The second Shuya spoke, the explosive Wind Hashira Sanemi Shinazugawa looked ready to explode and teach him a lesson. The massive Stone Hashira had to clamp both hands on his shoulders to hold him back.
Shuya ignored the rest of the room and looked straight at Tanjiro. "Tanjiro, be honest. Do you have any problem with the Demon Slayer Corps treating your family like this?"
"I…"
Tanjiro couldn't get the words out.
Unlike in the original story, he hadn't personally experienced his family turning into demons and trying to attack him. Because of that, the whole situation still felt a little unreal to him.
He had agreed to come meet the Corps leader mostly out of blind trust. He thought that since everyone here had been hurt by demons, they would understand. Deep down, he had even hoped the Corps might have a way to turn demons back into humans.
But after seeing how the so-called strongest Hashira reacted to his family, he finally realized how wrong he had been.
Even though his mother and brothers had only turned into demons to survive and had never eaten a single person, the Corps treated them exactly like any other monster. If it weren't for the fact that he knew Sun Breathing and Saeko was standing right there as backup, they probably wouldn't have bothered explaining anything. They would have just killed his mom and little brothers on the spot.
"What about you, Nezuko?" Shuya asked, turning to the girl still clinging to his arm.
Nezuko shook her head firmly. "I don't trust them!"
Tanjiro might not have felt the reality of it yet, but Nezuko had seen with her own eyes how her family looked after turning—feral and terrifying, even toward their own blood. She could understand why the Corps wanted to lock them up. In a way, it might even be safer for her family.
But…
Looking at these Hashira who hated demons with every fiber of their being, Nezuko simply didn't trust them. Handing her family over to people who wanted every demon dead? Who knew if one of them would do something unforgivable the second they got the chance?
"Got it," Shuya said calmly. "I'll handle this myself."
Truth be told, he had never planned on leaving the Kamados in the Corps' hands in the first place. The original anime's Hashira meeting had already shown him exactly how they would react to Nezuko. Even after she had been a demon for two full years without eating anyone, they still wanted her dead. It had taken both the retired Water Hashira and Giyu putting their lives on the line just to spare her.
That was exactly why he had sent Saeko with the Kamado family and Giyu to the headquarters instead of sending her back to Greed Island.
Shuya had two real reasons for coming here.
First, to ask about Tamayo's whereabouts.
Second, to see if the Corps would agree to keep Kie and the boys under guard until he could find Tamayo and bring her on board. Once he had the doctor, he could hand the family over to her and let her research both a cure to turn demons back into humans and a way to remove their need to eat people.
Either result would be a massive win for him.
With a drug that could turn demons human again, he could safely drink Muzan's blood in dangerous situations, transform, and use a demon's insane regeneration to heal himself—then just take the cure afterward. It would perfectly solve the lack of healing options in his Nen abilities.
And if they could remove the "must eat humans" weakness entirely? A demon who didn't fear sunlight and didn't need to eat people wouldn't even be a demon anymore.
That would be a JO-level perfect being.
Since the Corps clearly didn't welcome them, Shuya had zero interest in forcing the issue.
"I heard the Ubuyashiki clan believes every generation of males is cursed to die young because of Muzan Kibutsuji," Shuya said, turning his cold gaze on Kagaya Ubuyashiki. "Is that correct?"
"It is," Ubuyashiki answered without hesitation. "Muzan is a blood relative of the Ubuyashiki family. Because he became a demon and committed countless atrocities, our clan has borne the curse in his place. That is why our men die so young. Every member of the Demon Slayer Corps knows this story."
Hearing the exact answer he expected, Shuya asked bluntly, "Then why don't you just die?"
"Insolent! How dare you insult the Master?!"
Sanemi finally snapped. He broke free from Gyomei's grip and charged straight at Shuya.
Two sharp sounds rang out—slap! boom!
Sanemi's body slammed hard into the far wall.
"So fast!" the other Hashira gasped in unison.
Every Hashira except the quietly watching Shinobu immediately dropped into fighting stances.
Ubuyashiki raised a hand to stop them. "Lord Shuya, would you please explain yourself?"
"It's simple," Shuya said. "You all believe your clan is cursed in Muzan's place, and you've accepted that for a thousand years. So why don't you just die? If every Ubuyashiki died out, the curse would have nowhere left to go, right? It would return to Muzan and kill him without you lifting a finger.
"Yet for the last thousand years, what has your clan actually done?
"You've kept marrying and having children, passing the burden of killing Muzan onto the next short-lived generation.
"I have to say, you people have incredible perseverance.
"The one thing I don't understand is this: your island nation doesn't value bloodlines the same obsessive way my homeland does, correct? Even if your direct line ends, anyone who inherits the family's will can simply take the Ubuyashiki name and carry it on.
"Plus, I've heard that within the Demon Slayer Corps, it's common for Hashira to treat their trained Breathing Style disciples as adopted heirs.
"So let me ask you directly—what exactly has the Ubuyashiki clan been holding onto for the past thousand years while fighting Muzan?"