Chapter Fifty-Eight: Found You, You Rat!
Note: The chapter quality isn't the best… but I'll make it up to you in the upcoming chapters.
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It was midnight.
The crescent moon stood at the center of the sky like a sharp silver blade, casting its pale shadows over Japan's dense forests.
Complete silence. No sound rose above the rustling of the trees.
On the branch of a massive tree, "Ron" (in Tsugikuni Ren's body) was lying lazily, watching the moon with half-closed eyes.
"Peace…"
He whispered to himself, enjoying the moment.
The past few days had been a social noise hell. Michikatsu's engagement, arranged years ago, had finally turned into an official wedding ceremony.
Ron recalled his older brother's face. Michikatsu, that strict samurai obsessed with perfection, had been smiling stiffly at the guests, a pitiful sight, as if a sword were held to his neck.
"Tsk… poor Michikatsu…"
Ron muttered mockingly.
"But the worst was Yoriichi. The strongest swordsman in history, the creator of the first Breathing Style, was running after his wife 'Uta,' carrying gifts and fabrics like an obedient servant."
Ron shook his head in despair.
"Women are terrifying… truly terrifying. I never want to get married."
He sighed deeply, then fully opened his eyes and looked up.
Rina was floating directly above him, partially blocking the moonlight.
She looked alluring and irritating at the same time. Her short black hair was neatly styled, and her emerald eyes glowed with cold artificial intelligence.
She was wearing a short, modern kimono decorated with faint neon lines—an outfit that didn't belong to this era, but to a futuristic cyberpunk age, reflecting the chaos of Ron's subconscious mind.
[Another sigh?]
Rina said in an electronic tone laced with sarcasm.
[Ron, you complain so much that I'm starting to suspect you're an old man in a young body. Didn't you enjoy watching Michikatsu sweat in terror over wedding protocols?]
Ron chuckled lightly and adjusted his position on the branch.
"Sure, that was the only entertaining part. Watching the 'perfect samurai' stumble in his robes was worth it."
He fell silent for a moment, then his tone turned serious.
"Enough nonsense… give me the update, Rina."
A blue holographic screen appeared before his eyes.
[Status Report:]
[Gojo Satoru Template: Assimilation Rate 39%.]
[Ryomen Sukuna Template: Assimilation Rate 23%.]
[Tsugikuni Yoriichi Template: Assimilation Rate… 127%.]
Ron froze.
He stared at the last number.
"127%?"
He raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"How can a vessel exceed its maximum capacity? That's illogical, Rina."
Rina descended slightly to be at eye level with him.
[Explanation: This is not merely a matter of capacity, Ron. You didn't just copy Yoriichi. You took his techniques and merged them with your future knowledge and energy from another world (Cursed Energy).]
She pointed at his chest.
[You are no longer 'imitating' Yoriichi. You are now 'Tsugikuni Ren,' who surpassed the original. You broke the ceiling, and this surplus is the result of your own evolution.]
Ron's smile widened.
It wasn't an innocent smile, but the smile of a predator who had just realized the size of his fangs.
He stood steadily on the tree branch.
The breeze blew, stirring his long black hair with crimson-tinted ends. In that moment, he looked like a work of art—a blend of noble elegance and warrior savagery.
He wore wide black hakama and a tight combat jacket in a dark wine color, revealing his well-built muscles.
Ron raised his right hand in front of his face.
"Let's test this surplus, then…"
A black and red aura began to rise from his palm. It wasn't mere energy—it was heavy pressure that made the air tremble.
"Cursed energy…"
Ron whispered, then clenched his fist.
His fist ignited with cold black flames.
With a swift motion, without even drawing his sword, he swung his hand through the air.
Shiiiiik!
An invisible blade of raw energy shot forth, slicing through the air with a sound like tearing fabric.
Five hundred meters away, a low-ranking demon was sneaking through the bushes in search of prey.
The demon never even realized it had died.
At a speed beyond perception, its head separated from its body.
But it didn't end there.
The cut didn't regenerate. Small black flames began devouring the flesh, preventing cellular regeneration and consuming the demon's very essence.
