Two hours later, Su Chen stood in the courtyard of the Ubuyashiki estate, fully recovered and surrounded by assembled Hashira who had gathered to observe the night's operations. The moon hung full and red in the sky—a blood moon, traditionally considered an ill omen in this dimension but which Su Chen's enhanced perception recognized as simply a rare astronomical alignment.
"Three targets, three teams," Su Chen outlined, gesturing to a map that Shinobu had provided showing demon attack locations. "The minor demon in the western village—twelve confirmed kills over the past month, operates by luring victims into abandoned buildings. Saeko will handle this one solo as a capability demonstration."
Saeko stepped forward, her hand resting casually on her blade. Several Hashira looked skeptical—sending a single person against even a minor demon seemed either arrogant or suicidal by their standards.
"The moderate threat in the northern forest," Su Chen continued, "has killed approximately sixty people over three months. It displays pack-hunting behavior suggesting either multiple demons or one with the ability to create duplicates. Esdeath will eliminate it, also solo."
More skeptical looks, though Gyomei's spiritual perception was picking up the confidence radiating from both women. He spoke up carefully: "You send each of them alone against threats that would normally require multiple Demon Slayers working in coordination. This isn't caution—this is certainty. You believe they cannot fail."
"Correct," Su Chen confirmed without false modesty. "Saeko could eliminate fifty minor demons simultaneously if needed. Esdeath could freeze an entire pack of moderate-threat demons in time and destroy them at leisure. These aren't tests of whether they can succeed—they're demonstrations of how efficiently they can succeed."
He pointed to the third location—a mountain temple where reports suggested a significantly more dangerous demon had established territory. "The potential Moon-rank demon at the temple is my target. I'll take Xiao Yi Xian as support and Nezuko as a guide. Tanjiro, you're welcome to accompany us if you want to see how dimensional travelers hunt serious threats."
Tanjiro nodded immediately, his desire to protect others overriding any caution about accompanying someone so overwhelmingly powerful. "I'll come. If it really is an Upper or Lower Moon, you'll need someone who knows the Corps' techniques for coordinating attacks."
Su Chen didn't correct the assumption that he'd need help, recognizing that Tanjiro's earnest desire to contribute was both endearing and strategically useful—having a Corps member witness his capabilities would provide credible testimony to the other Hashira.
"I'm coming too," Shinobu announced, her expression determined behind her habitual smile. "If you encounter a Moon-rank demon and it uses poison, my expertise might prove valuable. Additionally, I want to observe Xiao Yi Xian's combat applications of conceptual toxins firsthand."
"And I will accompany you as well," Gyomei stated with finality. "Master is resting and safe. My duty now is to witness whether your claimed capabilities match reality. A Stone Hashira's testimony carries weight that a young Demon Slayer's might not."
Su Chen considered objecting—more observers meant more attention and potentially complicated combat—but decided that having both Shinobu and Gyomei witness his capabilities would accelerate the recruitment process significantly. "Very well. But you observe only—don't interfere with combat unless I specifically request assistance. I need clean demonstration of my team's capabilities without confusion about who accomplished what."
Mitsuri raised her hand enthusiastically. "Can I come too? Please? I've never seen a Moon demon fight, and you seem really strong and if something goes wrong I could help and—"
"Kanroji, control yourself," Obanai interrupted, though his tone was more exasperated than harsh. "This is serious combat operation, not entertainment."
Su Chen surprised everyone by agreeing. "Mitsuri Kanroji can accompany us. I'm evaluating potential recruits, and observing how someone handles genuine danger provides better assessment than formal interviews. If she panics or proves incompatible with my team's combat style, I'll know immediately. If she performs well, that confirms my initial recruitment interest."
Mitsuri's squeal of excitement was audible across the courtyard. Obanai looked like he wanted to object further but restrained himself, apparently recognizing that his overprotective tendency toward Mitsuri wasn't his place to enforce.
"Deployments commence in ten minutes," Su Chen stated. "Saeko, Esdeath—you have your targets and know the requirements. Clean eliminations, recover any demon blood samples for analysis, return within three hours. If you encounter complications beyond your capability to handle, retreat and call for support."
Both women nodded, though their expressions suggested they found the idea of needing support faintly ridiculous.
Su Chen turned to his own team. "Tanjiro, Gyomei, Shinobu, Mitsuri—you'll follow my lead and maintain formation as I designate. Xiao Yi Xian will provide area denial and support. Nezuko serves as demon detection since she can sense other demons more reliably than human techniques. Our objective is to identify the target demon, assess its capabilities, allow me to copy any interesting Blood Demon Arts, then eliminate it efficiently. Questions?"
"If it is an Upper Moon," Gyomei rumbled, "they are extraordinarily dangerous. Even with your claimed power, underestimating them would be fatal. Upper Moon demons have killed dozens of Hashira over the centuries."
