Through the eye in his palm, Yahaba spotted Sukuna and Shinobu from a distance. He spoke to Susamaru beside him.
"Looks like two Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen. What should we do? Kill them?"
Susamaru gripped the handball created by her Blood Demon Art, answering eagerly.
"First, find out who did it. Then capture and bring him back to answer to that great one."
"Hm...?"
Yahaba was about to agree when he noticed something strange.
One of the two Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen—the male one—seemed to have two pairs of eyes on his face.
What was that?
Two pairs of eyes?
No human could look like that, right?
At first, Yahaba thought he had misseen. Maybe the second pair was just a painted tattoo similar to the black markings on his body. That was his assumption until he saw that second pair of eyes turn and look directly in his direction.
Even then, Yahaba didn't realize what that meant. The same question that had crossed the Swamp Demon's mind appeared in his own: What is that? Is he human or demon? What's his connection to the Demon Slayer Corps?
Shinobu, unaware of any of this, simply looked at Sukuna, who had stopped walking, and asked curiously.
"What's wrong?"
But Sukuna didn't answer. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from her side. And from Yahaba's line of sight.
"What happened? Where did that man go?" Susamaru asked in surprise, having been about to attack.
Just then, both Susamaru and Yahaba heard a stranger's voice behind them.
"Two demons this time?"
At those words, a chill ran down their spines. They spun around in retreat, staring at Sukuna in terror. Susamaru instinctively hurled the handball in her grip straight at him.
But Sukuna merely raised his right hand with casual ease, caught the ball, and crushed it.
He didn't fly into a rage over the attack. Instead, it told him that Susamaru was likely stronger than the Swamp Demon.
That sparked a hint of expectation for both her full strength and that of Yahaba beside her.
But Yahaba was already sweating cold bullets. As Susamaru's partner, he knew exactly how strong she was.
Even if her attack had been instinctive, that didn't mean it was weak.
Even if one of the Kizuki could easily dodge that speed, the power behind it was real.
And yet that attack had been casually neutralized. The man had even crushed the handball barehanded.
Though Sukuna showed no sign of entering a combat stance, both Susamaru and Yahaba felt extreme danger. They couldn't even muster the will to speak.
Seeing that the two demons weren't talking, Sukuna asked again.
"From what I know, demons mostly act alone. And you two still have my cursed energy residue on you. So you've been tracking me, right?"
The cursed energy residue came from Yahaba spending so much time lying on the ground where Sukuna had activated his technique, searching for clues.
Obviously, Susamaru and Yahaba didn't understand what "Cursed Energy" meant. But they were still shocked that Sukuna had instantly guessed their intent.
Sukuna's voice dropped lower as he continued.
"Tell me who sent you. And how did they know where I was?"
After all, Susamaru and Yahaba were partners. They made the same choice: fight.
Susamaru tore open her clothes and extended three pairs of arms, each hand gripping a handball. Veins bulged in her shoulders as she built up power. Yahaba activated his Blood Demon Art to its fullest to support her.
Seeing Susamaru's six-armed form, Sukuna was actually amused. Even his true form had one pair fewer than that.
Susamaru roared. All six arms swung at once. Six handballs screamed through the air nearly simultaneously.
Facing the incoming barrage, Sukuna dodged them all with ease.
But after he dodged them, the handballs abruptly changed direction in midair, launching at him again from six different angles.
Sukuna caught all of it. He guessed that this unnatural trajectory was almost certainly the work of a Blood Demon Art.
But at this level, it was only mildly interesting. Hardly a threat to him.
Sukuna dodged the six handballs as easily as before, twisting his body.
But when he turned his head to avoid one aimed at his face, he felt strong resistance. His movement slowed by a beat. He had no choice but to raise his hand defensively and crush that handball outright.
Susamaru and Yahaba already looked like they'd seen a ghost. Though in a sense, they did really see a ghost.
Susamaru had already reformed handballs in her hands. Thinking that too many projectiles might have split their power too thin, she prepared only two this time.
Yahaba wasn't as naive. He already felt the overwhelming gap in power between them and Sukuna. It wasn't something they could bridge through effort alone.
His first thought was to run. Defeat someone like this? The two of them?
Was that a joke?
Even if bringing Sukuna back earned that great one's approval, this was already beyond what they could handle.
But then Yahaba remembered Sukuna's terrifying speed from just moments ago, and his confidence crumbled. As he hesitated, Susamaru had already launched her attack.
"Aaaah!"
The two handballs, infused with Susamaru's full power, spun at even greater speed toward Sukuna's body.
But this time, Sukuna didn't dodge in place. He vanished instantly, leaving the two handballs with no target.
What?!
The next second, Sukuna appeared directly in front of Susamaru. In his hand was a Nichirin Blade, drawn at some point without her realizing.
As the blade fell and severed Susamaru's left three arms, Sukuna's cold voice rang out.
"Compared to his ability to alter trajectories, your technique is boring…"
Beside them, Yahaba couldn't even process what had happened. This wasn't just the oppressive presence of the Twelve Kizuki anymore. This was the same suffocating terror as being in that great one's presence—the feeling that he could crush you at any moment.
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