Roy quietly watched and listened, while controlling Nen to penetrate Ubuyashiki Kagaya's heart. At the same time, he thought about Kurapika and Kurajing. The Kurta Race was annihilated in the future, leaving only the blond boy to embark on the path of revenge. Just hearing the word "spider" could make him lose his cool almost instantly, nearly leading to him killing the disguised Machi at the Hunter Exam... Roy remained silent, his hand moved, only to be tightly held by Ubuyashiki Kagaya's left hand:
"I'm not saying this to earn sympathy; I just want to tell you... I've never been this serious."
Ubuyashiki Kagaya took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Kiriya is still young and cannot carry such a weighty responsibility. Lord Eiichiro Oda is extraordinarily talented and can cause Kyojuro Rengoku to undergo a dramatic transformation...."
Ubuyashiki Kagaya candidly said, "As the leader, I can now make the decision here, on behalf of Gyomei Himejima, Sanemi, and the others, to switch allegiance to Lord Eiichiro Oda, willing to honor the sun as a deity, as long as... they can become stronger and gain a greater chance to kill Kibutsuji Muzan..."
Ubuyashiki Kagaya turned his back to Gyomei Himejima and paused to say, "Gyomei, come here, kneel, and pay homage to Lord Eiichiro Oda."
"Amitabha Buddha~" Gyomei Himejima bowed, pushing the golden mountain and toppling the jade pillar, kneeled with a crash at Roy's feet, his head hitting the ground, saying, "Gyomei Himejima pays homage to Lord Eiichiro Oda."
[Cue: "Potential Follower" Gyomei Himejima... "Loyalty +10....]
[Can further increase loyalty through "Blessing", triggering conditions for "formal recognition" and grant the title of official follower...]
Roy's gaze shifted, his emotions churned, with a touch of complexity, he glanced at Gyomei Himejima helplessly, and said to Ubuyashiki Kagaya, "You're not just changing allegiance, you're entrusting me with your entire legacy..."
Bringing such a large group of people to entrust one's legacy... Even without using [En] to capture everyone's thoughts, Roy could clearly see from the corner of his eye the intense change in expression among the Hashira following Gyomei Himejima's act of kneeling. One could imagine... the impact of the Rock Hashira's kneeling on everyone was immense!
"Rustle..." Kyojuro Rengoku quickly flipped through a thin booklet and finally came to his senses.
The young man, with his blond hair red at the tips, noticed the scene, his heart stirred, and inexplicably thought "This is as it should be"... He moved his steps, quietly coming to Roy's side, falling behind him by a position, standing still.
"A capable person should lead." Ubuyashiki Kagaya's "gaze" passed over Roy's shoulder, "seeing" Kyojuro Rengoku behind him, calmly said, "It's a leader's greatest failure to hinder subordinates' growth."
Ubuyashiki Kagaya smiled and said, "I am merely going with the flow."
"Sanemi."
"Yes."
"Kneel, and pay homage to Lord Eiichiro Oda."
"Yes."
Shinazugawa Sanemi got up, walked over to Gyomei Himejima's side, removed his sword, and with a "bang," his forehead hit the ground heavily, his entire face buried in the dirt, saying in a muffled voice, "Earlier offenses, I deeply apologize and hope that Lord Eiichiro Oda forgives my past affronts... I, Shinazugawa Sanemi, pledge to honor the sun as master and pay homage to Lord Eiichiro Oda."
[Cue: "Potential Follower" Shinazugawa Sanemi... "Loyalty +5....]
[Can further increase loyalty through "Blessing"...]
5 points? Did not trigger the "formal recognition" conditions as with Rock Hashira... Roy kept a straight face while looking at Shinazugawa Sanemi, smiling as he said to Ubuyashiki Kagaya, "He couldn't say such elegant words; you taught him, right?"
Ubuyashiki Kagaya chuckled without speaking, Shinazugawa Sanemi buried his head in the ground, feeling his face heat up, thinking it might be better to bury his entire body in the ground to avoid embarrassment... Unknowingly, those 5 points of "loyalty" had already surprised Roy.
Not everyone can change positions immediately, especially when harboring resentment...
"Kyojuro,"
"Yes."
"Help them up." Roy called on Kyojuro Rengoku, glanced at Tengen Uzui and Tokitou Muichirou, and said to the others, "You must not kneel; especially... my senior brother."
