Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for just $7 to get early access to all upcoming chapters!
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations
─────
Chapter 93: Can We Reconcile?
"Kocho Shinobu?!" Giyuu was slightly surprised by her sudden appearance, but simultaneously, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He immediately called out to her, "Shinobu, the man holding the iron chains is highly likely the Demon King, Kibutsuji Muzan. Be careful!"
Having another Hashira-level fighter join the fray was undeniably a good thing. As long as Shinobu could stall the man, Giyuu could go all out against the demon in front of him and finish her off as fast as possible. With the combined might of two Hashira, they might actually have a chance to destroy the progenitor of all demons right here and now.
"Ara? Seriously? The Demon King, Kibutsuji Muzan?" Shinobu was astonished by Giyuu's claim. She cast a skeptical, scrutinizing look at Suyan in the distance. Aside from being a bit more handsome than average, he looked completely ordinary. Could someone like this really be the legendary Demon King?
Shinobu drew her Nichirin Sword, twirling it deftly in her hand before addressing Suyan directly. "Ne, ne, Mr. Demon. Is what the Water Hashira said true? Are you truly the legendary Demon King, Kibutsuji Muzan?"
"The Insect Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kocho Shinobu?" Suyan didn't answer her question, expressing his own surprise instead.
If Giyuu was only slightly surprised by Shinobu's arrival, Suyan was profoundly shocked.
Suyan admitted that he had indeed planned to wait at the Kamado household for the Demon Slayers to show up. After all, in the anime, on the very first day Nezuko was turned into a demon, the siblings ran into a passing Tomioka Giyuu. Through their unbreakable sibling bond, they had managed to completely move him. Not only did he recommend Tanjiro to his own master, making them fellow disciples, but he and his master later staked their lives to guarantee Nezuko's innocence.
Therefore, he wasn't surprised by Giyuu's appearance; he had even sensed him long before the man revealed himself. But what was Shinobu doing here? She wasn't supposed to show up until after the Final Selection, two years from now. Was this a butterfly effect caused by his presence?
Suddenly, Suyan remembered the demon that attacked the Kamado family tonight.
Right. If it had been Muzan, with his cowardly and overly cautious nature, even if he was turning someone into a demon, he wouldn't have made such a huge commotion. He would have acted discreetly to avoid exposing his whereabouts to the Demon Slayers.
But the same couldn't be said for some thug newly turned into a demon by Muzan. It was common for ordinary people to become arrogant and reckless upon gaining sudden power. When he turned the others into demons, he naturally wouldn't have been as careful as Muzan. It was no wonder he attracted the attention of the Demon Slayer Corps. He just didn't expect the one who showed up to be Kocho Shinobu.
"Ara, ara, to think Mr. Demon has actually heard of my name." Shinobu's tone gradually shifted from breezy to deadly serious. "Should I feel honored?"
"But why didn't you answer my question, Mr. Demon?"
"Or perhaps..."
"You're tacitly admitting it?"
From the very beginning, Tanjiro had been utterly baffled by their exchange. Although the two Demon Slayers suspected Suyan was this "Demon King Muzan," Tanjiro didn't believe a word of it. He just didn't understand why Suyan wasn't denying it, letting them assume whatever they wanted. Regardless, Tanjiro felt he needed to step up and explain everything clearly.
"Tanjiro!" Suyan shot him a look, stopping him in his tracks.
Suyan had originally planned to let Saeko finish her fight with Giyuu before testing the power of Sun Breathing against him himself. But since another Hashira had arrived, it was the perfect setup—one opponent for each of them to practice their newly acquired Breathing Style on.
Secondly, Suyan was quite interested in the Insect Hashira standing before him. Mimicking Saeko, he conjured a White Oak Bokken in his hand. Looking at Shinobu, he asked, "Miss Shinobu, before we fight, may I ask you a question?"
"Eh? You want to ask me a question?" A look of surprise crossed Shinobu's face. She didn't rush to attack, instead replying, "You may. As for whether I'll answer it~ That's hard to say."
"So, what do you want to ask, Mr. Demon? Do you want to know how I plan to kill you?"
"Don't worry, I'll be very, very gentle as I inject poison into your heart, ensuring you die without any pain."
"How about it? Doesn't that make you happy, Mr. Demon?"
Delivering the most terrifying threats in the gentlest tone possible. Kocho Shinobu truly was a frightening woman.
Without hesitating any longer, Suyan bluntly asked the question he was curious about, even if it was a bit presumptuous. "Miss Shinobu, is your older sister, Kocho Kanae, still alive?"
"Hehe!" Shinobu let out a cold laugh. While her gentle smile seemingly remained unchanged, the veins bulging on her forehead betrayed her seething fury.
This guy! THIS GUY!!He dares to speak my sister's name to my face? How dare he?!A lowly, man-eating demon doesn't have the right to utter her name!
Aside from the day her sister died, Shinobu had never felt such overwhelming rage. The perpetual smile she maintained to honor her sister's memory almost completely shattered.
Her grip on her Nichirin Sword tightened as she hissed, "You've got some nerve, Mr. Demon!!"
Seeing her reaction, Suyan didn't need an answer. Anyone with half a brain could figure it out. It seemed his transmigration really was a bit too late. Shinobu's sister, the former Flower Hashira Kocho Kanae, was truly dead. What a pity.
However, as Suyan recalled the plot of Demon Slayer and thought about the secret he had discovered regarding Breathing Styles... perhaps it wasn't completely impossible to do something about it in the future.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to poke at a sore spot." Suyan looked at Shinobu and asked completely earnestly, "So, can we reconcile?"
"Reconcile?" Shinobu suppressed her fury and said coldly, "Go to hell!!"
Embodying a diving butterfly, Shinobu launched herself from the tree branch. The tip of her Nichirin Sword thrust straight toward Suyan without holding anything back. Fueled by her rage, her speed was noticeably faster than usual.
"Insect Breathing, Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon!"
─────
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations