Chapter 96: This Is an Overt Plot

Time slipped by.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

At dawn, when the first pale rays of sunlight spilled through the window, Tanjirou finally opened his eyes.

What greeted him was a clean white ceiling.

For a moment, he lay there without moving. His thoughts were slow, like water just beginning to thaw. Then memory returned in fragments. The Swordsmith Village. The Upper Moons. Nezuko burning under the sun. Muzan's demons fleeing. The last strike. The exhaustion that swallowed him whole.

His fingers twitched.

He turned his head slightly.

Nezuko was lying beside the bed, curled close as if she had refused to move away from him. Her breathing was calm and steady. She seemed to be sleeping deeply, her face peaceful beneath the morning light.

Tanjirou's tense heart eased.

He did not call out.

He only watched her for a while, his gaze softening.

Then his expression changed.

Asuramaru.

He immediately looked around the room. It did not take him long to find the sword resting on the left side of his hospital bed.

Tanjirou reached out with some effort. The moment his fingers touched the hilt, he called into his heart, his voice carrying a nervous tremor.

"Asuramaru... are you there?"

The silence that followed lasted only a moment.

But for Tanjirou, that moment felt far too long.

He remembered the way Asuramaru had not answered him before he lost consciousness. That terrible silence had frightened him more than he wanted to admit.

Fortunately, this time, a familiar irritated voice answered.

"You brat. Do you have any idea how much power I used this time? Even I was forced into a deep sleep."

The excuse came out smoothly enough.

Tanjirou did not doubt it at all.

Instead, guilt immediately flooded his face.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "Asuramaru, are you feeling all right now?"

Inside the sword, Asuramaru felt a rare prick of guilt.

He had only made up a convenient reason to cover his silence. Seeing Tanjirou take it so seriously made him feel, for once, like he had kicked a loyal dog by accident.

"The consumption was pretty serious," Asuramaru replied after a pause, sounding casual on purpose. "I slept for two days. If I had used more power than I could handle, I don't know how long I would have stayed asleep."

Before he could continue, Tanjirou spoke with quiet firmness.

"I'm sorry. I won't let that happen again."

There was no hesitation in his words.

Asuramaru went silent for a breath.

Then he clicked his tongue.

"Do whatever you want. You're the Sword Master, after all."

He gave no further answer.

Tanjirou lowered his gaze, gently gripping the hilt for a moment before letting go.

He had only just sat up when the door was thrown open with all the grace of a charging boar.

"Tanjirou!"

Inosuke burst into the room like a storm, voice loud enough to shake the windows. The moment he saw Tanjirou awake, he rushed straight to the bedside and jabbed a thumb at himself.

"I'm a Hashira now too! The Beast Hashira! Amazing, right?"

Looking at his old companion's puffed-up posture, Tanjirou could not help but smile.

"That's amazing, Inosuke."

Inosuke placed his hands on his hips and laughed.

"Of course it is! The world finally understands the greatness of Lord Inosuke!"

Before he could continue celebrating himself, Zenitsu entered right behind him and shoved him aside.

"Move, you noisy mountain beast!"

He leaned toward Tanjirou, eyes full of worry.

"Tanjirou, how do you feel? Does anything hurt? Are you dizzy? Can you still breathe? Wait, obviously you can breathe, but are you breathing properly?"

"I'm fine," Tanjirou answered with a helpless smile.

Zenitsu let out a breath as if he had been the one recovering from a life-or-death battle.

"That's good... That's really good."

Tanjirou sat up properly and looked at the two of them by his bed. His chest warmed.

They had all changed.

Zenitsu's aura was steadier than before. Even if he still talked too much, there was something calmer beneath the noise. Inosuke still looked like he could start a fight with a sliding door and somehow lose to it out of pride, but his presence had sharpened too.

They were Hashira now.

His companions had reached that height with him.

Before long, more people arrived after hearing the news.

Among them was Shinobu Kocho.

She walked to Tanjirou's bedside, and for once, the smile on her face did not feel like a mask. It was faint, soft, and real.

"Thank you, Tanjirou."

Tanjirou blinked, confused.

"Miss Shinobu, did I do something?"

Shinobu looked at him for a moment.

She had heard the details from the others.

She had also connected those details with what her sister had said before her death.

Douma.

The demon who had killed Kanae.

That monster had finally been slain.

It was a pity she had not killed him with her own hands. That regret would likely never vanish. But the hatred that had burned quietly inside her for years had, at last, found an end.

Shinobu did not explain.

"Don't worry about it."

She turned the conversation elsewhere, her voice light but carrying unmistakable importance.

"I came to tell you something. Thanks to the Upper Rank demons you killed, as well as Nezuko's blood, Miss Tamayo and I have completed a medicine that can turn demons back into humans."

Tanjirou's eyes widened.

Shinobu continued, "It has already been tested. The effect is real."

For a second, Tanjirou forgot how to breathe.

Then he turned toward Nezuko, who was still asleep beside him.

"Really?"

His voice trembled.

His eyes reddened at once.

"That's wonderful, Nezuko... You can finally become human again."

Inside the sword, Asuramaru silently curled his lips.

Good.

Since the medicine had been confirmed, Muzan Kibutsuji should be losing his mind right about now.

...