Roy deliberately raised his voice, reminding Tomioka Giyu, looking around at everyone, calmly saying to Ubuyashiki Kagaya, "You mean well, and I will not pretend to ignore it."
"But I still stand by my views."
The young man articulated word by word, "This Demon Slayer Corps must still be led by you."
"Eiichiro Oda..." Ubuyashiki Kagaya opened his mouth but was interrupted by Roy raising his hand.
"Anything you wish to say, let me deal with the [curse] first."
What?!
"Kamado Eiichiro, you can remove the curse from Lord's body?!" Shinazugawa Sanemi jumped up from the ground!
He stared at Roy in disbelief, his dusty head just risen, only to be pressed down by a big hand on the back of his head, "bang," forcibly kneeling on the ground again, timely hearing a roar from Rock Hashira, shocking everyone's eardrums!
"Shinazugawa Sanemi, you're too audacious!"
"Call him Lord Eiichiro Oda!"
Gyomei Himejima, with his sturdy arms almost as big as a human's thigh, widened his blind eyes like a furious Buddha. Raising his head to meet Roy's gaze, he breathed heavily and asked, "Lord Eiichiro Oda, forgive his rudeness. May I ask... is what you said true?"
"Lord Eiichiro Oda... Lord Eiichiro Oda...."
As Tengen Uzui looked on... as Tokitou Muichirou looked on... as Kochou Shinobu... as Izuki Kobane... as Kyojuro Rengoku, even...
Even Tomioka Giyu rarely straightened his back, softly calling: "Junior Brother."
At that moment, the air inside the room felt like a calm pool, with a bomb thrown in, exploding, causing water droplets to splash everywhere... almost impossible to return to its former calm state....
"Thud,"
"Lord Eiichiro Oda, please save my husband."
Ubuyashiki Kagaya was stunned... He looked dully at his wife, Tamayo, as her knees buckled, giving a grand bow to Roy, and then "thud... thud..." followed by the sounds of his daughters Hinaki and Nichika bowing...
Always composed, even when facing death with his wife and daughters on that day, Kibutsuji Muzan's arrival, triggering the explosion... never furrowed his brows, the man trembled watching Roy, making "ha... ha..." sounds, yet unable to form a complete sentence, evidently... losing his usual composure and peace....
"Nen" like a creek ultimately reached Ubuyashiki Kagaya's heart,
In that nearly dry and cracked heart, Roy keenly discovered a mass of black energy constantly gnawing and absorbing Ubuyashiki Kagaya's life energy, much like those "negative emotions" that once attached to himself and Ginda, continuously devouring Ubuyashiki Kagaya's life energy....
Can be dispelled...
The young man nodded and said, "Call out Kiriya, Kanata, and Hina, I'll cleanse all of you."
"Thud~" The sound of a heavy stone dropping echoed, along with the almost stagnant air in the room coming back to life....
"Amitabha Buddha." Gyomei Himejima uttered a Buddhist chant, tears gushing... He knelt, respectfully saying, "Thank you, Lord Eiichiro Oda."
"Thud... thud... thud..." The continuous light sounds of knees touching the ground resonated...
Except for Shinazugawa Sanemi who was already prostrated, Tengen Uzui, Kochou Shinobu, Tokitou Muichirou... including Kyojuro Rengoku, even... Tomioka Giyu, all knelt, earnestly expressing gratitude: "Thank you, Lord Eiichiro Oda."
A prompt sounded timely beside Roy's ears...
[Cue: "Potential Follower" Gyomei Himejima, "Loyalty +15, conditions for "formal recognition" triggered, please grant honors....]
[Cue: "Potential Follower" Shinazugawa Sanemi, "Loyalty +20, conditions for "formal recognition" triggered, please grant honors....]
[Cue... Cue... Cue...]
On this bright noonday sun...
As Ubuyashiki Tamayo continuously expressed gratitude, heading to the inner courtyard, bringing out Kiriya and other children of Ubuyashiki Kagaya...
Roy softly spoke: "Praise the sun, dispel immediately!"
With a thought, channeling "Nen" to transform into swords wrapped in sun flames, suddenly striking at the mass of black curse entrenched in Ubuyashiki Kagaya's heart...
Infinity Castle.
Suddenly feeling a sharp pain in his heart, Kibutsuji Muzan knelt with a thud, scaring Nakime, causing one of her strings to break....