The residence of the Ubuyashiki clan remained shrouded in secrecy.
A black crow circled overhead before swooping down into the elegant courtyard, landing gracefully on the wooden corridor.
Ubuyashiki Kuno, the current head of the clan and leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, strolled over with measured steps.
The man had long, smooth black hair that flowed just past his ears, an approachable demeanor, gentle features, and wooden clogs that clicked softly against the floor as he walked.
"It's Liu Yuan's crow"
Ubuyashiki Kuno recognized the messenger bird immediately.
Liu Yuan was an exceptional swordsman among the second-class members of the Demon Slayer Corps and the inheritor of the Breath of Wind. He had been dispatched to a place called Camellia Hill to track and eliminate demons. Now that his crow had returned, it likely meant the mission was complete.
Kuno smiled slightly, feeling a wave of relief wash over him.
He worried deeply about the safety of every Demon Slayer Corps member.
Each had their mission, and together they worked toward a single, unified purpose.
To kill Muzan Kibutsuji.
It was regrettable that during his generation, Muzan's whereabouts remained elusive.
"Mysterious man! Black haori strange breathing method, killed the demon"
The crow hopped to Kuno's feet, tilted its head to look at its lord, and suddenly squawked its message.
"Oh?"
Kuno's expression shifted subtly upon hearing these words.
He quickly crouched down, untied the letter from the crow's leg, unfolded it, and read the contents carefully.
As he read, his eyes grew distant, lost in thought
The paper contained Liu Yuan's mission report, detailing an encounter with a mysterious man who had used an ordinary samurai sword to kill a demon with a single strike, severing its head completely.
""
The white paper slipped from his fingers as Kuno's expression transformed from dazed confusion to pure ecstasy.
His clan's bloodline had been cursed because of Muzan, condemning most of them to shortened lives. To fulfill their long-cherished wish, the Ubuyashiki clan devoted themselves entirely to supporting the Demon Slayer Corps in every possible way.
Though unable to wield swords in battle themselves, they spared no effort in providing value through other means. They maintained extensive intelligence networks to gather information about demons in advance, minimizing casualties among Corps members. They leveraged connections with the shogunate to create pathways for the Corps to operate. They facilitated cooperation between the 'hidden' support troops and the frontline fighters.
They ensured the Demon Slayer Corps functioned as a cohesive unit, protected the identities of each member to prevent demon retaliation, and coordinated countless other details.
Different tasks required different strategies Kuno had to arrange all these intricate details himself, and there were so many.
It drained him completely.
But there was no alternative. As a member of the Ubuyashiki clan, Kuno longed to hunt demons alongside his comrades, but his body wouldn't allow it.
He had tried to lift a sword, but with his frail physique, even the simple act of swinging the blade proved insurmountably difficult.
The only way he could contribute was to burn himself up from within, working tirelessly behind the scenes.
Every head of the Ubuyashiki household had attempted training, refusing to accept their cruel fate, but the curse laid upon them was too powerful to overcome.
Everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps shared a similar mindset. None cared about their own survival. What mattered most was the inheritance of their will.
His excitement overwhelming him, Kuno couldn't contain himself. His throat constricted, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The crimson splattered across the wooden boards, but he paid it no mind. He slowly clenched his hands into fists against the floor. His eyes, normally calm and peaceful, suddenly sharpened with intensity as he whispered excitedly, "It has appeared It has finally appeared. The wheel of fate has begun to turn."
"I have waited for that ray of light in the darkness."
A white-haired woman behind him drew close, attempting to calm her husband.
Kuno's two children quickly turned and hurried away to fetch medicine, a routine they knew all too well.
"Ena do you understand what this means? This man this swordsman who can kill demons with an ordinary weapon! His appearance has opened a new door of hope. Besides sunlight, demons have another fatal weakness! Muzan Kibutsuji there is now an indelible crack in his fate"
Ubuyashiki Ena replied calmly, "I understand."
As a descendant from a priestly family, Ena had glimpsed vague scenes in her dreams days earlier. The visions were unclear, but she sensed an opportunity approaching.
Some force had suddenly emerged like an arm gently pushing them out of the quagmire where they had been trapped.
Indeed, they were stuck in a quagmire.
Examining the performance of the Demon Slayer Corps across generations, although they had continuously eliminated demons and fought against Muzan, the results remained dismally limited. Not only had they failed to locate Muzan, but countless members had perished at demons' hands, including many Pillar-level swordsmen.
From this perspective, they had always been at a disadvantage in their war against demons.
If not for the Ubuyashiki clan uniting everyone through shared purpose, if not for each member clinging desperately to their beliefs, the Demon Slayer Corps would have faced destruction at any moment losing all qualification to fight demons.
By now, Muzan likely didn't even consider the Demon Slayer Corps a serious threat.
Whenever news arrived of another member's death, Kuno maintained an outward calm, but his wife Ena knew the pain and torment that ravaged his heart.
That's why, days ago, she had told Kuno about her premonition.
After analyzing the situation, Kuno still couldn't identify the opportunity she had foreseen. He had initially speculated that perhaps a Pillar might suddenly "awaken" extraordinary combat abilities, or that the swordsmith village might develop technology to enhance the power of the "Sun Blade."
