While Soma and Kiriya Ubuyashiki were discussing the situation, the others attending the Hashira meeting gradually arrived as well.
The Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa.
The Flower Hashira, Kanae Kocho.
The Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku.
The Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima.
Among them, Gyomei's injuries were still extremely severe. He had practically been carried in on a stretcher. Truthfully, there had been no need for him to come at all.
But this was Kiriya Ubuyashiki's first Hashira meeting since becoming the new Master of the Demon Slayer Corps. No matter what, Gyomei had wanted to be there to support him.
...
"The recent demon attacks have pushed things to an extremely dangerous point," Kiriya said as he sat formally before the Hashira, calmly reporting the situation. "Demons across the country have become more active than ever, and the Demon Slayer Corps no longer has the strength to deal with them properly."
Hearing this, Gyomei unconsciously tightened his fists.
A few days ago, he had survived the battle against Muzan Kibutsuji by sheer luck, but the damage to his body was so severe that he could barely move. At a time when the Demon Slayer Corps stood on the edge of collapse, he—someone once trusted more than anyone by the former Master—could do nothing to help his son.
That helplessness tormented him deeply.
"Then the surviving swordsmen will just have to shoulder more responsibility," Sanemi said without hesitation. "And we Hashira will push ourselves even harder."
Kyojuro gave a heavy nod in agreement. Though his own injuries had yet to fully heal, he was already prepared to return to action.
Everyone in the room looked exhausted. Their faces were pale with fatigue, yet even now, they were still willing to carry the burden on their shoulders, still willing to rush from place to place hunting demons and saving lives.
Soma's gaze slowly swept across every Hashira present before finally landing on Kiriya. He let out a quiet sigh.
"No... this isn't a matter of trying harder."
At once, everyone's eyes turned toward him.
Sanemi's brows twisted tightly together, ready to argue, but Soma continued before he could speak.
"Hunting demons has always been a battle fought with one's life on the line. In a situation this terrible, continuing to send swordsmen all over the country will only lead to more deaths."
He paused briefly before saying the words clearly.
"I propose that we temporarily stop demon extermination missions and have the entire Corps go into hiding."
The moment those words fell, the air inside the room seemed to freeze.
Kyojuro's sharp, spirited eyes widened instantly. His lips parted slightly as though he wanted to say something, only to swallow the words back down.
Kanae slowly raised her gaze, and for the first time in a long while, shock and confusion appeared in her gentle eyes.
Sanemi reacted the most violently.
He shot to his feet, the scars across his face turning red from anger.
"What did you just say?!"
His voice sounded as though it had been forced out through clenched teeth.
"Stop hunting demons? Hide away? You want us to stand by and watch those monsters slaughter people every single night? Do you even know how many people die to demons before dawn comes?"
Although Gyomei Himejima could not see, tears began to track silently down his closed eyes. He said nothing, but his heavily calloused hands gripped the edges of his stretcher with enough force to turn his knuckles white.
"Shinazugawa, calm down," Kyojuro finally spoke, though the usual passion and brightness in his voice had faded, replaced by a heavy seriousness. "I want to hear his reasoning. You understand better than anyone what this would mean for the Demon Slayer Corps."
Soma nodded slowly.
"Since the day the Demon Slayer Corps was founded, there has never been a precedent for abandoning the protection of humanity. Every swordsman who joins the Corps does so with the resolve that even if they die, they will kill at least one more demon."
He paused and looked at each person in the room.
"But I want to ask all of you something."
"Why did you join the Demon Slayer Corps in the first place?"
"Isn't that obvious?!" Sanemi gritted out. "To wipe every demon from this world!"
"To prevent others from suffering the same pain my sister and I went through," Kanae added softly, though a faint tremble lingered beneath her calm voice.
Kyojuro straightened his back proudly. "To protect the weak."
Gyomei still said nothing.
But the tears flowing from his eyes only grew heavier.
Soma nodded slowly.
"So in the end, everyone here fights for the same reason—to completely eradicate demons, right? Not just to kill a few of them, and not simply to create temporary peace, but to wipe every demon from this world at its very source."
This time, no one argued.
"Then let me ask another question."
"For hundreds of years, generation after generation of Demon Slayers have thrown away their lives fighting demons. Tens of thousands of demons have probably been killed by now. But have demons ever truly been eradicated?"
Silence answered him.
A suffocating silence filled the room.
Kyojuro lowered his head, his flame-colored hair shadowing his expression.
Kanae's fingers twisted tightly together until the tips of them turned pale.
Sanemi's fists clenched so hard they crackled, his chest rising and falling violently, yet not a single word came out.
Because they all knew the answer.
No.
The demons had never been eradicated.
Not only had they failed to disappear, but Muzan Kibutsuji continued creating more demons endlessly, like weeds that could never truly be cleared away.
"When we kill ordinary demons, it's like cutting branches from a massive tree."
"Cut down one branch, and two more grow back. No matter how hard we fight, as long as the root still exists, the tree will never die. For hundreds of years, the Demon Slayer Corps has been cutting branches. We've done it well, and we've done it desperately. Every generation has given everything they had to keep cutting, but the root has always remained."
