Hearing the system prompt in his mind, Horitake's foot, which was about to step forward, immediately halted.
This could trigger a mission too?!
Alright, what kind of negative butterfly effect was it?
Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma's crisis!?
This time, it was the old geezer and his group who were going to suffer.
System, oh system, you truly leave me speechless!
Thinking this, Horitake's face darkened. He communicated with the system through his thoughts:
"Speak, what's the mission this time? Don't give me any major trouble."
The system didn't babble on with unnecessary words, directly stating the mission details and explaining the negative butterfly effect:
"Ding! System mission issued:
Please host, resolve the negative butterfly effect: Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma's crisis!
Due to a previous reason, and the influence of the negative butterfly effect, Mount Sagiri, where Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma reside, has been exposed, attracting Upper Rank Four, Hantengu, to attack.
Hantengu plans to take Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma hostage to threaten the host, hoping to make the host hesitate and achieve his ulterior motives.
Please host, rush to Mount Sagiri in time to save Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma. Please host, do not be threatened by Hantengu.
Friendly reminder: Estimated time for Hantengu to reach Mount Sagiri is six hours. After six hours, Hantengu will find Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma on Mount Sagiri and make his move on them.
Mission success reward: Host awakens Demon Slayer Mark.
Mission failure penalty: Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma die. Host may be forced to do irreversible things, leading to huge consequences, fate being disturbed, and the butterfly effect further collapsing."
After listening to the detailed mission, Horitake took a deep breath. He was about to explode in rage, but because Yae and Shinobu were nearby, he forcibly suppressed his anger and killing intent.
The thing Horitake hated most in his life was being threatened!
The thing he hated most was having someone threaten him with the people he cared about!
If anyone truly dared to do that, Horitake swore he would tear that person to shreds, leave them without a burial place, deny them eternal rest, and even make them wish for death but unable to find it!
He had his bottom line, and crossing Horitake's bottom line would lead to extremely terrifying consequences.
Undoubtedly, Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma were important people to Horitake.
Jigoro Kuwajima had raised and taught Horitake for over a decade; Horitake had long regarded the old man as family. Although he hadn't known Zenitsu Agatsuma for long, he was still his junior brother!
Now someone dared to lay a hand on them; they must be tired of living!
That's right! He was talking about that guy Hantengu!
Although he was an Upper Rank, he was only Upper Rank Four!
He had already defeated Akaza, Upper Rank Three, without too much effort. How much more so for a mere Upper Rank Four like you!
Hantengu, who wasn't even among the top three Upper Ranks, probably wasn't that important in Muzan's eyes either.
This meant that if this Hantengu dared to offend him, he could cast aside all scruples and thoroughly deal with this Hantengu!
Letting him go was impossible!
Didn't he see the mission failure penalty?
The penalty stated that if the mission failed, Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma would die!
What did this imply?
It implied that even if Hantengu planned to use Jigoro Kuwajima and Zenitsu Agatsuma to threaten him, he never intended to let them go from the beginning!
No matter whether he would compromise or not! The old man and Zenitsu would die!
There was no need to speak of righteousness with such a vile demon!
The most important thing now was time!
The system predicted six hours. After six hours, Hantengu would arrive at Mount Sagiri and make his move on the old man and Zenitsu!
He had to arrive in time!
Horitake couldn't help but calculate for himself.
At his current maximum speed, he could probably reach Mount Sagiri in six hours, but even then, it would be just in the nick of time.
This meant that the old man and Zenitsu had to persevere, trying their best to hold on against Hantengu until Horitake arrived!
It was simply a race against time!
Shinobu, who was beside him, saw Horitake suddenly stop, and noticed his darkened face, feeling somewhat curious:
"What happened? Horitake-san?"
Horitake's face was grim as he quickly explained:
"My master and junior brother are in danger. I must rush to Mount Sagiri immediately!
Shinobu-nee-san, Yae-chan is with you. You don't need to rush; just slowly make your way to Mount Sagiri, but I must get there right away!"
The moment his voice fell, purple electric arcs flickered around Horitake. He swiftly vanished in a flash, dashing towards a direction with lightning speed!
Yae hadn't even fully reacted before Horitake's figure was gone.
Shinobu narrowed her eyes, able to track the trajectory of the purple electric arcs as they sped into the distance.
Looking at such terrifying speed, Shinobu thought:
This guy's strength seems to have grown even more.
Yae blinked, not understanding what had happened, and curiously asked Shinobu:
"Shinobu-nee-san, what's wrong with Senior Brother Horitake? Is something urgent?"
Shinobu nodded:
"It seems to be a very urgent matter.
Yae-chan, you may not know this, but your senior brother has many mysterious abilities. He can even foresee brief glimpses of the future, thereby preventing some terrible events from happening.
Just now, he probably foresaw something bad and rushed off to resolve it."
Yae listened to these words, utterly disbelieving:
"How is that possible!? To be able to see the future!? Is that truly something a human can do?"
"Who knows? But Horitake can indeed do it.
Through the futures he has seen, and the futures he has prevented, our Demon Slayer Corps has averted many great crises, and Horitake has saved many important people because of it."
Yae blinked, not quite understanding what Shinobu was talking about.
"Then... Shinobu-nee-san, what should we do?"
Shinobu smiled:
"Don't worry, since Horitake can perceive the future in advance, he will definitely be able to resolve the trouble over there.
Our speed is far inferior to his; even if we rushed over, we probably wouldn't be much help to him.
Just do as he instructed. We don't need to rush; just slowly make our way to Mount Sagiri.
I estimate that by the time we arrive at Mount Sagiri, Horitake will have already resolved everything."
Yae nodded, willing to follow Shinobu-nee-san's arrangement.
And so, Shinobu-nee-san took Yae, and without anyone noticing, left Sukizu, embarking on another journey.
And Horitake?
He activated his maximum speed for long distances, like a bolt of purple lightning, flickering and dashing through the mountains and forests, quickly fleeing into the distance.
Horitake, rushing quickly, thought:
"Old geezer, Zenitsu, you both better be alright!"
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