Suddenly, a group of men burst from the sidelines, tackling Ren to the ground.
"Don't move! You're the one who killed those people, aren't you?"
Officers, lying in wait, pinned Ren down.
Ren's expression was vacant, letting them press him into the dirt.
An officer checked Chitoshi's body, then stood. "Report: there's another dead body here."
The lead officer gave Ren a cold glance. "Take him away. Bury the body somewhere."
Take him away?
Ren snapped awake. He couldn't let them take him!
He couldn't let them take Chitoshi!
He had unfinished business!
He couldn't die!
Something more important than death awaited him!
Ren, pinned beneath the officers, surged up, snatching a sword from one. Before another could react, he slashed the man's throat.
His hand injury barred him from wielding a blade against demons, but killing ordinary men untrained in Breathing Styles was no different from before.
Under his piercing gaze, their movements were like slow motion. He could predict their next actions from the subtlest muscle twitches.
It was like an adult bullying children. In moments, the officers lay dead.
Ren panted, eyes crimson, staring at the corpses. "Chitoshi, I won't let you die in vain. Those who hurt you will pay a thousandfold!"
…
"Thunder Breathing, Third Form: Thunder Swarm!"
A demon collapsed, charred, its body dissolving.
A Demon Slayer Corps member wiped sweat from his brow. "Finally done. That was tough!"
His companion grinned. "Good thing we were together, or I'd have been in trouble."
"Let's head back."
As they turned to leave, they didn't notice a figure emerging from the shadows behind them.
Sensing something, they spun around, but a swift slash cut through their necks.
Having just slain a demon, they died silently in the night.
…
"Caw! Caw! Caw!"
That day, every Corps member's Kasugai Crow delivered a message:
"Warning! Warning! Former Corps member Ren has defected, openly attacking and killing Corps members. All Corps members must exercise extreme caution and, if necessary, eliminate him on sight!"
…
I'm not a good person.
My master once said I had a heart like blazing flames. Now, I've buried that heart completely.
…
"Caw! Caw!"
The Sound Hashira looked up at the Kasugai Crow overhead, puzzled. "A crow?"
It circled above, then perched on a branch, staring at him.
The Sound Hashira frowned, unnerved by its gaze. He picked up a stone and threw it.
As the stone neared, the crow flapped away.
The Sound Hashira snorted, about to move on, when his gaze froze on a figure ahead.
A man in a black cloak stood nearby, shrouded in shadow, his face obscured.
Instinctively, the Sound Hashira sensed malice, a faint killing intent radiating from the stranger.
"Who are you?"
He crouched, hand on his blade.
"Sound Hashira, do you remember this face?"
A voice, both unfamiliar and familiar, spoke. The Sound Hashira squinted, then his pupils shrank. "You!"
Ren smiled. "Didn't expect to see me again, did you?"
The Sound Hashira gritted his teeth, veins pulsing. "You traitorous beast! You killed Aoyagi, didn't you?"
"I never meant to betray the Corps. The Corps betrayed me first."
Ren spoke calmly. "As for Aoyagi, sorry, I've killed too many lately to keep track."
"He was my disciple!"
"Lucky me, then?" Ren said with a light chuckle.
"They weren't killed by me. You killed them, their master. The moment you spread rumors about me and my master in the Corps, you signed their deaths."
"Those aren't rumors—they're proven facts!"
"Then they died for a worthy cause."
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
"Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance!"
Their clash sparked a burst of light.
The Sound Hashira grinned, face inches from Ren's. "Your hands are so weak. The doctors were right—you're a cripple, barely able to hold a blade. My luck's good, catching you like this. Time to clean house for the Corps!"
He pressed harder, flinging Ren back. Transforming into a bolt of lightning, he struck again without pause.
"Thunder Breathing, Fourth Form: Distant Thunder!"
Ren felt the pressure. Against a formidable foe like the Sound Hashira, his wrist injury became a glaring weakness.
A misstep left him open, and the Sound Hashira's attack struck.
The Sound Hashira smirked. "How much longer can you last, kid?"
Ren ignored his wounds, casually tearing off his charred sleeve, revealing a muscular arm.
Though injured, he'd never stopped training.
The Sound Hashira narrowed his eyes. Ren's sleeve revealed how he wielded his blade despite his injury: his Nichirin Blade was strapped to his arm.
Even if the Sound Hashira hated to admit it, he cursed Ren as a madman in his heart.
"Caw! Caw!"
The crow circled above.
Ren glanced up. Rōyu was signaling another Corps member—a Hashira—approaching.
He needed to end this quickly!
Ren focused, his breath steady. He'd come to ambush the Sound Hashira, to kill him.
Another Hashira nearby disrupted his plan, but he wouldn't retreat. He'd stake everything on this fight.
He charged, unleashing Sun Breathing's forms. The techniques his master created to slay demons were now turned against former Corps allies.
What would Yoriichi Tsugikuni think, seeing this?
The Sound Hashira sensed a shift in Ren's attacks.
Ren fought like a rabid dog, fearless. Even when he saw through the Sound Hashira's strikes and could dodge, he took them head-on, trading blows to land his own.
With this reckless, self-destructive style—harming himself to wound his enemy—Ren left dozens of cuts on the Sound Hashira.
In return, Ren's injuries were far worse.
"Come on! Keep going! Let's see how long you last!" the Sound Hashira taunted, his own anger flaring. You won't dodge? Fine, neither will I!
They traded blows, two madmen slashing wildly.
"Caw! Caw!"
The crow's cry rang out again.
The other Hashira was almost here. Time was running out!
Ren grew desperate, realizing he might not kill the Sound Hashira here.
His injury was an insurmountable chasm, a barrier he couldn't cross.
"Come on, kid!" the Sound Hashira mocked, grinning. "You're a fighter, aren't you?"
Ren took a deep breath. "I'll kill you one day. Don't rush."
"You'd better hurry," the Sound Hashira said, laughing. "Those with the Demon Slayer Mark can't live past twenty-five. You're twenty-four, right?"
"What?" Ren froze.
"Perfect!"
Seizing Ren's distraction, the Sound Hashira struck.
Ren reacted instantly, retreating, but the blade sliced his abdomen.
With no desire to continue, Ren fled into the forest.
"Don't run!"
The Sound Hashira gave chase, but a sudden weakness stopped him. A deep gash on his leg, unnoticed until now, bled profusely—Ren's work.
Though furious, he could only watch Ren vanish.
"Sound Hashira!" a voice called from afar.
He turned, relaxing as he recognized the figure. "Rengoku."
The man approached, his hair like flames, eyes sharp like an owl's—the Flame Hashira.
"What happened? A demon?" Rengoku asked, alarmed by the wounds.
"No," the Sound Hashira said darkly. "The traitor."
"Ren?" Rengoku's mind flashed to the name.
"Yeah."
"You faced him?" Rengoku's expression hardened. "Where is he?"
"I wanted to kill him, but he got away," the Sound Hashira said, frustration evident.
Rengoku hesitated. "You forgot—the Master ordered us to capture Ren alive and bring him to face judgment."
"Rengoku! That beast must die!" the Sound Hashira snarled.