"Then let's set off now. We shouldn't keep Lord Doma waiting too long."
A trace of anticipation flashed across Daki's face, her cheeks faintly flushing.
"Right. You know my dad—he's very particular about punctuality."
Inosuke was practically about to burst out laughing, yet his face remained as steady as an old dog.
"Hee-shu! Hee-shu! Where are you going?"
That perverted freak living inside a pot—Gyokko—suddenly popped out from a corner of the room.
Not only had he brought Muzan's encirclement plan with him, he was also brimming with excitement, loudly declaring that he wanted to team up with the Daki siblings to turn the Hashira into works of art.
This absolutely would not do.
If three Upper Ranks joined forces—and with hostages in hand—those two Hashira really would be done for.
"Well… Inoko, Lord Muzan's orders were for us to cooperate…"
Daki hesitated, looking troubled.
"Cooperate my ass!"
Inosuke slammed his palm onto the table, pointing at Gyokko—who was covered in tiny hands—with an expression that screamed you have no taste.
"Can't you see the aura on this Master Pot right here?
That's loneliness!
That's pride!
That's the artistic spirit that doesn't need mortals interfering!"
Inosuke walked up to Gyokko and, suppressing his disgust, patted the slick surface of the pot.
"Brother Pot, your design is way too avant-garde!
Eyes growing out of mouths, mouths growing out of eyes—this kind of structure completely breaks convention!
It's a… masterpiece!
Letting others interfere in your battle would be a desecration of your art!"
"Hee… hee-shu?"
Gyokko froze. A strange blush spread across his deformed face.
"Y-you… understand my art?"
"I understand it too well!"
Inosuke gave him a thumbs-up—heroes appreciating heroes.
"You really are worthy of being Lord Doma's child!"
"So I suggest this: let it be just the two of us! Sister Daki should go back to the Paradise Faith and prepare the victory banquet!
Leave this place to the solo performance of two great artists!"
Gyokko instantly puffed up.
"Hee-shu! That's right!
Those crude brutes would only ruin my creations! Just the two of us is more than enough!"
Daki was still a little hesitant. "But the hostages—"
"I'll take care of them!"
Inosuke snatched the bundle of sashes from Daki's hands—the ones tightly wrapped around Uzui Tengen's wives—and declared righteously:
"If we run into a Demon Slayer ambush on the road, carrying hostages would only slow you down!
I'll transport them to the Paradise Faith for you—every single one, guaranteed!"
"Inoko…"
Daki's eyes filled with tears.
"You're too thoughtful! Then we'll wait for you at the Paradise Faith!"
"Go, go! Don't delay Master Pot's performance!"
Inosuke shoved the siblings toward the window, and casually stuffed a letter into Daki's hand.
"This is a letter of introduction for my dad. With this, no one will dare stop you.
Remember—don't come out for the next few days. I've got big things to do. Wait for my signal!"
"Mhm! Big sister will listen to you!"
With her brother on her back and the letter in hand, Daki jumped out the window joyfully, like a grade-schooler heading off on a spring outing.
[Mission Complete!]
[Reward Issued]
...
At that moment, within the Eternal Paradise Cult.
When the Daki siblings arrived, travel-worn, and pushed open the doors to the main hall, they were met with a sight that utterly shattered their worldview as demons.
In the warm inner hall, Kotoha sat on the tatami, knitting a sweater.
And opposite her—
Upper Rank Three, Akaza, a being devoted solely to the pinnacle of martial arts—
was sitting cross-legged, holding up a bundle of yarn loops with both hands, wearing an expression of utter despair yet not daring to move an inch, serving as a human yarn winder for Kotoha.
"Lord Akaza, raise your hands just a little higher, please,"
Kotoha said with a gentle smile.
"Yes."
Akaza stiffly raised his hands, even carefully suppressing his battle aura, terrified of snapping the yarn.
At the doorway, Daki's jaw hit the floor.
"B-brother…" she tugged Gyutaro's sleeve, trembling.
"Inoko didn't lie to us!"
"Even Upper Rank Three has become like this…"
Gyutaro stared in shock.
