Rengoku Kyojuro's voice trembled with urgency:
"Yoriichi san, we…"
Even though he didn't understand why the Upper Rank Three demon—who moments ago brimmed with killing intent—suddenly retreated so shamefully, he realized one truth:
It was because of Yoriichi san.
The realization made hope burn in his chest.
With this man beside him, perhaps the century-long curse of the Demon Slayer Corps—the inability to slay an Upper Rank—could finally be broken.
Hayashi's response was sharp, resolute:
"Chase!"
They were at a train station, still crowded even at night.
If it had been Akaza acting on his own, Hayashi wouldn't have worried—Akaza rarely targeted ordinary humans. But with Muzan himself tugging at the strings, there was no guarantee. That monster would use every foul trick imaginable.
And Hayashi knew… Rengoku was already silently blaming himself. His earlier rash strike had given Akaza the chance to slip away, and his pride as a Hashira left no room for such a failure.
Before Hayashi could say more, Rengoku drew his blade with fiery resolve, scabbard still attached.
"Yoriichi san, let's do this!"
Hayashi understood instantly.
Rengoku roared, unleashing a modified form of his Fifth Technique:
[Flame Breathing · Fifth Form: Flame Tiger · Fiery Roar]
The Nichirin sword, still sheathed, thrust forward like a battering ram. Hayashi's feet found the scabbard, and in a heartbeat, Rengoku's strength launched him like a cannonball straight toward Akaza.
In that breath, Hayashi's form blurred, closing the distance—
[Sun Breathing · Seventh Form: Beneficent Radiance]
But before his strike landed, lightning cracked across the platform.
A thunderclap of red and blue bolts tore open the night.
Hayashi twisted mid-air, his sword dragging a scorching arc of sunfire to meet the intruder—
From the lightning stepped a grotesque demon with horns curling from his forehead, red eyes blazing, clutching a jagged staff.
Hayashi's eyes narrowed. On the creature's tongue was carved a single word:
"Anger."
[Upper Rank Four: Hantengu's Clone – Sekido, the Wrathful]
Before Sekido could even unleash his fury, Hayashi's blade sang. Both staff and head were severed in a single breath.
But the kill was an illusion.
From the shadows, another figure lunged—a demon wielding a cross-shaped spear, its tip glowing with killing intent.
[Upper Rank Four: Hantengu's Clone – Karaku, the Pleasure-less]
The spear pierced Hayashi's chest—
Or so it seemed.
Karaku's eyes widened. His hand told him he had struck flesh, yet his weapon met nothing but air.
Hayashi's afterimage dissolved like mist in the wind.
A sharp itch traced Karaku's throat. His vision spun as his head slipped free from his shoulders, severed before he even realized.
The body crumpled, and Karaku's last sight was of Hayashi's blade gleaming under the moonlight, merciless as the rising sun.
[Breathing of the Sun · Fourth Form · Burning Bones, Summer Sun]
Two arcs of blinding flame burst across the battlefield, dazzling like overlapping suns.
[Breathing of the Sun · Third Form · Raging Sun]
In a heartbeat, three of Hantengu's clones were cleaved apart, their bodies evaporating in the brilliance.
Yet, Hayashi's expression only grew heavier.
He knew the truth the moment he identified Upper Rank Four—Hantengu was infinitely more troublesome than Enmu.
Those three he had just slain? Merely fragments.
Unless the cowardly core—the rat-sized true body—was destroyed, Hantengu would never die.
And indeed, the clones had only been buying time.
From above, another form dove: Hantengu's Urogi, wings wide, talons like blades. In one swoop, he seized Akaza, still fleeing under Muzan's control.
The Upper Rank Three rose into the night sky, carried effortlessly by Urogi's flight.
For an absurd instant, Hayashi almost laughed.
Are you stupid? I can fly!
But before the chase could begin, a crisp note rang out—
"Dang!"
A biwa string reverberated, and a shifting portal bloomed midair. Nakime, the Biwa Demon, had opened the path to the Infinite Castle.
Hayashi clenched his teeth. Muzan's response was ruthless but clever.
Enmu slain → immediately dispatch Akaza.
Yoriichi present → force Akaza to retreat.
Retreat too slow? Deploy Hantengu's clones to stall.
Fleeing Akaza? Call in Urogi to lift him skyward.
Final safeguard? Nakime's Infinite Castle to spirit them away.
It was a chain of contingencies—layered, suffocating. Exactly Muzan's style.
Hayashi had no doubt: Gyokko, the grotesque Upper Rank Five, would soon follow if he kept chasing. And if he did, Rengoku Kyojuro would surely face ambush.
The entire board had shifted. Akaza was no longer merely an enemy—he was Muzan's bargaining chip, a pawn in their unseen duel of wills.
Hayashi wanted Akaza dead.
Muzan wanted Akaza preserved, as proof that his control remained unshaken.
And so, just as Urogi and Akaza reached Nakime's portal, Hayashi allowed himself a sharp smile.
Muzan thought this was his victory.
But he had also given Hayashi a chance—
With a flick of his wrist, Hayashi drew the slender knife used for blood samples.
He hurled it skyward.
Clang!
The blade struck true, grazing Akaza as he vanished into the portal.
The Infinite Castle swallowed him whole—
But he carried Hayashi's knife with him.
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