Chapter 126:  Hakuji

...

Lowering his gaze, looking at the headless body lying on the ground.

"...I see, I understand."

"Kokushibo, Hantengu, Gyutaro..."

Akaza's face was gloomy, he stood at the corner of the street, looking far to the end of the street, in the direction of the other two Demon Slayer Corps members:

"So, is it my turn now?"

During his search for the [Demon Slayer who killed Upper Rank One], the demons of the Upper Rank Moon were constantly being killed and replaced.

Now, even that Biwa woman has reached the position of [Upper Rank Three] where he once was.

——Demons are absolutely stronger than humans.

Akaza has always believed in this concept.

Humans are very fragile.

They get hurt, a light touch on their limbs can cause them to bleed and lose their limbs, and a slightly longer battle will exhaust their stamina.

They get sick, they age, their strength cannot always be at its peak, and even their inner emotions can affect their strength.

They are weak creatures that can easily die if they are not careful.

And the Twelve Demon Moons were pushed to this point by such humans.

Creak...

"...It's really annoying."

Akaza stared straight at the end of the street, his forehead bulging with veins, his tattooed hand clenched into a fist.

The Demon Slayer Corps members at the end of the street have not yet noticed the anomaly here.

His heart was filled with resentment, his pupils shrank to a point due to rage, and his body trembled as he prepared to move forward.

That's right.

In the midst of his emotional turmoil, Akaza's eyes gradually became excited.

——He suddenly thought of a brilliant idea.

——Since he couldn't find the guy who killed Upper Rank One anywhere.

——Why not make a bigger noise and let him come to find me?

As a Demon Slayer, as long as enough people die, he will definitely come.

Being able to consecutively kill so many Upper Ranks, that humans must be very strong.

Fighting with the strong has always been what Akaza pursued.

He looked at the two Demon Slayer Corps members at the end of the street who had no idea.

Let's start from here.

Step...

Akaza just took a step.

In his mind.

A dark figure slowly condensed, Muzan's red eyes lit up in the darkness, staring at Akaza who was moving forward.

Muzan's gloomy and cold voice echoed in his mind:

"Akaza."

He called out word by word:

"Stop."

The pressure from the depths of his bloodline suddenly erupted.

Plop.

!!

Akaza, who was stepping forward, was forced to open his eyes wide, Muzan's sudden words were like an ultimate blow instantly pressing on him.

Bang!

The force under his feet increased, making a pit in the street ground.

Akaza barely resisted the gravity attached to his body, he choked his neck, the blood vessels on his neck bulged, and he struggled to raise his head.

His face was already suffocated red:

"Muzan...sama...?"

His eyes were full of bloodshot, he was thinking hard:

"——Why..."

His vision was somewhat blurred under the heavy pressure, he stared resentfully at the members of the Demon Slayer Corps in the distance, very puzzled.

The Demon Slayer Corps was right in front of him, he had no reason not to kill them.

It's like an instinct of the body.

[Destructive Death·Compass Needle]

Whoosh!

The technique that looked like ice crystal snowflakes automatically extended under his feet, emitting light in all directions.

"Why?" Muzan opened his narrow red eyes, his pupils coldly stared at Akaza:

"Are you questioning me?"

Bang!

With a muffled sound, Akaza could no longer support his body under the applied pressure, blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth, and he knelt on the ground with a bang.

He supported the ground with his fist, struggled to raise his head, his voice was hoarse:

"...No, I didn't..."

"No?"

Muzan seemed to be looking for something, he spoke casually, but his tone became colder and colder:

"So you were lying to me just now..."

Upon hearing this.

"Heh——cough!!" Akaza's eyes opened wide, his pupils trembled wildly, and the viscous blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth dripped onto the ground with a plop.

The crisp sound of bones breaking kept coming from his body.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Akaza."

"Did I treat you too well, so you don't listen to my orders at all?"

A distorted male voice seemed to echo in his ear, very eerie, Muzan murmured:

"What was the task I gave you Upper Ranks last time?"

Akaza's Adam's apple moved up and down, but he could only keep spitting blood from his mouth.

Seemingly aware that Akaza could no longer speak, Muzan withdrew his gaze:

"—Find the Blue Spider Lily."

Muzan suddenly leaned into Akaza's face, his crimson pupils almost sticking to Akaza's face, staring straight at him, his voice becoming incredibly close:

"And what have you been doing?"

"Running around in human towns..."

"Don't you want to become stronger?"

