Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

Right now, the strongest Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, the 'Stone Pillar' Gyomei Himejima.

Beside Gyomei Himejima stood a tall man being supported by him. The upper half of his face was purple, like old tree bark, while the lower half was normal. He was a man with a very good temperament, none other than Ubuyashiki Kagaya, the current 'head' of the Demon Slayer Corps.

"For so many years, Ubuyashiki has been dedicated to exorcising evil spirits, but to this day, there is still no hope in sight. That spirit is too cautious and has never given any chance, while the number of people who have been sacrificed is increasing... When will it end?"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki looked at the vast cemetery and revealed a rare vulnerability in his expression.

"Namo Amitabha Buddha".

With one hand on his chest, Himejima Gyomei silently murmured, "My lord, this day will eventually come to an end."

"I'm afraid I won't live to see that day."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki shook off Gyomei Himejima's support, picked up a broom, and personally swept away the fallen leaves in front of a grave: "My health is getting worse and worse, and Teruya is still too young. I don't know if he will be able to shoulder the responsibilities that belong to him in the future."

"The young lord is already very sensible. He has handled every task assigned by the lord very well. He should be assigned to the swordsman assessment at Mount Fujikasa now. So far, everything seems to be going smoothly."

"In the end, there is still a lot to be done, and it is far from enough."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki shook his head: "In the future, I will have to trouble you to teach him more. This may be a bit difficult for Gyomei. I know that you are the least willing to teach children. The old incident is still an obstacle in your heart that you can't get over."

Heimei Shiro silently gripped the prayer beads in his hand, never able to forget that day when he had done everything in his power to protect the child, dragging the ghost until it died in the sunlight during the day. But when the authorities arrived, the child he had protected accused him of murder.

"He...is...the murderer."

The accusatory voices still seem to echo in my ears.

"Actually, Xingming, you are also trying to change your views. Back then, when Kanae and Shinobu asked you to teach them how to hunt demons, although you did not agree, you introduced them to the Butterfly House's trainers. In fact, you are also changing. If it were before, you would never have introduced the trainers to the children."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki whispered, "Now, one has become a pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, and the other has become an extremely skilled physician, saving countless wounded swordsmen at the Butterfly Mansion..."

"They're probably still complaining about me not teaching them back then."

Beimingyu Xingming clasped his hands together.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki shook his head: "Perhaps, Shinobu-san should, but Kanae-san should perhaps be grateful to you."

"Kanae must regret it now. She didn't want her sister to go down the path of demon slayers; she just wanted her sister to live a normal life. If you had been able to refuse completely back then, perhaps..."

The scene that Gyomei Himejima couldn't help but recall when Kanae and Shinobu found him: Shinobu's hatred was like a sword drawn from its sheath, so sharp that it seemed to want to cut everything down, while Kanae was so gentle.

They have completely opposite personalities and don't seem like sisters at all.

Thinking back to his words when he tried to persuade Shinobu to return to being an ordinary person, and the sharp words the girl retaliated with like knives, Gyomei Himejima clasped his hands together: "Even if I completely refuse, I'm afraid it will be difficult to live a normal life again. Kanae's hope is destined to remain unfulfilled."

"Yes!"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki looked up at the endless graves: "The hatred is too deep, too deep to let go of."

After sweeping away the last fallen leaf from the cemetery, Kagaya Ubuyashiki turned around and looked at Gyomei Himejima: "You came here in person this time because you have something to say, right?"

"Yes, my lord."

Himejima Gyomei put down the broom in his hand and stepped forward to support his lord's arm.

"What is it that warrants your personal visit?"

"We caught a ghost."

"It's just a ghost, nothing to Xingming, right? Is there something else going on?"

"Yes, my lord."

Beimingyu Xingming whispered, "These ghosts all seem to be searching for a ghost."

"Looking for a ghost?"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki also looked puzzled.

"Yes, I thought it was just the behavior of one demon, but I also heard about similar things from other teams. So, I specifically captured another demon to confirm that many demons were searching for it. It seems that this demon was ordered to be searched by Muzan Kibutsuji."

"Oniibutsuji. No misery"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki clenched his fists involuntarily, a look of excitement appearing in his eyes. Last time, he had only shown traces of himself, and this time, he was searching for another demon, Muzan Kibutsuji... He was finally willing to reveal more traces.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki suppressed his excitement and whispered:

"Take me to see the ghost we caught."

…………

A deep, dark basement.

Deep chains bound a demon tightly, and beside it lay various instruments of torture. On the side stood a young swordsman holding the instruments of torture, his face filled with hatred.

As Gyomei Himejima helped Kagaya Ubuyashiki over, the swordsman respectfully stepped aside.

"Wake it up."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki looked at the demon who had been tortured into unconsciousness and spoke calmly.

Without hesitation, the swordsman poured a basin of hot oil on the demon. The scalding oil, landing on the demon's body, startled him awake, causing him to let out a shrill and painful scream.

Everyone stood quietly in place.

With his hands clasped together, Beiming Island felt the pain of the evil spirits, and tears involuntarily streamed down his face, but he said nothing.

The young swordsman wore a satisfied expression.

As for Kagaya Ubuyashiki, his expression remained calm throughout.

