She was the Flower Pillar—Kanae Kochou?
"Little brother, it's very dangerous here. There are demons around, so hurry home."
"Big sister needs to deal with the demons so they don't harm more people, so I can't take you back."
As Kanae Kochou swept past, a voice as warm as spring sunshine, gentle in every way, echoed in Naruto's ears.
Naruto glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Kanae Kochou's beautiful face, like a Yamato Nadeshiko, adorned with a gentle smile.
Before Naruto could speak, Kanae Kochou lightly tapped her toes. Her figure, much taller than Shinobu Kochou's, gracefully leaped like a dancing butterfly, soaring under the Moonlight, heading towards the source of the screams.
"It seems that Douma, the leader of the Eternal Paradise Cult and Upper Moon Two, will appear here and battle the Flower Pillar who has come to exterminate demons."
"According to the original plot, the Flower Pillar is not Douma's match, but she entangled with Douma, struggling until the sun was about to rise, thus avoiding the tragic fate of being eaten by Douma, and also waiting for Shinobu Kochou."
Naruto looked at Kanae Kochou's retreating figure. Instead of using the Hokage run, he flickered through the shadows with a more composed and elegant teleportation, like a king of the night surveying the Moonlight.
The cool Moonlight, like mercury, spilled into a tranquil courtyard.
The evening breeze gently blew, bringing with it the fresh scent of plants, and also a faint, chilling sense of dread, along with the pungent smell of blood.
In a spacious tea room.
A handsome, white-haired man sat casually there.
He wore an exaggerated cult leader's hat, a black cloak, and a red inner shirt. Even in the dimly lit tea room, his irises, like rainbows, were still striking.
On the irises of his left and right eyes, the characters "Upper Moon" and "Two" were respectively inscribed.
It was Douma!
Douma's lips were stained with blood, and several bloody corpses lay nearby.
A middle-aged man knelt on the tatami, kowtowing repeatedly, his voice filled with reverence, madness, and pleading: "Master Cult Leader, my wife, my daughter, and all the maids in my house have been offered to you. Please grant me eternal life too!"
"Oh~"
Douma wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, a gentle smile on his face.
"Seeing as you've offered some excellent 'followers,' I shall grant you eternal life as well."
Douma took out a drop of Kibutsuji Muzan's blood and flicked it to the middle-aged man on the ground.
"Go, deal with the intruders. Don't disturb me from continuing to 'enjoy' my followers. I'll eat them completely, from blood to flesh, so they can live eternally with me and be led to salvation."
Douma seemed to sense the arrival of the Demon Slayer Corps and spoke to the middle-aged man who had been transformed into a demon.
At the same time.
Flower Pillar, Kanae Kochou, found her way here, walking along the outer corridor of the courtyard.
"There is indeed a demon here."
Kanae Kochou's keen senses instantly tensed. It wasn't ordinary night chill, but a viscous, cold malice mixed with the presence of something non-human.
She stopped, her hand silently resting on the hilt of her nichirin blade. In the depths of her gentle eyes, a sharp, blade-like light quietly gathered.
With a "bang!"
The middle-aged man, now a demon, crashed through the Japanese sliding door, lunging at Kanae Kochou like a crazed, irrational beast, eyes crimson, claws outstretched.
The incident was sudden, but Kanae Kochou, as a "Pillar" of the Demon Slayer Corps, naturally possessed strength far beyond that of ordinary members.
A scene of flying flower petals appeared.
Before one could even clearly see when Kanae Kochou drew her blade, the violent and ferocious middle-aged man had already been decapitated, collapsing onto the corridor, his head rolling into the courtyard.
For a demon of this level, he didn't even have the qualifications to force Kanae Kochou to use Flower Breathing.
"Oh my, how sharp you are, beautiful lady."
"But interrupting someone's meal isn't very elegant, you know~"
A voice with a hint of playful amusement suddenly broke the night's silence.
In the center of the courtyard, the Moonlight seemed to be twisted and frozen by some invisible force, as a figure slowly materialized.
Douma held two ornate golden iron fans, a seemingly compassionate yet empty smile on his face.
"Such strength, you must be a 'Pillar' of the Demon Slayer Corps, and a girl at that. You must taste delicious."
Without any superfluous words, the battle erupted the moment Kanae Kochou recognized the numbers in his irises!
Douma chuckled and waved his iron fans.
"Blood Demon Art: Lotus Leaf Ice!"
In an instant, bone-chilling cold swept through the entire courtyard.
Countless ice crystal petals, sharp as blades and imbued with potent poison, condensed in the air, swirling like a furious white storm towards Kanae Kochou.
Wherever they passed, vibrant flowers instantly froze, withered, and shattered into powder. The emerald green grass was covered with a thick layer of frost, glowing with an eerie blue light, emitting a grating "crunch" sound. Even the hard stone pavement was covered in a spiderweb of ice cracks.
"Flower Breathing: Second Form: Honorable Shadow Plum!"
Kanae Kochou moved swiftly, her nichirin blade transforming into a dazzling curtain of light.
She spun at high speed, her blade carving out countless precise and sharp circular slashes, like a giant plum blossom proudly blooming in the cold wind.
The sword light and ice crystals collided violently, producing a dense clattering like rain and piercing cutting sounds.
Each strike precisely shattered the incoming poisonous ice, sending ice shards scattering, reflecting a colorful, deadly glimmer in the Moonlight.
Using the recoil from her slashes, she lightly pushed off the ice-covered ground with her toes, gracefully leaping onto the roof of the main hall behind her. The roof tiles made a slight cracking sound under her feet.
"Oh? What elegant and sharp sword techniques, just like dancing flower petals."
Douma's voice carried a false admiration, his figure following like a phantom.
He stood on the opposite ridge, his iron fan elegantly unfurled.
"Then, how about this flower? Blood Demon Art: Spreading Lotus!"
With a flick of his fan, several enormous lotus flowers, formed from ice, appeared out of thin air, descending with immense force, spinning as they smashed down on Kanae Kochou.
Even before the ice lotuses fully descended, the terrifying cold they emitted caused the roof tiles to groan under the strain, freezing and shattering, like porcelain struck by a heavy hammer. Fragments rained down with a "clatter" onto the corridor below.
Kanae Kochou's eyes sharpened, and instead of retreating, she advanced.
"Flower Breathing: Fifth Form: Futile Peony!"
She charged towards the falling ice lotuses, her nichirin blade carving nine massive and brilliant arc-shaped slashes in front of her.
These sword lights were like giant, instantly blooming and withering purple peony petals, carrying an unwavering determination, fiercely striking into the core of the ice lotuses.
"Boom—Crack, crack, crack!"
A deafening explosion erupted.
The enormous ice lotuses were forcefully sliced and shattered by the violent sword energy!
Neither Kanae Kochou nor Douma, engrossed in the fierce battle, noticed a short-haired golden-haired youth leaning against a tree in the courtyard's flower garden. "Is this the strength of a Pillar in the Demon Slayer world? Quite impressive, stronger than an ordinary Genin."