"Noted," Su Chen acknowledged. "I'll adjust tactics based on threat assessment. Now, let's move out. Demons are nocturnal—we have approximately seven hours until dawn to complete all three operations."
---
## **Western Village - Saeko's Hunt**
Saeko arrived at the abandoned building just as her target was luring its latest victim inside—a young woman who had been drawn by apparent sounds of a crying child. The demon itself was fairly standard—humanoid with elongated limbs and claws, probably fifty to seventy years old based on its spiritual pressure, with a Blood Demon Art that created auditory illusions.
The demon sensed Saeko's approach and immediately shifted from luring to combat mode, its claws extending as it prepared to attack. It opened its mouth to use its sonic scream technique—
Saeko's blade left its sheath and returned in a motion so fast it appeared instantaneous. The demon's head separated from its body before its brain could process that an attack had occurred. Both pieces began disintegrating immediately, the demon's regeneration unable to compensate for decapitation by Nichirin blade enhanced with Saeko's Supreme Sword Bone-empowered sword intent.
Total combat duration: 0.8 seconds.
The rescued woman stared in shock at her savior, who was already cleaning her blade with practiced efficiency. "You're safe now," Saeko stated calmly. "Return to the village and inform them the demon threat has been eliminated. The Demon Slayer Corps will verify."
She collected a blood sample from the disintegrating corpse—Su Chen wanted to analyze demon biology—and departed, leaving behind a thoroughly confused civilian and a rapidly vanishing demon corpse.
One target eliminated. Two hours and fifty-nine minutes remaining until scheduled return.
Saeko decided to patrol the surrounding area for any additional demons that might be operating nearby. Efficient use of deployment time was simply good practice.
---
## **Northern Forest - Esdeath's Hunt**
Esdeath stood in the center of the forest clearing, surrounded by seventeen demons who had emerged from hiding to attack what they perceived as a lone human woman. The pack leader—a demon with the ability to create perfect duplicates of itself—had split into multiple copies, believing numerical advantage would guarantee victory.
"How disappointing," Esdeath said with genuine dismay. "I was hoping for at least a moderate challenge. Instead, you're just slightly more numerous vermin."
She activated Mahapadma at reduced intensity—no need for full power against such weak opponents. Time froze across a two-hundred-meter radius, trapping all seventeen demons in temporal stasis. Esdeath walked among them casually, examining each frozen attacker with clinical interest.
"This one's duplicate ability is mildly interesting," she mused, studying the pack leader's copies. "The duplicates share consciousness rather than being independent entities. That's a technique worth having Su Chen analyze and copy."
She created ice constructs at lethal points on each demon—throat, heart, spine—positioning them with surgical precision. Then she released the time freeze.
Seventeen demons simultaneously died as ice spears materialized inside their bodies, destroying critical organs before regeneration could compensate. The duplicates all vanished as the original body perished, confirming Esdeath's analysis about shared consciousness.
Total combat duration: 3.2 seconds, plus approximately thirty seconds of setup time during the time freeze.
"Absolutely disappointing," Esdeath sighed, collecting blood samples from the dissolving corpses. "I hope Su Chen's target provides better entertainment, or this entire dimension will prove insufficiently challenging to be interesting."
She departed the forest, already planning to request assignment to more dangerous prey if this was representative of the Demon Slayer world's threat level.
---
## **Mountain Temple - The Upper Moon**
Su Chen's group approached the temple through mountain trails, their pace deliberately measured to allow the Hashira observers to keep up. Tanjiro's enhanced sense of smell detected demon presence long before visual confirmation was possible.
"Strong demon scent," Tanjiro reported, his hand moving to his blade. "Multiple people's blood, recent kills. The scent is... wrong. Stronger than any demon I've encountered except Upper Moons during my previous encounters with them. This might really be—"
"Upper Moon Five," a voice called from the temple entrance, cultured and almost pleasant. "Or I was, until Gyokko's recent death promoted me to Upper Moon Four. I am Nakime, and you've chosen a poor night to disturb my meditation."
The figure that emerged was feminine, dressed in elegant black kimono patterned with biwa designs. Her most distinctive feature was her single visible eye—the other hidden behind her hair—which showed the kanji for "four" instead of "five" carved into its pupil. She carried a biwa instrument, her fingers resting on its strings with casual confidence.
"An Upper Moon," Gyomei confirmed, his spiritual perception identifying the overwhelming demonic presence. "This is beyond what most Hashira can handle alone. Even with multiple Hashira working together, Upper Moons have survived and escaped. Su Chen-san, we should call for reinforcements—"
"Unnecessary," Su Chen interrupted, his dual pupils analyzing Nakime with interest. Her Blood Demon Art was immediately apparent—spatial manipulation through sound, allowing her to create portals and rearrange spaces within her domain. It was sophisticated technique, far more refined than the crude abilities demonstrated by lesser demons.
