Everyone:!!!
Giyuu's expressionless face, combined with that one sentence, shocked everyone present.
Even Tanjirou was momentarily stunned, unsure of what to say.
A bit further away, Obanai's anger was already soaring.
Giyuu's original intention was that his strength was too weak, not comparable to theirs, which was why he arrived slower.
But when he said that in the situation just now, anyone who heard it would take it as mockery, and he even added, "I'm not looking down on you."
Isn't that like saying, "I'm not targeting you, I just want to say you're all trash."
Mr. Tomioka, it truly is you…
Musashi covered his face with one hand, feeling that Giyuu was beyond saving.
Sanemi froze for a moment after hearing Giyuu's words, then the veins on his face bulged, and he became enraged by what he had just said.
However, at this moment, Sanemi actually started to laugh.
"Hehehehehe, you're truly confident. Different in strength from us? Fine, since you've already said so, then today let me verify your words and see how different your strength is from ours.
Don't get knocked down by one of my moves later."
After saying these words, Sanemi directly rushed towards Giyuu, throwing a punch at him.
Many times in the past, Sanemi had endured Giyuu's "arrogant" words due to the corps rules, but today he truly couldn't bear it anymore.
However, he overlooked one point: he was actually the one who had approached Giyuu first.
Giyuu looked at Sanemi, who was attacking him, with great confusion, not understanding why, even after he had answered, Sanemi was still so angry, and seemingly even angrier than last time.
Sigh… what a difficult person to get along with…
Giyuu felt extremely helpless; facing Sanemi's fist, he could only raise his arm to block.
The fist landed on Giyuu's arm with a dull thud, and Giyuu felt the force wasn't particularly great.
Although furious because of Giyuu's words, Sanemi did not lose his reason; after all, corps rules prohibited infighting among corps members, and even as Hashiras, they could not violate them.
If he hit lightly to vent his anger, he might be able to conceal it, but if he truly struck hard, he would definitely violate the corps rules.
With one punch blocked, Genya kicked Giyuu again; although Giyuu blocked it, he was still kicked back two steps.
"Hehehehe, is this what you mean by your strength being different from ours?"
Sanemi looked at the repelled Giyuu, grinned twice, and said to him.
"Stop! Don't fight anymore!"
Just then, Tanjirou cried out, his cheeks puffed up in slight anger, and he stretched out both arms to block in front of Giyuu.
"As companions, we should get along well!" Tanjirou said to Sanemi, and then, remembering Giyuu's recent statement, he continued with a slight difficulty: "Although Mr. Giyuu's words just now sound easy to make people angry and dislike, I believe this is definitely not Mr. Giyuu's original intention!"
Tanjirou still strongly trusted Giyuu's character, not believing he would be arrogant and look down on others; Giyuu's words just now could only be explained as not being his true intention.
However, at this moment, Giyuu, who was behind him, was greatly struck; Tanjirou's words stabbed a knife deep into his heart.
Easy to make people angry and dislike… I was clearly answering Shinazugawa's question seriously…
Giyuu expressed great confusion.
"Who do you think you are? Not his original intention? Can you speak for this guy? I advise you to get out of the way quickly, or I'll deal with you too. I haven't even acknowledged you two siblings yet."
Sanemi was also very annoyed by Tanjirou's words and spoke to him.
"It's okay! You once stabbed Nezuko with a sword, and I won't acknowledge you either! If I get the chance, I'd like to avenge Nezuko with a headbutt!"
Tanjirou enthusiastically and brightly shouted to Sanemi; his dream of giving Sanemi a headbutt was still vivid in his memory.
Sanemi's anger surged again after hearing Tanjirou's words.
"Alright, you've got guts. Since you want revenge, why not now? I'll take care of both of you before the Hashira Meeting begins.
Of course, I'll go easy on you so you have the strength to attend the meeting."
Sanemi cupped his right palm over his left fist, pressing until his bones made a "crack crack" sound, and grinned at Tanjirou and Giyuu.
Just as Musashi was about to step forward to mediate, an unexpected remark from Tanjirou made him freeze.
"How about this, I'll buy you some hagi-mochi to eat, and you don't get angry anymore, how about it?"
Tanjirou said to Sanemi as if it were the most natural thing, his eyes full of confidence, believing he had found the best solution to the problem, one that could turn conflict into harmony between the two sides.
Musashi felt at this moment that Tanjirou had also been infected by Giyuu; should he say they were indeed fellow disciples? But he seemed to be Tanjirou's senior disciple as well, so why did he feel Tanjirou hadn't been influenced by him in this regard?
Sanemi was startled by the words, then became even more furious.
"Are you messing with me…?"
Feeling the increasing anger emanating from Sanemi, Tanjirou quickly began to explain.
"Of course not! The few times I've seen Mr. Shinazugawa before, I've smelled a fragrance of glutinous rice and bean paste on you. That's the smell of hagi-mochi, isn't it?
So I thought Mr. Shinazugawa must really like hagi-mochi, right? When you're unhappy, eating your favorite food usually makes you feel better. If Mr. Shinazugawa eats hagi-mochi, he'll feel better, won't he?"
Tanjirou gestured with both hands as he explained to Sanemi.
After the last judgment of him and Nezuko, Tanjirou sometimes encountered Sanemi when returning to headquarters. Each time he encountered him, he could smell the hagi-mochi scent on Sanemi, thus reaching this conclusion.
"That's right! Eating your favorite food makes you feel better!" At this moment, Mitsuri had recovered her energy; the large bag of dango in her hand had already been finished.
After loudly agreeing with Tanjirou's words, Mitsuri noticed that many more people's gazes were focused on her.
Mitsuri then realized that her timing for speaking seemed to be off; her cheeks instantly turned crimson again, and she covered her face, saying "Sorry" once more.
Meanwhile, Sanemi had fallen silent.
At this moment, Giyuu seemed to have discovered a new continent, saying with great surprise, "So you… like to eat hagi-mochi…"
Although he was surprised in his heart, his expression remained unchanged. He had already begun to imagine himself buying hagi-mochi for Sanemi, and then Sanemi happily chatting with him.
Upon hearing this, the veins under Sanemi's ears and on his neck also became visible, but he remained silent, not speaking.
Sanemi's silence made Tanjirou naturally assume he had agreed, believing the problem was about to be resolved, and he continued to happily chat with Sanemi.
"hagi-mochi is delicious! I completely understand why Mr. Shinazugawa likes to eat it. But does Mr. Shinazugawa prefer red bean paste filling or whole bean filling? After the meeting, I'll go get you some…"
Sanemi's fists cracked, and his entire body even began to tremble with anger and rage.
However, it wasn't over yet; Genya actually ran over at this moment, interrupting Tanjirou's words and saying to him, "You don't need to buy it; I'll make hagi-mochi for my brother myself."