Chapter 86: Transparent World × Eyes That See Through Illusion
One cup of hot tea warmed his belly, driving away the chill.
Tanjuro set down his teacup and began preparing for the fire god's worship ritual.
The small children could make as much noise as they wanted, but helping with the ceremonial robes was Eiichiro's responsibility as the eldest. Tanjuro had already retrieved the ritual garments and laid them on a soft pad nearby. He hadn't put them on yet—he'd been waiting for someone. Fortunately, he had waited long enough to see that person arrive.
Wide robe sleeves twisted into rope-like braids. A fire-character face armor concealed his expression. Tanjuro, steadied by Roy's support, descended the steps and stood in the yard.
Roy leaned against the corridor pillar, watching silently.
The man took a deep breath, raised his hands, and began the "Hinokami Kagura," moving fluidly.
Kie appeared with a plate of freshly fried tempura, the aroma of shrimp wafting through the air. The children, tired from play, swarmed around her like bees. She swatted each one gently away with her firm hand. "Let your big brother eat first!"
No one dared challenge her authority. Takeo and Shigeru reluctantly withdrew their hands, staring longingly at Roy.
Roy smiled, picked up a shrimp tempura, and placed it in his mouth. He continued watching Tanjuro dance, while around him came the bustle of small voices: "Go slow, don't rush." "Save some for big brother."
Once. Twice. Tanjuro moved with complete absorption, like a dancing flame spirit. His wide sleeves billowed, scattering imaginary snow. Gradually, Roy's eyes narrowed. Something felt off. Father's movements had more rhythm than his own?
"Older brother, do you want more?" Tanjiro asked, chewing half a shrimp. He struggled to retrieve two more pieces from Takeo and Shigeru's grasp and held them out.
Roy didn't respond. His gaze remained fixed on Tanjuro, lost in thought. Both eyes infused with Ren, his mind suddenly crystallized around one concept: the Transparent World.
The highest realm of human existence—not mere transparency in everyday life, but the result of complete immersion in self, achieving "no self, no other, no thought." Only then could one use "self" as the center point, amplify all senses, keenly perceive everything around them, and make the most appropriate reactions and judgments. Like slowing an opponent's movements to perceive them clearly, capturing their attack patterns, seeing through their vulnerabilities.
Roy whispered under his breath: "Under the sun, nothing is new."
"Older brother... what did you say?" Tanjiro asked.
"I said, under the sun, nothing is new."
[Notification: Hatsu "Eyes That See Through Illusion" has been acquired. (Note: Based on Ren's "sun" principle, the host can see through illusions and perceive enemy movements 0.1 seconds in advance.)]
Two brilliant flames ignited in Roy's pupils. Tanjiro's hand, holding the offered shrimp, froze mid-gesture. A chill ran through him—as if his entire body had been laid bare. His consciousness instinctively flinched, but Roy had already captured the movement. He reached out, grabbed the shrimp, and placed it in his mouth.
Tanjiro blinked, confused. He rubbed his own eyes. Had his older brother's eyes just emitted light?
"Chew... chew..."
As Roy swallowed, his gaze swept across the room in a circle, then fixed back on Tanjuro. Without turning his head, he said, "Nezuko, don't let Hanako eat with her hands."
In a corner of the long corridor, Nezuko sat by the fire stove, playing with little Hanako. She glanced back at Roy with suspicion. Her sister was too absorbed in the new bamboo dragonfly Roy had bought to even think about eating. But then—one glance from Roy—and Hanako's small hand slipped from the dragonfly's tail straight into her mouth.
Nezuko turned back to look at Roy.
Eiichiro sat quietly opposite them, the "sun" in his eyes extinguished, maintaining only the 0.1-second perception.
After that, Roy felt the world flatten into faded lines before his vision. One blink, and it returned to normal.
Hatsu emerges from Ren naturally as its consequence. Like Hisoka's "stretching and shrinking," like Illumi's "control and occupation," like Chrollo's "stealing and collecting," like Netero's "wild heart and Buddha reason."
But what am I?
I am the "Sun." I can serve as heaven's guardian, scattering darkness. Or become ten thousand brilliant rays, illuminating the human world... Tsugikuni Yoriichi, you must have thought the same way back then.
"Fire god's sacred Hinokami Kagura...."
In the falling snow, Tanjuro completed his final movement and came to rest, barefoot on the ground.
Wind caught the edge of his fire-character armor, lifting it slightly. Down the long corridor, Roy's gaze unfocused. Through the haze, he seemed to see a figure—someone with deep red hair, fire-flame marks at the temples, appearing as if seen across the boundary between life and death, overlapping with his father's silhouette. The figure smiled warmly and said, "Eiichiro, help me remove my clothes."
"Yes."
Roy snapped back to awareness. His father was already sitting beside him, exposing his back with the tied knots of the robe, waiting to be undone.
Roy stepped forward and began untying them. As he did, he also unraveled a mystery that had lodged in his heart, catching glimpses of ever more sunlight.
This has been a satisfying year-end evening, he thought.
That night, the family shared the year-end meal together and exchanged idle conversation. Roy held Takeo and Shigeru close, brought Tanjiro with them, and returned to the western room, where a fire already warmed the raised sleeping platform. They dressed and lay down.
In the mountains, firecrackers still echoed faintly in the distance.
Silence settled.
After a day of noise and excitement, Takeo and Shigeru fell into deep sleep. Tanjiro remained beside Roy, his eyes opening and closing, opening and closing—still caught in the joy of the festival, too excited to truly sleep.
"Hey, older brother... are you awake?" Tanjiro shifted to look at Roy. His older brother had been gone for months, and now he seemed so much taller. Actually, wait—Tanjiro had grown too, but Roy was still taller by a full head. Before Roy left, Roy had only been half a head taller. Tanjiro quietly compared himself again and pouted at the disparity.
Roy closed his eyes: "I'm sleeping."
Tanjiro didn't care and continued: "When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow."
"Eh? Tomorrow already?"
"Yes."
"Why so soon?"
The quilt still isn't warm enough...
"Because time is pressing." Roy had calculated it carefully—the youngest child in this household, Rokuta, would be born in two more years. And in that same timeframe, Muzan would appear and slaughter the Kamado family.
Roy had no habit of delay. From the very first day he became this family's eldest son, he'd decided: he would strangle that Demon King in advance, pin him beneath the sun's light, and make him experience what "merciless sunlight" truly meant.
Tanjiro fell silent. His mouth opened as if to ask—was it because of demons?—but seeing his older brother seemed unwilling to say more, he gave up. He pulled the quilt over his head.
Night deepened. Breathing and the sounds of wind and snow echoed through the darkness.
When Tanjiro finally fell asleep—that foolish, stuttering boy—Roy slipped from the quilt, dressed, and pushed open the door.
In the long corridor outside, a man stood warming himself by the fire stove, heating a pot of tea.
He watched silently as his family's eldest son grew taller day by day. Finally, he spoke with startling clarity: "Eiichiro, congratulations on awakening the Transparent World."