I, the spiritual mentor of beautiful girls from all over the world

"quack--!"

An exhausted messenger crow nearly crashed through the window, flapping its wings as it landed awkwardly in front of her.

It brought an urgent battle report from Natagumo Mountain, delivered with the highest level of encryption.

Shinobu Kocho untied the letter and unfolded the report, which was stained with a faint smell of dried blood.

Location: Natagumo Mt.

[Result: Lower Moon Five Rui has been confirmed dead]

Her eyes remained completely still.

The lower crescent moon was no longer on her hunting list.

Her gaze continued downwards, sweeping over the names of the killers.

[Main contributor: Tanjiro Kamado, Rank 3 member.]

A newcomer?

She raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of interest flashing in her purple eyes.

The fact that he could slay the Twelve Demon Moons with such low-ranking status shows his potential and warrants attention. He could perhaps be a key talent for "Butterfly Network" to cultivate, an excellent "mobile information gathering point."

However, when her gaze fell on the last line of the report's footnote...

Her heart, which had been frozen in time and functioned like a precision instrument, stopped beating for a moment without warning.

[Special Note: Team member Tanjiro Kamado always carries a wooden box during missions. After confirmation from multiple sources, the box contains... his sister, Nezuko Kamado.]

[Status: Ghost.]

A Demon Slayer swordsman who fights alongside...his demon-possessed younger sister?

This thought, like a scalding key, instantly melted the deepest layer of ice in her heart, forged from reason and hatred.

Those images that she had forcibly suppressed and sealed in the deepest part of her memory surged up uncontrollably.

The gentle smile of her older sister, Kanae.

My sister's dying words, "I must get along well with ghosts," were so naive they were almost laughable.

If her older sister were still alive, she would definitely protect the brother and sister at all costs.

and also……

In the Eternal Courtyard, I looked at her with calm yet all-knowing eyes.

The man who told her, "Anger is your gift, but rules are meant to be broken, especially when there's 'abnormal data'."

If a teacher were here and saw this "unusual" brother and sister, what would he do?

Will he, like the other stubborn old men in the Demon Slayer Corps, shout "The rules of the team cannot be broken" and then draw his sword?

No.

Shinobu's breathing became somewhat rapid, and a long-lost, burning throbbing sensation came from her chest.

She knew better than anyone else. That man was never bound by rules.

He only believes the data he sees with his own eyes and the logic he analyzes himself.

These brother and sister are not outcasts. They are not "mistakes" that need to be eliminated.

They are... an unprecedented "variable"!

An invaluable "experimental sample" that is enough to shake up the centuries-old tradition of the Demon Slayer Corps!

For the first time, beneath her cold indifference, a ripple of curiosity stirred in her purple eyes.

Just as she was about to personally order the use of her "Karma Pillar" authority to secretly bring the "interesting brother and sister" back to the Butterfly Mansion for a thorough "analysis" and "dissection"—

"Gah—! Gah—! Gah—!"

Outside the window, several mournful and urgent cries of crows broke the stillness of the night.

A messenger raven, with exceptionally glossy feathers, belonging to the lord Kagaya Ubuyashiki, circled above the Choya Mansion, issuing the highest command in its hoarse voice that could echo throughout the entire mansion.

"Emergency mobilization! Emergency mobilization!"

"All 'pillars' currently stationed outside, return to headquarters immediately!"

"Repeat! All 'pillars', return to headquarters immediately!"

The crows were ordered to fly in all directions, carrying the same instructions to every corner of the Demon Slayer Corps.

next second.

Kanzaki Aoi and Kanao pushed the door open and came in almost immediately, their faces showing a hint of sleepiness and undisguised shock.

An emergency meeting?

The last meeting was held because the former Flower Pillar was killed in battle... Could it be that another "Pillar" is about to be summoned...?

Shinobu Kocho didn't look at them.

"Keep an eye on the Butterfly House. Activate the highest alert level."

She slowly stood up, walked to the clothes rack, took down the carefully preserved haori with butterfly wing patterns, and put it back on.

The moment the haori fell, all the turmoil was instantly suppressed, and she transformed back into the "Karma Pillar" of the Demon Slayer Corps—calm and deadly.

She knew that the reason for this emergency meeting, personally initiated by the lord, must be the boy who broke the rules and his ghost sister.

A storm is about to break out among the Demon Slayer Corps' higher-ups.

She didn't even need to think about what choices those stubborn, conservative "pillars" who had the sole creed of slaying all evil spirits would make.

And this is precisely her opportunity.

In the candlelight, her profile was breathtakingly beautiful, yet a cold, cruel, and expectant smile curved her lips.

She was going to attend a trial, not a trial.

It was a test.

Let's test just how valuable this precious "variable" is—the boy named "Tanjiro Kamado".

This will also be a test to see if she can prove with her abilities that she has the authority to mobilize "pillar" level personnel.

Chapter 56: The Pillars Meeting - The Pillars are Shocked by the Terror Called "Karma"

The Demon Slayer Corps headquarters, Ubuyashiki Mansion.

The moment Shinobu Kocho stepped into the courtyard, a chilling atmosphere replaced the tranquility that the wisteria blossoms should have brought.

She paused, her gaze fixed on the center of the courtyard.

There, the Wind Pillar, Sanemi Shinazugawa—that arrogant white-haired man covered in scars—was using his knee to crush a boy with a scar on his forehead into the ground.

He slowly drew his Nichirin Blade, its tip gleaming coldly in the sunlight, and steadily pointed it at an old-fashioned wooden box not far away.

