Chapter 28: Going from one to a hundred is naturally hard, but going from zero to one is the hardest part!
What's this?
Three hundred and fifty points?
Hearing this, Ryuji became even more furious. military merit is awarded based on the degree of evil committed, and this person actually had three hundred and fifty points!
Even Akinasa only had three hundred points!
Before he could recover from his anger, he felt a strange sensation suddenly surge into his heart.
In this moment, the world seemed to become different.
He could hear Kocho Jiro's violent heartbeat behind him; he could see outside the house, the aura and movements of rats scurrying through the street corners in the darkness; he could even feel the dust floating in the air, the trajectory of every single grain being crystal clear.
This was a brand-new perception.
It transcended sight and hearing; it was a peculiar ability to directly perceive the aura of all things.
This was Observation Haki.
Damn, this is the feeling!
Observation Haki should feel like this—this feeling of perceiving everything!
Combine Agatsuma Zenitsu's hearing, Kamado Tanjiro's smell, and Hashibira Inosuke's touch, and you get Observation Haki!
Now I'm a swordsman with special abilities too!
Before Ryuji could be happy for long, this transparent feeling began to fade rapidly, eventually disappearing as if it were never there. His mouth twitched. Fine, it's that 'embryonic form' business again... But, now that I have the embryonic form, can mastery be far off?
It's not far at all!
Going from one to a hundred is naturally hard, but going from zero to one is the hardest part!
Now that the hardest step is over, all that's left is practice—day and night of practice! Whoever stops me from cultivating, I'll have a bone to pick with them!
Even as the Observation Haki receded, Ryuji's senses had improved significantly. At the very least, things in dim places weren't so unclear anymore.
"Wha... what was that?"
Kocho Jiro caught his breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Looking at the gradually dissipating Kojiro by the faint lamplight, he spoke with a tremble.
"It's a demon, a man-eating demon."
Ryuji reached out his right hand, pulled Kocho Jiro up, and explained softly.
"A demon? Aren't those... just stories to trick children! How can... this isn't scientific."
Hearing this, Ryuji's eyebrows twitched slightly. He felt like he'd heard this before. As expected of a medical student—a staunch materialist warrior.
"Yeah, it is pretty unscientific, but that's how it is. Let's go, I'll walk you home," Ryuji said, kicking open the locked door.
That dog was pretty devious, even knowing to lock the door.
Thinking of this, Ryuji felt a bit of fire in his heart. Who knows how many doctors this dog had deceived!
"I still find it hard to accept..."
Although Kocho Jiro had calmed down, the worldview he had held for all these years made this matter very difficult to swallow.
"But facts do not change according to one's will."
Ryuji said softly. He wasn't even as quick to accept it as Kanao... As the two walked down the street, Kocho Jiro seemed a bit lost. He had originally thought it was just a difficult patient to treat.
In the end... "Phew, is this what Kanao encountered?"
Kocho Jiro suddenly asked.
Ryuji didn't speak because he sensed something was following them!
What was it?
He concentrated, trying to summon his Observation Haki to check, but he failed... As expected, since it was only an embryonic form.
It worked sometimes and not others.
"Since you're not talking, I'll take that as a yes."
Kocho Jiro said softly, then gave a self-deprecating laugh. "I thought you were some bastard trying to swindle my daughter... I'm sorry."
"I understand. It's fine. Let's get home quickly."
I need to figure out who this is coming for—me, or the Kochou family!
"Mm, you're right. Let's go home."
The two quickened their pace. Ryuji kept an eye on the person following them while advising Kocho Jiro to move to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters, and suggesting that Kocho Kanae and Shinobu Kocho could learn Breathing Techniques to become members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Kocho Jiro flatly rejected the latter, but fell into consideration regarding the former.
"Moving..."
Kocho Jiro muttered to himself; the impact of this matter was too great for him.
He was a doctor, a man who believed in science. Now he was being asked to admit the existence of demons and leave his hometown because of it; it was all a bit too bizarre.
Ryuji didn't press him further. He knew that the collapse of such a worldview required time to digest.
