Chapter 140: Kill Hantengu and Gyutaro!
From one end of the Entertainment District to the other!
Sparks flew in every direction. Lightning tore across the night sky, accompanied by deafening roars and all kinds of dazzling techniques.
After a series of explosive clashes, half of the Entertainment District had been successfully reduced to ruins!
Hinatsuru and the others stood at the edge of the battlefield, cheering him on.
"Come on, husband! Just like the Dragon Hashira, cut off their heads! You'll catch up to the Dragon Hashira's achievements soon!"
"Waaah! Lord Tengen is really giving it everything he's got!"
Hinatsuru drew her large-scale kunai launcher and got to work. Although she couldn't contribute much to the battle, her primary goal was to provide companionship and emotional support!
Because of the fierce battle between both sides, the terrain of the Entertainment District had been almost completely reshaped.
The reporter who had originally intended to record the truth was eventually frightened away by the spectacular, special-effects-filled scene before him.
Where were you going?
Hantengu, who had been trying to flee, couldn't help but tremble when Ren spotted him.
"Please, let me go! This was all Zohakuten's fault! Go kill him, then let me go!"
Hantengu cried as he now intended to sell Zohakuten out.
One had to admit that Hantengu's plan was actually quite clever.
After all, even if Zohakuten's neck were cut, he wouldn't die.
But if Hantengu himself were killed, he would really die.
So Hantengu immediately burst into tears, hoping that his opponent would take pity on him and spare his life.
"This isn't my fault! How could someone as cowardly as me come here to kill you? Waaah—"
Ren said coldly,
"Then how do you explain what happened at the Butterfly Mansion?"
"That was all Sekido's fault! He ordered Kyuki, Urogi, and Karaku to do it. It wasn't me!"
"I was actually being very kind at the time. I hurried away because I didn't want to see such a bloody scene!"
Ren: "Oh? What about this time? You came here again, didn't you? Why did you threaten the members of the Demon Slayer Corps?"
Hearing this, Hantengu cried even harder.
"Waaah—! It was all a misunderstanding! Coming here wasn't my intention! It was all my master's fault!"
Ren: "But you still came."
Hantengu: "That was all the fault of these legs!"
Ren chuckled.
It seemed demons not only lacked a sense of pain—they also completely lacked logic.
Demons didn't even believe that the things they did were wrong.
With that thought, Ren suddenly smiled.
"You can leave. I won't kill you."
"Really?"
Hantengu immediately stopped crying, looking as though he couldn't believe his ears.
"Of course. Hurry up and go."
Ren's tone was completely natural.
Across from him, Zohakuten frowned.
Although he didn't know what Ren's plan was, as long as Hantengu escaped Ren's grasp, he could immediately launch a fatal attack.
Hantengu, meanwhile, became extremely eager to move, as though afraid Ren would go back on his word.
He immediately jumped from Ren's palm.
And just as Hantengu landed—
A burning blade suddenly appeared.
It cleanly severed Hantengu's neck!
Only by attacking at the instant an enemy lowered their guard could one accomplish one's objective at the lowest possible cost.
That was right.
Everything Ren had done before this was intended to prevent Hantengu from making a desperate counterattack.
Although Ren was already extremely powerful, he still couldn't afford to lower his guard.
Hantengu's severed head lay quietly on the ground, staring at Ren in disbelief.
"Why? You said you wouldn't..."
Ren unexpectedly replied,
"It was the Nichirin Sword that cut you. It was the Nichirin Sword's fault. What does that have to do with me, Ren?"
Hantengu froze.
Then he began screaming and crying hysterically.
"Hahaha! Waaah! It was the Nichirin Sword's fault! It was all the Nichirin Sword's fault—!"
And with that, another Upper Rank of the Twelve Kizuki had been eliminated.
A ray of light appeared in the sky.
The night was about to end.
Dawn was approaching.
Gyutaro, who was fighting Uzui Tengen, was beginning to panic.
He couldn't understand why the opponent he had been unable to defeat at the beginning had suddenly become so powerful.
And now that dawn was approaching, he had to take his sister back to the Kyogoku House—or underground!
Gyutaro frantically searched for his sister's whereabouts.
Then he saw a group of men surrounding his sister, Ume, apparently doing something to her.
"Ume!"
In an instant, Gyutaro's blood boiled.
With a mysterious burst of strength, he actually knocked back the Sound Hashira, who had been using his Musical Score technique, and rushed toward his sister.
Gyutaro roared,
"Damn it! Don't underestimate the bond between me and Ume!"
Boom!
Suddenly, flames surged toward him.
A tangible pressure descended!
Gyutaro instinctively turned his head and clearly saw a handsome face before him.
"Ren!"
Why was Ren here?!
Gyutaro panicked and subconsciously glanced toward the direction where Hantengu had been.
But Hantengu was nowhere to be seen.
There was only a pile of dissipating remains!
Gyutaro's heart immediately turned cold.
After learning of Hantengu's death, memories suddenly began flashing through his mind...
A scorching sensation swept across his neck.
Gyutaro took one last look at Ren.
There was no anger in his eyes.
No hatred.
Not even the slightest trace of emotion.
For some reason, Gyutaro suddenly had a strange premonition.
Did Ren really know about the Blue Spider Lily?
Or had he deliberately done all of this?
Because at this moment, Gyutaro truly believed that his opponent possessed strength worthy of the top three Upper Ranks!
If such a genius appeared within the Demon Slayer Corps, then perhaps the good days of the Twelve Kizuki were coming to an end.
The feeling was incredibly strong.
As Ren's Nichirin Sword passed through his neck, Gyutaro could feel the man's hatred of demons within that single strike.
"Dragon Breath, Second Form—Scorching Exhalation."
Only then did Ren's voice reach Gyutaro's ears.
Dawn broke.
Golden light appeared on the distant horizon, casting a warm glow across the world.
That strike tore through the night and brought the dawn with it.
It was like severing karma and letting go of one's lingering attachments.
As though fulfilling a promise he had made to someone, Ren's spirits suddenly soared.
Ren watched the remains before him gradually dissipate.
There wasn't the slightest trace of regret in his heart.
He understood deeply that showing kindness to an enemy was a grave taboo.
Just as it had been at the Butterfly Mansion.
If Ren had made even one wrong move, the people at the Butterfly Mansion could very well have suffered casualties.
Kindness should only be given to those who need it.
At this moment, Ren may have finally found the path he wanted to walk.
Protection.
Protecting everything he cherished.
Hoping that everything he cherished could be treated with gentleness.
Perhaps that was Ren's greatest wish.
Ren turned around.
Then he discovered a small demon hiding in the shadows.
Countless thoughts immediately surged through his mind.
Could demons have subordinates?
Ren knew that, in order to make controlling the demons' movements easier, Muzan would never allow demons to gather together.
Once demons gathered, thoughts of rebellion would inevitably emerge.
Given enough time, that would become detrimental to Muzan's rule and development.
But Ren's instincts told him that this little demon was a subordinate brought here by an Upper Rank!