The children's faces, all slashed into serpent-like slits, left Horitake and Mitsuri stunned. The resemblance to Iguro Obanai's scars sent Horitake's mind racing with questions.
The children panicked as their faces were exposed, their reactions intense.
The most belligerent child, the one with the worst attitude, was the most frantic. His panic morphed into rage. Glaring at Horitake, he drew a dagger from his coat, eyes bloodshot, and charged, screaming, "You… you exposed my face! I'll kill you!"
Horitake, unfazed, knocked him out with a single strike of his sheathed blade.
That felt good. Some kids need a lesson.
As other children tried to flee, Horitake's cold voice stopped them: "Freeze."
His presence was intimidating. The children, having seen him down their leader without hesitation, stood petrified.
Facing these scarred children, Horitake asked calmly, "Do you know anyone named Iguro?"
The children exchanged confused glances, shaking their heads.
Mitsuri, puzzled, whispered, "Horitake, why ask that? Isn't Iguro the Serpent Hashira?"
Horitake hesitated, then explained, "Iguro Obanai hides his face with bandages because it's scarred like theirs. I fear these kids endured something similar. Mitsuri, keep this about Iguro to yourself."
"Understood," Mitsuri nodded, discreet as ever.
Horitake's confusion deepened. How could these children share Obanai's fate? The snake demon responsible was slain by Rengoku Shinjuro, the former Flame Hashira.
To clarify, Iguro Obanai's past was a dark tragedy.
Born into the vile Iguro clan on Hachijo Island, Obanai grew up in a family thriving on robbery, persecution, and murder—a cesspool of evil. For 370 years, the clan birthed only girls, cursed by their sins.
As the first boy, Obanai wasn't cherished. Instead, he was locked in a cell, fed lavish meals but never allowed to leave. His sensitive heart sensed the hypocrisy in his elders' smiles, their hidden malice fueling his fear and disgust. Trapped in that stifling cell, greasy food turned his stomach, and he withered, unable to escape.
At twelve, he was taken from his cell to a lavish room, where he met a half-human, half-snake demon—a female man-eater. For centuries, the Iguro clan sustained itself by offering victims to this demon, who craved infants. Obanai, a rare male with heterochromatic eyes, was a prime sacrifice.
The demon, intrigued but deeming him too small, spared him temporarily, demanding he resemble her. The clan sliced his face into a serpent-like grin, then threw him back into his cell to "grow."
Terrified and broken, Obanai shut out his family. His only companion was a stray white snake, Kaburamaru, who became his sole trusted friend.
Unwilling to await death, Obanai stole a hairpin and chipped away at his cell's wooden bars, day after day, year after year. He finally escaped, only to be hunted by the enraged snake demon. At the last moment, Rengoku Shinjuro arrived, slaying the demon and saving him.
Returning to the Iguro estate, they found the clan annihilated, save for one survivor—Obanai's cousin. She blamed him, screaming, "It's your fault! You escaped, and the demon ate everyone! Why didn't you just let it eat you?!"
Her words cemented Obanai's belief: as a descendant of a vile clan, he was just as wretched.
His world darkened forever. Rejecting a normal life, he joined the Demon Slayer Corps under Shinjuro, later becoming the Serpent Hashira. He poured his hatred into slaying demons, seeking to ease his guilt, a mission he carried to this day.
A tragic, hopeless life.
Knowing this, Horitake suspected these children faced a similar horror, prompting his question about the Iguro name.
Their confused looks told him he'd misstepped. No demon would reveal its human name. Besides, the snake demon was long dead.
So what happened to these children?
With no better approach, Horitake stepped forward, exuding pressure. "You've clearly had contact with man-eating demons. Demons are humanity's enemy, to be eradicated. Even as children, working for demons can't be ignored. Speak—what's your story? What's your tie to demons? Don't want to talk? Fine."
He pointed to the unconscious boy. "Refuse, and you'll end up worse than him."
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