I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 232 Returning to the Demon Slayer World

The search for the Dragon Balls went quite smoothly this time.

After all, the Red Ribbon Army, who were originally supposed to be the main adversaries in this operation, have already withdrawn. Of the remaining members, only Goku and King Pilaf have the motivation and ability to collect the Dragon Balls. The former is considered an ally and is only interested in the four-star Dragon Ball left by his grandfather; the latter is a comedic character and poses no real threat.

Speaking of which...

King Pilaf is actually involved in an important plot point—

Three years later, it was he who pulled Piccolo Daimaō from the seabed, causing the latter to return to the world of humans, causing a great deal of killing and indirectly causing the deaths of Master Roshi, Krillin, and others.

Uchiha Hikaru had previously considered whether to deal with Pilaf in advance, just like he did with the Red Ribbon Army, or to give him a complete brainwashing to eradicate Pilaf's idea of ​​ruling the world from its very core.

but……

After careful consideration, she gave up the idea.

While Piccolo Daimaō is powerful, he's not an invincible enemy. Even the younger Goku from the original timeline was able to defeat him three years later—although he used the power of the "Super Divine Water." So this time, with Kami and Master Korin's prior attention and training, there's no reason for younger Goku to lose to Piccolo.

Even if something goes wrong, it's okay.

As long as the chat group is still active, Uchiha Hikaru can bring Esdeath over at any time to help cover for him.

Besides...

Piccolo Daimaō is essentially the embodiment of Kami's evil intent. Kami probably knows the location of his seal. Whether to deal with him beforehand, and how to deal with him, is best left to Kami, the person directly involved, to decide. If her intervention causes Goku and his friends to lack experience and their fighting power is too low in the Saiyan Saga more than ten years later, leading to their annihilation by Raditz, that would be a huge problem…

While Uchiha Hikaru and Esdeath were carrying out their operations.

Bulma, along with Hikaru Uchiha's handwritten "Dragon Ball Information Handbook" that she had uploaded to the group chat, and a curious Goku, went to the temple.

"...Is this child the 'Child of Destiny' of this world that you mentioned before?"

"His eyes look quite innocent, a bit like Tanjiro's... I'll take him back and train him for a while to see his aptitude and character."

The cat sage made a judgment.

Later, Bulma, led by Kami and Mr. Popo, found the Namekian spaceship in the storage room behind the temple and immediately went inside with great interest to begin studying it.

[Bulma: I've seen it in the comics before, but I never imagined the Namek spaceship in reality would look like this... This kind of travel technology is probably at least 30 to 50 years ahead of Earth. How did the Namekians research this? It's amazing!]

[Anonymous: Thirty to fifty years? I'd probably have to multiply that by ten...]

The Dragon Ball manga doesn't mention Kami's age, but considering he came to Earth as a child, separated from Piccolo Daimaō after reaching adulthood, and Master Roshi was just a young man when Piccolo was sealed away... Kami is at least no younger than Master Roshi, probably around 3 or 400 years old. He's a truly old man.

Hmm... it seems that the average lifespan of Namekians is much longer than that of Earthlings and Saiyans.

Moreover, the elixir of immortality that Master Roshi drank was indeed genuine; I wonder if we can still get our hands on one...

[Brand: Several hundred years old...that's a bit scary. Doesn't that mean she's older than Hikari-san?]

【nameless:?】

After a brief chat about the age of the gods, Uchiha Hikaru remembered something else and casually tagged Bulma.

[Anonymous: By the way, how's Goku doing these days?]

[Bulma: He's still with Master Korin, apparently trying to steal some kind of "Super Holy Water." I overheard Kami and Popo discussing a long-term training plan for him during lunch to prepare him for the possible resurrection of Piccolo Daimaō. I don't know much about training, but it should be fine, right?]

[Anonymous: Hmm... "Super Holy Water" is fine, but it's best not to drink "Super Divine Water." I suspect Goku's heart condition might be related to that stuff.]

Bulma: Huh?

[Bulma: I remember now, it's the potion Goku drank on Korin Tower after he was first defeated by Piccolo, right? I also think it wasn't a good thing. Since you say so too, Hikari, I'll mention it to Kami and Master Korin.]

