As Riezel began his endeavor to create Hermit's scabbard, a conversation unfolded at the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps, Ubuyashiki Estate.
The location was the courtyard where Riezel had previously met Kagaya.
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi's practice finally come to an end?"
Kagaya once again went to the veranda leading to the courtyard, listening to Shinobu's report as she knelt before him.
"Yes." Shinobu replied with a smile, bowing her head. "I can confirm it myself; there's no mistake."
"Um, that's good to hear..." Kagaya said gently. "And what do you think of his practice results?"
Facing that question, Shinobu answered without hesitation.
"It should be as Master had hoped for."
Her answer held a meaning understood only by Kagaya and the Hashira.
Shinobu's implied meaning was that Kagaya's previous statement was no mere talk.
"Is that so? So, you think so too?" Kagaya seemed pleased.
"I can't help it... As someone who has witnessed the results of his practice firsthand, I can't imagine anyone surpassing Tsugikuni..." Shinobu said softly. "If our enemies are stronger than Tsugikuni, it would be truly despairing."
She expressed herself to that extent.
She genuinely believed that if there existed demons stronger than Riezel, the Demon Slayer Corps might as well disband on the spot because humans would never be able to defeat such monsters.
But conversely—
"But if there are no demons stronger than Tsugikuni, then the dream of us Demon Slayers might be closest to fulfillment in our generation." Shinobu's eyes revealed a complex and hopeful emotion.
"We will definitely achieve that dream..." Kagaya said decisively. "After finally seeing the opportunity to end all of this, we must ensure that all tragedies end in our generation... The stain on the Ubuyashiki family, our shame, must also be cleansed in this generation... This time, we must kill him."
His voice echoed slowly.
"We must kill the Demon King, Kibutsuji Muzan..."
At his words, Shinobu bowed her head deeper.
"Yes."
Her response lingered in the courtyard, not fading for a long time.
===
At the same time, not far from the Ubuyashiki Estate, deep in the mountains, several people were carrying some things, heading toward the town.
They were dressed in matching black uniforms, with masks covering their faces, looking somewhat like professional personnel from a secret organization.
And indeed they were.
These people were members of the 'Kakushi'.
The Kakushi, who acted as the support unit of the Demon Slayer Corps, were specifically responsible for post-battle cleanup after battles between Demon Slayers and demons, as well as other miscellaneous tasks.
In other words, members of the Kakushi were non-combatants, mostly lacking swordsmanship skills, similar to the personnel in the Butterfly Mansion, who supported the Demon Slayer Corps from the rear.
At this moment, several members of the Kakushi were transporting a batch of supplies to the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps.
"Be careful, don't bump into anything. These are the daily supplies for the Master and the Hashira."
"So, are we dropping these straight off at the mansion?"
"Anyone wanna swap with me?"
As they talked with each other while making their way toward the town, someone among them quickly noticed an anomaly.
"Hey, what's that?"
With a surprised voice, the one pushing the cart of supplies pointed ahead on the mountain path.
Everyone quickly looked in the direction he indicated.
"Wait, is that a vase?"
"Seriously? A vase?"
"Why the heck is there a vase in the middle of the road?"
Each of them looked at each other in confusion.
As they had said, right in the middle of the mountain path, there appeared a vase.
It looked quite exquisite and seemed out of place in these deep mountains, especially standing in the middle of the path, making it both strange and abrupt.
"Where did this vase come from anyway?"
As one of them somewhat impatiently approached to move the vase, something astonishing happened in that split second.
*Swish!*
Suddenly, a hand sprang out from the delicate vase, grabbing his head and dragging him into the vase.
*Splurt!*
"AAAHHHHH—!!!"
As a burst of blood splattered from the mouth of the vase, his scream started out sharp but was abruptly silenced, and all movement ceased.
"What the heck?!"
"I-Is it a demon?!"
"It's a demon! A demon is here!"
In an instant, the remaining members of the Kakushi plunged into panic, reflexively fleeing to distance themselves from the vase.
Unfortunately, as they rushed into the bushes, screams echoed one after another, only calming down after a while.
At this moment, a figure emerged from the vase, stained with blood.
"Hyo, hyo, hyo... Looks like we've caught a big fish this time."
Such mischievous laughter—it wasn't from a blooming young girl but from a particularly hideous creature.