"Please, please stop torturing me, please stop torturing me."

The fact that ghosts are wail and cry, are almost immortal, and have extremely strong regenerative abilities makes them very resilient. This also intensifies the suffering they endure, allowing them to be subjected to all sorts of tortures without restraint.

Generally speaking, while the swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps hate demons, they would not torture them in this way; at most, they would just sever the demon's head.

Only when it comes to Muzan Kibutsuji would they be subjected to such interrogation, but unfortunately, none of the demons could utter a single word about Muzan Kibutsuji. In fact, even mentioning Muzan Kibutsuji's name would result in their immediate death.

Originally, the Demon Slayer Corps rarely interrogated demons anymore.

Clearly, new clues have emerged.

"Have you been searching for a ghost these days?"

Kagaya Ubuyashiki looked at the demon, speaking calmly, trying his best to keep the demon's reply from mentioning Muzan Kibutsuji.

"Yes, sir, I am looking for a ghost."

………………

The questioning was quickly completed.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki also got the information he wanted. The demon was still crying bitterly, and the swordsman next to him was even preparing to continue torturing the demon.

"Kill him."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki closed his eyes.

"Yes, my lord."

The young swordsman seemed a little disappointed, but he still picked up his Nichirin Blade and severed the demon's head.

This demon clearly has a strong desire for life, which is why it chooses to live despite being subjected to so many torture instruments. After all, if it really couldn't bear it, it would die completely just by chanting the name of Muzan Kibutsuji.

But in the end, his head was ruthlessly chopped off.

"Amitabha."

With his hands clasped together, tears streaming down his face, Gyomei Himejima chanted Buddhist scriptures, while Kagaya Ubuyashiki was lost in thought.

"A ghost and a girl?"

This information was obtained from the interrogation, and to be honest, there wasn't much useful information. All that was known was that Muzan Kibutsuji was looking for a demon with a girl.

The idea of ​​a ghost and a human girl being together feels rather strange.

Is this kind of search any different from Muzan Kibutsuji's relentless search for Tamayo?

Perhaps I should ask Tamayo what this demon did to make Muzan Kibutsuji start searching for its whereabouts.

After all, apart from Tamayo, all the other demons are firmly under Muzan Kibutsuji's control, so there's no need to search for them.

Or perhaps, this demon has broken free from Muzan Kibutsuji's control.

But is that even possible?

Is there really any demon that can escape Muzan Kibutsuji's control? Apart from Tamayo, there seems to be no precedent for this, right?

………………

In the past, the swordsman examination at Fujikasayama was extremely difficult for the swordsmen who participated. In each examination, many people would even die, and very few people could pass the examination.

Although only a small number of people passed the assessment, almost all of them were elite personnel.

However, the last assessment was an exception. Sabito, a disciple of Urokodaki, killed almost all the demons on Mount Fujikasa by himself. This resulted in many people becoming swordsmen in the previous assessment. However, these swordsmen were mostly of mixed quality. As soon as they started participating in demon-hunting missions, the mortality rate was high. This also led to the deaths of not only the demon hunters but also those being protected.

Not only that, the sword-forging village also kept sending letters complaining that the number of weapons that needed to be forged had increased too much, and even the Butterfly House reported that the number of wounded people had increased too much. Moreover, it was becoming increasingly difficult to train each new swordsman in the Kasugai Crow.

Because of the swordsman who presided over the 'Fujikakuyama' assessment, Ubuyashiki Teruya naturally already had this information. Originally, he thought that the situation in the previous session was just an exception.

But unexpectedly, the 'Vine Mountain Assault' assessment that he was in charge of also encountered an accident.

"Sister, over the past few days, the number of people who have dropped out of the swordsman assessment or had to leave the mountaintop to escape has been decreasing, hasn't it?"

Teruya Ubuyashiki looked up at his older sister.

“Yes, Huili, there were ten people yesterday, but today there are only three left.”

"But that's not all."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki looked up towards the mountaintop: "These past few days, the howls of demons coming from the mountaintop have become less and less frequent."

"Yes! Fewer and fewer, just like last time."

Ubuyashiki Hina whispered. Last time, she accompanied her father to the Fujikasane Mountain assessment. The investigation revealed that Urokodaki disciple Sabito had killed almost all the demons, while the other party had not survived. Her father felt particularly sorry about this and even smashed his bowl and chopsticks. That was a rare instance of her father being angry.

The father once thought that if Sabito could survive, he would be able to inherit Urokodaki's mantle, become the new Water Pillar, and become the new pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Teruya Ubuyashiki was naturally aware of the situation in the last assessment. If a swordsman as strong as Sabito were to appear again, he would naturally be happy. However, he also considered that if such a situation were to occur, there would probably be even more people of varying abilities passing the assessment.

If these people are allowed to participate in the ghost-hunting mission, the situation will likely be the same as last time. How should we handle that?

"Regardless, we must begin to prepare for the possibility that a large number of swordsmen may succeed in this assessment."

Teruya Ubuyashiki had already made up his mind.

If there are too many cases of uneven quality among the trainees, Teruya Ubuyashiki feels that perhaps it is necessary to provide further training to these trainees before they can embark on demon-hunting missions.