Chapter 146: The True Natural Genius is About to Appear
The serene courtyard of the Ubuyashiki Estate bathed in the soft, golden light of the afternoon sun. The Hashira sat in a neat semi-circle across the engawa, listening intently as Uzui Tengen and Akira shared the harrowing intelligence regarding Upper Rank Six.
"Looking at it this way, it seems not every Upper Rank is so overwhelmingly powerful as to be completely matchless," Rengoku Shinjuro muttered, a heavy breath escaping his lips.
After hearing the entire breakdown of Tengen's clash with Daki, the Flame Hashira finally managed to regain a fraction of his lost confidence. The tension that had been locking his jaw for weeks slowly began to melt away. On ordinary days, watching one newly promoted Hashira after another surpass him in raw combat strength, he had almost begun to doubt whether he still possessed the right to stand among them. A former pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps had somehow found himself resting at the bottom tier of their ranks.
It was only because Shinjuro possessed a remarkably grounded mindset that he had not completely withdrawn into himself. Anyone with a slightly more fragile psyche would have shattered under the weight of such inadequacy. But now, hearing that Daki, an actual Upper Rank Six, could not even last a few serious exchanges against the Sound Hashira, Shinjuro felt a deep sense of relief wash over him.
It was not that he was too weak. It was simply that his current teammates were absolute monsters.
Although the current intelligence proved Daki's individual strength did not quite live up to the terrifying legend of the Upper Ranks, she was still a lethal existence with the blood of multiple past Hashira on her hands. She was still vastly superior to any Lower Moon. In the long, bloody history of the Demon Slayer Corps, the standard strength of a Hashira was usually only enough to secure a victory against a Lower Moon in a head-on confrontation. It was only this current generation of newly matured, monstrously talented youth that made Shinjuro feel entirely outpaced.
"Daki's situation is quite special. Her individual combat ability cannot be used as a reliable baseline for the Upper Ranks," Akira said, his voice calm and analytical. He had no desire to dampen Shinjuro's recovering spirits, but he had to point out the harsh reality of the gap between the Demon Slayer Corps and Muzan's elite guard.
", looking at the complete picture now, even against the weakest Upper Rank Six, how many people present could actually retreat unscathed when facing them alone?"
Akira's pragmatic question brought a heavy, suffocating silence over the courtyard. Considering Gyuutarou and Daki's twisted trait of being completely immune to death unless decapitated simultaneously, only three or four people sitting on the porch could confidently say they would survive a solo encounter. As for achieving a solo counter-kill, perhaps only Gyoumei could rely on his massive striking range to attempt a forced double-decapitation. For anyone else, once Daki detached herself and fled to a safe distance, a lone swordsman could only stare helplessly and wait to be slowly worn down to death by Gyuutarou's lethal poison.
And this nightmare scenario was only Upper Rank Six.
"The terrifying power of the Upper Ranks is a harsh reality that we must acknowledge, but my children, you need not be too pessimistic." Seeing the atmosphere turn heavy and suffocating, Kagaya spoke up, his gentle, soothing voice washing over the courtyard like a cool breeze.
"In the past two years, three Upper Ranks have been killed in succession. This unmatched achievement clearly shows that the overall strength of the Demon Slayer Corps has significantly improved. As long as we can maintain this forward momentum, one day, we will absolutely be able to eliminate all evil demons from this world."
Those who possessed the strength to become Hashira were all hardened warriors who had crawled through mountains of corpses and oceans of blood. Their minds were forged from steel. After Kagaya offered his simple, unwavering reassurance, the heavy tension dissipated, and everyone's fighting spirit reignited.
With the formal meeting concluded, the gathering naturally transitioned into their usual routine of exchanging Breathing Technique insights and conducting practical sparring sessions.
Among the clashes of wooden training swords, there was naturally the expected 'regular program' from Sabito. The fierce Water Hashira immediately challenged Akira to a duel, fought with the ferocity of a cornered beast, lost spectacularly, and then wiped the dirt from his cheek while loudly declaring he would definitely win the next time.
Even Akira could not help but dryly admire Sabito's sheer, stubborn perseverance.
However, although Sabito's relentless challenges against the Sound Hashira always ended with him eating dirt, everyone present could clearly see his terrifying rate of progress. Currently, the only active members in the entire Demon Slayer Corps who could reliably suppress Sabito in a duel were Akira and Gyoumei. Even Kanae and Giyuu, who were equally blessed with monstrous talent, would eventually fall into a disadvantage if they tried to match Sabito's aggressive tempo in a direct, head-on confrontation.
Although Sabito could not truly defeat the two of them in a highly controlled, non-lethal sparring match, the slight gap in their raw offensive pressure was already becoming evident.
Ironically, in these intense sparring sessions, Gyoumei, the undisputed strongest physical combatant among them, was actually the most leisurely person in the courtyard. He sat peacefully on the sidelines, occasionally offering advice. After all, absolutely no one was suicidal enough to take a wooden sword and go head-to-head against a blind giant wielding a spiked flail nearly a meter in diameter.
Although Shinjuro's physical prime was behind him, his fundamental swordsmanship was incredibly solid, allowing him to easily participate in the simpler, technique-focused sparring drills with the younger generation.
