Showdown with Muzan

"I knew it felt a little like the Summoning Technique."

Shimizu picked up the drop of blood from the ground, muttering to himself.

He had never imagined that his ability would be related to space.

He could sense the location of his own blood and teleport to it.

It was practically the same as the Flying Thunder God.

He just did not know whether this ability could be developed into applications like Flying Thunder God: Guiding Lightning.

No matter what, he now had another powerful card up his sleeve. From now on, he would not have to worry about Muzan trapping him in the Infinite Castle.

Even if he could not win, this teleportation alone would be enough to keep Shimizu undefeated.

After giving it some thought, Shimizu turned back and took out several kunai. He smeared his blood onto them, then used Sealing Technique to shape and fix it into the character "kill."

A bootleg Flying Thunder God was born.

There was a reason Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze had both chosen kunai as the medium for their Flying Thunder God formulae.

The most important factor was naturally that kunai had a larger surface area for carrying formulae than throwable ninja tools such as senbon, making the Flying Thunder God formula much easier to inscribe. But another reason was their superior overall utility.

They could be used at range or in close combat, had a suitable weight, and were lethal enough to kill.

Most importantly, with sufficient strength, their range was great enough. That was also the key reason Shimizu had chosen kunai.

There was also their misleading effect.

Once an enemy analyzed the situation and concluded that you could only teleport to kunai, only for you to teleport somewhere else marked with blood, their misjudgment could easily create an opening.

Shimizu spent a day getting used to his new ability.

The next day, late at night.

An eyeball marked with the character "Six" rolled through the woods outside the Ubuyashiki Residence.

Outside the residence, seventy percent of the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen of Mizunoto Rank and above patrolled the surrounding area.

The reason it was only seventy percent was because they had considered the consequences of defeat.

If they lost, the Demon Slayer Corps had to retain some strength for rebuilding in the future.

Several Hashira lay in ambush several hundred meters from the Ubuyashiki Residence.

At that distance, their abilities were enough to ensure that no one could detect them.

Shimizu and Gyomei Himejima, meanwhile, stayed more than twenty meters behind the Ubuyashiki Residence.

They only needed simple cover. After mastering the Transparent World, they could completely suppress their presence. Unless their opponent had also mastered the Transparent World, there was no way to sense where they were.

Yet they could perfectly perceive everything happening ahead.

As the bright moon rose high, Gyomei Himejima released his prayerful palms, lifted his head, and looked into the distance with hollow eyes.

A black-haired, red-eyed man in a black suit and top hat stepped across the bluestone path and arrived before the wide-open gates of the Ubuyashiki Residence.

At the entrance, Ubuyashiki Kagaya sat in a wheelchair, his entire body wrapped in bandages.

Beside him stood a bamboo pole with an IV bottle hanging from it, feeding medicine into his body and barely keeping him alive.

"How ugly… Ubuyashiki."

A scornful smile rested on Muzan’s face as he looked at Ubuyashiki Kagaya.

"Is that you, Muzan? You finally came."

Hearing the movement, Ubuyashiki Kagaya spoke.

"Oh? You have been waiting for me? Have you finally decided to yield before your fear of death and become a demon?"

The smile on Muzan’s face grew increasingly mocking as he walked into the house.

"No, I have been waiting for the day you die…"

There was a trace of laughter in Ubuyashiki Kagaya’s voice. Then, with great effort, he extended a finger and pressed a button on his wheelchair.

The next instant, Daylight Lamp Flashlights arranged throughout the courtyard lit up with white light, converging their beams onto Muzan.

Streams of black smoke rose up, and for a moment, Muzan felt as though he were being scorched beneath the sun.

But daylight lamps were not the real sun, and Muzan was no ordinary demon.

Under the daylight lamps, Muzan’s skin constantly peeled away and regrew.

If he had still looked somewhat human before, he was now a humanoid monster.

At the same time, the ceiling shattered. A red-haired figure over 1.9 meters tall stretched out six arms and drove six modified Nichirin Blades into Muzan’s body.

These were the same type of Nichirin Blades Shinobu Kocho used, capable of injecting massive amounts of poison into a demon’s body.

"Tsugikuni Yoriichi!"

The moment Muzan saw Yoriichi Type One, his expression changed sharply before he quickly realized the truth.

That dead, lifeless face, those six arms…

It was not the living Tsugikuni Yoriichi!

It was the puppet doll belonging to the person who had participated in killing Doma!

Muzan’s eyes turned vicious. Several tube-like whips grew from his back and lunged at Yoriichi Type One clinging to him, while both his arms transformed into more than a dozen long spikes that instantly destroyed every Daylight Lamp Flashlight around him.

Then, a thunderous explosion rang out.

Yoriichi Type One, as well as beneath the floor, had been packed with massive amounts of explosives.

They were also high-energy explosives formulated according to Shimizu’s recipe. Their placement and quantities had been precisely calculated by Shimizu to produce the strongest possible directed blast within a limited area.

At the same time, the hundreds of Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen stationed throughout the area all turned their heads in unison, drew the Nichirin Blades at their waists, and rushed toward the explosion.

"Namu Amida… Butsu!"

The spiked flail ignited the air through friction as Gyomei Himejima hurled it out, smashing Muzan’s head apart.

At the same moment, Shimizu appeared atop the hilt of a shattered Nichirin Blade. His right hand swung his sword, unleashing a Crimson Blade that slashed into Muzan.

"Separation Breathing: Fourth Form: Flowing Whirlwind!"

Endless sword light instantly engulfed Muzan.

But those Bone Whips shot out as well, blocking Shimizu’s attack.

Muzan had not merely overcome the weakness of dying from decapitation.

With five brains and seven hearts, the arrangement of his internal organs differed from that of an ordinary human. Even with his head temporarily severed, he retained full consciousness and could perfectly control his body.

What was more, Muzan’s recovery speed far surpassed every other demon’s. In less than a second, his head rapidly regenerated, and he glared viciously at Shimizu.

"You… must be the successor Tsugikuni Yoriichi chose, Uesugi Shimizu, right? Even Tsugikuni Yoriichi could not kill me. With strength like yours, I would really like to know where you get such confidence!"

Muzan stared at Shimizu with scarlet eyes, his face twisted savagely.

Tsugikuni Yoriichi had nearly killed me instantly at my peak. He was nowhere near as weak as I am now…

Huh? Why am I so weak right now?