Chapter 121: Rengoku Senjuro.

...

At the same time.

Swordsmith Village.

Tecchin's house.

Tecchin, who has been traveling for a long time, finally returns to the Swordsmith Village after accompanying the village chief and forging the swords for the Tokito brothers. He comes to his backyard, which he hasn't seen for a long time.

"...Rui is dead." He relaxes his shoulders, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, complaining:

"The village chief is also, insisting on staying so long before coming back, everyone is almost worried to death."

Saying this, he sighs heavily, thinking about the intensive events that have happened in the past month, he looks up and sighs:

"This is a rare holiday..."

Just as Tecchin looks up at the sky, his consciousness gradually relaxes.

He catches a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, always feeling that there seems to be something missing in the yard.

After hesitating for a while, Tecchin lowers his head.

—What's missing?

Looking at his empty yard.

His brows slowly furrowed, and the question on his face deepened.

...

Soon.

"Where is my big box——?!"

Tecchin widened his eyes, spread his hands, and turned his head left and right in the empty yard:

"Who! Who is it!!"

His miserable and horrified scream echoed in the sky above the blacksmith village.

Bang!

Tecchin pulled his throat, his expression sad, and he fell to his knees with a thud, hysterical:

"There's a thief in the village——!!"

His son, Kotetsu, broke out in a cold sweat and poked his head out from the second floor.

He had seen with his own eyes how that figure had taken away their family heirloom.

And it had happened twice.

Gulp.

As if he had thought of something, Kotetsu stared at his father's grieving figure kneeling on the ground, swallowed anxiously, and slowly withdrew his gaze.

...

...

At the Spider Mountain.

"Why." Inosuke hung alone under the tree, his head drooping, lost in thought.

What happened today was somewhat beyond his imagination and hard to accept.

Simply put, it was.

—Encounter an opponent—Challenge—Get tied up.

The above process was repeated several times.

His gaze gradually deepened.

Suddenly, a thought that made Inosuke fall into depression was born in his mind.

"...Am I." He stared at the empty ground in front of him, talking to himself:

"Too weak."

In his blue boar eyes, the emotion known as [fighting spirit] gradually wilted.

He had thought that being king in the mountains was already the strongest, but—there were powerful guys everywhere in the outside world.

On this mountain, almost all of them were stronger than him, and creatures he had never seen before.

In the end, he was just being complacent.

In front of him, the [eldest sister] who was supposed to be here had already disappeared, as if she had fled in panic.

Just as Inosuke was pondering with his head down.

A miserable scream came from the other side.

Followed by the constant tapping of dense footsteps on the ground.

Inosuke's drooping head was attracted by the sound, and he slowly turned his head to look in the direction of the sound.

In his blue pupils, the red light gradually approached.

"...Run!!"

The demon with the body of a spider and a human head, his face pale, the white marks on his face that belonged to Rui had faded, revealing his original face.

What happened!

How did Rui die?!

Tap tap tap.....

!!

"Ahhhh——!!" The Spider Demon, who had been chopped down to only a few legs, ran desperately, screaming miserably from his mouth.

His blood-red eyes were full of terror at this moment.

—That's not right! Isn't it time for us to eat now!

—Why is that demon slayer chasing us and chopping us!!

The next moment.

Swish!

A bright red streaked across the dark forest, passing by his neck.

"Puh!" The Spider Demon choked instantly, his eyes bulging, his head unwillingly rolled down, and began to turn into ashes.

In front of him.

Plop.

Tanjuro's feet touched the ground, he slowly exhaled a white mist, shaking off the ashes on the bright red Kusabimaru.

He turned his head to look at the demon behind him that had turned into ashes.

Whoosh—

A cherry blossom-colored light overflowed from his body, hitting Tanjuro's chest.

"Hmm, that's the last one."

Tanjuro felt the resurrection and the number of paper man in his body.

Upper Rank Four, Rui, brought only two resurrections bar.

And after slaughtering all the demons on that Spider Mountain, he had gathered one more.

Three resurrections, roughly the same as Hantengu's vitality.

The number of paper man was not many, besides the three provided by Rui, no more paper man were obtained from other demons.

Tanjuro glanced at Kusabimaru in his hand, which had turned red from the use of the Thunderclap and Flash, and nodded slightly.

With a lot of paper mans as the foundation, his proficiency in the Thunderclap and Flash was getting higher and higher.

Even if it wasn't stormy weather, Tanjuro was quite confident that he could summon thunder.

Just as he was sheathing his sword and preparing to turn around and leave.

"Hey——!!"

A hoarse and rough shout came from behind:

"Red sword uncle over there!!"

Step.

