Through simple hypnosis and the illusions of the Sharingan, the mortician saw the corpse Kamihara Tetsuya brought as Kocho Kanae and placed it into the furnace.
For him, this was just a normal, everyday task, and he wouldn't have any suspicions.
Seeing this, Kamihara Tetsuya felt relieved.
The DNA testing technology of this era was still immature.
Kochou Shinobu wouldn't spend a fortune to test the ashes, especially since she had personally witnessed Kocho Kanae's death and personally sent the body to the crematorium.
Kamihara Tetsuya picked up Kocho Kanae's body from the gurney and quietly left the mortuary.
Kamihara Tetsuya dared not return to that small town,
fearing that Akaza, that bastard, would launch another sneak attack.
Instead, he slipped into a deep mountain under the cover of night.
After some searching, he indeed found a simple house, left by a hunter who had gone into the mountains to hunt, serving as a temporary rest stop, and it was empty at the moment.
Bang!
Kamihara Tetsuya kicked open the locked wooden door, placed Kocho Kanae's body on the wooden bed, with the white cloth he brought out cushioning underneath.
"You absolutely must not die!"
Kamihara Tetsuya murmured. It was precisely because he knew Kocho Kanae still had a chance to be saved that his two-tomoe Sharingan had not fully evolved.
But it was only his guess after all.
The outcome depended on the subsequent operation.
Kamihara Tetsuya slit his wrist, and his blood continuously dripped into the fist-sized hole in Kocho Kanae's abdomen.
It contained Kibutsuji Muzan's blood.
The originally lifeless body rapidly changed; new granulation tissue grew from the wound on her chest, recovering at a visible speed.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Immediately after, her heart repaired, her chest rose and fell erratically, emitting powerful sounds, transporting blood throughout her body, and her pale skin returned to its normal complexion.
She looked no different from a normal person, yet Kocho Kanae's eyes were tightly shut, without any reaction.
This was natural.
Even if Kibutsuji Muzan's blood was integrated, causing demonization and gaining powerful regenerative abilities, that body was merely an empty shell without a soul.
Then, Kamihara Tetsuya extracted Kocho Kanae's soul.
Soul Manipulation!
The azure soul orb merged into the body.
As her soul returned, Kocho Kanae's long eyelashes trembled slightly, showing signs of waking up.
"Tetsuya..."
A tear streamed from the corner of Kocho Kanae's eye, her lips moved slightly, and she uttered a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"It seems to have succeeded!"
Kamihara Tetsuya collapsed onto the ground as if paralyzed, just afraid that his plan would have a flaw or an accident.
After a dozen seconds, Kocho Kanae painstakingly opened her eyes, her gaze sweeping over her surroundings. "Is this hell? It's completely different from what I imagined."
"Do I look like a demon from hell?" Kamihara Tetsuya forced himself to stand up.
"No."
Kocho Kanae gently shook her head, her beautiful eyes gradually glowing with new light. She finally reacted, murmuring, "I didn't die?"
"Want to die? It's not that easy."
Kamihara Tetsuya managed a strained smile.
"What's going on? My heart should have been destroyed," Kocho Kanae asked curiously. What method did Kamihara Tetsuya use to bring her back to life?
Hearing was the last sense to lose function before death.
In the last moments before her death, she heard Shinobu's angry voice, and that the sun was about to rise, prompting Akaza and Kamihara Tetsuya to retreat.
If nothing unexpected happened, her remains should have been retrieved by the Demon Slayer Corps.
"You really don't have that concept."
Kamihara Tetsuya said, slowly revealing the secret.
Normally, if the heart is destroyed, blood supply is lost, the brain is deprived of oxygen, and brain cells will suffer irreversible damage within minutes, leading to death.
People naturally assume that the heart is also a fatal organ.
But brain death is the true death!
He specifically attacked Kocho Kanae's heart, not her head, for this reason.
At the same time, he left two things inside her body: his severed finger and Kibutsuji Muzan's blood.
A faint connection between their bodies; the severed finger would help him find Kocho Kanae's remains.
A trace of Kibutsuji Muzan's blood ensured that Kocho Kanae's brain cells would not completely die.
The stronger the swordsman, the longer it takes to transform into a demon. It is said that Upper Moon One Kokushibou took three days and three nights to transform into a demon.
Kamihara Tetsuya was betting on this time difference.
The Breathing Technique Kocho Kanae maintained at all times would slow down the demonization process.
That tiny bit of blood was also not enough to fully transform Kocho Kanae into a demon, but it could ensure that her brain cells would not die, so there would be no demonic features on her body.
It could be said that Kocho Kanae's body below the neck was already dead; only her brain was still "alive."
Kocho Kanae's soul was in his hands, so even if her brain had demonized, she wouldn't wake up.
Thus, he deceived everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps.
"So that's it, I've already demonized," Kocho Kanae murmured to herself, no wonder she felt a surge of power continuously flowing from her body.
"It's too much trouble. Since you were going to demonize anyway, you should have agreed to Akaza," Kamihara Tetsuya complained, it wasn't easy to go through so much effort to retrieve her.
Kocho Kanae smiled bitterly; this wasn't her personal will.
She had already prepared to die; it was Kamihara Tetsuya who forcibly pulled her back from the brink of death.
"No, it just feels different."
Kocho Kanae's face showed contemplation.
It is said that after demonization, a person's inherent evil thoughts and greed are greatly stimulated, and most demons cannot control their desires.
Eventually, they turn into merciless man-eating machines.
Her demonization seemed to be different from other demons.
"Anyway, my mission is complete."
Kamihara Tetsuya's voice grew weaker and weaker. He leaned against the wall and fell into a deep sleep.
He had to be wary of Akaza and detoxify himself.
Afterwards, he rushed over without stopping to retrieve the body, otherwise, if Kocho Kanae had been cremated, Kamihara Tetsuya would have truly been inconsolable.
Kocho Kanae sat upright, gently helped Kamihara Tetsuya up, and placed his head on her lap, tenderly stroking his sleeping face.
Just from Kamihara Tetsuya's simple description,
she could feel how much effort Kamihara Tetsuya had put in to save her.
He had to deceive both Upper Moon Three Akaza and everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps.
Once her body showed signs of demonization, the Demon Slayer Corps would show no mercy and immediately cut off her head.
No matter how she explained, the Demon Slayer Corps would not accept this outcome.
From the Demon Slayer Corps' perspective, a distinguished swordsman, after being defeated, having their body demonized and controlled by a demon, would undoubtedly be a great humiliation to a hero.
Swiftly slaying them was the best solace for a hero!
Every step Kamihara Tetsuya took was like walking on a tightrope, extremely risky.
But he succeeded!