As the sun began to dip lower into the horizon, the Hashira finally dispersed to return to their respective territories. Akira dusted off his uniform and prepared to walk back to the Butterfly Mansion, his hands resting casually near his blades as Makomo and Kanae fell into step beside him.
Before they could reach the estate gates, Kagaya's voice called out softly from the porch.
"Akira, a moment, please."
Akira paused, turning back while gently patting Makomo's shoulder to signal the girls to wait. He walked back to the engawa. "Brother Kagaya, what is it?"
"The descendants of the Tsugikuni Clan you mentioned before... they have finally been found."
Hearing Kagaya's answer, a sharp, brilliant light flashed through Akira's eyes.
The true natural genius is finally about to appear.
Months ago, right after safely relocating the Kamado Family, Akira had taken the opportunity to privately bring up the ancient legend of Tsugikuni Yoriichi and the hidden existence of his bloodline descendants. At that time, Kagaya had promised to use the vast intelligence network of the Ubuyashiki Family to search the country, but they had turned up empty-handed for a long time.
Now, there was finally concrete news.
For it to take the wealthy and influential Ubuyashiki Family this long to track them down, one had to admit that the Tsugikuni Clan—a prominent samurai family several hundred years ago—had erased their tracks and hidden their true names with absolute thoroughness.
Of course, this extreme secrecy had everything to do with Kokushibou, or rather, Tsugikuni Michikatsu.
Centuries ago, as the proud head of the noble family, Michikatsu had been consumed by a dark, rotting obsession to surpass his younger twin brother, Tsugikuni Yoriichi. Driven by this madness, he directly abandoned his loyal wife and innocent children, deserted the entire Tsugikuni Clan, and joined the Demon Slayer Corps. He created Moon Breathing and quickly became one of the absolute main combat pillars of the organization during their golden era.
Then, he despairingly discovered the cruel truth. The gap between his own monstrous talent and Yoriichi's divine power was like a bottomless, uncrossable chasm.
Intense, venomous jealousy, combined with the paralyzing fear of death after manifesting the cursed Demon Slayer Mark, completely broke his spirit. He allowed himself to be persuaded by Muzan Kibutsuji, discarding his humanity to become an immortal evil demon.
But even after throwing away everything to become a monster, he still could not defeat Tsugikuni Yoriichi. The old, dying swordsman's strength was still so overwhelmingly absolute that it drove the newly born Kokushibou to the brink of pure despair.
Because the head of the family had suddenly vanished without a trace, the once-great Tsugikuni Clan gradually declined, swallowed by the changing times., after Yoriichi finally died of old age, Muzan and Kokushibou launched a horrific, systematic bloodbath across the country, hunting down anyone even remotely related to Sun Breathing. The remnants of the Tsugikuni Clan suffered another devastating blow during this purge.
To avoid their bloodline being completely severed from the world, the survivors had no choice but to bury their pride, abandon their noble heritage, and hide their names deep in the remote mountains.
"It is a pair of young twin brothers," Kagaya explained softly, breaking Akira from his thoughts. "Their current surname is 'Tokito'."
"So, they declined the invitation to join the Demon Slayer Corps?" Akira asked, easily guessing the outcome.
Since the descendants of the Tsugikuni Clan had been located, carrying the divine halo of having Tsugikuni Yoriichi as their ancient ancestor, it was impossible for Kagaya not to immediately send out an invitation to bring them into the fold.
"Yes. After all, we are a completely unfamiliar, rather terrifying organization to them," Kagaya smiled faintly, though a trace of regret touched his eyes. "It is a great pity that my failing body can no longer withstand the heavy fatigue of long travel. Otherwise, I would truly like to personally go to their mountain and invite them face-to-face, just as I invited you and Mr. Gyoumei back then."
Kagaya coughed lightly into his sleeve before continuing. "However, Amane and my two eldest daughters wish to share my burdens. They hope to travel to the mountain and extend the formal invitation on my behalf. But... I am not quite at ease regarding their safety on the open road. So, I wanted to ask about your upcoming plans. If you have the time recently, please escort them for the journey."
Even though the two men shared a deep personal friendship, and even putting aside their strict superior-subordinate relationship, Kagaya's words maintained a flawless, humble courtesy. He spoke with genuine respect.
Since the master was asking so politely, Akira naturally had no reason to refuse. Besides, he genuinely wanted to see the legendary Tokito brothers with his own eyes.
"Sure, I don't have much to do in the next few days besides my normal training routines," Akira replied, offering a reassuring nod. "Just let me know when Sister Amane and the girls are packed and ready to depart."
"Thank you, Akira."
"There's really no need for us to be this polite, is there?" Akira chuckled, crossing his arms.
"Personal friendship is personal friendship," Kagaya replied, his smile widening slightly. "But when it involves official business of the Corps, it should naturally be treated with formal respect."
"Alright then, whatever makes you happy."
Shrugging his shoulders with a dry smile, Akira turned and walked back toward the estate gates, rejoining the waiting Makomo and Kanae. Behind him, Kagaya slowly rose to his feet, supported gently by Nichika and Hinaki, and retreated into the quiet shadows of the house.
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