Tanjuro, who was called out, froze for a moment.

He slowly turned his head to look in the direction behind him.

Although he knew there was someone there, Tanjuro didn't plan to make contact at first.

After all——as long as all the demons were killed, that person would be safe.

After his gaze focused on the person for a moment.

He was taken aback.

"That's right! It's me!!" Seeing Tanjuro turn his head, Inosuke quickly flapped his body and shouted:

"It was me who shouted!"

Tanjuro looked at him with a puzzled look.

——Inosuke?

The young man with a boar's head, Hashibira Inosuke——was a member of the protagonist group in the original work.

Perhaps because of the butterfly effect, Inosuke, who shouldn't have appeared here, also appeared at this moment.

After a brief thought in his mind.

Step.

Tanjuro walked up to Inosuke, who was hanging up.

"Uncle, you and those long-haired, irritable guys with swords just now are together, right!"

"My name is Hashibira Inosuke!"

Inosuke's gaze was always on Tanjuro, and he followed Tanjuro's steps, turning his head:

"Where did you guys come from, why are you guys so powerful!"

Without answering Inosuke's words.

Whoosh!

After observing for a while, Tanjuro suddenly drew his sword and cut off the spider silk hanging behind Inosuke.

Bang!

After casually catching the falling Inosuke, Tanjuro was silent, carrying him on his shoulder, and began to head down the mountain.

"?" Inosuke looked at himself, who was draped over his shoulder like a loincloth, and was stunned for a moment.

Then he reacted, twisting his body that was still tied up:

"Why don't you speak?! Put me down!"

"Are you a mute?"

"Hey——!!"

...

...

Tamayo's mansion.

"I've checked it, this is probably some kind of training puppet."

"Take it back, it will be beneficial for your daily training when I'm not there." Tsugikuni Michikatsu explained in a flat tone.

Upon hearing this.

The Tokito father and sons were all taken aback.

Not because they were going to take the puppet back, but——

"...Six-eyed uncle, aren't you going with us?"

Muichiro, regardless of whether to take this box or not, quickly turned his head and looked at Tsugikuni Michikatsu nervously:

"Why?" He kept asking: "Is it because of the Demon Slayer Corps?"

He reached out his hand, somewhat reluctant to let go of Tsugikuni Michikatsu's clothes, and started to speak in a flustered manner:

"Don't worry, everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps is very friendly, Tanjiro, the Kakushi members..."

"By the way, Sister Shinobu also taught us how to use wisteria flower poison to kill..."

Slap!

Before he could finish his sentence, a strong and powerful slap suddenly slapped on Muichiro's mouth.

His face hurt, and the covered mouth hurt so much that he made a sound:

"Umm umm!!"

Yuichiro's face tightened, his hand tightly covering his brother's mouth, forcibly pulling the corner of his mouth, and gave Tsugikuni Michikatsu a sheepish smile:

"Haha, haha, he's joking."

Under the smiling expression, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

He quietly glared at Muichiro.

—Send a demon to the Demon Slayer Corps to die?!

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

Tsugikuni Michikatsu was silent for a while, he fumbled around his body, pulled out a well-preserved flute again, and put it into the hands of the two brothers:

"Let's go."

...

Soon.

Tsugikuni Michikatsu, with his arms folded, stood at the end of the road, watching the father and sons gradually disappear.

Countless people have died at his hands.

The Demon Slayer Corps will not welcome him—this point, he who once served in the Demon Slayer Corps, knows better than anyone.

And.

Step.

He turned around, his snake-patterned haori slightly raised.

He also had no need to return to the Demon Slayer Corps.

...

Ahead.

Step, step.

Tadaichiro carried a box on his back, the box had two thoughtful straps on it, which were now pressing hard on him.

Sweat rolled down his forehead, every step forward was extremely heavy.

"Dad..." Muichiro on the side, called out with some worry: "Can you move it?"

He clenched his fists, looking left and right.

"I'll help!"

Finally, his eyes lit up, he ran to his father's back in small steps.

"Heave!" He helped lift the box from behind with difficulty.

It didn't matter if he didn't lift it.

Once lifted, Tadaichiro, who was already struggling, suddenly lost his only balance.

Step!

"Heave!" Tadaichiro's face turned red, he stumbled a step, striding forward to support his body.

He gritted his teeth and squeezed out a voice from between his teeth:

"Mu...i...chi...ro...!"

"I know! Dad!" Muichiro nodded, the force on his hands increased a bit more!

The box lifted from behind kept adding weight!

In the end.

With a loosening of his hands, Tadaichiro's expression suddenly turned pale.

Oh no.

