I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 239 An Invitation to Tamayo

"You're awake?"

Esdeath's eyelids fluttered slightly, as if she had heard a noise, and she opened her eyes in the chair.

"Hmm... what time is it?"

"It was around nine o'clock in the morning. Not long after you fell asleep last night, the Ubuyashiki arranged for us all to come over, saying that they would handle the rest. Then this girl said she was worried about your safety and insisted on staying. I couldn't persuade her otherwise, so that's how it is."

As Esdeath said this, she gestured with her chin toward Erii.

Although they had acted together several times, she was still "unfamiliar" with everyone in the group, and their way of addressing each other seemed very distant.

Uchiha Hikaru didn't pay attention to this, but carefully shifted his body and pulled his arm out of Erii's arms.

With this action.

Her neckline was slightly loose, revealing a glimpse of her fair and smooth shoulders. Bathed in the golden sunlight, one could vaguely see a pair of delicate collarbones and the slightly raised, easily encircled curves of her chest.

Esdeath clearly noticed it as well, glancing at it discreetly a few times.

These gazes did not escape Uchiha Hikaru's notice. When she saw that Hikaru intentionally pulled up her collar, Esdeath smiled and said, "Why are you so nervous? It's not like I haven't seen you before... When I helped you change your clothes last night, I looked you up and down. You're pretty much like a boy."

"?"

Uchiha Hikaru tilted his head, and a question mark slowly appeared on his forehead.

Ok.

It seems there's no need to ask; Esdeath helped her change into her pajamas. This result relieved Uchiha Hikaru slightly—compared to the others, Esdeath was practically her servant, so it was reasonable for her to help with the things a "maid" should do.

As for the rest...

Uchiha Hikaru glanced down, then thought about it briefly in his mind and made a rough comparison.

Well...

To say that someone is like a boy is definitely an exaggeration.

But compared to a "boy" like Brand who has trained rigorously for a long time and has well-developed, muscular chest, she might actually be inferior...

present.

Uchiha Hikaru let out a soft breath, slipped on his slippers, got out of bed, and picked out a new outfit from the closet to change into.

During this process, Esdeath casually stood up, stretched as if by accident, but her eyes secretly glanced at the smooth and delicate back a few meters away. As her gaze shifted, a faint smile appeared on her lips, accompanied by a low, almost inaudible murmur, like a dream: "A girl... seems not so bad."

"...What's good?"

Uchiha Hikaru turned around and glanced back.

"It's nothing."

It all happened in the blink of an eye, but Esdeath had already wiped the smile from her lips and reverted to her usual cold and hard expression: "Go wash up."

The two changed their clothes and prepared to leave the room.

After thinking for a moment, Uchiha Hikaru went back and woke up Erii, who was sleeping next to him, and then dragged her outside to brush her teeth and wash up.

About twenty minutes later.

Having finished washing up, Uchiha Hikaru, along with Esdeath and a sleepy-eyed Erii, appeared in the courtyard of the headquarters mansion.

One night later.

The area has been thoroughly cleaned. The pebbles, fallen leaves, blood, and broken blades left from last night have all vanished. The water in the pond seems to have been changed, restoring its former tranquility. However, the holes in the surrounding walls and the craters in the ground remain, clearly showing the traces of the battle.

"Miss Hikari, you've arrived."

At this moment, there was already a person standing by the pond.

It was Ubuyashiki Kōya.

The Demon Slayer Corps lord was currently feeding goldfish by the pond with a bag of fish food. Hearing footsteps, he turned around, a gentle smile immediately spreading across his face: "I've already had Amane and the others prepare breakfast. If you don't mind, you can come and have some. Mr. Brand already went there, but your doors were all closed. I was worried you hadn't rested enough, so I didn't send anyone to disturb you."

"Okay, thank you for your help, Mr. Ubuyashiki."

Uchiha Hikaru nodded.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki smiled slightly and continued in a gentle voice, "I should be the one who has done the hard work. You all went to great lengths to come here from your own world to lend a helping hand, and now you have even helped the Demon Slayer Corps get rid of Muzan, this major threat. A few meals are nothing to mention."