After escorting Kocho Jiro to his front door and watching him walk into the manor looking somewhat dazed, Ryuji turned around and quickly disappeared around the street corner.
But he didn't actually leave.
That faint sense of being watched hadn't disappeared since they left the dilapidated house.
With a few quick movements, Ryuji hid himself in a large tree opposite the Kochou manor, waiting quietly.
Sure enough.
Before long, a petite figure quietly emerged from the shadows.
It was a girl who looked no more than thirteen or fourteen years old, except this girl had four arms!
She stared fixedly at the brightly lit Kochou house, her eyes full of resentment and madness.
Kojiro was dead.
His head had been blown apart by a single punch from that hateful Demon Slayer Corps swordsman.
She had seen the whole process. That man's strength was terrifyingly powerful. Charging in would just be throwing her life away; she couldn't beat that man.
But she could vent this resentment on this family.
Demoness licked her lips, her fingernails becoming sharp and pitch-black. Just as she was preparing to rush into the manor, kill everyone inside, and avenge Kojiro...
An aura that made her skin crawl came from behind her.
It was that man!
He hadn't left!
Demoness's mind instantly went blank; her only thought was to run!
Without a second thought, she turned and fled frantically into the dark alley without any hesitation.
"Hmm?"
Ryuji was a bit surprised. There were actually demons that would run away?
He leapt down from the tree and immediately gave chase. Demoness was very fast, weaving through the narrow alleys.
But Ryuji used Stone Thrust to close in rapidly. In this kind of straight-line chase, Stone Thrust was just too useful!
Seeing the distance closing, a flash of ruthlessness crossed Demoness's eyes.
She suddenly spun around, and under the cover of darkness, a dense spray of black shadows erupted from the centers of her four palms.
"Blood Demon Art: Poison Blood Needles!"
Countless poison-tipped blood needles shot silently toward Ryuji's face.
However, the moment she turned around, Ryuji had already perceived it.
His senses, which had just been enhanced by Observation Haki, allowed him to see everything around him as clearly as a fire.
Every tiny movement in the air, the trajectory of every poison needle, was clearly presented in his mind.
Navy Six Styles: Paper Arts.
Ryuji's body seemed to instantly lose its bones, swaying in the wind like a piece of paper.
Those lethal poison blood needles brushed past his body, all of them missing; not a single one managed to touch him.
Demoness's eyes widened to their limit at this moment.
How is this possible?
Her poison blood needles were silent in the dark, her proudest method of sneak attack.
But the man before her, as if he had foreknowledge, had dodged them all with a nearly eerie posture.
This wasn't a fight.
This was being toyed with.
Boundless fear, like a cold tide, instantly flooded her heart.
The moment she landed, her legs gave way and she knelt directly on the ground, her four arms waving frantically, her voice carrying a sob.
"Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"
"I was wrong! I'll never do it again!"
However, beneath her lowered head, one hand was quietly gathering strength, her sharp nails glinting with a ghostly light, preparing to launch a final lethal strike the moment Ryuji drew near.
Ryuji just watched her performance coldly.
He walked closer, step by step.
Now!
A fierce light flashed in Demoness's eyes. She sprang up like a coil, her four palms frantically firing poison blood needles, and then the entire demon tried desperately to flee from Ryuji.
But it was all in vain!
Stone Breathing, First Form: Stone Strike.
Stone Breathing, Third Form: Unarmed Capture.
"Bang!"
Another sound of a watermelon exploding.
Demoness's head burst on impact, and her headless corpse fell heavily to the ground, quickly turning into ashes.
[Ding! Host has been detected killing a vicious pirate. Reward obtained: military merit points +150]
Ryuji withdrew his fist, expressionless.
Silence returned to the alley.
"Caw!"
A hoarse crow's cry pierced the night sky.
The crows circled down and landed on his shoulder, its beady eyes watching him.
"Caw! North! Go to the newly built train station in the north of the city to rendezvous!"
"Lord Himejima is waiting for you! Caw!"
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