Tsugikuni Michikatsu had just turned around, ready to return to Tamayo's mansion.

Then he heard.

Bang!

A dull thud came from the road behind him.

Accompanied by—

"Dad——!!!"

It was Yuichiro's startled cry after a moment of stupor.

Tsugikuni Michikatsu was taken aback, he quickly turned his head.

After seeing Tadaichiro, who was motionless under the box, Tsugikuni Michikatsu's pupils shrank slightly.

Whoosh!

He turned into an afterimage, sprinting towards the direction of the father and sons.

On the spot.

Tamayo and Yushiro stood together, the two demons looked at each other, and hesitated to look at Tsugikuni Michikatsu who was running away.

...

Soon.

Creak... creak...

The wooden wheels trembled, emitting a fragile moan, leaving two deep marks on the muddy ground.

Tadaichiro stared at the sky, he and the box were lying on a wooden cart.

The two brothers walked ahead, pulling the wooden cart with difficulty.

Tsugikuni Michikatsu stood behind several people, watching until they completely disappeared from his perception.

Then he slowly relaxed, turned around and left.

The former Upper Rank One, who had never been tired, now felt a little tired.

"Sigh..."

...

The next day.

The dawn sun shone through the streets, spilling into the alley.

At the entrance of the Rengoku family.

Rustle...

The small figure, with thick black eyebrows slightly drooping, the ends of his fiery hair shone in the sunlight.

The child in a white kendo uniform held a bamboo broom, smiling, patiently and slowly sweeping the fallen leaves in front of the door.

He is Rengoku Senjuro.

The second son of the Rengoku family.

Senjuro was panting slightly, he lifted his head, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and looked at the sunlight slowly leaking from the top of the wall.

Unlike his father and elder brother, he worked hard to practice swordsmanship, but without results.

Perhaps—he doesn't have the talent to become a swordsman.

But it doesn't matter.

Before, during the time when his father was in despair, he took care of all the odds and ends in the house, including household chores, all by himself.

Relying on his own strength, he could also help others.

Now, his father is no longer in despair, and his brother's swordsmanship has made rapid progress.

The veil in his heart was finally lifted.

Rengoku Senjuro looked at the gradually brightening sunlight, and he couldn't help but smile from the bottom of his heart.

At this moment.

Step!

A dark red figure swept past the front door.

The wind it brought up stirred his flame-like hair.

"Morning." Tanjuro, carrying Inosuke, passed by Rengoku's house and nodded to Senjuro who was sweeping.

Then, without stopping, he continued to rush towards the Butterfly Mansion.

Senjuro was taken aback for a moment, he saw Tanjuro not stopping, going straight away, and quickly reacted.

He raised his hand and shouted:

"Good...good morning! Kamado-san!!"

In the distance.

Tanjuro's figure quickly shrank at the end of the street.

The figure being carried on his shoulder suddenly struggled:

"Damn it! You can talk, can't you!"

Vaguely, such a voice came.

Seeing Tanjuro disappear around the corner, Senjuro slowly retracted his raised hand.

How nice——

His eyes were full of longing.

Although the process was unclear.

His father was also not very good at explaining.

But Senjuro learned from his father's sleep talk that it was Kamado-san who unlocked his knot.

In the world, there are more people suffering from hardships that are harder to bear than before.

If he also has the ability...

Just as Senjuro was holding the broom, looking at the direction where Tanjuro disappeared, and lost in thought.

Creak——

The sound of wooden wheels squeezing and heavy breathing came from beside him.

Senjuro was taken aback, he quickly turned his head to look.

"Cough! Heh!" Muichiro and Yuichiro were sweating profusely, their uniforms were soaked, and they kept pushing the wooden cart forward.

Since Rengoku's house is on the way to the Butterfly Mansion, they could see many injured people every day.

"Are you okay!"

Senjuro looked at the two people pushing the cart, he looked left and right.

Finally.

He looked down at the paper in his hand with the word "Kakushi" written on it.

Plop.

He threw away the broom in his hand.

Senjuro pursed his lips, walked to the back of the cart, put his hands on the board, and pushed hard forward.

Creak...creak...

The Tokito brothers, whose eyes were trembling, couldn't think, and the three of them pushed the cart together, gradually moving forward on the road.

...

Soon.

Near the Butterfly Mansion.

"Ha——! Ha!"

The Tokito brothers lay on the ground like two dead fish, breathing heavily.

Senjuro bent down, he was also panting heavily, but the hopeful light in his eyes was extremely bright.

——I did it!

He straightened up.

He turned his head to look to the side.

That was a mansion much smaller than the Butterfly Mansion.

It's where the Kakushi members post tasks.

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