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Gyomei's flail and axe converged from multiple angles while Sanemi carved wind blades through every opening. Tengen exploited each gap in Kokushibo's defense with dual-blade combinations.
Yet through Transparent World, Kokushibo tracked every movement—evading all three with fluid precision.
But he couldn't counterattack. The coordination kept him pinned in continuous defense.
'Their teamwork is flawless. This stalemate works against me—especially that man with the stone weapons. His body was already formidable, but after manifesting his Mark, his strength has become overwhelming. The Sound Hashira is equally dangerous.'
'However... they still cannot sever my neck. In that case—eliminate the weakest link first.'
Kokushibo's gaze locked onto Sanemi.
CLANG!
He blocked Sanemi's strike, then twisted his blade—attempting to shatter the Nichirin sword from the side.
'Destroy his weapon first.'
'Blades break easily when struck from the side!' Sanemi recognized the tactic immediately—Kokushibo intended to eliminate him before dealing with the others.
But he'd already formulated a counter.
Sanemi loosened his grip slightly, letting his blade slide down Kokushibo's edge. Then he rotated the sword vertical and drove downward with renewed force—pinning Kokushibo's weapon against the floor.
'He redirected the blade downward... reaction speed has increased.'
WHOOSH—
Gyomei's flail hammered toward him. Kokushibo sidestepped—
Tengen's dual blades descended toward his throat.
No choice. He abandoned the kill attempt, withdrawing his weapon to evade—
Tengen's blade suddenly extended, carving a deep gash across Kokushibo's neck. Blood sprayed.
Another inch deeper and decapitation would've been complete.
'How...?'
Kokushibo's six eyes focused—Tengen's two blades were connected at the hilts by a chain. The Sound Hashira had gripped one blade by its tip, extending his reach by swinging the second sword like a whip.
'What tremendous grip strength...'
"Tch, so close! Completely unflamboyant!"
Tengen didn't notice the musical note pattern manifesting on his cheek—his Demon Slayer Mark awakening, granting him the speed to inflict that devastating wound.
'Another Marked swordsman...'
Since encountering Muichiro, Kokushibo had faced Marked warrior after Marked warrior. This generation's swordsmen surpassed even the Warring States era's elite—more refined, more lethal.
And according to Muzan's intelligence, the white-haired Dragon Hashira he'd yet to encounter was supposedly even stronger.
During that microsecond of distraction, Sanemi and Tengen attacked again. Kokushibo evaded both—only to realize they were feints concealing Gyomei's true strike.
SLASH!
Gyomei's axe severed one of Kokushibo's ears before he could dodge.
"Wind Breathing, First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter!"
High-speed wind blades forced Kokushibo backward. All three Hashira pressed their advantage, weapons converging.
"Wind Breathing, Seventh Form: Gale—Sudden Gusts!"
"Stone Breathing, First Form: Serpentinite Bipolar!"
"Sound Breathing, Fourth Form: Constant Resounding Slashes!"
Sanemi's spiraling wind blades attacked from multiple vectors. Gyomei's flail and axe created an encirclement, cutting off all retreat routes. Tengen hurled specialized explosive pellets, then charged through the detonations—dual blades carving through the chaos in devastating combinations.
Every attack connected. Kokushibo's clothing exploded into tatters. Deep lacerations covered his torso, exposing bone. Blood flowed freely.
The wounds regenerated within seconds.
"Not finished! Press the attack until his head is severed—"
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Dozens of cuts simultaneously appeared across all three Hashira. Blood soaked their uniforms.
'Impossible! What did he do?? How did he attack from that distance??' Gyomei's mind raced.
"The neck... yes, exactly like that."
Kokushibo turned, all six eyes fixed on them.
His upper body was now bare. The weapon in his hands had lengthened grotesquely—branching into a twisted, multi-bladed abomination.
"Defeat you three... and the rest become trivial."
The three Hashira stared at the transformed demon, momentarily stunned. If Gyomei hadn't shielded them with his chain at the last instant, they wouldn't have suffered mere injuries—they'd have lost limbs.