Bulma has always been a very outgoing person. Although she had only met Kami and the Cat Sage a few days ago, there were no problems communicating with them. Uchiha Hikaru simply offered a reminder and didn't say anything more.

Then he inquired about Tanjiro's situation.

After discussing the matter with Kami that day, Uchiha Hikaru had already briefly explained the Dragon Ball wish plan to everyone in the group. So even Kikyo, Minato Namikaze, and others who hadn't met Kami knew about the situation.

Everyone already knew about Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps' situation from their casual conversations, so they didn't have any complaints about reviving the Demon Slayer Corps' friends and family. Instead, they all expressed their willingness to help if needed.

When Brand and the others offered to help a few days ago, Tanjiro simply expressed his gratitude politely and said that he could handle it.

But today...

The situation seems to have changed a bit.

[Ironhead Kid @ Anonymous: Miss Guang, are you there?]

"Um?"

Uchiha Hikaru, riding on his Flying Nimbus, soared through the sky with Esdeath towards their next destination. He was multitasking, simultaneously controlling the Flying Nimbus while rapidly typing in his mind:

[Anonymous: Yes, what's up?]

[Iron-Headed Kid: Um... I really don't want to trouble you anymore, but the Demon Slayer Corps is facing a bit of trouble, and we're not entirely confident we can handle it. If you have some time, could you please come and take a look?]

[Iron-Headed Kid: My lord said that if you are willing to help, the Demon Slayer Corps can offer you any reward within its capabilities.]

[Anonymous: ...Let's talk about the reward later. What exactly happened?]

Tanjiro's strength was personally verified by Hikaru Uchiha.

Judging from his performance in the martial arts tournament, he is now a genuine Pillar-level fighter. He can basically kill any demon below Upper Moon Three on his own, and he should be able to hold his own against those below Upper Moon One. In addition, Kyojuro Rengoku, Tengen Uzui, and others are still alive and have not lost their fighting ability. Theoretically, even if they encounter Upper Moon One or Two, they should be able to handle them.

What makes the Demon Slayer Corps, with this kind of setup, struggle...

Could it be that Muzan himself intervened?

It seems to be to confirm Uchiha Hikaru's guess.

Tanjiro quickly continued:

[Iron-Headed Kid: After I told my master about the Dragon Ball revival, the Demon Slayer Corps dispatched personnel in batches to collect the bodies of those who died within the last three years throughout the country. However, this operation was quite large-scale, and it seems the Twelve Demon Moons noticed it. They launched several attacks, nearly killing Mr. Rengoku and the others. Fortunately, thanks to the Senzu Beans you left behind, Miss Hikari, large-scale casualties were prevented.]

[Iron-Headed Kid: According to the Lord's prediction, the Upper Moons of the Twelve Demon Moons may have already used this operation to track down the headquarters' location, and even Muzan himself might appear, so...]

[Anonymous: Oh?]

Has Muzan finally decided to take action himself?

Uchiha Hikaru's eyes lit up.

She had been coveting this for a long time.

As the Demon Slayer Corps's lifelong nemesis and the source of all "demons," Muzan's physical strength is vastly different from that of ordinary "demons." Aside from his weakness to sunlight, he is practically immortal, and can even freely change his form and gender, making him an excellent experimental subject and human punching bag!

That's right.

For a freak like Muzan Kitsuji, who is utterly wicked yet seems invincible, the most suitable ending is to stay in a laboratory as a human experiment subject or to test newly developed techniques.

No matter how you play, you won't die.

Previously, Hikaru Uchiha hadn't sought out Muzan mainly because he didn't know how to enter the Infinite Castle in the alternate dimension. But now… if he couldn't resist coming out on his own, it would be the best opportunity to capture him. Once missed, who knows how many years would pass before the next chance came.

[Anonymous: ...I understand. I still have some things to do here, I'll come find you later.]

[Little Monster: Erii wants to go too!]

[Oni-hime: I'm here too!]

"……Um?"

