Chapter 123: Reviewing the Situation! Ren Analyzes the Battlefield!
"Dragon Hashira-sama?!"
Makio stood frozen in place, staring up at the figure on the rooftop.
For a moment, the figure before her overlapped again and again with the image she had formed in her mind.
After a while, her mouth slowly fell open.
"Is the Dragon Hashira really that young?"
Under the moonlight, at the edge of the rooftop, another beautiful woman cried out in surprise.
"Eh? The Dragon Hashira?!"
Suma blinked, her mind still hazy.
The person who had saved her was actually the Dragon Hashira?!
Handsome and reliable!
Then another thought suddenly occurred to Suma.
She remembered that Tengen-sama had asked them to help search for the Dragon Hashira and provide him with assistance, hadn't he?
Hadn't she just become a burden to him...?
Suma's face turned pale. She stammered, "I'm sorry, Dragon Hashira-sama. I'm not very good at fighting. Just now, I... I was too careless! I even needed you to save me..."
"It's fine."
Ren's expression remained calm. He didn't take such a trivial matter to heart.
His gaze remained fixed in one direction.
Because that was where the most vicious prey was lurking.
Daki.
And her brother, Gyutaro, hidden within her body.
"Upper Rank Six..." Ren murmured.
Let's turn the clock back several hours.
From the moment Ren left Hinatsuru's room at the Kyogoku House, he had already deduced everything from her letter.
Although the letter contained only a few brief sentences, how could someone with his extraordinary insight fail to understand what Hinatsuru was thinking?
Today, the three female shinobi had discovered something suspicious in the Entertainment District, only to be caught by Upper Rank Six.
Ren was far too familiar with this sequence of events.
If his guess was correct, within another day, the three of them would be defeated one by one and left helplessly waiting for the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, to rescue them.
Only now, Ren had encountered the situation earlier than expected.
As a Hashira, he couldn't simply stand by and watch.
Both Tengen Uzui and Hinatsuru had helped him in one way or another.
When they were in danger, Ren had no reason to sit back and do nothing.
Nor could he bring himself to look the other way.
Ren had left earlier because he wanted to gather information about the Entertainment District.
He had discovered that although the district appeared peaceful on the surface, countless dangers were lurking beneath it.
His reconnaissance and [Spirit Hearing] abilities had provided him with fragments of information.
Recently, a strange old man had appeared in the Entertainment District.
There was also a young man with hair as white as oak.
That was the conclusion Ren had reached after carefully piecing together the information he had gathered.
There were at least three Upper Rank demons in the Entertainment District!
On the rooftop, Ren had chosen a position with the widest possible field of vision.
He didn't immediately make a reckless move.
Instead, he carefully observed the situation around him.
Below him, Daki stood there furiously.
Her tone was impatient.
"Dragon Hashira? Are you their reinforcements?"
"Only a Hashira could have severed my obi. Looks like the Demon Slayer Corps didn't merely send a few cannon fodder to deal with me."
Daki's tone had become heavy, and her expression was cold, completely different from her initial careless attitude.
As an Upper Rank, she possessed an innate sensitivity toward the strength of her opponents.
The sheer speed Ren had displayed earlier was enough for an experienced Upper Rank demon like her to immediately sense his strength.
It was very likely that she would need to summon her brother and have him fight alongside her.
Faced with such a powerful enemy, Daki had to proceed cautiously.
But why did this so-called Dragon Hashira look so familiar?
It was as though she had seen him somewhere before.
Suddenly, Daki's eyes widened.
Her lips moved.
"You... You're Ren?!"
"Oh?"
Ren narrowed his eyes slightly.
"You know me?"
Daki's expression stiffened.
She swallowed with difficulty.
Of course she knew him!
Back when her obi had been wandering around the area near Gyokko's residence, she had seen Ren.
At the time, Gyokko apparently hadn't treated Ren very well. Ren's face had been dirty and disheveled, so she hadn't recognized him immediately.
After all, the man in front of her had suddenly become far more handsome than before...
But Daki clearly remembered how terrifying his strength had been.
Gyokko had been defeated alone.
How many heads was she, Daki, going to lose because of this?
The thought made Daki even more nervous.
Yet her nervousness lasted only a moment before, unexpectedly, she recovered her composure.
She even provoked him.
"So you're the Dragon Hashira. No wonder you were able to kill one of the Upper Ranks of the Twelve Kizuki. Hehe... But not every Upper Rank is as weak as Gyokko. I advise you—"
Daki continued rambling.
Whether she was trying to ease her own nerves or deliberately provoke Ren into fighting, her behavior was extremely abnormal.
Ren immediately noticed it.
But what puzzled him was this—
Why wasn't she trying to escape?
"Something doesn't feel right..." Ren muttered.
[Bullet Domain activated.]
[Hyper-Memory State activated.]
[Recalling the details of the battle!]
[Brain activity enhanced...]
[Due to your frequent use of your brain, your Hyper-Memory State has transformed through practice. You have reached the state of Enlightenment and are entering Rewind Mode!]
[You can infer certain past events from the details of this scene. You are thinking...]
Detail One: The opponent's strength was clearly inferior to yours, yet she neither fled nor retreated. Instead, she deliberately provoked you.
That was practically asking to die.
Detail Two: The opponent and the three female shinobi had appeared together in a deserted corner of the street. Their purpose was unclear, but that alone was suspicious.
Detail...
Past events continuously replayed inside Ren's mind like a recording.
At first, what surfaced were clues.
Then came details.
Finally, frame after frame of images appeared.
All those images connected into a single sequence, like a film being projected by an old-fashioned movie projector.
Ren was like an audience member watching those carefully packaged scenes flash before his eyes and processing them one by one.
He retained what was useful and discarded what wasn't.
[Efficiency increased!]
[Through the traces left on this battlefield, you recall the course of the battle...]
[Through the enemy's clothing, you recall the last thing Daki did before leaving...]
[Through the three large bumps on Suma's head, you recall the opponent's previous attacks...]
[Through the sounds you heard upon arriving, you recall the number of koto notes you heard earlier...]
"Two koto notes..."
The moment Ren said those words, he keenly noticed a subtle change in the demon's expression.
Ren's heart sank.
"Go!"
Ren suddenly shouted.
"Hinatsuru, take Makio and Suma and get out of here!"
The three female shinobi froze.
They didn't understand why Ren had suddenly given such an order.
Makio had originally thought that Ren's arrival meant the beginning of their counterattack!
I already have my kunai drawn, and you're telling me to run?!
Suma, standing beside Ren, was even more confused.
When she heard Ren's command, her first thought was that the Dragon Hashira might have been injured and realized they couldn't win, so he intended to retreat.
Otherwise, why would he tell them to run?
But his voice was full of vitality.
He didn't sound injured in the slightest...
Only Hinatsuru reacted immediately.
She rushed to Makio's side and pulled her away.
Seeing Makio and Hinatsuru run, Suma immediately panicked.
She had no idea why they were running.
But if everyone else was running, then running had to be the right choice!