But he had ultimately rejected these possibilities.
As leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kuno understood everything about their organization with painstaking thoroughness. He knew the strengths of each Pillar and the capabilities of the swordsmith village.
He believed firmly in his "comrades," but he dared not underestimate Muzan.
Truthfully, the likelihood of opportunity arising from within their own ranks seemed minuscule.
He had even begun formulating plans to maintain the Corps' numbers as much as possible during his limited remaining time to keep their purpose intact and functioning, ready to pass on to future generations.
He had abandoned hope for his own generation.
His focus shifted to training the next generation.
Passing the baton
This was his mission and the most he could contribute to the Demon Slayer Corps.
He despised his own helplessness.
But now the balance had shifted.
With the appearance of a single person
Who could this be? The question formed in Kuno's mind. For countless years, they had waged war against Muzan Kibutsuji. The Demon Slayer Corps recruited all promising young talents and gathered every scrap of intelligence about demons. Logically, they shouldn't have missed anything.
If such power truly existed, the Ubuyashiki clan would have discovered it long ago
This person's appearance could only mean one thing the Ubuyashiki clan had failed in their duty.
After the initial excitement faded, Kuno felt overwhelming self-reproach and regret. Had he known earlier that such power existed somewhere in the world fewer companions would lie beneath the tombstones on the mountain.
"Black haori"
"Summon all the Pillars!"
Kuno gripped his wife's sleeve and spoke with sudden urgency.
"Yes."
Several days later, the Pillar-level swordsmen who had received the summons arrived at the mansion one after another.
Seven Pillars in total.
Five represented the inheritors of the five major Breathing Styles that had evolved from Sun Breathing.
Water, Thunder, Stone, Fire, and Wind.
Throughout Demon Slayer Corps history, those who reached Pillar-level mastery primarily came from these five schools.
Of the remaining two, one wielded the Breath of Light, a variant of Thunder Breathing.
The other practiced the Breath of Iron, derived from Stone Breathing.
The five fundamental Breathing Styles had relatively complete inheritance systems with meticulous development, making them suitable for most practitioners. Compared to niche breathing methods, they were easier to master and consequently had larger practitioner bases.
The rare, alternative breathing methods like Light or Iron proved difficult to pass down because they were created by specific swordsmen for their unique circumstances. They weren't universally applicable, and their training methods lacked refinement. Many such styles eventually disappeared.
Throughout generations of the Demon Slayer Corps, numerous breathing variants had emerged some remarkably powerful, others mediocre. Most were short-lived, with few remembered today.
The limitations of specialized breathing methods were too restrictive to justify widespread adoption. Others couldn't learn them even if they wanted to.
The requirements for physical condition and practice method were exceptionally strict, making successors nearly impossible to find.
These styles were essentially skills tailored to individual needs. Thus, among all breathing methods, only the original five remained unchangeable.
Simply put, the time for developing new styles had been too limited for detailed refinement.
Swordsmen focused all their attention on fighting demons, with little energy for other pursuits. Naturally, newly created styles couldn't compare with the five foundational methods that had been refined over generations.
The seven Pillars gathered together, all remarkably young, with the eldest barely in his early thirties.
This fact revealed the frequent turnover among Pillar-level swordsmen and the devastating casualty rate in their battles against demons.
In certain eras, the situation had grown so dire that the Demon Slayer Corps had replaced entire groups of Pillars within a single year Some had been mere teenagers, barely into adolescence.
Of course, becoming a Pillar required both exceptional strength and talent.
Before arriving, the seven Pillars had received preliminary information and understood the general situation.
Liu Yuan, the messenger, had also rushed to the mansion.
He delivered his report before everyone recounting how a mysterious man had saved his life that night.
"Could his blade have been treated with some compound that affected the demon?" The current Water Pillar offered his theory after listening.
After all, destroying a demon's regenerative abilities with ordinary weapons seemed utterly implausible.
He preferred "rational" explanations.
"You mean wisteria?"
The Thunder Pillar, sitting cross-legged, pinched his chin thoughtfully while looking at his colleague.
"Are you certain it was an ordinary samurai sword? Did you see it clearly? Perhaps it was a Sun Blade disguised to appear ordinary. It must have incorporated Nichirin metal" Another Pillar scrutinized Liu Yuan questioningly.
"Liu Yuan wouldn't mistake something so crucial."
The Wind Pillar defended his junior, "Besides, every Sun Blade comes from the Swordsmith Village They exist in limited numbers and wouldn't fall into outsiders' hands. Nor could others master the techniques for forging Sun Blades"
"Where is this person now?"
"I made inquiries. Someone of his caliber stands out conspicuously. Before I departed to come here, he had apparently taken residence in the town at the foot of Mount Kumotori."
"Mount Kumotori? The name sounds familiar"
The man with flaming hair asked with genuine curiosity.
"Idiot."
The woman kneeling beside him rolled her eyes.
"Ah now I remember!"
Kyojuro Rengoku clapped his hands together, flashing his characteristic wide smile.
"Whatever the case, we must meet this person."
All this time, Ubuyashiki had been smiling silently, observing the animated discussion. Now he spoke softly, drawing everyone's attention.