"I want to copy that," Su Chen stated bluntly, addressing Nakime directly. "Your spatial manipulation art. It's more efficient than several techniques I currently use. I'm going to defeat you, extract a detailed analysis of your abilities, and then either recruit you or eliminate you depending on whether you're redeemable. Please demonstrate your full capabilities so I can make an accurate copy."
Nakime's expression showed a mixture of confusion and offense. "You... you're not even treating me as a threat? I'm Upper Moon Four! I've killed dozens of Hashira! I control this entire mountain through my Blood Demon Art! And you're discussing me like I'm a technique scroll to be studied?"
"Because that's effectively what you are," Su Chen replied with brutal honesty. "You're significantly weaker than the threats I've faced recently. You might be Upper Moon Four by this world's standards, but by the standards of dimensions I've visited, you're roughly equivalent to a Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator—powerful locally, but not particularly impressive cosmically. Now, demonstrate your abilities or I'll simply crush you and extract what I need from your dying brain."
Nakime's visible eye narrowed with rage at the casual dismissal. She struck her biwa sharply, and reality twisted.
The mountain temple and surrounding landscape simply... rearranged. Pathways that had led north now led south. The ground that had been below became a wall to the left. Gravity shifted unpredictably, pulling in directions that defied normal physics. It was disorienting combat environment designed to give Nakime complete control while her enemies struggled to maintain basic orientation.
Tanjiro stumbled, his trained combat reflexes insufficient to adapt to spatial warping of this magnitude. Mitsuri grabbed him to prevent him from falling into a sudden chasm that had opened where solid ground existed seconds ago. Even Gyomei was struggling, his spiritual perception unable to provide reliable information when the space itself kept reconfiguring.
Su Chen, Xiao Yi Xian, and Nezuko remained perfectly stable—Su Chen through his own superior spatial understanding, Xiao Yi Xian through her distributed consciousness that didn't rely on fixed positioning, and Nezuko through her demonic nature being compatible with the warped space.
"Interesting technique," Su Chen observed clinically, his dual pupils tracking the spatial manipulation patterns. "You're not actually moving objects—you're folding space to create the illusion of movement while maintaining relative positions. That's more sophisticated than it appears. The biwa serves as both focus and computation device, allowing you to maintain multiple simultaneous spatial folds without losing coherence. Very efficient."
He extended his hand, and divine energy erupted outward in a sphere. The spatial warping immediately stabilized—Su Chen was imposing his own spatial framework, overriding Nakime's manipulations through sheer power disparity.
"But it has a fundamental weakness," Su Chen continued. "Your technique requires you to maintain continuous concentration. If I disrupt your focus, the entire construct collapses. Xiao Yi Xian, please demonstrate."
The Poison Body released a cloud of silver mist that spread across the warped space at impossible speed. Nakime immediately tried to redirect the toxin through spatial manipulation, but Xiao Yi Xian's conceptual poison wasn't affected by normal spatial rules—it existed as an idea rather than purely physical substance, allowing it to bypass conventional defenses.
The moment the mist contacted Nakime, her biwa playing faltered. The spatial warping began to destabilize as her concentration was attacked by toxins that convinced her neurons that maintaining complex thoughts was impossible.
"Neural disruption poison," Shinobu breathed, recognizing the technique despite never having seen its like before. "It's not attacking her body—it's attacking her ability to think clearly. That's brilliant! Even if she tries to regenerate, the poison reestablishes itself faster than she can purge it!"
Nakime stumbled backward, her visible eye showing genuine fear for the first time. She struck her biwa desperately, attempting to create an escape portal, but her spatial manipulation was degrading rapidly under Xiao Yi Xian's assault.
"I surrender!" Nakime shouted, her cultured composure completely shattered. "Please! I don't want to die! I'll tell you anything you want to know about Muzan, about the other Upper Moons, about everything!"
Su Chen paused, considering. His original plan had been simple elimination after copying her technique. But a surrendering Upper Moon who was willing to provide intelligence? That was potentially more valuable than just her Blood Demon Art.
"Xiao Yi Xian, suppress her but don't kill," Su Chen commanded. "I want her alive and coherent for interrogation. Tanjiro, you mentioned during my previous visit that a demon named Tamayo was researching methods to free demons from Muzan's control. Is she still operating?"
"Yes," Tanjiro confirmed, struggling to maintain balance on the still-unstable terrain. "Tamayo-san has made significant progress. She's helped several demons break free from Muzan's influence."
"Excellent," Su Chen replied. "Then we're bringing Nakime to Tamayo as a test case. If she can be freed from Muzan's control and chooses to cooperate with us, she becomes a valuable intelligence source and potentially the first redeemed Upper Moon. If the process fails or she remains hostile, we eliminate her then. It's a low-risk experiment with potentially high rewards."
