This is incredible. Muzan, whose courage was smaller than a frog's droppings, has surprisingly stood up for himself.
Everyone had thought that the original final boss of this world, the scum of all scum Muzan Kibutsuji, would decide to hide until the very end.
Unexpectedly, he finally showed some backbone, refusing to let DIO snatch away his title of Demon Slayer's final boss.
---o---
Light Curtain Commentary—
[Sosuke Aizen]: Mm, so he's not completely beyond saving. Resisting might lead to death, but continuing to hide will certainly lead to death.
[Yukino Yukinoshita]: In reality, the final outcome will be more or less the same. Time stop is a nearly unbeatable ability for both Muzan Kibutsuji and the Demon Slayer Corps. Unless they can perceive and counter DIO's true ability, they cannot possibly be his opponent.
[The Time-Stopping Maid]: Time stop… perhaps it is not an invincible power, but in a world like that, DIO's time stop is an absolutely invincible existence.
[Himouto! Umaru-chan]: A Stand that controls time, how terrifying… It's the same type of Stand as my 'Waste of Time'!
---o---
On the Light Curtain—
While Muzan Kibutsuji was gathering all his demons with great fanfare, the Demon Slayer Corps was in the middle of a meeting.
In the courtyard where the Hashira Meeting was being held, several Hashira had already arrived and were waiting for the meeting to begin.
Although the combat power of the Hashira was likely not that impressive on a multiversal scale, as the unsung heroes who had hidden from the world and fought demons to this day, many viewers were still eager to learn their names and pasts.
In the courtyard, several figures exuded incredibly potent auras. Unquestionably, these had to be the so-called 'Hashira' of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Aside from the previously seen Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, the camera flashed across the other seven individuals present.
There was a man with a ponytail wielding dual blades, his body well-built and his face adorned with flamboyant decorations.
A man with interweaving yellow and red hair, who, from his expression, seemed to be a sunny and cheerful person.
Beside him were two cute girls who instantly captured the audience's attention.
One of them, a girl with pink hair, had an exceptional figure. If Shinobu's figure was a small-engine family car, then this pink-haired girl was a high-displacement sports car.
Of course, that wasn't the most important part. Besides having a more generous bosom than Shinobu, the pink-haired girl also wore a rather risqué Demon Slayer uniform.
A short skirt, a top that was nearly open to her chest… that cleavage looked as though any slightly larger movement would cause its magnificent occupants to burst forth. It made one seriously doubt whether she wore that outfit for fighting…
The woman next to her, dressed in a dark blue robe, was less eye-catching by comparison. She had long, black hair with a bluish tint, her uniform was wrapped extremely tightly, and her chest was even less endowed than Shinobu's.
However, her cute, naturally dazed expression was endearing to many. It was only as the camera zoomed in that the audience noticed his prominent Adam's apple.
Oh, so he's a man. A feminine face on a man's body, huh? Damn it, why am I even more excited now…
Aside from these, there was also a handsome and aloof man standing alone off to the side, and a mysterious man lying on a tree branch, half of his face obscured.
At this point… only the Wind Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps had yet to appear.
After the camera swept across the Hashira, the Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho, arrived with Jotaro Kujo.
The next moment, nearly everyone's eyes fell upon Jotaro!
"Oh? The man rumored to be possessed by an evil spirit? That outfit is quite flamboyant~" the Sound Hashira said, holding his head high. Jotaro's aura and attire had instantly caught his attention.
"Mm! He's a fine, tall young man!" the Flame Hashira also spoke, a hint of cheerfulness in his tone. After all, Jotaro also stood in opposition to the demons.
"So… so handsome! How can such a perfect man exist? His aura, appearance, strength, and personality are all perfect beyond perfection!" This was the love-struck Love Hashira. Although she spoke in a very, very quiet voice, given who was present, almost everyone heard her doting description.
Meanwhile, the Mist Hashira was counting the clouds in the sky, and the Water Hashira glanced at Jotaro before turning his head away again, appearing quite aloof.
"Amitabha. It has been a while, Mr. Kujo," the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, greeted Jotaro. Though he could not see, he was the first among them to sense Jotaro's arrival.
