Tamayo's Research Institute
Musashi, carrying a smaller demon, knocked on the door of the institute.
A week had passed since he left the Fujino House. During this time, although he hadn't found any trace of Muzan, he had found a demon with spatial Blood Demon Art, and in addition, he had slain two other demons.
This demon's spatial ability was quite troublesome; it could teleport itself to any location where its active blood was present. However, demons have high bodily vitality, so even if their head is separated from their body by a Nichirin Sword, they can still move. Therefore, the active period of its blood was also quite long.
It took Musashi quite some time to capture this demon without killing it, longer than it took to deal with Upper Rank Five and Kaigaku combined.
After catching this demon, Musashi also received a summons from the Kasugai Crow at headquarters. The semi-annual Hashira Meeting was about to begin, so he returned.
The door opened, and Yushiro appeared behind it.
"Come in."
Without waiting for Musashi to say anything, Yushiro spoke directly.
Eh?
Musashi felt something was off. Yushiro's attitude this time was very different from previous times. Although his tone was still a bit cold, he seemed less resistant to him.
At the same time, Musashi also noticed a sorrowful aura emanating from Yushiro.
"Oh, alright."
Although he didn't understand what was going on, Musashi still responded and walked into the institute. After Musashi entered, Yushiro consciously closed the door.
"Lady Tamayo is inside. Wait here for a while."
With a tone mixed with sorrow and coldness, he walked into the inner room after saying this.
Musashi sat by the table. Yushiro's change still made him feel uncomfortable. He was certain that something must have happened during his absence.
A moment later, Tamayo and Yushiro walked out together.
"I apologize for keeping you waiting."
Tamayo said to Musashi with a smile, sitting down opposite him. Yushiro sat silently not far from Tamayo.
"Not at all, I just arrived," Musashi said, waving his hand, and then he held up the demon in his hand.
"This demon has the ability to teleport itself to the location of its active blood. I think it should be very useful."
Tamayo heard this and said with a hint of surprise, "This way, our plan will be even more secure."
"This demon's ability is quite troublesome and also a bit cunning. After I caught it, it woke up once midway but didn't make a sound, quietly using its Blood Demon Art, and almost escaped.
You must be careful when extracting its Blood Demon Art, otherwise, it might escape or injure you."
Musashi warned Tamayo.
When that demon escaped, Musashi immediately used several segments of Godspeed to quickly recapture it. After that, he became even more ruthless. Regardless of whether the demon was awake or not, he would deliver a heavy hand chop every half an hour to ensure it wouldn't wake up midway.
Yushiro glanced at Musashi after hearing his words, and the resistance in his eyes diminished a bit.
His hostility towards Musashi was mainly because of Musashi's offense towards Tamayo when he first met them, and he even wanted to kill both of them.
Because when he was gravely ill and on the verge of death, it was Tamayo who didn't give up and saved him. After that, Tamayo was inviolable in his heart.
Therefore, Musashi's behavior at the time made him extremely disgusted. Now, Musashi's words showed concern for them, which greatly reduced the disgust in Yushiro's heart.
"Don't worry, once I receive them, I will immediately inject them with a poison that suppresses Blood Demon Art. They won't have a chance to escape."
Tamayo replied with a smile.
Musashi felt relieved upon hearing this, and then he immediately delivered another heavy hand chop to the demon's neck in his hand. With a snap, the demon's neck went limp.
"I have already extracted the Blood Demon Arts from those previous demons. Once this demon's Blood Demon Art is also extracted, our plan can be executed."
At this moment, Tamayo announced exciting news. Yushiro, who was beside her, trembled slightly upon hearing Tamayo's words, lowering his head with a somewhat sorrowful expression.
"Really?! Can all those Blood Demon Arts be used? Can we find Muzan with these?"
Musashi immediately stood up excitedly and asked Tamayo loudly upon hearing this.
Tamayo saw Musashi's reaction, smiled, and nodded, then replied, "There's a high probability we can find him, and with these, I can confidently say that we'll be able to temporarily nullify Muzan's ability to split, and even combine with the medicine I developed earlier, it can significantly weaken his strength."
Tamayo paused, then continued, "You already know what abilities those Blood Demon Arts possess. I plan to track Muzan once this demon's Blood Demon Art is extracted. Once I find him, I will use the Blood Demon Art's ability to teleport you there."
"How about I go with you then? That way, you'll be safer," Musashi said to Tamayo after hearing her words.
Tamayo shook her head at this.
"If you are there, Muzan will definitely escape beforehand. Although I have extracted these Blood Demon Arts, they can only be used at night, and at most twice. If we don't track him down at night, all our efforts will be in vain by daybreak."
"Alright then, since I can't go with you, you must use the Blood Demon Art in time to teleport us there. As long as you can hold out until we arrive, I will definitely protect you."
Tamayo's words made sense, and Musashi didn't insist further, but he still reminded Tamayo.
Yushiro looked at Tamayo with an expectant gaze after hearing Musashi's words.
"Thank you for your concern."
Tamayo smiled after hearing Musashi's words, but in her reply, she did not respond to Musashi's suggestion.
After seeing Tamayo's reaction and remembering what Tamayo had said to him three days prior, Yushiro's eyes gradually dimmed.
...
"Finally finished. However, this large-scale spatial Blood Demon Art takes some time to activate, so it should be activated in advance.
I wonder if those Demon Slayer Corps guys are reliable.
Lady Tamayo, how about we give these things to them and let them eliminate Muzan themselves? After all, we've already done so much."
On the night the Blood Demon Art extraction was completed, Yushiro looked at the meat seeds in the reagent bottle in his hand and turned to Tamayo, saying.
"Yushiro, eliminating Muzan is the only obsession that has kept me alive. I must personally participate in this matter.
Only by watching Muzan absorb those medicines can I feel at ease."
Tamayo's voice was as gentle as ever, but her heart was filled with hatred for Muzan, and a slight sense of relief at being able to break free.
Upon hearing Tamayo's words, Yushiro's heart trembled. The phrase "the only obsession that has kept me alive" had made him understand many things.
He was silent for a while, but he didn't give up, and continued to speak to Tamayo as if he hadn't understood:
"Then let me use these Blood Demon Arts when the time comes. For Lady Tamayo to personally try them… it would be too dangerous. What if those guys don't arrive in time…"
As he spoke, Yushiro felt a lump in his throat, and it seemed as if something was about to well up in his eyes.
"Yushiro, you should have understood…"
Tamayo interrupted Yushiro's words, turned, and looked at him with a smile.
If it had been in the past, upon seeing Tamayo like this, Yushiro would have surely sighed in his heart, "Lady Tamayo is so beautiful!" and been overjoyed that Tamayo was smiling at him.
But now, all he could feel was sadness and pain…