Then there was a dull "thud" sound....
The small table couldn't bear the weight, and the tabletop shattered straight down, leaving only Gyomei Himejima's large hand that had been pressed down, suspended in mid-air... it didn't lift for a long time...
Silence dominated today's Ubuyashiki Clan's residence.
The members of the "In" organization who were sneaking a peek couldn't believe their eyes,
A few team members who frequently accompanied Gyomei Himejima on missions couldn't believe... that the Rock Hashira, who could casually smash an Evil Ghost's head with a meteor hammer, would be defeated. They looked at Kyojuro Rengoku with awe in their eyes!
"Lost... Amitabha Buddha..." Gyomei Himejima regained composure after a while, showing no sign of dejection or disappointment, instead, he clasped his hands in prayer, uttered a Buddhist chant, and looked at Kyojuro Rengoku with admiration, saying, "Kyojuro, today you are different from yesterday."
The monk praised, "I have never admired anyone. You are the second one."
The first one... The minds of the Hashira were in sync, and the image of a young boy with fiery red hair, casually slicing through a small courtyard, flashed through their minds, as if it were yesterday....
In a corner of the house, Tomioka Giyu, who had been alone, crouched in his red, yellow, and green interwoven haori, his hand on the Nichirin Sword, watched everything in silence. The cold look in his eyes rippled, and he couldn't help but sigh lightly in his heart, "Even when he's not here, this place... is still stirred up because of him, even..."
"The legend of him lingers...."
Tomioka Giyu thought of his master, the letter he wrote to Lord, and the words... "If anyone can kill Kibutsuji Muzan, it must be my disciple, Kamado Eiichiro."
As emotions surged, he heard a series of footsteps, and consequently looked up....
With eyes almost blinded by the curse of Kibutsuji Muzan, Ubuyashiki Kagaya dragged his sickly body, found Kyojuro Rengoku, raised his hand slightly... the young man slightly lowered himself, letting him gently pat his shoulder, saying, "I trust your judgment, and I also trust Eiichiro, and..."
Ubuyashiki Kagaya, who in the original story was willing to drag Kibutsuji Muzan to hell even at the cost of self-destructing with his wife and daughter, glared at those blind eyes, looked around at everyone, and said, "All of you present here."
"If possible,"
The man's voice paused, his body too weak, began coughing. Luckily... with Kyojuro Rengoku's quick support, he managed to catch his breath a little, smiled, nodded to Kyojuro Rengoku, and then said to everyone, "You may all leave!"
"As long as,"
"You can be stronger, can slay demons, and even..."
"Relinquish my position as leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, it's fine!"
"Lord!" Gyomei Himejima, Shinazugawa Sanemi, Tengen Uzui... including, Tomioka Giyu, all the Hashira fell to their knees in unison....
Ubuyashiki Kagaya listened with a smile... as the Hashira professed their intentions, showing no signs of leaving. With Kyojuro Rengoku's support, he could even feel the complex emotions emerging from the young man's heart, gently patting Kyojuro's hand he said, "This is not a discussion, but an order!"
"Giyu."
"Here."
"I'm telling you, write a letter, inform Eiichiro, I want to pledge allegiance to him as Lord, please ask him to return and discuss."
Tomioka Giyu: "...."
The Hashira: "...."
Exchanging glances, at a loss for words...
After a while, only Kyojuro Rengoku clasped his hands together and devoutly said, "Praise the sun."
A simple murmur floated in the wind, carrying a touch of "devotion" and "concern", transcending the border of worlds, leaving the Demon Slayer World, reaching the Hunter World, drifting into Roy's ear.
[Hint: Detecting "potential believers" nine... pending observation...]
[Believer one, Gyomei Himejima (Note: "Forced Faith", Loyalty pending cultivation)]
[Believer two, Shinazugawa Sanemi (Note: "Forced Faith", Loyalty pending cultivation)]
[Three, Tokitou Muichirou... Four, Tengen Uzui... Five, Izuki Kobane... Six, Kochou Shinobu... Seven, Mitsuri Kanroji...]