After being silent for a while, Muzan slowly faded away from Akaza's consciousness.

The pressure on his body seemed to be slowly easing.

"Puha——Ha! Ha!"

Akaza suddenly opened his mouth wide, his head full of sweat, he propped up the ground with both hands like a fish that had just landed, breathing heavily.

"If you understand."

Muzan's last faint voice echoed in his mind:

"Then go fulfill your duty."

"Don't waste time on other things."

Click, click.

Akaza propped up the ground with both hands, kneeling on the ground, he stared straight at the ground that had been soaked by his sweat.

"...I understands."

At this time.

In his unconscious, autonomously activated Blood Demon Art [Compass Needle].

He sensed a weak fighting spirit approaching.

His Compass Needle can autonomously sense the enemy's fighting spirit.

Just like the positive and negative poles of a magnet.

The enemy's attack carries fighting spirit, and he will automatically dodge the attack as if repelling it.

And his own attack, on the other hand, hits the enemy's weak point accurately as if opposites attract.

Everyone in the world has fighting spirit, even newborn babies have a thread-like fighting spirit.

With his Compass Needle, almost no attack can touch him.

This is also one of the reasons why Akaza was able to become an Upper Rank.

Step.

At this time.

"Hey!... Did you do all this!"

A trembling shout came from the front, Akaza wiped the sweat from his eyelashes and looked forward.

The Demon Slayer Corps member was holding the hilt of his sword, his breathing was rapid, his face was pale, and he was pointing at himself with the sword in full horror.

The weak fighting spirit he sensed also came from the other party.

Akaza glanced at the end of the street, another member was looking this way from afar.

Obviously,

the noise just now was a bit loud, attracting these two guys.

—Just kill them casually, they're just ordinary demon hunters.

His eyes were dull.

Click, click.

This is the sound of the shaking hand holding the sword, the hilt.

Akaza didn't make a sound, his heart was full of the words Muzan-sama had just scolded him.

He silently stood up.

"Hiiiieeeekk!" The member was scared and took a step back.

He looked in horror at the severed limbs of his teammate on the ground.

Because team members had been gone for too long, he thought about coming to see.

The result——!

The member looked at Akaza in front of him in horror, his hand holding the sword was already scared and somewhat numb.

This guy!

His eyes are written——it's an Upper Rank!!

Step.

His legs were shaking violently, he hadn't started fighting yet, and the member had already lost his fighting spirit.

He absolutely can't win a frontal battle!

What he should do now is...

The member glanced sideways, his heart beating faster, he glanced at the direction of the teammate who was still standing in place in the distance.

Then he took a deep breath, he almost shouted out loud with the amplification effect brought by the breathing method:

"There's an Upper Rank here!!"

"Run——!!"

—As much as possible to convey the message, and delay time, let the crow send the message back!

Creak...

The member thought in his heart, clenched the hilt tightly, turned his head abruptly, and his fearful gaze met Akaza.

Now! Hold on here!

Ignoring the emotions of the demon hunter, Akaza swayed to his feet, clenching his fist.

[No matter what kind of predicament, never give up.]

[Unyielding spirit]

In Akaza's mind.

A bearded man in a white martial arts uniform was gently teaching him:

[We are not samurai, we don't have swords.]

His arm muscles tightened, and the Compass Needle under his feet emitted a faint light.

Plop.

The rough fingers of the uncle poked his own chest, he smiled, his thick black eyebrows drooping slightly to the sides: 

[But there is a sword in our heart.]

Akaza's upper body leaned forward slightly.

[Only using one's own fists.]

The next moment,

Whoosh!

The boxing technique that had been honed for hundreds of years turned into an afterimage, and it hit the face of the Demon Slayer Corps member in front of him with force!

So fast!

The pupils of the corps member contracted, and the tattooed fist in his field of vision enlarged instantly.

At this moment, he was extremely grateful that he chose to shout and pass the message at the first time.

Almost in an instant, Akaza's fist was on his forehead.

At this moment.

Whoosh——!

"Heh!" The wind from the fist blew the hair tips of the corps member who was scared and closed his eyes, he clenched his teeth tightly, and was afraid to shrink his neck.

But, the death in his imagination did not come.

In doubt, the corps member quietly opened a slit in his eyes.

The clenched fist stopped steadily in front of him.

Akaza looked at his arm somewhat surprisingly.

"...Why didn't you swing it down?" He was in a daze, and his eyebrows trembled unconsciously.

