Shinobu broke free from Hiru's hand without much effort. By now, she had finally calmed down a little.
At the very least, she absolutely refused to believe that the Demon King the Demon Slayer Corps had spent so many years searching for was this man standing in front of her, someone who never stopped spouting nonsense and radiated unreliability from every direction.
"Done talking?" Hiru bent sideways to look at Shinobu. "I was actually hoping to use this as an excuse to bite him again. Why don't you insult me a couple more times?"
Shinobu: …So annoying!
At that moment, Doma finally regained consciousness. His rainbow-colored eyes swept over the surroundings before landing on Hiru.
"Oh… I lost consciousness in an instant. What a terrifying fellow demon you are~ Could it be that you're a demon kept by the Demon Slayer Corps? We're all demons transformed by that lord. Can't we live in peace? I'm a lover of peace, you know~"
Then the three of them watched as Hiru's previously mild expression turned ice-cold in an instant. He turned and kicked Doma's head to pieces.
"Who's a demon transformed by that bastard? Live in peace? Why didn't he think about living in peace when he wiped out my entire family? Spouting nothing but bullshit here!
"And you, a lover of peace? If you loved peace, why did you mess with my head when you were alive? Fine, that was when you were alive, but even after you died and went to Hell, you still had to disgust me! To hell with your reincarnated arranged marriage!"
Shinobu finally finished fixing her mussed-up hair. But as she looked at Doma's twisted limbs on the ground, fear washed over her. If Hiru had used that kind of force just now…
What exactly is this demon trying to do?
For the first time, Shinobu felt genuinely confused.
"Hey, Shinobu, do you have spare clothes? I want to change."
Shinobu looked up at Hiru. The hem of his kimono was splattered with quite a bit of blood. She gave a slight nod, but when she saw Doma return to normal, she could not help asking, "What exactly are you trying to do by bringing this demon here?"
"To let you vent, of course."
Hiru looked at the hem of his kimono with some distaste.
"It's a little dirty now, but I think you probably won't mind. Still, I have to deal with this guy before dark, or a huge problem will find its way here. So your practice time is a bit tight. Of course, if you manage to kill him before then, pretend I didn't say that."
"Oh. Now that you mention it, it seems I really can't use my Blood Demon Art right now." Doma stood up, his face still wearing that compassionate smile. "Does that mean your Blood Demon Art seals other people's Blood Demon Art? Then can you use Blood Demon Art yourself right now?"
Hiru rolled his eyes, completely unwilling to bother with Doma. He waved a hand and walked out.
"I'm leaving this demon here for you to play with. I'll go change and come back. Ah, right, Shinobu, the girl in charge here is named Aoi, isn't she? I didn't have much contact with her, and it's been so long that I almost forgot."
Shinobu frowned. After a brief silence, she stepped forward.
"I'll take you. Iguro, Shinazugawa, I'll leave this place to you for now."
Doma watched the two of them leave, then smiled again.
"Oh~ What an adorable girl~ Speaking of which, what method did you use to tame a demon? That lord shouldn't allow this sort of thing to happen. Could you have been deceived~?"
Obanai and Sanemi exchanged a look. With remarkable tacit understanding, they drew their swords and began discussing it right in front of Doma.
"If this guy is an Upper Moon, then even with his Blood Demon Art sealed, he should still have a certain level of strength. He's perfect for practice."
"Yeah. Without Blood Demon Art, no matter how strong he is, he's nothing to worry about."
"You first, or me?"
"I'll go first. Aren't you hungry enough for your stomach to hurt again? You just took medicine, so slow down a little."
"Fine. This chance is rare, so don't rush to cut him down."
Doma looked at the two men, whose eyes were gleaming with murderous intent, and finally began to feel a little troubled.
"Oh dear… this really is difficult."
...
Shinobu looked at Hiru walking lazily beside her, and finally could not hold back anymore.
"What exactly is your purpose in bringing that demon back?"
"Hm? Purpose? To make you happy. Of course, that's just a bonus. The main reason is to find paint for myself."
Hiru followed behind Shinobu.
"When things are finished here, I'll go make trouble for the next Upper Moon. Ah, right, if Kyojuro goes on the Infinity Train mission, remember to tell me. That short guy doesn't seem to have a fixed residence, so if I miss this chance, he'll be hard to find."
"…Akaza?"
"Mm. Upper Moon Three. Though after Doma dies today, he should become Two."
Hiru rubbed his chin.
"He's a demon specializing in close combat. If there's a chance, I can catch him for you to practice with, but don't get your hopes up too much. I'm not very good at close combat."
Shinobu looked even more astonished.
"You're just telling me your weakness like that?"
Hiru looked at her for a while with a complicated expression.
"…My weakness is relative, all right? With your combat strength, which is about the same as a chick's, I could crush two or three of you with one hand."
Shinobu: …I'm so angry!
"Heh… don't be unconvinced. You have little strength, and wisteria poison has no effect on me. If we really count it out, you're the easiest one to deal with."
"How could there possibly be a demon that isn't afraid of wisteria? There's a limit to lying!"
"Mm… I need to change clothes anyway. How about I let you stab me once to test it?"
"…Are you serious?"
"In terms of results, I rarely lie."
Shinobu drew her blade almost instantly, clearly eager to try.
The direct result of this was that when Obanai and Sanemi saw Shinobu again, her face had completely lost all composure, leaving her in a nearly crazed state.
Before the two of them could develop any more concrete misunderstandings about him, Hiru raised both hands.
"Let me say this first. She shut herself down on her own. This isn't my Blood Demon Art. Although I can do the same thing."
Sanemi pulled Shinobu behind him and watched Hiru, who had his hands spread innocently, with suspicion.
"Shinobu, what happened?"
Shinobu raised her head as if she wanted to say something, but the moment she saw Doma, her eyes lit up. She drew her Nichirin Blade with a sharp sound.
"I refuse to believe it! There is absolutely nothing wrong with my poison!"