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"If you want to save them, you have to open the barrier." Muzan laughed recklessly.
"So how will you choose, Onmyoji!!"
Kaito sat within the barrier, his eyes lowered, silent.
The faces of the several swordsmen kept changing, clearly hesitant and indecisive.
Obanai's cold voice rang out: "As long as we can defeat Muzan, any sacrifice is worth it!"
"No." Rengoku objected, "No one should be sacrificed! We can only decide our own lives!"
"What nonsense are you saying? The Demon Slayer Corps has finally fought to this point. Are we really going to open the barrier and let Muzan escape?!" Obanai turned his head and glared angrily.
"You should know very well that if we miss this chance, we'll never have another one!"
Rengoku said: "I won't say the words to open the barrier. I just want to ask Mr. Uchiha if there's a way to have the best of both worlds."
"How could such a thing be possible! Mr. Uchiha isn't a god!"
Obanai's voice was no longer calm, as if he was convincing Rengoku while also convincing himself.
"The sin of letting our team members be sacrificed—I'll bear it alone!" He gently stroked the small white snake around his neck. "I don't care about adding more sins to myself…"
But…
Thinking of Mitsuri's smile, his other hand trembled slightly, gripping his Nichirin Sword tightly.
"Namo Amitabha Buddha."
Gyomei spoke, and Obanai and Rengoku immediately stopped arguing.
He pressed his hands together, eyes closed, tears streaming down.
"No need to quarrel. The sin of falling into Avici Hell forever—we'll bear it together."
The Hashira exchanged glances, seeming to have made up their minds, and sat down together with Gyomei, closing their eyes and pressing their hands together.
"Finally made it in time."
Kaito suddenly opened his eyes.
"It seems everyone is quite pessimistic."
He stood up, turned to look at the solemn-faced swordsmen, and smiled.
"Not to mention myself, you should have faith in Lord Ubuyashiki's wisdom. We're not at the point where we couldn't foresee the current situation."
"What do you mean? Did you and the Lord make arrangements?" Obanai asked anxiously.
"Outside, there are only the Insect and Love Hashira. The enemy has two Upper Moons as well. I'm afraid the two of them can't handle the Upper Moon demons while rescuing the other members."
He had been the coldest earlier, and now he was the most eager.
"Please watch carefully, everyone."
Kaito turned his head and smiled at Muzan.
"Unfortunately, your goal of threatening me to open the barrier won't be achieved, Muzan."
"You…"
Muzan's face twisted viciously. Blood whips and thorn whips lashed out simultaneously, frantically striking the protective barrier around everyone.
Spiritual light shone around Kaito as he formed hand seals with both hands.
Crack! Crack! Sounds kept ringing out. The barrier kept showing cracks, only to be continuously repaired by Kaito.
"Everyone."
At that moment, Kagaya's voice came from outside the barrier.
Everyone quickly turned to look and saw another Kaito pushing Kagaya in a wheelchair under the torii gate outside the mansion's entrance, looking toward them.
Kagaya held a flowerpot with a blue spider lily in his arms.
"Mr. Uchiha even kept part of his actions hidden from me." He smiled helplessly. "By the time the barrier opened, I was already outside it."
"My Lord!!"
The several Hashira-level swordsmen finally confirmed their leader's safety, unable to hide their joyful expressions.
"Ubuyashiki!!"
Muzan lunged forward, standing inside the gate, glaring fiercely at the two outside through the barrier.
"Uchiha! Both of you deserve to die!"
"Everyone."
The Kaito outside ignored him and said to the swordsmen: "Time is urgent. The one inside the barrier is my paper clone. It has no combat power, but it should be enough to maintain the barrier."
His black eyes turned crimson, and three black magatama patterns spun rapidly.
"I'll first go break the Infinity Castle, then come back to deal with Muzan."
The three magatama in his eyes spun faster and faster, then suddenly transformed into a pentagram pattern.
"It's been a while. Let the demon witness the power of humanity." Kaito formed hand seals.
"Susanoo!!"
In the utterly shocked gazes of everyone, a majestic figure over a hundred meters tall rose from the ground.
Its entire body was covered in armor, its face wore a long-nosed tengu mask, a pair of wings that blotted out the sky flapped behind it, and it gripped a massive naginata in both hands.
The enormous warrior, composed of blue semi-transparent energy, stood between heaven and earth like a god descending to the world, overlooking all beings.
At that moment, everyone inside the barrier involuntarily widened their eyes and opened their mouths in shock.
"Th-this… what is this!"
Muzan looked up at the mountain-like giant, finally panicking completely.
He suddenly felt a wave of despair.
Despair far greater and more overwhelming than when he faced Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
"No! No one can judge me! Not even a god!!"
He began frantically swinging his flesh whips, striking the barrier mainly composed of Nichirin Swords without restraint.
Completely disregarding the melting of his flesh whips, he regenerated madly and attacked nonstop.
At that moment, he only wanted to escape the barrier as quickly as possible.
Kaito merely glanced at him coldly from afar, reached out to grasp Kagaya's shoulder, and the two rose straight into the air, stopping at the gem embedded in the giant's forehead.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The giant took steps, turned, and walked away amid earth-shaking tremors.
Inside the barrier, the expressions of the several swordsmen were nearly numb.
"Heh, you just said that was the power of humanity?" Tengen looked at the paper clone's face with an indescribable expression.
"Hey! That's the power of a god, right!" Obanai murmured to himself.
"Susanoo," Tomioka said. "Is it borrowing the power of Susanoo-no-Mikoto?"
"This is really…" Sanemi gritted his teeth. "Up until now, what have the Demon Slayer Corps' battles been in your eyes? Child's play?!"
"Don't say that, Shinazugawa." Rengoku said loudly, "Those efforts and sacrifices all have meaning. The people we've protected from the demons—that's where all the meaning lies!"
"Namo Amitabha Buddha." Gyomei closed his eyes again and began chanting sutras.
"That is indeed the power of humanity." Kaito's paper clone spoke.
"That is the pupil technique passed down through our clan's bloodline, the Sharingan. We call it a Kekkei Genkai."
Amid the completely disbelieving gazes of the others, he continued: "However, to manifest it in this world, I still had to expend quite a bit of extra effort."