Inside the Infinity Castle, the air seemed to freeze amidst the standoff between the two sides.
The midday sun pierced through the domed skylight, forming a pillar of light that cast perfectly onto Muzan Kibutsuji's throne.
Basking in it, he looked completely at ease. That absolute composure, looking down upon all creation, seemed to herald the dawn of a new era.
Below the throne stood nearly a hundred newborn demons who had received the Sun Blood.
No longer fearing the sunlight, their eyes burned with fanatical worship for their God King. Bloodthirsty snarls tore from their throats, merging into a terrifying cacophony.
Facing them from a distance were the newly arrived members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
The roaring flames surrounding Kyojuro Rengoku caused the very space around him to subtly distort.
Sanemi Shinazugawa's magical cyclones were primed and ready, looking as though they would tear everything apart in the next second.
The fighting spirit of everyone else had also peaked to its absolute limit.
The mocking curve of Muzan's lips widened.
A bunch of slightly overgrown ants dared to bare their fangs at him, the Ultimate Being? How utterly mindless!
He slowly raised his right hand, preparing to give the order.
With a single command, the heavy artillery and machine guns ambushing them from all sides would blow these ignorant swordsmen, along with their laughable confidence, to absolute pieces.
However, just as he was about to drop his hand.
*Twang—!*
A discordant biwa note rang out abruptly.
Nakime, the player, suddenly froze, her fingers stiffening against the strings.
Astonishment and disbelief surfaced on her face.
Her Blood Demon Art... had lost control! Her hands began playing entirely on their own.
The spatial doors that should have been closed tore open once again above everyone's heads!
Then, a purple silhouette plummeted out of the doorway, completely unguarded.
He happened to fall directly in front of a particularly massive newborn demon.
A vicious grin instantly split the newborn demon's face. With a gust of wind that tore through the air, it swiped its razor-sharp claws violently at the falling figure!
But just as the claws were about to make contact.
The falling figure shot it a cold, sideways glance.
Just a single glance.
In an instant, purple lightning flashed past like divine punishment descending upon the world!
*Bzzzt—!*
Amidst the ear-piercing crackle of electricity, an eerie, blood-red pattern formed by three connected tomoe spun rapidly within the figure's pupil.
The powerful newborn demon couldn't even let out a scream.
Its entire upper body was instantly blown through by the violent lightning, leaving behind a massive, charred hole billowing with green smoke.
Muzan's pupils shrank violently.
His god-like composure cracked for the very first time.
He whipped his head toward Nakime beside the throne, his voice suppressing a boiling rage.
"I only told you to pull the 'Hashira' in! Tell me, what kind of Hashira is this?!"
His furious question echoed through the cavernous hall.
The black-haired young man who had just landed happened to catch the word "Hashira."
He sheathed his crackling Kusanagi Sword. With one blood-red Sharingan and one Rinnegan shimmering with mysterious purple ripples, he swept a cold, indifferent gaze over the entire room.
Finally, he spoke icily.
"You're looking for a Hashira?"
"I am Sasuke Uchiha. I don't know if I'm the one you're looking for."
Before his words could even settle.
*Twang! Twang! Twang!*
The out-of-control biwa notes rang out in rapid succession. More spatial doors began tearing open randomly and uncontrollably across every corner of the Infinity Castle.
A young man sporting a badass pompadour tumbled out of the sky, cursing loudly as he crashed into the ground, completely disoriented.
"Ow, ow, ow... What the hell is going on?!"
He yelled out instinctively.
"Crazy Diamond Requiem!"
A massive, pink-and-blue figure instantly materialized behind him and slammed a fist down. All the injuries on the young man's body, along with his perfectly styled pompadour, were restored to normal in the blink of an eye.
The newcomer was none other than an upgraded Josuke Higashikata!
From another doorway, a little boy with a buzzcut and a red T-shirt dropped perfectly onto Tanjiro Kamado's shoulders.
Shinnosuke Nohara curiously pinched Tanjiro's earrings and asked in a childish voice.
"Big bro, why do you have playing cards hanging from your ears?"
"Big bro, how did you get that scar on your head? Does it hurt? Do you want Shin-chan to rub it for you?"
From yet another portal, a crying boy dressed in a luxurious pink kimono tumbled out, landing right in front of Muzan's throne.
Seeing Nakime playing the biwa nearby, he acted as if he had found his savior. Instinctively, he tried to throw his arms open and lunge at her, seeking a woman's comfort.
Looking at him, Muzan suddenly felt an extreme, deep-seated sense of disgust.
Did this cowardly, incompetent, utterly disgraceful piece of trash really deserve to appear before him?
He casually waved his arm, accompanied by a flash of pitch-black energy.
Momonosuke's crying abruptly ceased as his entire body was instantly reduced to ash, dissipating completely.
*BOOM—!!!*
With a deafening roar, an absolutely colossal doorway tore open right in the center of the plaza!
A massive red-and-blue semi-truck roared out of it. In mid-air, it underwent a series of dazzling, complex transformations brimming with mechanical beauty!
The grinding roar of shifting steel was deafening.
A giant robot, over ten meters tall and radiating immense power, crashed onto the ground, causing the entire Infinity Castle to tremble!
His optical-lens eyes scanned the bizarre, surreal surroundings before he finally asked in a deep, magnetic voice.
"I am Optimus Prime. Where is this place?"
Immediately after, from another portal, a man with bulging muscles and flowing long hair stood atop the doorway in an incredibly flamboyant pose that completely contradicted his macho appearance, scanning the Infinity Castle.
Suddenly sensing the aura of a fellow Ultimate Being radiating from Muzan, an intrigued smile crept onto his lips.
He looked up at the sun in the sky and let out a thoroughly delighted laugh.
"What a perfect body. It seems this world won't be too boring after all."
"Oh, right. I am—Kars!"
"They also seem to like calling me a Pillar Man, though I much prefer calling myself the Ultimate Being!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a man clad in red Sengoku-era armor appeared out of thin air before everyone.
Looking at the twisted, bizarre architecture before him, his brows furrowed slightly.
He slammed both hands onto the ground.
"Wood Release·Deep Forest Emergence!"
*Rumble—!*
Countless massive trees sprouted out of nowhere in complete defiance of natural laws. They surged upward, instantly and forcefully altering the terrain of the Infinity Castle with their boundless vitality!
Standing atop the canopy, the man looked at the scene before him and frowned again.
"How did I end up here? Is Tobirama messing around with some space-time ninjutsu experiment again?"
He was none other than the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
Right behind him, nine figures dropped consecutively from the portal at his back.
Immense chakra, beyond the imagination of any mortal, surged from their bodies.
They were the nine Jinchuriki!
At the very front, Naruto Uzumaki immediately spotted the black-haired young man acting all brooding in the distance.
His signature bright smile instantly bloomed. Waving his arms excitedly, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Sasuke—!"
"Hey, what are you doing here too?!"
Hearing that familiar voice, the corner of Sasuke Uchiha's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
Upon his throne, Muzan Kibutsuji stared at this group of wildly mismatched "Hashira," each radiating a more terrifying aura than the last. Even his brain, which had evolved into that of an Ultimate Being, completely short-circuited.
He no longer doubted whether Nakime had betrayed him; he was now wondering when she had started betraying him, and whether killing her right now would cause the Infinity Castle to collapse.