"Infinity Castle, The Fall of Upper Moon One" One day, Michikatsu led his troops into battle. While making camp in a forest, they were unexp
"Infinity Castle, The Fall of Upper Moon One"
One day, Michikatsu led his troops into battle. While making camp in a forest, they were unexpectedly ambushed by demons, resulting in a complete rout, with only Michikatsu surviving.
Just as he was about to be killed, something unexpected happened—the now-adult Yoriichi appeared, saving him and effortlessly slaying the demons.
Overwhelmed by Yoriichi's power, Michikatsu sat stunned, only to receive a calm apology from his brother. Witnessing Yoriichi's mastery, Michikatsu's resentment and jealousy were rekindled.
To obtain Yoriichi's power, Michikatsu abandoned his family and his wife and children, becoming a demon slayer like Yoriichi. He joined his brother in the Demon Slayer Corps' assault on Muzan Kibutsuji, the progenitor of demons.
When Yoriichi taught Sun Breathing to other Demon Slayers, Michikatsu, unable to withstand the power of the sun, couldn't master it and instead used the inferior Moon Breathing.
Though resentful, he eventually awakened his Demon Slayer Mark, like Yoriichi, and his increased strength led him to wonder if he could surpass his brother with further training.
As time passed, Michikatsu noticed that his fellow Demon Slayers with Demon Slayer Marks were dying one after another, eventually realizing that those who awakened the mark wouldn't live past 25.
Approaching his 25th birthday, Michikatsu felt he wouldn't have time to further hone his skills, falling into despair.
Soon after, during a pursuit of Muzan Kibutsuji, Michikatsu encountered him directly. Muzan saw through Michikatsu's anxieties.
Faced with Muzan's offer to become a demon to gain immortality and refine his swordsmanship, fueled by his deep-seated jealousy of his brother, Michikatsu succumbed to temptation, drank Muzan's blood, and spent three days transforming into a demon, becoming the first Upper Moon—Kokushibo…
After Michikatsu became a demon, the Tsugikuni family fell into decline. His descendants, to escape persecution, hid in the mountains, changing their surname to Tokito and becoming woodcutters.
Sixty years after his transformation, on a night of the Red Moon, Kokushibo, having waited for all Demon Slayer Mark users to die, returned to his homeland. Passing a seven-story pagoda in the countryside, he witnessed something unbelievable.
Before him stood his brother, Tsugikuni Yoriichi, now an eighty-year-old man with white hair. Knowing that all Demon Slayer Mark users died before 25, Kokushibo was astonished. He questioned Yoriichi's survival, only to hear the frail elder lament, "How tragic, my elder brother…"
Kokushibo felt no anger at his brother's pity, instead experiencing sadness for the first time at Yoriichi's tears.
Though unsettled by his unexpected emotional response, Kokushibo drew his sword to sever their past, but Yoriichi drew his Nichirin Blade first…
In an instant, before Kokushibo could react, Yoriichi's blade grazed his neck. Kokushibo realized, to his horror, that Yoriichi's speed and power were almost identical to his prime!
Fear and burning resentment surged within him. Consumed by killing intent, Kokushibo braced for the fatal blow, expecting Yoriichi to decapitate him. However, Yoriichi remained motionless. He had exhausted himself after that single strike and had died.
Yoriichi's death shattered Kokushibo's hope of ever surpassing him. Consumed by hatred and humiliation, he vented his rage by cleaving Yoriichi's body in two. This blow not only severed Yoriichi's body but also a small pouch he carried. From the broken pouch fell the flute—also severed in two—that Michikatsu had given Yoriichi as a child…
Kokushibo realized that his brother had cherished this gift for decades…
Then, Kokushibo's memories of his past with Yoriichi resurfaced. Despite claiming to hate Yoriichi, he wept for the first time for the brother he had resented his entire life.
He realized that while he hated Yoriichi most, Yoriichi was also the person he remembered most vividly. Even after becoming a demon, his memories faded, blurring the faces of his family, yet Yoriichi's remained clear.
Finally, Kokushibo admitted that he had become a demon to surpass Yoriichi, but Yoriichi's death meant that would never happen. He vowed never to lose to anyone again!
After Yoriichi's death, to eradicate Sun Breathing, Kokushibo assisted Muzan in slaughtering all the other swordsmen who knew Sun Breathing, severing its lineage.
As his body began to decay, Kokushibo felt no fear of death, only a profound sense of regret.
"Yoriichi, you once said that those who pursue the ultimate will all reach the same end, but I failed. I never saw the world you spoke of. After your death, Muzan and I killed every swordsman who knew Sun Breathing. Why? Why does your Breathing Style still endure? Why did I leave nothing behind? Why couldn't I become anyone? Why were we so different?"
"What was the purpose of my birth? Can you answer me, Yoriichi?"
As Kokushibo's body disintegrated into dust, a severed flute, ancient and worn, fell from his haori.
"Yoriichi… I only wanted to be like you."
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