Previously, when Uchiha Hikaru and Bulma first came to the Demon Slayer world, they were mistaken by the members of the Demon Slayer Corps for "gods" from heaven.

The misunderstanding was not cleared up until Tanjiro returned from his training in the Dragon Ball world and told him about the wish made with the Dragon Balls.

Hmm... it's been lifted, but not completely.

Because Tanjiro mentioned the Cat Sage and the Heavenly King in his speech, these two are indeed "gods" residing in the heavens. Therefore, Uchiha Hikaru, who was chatting happily with them, was clearly seen as having an equal status in the eyes of others.

Uchiha Hikaru didn't stand on ceremony at this point. He accepted Ubuyashiki Kagaya's thanks without hesitation and then took Esdeath and Erii to the back room for a meal.

after that.

Yamato and Brand wanted to go outside and see the world.

They've been in the Demon Slayer world for several days now. To avoid alerting Muzan's forces, they'd stayed inside the headquarters mansion. Now that the great battle is over, and Muzan and Kizuki are either captured or killed, they're naturally starting to get restless and want to go out and explore.

Erii didn't say anything, but she seemed to be itching to do something.

In response, Kanroji Mitsuri offered to act as a guide.

Seeing that Kanroji Temple had opened its doors, Obanai the Serpent Pillar subtly indicated that he could go along.

So, Uchiha Hikari created a shadow clone and left the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters with them to tour the city, while her real body found Ubuyashiki Kagaya and began discussing the joint development of the "Hishigari Gold Mine".

"...Huh, Miss Hikari found a mine in the Kyushu region? And it's a gold mine?"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki was surprised for a moment, but then calmed down: "No problem, I can help you get ownership of this mine, and I can also handle the mining. Consider it a small token of my gratitude to you, Kikyo, and Erii."

Although Kagaya Ubuyashiki said that.

However, Uchiha Hikaru ultimately decided to split the assets 80/20, with her receiving 80% and Ubuyashiki 20%.

Personal feelings are personal feelings, and business is business.

Mining gold requires costs, both in terms of manpower and equipment. Furthermore, refining the ore into gold involves a complex process; it's not simply a matter of burning it. And when you hire people to do the work, you have to pay them wages.

"Speaking of which..."

"Could the Sand Release technique of the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, be used for mining?"

Uchiha Hikaru suddenly thought of this person.

As Gaara's father, Rasa was among the least intelligent people in the entire Naruto world, having committed a plethora of foolish acts. These included repeatedly sending assassins to kill his own son Gaara, indirectly causing the death of his brother-in-law Yashamaru, and betraying the combat hero Pakura, who wielded the Scorching Release technique, to the rival ninja village Kirigakure... In the end, he himself died quietly at the hands of Orochimaru, a prime example of someone who had absolutely no sense of self-awareness.

Such a brain is clearly a waste of talent to be the Kazekage.

But being a miner would be just right.

Uchiha Hikaru thought that next time he returned to the Naruto world, he could take some time to visit Sunagakure.

……

Next.

While preparing to acquire the "Hishigari Gold Mine," Kagaya Ubuyashiki continued to dispatch the Demon Slayer Corps to wipe out the remaining demon forces. Since Muzan was not dead, most of the ordinary demons were still alive, but their strength was generally not strong. The strongest of them were only at the Lower Moon level. For the Demon Slayer Corps, which was still in full force, it was only a matter of time before they were completely wiped out.

Take advantage of this time.

Uchiha Hikaru also did two things—

The first thing was that I met and had a heart-to-heart talk with Ms. Tamayo.

Speaking of which...

Tamayo was one of the first people in the world to have met Uchiha Hikaru.

At the time, she only thought of Uchiha Hikaru as an ordinary human child, just with a little bit of strength.

However, after hearing various rumors from the Demon Slayer Corps over this period of time, and having personally witnessed Uchiha Hikaru displaying the "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed" form yesterday, Tamayo truly believed that she was the reincarnation of "Tsugikuni Yoriichi" from back then, and spoke to her with unusually respectful demeanor.

This misunderstanding left Uchiha Hikaru somewhat bewildered.

However, she didn't explain much, but simply asked about Tamayo's future plans.