The demon turned to ash within seconds.
"Amazing…"
Ron muttered, watching the result with shining eyes.
"Combining 'Sun Breathing,' which burns cells, with 'Cursed Energy,' which attacks the soul and corrupts energy flow…"
He clenched his hand tightly.
"This isn't just killing… it's 'erasure' of existence. A poison with no cure."
Suddenly—
Ron felt a prickling sensation at the back of his head.
It wasn't a sound. Nor a smell.
It was a disturbance in the fabric of the world. A slight ripple in the sea of mana.
Ron sharply turned eastward.
[Six Eyes: Activated]
The world changed in an instant.
Natural colors vanished. Trees became transparent, rocks reduced to skeletal outlines.
Ron saw the flow of energy everywhere— insects, sleeping birds, plant roots.
Then he focused his vision on a very distant point.
His sight pierced miles, mountains, and darkness.
[Transparent World: Maximum Range]
There, deep within the forest, he saw an aura—
An aura he recognized instantly, despite never having seen it before. A disgusting aura, filled with a mix of immense power, cowardice, and corrupted blood.
Five hearts beating slowly. Seven brains operating in horrifying harmony.
Ron's pupils dilated.
A demonic smile spread across his face, making even Rina instinctively retreat a step.
A concentrated killing intent erupted from him, sharp and dense enough that birds in nearby trees dropped dead from the pressure alone.
"Found you…"
Ron inhaled deeply, as if savoring the scent of fear drifting from afar.
"Found you, you rat… Kibutsuji Muzan."
Elsewhere, deep in the dark forest.
Kibutsuji Muzan walked with regal steps.
His luxurious Western suit (recently imported) was spotless despite the forest mud. His hat covered part of his pale face.
Behind him, Tamayo walked in silence. Her head was lowered, her eyes fixed on the ground in submission.
Muzan was boiling inside.
"Yoriichi…"
Just thinking the name made his cells tremble.
That monster with the earrings had forced him into hiding for years. He lived like a rat in the sewers, afraid of sunlight and that samurai's blade.
But today… today was different.
Muzan pulled out an old, worn piece of paper from his pocket.
It was a map.
An ancient text one of his followers had found by chance in an abandoned temple.
"The Blue Spider Lily…"
Muzan read the faded words, his crimson eyes gleaming with indescribable greed.
The coordinates pointed to this region. And the time… the time was approaching.
"Even if I have to sit here for ten years…"
Muzan thought as he carefully folded the paper.
"If I obtain that flower… I will become the perfect being. I will not fear the sun, and I will not fear Yoriichi. I will be a true god."
Suddenly—
Muzan stopped.
The hairs on his neck stood on end.
He felt cold. Not the cold of the air, but the cold of death.
Something was behind him. Something dark… and heavy.
He turned at inhuman speed, claws growing in a fraction of a second, ready to fight.
"Who's there?!"
No one.
Only the still trees.
And Tamayo, staring at him in shock and fear.
"My lord? What's wrong?" she asked in a trembling voice.
Muzan exhaled, his claws retracting. He wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
"Nothing…" he said sharply to hide his unease.
"Just… an illusion. My nerves are tense because of that man."
He turned to resume walking.
"I must hurry, there's no time for—"
Everything froze.
The air stopped moving.
Sound vanished.
Muzan didn't feel his arrival. Didn't hear his footsteps. Didn't smell him.
Suddenly, there was a shadow standing directly in front of him.
Too close.
So close that Muzan could see the reflection of his own pale face in those eyes.
Crimson red eyes… cold as ice, deep as hell.
Long black hair fluttered slowly. And a handsome face bearing features similar to Yoriichi's—yet… far more sinister.
Muzan's heart stopped for a moment.
"You…"
Muzan tried to step back, but his body betrayed him. Terror completely paralyzed him.
Ron smiled slowly.
It was a calm smile, filled with absolute confidence and terrifying superiority.
He leaned his face closer to Muzan's until the whisper was clearly audible in the deadly silence.
Ron spoke in a calm tone, carrying the weight of a final judgment:
"The game of hide-and-seek is over, King of Rats… I've caught you."