But no matter how hard he tried, his fist seemed to be blocked and could not move forward at all.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Heh!" Akaza's face was grim, he tried hard for a long time, his face was suffocated red, and his fist still did not swing down with all his strength.

What's going on?!

He looked at his own hands with questioning eyes.

In a place that Akaza couldn't perceive.

"Hakuji ..." The man was tall, with neat black hair, but his eyebrows drooped, and his expression was sad.

He was wearing a white martial arts uniform with two powerful brush strokes on his back: "素流" Soryuu.

At this moment, the man was reaching out a hand.

Steadily placed on Akaza's swung fist, holding it.

Akaza struggled hard.

Seeing this, the man's thick black eyebrows drooped.

His phantom figure had no ability to touch Akaza's body at all.

What really restricted Akaza's punch——was not him.

Plop.

Akaza shook his hand hard, then staggered back two steps.

He raised his head in frustration and swung his fist at the corps member twice.

——Nothing happened.

"What?!"

After realizing that he couldn't even use [Air Type], Akaza looked at the corps member incredulously.

Then.

Whoosh!

Akaza turned his head, gritted his teeth unwillingly, took a step under his feet, and disappeared in place as an afterimage.

The corps member was stunned in place for a while, he looked puzzled at the place where Akaza disappeared.

Then.

Boom!

"...I survived."

His legs softened, and the whole person collapsed on the ground as if he had lost his strength, his back was already soaked with sweat, and a joy of surviving a catastrophe surged in his heart.

After staring blankly at the night sky for a long time, he seemed to remember something and quickly got up.

He turned his head to look at the distance behind him and shouted:

"Did you send out the message?!"

...

...

The next day.

Butterfly Mansion.

"...A dangerous place."

Inosuke was hiding in the bushes in the courtyard, with two branches on his head, looking around, muttering in his mouth.

The wound on his head was still aching faintly.

He looked at Tanjuro who was reading the letter on the booth.

——That red-haired uncle is even more of a monster.

No matter what he does, there is no sound.

Inosuke's eyes were serious.

Monster uncle!

At this moment.

"Inosuke——!" Tanjiro was holding a plate of tempura, he stood in the courtyard, and called out softly with his hand.

After shouting a few times and not getting a response, he scratched his head in confusion:

"It's strange, he was just around here."

He was walking around aimlessly, just approaching the shrubbery on the edge of the courtyard.

Suddenly.

Swish!

A hand suddenly reached out from the shrubbery in front of him!

With lightning speed, it snatched a fried shrimp from Tanjiro's plate.

Tanjiro, who was looking elsewhere, was taken aback.

He quietly glanced at the shrubbery in front of him.

"Ah——"

Then a smile appeared on his face, pretending to be troubled: "I can't find Inosuke anywhere, what should I do."

"As expected of the king of the mountain, his hiding skills are indeed top-notch."

Click.

Saying that, he bent down and put the plate on the ground:

"There's no way, just leave it here for now."

"Don't let the small animals steal it."

Tanjiro's face was full of a gentle smile, he nodded at the shrubbery in front of him.

Then he turned around and walked away leisurely.

Soon.

In the shrubbery.

"Hehehe haha!"

"He defeated by me!" Inosuke held a fried shrimp in each hand, laughing softly as he ate, his mouth full of oil.

Meanwhile.

On the stall.

Tanjuro was holding a letter, reading it carefully.

"Kamado-san, what's wrong!"

Rengoku Kyojuro was sitting next to him,

He crossed his arms, his eyes were bright, looking at Tanjuro, asking confidently:

"Did you encounter any problems? You're frowning like that!"

"No." Tanjuro slowly shook his head.

This letter seems to have been rewritten by Tomioka, and the content on it is a bit difficult to recognize.

At this time, in the gap when Tanjuro was turning the page.

Click.

A photo fell out of the gap in the envelope.

Tanjuro looked down in confusion, picked up the photo, and looked at the content.

Upon seeing the tattooed figure in a short shirt in the photo.

He was taken aback.

"Oh! Is it a new mission?" Kyojuro also saw the photo, he laughed helplessly:

"Unfortunately, I also want to go on a mission with Kamado-san again."

His crimson eyes were shining in the sunlight, he stood upright and looked straight at the courtyard:

"But now, I still have to fulfill my promise to Kocho Shinobu, to protect the Butterfly Mansion!"

"I'm afraid I'll have to wait until Shinobu comes back..."

At this time.

Creak——

The door of the Butterfly Mansion was suddenly pushed open, Kocho Shinobu smiled and poked her head in.

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