The Butterfly Mansion.
Shinobu Kocho tossed and turned in her bed, unable to fall asleep.
'What a strange feeling,' she murmured to herself.
Sitting up, she gazed out the window at the bright, clear moon hanging in the silent night sky. She frowned, a deep restlessness churning in her chest—a sensation she had never experienced before.
"Caw! Caw!"
A pitch-black Kasugai Crow landed on the windowsill, its intelligent eyes locked onto Shinobu.
Recognizing the familiar bird, Shinobu muttered, "Sister's crow?"
The crow flapped its wings. "Kanae, Kanae, Kanae..."
The bird's voice was laced with an overwhelming sorrow. Its continuous, desperate cries gave off a profound sense of helplessness.
Shinobu's eyes widened in horror. 'Could it be...!'
Scrambling out of bed, she threw on her Demon Slayer uniform as fast as humanly possible, grabbed her Nichirin Sword, and bolted out of the Butterfly Mansion.
The Kasugai Crow took to the sky, leading Shinobu all the way to this small town.
Her eyes anxiously scoured her surroundings. The town wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. Finding a single person here was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Just as she was about to track down the local Kakushi for help...
BOOM!
Flames erupted into the sky in the distance. The massive explosion instantly grabbed Shinobu's attention. Well, that saved her the trouble of searching.
She sprinted straight toward the blast zone.
As she dashed across the street, the horrifying scene reflected in her pupils: her older sister, Kanae Kocho, had just had her heart pierced straight through.
"You bastard! Insect Breathing, Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter!" Shinobu roared, her eyes bloodshot. Drawing her Nichirin Sword, she charged forward like a madwoman.
Swish!
Closing the short distance in an instant, Shinobu thrust her Nichirin Sword directly at Tetsuya.
Tetsuya pulled his blood-soaked right hand out of Kanae's chest. Stripped of her only support, Kanae's lifeless body slumped onto the cold ground.
Immediately after, he caught sight of the incoming Shinobu.
Tetsuya raised his left arm to block. The sharp edge of the Nichirin Sword struck his wrist, slicing through the skin.
Gripping the hilt with both hands, Shinobu pushed with every ounce of her strength, but the blade was firmly wedged against his bone. It couldn't sink an inch deeper, nor could she pull it back out.
"Too weak," Tetsuya said softly. With Shinobu's wrist strength, she couldn't even manage to sever his arm.
Hearing that, Shinobu's fury exploded. Gritting her teeth, she spat, "Demon, I am going to kill you!"
Snap!
Completely ignoring the sharp edge, Tetsuya grabbed the blade of Shinobu's Nichirin Sword with his free hand and forcefully snapped it in half.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the broken blade away. It shot out like a streak of light, embedding itself deep into the trunk of a tree hundreds of meters away.
Shinobu's expression shifted in shock, and she quickly retreated.
Akaza spoke up. "Time's up."
The horizon was already turning a pale gray, and the morning mist was beginning to dissipate. The silhouettes of the surrounding landscape grew sharper. Sunrise was less than ten minutes away.
Tetsuya shot a glance over his shoulder. That coward Akaza had already retreated into the shadows, ready to run at a moment's notice.
Natural enemies were no laughing matter. The instant sunlight touched any demon, they would disintegrate into ash—even an Upper Rank!
It was only then that Shinobu noticed the other demon present. Etched deep into his eyes were the kanji for Upper Rank Three!
Her petite, delicate frame trembled slightly.
"The sun is coming up. Consider yourself lucky that you get to keep your life." Turning his back on Shinobu, Tetsuya walked past her and headed straight into the shadows.
Shinobu glared fiercely at his retreating back. Without her Nichirin Sword, she was completely powerless to stop him from leaving.
"Demon, what is your name?" she demanded coldly, her eyes burning with fiery hatred. She squeezed each word out from between her gritted teeth.
