Shinobu was stunned. From her perspective, there was no reason for Sukuna to lie to her.
Suppressing her shock, she pressed him with a respectful follow-up question. "Is that true? How do you know you encountered Muzan Kibutsuji?"
Sukuna didn't seem bothered by her questioning. He was replaying the events in his own head as well, walking along while rubbing his chin and thinking over his answer.
"You could say it was by scent."
Shinobu was left at a complete loss by that response. If anyone else had told her they could identify the Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji by smell, she probably would have dismissed it as a joke. But it was entirely different coming from Sukuna.
She chose her words carefully before asking another tentative question.
"Is it the smell of blood from demons?"
Sukuna gave a slight shake of his head, denying it. "It was that bastard's distinctive scent. I caught it a few days ago."
A few days ago? Shinobu tried to recall what had happened then. That seemed to be around the time Sukuna had become active. While she could now confirm he wasn't a demon, could there be some other connection between him and Muzan?
Sukuna spoke again. "That ability to scatter his own flesh and blood to turn masses of ordinary people into demons has to be something only Muzan can do, right?"
"Scattering flesh and blood to turn large numbers of ordinary people into demons?" Shinobu repeated in shock. Only now was she beginning to grasp a vague outline of what had just happened.
"Are you saying you already fought Muzan Kibutsuji?"
A look of awe crept onto her face. It would be a lie to say she didn't want to know who was stronger, Sukuna or Muzan. After all, Kyojuro Rengoku had bet his very life on a promise with Sukuna.
"Hm." Sukuna hesitated briefly on that question. "Not really. It was probably something like a clone of his. He saw me and immediately released his own flesh to turn humans into demons just to slow me down. It couldn't even be called a fight."
What a pity Sukuna didn't yet realize that what he had so easily cut to pieces was actually Muzan's true body.
"Muzan Kibutsuji's clone?" Shinobu frowned at this. While Blood Demon Arts that created clones had appeared among demons a few times before, the Demon Slayer Corps currently had no intelligence that Muzan possessed such an ability.
In other words, as far as Shinobu was concerned, this was extremely critical information.
"Yeah. Something like that."
Shinobu gave Sukuna a serious once-over from head to toe. She didn't find any visible wounds on him. Even his clothes were quite clean.
"Muzan didn't injure you?"
"That thing injure me?" Sukuna let out a disdainful scoff.
Shinobu's heart gave a sharp thud. Carefully, she asked, "If that's the case… did you kill Muzan?"
"No. He got away. But next time I'll definitely kill him."
Shinobu could feel the genuine killing intent Sukuna held for Muzan. But for now, she couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not.
Meanwhile, in another dark corner of Asakusa, Muzan had used the trace amounts of his blood still lingering on Sukuna's own body to confirm a safe distance before finally deeming himself secure. The remaining fragments of his flesh that had not yet been consumed or destroyed began to rapidly gather in that direction, gradually assembling back into the form known as Muzan.
"Damn it all! Damn it all! What the hell is that guy!?"
Muzan snarled in explosive rage, speaking through a mouth that had only just regenerated. Fortunately for him, this encounter with Sukuna had not been as disastrous as facing Yoriichi Tsugikuni in the past. Sukuna's slashes could not suppress his regeneration, so killing him outright would not be easy.
That was why, so soon after fleeing, he had almost forgotten his fear.
Right now, Muzan's head was filled with nothing but thoughts of revenge against Sukuna. He chalked up his retreat this time to a simple lack of information about his enemy.
He even regretted not keeping his body together back then, forcing himself to endure additional recovery time now.
Just then, a gun-wielding police officer who had been searching for Sukuna happened to arrive at this spot. He recoiled at the sight of the rapidly squirming, reforming humanoid lump of flesh.
"Ahh!"
Despite his panic, he still fired a shot at Muzan on instinct. But an attack like that stood no chance of inflicting any real damage on Muzan. In return, he received only Muzan's wide, furious glare.
Muzan's eyes seemed to say, How dare an ant like you.
In the next instant, an elongated, monstrous mouth extended from his not-yet-fully-recovered body, swallowing the officer whole before he could even react.
The gunshot naturally alerted the officer's partner, another policeman assigned to the same search area. He followed the sound and arrived just in time to witness his colleague being devoured.
"A… monster…?"
He had no time to react before becoming Muzan's second meal.
Muzan then issued a summons to all demons. On one hand, he wanted them to gather food to accelerate his recovery. On the other, he needed them to collect information about Sukuna.
Even though he told himself he was not inferior to Sukuna and that next time he would find him and kill him, his mind remained quite practical. He intended to gather thorough intelligence before making his move.
Muzan roared through gritted teeth, "I will repay this humiliation multiple times over."
----------------------------------
If you are enjoying the story, Consider dropping some power stones. This would help it reach other readers. Thank you.
Read 15 Advance chapters on Patreon!
patreon.com/Goatmama