[Eight, Tomioka Giyu (Note: "Semi-Forced Faith", Loyalty: Absolutely Loyal)]
[Nine, Ubuyashiki Kagaya (Note: "Voluntary Faith", Loyalty: Absolutely Loyal)]
The Zoldyck Family residence, Kukuroo Mountain, two in the afternoon.
Roy with Wutong had just left the bedroom when the panel prompt sounded like a spring nine times over, chiming incessantly, and immediately checked the panel, causing him to... halt his steps.
"Creak~" The bedroom door closed.
Wutong, carrying two suitcases, was a step behind Roy, asked, "Did you leave something behind, young master?"
Roy's expression was peculiar, it wasn't "left behind", rather many "things" sprouted up....
Potential believers... Ubuyashiki + Nine Hashira... did Kyojuro Rengoku do something?
Roy calmly closed the panel, suppressing the doubts in his heart, intending to discuss it later in the dream, started moving again: "Let's go."
Wutong caught up with the luggage, master and servant strolling in the weathered long corridor, straight out of the castle's main gate,
Crossing paths with the garden, Silva, who had just put Killua to sleep for a nap, was returning to the study alone, glanced at Roy in passing, then left with his back to them.
"The master seems a bit odd these days, almost as if... he's deliberately avoiding the young master?" Wutong immediately bowed in greeting upon seeing Silva, and when he raised his head again... the man's footsteps had already hastily entered the main door, leaving only a sentence lingering in the garden...
"Your mother is about to give birth, come back early, I think... you could be there...."
"Yes." Roy watched the man leave, then turned away towards the mountain...
In that dim little room on the first floor... an old man, thin and withered, listened to cartoons, swaying contentedly in his rocking chair, chuckled to himself: "How nice... the whole family about to be reunited..."
For a moment, the laughter ceased, replaced by a long, melancholic sigh, seemingly once again recollecting his own glorious past, revisiting memories, tossing and turning, unable to sleep....
Two thirty in the afternoon.
Republic of Padokea, on a zeppelin bound for the continent of Eulubian.
VIP Private Room.
The young steward was serving Roy tea, just after boarding, received the data from the other party.
"Young master, the other party sent a mission summary, saying that... the person we are to intercept, besides the prison guards escorting him, is also accompanied by an additional security team."
"Not surprising." Roy opened his grandfather Jager's notebook, turned to the page on [Ko], and examined it closely... this high-level applied technique, combining the Four Major Principles of [Ten], [Zetsu], [Ren], [Hatsu], and the application technique of [Gyo], was a challenge Roy had yet to overcome aside from [Ryu].
[Ko]: First use [Gyo] to concentrate all Sense to a certain part of the body (such as the right hand), then use [Ten] to envelop that part with all dispersed Sense to increase its density... at this time, other parts of the body will still have a small amount of Sense coming out, so it is necessary to use [Zetsu] again to eliminate the Sense of other parts completely, and finally use [Gyo], to enhance the right hand, in this way... the right hand will receive 100% of the internal Nen, greatly enhancing it!
In short, it is to maximize the 100% [Ken] utilization rate of a specific body part!
"The opponent is Razor, normal prison guards are not sufficient, hiring an additional security team isn't a problem."
"Is this Razor person very strong?"
"Very strong."
Wutong opened the computer, reading the data, his gaze lingered on the photo of a squinting man, noted he also belonged to the Emission class, and said gravely: "Young master... apart from him, they also asked you to pay attention to another person."
"Who?" Roy looked up,
Wutong adjusted the glasses on his nose, flipped the notebook, immediately displaying a photo on the screen catching Roy's attention,
Leaving him somewhat surprised.
"So it was him,"
Sheep—Yinda, Poaching Hunter, Assault team member, future Zodiac Twelve.
After Netero's death, Zodiac Twelve exploring the Dark Continent, he was among the few assigned to the defense team, and....
He was also among the few men who could share more than ninety points with the peak Sisko!
Second only to Botobai!