━━━━━━━━
Crows flew throughout the Infinity Castle, the talismans on their foreheads transmitting structural layouts and battle updates to Kiriya Ubuyashiki's command center.
Kanata: "Kiriya-sama, should we send reinforcements to Upper Rank One's location?"
Kuina: "The Dragon Hashira, Flower Hashira, Insect Hashira, Flame Hashira, and Tanjiro's squad still have combat capacity."
"No. Instruct Giyu Tomioka, Kyojuro Rengoku, and Tanjiro to continue toward Muzan's hiding place. As for the Dragon Hashira... I'm certain he's already prepared countermeasures."
"And Upper Rank One—Himejima, Shinazugawa, Uzui, plus Tokito and Genya... I have faith they'll achieve victory."
Kanata/Kuina: "Yes, sir."
However, Kuina received a different visual feed. She watched Kaido swinging his greatsword in a demolition frenzy throughout the Castle.
Kuina: ...
━━━━━━━━
'This Castle is enormous. We need to split up!'
"Kanae-san, Shinobu—you two stay together. Kanao, Inosuke—pair up. I'll search for Muzan alone!"
Kaido hefted his greatsword and continued forward.
"Kaido-kun..."
He stopped but didn't turn around.
"You... no, everyone must survive and return home! You too!"
"We will."
Kanae watched him disappear into the labyrinth, recalling their earlier conversation. Her chest tightened.
"Sister, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Let's move. Right now, our only job is destroying Muzan."
"Right!"
The five split into two groups—with Kaido proceeding alone.
'This isn't working. Fine—I'll just tear this whole damn Castle apart!'
"Dragon Breathing, Ninth Form: Whirlwind Pierce!"
Kaido's entire body spun like a drilling dragon, greatsword leading. He punched through walls, floors, ceilings—obliterating everything in his path.
"Where the hell did I end up??" When the rotation stopped, his directionally-challenged nature kicked in.
(Kaido: "AUTHOR, SAY THAT AGAIN! WHO'S DIRECTIONALLY CHALLENGED??")
"Whatever! I'll just demolish everything as I go—this isn't MY house anyway! Nakime, when I find you... wait, Nakime works for Muzan, which means this is basically HIS house... MUZAN, I'M COMING FOR YOU! Making me get lost—I'm gonna rip your arms off!"
Decision made, he began his demolition spree. Unfortunately for the demons lurking behind doors, planning ambushes—
They never saw him coming.
Kaido's greatsword carved through walls and doors indiscriminately. Demons were bisected mid-ambush. Some lost their heads before revealing themselves.
Kaido remained blissfully unaware. Even if he'd noticed, he wouldn't have cared.
"So THIS is what demolition feels like! HAHAHA! I'M TEARING IT DOWN! DEMOLISH! DEMOLISH EVERYTHING!"
System: [It's over. Host has been possessed by a Husky.]
What Kaido didn't know—the crows' talismans were livestreaming his rampage directly to Kuina. She was the unwilling audience to his destructive performance.
CRASH!
THUD!
"AAAHHH!"
"Hm? What's that?" Mid-demolition, Kaido heard screaming nearby. He investigated—two demons with severed legs crawling on the floor.
His earlier sword strikes had accidentally caught them.
"Hehehehe!" Kaido approached like he'd discovered new (toys) friends, his smile particularly (sinister) friendly.
"Let me help!"
SLASH—
The greatsword bisected the first demon at the waist before decapitating it.
The poor creature had just finished regenerating its legs when it suffered bisection followed by immediate decapitation—total disintegration.
"Back to demolishing!"
After disposing of the demons, he resumed his rampage. 'This isn't my house anyway—I'll tear it apart however I want.'
It's like wanting to meet Buddha so he'll forgive you—that's Buddha's business. My business is sending you to meet him.
Sending you to meet Gyomei works too.
System: [(Daytime, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, cellphone)]
Moments later, a trapdoor opened beneath Kaido's feet.
"Huh? WAAAAAAH! NAKIME, YOU [CENSORED][BLEEP BLEEP][BLEEP BLEEP]!"
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