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[Crossover] Ch 96: Upper Rank One— Kokushibo
🕑 Added 2025-06-16 17:03:28 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
The one disguised as a woman... was the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui.
Using his shinobi skills passed down through generations, he'd flawlessly disguised himself as a woman, deliberately baiting Doma into showing up.
Everything had gone smoothly—almost too smoothly—until Kanae Kocho suddenly appeared. The shock nearly gave him a heart attack.
Thankfully, the plan still worked. Doma had already been fatally wounded by his Nichirin blade, which had been coated with a super-concentrated Wisteria poison. At this point, Doma was beyond saving.
Right beside him, Doma stared in disbelief, eyes wide as he pointed at Tengen. He couldn't get a single word out.
And as the realization hit—that the person he'd just been flirting with was a man—his stomach lurched violently.
He had just… with a man… ugh…
From a nearby alleyway, the Serpent Hashira, Obanai Iguro, appeared with a deep frown on his face.
"Don't interfere with Lord Yagami's plan, Flower Hashira. Unless you want him to personally come down on you."
Kanae resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 'As if he'd ever scold me.'
She held back the sarcasm and replied evenly, "Relax. I got his approval before coming out here."
It was the truth. If she hadn't gotten Ryo's permission, she wouldn't have made it past the Butterfly Mansion's front gate—let alone her sister, Shinobu.
Kanae worried about Shinobu getting hurt, and Shinobu was just as scared Kanae would get herself killed in direct combat.
They knew each other too well. Years of sisterhood made their thoughts transparent to one another.
Without Ryo as her cover, Kanae wouldn't have been able to talk her way past Shinobu, let alone sneak out alone.
"You had permission?" Obanai raised a brow, then nodded. Without warning, he vanished and reappeared in front of Doma, thrusting his blade into the demon's neck.
"Five times the usual poison dosage. Apparently Lord Ryo Yagami cooked this up out of boredom. Lucky you."
Doma's eyes bulged even wider. That much toxin nearly short-circuited his brain on the spot.
Kanae sighed and said quietly, "Alright. Let the support squad take over here. The last of the demons' power should be gathering at the Imperial Palace."
Tengen and Obanai exchanged a look, then nodded and disappeared without another word.
It wasn't that they didn't care—it's just that Doma's death was a foregone conclusion. After killing so many demons, they all knew what the final moments looked like.
And Doma was already there.
He was dead. His body just hadn't realized it yet, dragging itself through a few final seconds thanks to demonic regeneration.
Kanae looked at him and shook her head. "What a shame. I really wanted to be the one to kill you."
With that, she left the alley, heading toward the palace.
Doma watched her go, eyes full of despair and bitter regret.
Dying was agonizing. But dying like this, poisoned, was pure torment. The overwhelming pain made him want to scream—but he didn't even have the strength left to cry out.
His sanity was hanging by a thread.
And then—footsteps.
He looked up and saw a girl in the Demon Slayer uniform. Her hair was pinned back with a butterfly ornament.
It was Shinobu Kocho.
Doma, barely clinging to consciousness, couldn't make out her uniform anymore. His vision was a blur. Still, he forced himself to speak with the last of his breath:
"Are... are you my angel come to save me?"
"Please… help me… I don't want to die…"
Shinobu smiled gently, her lips curving in that ever-soft expression.
"Die, you bottom-feeding scum."
Doma's eyes went wide one last time—and his body turned to ash.
Then Shinobu snorted coldly. "You really thought I didn't see you drooling over my sister just now? Disgusting."
She paused for a moment, then turned around and looked at the dark-haired young man behind her—dressed in a black kimono and white haori. Her smile shifted slightly as she teased:
"So, you couldn't let my sister go alone after all, huh, Ryo-san?"
Ryo chuckled and looked off into the distance. "Who knows?"
Shinobu giggled, thinking he was just being shy.
It was funny. One's now the head of the Demon Slayers, the other's the Flower Hashira, yet when they're together, they act like they're trying to keep their distance.
"Are they afraid I'll get the wrong idea or something?"
Ryo narrowed his eyes slightly, giving her a faint smile. "Shinobu, you should head back."
"Alright," she said with a nod, understanding full well why Ryo and her sister didn't want her on the frontlines.
Against Upper Kizuki, someone who wasn't even a Hashira yet was just dead weight. Joining the fight would've been suicide.
With that thought, Shinobu looked up at him, eyes shining with curiosity. "Mr. Ryo… when the time comes to face Muzan, will you fight?"
Ryo paused, then smiled warmly. "Of course."
He'd definitely get involved.
But how he would fight… well, that was up to Shinobu's imagination.
— — —
Imperial Palace.
Perched lazily on the rooftop of a grand estate, Kokushibo lay sprawled across the tiles. His six eyes stared blankly up at the sky, bored out of his mind.
Down in the courtyard, hordes of demons were hunched over bloody limbs and corpses, tearing them apart with feral hunger.
Despite the luxurious fabrics still clinging to the dismembered bodies, hinting at their noble origins, Kokushibo couldn't care less.
Human aristocrats meant nothing to him. Not for centuries.
Even Kibutsuji Muzan—now going by Ryo Yagami—didn't have much sway over him.
They were partners at best. Muzan had given him an immortal body, and in return, Kokushibo kept honing his swordsmanship and occasionally protected Muzan. That was their deal.
But now, with Ryo, the Demon King, launching a full-scale attack on Edo, even Kokushibo had to step in, no matter how reluctant.
Especially when it came to organized military resistance.
In fact, most of Edo's defense forces had already been wiped out—thanks to Kokushibo and Akaza.
Those two were the only Upper Kizuki facing down the army head-on.
Suddenly, Hantengu appeared in a panic, rushing up to Kokushibo.
"Lord Kokushibo! Upper Rank Two, Doma… Upper Rank Three, Akaza… and Upper Rank Three, Gyokko—they've all gone dark!"
"Hm?" Kokushibo's eyes shifted slightly. "Still some shrine priests left? Or has the Demon Slayer Corps finally shown up?"
"It's the Corps!" Hantengu quickly nodded. "My underlings saw them—it was definitely the Demon Slayers!"
Kokushibo slowly sat up, adjusting his posture.
"Looks like the Hashira have arrived en masse."
With that, he jumped down from the rooftop, walking toward the palace.
"Lord Kokushibo, where are you going?" Hantengu asked nervously.
"To test the strength of this generation's Hashira," he replied calmly.
Hantengu's face lit up with joy. He immediately dropped to his knees, bowing low.
"Safe journey, Lord Kokushibo!"
After he left, Hantengu couldn't hold back his excitement.
"With Lord Kokushibo himself stepping in, this battle's in the bag! No way the Demon Slayers can take him down instantly. What a joke—hahaha!"
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