"That woman named Kotoha… she really is the true king behind the Paradise Faith!"
Gyutaro was equally shaken.
"Terrifying… too terrifying…
Is this the tyrannical power of love?"
From that day on, the Paradise Faith's overall vibe completely derailed.
To integrate into this warm and loving family, two Upper Ranks began an inexplicable internal competition.
Back in Yoshiwara.
Only Inosuke and Gyokko remained in the room.
"Hee-shu, hee-shu~ Now all the irrelevant people are gone."
Gyokko crawled out of his pot, wriggling with excitement.
"Kid, even though you understand art, Lord Muzan ordered me to assist you.
Where are those two Hashira? I'm going to turn them into flower arrangements!"
Inosuke looked at the disgusting pot. A flash of cold light passed through his emerald eyes.
Now that the troublesome ones were gone, this remaining one…
could be used as a sparring partner.
He didn't answer right away.
With his back to Gyokko, Inosuke pulled out the glass vial the system had just rewarded him with, glowing with an eerie light.
Special Constitution Fusion Agent.
All this time, he had suffered.
His body had been an ice-aligned constitution since childhood, innately attuned to cold.
Yet he cultivated Sun Breathing—the ultimate yang, blazing and fierce.
The clash between the two Breathing styles made it difficult for him to use either freely.
"Whether I can become a true powerhouse depends on this thing."
Tilting his head back, Inosuke downed the potion in one gulp.
Boom!
An indescribable surge of heat swept through his body, followed immediately by a torrent of extreme cold.
But instead of clashing as before, the two forces fused perfectly.
The cold was no longer biting, but crisp and pure.
The flames no longer burned, but felt warm.
Inosuke snapped his eyes open. Within those emerald pupils now flickered hints of gold and icy blue.
They were starting to resemble his foster father's eyes more and more.
"Hah…"
He exhaled. The breath instantly crystallized into ice in the air—then ignited in the next second.
"Hey, Master Pot."
Inosuke turned around, a smile full of wildness and calculation curling at his lips.
He drew his twin blades. No longer did they emit mere icy chill—
instead, flames tinged with frost danced along the steel.
"The two Hashira are extremely alert. If we go straight at them, they'll definitely run."
"So?"
Gyokko tilted his head, the eye on his forehead blinking.
"So we need a performance."
"We'll make a huge commotion—pretend there's a fierce battle happening here.
Those two Hashira are the type who'll rush over the moment they see trouble, like idiots."
"As long as we make enough noise—tear this building down—they'll come charging in like moths to a flame.
You stay hidden, I take center stage. We strike from inside and out and wipe them out in one go!"
"Hee-shu! Makes sense!"
Gyokko's eyes lit up.
"Then let's do it!"
Inosuke crossed his twin blades and took a stance.
"No holding back! The more realistic, the better!
Let me see the artistic accomplishment of Upper Rank Five!"
"Good! Then watch closely!"
Gyokko erupted from his pot, ecstatic.
"Blood Demon Art: Thousand Needles—Fish Slaughter!"
Countless grotesque fish, bristling with venomous spikes, shot toward Inosuke like a torrential rain.
Faced with the dense barrage, Inosuke didn't dodge. He drew in a deep breath, and the power of Ice–Sun surged through his body.
"Watch closely, old man—no, Gyokko!
This is my new technique!"
Rin-Nichi Breathing
First Form: Frost-Sky Flame Dance!
Slash!
Inosuke's figure vanished instantly. Two brilliant arcs of blade light sliced through the air.
The light was utterly bizarre—its outer layer freezing cold, its core blazing like a scorching sun.
Everything in its path froze into ice sculptures—then exploded in the next instant, shattering into burning shards of icy powder!
"What?!"
Gyokko was shocked.
Inosuke was already upon him, twin blades descending with mountain-splitting force toward Gyokko's neck.
CLANG!
Upper Rank Five reacted instantly, retracting into his pot. The hardened vessel blocked the strike.
A massive shockwave erupted, and the entire floor collapsed with a thunderous crash.
"Feels good!"
Inosuke laughed loudly. This was the power he wanted—no backlash pain, only endless explosive strength!