Uchiha Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

These past few days, Erii and Yamato did not follow her out to search for the Dragon Balls, nor did they go to the temple with Bulma. Instead, they stayed in West City to assist Dr. Brif with his medical experiments.

That's right, "assist" means to act as the subject of research.

Uchiha Hikaru had previously asked Dr. Brief to help Erii research bloodline inhibitors, but the drug was still in the experimental stage and had room for further improvement. With Erii's cooperation, the improvement would be much smoother.

While Yamato doesn't have any "bloodline disease," his bloodline is quite unique, and he has eaten a Devil Fruit that can alter genes, making him very valuable for research. So, persuaded by Uchiha Hikaru and Bulma, he also underwent a full-body checkup.

However, these inspection items were somewhat tedious, and Erii and Yamato were clearly getting restless.

[Nameless: For now, you should follow Dr. Brief's instructions. I'll go check on Tanjiro first. If needed, I'll let you know in the group chat.]

[Anonymous: Obey.]

While comforting Erii and Yamato in the group chat, Uchiha Hikaru turned to look at Esdeath beside him.

"Xiao Ai, would you like to see other worlds?"

"Another world? Is it the world of one of your friends?"

One is born, the second is cooked.

During this time, Esdeath had already traveled to several worlds with Uchiha Hikaru. Especially after experiencing the martial arts tournament and her interactions with Erii, Yamato, and others, she was no longer unfamiliar with the concept of "the myriad worlds." To her, it didn't really matter where she went, as long as there were powerful opponents to fight against.

Uchiha Hikaru didn't keep us in suspense: "It's Tanjiro's world."

"That boy with the hard forehead...?"

Esdeath seemed to vaguely recall something, tilting her head as she thought for a moment: "When did we go?"

"...There's only one Dragon Ball left. I estimate we can finish finding it this afternoon, and I'll probably go over tomorrow morning."

Hikaru Uchiha made a decision.

……

That afternoon.

Hikaru Uchiha found the seventh Dragon Ball near Penguin Village in the north, then rode the Flying Nimbus to Korin Tower, and finally arrived at the temple, where he handed over all the Dragon Balls to Kami.

"...You've collected them all so quickly?"

The gods were somewhat surprised.

As the creator of the Dragon Balls, he had also paid attention to those searching for them. In his memory, people who had previously pursued this goal often needed to spend several years or even more than a decade to collect all seven Dragon Balls from around the world. Even the luckiest among them would take several months.

However, Uchiha Hikaru only took about a week, which was really too efficient.

In response, Uchiha Hikaru simply waved the Dragon Ball radar in his hand, indicating that it was all due to the power of technology.

The gods didn't ask any further questions.

present.

Uchiha Hikaru bid farewell to the gods, then glanced at Bulma, who was busy researching the spaceship, before taking Esdeath and making an application to Tanjiro.

[Anonymous applicant to join Iron-Headed Kid's world]

……

A flash of white light followed.

Hikaru Uchiha's figure "reappeared" in the courtyard of the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters. Tanjiro and Kagaya Ubuyashiki were waiting there.

"Miss Hikari, you've arrived."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki gave a slight bow in greeting.

Uchiha Hikaru nodded: "It's been a long time, Mr. Ubuyashiki."

Compared to when he last came, the Demon Slayer Corps lord's condition had clearly deteriorated considerably.

His eyes were clearly on the verge of blindness, and half of his face was covered in horribly cracked skin. He looked like a piece of porcelain about to shatter, and could only stand with the support of his two daughters. However, his voice was still gentle and steady. If you didn't look at him, you would never guess that he was terminally ill.

"...Has Muzan's curse become this severe?"

In response to Uchiha Hikaru's question.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki chuckled: "It's an old problem. From the moment I became the head of the family, I was mentally prepared for this situation, which is why I want to eliminate Muzan, the source of this calamity, before I die... cough cough... I wonder how I should address this gentleman?"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki turned his gaze to Esdeath behind Hikaru Uchiha.

"Ai, Tanjiro and I are friends."

Uchiha Hikaru gave a brief introduction, then cleared his throat and looked at the house a few meters away: "Let's go inside and talk."

(End of this chapter)