Tetsuya paused his steps. Coming up with a demon name on the spot was surprisingly annoying. Looking up at the sky, his tone complex, he answered.
"Yasuo!"
As Tetsuya and Akaza vanished, the suffocating, heavy aura weighing down the area finally dissipated.
Ten minutes later, the first rays of sunlight pierced the clouds and bathed the earth, bringing with them a renewed sense of life. The morning rain had already stopped, leaving behind the fresh, earthy scent of damp soil.
Clutching her sister Kanae's cold body in her arms, Shinobu wept in utter, heart-wrenching agony.
...
Countless Kasugai Crows took to the skies, their chaotic cawing blotting out the sun.
The townspeople looked up in awe. Having lived here for decades, they had never witnessed such a staggering sight. Even the cries of the crows sounded profoundly mournful.
The news spread rapidly across Japan.
The Ubuyashiki Estate.
In the spacious courtyard, a young man sat peacefully on the engawa. Even the comforting, gentle breeze couldn't blow away the deep sorrow lingering around him.
The upper half of his face was disfigured by a spreading curse mark, and his eyes were clouded with blindness. Yet his voice, the rhythm of his movements, and his very presence exuded an incredibly soothing aura.
Two beautiful, porcelain-doll-like children accompanied him.
A beautiful, silver-haired young woman approached the courtyard, a letter in hand. "The Flower Hashira, Kanae Kocho, encountered Upper Rank Three and a mysterious demon named Yasuo. She was killed in action."
The two children playing in the courtyard stopped moving, a heavy, grieving atmosphere settling over them.
"Haa..." Kagaya Ubuyashiki let out a long, melancholic sigh. Another Upper Rank demon. There was no telling how many swordsmen they had already slaughtered.
Cough! Cough!
Kagaya covered his mouth, coughing violently as a thin trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his lips.
"Kanae, rest assured... we won't leave you alone for too long," Kagaya whispered to himself. He had no idea how much time he had left either. He could very well die tomorrow.
"Amane, how are our recruitment efforts coming along?"
"We are currently reaching out to Muichiro Tokito and Mitsuri Kanroji. We might need a little more time."
"Please hurry. I have a feeling something terrible is about to happen," Kagaya said softly.
Amane Ubuyashiki's beautiful eyes contracted slightly. The Ubuyashiki family's intuition was absurdly accurate—capable of sensing imminent danger to themselves and pinpointing individuals destined to become powerful swordsmen hidden among the masses.
The Wind Hashira's Dojo.
Sanemi Shinazugawa crumpled the Kasugai Crow's letter into a tight ball and hurled it into the corner of the room. His scarred face twisted into an expression so icy and terrifying that it made him look three times more menacing than any demon.
"I will slaughter every last one of them!"
With that declaration, he picked up his wooden sword and resumed his training. Every single swing of his blade generated a ferocious gale capable of tearing through anything in its path.
The Water Hashira's Dojo.
"Is that so..."
Giyu Tomioka sat cross-legged in the middle of his spacious training dojo. His eyes were vacant, and his normally stoic face remained completely expressionless. However, the tightly coiled muscles beneath his skin betrayed his silent, seething fury.
Inside the dead silent dojo, even the faintest sound was crystal clear, amplifying the underlying sense of sorrow.
Deep within a secluded mountain.
RUMBLE!
A towering, massively built man was pushing a boulder taller than himself, carving a deep trench into the earth. His overwhelming, intimidating aura was as heavy as a mountain.
The giant was completely blind. A Kakushi stood nearby, reading the contents of the letter aloud to him.
Gyomei Himejima sat heavily on the ground, remaining completely silent and still for a long time. Clasping his massive hands together, tears streamed freely from his unseeing eyes. His overwhelming sorrow and rage eventually coalesced into a single sentence.
"That child was simply too kind-hearted. When dealing with demons, we must exterminate them completely without mercy. Namu Amida Butsu!"