"If you don't have anywhere else to go, would you like to come and do some work for me?"

"Yoriichi... what does Hikari-san mean?"

"As you can see, I spared Muzan's life so that I could study his body to uncover the secrets related to 'demons.' For example, where do 'demons' get their self-healing abilities from? What changes do they make to the cells and genes in their bodies? Can they be used to advance the development of human medicine? And so on."

"Ms. Tamayo, you have been deeply involved in this field for hundreds of years. Would you be interested in taking it a step further?"

In response to Uchiha Hikaru's explanation.

Tamayo hesitated.

She has always deeply resented Muzan's power, and her research goal is to weaken it, strip it of its abilities, and ultimately turn demons back into humans. In contrast, using the abilities of "demons" to advance medical progress is a path she had never imagined.

Do not……

To be precise, it's not that I haven't thought about it, but rather that I dare not think about it.

After all, when Muzan was still around, he was like a sword of Damocles to other demons and humans. Tamayo had already expended a lot of energy just trying to avoid him, so naturally she didn't have the mind to think about anything else.

But now...

"I will consider it carefully and then give you an answer."

Tamayo responded earnestly, then glanced at Uchiha Hikaru's long, black hair: "Um... Hikaru-san, are you and Yoriichi Tsugikuni really not related? But the 'Sun Breathing' you used before..."

"It was just a coincidence."

The Demon Slayer world does indeed have the concept of reincarnation. In the original manga's finale, several Pillars who died in battle were reincarnated into the 21st-century modern world. However, Yoriichi Tsugikuni might be an exception; at least from the original work, it's not clear whether he was reincarnated or not.

Uchiha Hikaru stretched and stood up. "I'll probably be staying here for a few more days. If you've made up your mind, you can come find me anytime. If you'd like to join us, Yushiro and Chachamaru can come with you. If not, I won't force you."

"Okay, I'll do it as soon as possible."

Tamayo nodded in agreement.

after that.

Uchiha Hikaru began to focus his time on Muzan Kibutsuji. He first spent an entire day using the "Eight Thousand Spears" to review Muzan's memories from beginning to end. Then, he subtly mentioned the "Infinity Castle" and the "escaped fish among the Twelve Demon Moons" in front of him.

Initially, Muzan intentionally concealed Nakime's existence, intending to use her as a trump card for his escape.

But Uchiha Hikaru directly brought the topic to the forefront:

"You can try to escape from me, but you only have one chance. If you fail, I will make you experience what it feels like to be trapped in the deepest hell, just like what you did to those humans."

"Do you think I'll need a second strike to kill you right now?"

As it turns out...

Muzan is indeed a coward.

Under Uchiha Hikaru's intimidation, Muzan hesitated for less than a minute before readily betraying Nakime. He indicated that he would hand over the "Infinity Castle" if Uchiha Hikaru promised not to kill him.

"...If you were to join the army, you'd definitely be a traitor."

Uchiha Hikaru was somewhat speechless.

She had traveled to quite a few worlds and encountered countless powerful figures. She had actually met very few people like Muzan who possessed "invincible" power but lacked any sense of the heart of a true warrior... Well, there were two others: Herzog from the Dragon World and Naraku.

However, from another perspective, it's probably for the best that Muzan is a coward. It saves her the trouble of figuring out how to coax him into obeying.

present.

Hikaru Uchiha temporarily released the seal on Muzan, and then signaled the latter to call out Nakime.

She wasn't worried that Muzan would take the opportunity to escape.

With Tamayo's medicine, Muzan has lost the ability to self-destruct.

As for escaping directly using the main body...

That depends on how fast Uchiha Hikaru's sword is.

Muzan then issued an order.

Then, the air behind him rippled, and a small vortex appeared in the room. As the vortex swirled, a woman dressed in a gray-brown kimono, her hair covering half her face, and holding a pipa appeared in this space, bowing humbly.

"Master Wuhan."

"You don't need to call me 'sir' anymore."

Muzan swallowed hard, then pointed at her: "From today onwards, you will serve as the subordinate of Tsugikuni En... Uchiha Hikaru. You must do whatever she asks of you."

Nakime: "?"

(End of this chapter)