One day later, in the evening, Tatsuya had just finished guiding Tanjirou through his Breathing Technique practice for the day.
He sat formally on the veranda, holding a cup of hot tea, and slightly lifted the lid.
His gaze, however, was fixed on the young man who was doing extra sword-swinging practice in the courtyard.
The afterglow of the setting sun painted the wooden corridor of the Butterfly Mansion in a warm golden hue.
A pitch-black figure, almost merging with the shadows, glided down silently and landed precisely on Tatsuya's outstretched arm.
It was Silent Crow.
"Master, the task you assigned has been initially completed."
Its deep, magnetic voice resonated directly in Tatsuya's mind, and it also spoke the words aloud.
It was as if to confirm the information had been delivered on two levels.
It placed a piece of parchment on the small table beside Tatsuya and gently pushed it open with its claw to flatten it.
"This is a map of demon activity in the surrounding area, which I drew after personally verifying each location using the approximate directions provided by the Kasugai Crow network."
"Hmm... to ensure accuracy, it took a bit of time."
Tatsuya put down his teacup, his gaze falling on the parchment.
It was a map of the surrounding area.
Mountains, rivers, villages, and roads were all clearly discernible.
More importantly, at least seven or eight locations were marked with tiny ink dots, and next to them, even smaller characters indicated the suspected time and frequency of demon appearances. There were even faint dashed lines outlining several possible attack routes and activity ranges.
Tiny footnotes beside them read concise information like "prefers night raids on merchant caravans" and "often hides by the riverbank."
Some of the ink was still damp, clearly having been marked recently.
Its detailed and professional level far exceeded Tatsuya's expectations.
Tatsuya's fingers slowly traced the map, looking at the detailed annotations.
"Highly efficient," Tatsuya commented, his tone calm, but Silent Crow could sense his approval.
The intelligence and execution of this Silent Crow indeed far surpassed his expectations.
Silent Crow elegantly tilted its head, a hint of satisfaction seemingly flashing in its crow eyes.
"It is my duty to help you, Master. The movements of these vile creatures are not without a trace; they only require patience and the right perspective."
Its tone was calm, but Tatsuya could feel a hint of pleasure from the mental link, a sense of being acknowledged.
"Teacher, what kind of map is that?"
Tanjirou had clearly noticed the conversation between the man and the crow. He put down his wooden sword and asked curiously.
Tatsuya put away the map and replied, "A map marking the whereabouts of nearby demons."
"Eh? Is Teacher going to hunt demons now? Then I..." A hint of excitement flashed in Tanjirou's eyes.
"You stay and continue training." Tatsuya waved his hand, interrupting him.
Then, seeing a hint of disappointment in Tanjirou's eyes, he still added appropriately, "These demons are for my experiments. If I go alone, it will be more efficient."
Tanjirou also thought of his teacher's terrifying speed and nodded at the words.
He picked up his wooden sword and continued to swing... That night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.
Tatsuya's figure merged into the night, moving like a phantom along the routes marked on the map.
He traversed the wilderness and paths outside the town at an extremely fast pace.
The powerful physique brought by Thunder Breathing: Full Concentration and Chakra made his steps light and silent.
Even more efficiently, he would occasionally look up slightly, a faint golden glow flashing in his eyes.
This was not the full activation of the Eye of Truth, but rather the sharing of Silent Crow's broad vision as it soared high in the sky.
Through Silent Crow's eyes, the land below was like a spread-out sandbox.
Mountains, rivers, roads, and villages were all in full view.
Any larger-scale energy fluctuations or abnormal movements were difficult to completely conceal from this god-like perspective.
"Northeast direction, three li from here, a forest path, weak energy reaction, consistent with map waypoint one, currently approaching a pack train."
Silent Crow's magnetic voice came through the mental link.
Tatsuya's figure immediately changed direction, his speed increasing by another third, transforming into an elusive streak of light.
The subsequent hunting process was efficient and... boring.
The first demon, lurking in the woods by the roadside, attempted to pounce on a passing horse caravan.
Tatsuya didn't even draw his sword.
His figure flashed like lightning, and the Lightning Release Chakra condensed at his fingertips, like a short spear, instantly pierced its head, completely annihilating it before its roar could even escape.
The lightning flashed and disappeared, and the demon turned to dust.
The people of the caravan only felt a gust of wind blow past, vaguely seeing a trace of blue light.
They accelerated in terror, not even knowing what had happened.
The second target was by a stream outside a small village.
This demon seemed to have just finished hunting, its mouth still stained with demon blood.
"Human?"
It discovered Tatsuya and roared as it charged.
As it neared Tatsuya, its right arm suddenly swelled, becoming thicker than a tree trunk.
Its skin took on a grayish-green hue like rock, and it slammed down hard at Tatsuya.
"Multiplication? Hardening?"
Tatsuya became a little interested, easily sidestepping the powerful but clumsy blow.
The Eye of Truth instantly analyzed the energy flow pattern of the opponent's arm.
The structure was crude, relying purely on the violent infusion of demon blood energy to sustain the shape change, and its defensive power was limited to the physical level.
Tatsuya slightly turned his body, easily dodging the slow attack.
"Crude energy accumulation, forcibly altering material structure, lacking technique, obvious flaws."
He made an instant judgment in his mind.
"Nothing remarkable."
Spring Thunder was only half-drawn, a faint golden electric arc flashing.
The blade precisely cut into a tiny gap in the energy flow.
Swish!
The giant arm was severed at the root, then collapsed into foul-smelling black blood.
The demon's astonished expression froze on its face, its head already flying.
Tatsuya stood still, closing his eyes to savor the energy construction pattern he had just perceived.
Although the crude energy expansion model was low-level, it might have some reference value.
He vaguely thought that if this Blood Demon Art of arm multiplication and hardening were developed to its extreme, it might be very popular in certain aspects?
For example... He immediately shook his head, shaking off this nonsensical idea.
It seemed the pressure wasn't as great recently; his mind was actually starting to wander and fantasize.