Chapter 49: Sister, You Are Always Like This, Towards Both Humans and Demons
Kocho Shinobu's heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by a giant hand, the pain making it impossible to breathe.
Her almost faith-like dependence on her sister made it impossible for her to accept the reality before her eyes.
In this world,
her sister was her only relative, her light, and her entire reason for living.
How could she tolerate an evil demon defiling her light?
Listening to her younger sister's nearly breaking voice, Kanae Kocho felt a sharp pang in her heart.
She knew Shinobu too well; she knew how deep her sister's hatred for demons ran,
and she knew how profound her sister's fear was at this moment.
She tilted her head slightly, catching a glimpse of the silent Tatsu standing behind her with the corner of her eye.
Tatsu's gaze was calm—a tranquility mixed with helplessness and tolerance.
He wasn't enraged by the attack,
nor did he object to being called an "evil demon."
He stood there quietly, like a silent mountain, allowing Kanae to protect him.
"Shinobu, Tatsu is truly different. He doesn't eat people, and he still possesses human reason and emotions!"
Kanae lowered her nichirin sword slightly, trying to soothe her sister with the most sincere tone possible,
"Please believe your sister, okay? When has Big Sister ever lied to you?"
"How could a demon not eat people?! Sister, you've gone mad!
You've definitely been bewitched!"
Kocho Shinobu gritted her teeth, tears already welling up in her eyes.
Watching her sister's resolute stance in protecting the evil demon,
she knew that with her strength alone,
she could not only fail to kill the demon but even fail to break through her sister's defense.
She suddenly bit her lip until a trace of blood seeped out, forcing herself to calm down.
She quickly leaped back several paces, retreating into the shadows at the edge of the courtyard.
Standing there, unnoticed until now, was a man exuding a murderous aura.
The Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa.
"Sanemi-san!"
Kocho Shinobu turned her head.
"Sanemi-san, I beg of you... please help me stop my sister.
My sister has been bewitched by that evil demon's Blood Demon Art,
I must personally decapitate that evil demon and save my sister!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa looked at the scene before him coldly,
a flicker of extreme disgust and irritability passing through his bloodshot eyes.
He spat fiercely on the ground,
his rough hand gripping the hilt of the nichirin sword at his waist, which bore a green wind pattern.
"Fine... what a pain in the ass!"
"I tracked the stench of a demon all the way here, only to see such a disgusting sight!"
"Clang—"
With a crisp, dragon-like ring of the blade, Sanemi Shinazugawa boldly drew his sword.
Sanemi Shinazugawa took a step forward.
He stared intently at Kanae Kocho, his voice filled with merciless questioning and fury:
"Kanae! Have you lost your mind?
As a Demon Slayer, as a Hashira—the highest combat power of the Demon Slayer Corps—
how can you point your nichirin sword at your comrades now,
just to protect a foul-smelling demon?"
Veins pulsed on Sanemi Shinazugawa's forehead.
"Do you really intend to protect that evil demon,
to draw your blade against us and make an enemy of the entire Demon Slayer Corps?
Answer me! Kanae!"
His whole life had been spent fighting demons; his family was killed by his mother who had turned into a demon, and he had killed his own mother with his own hands.
In his worldview,
demons were the filthiest, most unforgivable creatures in the world—an absolute evil that must be completely eradicated.
Now, seeing Kanae, a fellow Hashira, actually protecting a demon,
was to him a desecration and betrayal of all his past pain and sacrifice!
Faced with Sanemi Shinazugawa's interrogation,
Kanae Kocho's body trembled slightly.
She looked at the murderous Sanemi Shinazugawa before her, then at her sister standing beside him, her face full of sorrow and determination.
Both were her closest companions.
But she also knew that Tatsu, standing behind her,
had just exhausted his physical strength practicing the Sun Breathing that could slay evil demons.
If she stepped aside, Tatsu would certainly die.
"Sanemi-san, I know what you've been through, and I know the hatred you and Shinobu have for demons."
Kanae took a deep breath,
"However, things in this world are not just black and white.
Tatsu really hasn't harmed anyone;
he is even working hard to protect humans.
As Hashira, our duty is to slay evil demons,
but if we even mercilessly eradicate a soul that retains a human heart and strives to restrain its instincts,
then how are the swords in our hands any different from those evil demons who know only slaughter?"
"Bullshit!!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa roared, his aura suddenly exploding,
Dirt and grass on the ground were swept up, flying everywhere.
"A demon is a demon!
As long as it's a demon, it will inevitably eat people!
It's only a matter of time; you've been tricked by him!"
Feeling the intensifying murderous intent from Sanemi Shinazugawa and Kocho Shinobu,
Kanae Kocho knew that today's fight was unavoidable no matter what.
If they were elsewhere, she might have continued trying to explain with words, but not here.
Kanae turned her head slightly, glancing at the wooden house behind her that glowed with a warm orange light.
Inside the house, the Kamado family was sound asleep.
A battle between two Hashira-level swordsmen, even if only a slight shockwave leaked out,
would be enough to level this fragile wooden house and drag the innocent lives inside into the abyss of death.
"Shinobu, Sanemi-san..."
Kanae turned back, her gaze becoming more resolute than ever before,
"I know that nothing I say right now will get through to you.
Since a fight is inevitable, let's take it elsewhere.
Don't disturb this family's rest.
They are just ordinary farmers and shouldn't be caught up in our grievances."
Hearing this, Kocho Shinobu's body stiffened slightly.
Following her sister's gaze, she looked at the wooden house standing quietly in the dark night, emitting a faint light.
As the spring breeze brushed past, several strings of dried chili peppers hanging in front of the house swayed gently in the wind.
Through the thin paper doors, the steady breathing of children could be faintly heard from within.
Kocho Shinobu bit her lower lip, the murderous intent in her eyes receding slightly.
She thought silently to herself:
"Sister... you're always like this, whether towards humans or demons,
you're always so kind, so gentle.
But this kindness of yours will be the death of you sooner or later..."
"...Fine."
Kocho Shinobu suppressed the anger in her heart and stared coldly at Tatsu.
"Sister, I promise you, we'll change locations.
But I swear, tonight, I will definitely take his head!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa also glanced at the wooden house.
Although he was hot-tempered and bloodthirsty towards demons,
he was also a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps; protecting civilians was an instinct carved into his very bones.
He could never bring himself to engage in a brawl within a civilian's home and endanger the innocent.
"Tch!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa irritably shouldered his nichirin sword, looking like a wolf forced to stop its hunt, his face full of displeasure,
"Whatever!
As long as I can slaughter this disgusting thing, it doesn't matter where we fight!
Don't think about stalling for time; get out here and meet your death!"
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