A cold and mocking voice cut through the air and reached Shinobu Kocho's ears clearly.

"You say it's different?" Shinazugawa's lips curled into a cruel smile, the smile not reaching his eyes, but rather cutting through the air with the coldness of a blade.

"Stop joking, kid..."

His gaze swept menacingly over the box in the corner, then suddenly, like a wolf eyeing its prey, landed on the boy's face, contorted with rage.

"Listen carefully, to them, human 'emotions' are nothing but a pile of rotten garbage, incomprehensible and untouchable! Only that damned, cloying scent of flesh and blood on you is the only thing that is real!"

"--stop!!"

His response was a deafening roar.

The boy seemed to have broken free from the shackles of reason.

He could not feel the pain of the pebbles piercing his flesh, nor the loud noise of his bones being crushed. The whole world consisted only of the gleaming knife and the wooden box that the blade pointed at.

"Take your knife away... away!!"

His voice was completely hoarse, and every word sounded like a desperate roar.

Veins bulged menacingly on his neck and forehead, and his blood-red eyes stared intently at Shinazugawa. It wasn't the gaze of a human, but the primal madness of a wild beast protecting its offspring.

"That's my sister...she's my sister...! She's my...only family...!!"

His words were fragmented, punctuated by desperate gasps.

“If you dare touch that box… if you dare touch it even once… I swear—” He used all his strength to lift his head from the rubble, speaking slowly and deliberately, each syllable imbued with blood and hatred.

"—I will absolutely, absolutely... kill you!!!"

The desperate roars of a cornered beast echoed through the courtyard, but they failed to shake the Demon Slayer Corps' top fighter, the "Pillar," who stood solemnly to the side.

They stood silently, each with a different expression, as if waiting for the Immortal River's next move, or perhaps awaiting their lord's final judgment.

In this stagnant atmosphere of murderous intent and despair, a soft sigh was almost inaudible, yet it pierced everyone's tense nerves with the precision of a needle.

Several sharp gazes suddenly turned, filled with disbelief and astonishment.

It's that mysterious Pillar of Karma, Shinobu Kocho.

She was already standing there without anyone noticing.

Despite being in the same space, he seemed like a phantom isolated from the world, completely concealing and erasing his aura, so much so that even the Pillars present did not notice him at all!

It wasn't until that sigh that she seemed to break free from silence, like ink spilled into water, instantly drawing the entire scene to her side.

Her face remained expressionless, but this was more unsettling than any violent aura.

The gazes that had been focused on the brother and sister had now all turned to her, filled with inquiry, wariness, and a deeper layer of... apprehension.

The first to break this deathly silence was the Flame Pillar, Kyojuro Rengoku.

"Hmm!" His booming voice seemed to dispel the invisible chill. "Truly astonishing stealth skills! Butterfly, your fighting spirit is even colder and calmer than rumored!"

He appeared to be praising, but a hint of solemnity flashed deep within his golden eyes, which were burning with flames.

The ability to conceal one's aura to the point that even he cannot perceive it is beyond mere cultivation; it is a chilling realization honed through countless trials and tribulations in preparation for "killing" something.

Sound Pillar Uzui Tengen slowly lowered his arms, and for the first time, his magnificent expression appeared somewhat stiff.

“…Hey, you’re kidding, right?” he muttered to himself, his voice lacking its usual flippancy.

"This is anything but elegant, butterfly. To erase your presence to this extent..."

As a former ninja, Uzui Tengen understood the horror of this better than anyone else.

This is not a skill, but a state of being that detaches one's own sense of existence from the world.

He clicked his tongue in amazement: 'This woman... in the matter of "assassination," has gone far beyond what he, a ninja, has achieved.'

And the Water Pillar, Giyu Tomioka, remains the man furthest away from everyone else.

But when Shinobu Kocho appeared, his hand, gripping the hilt of his sword with slightly white knuckles, tightened even more.

His gaze did not leave Tanjiro, but the worry in his eyes deepened.

Because he knew that this woman, who could turn herself into nothingness, never showed the slightest pity when it came to ghosts.

Her arrival added the most fatal variable to an already precarious situation.

Love Pillar Mitsuri Kanroji gasped involuntarily, her face turning slightly pale with tension.

She glanced at the pitiful brother and sister, then looked at Shinobu Kocho with awe, her heart pounding: "Shinobu-chan... has gotten stronger again!"

"...It felt like it appeared out of nowhere, like a ghost...but the atmosphere got even scarier!"

The white snake "Kaburamaru" coiled around the neck of the Serpent Pillar Obanai Iguro seemed to sense the threat, and its tongue flicked in and out even faster.

Iguro himself narrowed his heterochromatic eyes, his gaze sharp as he scrutinized Shinobu Kocho inch by inch with extreme vigilance.

Mist Hashira, Tokito Muichiro, was still looking up at the sky, as if contemplating the shapes of the clouds.

But whether it was an illusion or not, his ethereal gaze seemed to focus on Shinobu Kocho for a fleeting moment.

The strongest, the Stone Pillar Gyomei Himejima, still clasped his hands together, tears streaming down his face.

He chanted "Amitabha," yet he understood the essence of the matter before anyone else, and murmured with emotion: "What a sorrowful yet resolute aura... Amitabha... What a heavy burden of hell she carries..."

For most of the Pillars present, Shinobu Kocho's "appearance" this time transcended a simple display of strength; it was more like a silent declaration.

For most of the pillars present—