And that was exactly what was happening.

Inside the Infinity Castle, Muzan was close to madness.

In just three days, he had thrown aside nearly all restraint. He created demons at a frantic pace, poured great quantities of his blood into those he deemed useful, and gathered every piece of strength he could seize.

Even Kokushibo and Akaza, who had survived the disastrous battle, had not merely recovered. Under Muzan's blood, their strength had risen further.

The Infinity Castle now held more than a thousand demons.

Most of them were nothing worth mentioning, but their number alone was enough to prove how violently Muzan had been moving in the dark.

He could wait for Tanjirou to die of old age.

That had been his plan.

A safe plan.

A cautious plan.

A plan fitting for Muzan Kibutsuji.

But that plan had been smashed apart by one piece of news.

A medicine that turned demons back into humans had been completed.

If Nezuko became human again, would she still possess the constitution that overcame the sun?

No one knew.

That unknown was enough to drive Muzan toward fury.

He looked back at Nakime, who sat with her biwa in hand, and his voice was saturated with killing intent.

"Have you found the location of the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters yet?"

Nakime lowered her head.

"There are already some clues, Lord Muzan."

Veins rose along Muzan's forehead.

His eyes turned terrifying.

"That is not what I asked."

Nakime remained silent.

What could she say?

When the master opened his mouth, she had to run until her legs broke. Unfortunately, the Demon Slayer Corps had spent generations hiding from him, and their headquarters was not something that could be found simply because Muzan was impatient.

The pressure in the Infinity Castle grew heavier.

Muzan's face darkened.

If that girl turned back into a human before he devoured her, a thousand years of obsession might slip through his fingers.

He could not allow that.

Absolutely not.

...

At the Butterfly Mansion, Tanjirou had already gotten out of bed.

Although Shinobu had advised him not to move too much, his body was in better condition than anyone expected. After a short rest and some food, he could already walk without difficulty.

He was speaking with everyone in the room when Asuramaru's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

"Tanjirou, I have a proposal."

Tanjirou's expression shifted slightly.

He stopped speaking and listened carefully.

Asuramaru continued, "Since Nezuko has conquered sunlight, Muzan Kibutsuji will definitely want to devour her and gain that same constitution."

Tanjirou's hand tightened.

"So I want to use that to lure him out."

The room around him seemed to quiet.

Asuramaru's tone remained calm.

"Otherwise, it may be extremely difficult for us to find Muzan Kibutsuji. You should understand that better than anyone. He has survived for more than a thousand years because he knows how to hide."

Tanjirou said nothing.

Using Nezuko as bait.

Even hearing the idea made his heart resist.

He knew Muzan had to be killed. He knew this might be the best chance they would ever have. But Nezuko was his sister. The thought of placing her at the center of a trap, even indirectly, made his chest tighten.

Asuramaru seemed to understand his silence and spoke again.

"Don't misunderstand. Muzan can't sense Nezuko's exact location at all. We won't actually leave her here."

Tanjirou's eyes lifted slightly.

"Move Nezuko somewhere else first," Asuramaru said. "Then leak the location of headquarters. Let Muzan believe she is still here. We will make this place the battlefield for the final confrontation."

It was not a hidden conspiracy.

It was an open scheme.

A blade laid plainly on the table.

If Muzan came, Tanjirou would cut him down.

If Muzan refused to come, then he would have to watch helplessly as the chance to become the ultimate lifeform slipped away.

Either way, the pressure would fall on Muzan.

Asuramaru had calculated it cleanly.

Muzan's obsession with conquering the sun.

The Demon Slayer Corps' hatred for Muzan.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki's willingness to gamble everything for one decisive strike.

Tanjirou's current strength.

Nezuko's existence.

Every piece had been placed on the board.

After a long silence, Tanjirou finally spoke in his heart.

"I understand your plan."

His voice was low.

"But I still want to ask Oyakata-sama for his opinion first."

"As you wish," Asuramaru answered indifferently.

He was not worried.

No one in this world wanted Muzan Kibutsuji dead more than Kagaya Ubuyashiki.

There was no chance he would let such an opportunity pass.

Tanjirou immediately set out for the Ubuyashiki estate.

When he arrived, Kagaya was seated quietly inside his residence. His health had declined further, but his presence remained gentle and steady.

Tanjirou knelt before him and explained everything.

Nezuko's condition.

Muzan's likely obsession.

The completed medicine.

Asuramaru's proposal to move Nezuko elsewhere and leak the location of headquarters to force Muzan into action.

Kagaya listened without interrupting.

When Tanjirou finished, the room fell into a deep silence.

Then Kagaya smiled.

"Then let us do it."

The answer came without hesitation.

Tanjirou looked up.

"Oyakata-sama..."

Kagaya's voice was calm, but beneath that calm was something as sharp as a drawn sword.

"If Muzan Kibutsuji hides again, then no matter how much strength we possess, we will not be able to threaten him. That man is far better at hiding than we are at searching."

For a thousand years, the number of times Muzan had been found could be counted on one hand.

The Demon Slayer Corps had bled through generations just to reach this point.

Now, for the first time, they had both the strength to destroy him and the bait to draw him into the open.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki would never abandon such a chance.

.....

[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]

[[email protected]/FanficLord03]

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.