Watching the exhausted Shinobu rushing over, Sukuna calmly returned the Nichirin Blade to his waist.
"Let's go."
Shinobu could tell from Sukuna's expression that he seemed to be in a good mood.
But with her ordinary human mindset, she couldn't understand why. She simply agreed and continued the late-night journey.
"...Oh."
Because of the Swamp Demon incident, Muzan had been paying attention to Susamaru and Yahaba's movements.
First, he felt Susamaru's death. Then from Yahaba, he sensed the curse triggered by leaking information against his will.
Just like with the Swamp Demon, Muzan felt his power being interfered with.
But since Yahaba had far more of Muzan's blood than the Swamp Demon, and Muzan had been paying much closer attention, he sensed it more clearly this time.
It wasn't strange to Muzan that someone could overpower trash like this. But the most important thing was that he sensed his own power being split apart afterward.
One part seemed to attack something, while another part continued to "function"—continuing to operate as part of those demons' bodies instead of carrying out the curse.
This left Muzan deeply perplexed. He could understand those pieces of trash betraying him when threatened. But how could power that originally belonged to him betray him?
Was this the work of those Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen?
Even as he thought it, Muzan couldn't convince himself.
He couldn't remember when the last demon before the Swamp Monster had dared to leak information and died for it.
Those creatures had long stopped attempting such meaningless actions. And even among demons killed by so-called Hashira, none had ever betrayed his information.
In fact, even if they talked, those swordsmen wouldn't spare them. The relationship was irreconcilable. And trash like that didn't know anything valuable anyway.
Who was that guy?
Muzan thought irritably and slammed his fist on the table, punching a deep dent.
Could it be that another existence like that man had appeared?
That was the only explanation for trash being so frightened that they would expose him.
Was that really it?
At this point, Muzan still hadn't realized that the one who killed the Hashira and the one who killed his three demons were the same person.
A day later, at night, Sukuna and Shinobu arrived in Asakusa.
The Kasugai crow had brought information that a demon might be hiding here, so they had come to investigate.
Looking at the crowded streets of Asakusa at night, Sukuna finally felt the atmosphere of a real city, though it was still far from the Tokyo he remembered.
Compared to when he had first revived in Yuji's body, Sukuna now had little interest in killing ordinary people crawling everywhere.
He could no longer derive pleasure from acts as meaningless as stepping on ants. What excited him now were strong opponents, Breathing Techniques, and demons.
If this were still the world of jujutsu, large-scale slaughter would generate curses. That would be far more interesting than the current situation.
But thinking about it, Sukuna also found demons rather pathetic. After all that time, they still had to hide in the shadows like rats in a sewer. That level of failure was something else.
Suddenly, Sukuna caught a familiar scent.
The familiarity didn't actually come from Sukuna himself. More precisely, this familiarity came from the memories of this body's original owner, Tanjiro Kamado.
The memory of his family's massacre was so vivid that the sights and smells from that time had been deeply engraved into this body. Even with Sukuna in control, that memory was instantly awakened.
It was that smell from the kid's house.
Sukuna recalled that Tanjiro's sister had likely been turned into a demon by Muzan. That meant this smell might be Muzan's.
Thinking this, Sukuna moved to find the source of the scent.
Unlike the energetic Sukuna, Shinobu was exhausted after days of nonstop travel. She sat at a nearby ramen stall, nodding off as her head nearly dipped into the bowl.
But sensing Sukuna about to leave, she called out in a sleepy voice. "Where are you going...?"
"Oh, just wandering around. I'll be back."
Sukuna answered casually. For now, he had no intention of ditching Shinobu. In this era, having her assistance saved several times the effort compared to wandering alone.
Following the scent alone, Sukuna quickly moved through the crowd. He found the source of the smell—the back of a man. Without hesitation, he reached out and grabbed the man's shoulder.
Muzan turned to look at the one clutching his shoulder. What met his eyes was not the Demon Slayer Corps uniform but the pair of extra eyes on Sukuna's face and the black markings on his skin.
Muzan's first reaction was anger. How dare a demon touch him in public without permission, and so crudely at that?
His expression twisted into a snarl as he glared at Sukuna.
But the next moment, he sensed something wrong. Because of Sukuna's appearance, he instinctively assumed he was a demon.
Yet Muzan felt none of his own power in the young man before him.
But if he wasn't a demon, how could he explain the two pairs of eyes?
He couldn't figure it out. Just what was this creature?
And then he noticed the earrings hanging from Sukuna's ears.
Even Muzan, usually a master of composure, furrowed his brow. He remembered something from his past—memories of a certain man.
But that subtle change in expression did not escape Sukuna's notice.
Just then, the child Muzan was holding spoke.
"Daddy, who is he—"
Before the girl could finish, Sukuna glared at Muzan with displeasure. He didn't like being looked down upon from above. He raised his hand and said coldly.
"Your head is too high"
The next moment, a slash appeared on Muzan's neck.
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