He lifted his eyes and looked at everyone in the room.
"If we truly want to eradicate demons, there is only one path left. We must cut out the root itself and kill the first demon—Muzan Kibutsuji."
Everyone understood that killing Muzan was the only way to end everything, but it was also something that had always seemed impossible. Muzan had been cautious for centuries. Most of the time, he never even revealed himself. Simply finding him was nearly impossible, much less killing him.
At that moment, Kiriya finally spoke. "Mr. Soma, do you mean to suggest that we consolidate our entire combat capacity and focus purely on a decisive decapitation strike?"
Soma nodded. "Instead of scattering our forces everywhere and exhausting ourselves trying to put out fires, we should preserve all our strength, discover Muzan's weakness, and prepare a flawless plan to kill him in one decisive strike. Until then, we need to hide ourselves and conserve our power. We can't continue making meaningless sacrifices."
Silence filled the room once again.
"But… what about the people being attacked by demons?"
The Demon Slayer Corps had been created to eradicate demons and protect humanity. That was why so many people, even knowing that becoming a Demon Slayer meant walking down a road with no return, still chose to take that path willingly.
Soma fell silent for a moment before speaking softly.
"For Demon Slayers, the moment we step onto this path, we stop valuing our own lives above the mission. Even if we know we'll die, we still keep moving forward. Compared to death itself, standing by and watching others die is even more painful. But after all these years of protecting people… has the problem truly been solved? Have demons really been eradicated?"
His voice grew quieter. "Right now, entering dormancy simply means temporarily choosing to accept that we cannot save everyone in the short term."
"Namu Amida Butsu…"
Tears streamed down Gyomei's face as he softly recited a Buddhist prayer. "After all these years, the problem truly hasn't been solved. There isn't even the slightest sign that demons are disappearing. I myself have slain countless demons, yet their numbers have never decreased. Muzan still roams free, and demons continue appearing without end."
His voice trembled faintly.
"Sometimes, I find myself wondering when this endless cycle of slaughter will finally meet its end... yet I never dared to dwell on it because I simply could not stop. I could only focus on saving whoever was before me, killing whatever demon crossed my path..."
He could not bring himself to continue, his tears splashing down onto the fabric of his stretcher.
Kyojuro slowly raised his head.
"I understand what you mean by hiding and preserving our strength," he said heavily. "But we are swordsmen. My blade was born to slay demons. Asking me to sheathe it while demons devour people…"
He closed his eyes briefly.
"That is not something easily done."
"I can't do it either."
Sanemi gritted his teeth and turned away before slamming his fist into a wooden pillar. Splinters burst into the air as his shoulders shook violently.
No one could see his expression, but everyone heard the voice he forced out through clenched teeth, as though he were suppressing unbearable pain.
"Since the day the Demon Slayer Corps was founded… we have never once retreated."
He spoke each word slowly and firmly.
For ordinary people, choosing to retreat when facing danger or an impossible situation was understandable. Hiding for a time and waiting for a better opportunity was not wrong.
But they were demon slayers.
If even they chose to step back, then what would happen to ordinary people? What kind of despair would those people face when confronted by demons alone? Sanemi did not dare imagine it.
"I cannot align myself with this strategy," Kyojuro Rengoku stated firmly as he stood up. "I refuse to hide myself away at a time like this."
From the moment he became a demon slayer, he had understood what kind of path he had chosen to walk. He still remembered the words his mother spoke to him when she lay dying—that those born strong had a duty to protect the weak. Strength was never meant to harm others or satisfy one's own selfish desires.
He had always carried those words in his heart.
There was no way he could stand by and do nothing while watching the weak suffer.
...
The Hashira meeting eventually ended amidst fierce arguments.
In the end, the Demon Slayer Corps decided that for the next few years, preserving their strength would become their main priority. They would not completely stop hunting demons or protecting people, but they would no longer throw everything they had into every battle as they once did.
After the meeting ended, Soma returned to the residence Kiriya Ubuyashiki had specially arranged for him on Mount Fujikasane.
At some point, night had quietly fallen.
The moment the sun disappeared below the horizon, demons began to emerge once more. Kasugai Crows flapped through the darkness, their cries sharp and mournful as they carried reports of demon attacks from every corner of the country.
In the past, the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters would immediately coordinate responses and dispatch swordsmen wherever demons appeared, never hesitating even if sacrifices had to be made.
But this time, for once, there was silence.
Reports of demon attacks grew more frequent and more severe with each passing day. The existence of demons, once hidden from ordinary people, gradually became known to more and more civilians.
And once people learned that monsters who fed on humans truly existed, panic began spreading everywhere.
A heavy, suffocating tension seemed to hang over the entire country.
Even the authorities had begun contacting the Ubuyashiki family more frequently, but every answer they received painted an extremely bleak picture.
For a long time, the government's attitude toward the Demon Slayer Corps had remained vague, merely allowing its existence without openly acknowledging it.
But the current situation had become too serious.
They had no choice now but to offer more support.
...