"Again, Master Pot! This still isn't loud enough!
Those two Hashira won't hear it!"
He attacked wildly as he shouted.
Of course, he wasn't actually trying to kill Gyokko yet. His real goal was to test his strength—and lure those two bodyguards over to do some hard labor.
"Hee-shu! You little brat—you've got quite some strength!"
Gyokko had been completely fooled. He genuinely thought this was just acting.
"If it's a performance, then I'll make it even more dazzling!
Blood Demon Art: Blood Prison Basin!"
A massive water basin materialized out of thin air, trying to trap Inosuke.
"Too slow!"
Rin-Nichi Breathing
Third Form: Blazing Sun Ice Wheel!
Spinning at high speed in midair, Inosuke transformed into a burning wheel of ice, cleaving straight through the basin—and kicking away one of Kyogokuya's load-bearing pillars for good measure.
RUMBLE—!!!
Under their "perfect coordination," the once-glorious top floor of Kyogokuya finally gave out, letting out a despairing groan before collapsing completely.
A towering cloud of dust shot skyward, and the explosion echoed throughout all of Yoshiwara.
On the street below.
Miss Renshi was in the middle of throwing out the eleventh thug when she suddenly froze.
Crack.
The sake jar in her hand was crushed to powder.
"Umu! That direction… that's Inoko boy's presence!"
Rengoku Kyojuro snapped his head up. His remaining eye locked onto the swaying top floor.
There, a nauseatingly dense demonic aura was erupting—along with Inosuke's presence, now far stronger than before.
"There's a demon! And it's Upper Rank!
Inoko boy is in danger!"
On the other side, Uzui Tengen—who had been pretending to count money as a madam—went pale.
The gold coins in his hand were crushed into ingots.
"That idiot boar-head!
Didn't we agree on infiltration?! Why did he blow the place up?!"
"But…"
Fury flared in Uzui's eyes.
"Dare to hurt my teammate?
That's not flashy at all!"
Above the ruins of Kyogokuya.
Inosuke stood panting atop a broken wall, lightly injured, staring at Gyokko—who was unharmed, though his pot bore visible cracks.
"Six–four…
Without either side going all out, it's a six–four split."
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Inosuke smiled slyly.
"Hee-shu, hee-shu! Well?
Big enough commotion, right?"
Gyokko crowed proudly.
"Those two Hashira must be scared senseless by now!"
"Yeah… big enough."
Inosuke wiped his mouth again and grinned.
"So big that…"
"Those two monsters have already arrived."
Before the words had fully fallen—
BOOM!!!
The ceiling overhead was blown away by a terrifying force.
Two figures slammed down heavily between Inosuke and Gyokko.
The dust settled.
On the left—
Uzui Tengen had already torn off his disguise, revealing his solid muscles and flamboyant jeweled headband.
Twin blades in hand, chains clanking behind him, his gaze was ferocious like a demon's.
"Hey, you pot that looks like rotten seafood."
Uzui ground his teeth, his voice frighteningly low.
"You dare run wild on my turf?
And you even dared to injure that money-grubbing little brat?
Are you ready to be flamboyantly sliced into sashimi?"
On the right—
Rengoku Kyojuro… had not removed that crimson peony kimono.
But the aura radiating from him was more terrifying than ever—so overwhelming it even surpassed Gyokko's Upper Rank presence.
The once-ridiculous women's outfit now snapped violently in the storm of raging flame aura.
His Nichirin Blade was already drawn, glowing red-hot, the air around it warping from the heat.
He wasn't smiling.
The usually cheerful face was now carved with the wrath of an elder brother whose line had been crossed.
"Umu."
Rengoku stepped forward, staring down Gyokko. His voice sounded like judgment descending from hell.
"Although my current attire is somewhat improper…"
"But you dared lay hands on the boy I intend to take as my adopted son…"
"No matter if you're an Upper Rank or whatever else…"
"Tonight, I will burn you until not even ashes remain!!!"
"Hee… hee-shu?"
Gyokko turned to look at Inosuke—
only to find the brat hiding behind the two Hashira, sticking his tongue out at him.
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