A new mission arrived.
The sun had just risen above the hills of the Butterfly Mansion when Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were summoned. Standing tall before them was the flamboyant and glittering figure of Tengen Uzui, the former Sound Hashira.
"Come with me, you flashy fools!" Tengen declared, arms crossed and eyes glowing with confidence. "We're heading to Yoshiwara… the Entertainment District!"
Zenitsu was immediately suspicious, while Inosuke leapt with excitement. Tanjiro, ever serious, simply nodded. But the uncertainty was clear in their eyes—what kind of mission could require them to infiltrate a place filled with music, color, and the shadows of secrets?
Tengen explained briefly: his three wives, kunoichi trained in combat and espionage, had gone missing during an investigation in Yoshiwara. Contact was cut off. He feared the presence of a demon.
Disguised in wigs, makeup, and elegant kimonos, the trio entered the red-lantern-lit streets under cover of dusk. Assigned to three different courtesan houses, each began their investigation while trying to maintain their cover.
Tanjiro was placed at Tokito House, where he carefully asked questions, piecing together the last known whereabouts of Tengen's wife, Hinatsuru. He noticed strange happenings—people vanishing overnight, rooms going silent, the lingering scent of something unnatural.
Zenitsu, although grumbling, found his heightened hearing invaluable at Kyogoku House, where he detected unsettling whispers in the walls. Inosuke, placed at Ogimoto House, used his beast instincts to sneak through rafters and hidden crawlspaces.
But soon, signs of something sinister emerged.
Tanjiro heard hushed voices of oiran whispering about women who simply vanished. Zenitsu caught a shriek from a locked room. Inosuke spotted a glimmer of silk moving unnaturally through the shadows.
The night crept forward.
The mystery thickened.
And above it all, a demon lurked beneath the veil of beauty and illusion.
A haunting melody echoed through the district, soft and sorrowful, like the song of someone long forgotten.
The hunt had begun.