Recalling everything that had happened that night, Kokushibo's six eyes widened to the point of nearly tearing at the corners.
Until today, Kokushibo had never believed in such a thing as reincarnation. But today, after hearing those words from Izumi Kiyokazu's mouth with his own ears, and seeing that Breathing Style and Mark that were identical to Yoriichi's with his own eyes... every piece of evidence was telling him the same thing.
The boy weeping before him was Yoriichi himself!
His hand, which was gripping the hilt of his sword, exerted such excessive force that his knuckles began to creak and groan under the strain, making an audible crunching sound.
Yes! It cannot be a mistake!
Only Yoriichi would show such an expression in front of him. Only Yoriichi would say those words to him!
He wanted to deny it all, but that cursed emotion and the memories he could never truly discard crashed into the lake of his heart—a heart that had remained undisturbed for centuries—shattering the stillness and sending ripples outward that would not subside.
At this moment, within those six eyes, a wind belonging to Yoriichi raged silently.
The string of his sanity was on the verge of snapping. The emotions he had been suppressing ever since he became a demon—no, ever since the moment he realized he was inferior to Yoriichi Tsugikuni—were now poised to burst through the levee and swallow him whole.
He stared at the boy whose tears would not stop, whose face bore that same loathsome mark, and felt the familiar breath exhaled from his mouth. It was as if he had been transported back to that night three hundred years ago.
That cry of "Elder Brother" continued to echo and collide within his decayed heart, causing Kokushibo's emotional state to finally fracture.
"Is that so? You saw those things?"
Kokushibo's gaze remained locked on Izumi Kiyokazu. Within those blood-red eyes, the reflected silhouette flickered—it was impossible to tell if it was Yoriichi or Kiyokazu he was seeing.
"I ask you, what else did you see besides that? Or rather... Yoriichi Tsugikuni! Just how much longer do you intend to torment me?! How much longer do you intend to force me to live in your shadow?!"
In this instant, Kokushibo's obsession had completely overtaken his reason. He had fully projected the identity of Yoriichi Tsugikuni onto the boy before him.
The Yoriichi Tsugikuni who had nearly killed him with a single stroke; the Yoriichi Tsugikuni who had stood before him with tears streaming down his face; the Yoriichi Tsugikuni who had selfishly died right in front of him...
By dying on his own terms, Yoriichi had forced Kokushibo to live for hundreds of years in a shadow—in a gloom where he could never, ever claim victory!
"Yoriichi Tsugikuni! Answer me! I know it's you! I hate you! Just how long do you intend to treat me this way? How much longer do you intend to wear that disgusting smile?! Yoriichi Tsugikuni! I hate you!"
Watching Kokushibo, whose emotions were now teetering on the edge of a total breakdown, Izumi Kiyokazu knew the most critical moment had arrived.
He needed to give him one last push. Only by completely shattering Kokushibo's logic and reasoning would he have a chance of walking away from this encounter alive.
This wasn't because Kiyokazu had lost his mind. Rather, based on Kokushibo's character, as long as Muzan issued an order, it was impossible for a rational Kokushibo not to carry it out. He had to make Kokushibo's feelings for "Yoriichi" outweigh his loyalty and logic. Only then would he defy Muzan's command and let him go.
With this in mind, Kiyokazu looked up. The tears in his eyes surged even more than before. He even found the courage to step forward, closing the distance between himself and Kokushibo. His voice was thick with sorrow and the lament of one who had been abandoned.
"Elder Brother... do you truly have nothing for me but hatred...?"
Looking at those familiar marks, Kokushibo completely ceased to see Kiyokazu. He saw only Yoriichi.
"Shut up..."
Kokushibo's six eyes could no longer maintain their icy facade. A faint mist began to condense within them, and his voice carried a tremor—a profound shaking of his own wavering heart.
"Shut up. Do not say another word. I despise you. Just looking at your face makes me want to vomit. Just hearing your voice fills me with an unending rage..."
Kiyokazu watched as Kokushibo actually began to shed tears. He knew it was time to finally break the man's heart.
Suddenly acting as if he were in a trance, he reached out and patted his waist, only to freeze when he found nothing there. He looked at Kokushibo, his voice filled with an inexplicable sense of guilt.
"Elder Brother... the flute you gave me... I... I can't seem to find it."
BOOM!
Those words were like the final judgment upon Kokushibo's psyche, completely shattering any remaining doubt or confusion!
The cold, broken half of the flute tucked against his chest suddenly felt as hot as a searing branding iron!
That flute was the token of their existence to one another, a bond shared between the two brothers. And as for why the boy before him couldn't find it... how could Kokushibo not know?
He had been the one to slice it in half with his own hands. He had cut it himself!
While Kokushibo was drowning in the depths of these memories, far away in the Infinity Castle, Muzan was reaching the absolute limit of his fury!
"Kokushibo!"
"Kokushibo!!"
"KOKUSHIBO!!!"
He screamed the name over and over, but he received not a single shred of a response. It was as if Kokushibo had become completely deaf to his voice.
He tried to manipulate the cells he had left within Kokushibo's body, attempting to force the Upper Rank to move and kill this wretched reincarnation of Yoriichi Tsugikuni through sheer cellular control.
But when Muzan truly tried to exert his will, he realized with helpless, mounting frustration that Nakime had transported Kokushibo too far away. Combined with the massive amount of his own blood that Kokushibo possessed, he was unable to remotely override the swordsman's will at such a distance!
Furthermore, Kokushibo's mind was currently like that of a dead man—Muzan couldn't even read his thoughts!
"Nakime! Transport me there as well! If those useless trash can't do the job, I will kill that brat with my own hands!"
But to his master's command, Nakime replied with a look of immense difficulty:
"I am sorry, Lord Muzan... I have not yet fully absorbed the power of the blood you gave me. A 'Gate' of such extreme distance can only be opened once a month. I cannot open a second one for you in such a short amount of time."
"Curse you! Curse you all! You are all nothing but useless trash!"
Muzan violently kicked Nakime to the ground and began to smash everything in sight, attempting to vent his rage—and to hide the absolute terror buried in the deepest reaches of his heart!
Reincarnation?! Does such a thing actually exist?!
How is this possible?!
That wretched brat... could he really, truly be the reincarnation of Yoriichi Tsugikuni?!
Unforgivable!
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Demon Slayer: Starting by Snatching Daki(175 Chapter- Ongoing)
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