"Yare yare." Fiddling with his hat, Jotaro Kujo looked at the assembled Hashira. Judging by their auras, they all seemed to be skilled fighters. Without a Stand, even someone as strong as Jotaro would be no match for them.
But with Star Platinum, he could take on ten Hashira like these without a problem. It wasn't that Jotaro was underestimating the Demon Slayer Corps, but for an organization like this to fight DIO was tantamount to suicide.
"Where is Ubuyashiki? I heard you found a lead on DIO?" Completely ignoring the others' assessments of him, Jotaro Kujo stuck his hands in his pockets, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it in front of everyone.
Speaking of which, he was still supposed to be a delinquent student. These past few days had been so comfortable that Jotaro had almost forgotten his own persona.
The thick smell of smoke wafted through the courtyard, causing all the Hashira to frown. They had been curious about the man rumored to be possessed by an evil spirit.
But after this first meeting, Jotaro's impression score in their minds instantly dropped several points. Even the usually infatuated Love Hashira expressed confusion and slight discomfort at his smoking.
"In the Master's garden. Show some respect. Calling him by his name, do you have no manners? Or… is that how your mother taught you to speak to others?"
Before any of the other Hashira could answer, a rather unfriendly voice piped up from the side. A man with a ferocious expression, several scars on his face, and an aura of pure violence had suddenly appeared.
The Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa. The man among the nine Hashira who hated evil the most, and also the most unhinged.
With a fierce look, he gripped the hilt of his Nichirin Blade and walked up to Jotaro. Although he was a head shorter than Jotaro, his presence was no less intimidating.
"You bastard. What did you just say?" Without backing down in the slightest, Jotaro's face darkened, smoke curling from the cigarette in his mouth.
Seeing this, the Wind Hashira, Sanemi, showed no sign of yielding. "I told you to show some respect. Didn't you hear me?" he said provocatively.
Jotaro remained motionless, calm and composed. "Not that part. The next sentence."
"The next sentence?" Not understanding Jotaro's meaning, Sanemi pressed on relentlessly, "That's how ill-mannered people are. This is the Demon Slayer Corps, not a playground for delinquents to run wild. Go cry to your mommy."
This had escalated to the level of a personal attack. At this moment, Sanemi had no idea that he was tap-dancing on a landmine.
Jotaro's hands clenched into fists, his teeth crushing the filter of the cigarette. As everyone knew, Jotaro Kujo was a "mama's boy"—a man who treasured his mother.
Though he never said it aloud, for the sake of his mother, Holly, Jotaro Kujo was willing to travel all the way to Egypt to fight his fated enemy, DIO, whom he had never even met.
Even though he often complained that his mother was annoying, only he was allowed to say that. Anyone else would be ORA'd into a pulp in minutes. Clearly… the Wind Hashira before him was such a person.
BOOM—
In an instant, before anyone could react, the Wind Hashira's body was sent flying like a broken kite, crashing into a building in the courtyard.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes bloodshot as he clutched his chest. Star Platinum hadn't used its full strength; Jotaro wasn't going to kill him over this.
However, even with the Wind Hashira's abnormally strong recovery ability, it would take at least three or four days to recover from that one blow.
Seeing the incredible amount of blood coming from Sanemi, all the other Hashira, except for the Stone and Insect Hashira, sprang into action. In a flash, they had completely surrounded Jotaro Kujo.
What Sanemi said was indeed out of line, and there would have been nothing wrong with Jotaro teaching him a lesson, but that one hit was far too vicious. Moreover, if Jotaro's position had been just a little bit different, the blow would have landed near the Master's room. This forced the Hashira to be on high alert.
Furthermore, none of them had seen when Jotaro had made his move. Combining this with the legends of the evil spirit behind him, it was possible that a mysterious entity, invisible to them all, truly did exist and had beaten Sanemi into this state.
Facing the wary Demon Slayer Corps members, Jotaro Kujo remained unhurried. He took the cigarette, its filter now ruined, from his mouth and pointed it at the Hashira.
