The night breeze of the Yoshiwara Red-Light District carried a heavy scent of cosmetics, sweeping across the rows of wooden buildings.
On the towering roof opposite Kyogoku House, Tengen crouched amidst the cold tiles. He had long since shed his pimp disguise and ripped off the ridiculous fake mustache.
His headband shimmered in the moonlight, and two massive swords were strapped crosswise on his back.
As a former ninja, hiding his presence was as natural to him as breathing.
His original plan was perfect: sell Tanjiro and the others into the three most suspicious brothels as servants, let them slowly gather intelligence from the bottom up, while he provided support from the perimeter, searching for the whereabouts of his three missing wives. Once the true identity and lair of the demon were confirmed, he would strike with thunderous force.
This was called infiltration, this was called assassination, this was the basic discipline of a Ninja.
But for all his calculations, he had missed one variable: Yamada, who played by his own rules.
"This bastard..."
Tengen's lips twitched fiercely, and two veins bulged on his forehead.
Looking down from above, he took in everything happening at the main entrance of Kyogoku House.
Banknotes fluttering across the sky, the arrogant declaration of buying out the house, and that mass mockery that had just clearly echoed through the entire street.
"Foundation makeup thicker than a city wall..."
Tengen covered his face, unable to bear watching.
Was he tired of living, or was he afraid the demon wouldn't find him?
Who walks up and points at the nose of the top courtesan of the Yoshiwara to call her ugly?
This was practically carving the word "provocation" on his forehead and broadcasting it with a megaphone.
"What happened to 'casually slaughtering a rat'? You call this casual? You've clearly just blown up their rat hole." Tengen gritted his teeth.
But complaints aside, as the Sound Hashira, his keen intuition allowed him to capture a terrifying change the moment Yamada's voice fell.
Inside Kyogoku House, which had been filled with laughter, the soundscape had completely changed.
If the previous sounds were a noisy but orderly secular tune, then now, all sounds had been forcibly severed by a thick, nauseating, and terrifying killing intent.
A subtle snapping sound came from the air.
It was the wail of the wooden staircase railing being crushed by some immense force it couldn't withstand.
"Such heavy demonic aura." Tengen put away his playful thoughts, his eyes turning sharp as knives.
"So it really is hiding in Kyogoku House. And this level of pressure... it's definitely an Upper Rank."
Since Yamada had already attracted the most dangerous firepower, this was the perfect time for him to act.
"Although he is reckless, he saved me a lot of trouble."
Tengen stood up, heading straight towards the underground passage.
"Suma, Makio, Hinatsuru... wait for me, you must not be harmed."
...
Meanwhile, in the storage room of the backyard of Kyogoku House.
Zenitsu was kneeling on the cold wooden floor, holding a rag, bitterly scrubbing the hallway. His hair bun had come undone halfway, and the white powder on his face was mottled with sweat.
'Why... why does that normie have three wives, and Boss Yamada can take money and act like a big shot in the front hall, while I have to scrub the floor here?'
As Zenitsu scrubbed a stubborn stain, he was crying frantically in his heart, 'I want to sit on a soft cushion and drink alcohol too. I also want to see beautiful courtesans.'
Just as he was full of complaints, a crisp sound of porcelain shattering came from the front hall, followed immediately by Yamada's sharp-tongued mockery.
Zenitsu's hand paused abruptly.
As a swordsman with hearing far beyond normal people, he not only heard Yamada's words clearly, but also heard the sound coming from inside the body of the woman upstairs who had been enraged.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
That was not the heartbeat of a human.
It was a viscous, turbid sound, filled with endless resentment and malice. It was like countless corpses rolling in a swamp, the bone-chilling noise of bones rubbing against each other.
"Eek!"
Zenitsu shuddered, even his rag falling to the ground.
He covered his ears tightly with both hands, cold sweat instantly soaking the back of his thin kimono.
Too scary.
This sound... it wasn't human at all. This was a demon. And a monster a hundred times more terrifying than any demon he had encountered on Mount Natagumo.
'The courtesan of this house... is a demon?!'
Zenitsu was so scared his legs went weak, but the image of Yamada standing alone in the front hall facing that monster immediately appeared in his mind.
'No... although Boss is very strong, there are ordinary people everywhere here.'
Zenitsu gritted his teeth, forcing himself to crawl up from the ground. He wiped the tears on his face indiscriminately, his right hand gripping the hilt of the nichirin blade hidden in the broom handle, and stumbled towards the front hall.
Even if he was scared to death, he was still a swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps.
...
At the same time, in the back kitchen of Tokito House.
Tanjiro was carrying two large baskets of freshly washed radishes, preparing to send them to the cellar. He had worked so hard that the makeup on his face had already smeared into a mess.
Suddenly, his forward steps stopped abruptly.
A breeze blew from across the street. Tanjiro's nostrils flared twice, and his originally gentle dark red eyes instantly shrank to the size of pinpricks.
Such a thick smell of blood!
It wasn't just the smell of blood. Mixed in was an aura of a demon that was rotten, cold, and seemed capable of freezing a person's soul.
The source of this smell was Kyogoku House across the street!
'This scent... it's even stronger than the Lower Moon One on the Mugen Train.' Tanjiro's breathing stalled for a moment.
Upper Rank!
It was definitely an Upper Rank demon!
'Yamada-san and Zenitsu are both there.'
Tanjiro could no longer care about any infiltration mission. He threw the basket off his shoulder, and the radishes rolled all over the floor.
"Sorry, Madam! I have some urgent business to take care of!"
Tanjiro shouted at the madam who was still busy in the kitchen, kicked open the back door, and sprinted towards Kyogoku House.
Hinokami Kagura... Total Concentration Breathing...
He was frantically adjusting his breathing rhythm as he ran, his hand already on the hilt of his nichirin blade.
Although Yamada was powerful, this was the densely populated Yoshiwara. Once an Upper Rank went berserk, he didn't know how many innocent people would suffer.
—
Ogimotoya, second-floor guest room.
Inosuke was being pressed in front of a vanity table by a few old maids, who were forcibly applying makeup to his face.
"Oh my, this girl has such a good foundation, it's just that her temper is too stubborn."
"Don't move. If you keep moving, the lipstick will be drawn crooked."
Inosuke was so annoyed he almost bit someone, but remembering Tengen's warning, he could only keep snorting from his nostrils, suppressing the urge to draw his blades and hack this group of old women.
Just then, his keen senses, honed over years in the mountains, caught a trace of anomaly.
The air was vibrating.
A faint, yet malicious stinging sensation came from the surface of his skin.
This feeling was just like when he encountered the fiercest wild beast deep in the mountains. The opponent had already bared its fangs and was ready to tear the prey's throat at any moment.
Killing intent!
Inosuke opened his eyes abruptly and pushed away the old maids surrounding him.
"What are you doing, Inoko! The makeup isn't finished yet!" The old maids exclaimed.
"Don't bother me! The prey has appeared!"
Inosuke couldn't care about that much anymore. He tore off the hem of the kimono that was getting in his way, revealing the strong muscles underneath and the twin blades tied to his legs.
He didn't even use the door, he kicked the paper window on the second floor to pieces. Accompanied by wood chips flying across the sky, he jumped down from the second floor, smashing heavily onto the street.
"Boar Rush!"
Inosuke let out an excited roar, drew his two serrated nichirin blades, and followed the direction of the killing intent, rushing straight towards Kyogoku House.