The moonlight gradually dimmed as the sky was breaking for the dawn, although it was still very dark.
Tanjuro stood there in a daze.
He understood every word that Soichiro said, but when they were put together, he couldn't make head or tail of what the man was talking about at all.
Tanjuro shifted his gaze to Shinjuro.
Since Shinjuro came with the Tokito family, maybe he knows something.
But...
"...What are you talking about?"
Shinjuro's reaction was the same as Tanjuro's. He almost stumbled in his resting as he looked at Soichiro with a shocked expression.
"Tree?" Shinjuro pointed at Hantengu's remains.
"You think this is a tree?"
Soichiro was confused at the questioning looks he received. He turned to address Shinjuro's question.
"That's right." His confirmation seems to startle Shinjuro, making his brain crash.
"I am a woodcutter, and I live by selling firewood."
Shinjuro's stunned expression couldn't be more pronounced than it is right now.
"And... you can cut down... this... "tree"...?" He gestured with his hand to the demon, seemingly a little incredulous.
Soichiro nodded again in affirmation.
"Moving Tree" was what Michikatsu-san told him.
But to be honest, the only thing Soichiro knew to call them was tree.
Like, they can grow back after being cut, and they look rough and bumpy.
So, Soichiro thinks calling them "tree" is very reasonable.
"No, no, no..." Shinjuro shook his head repeatedly.
"Something's not right." He scratched his head as he frowned. He looked at the Tokito's father and two sons in disbelief.
'This is so weird...' He touched his chin.
'How could a woodcutter... employ swordsmanship?'
Countless questions floated in his mind for an answer.
Drap drap drap.
Suddenly, a violent stomping sound came from the village arrived. The people in the clearing turned their heads to look.
They saw the burly figure of the Stone Hashira running frantically to their location. Dust rose behind him.
Gyomei was carrying the chain in his hand and chanting Buddhist scriptures while swinging his flail as he ran.
The sudden disappearance of Zohakuten gave him a bad feeling.
Especially when he didn't hear a response from Tanjuro.
Only then did he give chase to Tanjuro's location.
He finally arrived in the clearing and observed with his Transparent World. His flail swinging heavily in his right hand.
He tilted his head and looked at Tanjuro. "Kamado-san, the Upper Moon Three..."
"He's already dead." Tanjuro smiled and reassured the man calmly.
Hearing that, Gyomei stopped his swinging and nodded. "I see."
Although he remains cautious, Gyomei was no longer surprised.
The impressions he had when they first met have already changed. Gyomei also discovered many unimaginable qualities of Tanjuro.
For example, his ability to perceive the world.
Gyomei was born blind, but he developed a clear mind's eye through the years of chanting Buddhist scriptures and trained his senses to his surroundings.
The first stage of Transparent World.
However, in the fight with Hantengu, he failed to notice the whereabouts of Hantengu's main bodies several times, yet Tanjuro was able to pinpoint its location immediately and chase after it.
'If it were just me and Shinjuro-san here tonight...'
'...the casualties would be catastrophic.'
Gyomei put away his weapon and took out his beads as tears gushed out of his eyes again.
And now...
Two Upper Moons have been killed, which is good news.
This would certainly energized everyone when he reported it to Oyakata-sama later.
Shinjuro shook his head as he turned his gaze away from the confusing Tokito family. He curled his lips and looked like he had been through a lot tonight.
"There might be some demons left in the village."
"We should go." Shinjuro spoke, his gaze settled on Tanjuro.
Everyone agreed and was about to leave the clearing.
Chime.
A red and white light rose from the ashes of Hantengu.
Then it buried itself into Tanjuro's chest.
Along with a stack of five white paper dolls floating in midair.
"I'll be with you in a moment."
Tanjuro stopped his movement and turned around to reach out for the paper doll.
But to everyone else, it looked like Tanjuro just reached out to grab air.
'Strange uncle...'
Yuichiro silently labeled Tanjuro in his heart.
---
[Battle Memory – Hantengu]
Not long after everyone left, Tanjuro felt the power of resurrection within his body regenerate.
His two orbs were completely filled with an overflow of energy remains.
But this overflow did not just disappear.
Instead, like the Battle Memory, it integrated into Tanjuro's body and improved his physical qualities by a small margin.
Then, he walked by Gyokko's ashes where he repeated his looting.
The energy of resurrection that Gyokko has is one less than that of Hantengu.
The paper dolls added up to a total of ten.
Bzzrt—!
Tanjuro suddenly noticed the hidden gaze that had been alerting him ever since his conversation with Muichiro.
He stretched his Transparent World range in the direction of the forest.
He saw a vague, human-shaped figure standing proudly, not even attempting to hide himself, and he noticed the familiar muscles of the being in his perception.
Then, Tanjuro saw the six eyeballs on the man's face.
The golden eyes also stared right back into his eyes.
-!!!-
Tanjuro's heart tightened again from his relaxed mode. He grabbed Kusabimaru's hilt and looked forward cautiously. The blade has cooled down since no more action was going on.
"Kokushibo!" Tanjuro prepared himself for another bout.
Kokushibo stood there motionless in the depth of the forest.
The distance between the two was far apart, but it didn't matter with their speed.
None of them moved.
Kokushibo kept staring at Tanjuro...
Then, he slowly closed his two pairs of eyes that were above and below his normal one.
"??"
Tanjuro was confused by the action; however, he didn't have time to react or ponder what that meant.
Because Kokushibo had disappeared from his spot, far away from Tanjuro's perception range.
The difference from the last time they met is that...
...Tanjuro did not detect any hostility from Kokushibo's gaze.
---
---
Dawn has finally come to the Swordsmith village.
"Wow!"
Muichiro stood on a hillside looking down at the entire Swordsmith village. He clenched his fist and raised his hand, turning his head to look at Yuichiro.
"Brother! Look!"
He pointed at the ruins of the village below.
"There's a village so close to our home!" Muichiro's eyes were full of excitement.
"We didn't know before!"
Yuichiro pretended not to hear his brother as he looked to the village also.
'What village...'
'It's just ruin now, isn't it?'