As another Kasugai Crow flew overhead, crying out with its harsh voice, Soma quietly looked up at the night sky.
He himself did not feel much about it.
But for the others, hearing those reports was unbearable.
For years, they had been used to rushing out the moment they heard news of a demon. Now, however, they could no longer leave immediately like before. Just thinking about how many people would die because of that decision filled the swordsmen with pain.
Naturally, many people were also dissatisfied with Soma, the one who had proposed going into hiding.
But Soma did not care much about their opinions.
He was different from the other members of the Demon Slayer Corps. He did not possess the kind of belief that drove someone to sacrifice themselves for others without hesitation.
Alone, he wandered through Mount Fujikasane.
Thinking about it carefully, this was only his second time coming here. Just like during his first visit, wisteria flowers covered the mountains everywhere he looked. For any demon, staying in a place like this would be unbearable.
Only a perfect demon like him could walk freely through a land overflowing with wisteria.
Just then, a warm voice, gentle like sunlight, came from behind him.
"Are you alone?"
Soma turned around.
Standing there was a tall young woman dressed in the Demon Slayer Corps uniform, a butterfly-patterned haori draped over her shoulders. She had delicate features and long black hair that flowed softly in the night breeze.
The Flower Hashira, Kanae Kocho.
"So it's Miss Kanae," Soma said lightly. "I think this is only the second time we've met on Mount Fujikasane."
Kanae naturally remembered their first meeting during the Final Selection on Mount Fujikasane. Back then, he had already left a very deep impression on her.
"Please don't take it to heart," Kanae said softly as she stepped closer and stood beside him. "Everyone isn't angry at you personally. They just… can't accept the situation we're in right now."
"I know."
Soma nodded lightly.
Kanae carefully studied his expression with her beautiful purple eyes, as though trying to confirm whether he truly meant what he said. Only after seeing that he genuinely did not seem bothered did she quietly relax.
"I happened to bring some food with me when I came over," she said softly. "Are you hungry? Would you like to eat a little?"
Soma did not refuse.
After she opened the food box, he simply began eating with her.
The two of them sat on a large stone, quietly looking out over the scenery of Mount Fujikasane while they ate beneath the endless sea of wisteria flowers.
After a while, Soma asked with slight curiosity, "Why haven't I seen your sister?"
By all rights, if even he had been allowed to attend the Hashira meeting, then Shinobu Kocho should have had the qualifications to attend as well.
"Shinobu was badly injured," Kanae said softly as her eyes lowered. "She's still unconscious."
Back when one of the Twelve Kizuki had attacked the Butterfly Mansion, Shinobu had fought Lower Rank Two, Rokuro, alone in order to protect everyone there. Although she had managed to kill him in the end, she herself had nearly died from the battle.
Fortunately, Kanae had returned in time with Tamayo. Thanks to Tamayo's medical skill, Shinobu had barely been pulled back from the edge of death.
Hearing this, Soma froze slightly.
This was not something that should originally have happened to Shinobu.
"Is she alright?" he asked quietly.
"She's recovering slowly now," Kanae replied in a low voice. "She just… has a hard time accepting the fact that she was saved by a demon."
Soma could understand that completely.
He had interacted with Shinobu before and knew better than most just how deep her hatred toward demons truly ran. He could easily imagine how complicated her feelings must have been after learning that a demon had saved her life.
"Come to think of it," Kanae said softly as she picked up a rice ball from the food box, "you really are different from the other swordsmen in the Demon Slayer Corps."
"Different?" Soma murmured.
Kanae nodded gently while chewing quietly, her gaze drifting into the distance.
"You're not truly obsessed with hunting demons, and you don't seem particularly driven by the idea of protecting others either. In some ways, you don't really feel like a true demon slayer."
A breeze passed through the mountain, lifting strands of the girl's long hair into the air.
Only then did Kanae turn her head toward him, her soft purple eyes calm and gentle.
"Actually… I've always hoped that one day my sister would leave the Demon Slayer Corps behind. I wanted her to become an ordinary person, find someone she truly likes, and live a normal, peaceful life with the happiness ordinary people deserve."
As she spoke, Kanae let out a faint sigh.
"But I know that dream was always just my own wishful thinking. Shinobu has never been able to let go of the hatred buried in her heart."
Her fingers slowly tightened together.
"For a long time, I believed that one day both my sister and I would die on the path of hunting demons. Perhaps… that was simply the fate of the two of us."
Then, after a brief pause, a faint smile appeared on her face.
"But recently, I realized Shinobu has started to change."
Soma listened quietly.
He knew a little about the past shared by the Kocho sisters, and he understood how deep Shinobu's hatred toward demons truly was. Hearing Kanae say that Shinobu had changed left him slightly surprised and more than a little curious.
Curious about exactly what had changed in her.
"Shinobu has a very good impression of you," Kanae said gently. "If you have time… I hope you'll spend more time with her."
As she spoke, Kanae slowly stood up.
Facing him directly, she placed her hands lightly before her stomach and bowed politely.
"And if you have feelings for Shinobu as well… then please, take good care of her."
...
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