"Chirp! Chirp!"
After listening to Chiba Yo, Chuntaro flapped his wings and nodded his small head.
"Yo, what did you tell Chuntaro?" Zenitsu asked curiously when he saw this.
"It won't work if I tell you."
Chiba Yo said mysteriously.
Then he added, "Don't worry, you definitely won't encounter strange things when you wake up again."
From now on, when he wakes up, he will definitely see Chuntaro first.
Chuntaro also turned his head and chirped twice at Zenitsu, as if echoing Chiba Yo's words.
Looking at Chuntaro, Zenitsu somehow felt that he had a fierce look in his eyes, and a sudden chill ran down his spine.
"Alright… alright," Zenitsu swallowed and replied, half-believing, half-doubting.
Just then, a Kasugai Crow landed by the window.
"Caw! Caw!"
"Ah!!!"
Zenitsu was startled by the sudden sound; if he hadn't had a leg injury, he would have jumped out of bed.
"Caw!!!"
Immediately after, the Kasugai Crow was also startled by Zenitsu's reaction, flapping its wings and falling down.
Fortunately, Chiba Yo was quick to catch it, and he realized it was his Kasugai Crow.
"Is there another mission?"
Chiba Yo put away his relaxed demeanor and became serious.
At the same time, he also found it strange that this new mission came so quickly.
After resting for a moment, the Kasugai Crow regained its vitality, stood up in Chiba Yo's hand, and flapped its wings, shouting at Chiba Yo:
"North-northeast! North-northeast! North-northwest! North-northwest! There are traces of demons in two places! Chiba Yo, hurry and eliminate them! Caw! Caw!"
Two places directly, and they are so far apart?
Chiba Yo felt even stranger; he had barely received any news of demons before, but now there were two in a row.
"Goodbye, Zenitsu, I have to go on a mission. I wish you all a speedy recovery."
After saying goodbye to Zenitsu, Chiba Yo hurried away.
...
One night three weeks later
Chiba Yo was walking on the road; the two demons mentioned by the Kasugai Crow had already been dealt with by him.
Those two demons must have been newly created not long ago; they didn't hide their tracks much. Chiba Yo arrived at the location and cut them down with one nichirin blade, spending all his time on the journey.
In these two weeks, he ran from his alert area to Kyoujurou's alert area and then back to his own alert area. In between, he also received new missions from the Kasugai Crow and consecutively killed two more demons, which were similar to the previous two—extremely weak and didn't know how to hide.
Could it be that Muzan is out again?
The situations he encountered during this period made Chiba Yo wonder, as he still believed that only Muzan could turn humans into demons.
Now that the mission was completed, why not wander around and see if he could be lucky enough to run into Muzan...
Thinking this, Chiba Yo did not go in the direction of the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters. This mission did not contain any important information, so there was no need to report to the Master. Chiba Yo simply indulged his thoughts and wandered around, hoping to have another accidental encounter with Muzan.
He swore that if he really encountered him, this time he would absolutely not let him disappear from his sight again.
Walking out of the town, Chiba Yo discovered a mountain path. Remembering what Tamayo had said about the blue spider lily, Chiba Yo guessed that Muzan might also go up such mountains to search for the blue spider lily, so he followed the mountain path.
The night was incredibly quiet. Although there were sounds of insects and birds, they only made it seem more serene, as the saying goes, "the chirping of insects and the cawing of crows make the night even more peaceful."
Because evil demons appear at night, Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen, during their missions, have to adapt to the demons' habits and act at night, sometimes even working day and night without distinction to rush for missions.
Unknowingly, Chiba Yo walked to the end of this mountain path. At the end was a small village with over a dozen houses.
Looking at the village in front of him, Chiba Yo noticed something was wrong. Although the distance was still quite far, he had already smelled a faint scent of blood.
More evil demons? Could it be Muzan?
Chiba Yo immediately gripped the hilt of his nichirin blade and ran towards the small village ahead.
Entering the village, large pools of blood were everywhere. Strangely, Chiba Yo also noticed that the surrounding houses had marks that looked like they were cut by a nichirin blade.
The village, cloaked in blood at night, made Chiba Yo recall the village where he used to live.
His anger surged. At this moment, Chiba Yo suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Hahahaha, blame yourselves for being too weak; you can only become food and contribute to my strength."
The arrogant voice—Chiba Yo couldn't recall whose it was for a moment, but he was sure he had heard this voice before.
It wasn't Muzan...
Following the sound, Chiba Yo saw a figure dressed in black. His back was incredibly familiar. He held a human arm in his hand, and a nichirin blade hung at his waist. His attire was completely that of the Demon Slayer Corps.
This is...
Chiba Yo remembered someone, but he was somewhat hesitant to confirm whether the person in front of him was indeed the one he was thinking of.
Hearing the sound, the figure in front turned around, and Chiba Yo saw his appearance clearly.
Kaigaku!
Likewise, the figure in front also saw Chiba Yo.
He was slightly shocked at first, then a mocking smile appeared on his face.
"Oh, isn't this our Demon Slayer Corps' Yang Pillar, Lord Chiba? Oh no, I can't say 'our Demon Slayer Corps' anymore. After all, as you can see, I am now a member of the demons.
I won't age, and injuries heal quickly. I don't need arduous training; I can just get stronger by eating humans."
Kaigaku spread his hands, a smile on his face, not putting Chiba Yo in his eyes at all, because the characters "Upper Rank Six" were already carved into his eyeballs.
After transforming into a demon in less than a day, Kaigaku also confessed to Kokushibou that he did not know the location of the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters. As ordinary swordsmen, they had no right to know the exact location of the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters. If they were to return to the Headquarters, they had to be escorted by multiple Hidden members, with their eyes blindfolded and ears plugged. He had only said that at the time to save his life.
Kokushibou didn't care about these things, only telling him to quickly grow stronger and be useful.
In the time that followed, he began to frantically gain strength by eating humans, and during this period, he even forged a weapon identical to the nichirin blade he had previously used, using his own flesh and blood.
In just two weeks, he had eaten over a hundred humans and also awakened his Blood Demon Art. His strength was also recognized by Muzan, who summoned him to the Infinity Castle and, with Upper Rank Six already dead, made him the new Upper Rank Six.
Kaigaku, having become an Upper Rank, became arrogant. Remembering his past experiences in the Demon Slayer Corps, he came to Chiba Yo's alert area, which he had previously heard about, wanting to get revenge for Chiba Yo not teaching him and telling Gyoumei about him.
Kaigaku, who believed he was already stronger than a Pillar, was planning to punch Chiba Yo, kick Gyomei Himejima, and then kill all the swordsmen who had mocked him. However, this could only be his beautiful dream.
"Why did you become an evil demon?"
With his back to the moon, Chiba Yo's face was covered in shadow. At this moment, he was like a volcano about to erupt.
Trying his best to suppress his anger, Chiba Yo asked Kaigaku.