Inside a simply furnished room, Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat in front, with Amane Ubuyashiki taking care of him.
Gyomei, Sanemi, Giyu, and Tengen sat across from them.
"Cough cough cough, how are you feeling?" Kagaya Ubuyashiki coughed twice.
"Strong! Very strong! And my blood had no effect!"
Sanemi looked grim.
Five Pillars working together were helpless against Aoki. The harsh truth was like a cold winter wind, chilling him.
They hadn't unleashed their full potential because it wasn't a death match, but Aoki hadn't gone all out either.
Gyomei put his hands together. "I held everyone back this time."
As the strongest Demon Slayer, he had been the most useless.
"It couldn't be helped. His ability is too effective against Gyomei," Tengen said, touching his hair. "I don't know if it's my imagination, but I felt like he could see through our techniques!"
"I felt that too."
Giyu put his hands on his lap, speaking calmly. "He saw through all my movements as soon as I prepared to use a technique."
The room fell silent.
Sanemi clenched his fists. "His ability activates without warning, the interval is short, and he can use it repeatedly.
Until we find a way to counter it, we can't do anything to him!"
Kagaya Ubuyashiki said gently, "Mr. Aomura is our partner now. We don't need to think about that anymore."
"Yes!"
The four said together.
...
The streets were quiet at night. A man and a woman walked slowly.
They looked under 20.
The man was tall and handsome, with golden vertical pupils that stood out even at night.
The woman was graceful and gentle, with a kind aura that made people want to be near her.
"Mr. Aomura, what do you think about using poison?"
"Huh? What?"
Aoki, who was reviewing the fight, didn't react at first.
Kanae looked up with her pale purple eyes. "Based on your description, Muzan is too strong. Even if we gather all our strength, we probably can't beat him in a direct fight."
Aoki nodded.
Kanae was right. The current Demon Slayer Corps couldn't beat Muzan.
Kanae said, "So I was wondering, can we use poison to weaken Muzan? My sister isn't strong enough to swing a sword well, so she uses poison to increase her damage.
But I don't know if poison will work on Muzan."
"It will, but poison alone can't kill Muzan. Given enough time, he can break down any poison," Aoki said.
He didn't plan to introduce Tamayo to the Demon Slayer Corps yet.
The Demon Slayer Corps hated demons deeply.
He could protect himself, but Tamayo and Yushiro couldn't defend themselves well.
The situation wasn't as urgent as in the original story, where they had to put aside their differences and work together.
He would wait until they trusted each other more.
"It's okay, as long as we weaken him, then find a chance to cut off his head..."
"Cutting off his head won't work. Muzan has broken his limits. He can regenerate even if beheaded."
"So, the only way to kill him is sunlight?" Kanae looked worried.
"That's how it used to be, but now, Level 2 Devour Demon has a chance," Aoki thought.
Of course, he had to hurt Muzan first. If he couldn't even touch him, Level 2 Devour Demon wouldn't work.
Kanae sighed. "It's terrifying, even despairing. Can we really defeat Muzan with our power?"
Aoki said, "The strongest person in the world wasn't Muzan. It was a swordsman who used Breathing Styles."
Kanae quickly realized. "The user of the First Breathing?"
Aoki nodded. "Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the chosen one. He almost killed Muzan."
Muzan, weakened, still overwhelmed the Pillars. Yoriichi almost killed Muzan in one move.
The sword wound he left hadn't fully healed after hundreds of years.
Yoriichi was amazing!
"Why is the gap between us Pillars and the First Breathing user so big?"
Kanae looked lost. "I feel like I'm close to my limit. If I keep training, I might get stronger, but I might not catch up to Gyomei. I can't compare to you, Mr. Aomura."
"Don't say you've reached your limit. You have more potential," Aoki said.
The Mark was key. It greatly increased physical abilities, letting Pillars challenge the Upper Moons.
The Red Nichirin Sword relied on grip strength. There was no proof, but grip strength probably couldn't reach the standard before awakening the Mark.
The Transparent World was a cheat that only a few could master. It wasn't a normal power.
The current Pillars probably had the potential to awaken the Mark, but the first one to awaken it was key.
The world seemed to have a switch.
After the first Mark user appeared, the switch opened, and others could get the Mark like a resonance.
In this generation, the first to awaken the Mark was Tanjirou.
He was just a charcoal seller now.
The Demon Slayer Corps' time to rise hadn't come yet.
But Kanae didn't know this. She thought Aoki was comforting her. She smiled gently. "Don't worry, Mr. Aomura. I won't give up.
Your agreement to work with us is a huge encouragement.
If we work together and never give up, we can defeat Muzan someday!
If one person can't beat him, we'll all attack! If a direct fight doesn't work, we'll use poison! If beheading doesn't kill him, we'll drag him into the sunlight!
There must be a way!"
Aoki smiled, not discussing it further. He changed the subject. "I didn't expect things to go so smoothly. I thought you'd be more wary of me."
Kanae smiled shyly. "We investigated you carefully before this. And we tested you during the fight."
"Huh?"
Aoki was surprised. "Tested me? What test? I didn't notice."
Kanae's smile grew brighter.
"Mr. Shinazugawa, the one with white hair and many scars, has rare blood. His blood is very attractive to demons.
During the fight, he deliberately cut his arm and bled a lot, but you didn't react.
Combined with our previous investigation, we're sure you don't need to eat people!"
"Rare blood!"
Aoki realized.
He knew Sanemi had strong rare blood that attracted demons and made them drunk.
But he hadn't felt anything during the fight, so he hadn't noticed their trick.
The Pillars' hostility had decreased after the fight. He thought it was because he had held back, but there was also the test.
---
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