He was entirely pale, resembling a wriggling fish, with purple fins growing on top of his head. Two mouths were positioned where his eyes should be, and two eyes were on his forehead and mouth, with yellow eyeballs and green lips. Several small hands sprouted from various parts of his head and body, making him a complete aberration devoid of any human features.
Upon closer inspection, the eyes on his forehead and mouth were inscribed with Japanese characters.
One eye read 'Five'.
The other eye read 'Upper Rank'.
He was none other than Gyokko, the Upper Five of the Twelve Kizuki.
"I totally didn't expect this at all... originally ordered by Lord Muzan to track that swordsman named Tsugikuni Yoriichi, we actually stumbled upon the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps during the process... This is truly a great achievement, hyo, hyo, hyo..."
Gyokko excitedly writhed his body as he spoke in the direction of the bushes.
"You agree, right? Hantengu?"
Following Gyokko's extremely excited voice, a figure slowly crawled out of the bushes.
It was an elderly demon with red eyes, no visible characters in it, a large bump on top of his head, accompanied by two curved horns, and a face resembling a scared old man.
"Scary... so scary..." Hantengu shivered, cowering on the ground. "We originally had only one enemy, but now it's turned into the entire Demon Slayer Corps! Too scaryyyy!"
Hantengu acted as if he was scared to tears.
"Oh my, if you say that, then I guess I'll just take all the credit this time, can I? Hyo, hyo, hyo..." Gyokko extended his long tongue, twisting it around while laughing.
"Hiiii..." Hantengu curled up in the grass, seemingly not hearing his words. "I-I need to report this to Lord Muzan, then he will protect me!"
"Don't forget to mention my name!"
After shouting toward the bushes where Hantengu was, Gyokko turned and looked in the direction of the town while chuckling.
"Hyo, hyo, hyo, looks like my collection will soon have another fine piece of art..."
"But... which Hashira should I use for the new vase? I need to think about it carefully, hyo, hyo, hyo..."
===
"What did you say? You found their headquarters?"
In a luxurious study, a gloomy and ominous voice echoed.
"Tracking down the human who calls himself Tsugikuni Yoriichi, only to stumble upon the hiding place of those Ubuyashikis instead? Hahaha..."
After hearing the report from Hantengu, the voice's owner in the darkness chuckled.
"Well, those pests have been bothering me for years. It's time to get rid of this nuisance."
After saying that, the voice's owner pondered for a moment before speaking again.
"Hantengu, you and Gyokko stay there for now. I'll send Daki over to your side."
"That place is their headquarters, where there will always be a few Hashira stationed. If too many Hashira are staying there, you two might need to step in to make sure no one slips through."
"This time, the three of you will act together. Bring me the heads of those Ubuyashikis, don't disappoint me."
As the cold voice fell, within the voice owner's mind, Hantengu's voice quickly echoed.
"Un-Understood, Lord Muzan."
With that, Hantengu's timid voice quickly disappeared.
"Ubuyashiki..."
In the study, a menacing whisper filled the air.
"This time, you're done for..."
===
"Lord Muzan ordered us to wait for Daki to come to support us!"
In the depths of the mountains, Hantengu crawled out from the bushes once again, dragging himself halfway out, and started yelping in Gyokko's direction.
"Daki? That useless courtesan?" Gyokko stopped his body's movements and said quite sarcastically. "She's coming for what? To slow us down?"
"Hiii!" Hantengu said coweringly. "It's Lord Muzan's order! It would be scary, very scary, to disobey him!"
"...Fine." Gyokko said somewhat unhappily. "Since even the Upper Six is coming, then this time it's certain."
"Three Upper Ranks working together... it's been a century since we've seen this..." Hantengu murmured with a trembling voice. "The last time more than two Upper Ranks were together was during the summoning 113 years ago... After 113 years, half of the Upper Ranks are somehow together on this task, th-three... odd numbers... Scary! Scary!"
"Hyo, hyo, hyo, I'm actually getting excited~"
Gyokko spread his arms, his body twisting once more, his voice growing increasingly excited.
"Seizing this opportunity, I'll create several more pieces of artwork."
"Next, it's time for work."
"Hyo, hyo, hyo... Hyo, hyo, hyo..."
In the darkness, Gyokko's chilling laughter lingered, as if foretelling a storm's imminent arrival.