muzan's face had gone back to normal.

However, minus the arrogance, it was still a good question.

"I trust in all your abilities....but I am not looking for failure, you must destroy that boy before it's to late!" Muzan's emotions ran high as he didn't know what the future held.

"Now go!" Muzan yelled as he wanted some alone time to think....

WOOOSHH!!!

They all disappeared from the room except Muzan.

'That old man may still be alive if he has a successor....' he thought, 'That may cause a nuisance for me...but I'm a-lot stronger than last time.' he thought before a sinister smile appeared on his face.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

Hearing someone behind him, "Didn't I tell you all to leave!" he yelled before he darted his head towards the noise.

"....." When he turned around, nobody was there...

'I need to get some rest.' he thought, as he held his head in confusion.

"Didn't I tell you, you can't order me around~" someone whispered in Muzan's ear.

ZOOOOMM!!!!

Whipping his arm behind him in an attempt to kill whoever it was, he was shocked to see his arm was caught.

Completely covered in black scales, littered in burn marks and sword wounds. It's striking blue eyes looked deep into Muzan's soul as it stood there, like a giant, as it's short black hair waved in the wind....

"....It can't be..." Muzan stuttered, completely shocked.

"It's been a long time~" the demon playfully expressed before his eyes shone dangerously.

".....Zamuza...."

"Did you miss me?" the demon asked.