Gyomei spoke up, his voice carrying profound shock. "You're... you're proposing to redeem an Upper Moon? To potentially recruit her to fight against Muzan? That's... that's never been attempted. Upper Moons are Muzan's most loyal servants. They've killed hundreds, thousands. The idea that one could be turned—"
"Everything is possible until proven impossible," Su Chen interrupted. "Nezuko demonstrated that demons can retain humanity and regain speech. Tamayo demonstrated that demons can break free from Muzan's control. Combining those precedents, redeeming an Upper Moon becomes merely difficult rather than impossible. And difficulty has never been sufficient reason not to attempt something."
He approached Nakime, who was now completely paralyzed by Xiao Yi Xian's neural disruption poison, capable only of moving her eye to track his approach. Su Chen placed his hand on her forehead, and the Origin Mirror activated—copying not just her Blood Demon Art, but also scanning her memories, her consciousness structure, and the nature of her connection to Muzan.
"Fascinating," Su Chen murmured, processing the information flow. "Muzan's control method is more sophisticated than I expected. It's not simple loyalty or fear—it's a genuine psychic bond that rewrites personality and motivation at fundamental levels. Breaking it would require... hmm. Yes, I see how Tamayo's approach could work. It would need refinement, but the principle is sound."
He withdrew his hand, the copying process complete. Nakime's spatial manipulation technique was now his to utilize, along with her memories of Muzan's operations, the other Upper Moons' locations, and numerous strategic details about demon society.
"Bind her for transport," Su Chen instructed. "We're taking her to Tamayo tonight. This is too valuable an opportunity to delay. Tanjiro, I'll need you to contact Tamayo and arrange a meeting. Gyomei, Shinobu, Mitsuri—you've witnessed an Upper Moon's capture. I trust this adequately demonstrates the Stellar Void Pavilion's capabilities?"
Shinobu's habitual smile had vanished entirely, replaced by an expression of profound shock. "You... you defeated an Upper Moon in less than three minutes. You didn't even use your full power—I could tell you were holding back substantially. And now you're talking about redeeming her like it's a routine procedure rather than something unprecedented in the Corps' entire history."
"Because for me, it is routine," Su Chen replied. "I've captured and converted enemies stronger than Nakime. The process becomes straightforward once you have sufficient power to dictate terms. Now, let's return to the estate. By morning, I want preliminary results from the Tamayo experiment, complete analysis of Nakime's Blood Demon Art, and initial assessments of how to apply her spatial techniques to enhance my organization's capabilities."
He created a spatial portal back to the Ubuyashiki estate—demonstrating that he could replicate Nakime's signature ability already just from the brief copying session. The assembled observers stepped through, carrying the paralyzed Upper Moon demon with them.
Behind them, the mountain temple returned to its natural spatial configuration as Nakime's Blood Demon Art fully dissipated. The night's operation had been staggeringly successful—three demons eliminated (two) or captured (one), multiple Blood Demon Arts copied or ready for analysis, and the Hashira observers thoroughly convinced of Su Chen's claimed capabilities.
When they emerged back at the estate, they found that Saeko and Esdeath had already returned—both having completed their assignments with such efficiency that they'd had time to bathe and change before the main group finished.
"Minor demon eliminated in under one second," Saeko reported. "No complications. Blood samples collected for analysis."
"Pack of seventeen demons eliminated in approximately three seconds," Esdeath added. "Disappointingly easy. I've collected duplicate-ability samples that Su Chen might find interesting."
The assembled Hashira stared at the two women, then at the paralyzed Upper Moon demon being carried by Su Chen's team, then at Su Chen himself. The power disparity between dimensions had been made devastatingly clear through practical demonstration.
Mitsuri found her voice first. "That was... that was amazing! You're all so strong! The way you just... and the poison! And the time stopping! And Su Chen-sama you're incredible and I want to learn everything about how you fight and—"
"Kanroji," Gyomei interrupted gently, "breathe."
But his expression showed that even the stoic Stone Hashira had been profoundly affected by what he'd witnessed. This wasn't just power—it was a completely different category of existence, capabilities that transcended the Demon Slayer world's established limits.
"I believe," Gyomei said slowly, choosing his words with care, "that the trial period may prove unnecessary. You have demonstrated capabilities beyond what our Corps could hope to match. If you're sincere about helping eliminate Muzan, I don't see how we could refuse such overwhelming assistance."
Su Chen smiled, satisfied with the night's work. The first day of his Demon Slayer world operation had succeeded beyond even his optimistic projections.
Three demons handled, one Upper Moon captured for recruitment, multiple Blood Demon Arts copied, and the Hashira were now thoroughly convinced of his value.
The harvest was proceeding exactly as planned.