"The Demon Slayer Corps is like this half-smoked cigarette. A candle in the wind. If this is all you amount to, I even doubt you have any real leads on DIO."
As was well known, Jotaro's only reason for staying with the Demon Slayer Corps was to find DIO. But frankly… looking at the abilities of the people before him, Jotaro held out little hope that they could actually find him.
As for helping him defeat DIO, that was even more out of the question. To prevent them from getting themselves killed, it was better to make these guys recognize their own strength, or lack thereof, sooner rather than later.
"You arrogant brat! Do you think you can walk all over the Demon Slayer Corps just because you beat Sanemi?"
A gloomy voice rang out. The Serpent Hashira, Obanai, spoke to Jotaro.
He couldn't understand why the Master held such high expectations for a mere boy. It couldn't be because of that evil spirit behind him, could it?
Influenced by the era, the thinking of the Demon Slayer Corps members, and even the demons including Muzan, was more or less colored by feudalistic beliefs. Something as bizarre as an evil spirit…
In modern society, few would believe it. But now, after witnessing it firsthand, the members of the Demon Slayer Corps silently came to believe that an evil spirit truly did exist behind Jotaro.
At this moment, Jotaro and the Hashira were at a standoff. Although the Insect and Stone Hashira wished to intervene, they could only watch from the side, unable to do anything.
"Cease this conflict. The Master has arrived." Just as the atmosphere reached a stalemate, two white-haired little girls in kimonos walked out onto the veranda.
The next moment, the eyes of all the Hashira instantly focused on the figure slowly emerging between them. The leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kagaya Ubuyashiki… supported by the two girls, was slowly walking out from inside the room…
---o---
Light Curtain Commentary—
Jotaro's slightly arrogant behavior did indeed confuse the audience outside the light curtain.
Of course, compared to Jotaro, the ferocious-looking Sanemi was clearly more disliked. At least, none of the viewers had a very good impression of this Wind Hashira.
[Eriri Spencer Sawamura]: Is this a conflict? A lot of tokusatsu and manga have scenes where team members fight. I didn't expect the light curtain to be unavoidable, huh?
[Otto Apocalypse]: A conflict? No, that's not it. To be precise, Jotaro and the Demon Slayer Corps were never close allies to begin with. They just happened to meet, and he happened to be staying there temporarily. He is completely free to act on his own thoughts and do whatever he wants.
[Madara Uchiha]: This was a message. His smoking wasn't because of an addiction, but because he wanted to test the mettle of the so-called Demon Slayer Corps. The results, however, do not seem to be very impressive.
[Hachiman Hikigaya]: ...So how do you people manage to see so much in a single action…
---o---
On the Light Curtain—
Just as everyone was waiting to see what Jotaro would do next, the camera on the light curtain suddenly shifted to a dark cave.
When the darkness appeared, the viewers quickly guessed that this must be a scene featuring either DIO or Muzan Kibutsuji.
However… this time, the image presented was of neither of them. The camera simply panned slowly to the wall of the cave.
It was empty, which confused the audience. They didn't understand the point of this.
The next moment, the space began to warp. The original stone wall started to change, and a stone pillar, clearly distinct from the original rock, appeared before everyone.
Although it was made of a different type of stone, a stone was still a stone. If one had to say what was different about this stone…
It was that within the stone pillar that appeared after the space warped, there were three distinctly human-like sculptures.
As if carved by an artist, the three male sculptures on the pillar had powerful muscles and highly stylized poses and attire. Even as mere sculptures, they couldn't help but evoke a sense of tension and mystery.
This profound and mysterious feeling was further amplified by the "ゴゴゴゴゴゴ" characters that continuously appeared on the screen.
In an instant, almost no one in the audience believed these were simple sculptures. They were all in agreement: hidden within this stone pillar was a bottomless depth of fear and power…
---o---
Author's Note:
PS: The subscription numbers for the Demon Slayer and JoJo arcs are not ideal, possibly because what I'm currently writing isn't appealing enough. So, I will be speeding up the pace a bit. Some of the character development for the Demon Slayer Hashira will be skipped or abbreviated… after all, nine is a bit too many, and writing them all out would drag things on.