Tamayo and her assistant Yushiro, who had been invited to attend.
Genya, who had participated in the recent battles against the Upper Ranks but had basically contributed nothing.
Shinobu Kocho, one of the actual managers of the Butterfly Mansion who had been living in Tokyo for a long time to teach.
And the two remaining wives of Tengen Uzui.
Calling it a Hashira Meeting, it was actually an important internal gathering that could basically be said to have assembled all the high-ranking members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
"Before the meeting officially begins, there are some things I believe I must tell everyone beforehand."
Sitting in the main seat with terrifying scars covering his face, Ubuyashiki looked at everyone with that seemingly unchanging gentle smile and spoke softly:
"Since the birth of the progenitor of demons, Muzan Kibutsuji, the Demon Slayer Corps has existed for a thousand years.
"During this past millennium, although we have faced multiple crises of annihilation, we have ultimately managed to survive them all without serious harm.
"But this time, our enemies are unprecedentedly powerful. I cannot give you any promise of victory, nor can I guarantee that you will certainly live to see the day when everything settles.
"In fact, if you continue to remain in the Demon Slayer Corps, being killed by demons in the near future is the most likely outcome for you all.
"As your master, I believe I have the duty to clearly inform you of this, and I should also give you all a chance to choose.
"Everyone, if any of you wish to leave the Demon Slayer Corps, you may speak up now.
"Whoever you may be, there is still a chance to leave at this moment. Do not be afraid, nor feel ashamed. I will not blame anyone."
After finishing his words, Ubuyashiki said no more. He simply looked at the people in the room with calm eyes, waiting for their decision.
His gaze swept across Gyomei Himejima, Sanemi Shinazugawa, Muichiro Tokito, and Tanjiro.
Then to Sabito, Giyu, Makomo, and Kanae. There was no change in expression on any of their faces, completely emotionless.
They all seemed to have already made up their minds to fight against demons until the very last moment within the Demon Slayer Corps.
Only the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, subconsciously turned to look at the people beside her. Finding that no one was speaking, she followed suit and made the same decision.
"In that case..."
After a long silence, Ubuyashiki finally spoke again.
"Then from now on, we shall walk this path together with united hearts, unafraid of life and death."
"Yes, Master."
Without any unnecessary words, Ubuyashiki directly began today's main topic.
"Regarding the extermination of the Upper Ranks, based on the intelligence provided by everyone during this period, I have more or less formed some ideas.
"First, regarding Upper Rank Six. As the weakest link among the Upper Ranks, I estimate that two Hashira who have awakened their Demon Slayer Marks should be able to successfully exterminate this sibling pair. The key is to be fast and careful of their poison.
"Next are Upper Rank Four and Five. We currently have no intelligence on them, so when the time comes to exterminate them, I can only ask everyone to adapt accordingly.
"Then, there is Upper Rank Three..."
Speaking to this point, Ubuyashiki paused slightly.
Akaza, as the second Upper Rank demon encountered by the modern Demon Slayer Corps, had brought deep shock to everyone with his strength during the battle at the Infinity Castle.
It was precisely starting from Akaza that the Demon Slayer Corps finally gained a relatively concrete understanding of how powerful the Upper Ranks truly were.
"According to intelligence, Akaza is extremely skilled in combat. After the battle at the Infinity Castle, he not only overcame the weakness of decapitation but also entered that supreme realm.
"To be honest, for such a demon, I cannot think of any way to defeat him.
"For him, I believe we have only one response—stalling.
"Have some swordsmen find ways to delay him, buying time for us to slay Muzan.
"As long as we can successfully kill Muzan, no matter how powerful these demons become, they will ultimately die.
"Based on the battle situation at the Infinity Castle, this demon has an unusual fondness for combat.
"He would even deliberately hold back against his enemies to enjoy the battle longer. This is perhaps something we can exploit...
"Then, there is Upper Rank Two."
Gently turning the page of the intelligence in his hand, Ubuyashiki continued:
"This demon is the complete opposite of Akaza. He does not seem to excel at close combat, but his Blood Demon Art is extremely bizarre and unpredictable, very difficult to deal with.
"But at the same time, his personality also has certain flaws that we can exploit.
"He talks a lot, likes to chat with people during battle, and prefers to devour beautiful human women. He would even start devouring them recklessly during combat...
"Regarding this point, I previously thought of a perhaps feasible method to exterminate him..."
As he spoke, Ubuyashiki turned to look at the two wives of Tengen Uzui who had been sitting in the corner all this time.
The moment their eyes met, the two of them spoke without hesitation, their voices filled with rage:
"Flower Hashira, and Miss Butterfly, we sisters will also participate in the final extermination of the demon! When the time comes, please inject as much wisteria poison into our bodies as possible!
"Do not concern yourselves with our bodies. When the battle comes, we will definitely find a way to make that demon devour us! Let him unknowingly succumb to poison and weaken!
"When that time comes, we beg you to be sure to cut off his neck! To avenge Tengen and us sisters!"
This was the extermination method that Ubuyashiki had ultimately devised after discussing with these two.
Exploiting Doma's weakness in close combat and his habit of eating anything, they would weaken him by having wisteria poison explode directly inside his body, ultimately creating an opportunity for the demon slayers to exterminate him.
This method sounded like it still had many uncertainties, but in reality, it was already the method with the highest success rate.
If they were to fight head-on, there was even less possibility of victory!
These Upper Rank demons at the forefront—if they didn't find ways to exploit their weaknesses and flaws, the demon slayers had no way to defeat them.
As for having Tengen Uzui's two wives act as bait...
Honestly, at this point, those who were willing to stay had naturally already prepared themselves to sacrifice their lives at any moment.
There was nothing more to say about this. Everything was for the sake of slaying demons.
"Finally, there is Upper Rank One—Tsugikuni Mitsuba."
[Eh? Mitsuba?]
Suddenly hearing this name caused Shinobu Kocho, who was sitting behind Kanae, to pause slightly, her expression puzzled.
[The exact same name... Is this a coincidence?]
Not noticing her momentary abnormality, Ubuyashiki simply closed the intelligence in his hand and turned to look at Tamayo, who was sitting nearby.
"Miss Tamayo, as someone who once assisted the Demon Slayer Corps in launching an extermination operation against Tsugikuni Mitsuba, could you provide us with some suggestions?"
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I just released a new fanfic! It's a Naruto x Fate crossover. You can check it out on my profile, or find the novel down below: Naruto: I Chose Orochimaru — Ten Years Later, We're Punching the Moon.