The JoJo Universe.
The Kujo Residence.
Old Joseph had already returned, bringing Tomoko Higashikata and Josuke Higashikata along with him.
In contrast to the four-year-old Josuke who was gazing around with wide-eyed curiosity, both Joseph and Tomoko wore exceptionally heavy, tense expressions.
“Dad, this time you’ve truly crossed the line!”
Even the gentle-natured Holly was visibly furious, a rare sight indeed.
“Oh, Holly, Daddy knows he messed up, but I still hope you and your mother can find it in your hearts to accept them.”
Setting the Joestar family domestic drama aside for the moment, Horne was currently using Ripple tricks to entertain young Josuke.
At this time, Josuke hadn’t yet styled his signature pompadour; he was merely an innocent, wide-eyed Joestar kid.
When he watched Horne flip a glass of water completely upside down without a single drop spilling out, the toddler’s eyes went wide as saucers.
“Whoa!
What is that?!
How did you do that?!”
“This awesome trick is called [Ripple Breathing].
Practicing it will help you grow up big and strong, and it lets you heal your family and friends whenever they get hurt~”
“S-So cool!!”
“Do you want to learn it, Josuke?”
“Yeah!!”
Josuke answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“Hey, is this really a good idea?
He’s just a little kid.”
Jotaro, who had zero interest in family soap operas as well, walked over to help Horne tease this four-year-old uncle of his.
“It’s completely fine.
The younger he starts, the better; the physical benefits of Ripple breathing multiply the earlier you pick it up.
Old Joseph’s mother, Lisa Lisa, practiced it since childhood, and even at fifty years old, she looked as radiant and gorgeous as a twenty-year-old girl.
If this lazy old bastard Joseph hadn’t slacked off on his Ripple training, he’d still look practically identical to his prime self right now.”
Hearing that, Jotaro tried picturing a youthful Joseph standing right beside his grandmother and mother—a mental image far too cursed and jarring to contemplate.
While Jotaro was lost in thought, Horne had already channeled the Ripple into Josuke.
A radiant blast of golden solar energy erupted from Josuke’s little frame!
“Holy shit!
A legendary gold pull!!”
Horne couldn’t resist dropping some internet slang.
“This kid is insane!
His raw Ripple affinity is practically on par with Old Joseph’s prime!!”
Naturally, such a flashy spectacle immediately interrupted the family drama across the room.
“Josuke!”
Tomoko rushed to Josuke’s side in an instant.
“Josuke, are you okay?”
She scooped him into her arms with fierce maternal worry.
“Mommy, look!
It’s the Ripple!
It’s super strong, and it can heal your hurts!”
The soothing solar energy radiating from Josuke—warm and gentle like sunlight—immediately calmed Tomoko’s racing heart.
“What is this…?”
She stared at Josuke in utter bewilderment, prompting Horne to speak up with a reassuring smile.
“Congratulations, Tomoko.
As long as young Josuke keeps practicing this Ripple technique, he’ll grow up healthy and resilient, virtually immune to sickness and disease.
So you can put your worries to rest.”
“I…
I see.
Thank you so much.”
She had no concept of what Ripple Breathing was, but as long as it kept Josuke safe and healthy, she was genuinely grateful.
Meanwhile, seeing the tender bond between Tomoko and her young son caused Holly’s anger to melt away.
“Dad, on this matter, I’m staying neutral.
You need to sit down and have an honest conversation with Mom later.”
“Oh, Holly!
Daddy knew you were the sweetest, most understanding daughter in the world!”
Overcome with emotion, Joseph moved in for a hug, but Holly nimbly stepped aside.
“I never said I forgave you, Dad.”
Joseph could only swallow his pride and suffer the cold shoulder in silence.
Horne walked over and gave Joseph a friendly punch on the shoulder.
“Why the long face?
You’ve got a son now.
Step up, be a real father, and teach the boy how to wield the Ripple properly.”
That hit Joseph like a bolt of lightning.
“You’re totally right!”
With newfound purpose, he walked over to Tomoko and Josuke, finally stepping into the fatherly shoes he had abandoned for four long years.
Horne did a quick mental calculation of the timeline and turned toward Jotaro.
“Jotaro, you head back to school tomorrow.
When you run into Noriaki Kakyoin, make sure to bring him back here in one piece.
He’s just another victim brainwashed by Dio.
Don’t hit him too hard—at least try not to knock his pinpoint accuracy out of him.”
Jotaro tugged his cap down and gave a firm nod.
“Yare yare daze.
If I bump into him, I’ll drag him home.”
Horne nodded back, steadily maintaining his 24-hour Ripple breathing while continuing to digest the biological knowledge stored in his mind.
Over in the world of Demon Slayer, inside the Demon Slayer medical headquarters: the Butterfly Mansion.
This entire facility was managed under the sole authority of Shinobu Kocho; without her tireless efforts and medical expertise, the Corps’ casualty rate would easily be multiple times worse.
Under the shroud of night, Shinobu brought Horne back to the Butterfly Mansion, instantly throwing the staff into sheer panic at the sight of a strange, hulking man.
Let alone the horrifying reality that the man she brought back was an authentic demon.
Shinobu had to stand her ground and overrule every objection just to get Horne settled in.
Tucked away in a quiet corner of the courtyard was a storage shed—Horne’s temporary lodging.
“My apologies.
The accommodations are rather crude.”
Even as a Hashira, Shinobu couldn’t place a demon in the main ward.
It would fray everyone’s nerves beyond repair; she had to prove Horne’s harmlessness here first.
“Don’t sweat it.
As long as it blocks out the sunlight, it’s more than enough for me.”
Horne grabbed a sturdy wooden crate and sat down.
As the demon blood within him grew denser, the biological urge to feast on human flesh flared up harder, demanding more mental effort to suppress.
Knowing he couldn’t afford to burn precious mental bandwidth holding back this primal hunger forever…
He resolved to resolve this biological flaw once and for all right here.
“I’ll prepare some clean clothes and bedding for you, and I’ll drop by every day to check on your condition.”
“I appreciate it.”
With that, Horne commenced the next phase of his biological reconstruction.
He had already drafted a clear blueprint: satisfying the hunger of the demon blood didn’t necessarily require devouring human flesh.
What the demon blood truly craved was human blood and raw biological life energy; to curb that starvation, reducing his baseline consumption was paramount.
His current colossal battle form packed terrifying destructive power, but its metabolic energy burn was far too steep; he needed an ultra-efficient form for everyday use.
Thus, his flesh compressed and reshaped, shrinking down until he took the physical form of a ten-year-old child.
His internal organ output adjusted to mirror that of a normal ten-year-old boy.
Having optimized his metabolic burn, Horne needed to address his dietary intake.
Devouring humans was completely off the table, and drinking fresh blood was something he wanted to avoid entirely—so what was he supposed to consume?
Was he supposed to survive on fresh air?
Hell no.
Didn’t the human body produce another natural substance overflowing with rich biological nutrients and life energy?
That’s right!
Human breast milk!!
Horne’s solution was to use human breast milk as a clean substitute for raw blood, feeding the demon cells within him.
Naturally, chugging raw milk straight would never satisfy demon blood on its own.
He needed to bioengineer a brand-new internal organ dedicated to refining human breast milk into bio-energy that his demon blood could readily absorb.
As for the exact architecture of this organ, it all hinged on his mastery of anatomy and cellular biology.
During this process, a silent pair of eyes was quietly observing him through the storage shed’s ventilation slats.
Horne clocked her gaze immediately.
“Need something, Kanao Tsuyuri?”
Standing outside was Shinobu’s adoptive younger sister and Tsuguko: Kanao Tsuyuri.
She flicked a bronze coin into the air, caught it, and checked the face.
“Have you really…
never eaten a human?”
“Never.”
“I don’t believe you.
Demons are exceptionally good at lying.”
“Believe whatever you want; I don’t need your validation anyway, considering your sister Shinobu already trusts me.”
“Master Shinobu was simply deceived by your tricks.
I will watch you constantly until I expose your true colors.”
“Keep your eyes peeled then, sweetheart.”
With that, silence descended between them once more.
Kanao possessed superhuman visual acuity; even in the pitch-black shed, she could make out Horne’s physical changes with crystalline clarity.
And then, right before her eyes, Kanao caught sight of that massive, python-like monster undulating and squirming in the dark.
Evidently, an obscene biological wonder of that magnitude was far too shocking for an innocent maiden like Kanao to witness.
Blushing furiously, she clamped her eyes shut and let out a piercing shriek.
Within moments, the entire staff of the Butterfly Mansion rushed over to investigate the commotion.
Shinobu arrived in a flash, blade in hand.
The first thing she saw was a traumatized, trembling Kanao.
“What’s wrong?!
What happened?!”
Kanao pointed a shaking finger toward the cracks in the shed.
“…A…
a giant…
meat-monster…
squirming around…
so huge…
so terribly long…”
The instant Shinobu heard that, she knew Horne was up to his shameless antics again, letting out an exasperated sigh.
“Kanao…
please promise me you won’t go peeking in there anymore.”
Kanao could only nod meekly in response.