Chapter 102 Black Knife
"…It was this red flame…that made me see those scenes…"
Pointing at the sparks on his body, Kokushibo continued to tell Wolf what he saw before Wolf could ask any questions.
"…The images are just fragments… a giant ape shaking the mountains, a cherry dragon wielding a giant sword, a red-haired demon wrapped in flames."
As he said this, Kokushibo looked at the wolf with a warm look in his eyes, and his feet involuntarily took a step closer to the wolf.
"And you who are immortal... and... that black knife! A knife that can pull the dead back to the human world from the underworld! These images are fragmented and even mixed together... but I believe this is absolutely true!"
After saying this, Kokushibo was already standing in front of the wolf. Looking at the hint of surprise hidden in the wolf's cold eyes, he knew that these were all true.
Wolf did not try to hide anything. The other party had already seen so many images of him. If he continued to hide anything, he would not only be deceiving Kokushibo, but also fooling himself.
Some of the memory fragments were seen by Kokushibo, which sounded quite strange but in fact, there were clues if you thought about it carefully. When the wolf himself was swallowed by the Shura Fire, he also saw many fragments that had never happened.
But... I didn't expect that what Kokushibo saw were his own memories.
The fear of Shura's Fire is even greater.
Seeing that Wolf didn't say anything but just stared at him, Kokushibo stepped back, took his hand off the hilt of the sword, and spoke to Wolf.
"I didn't tell anyone...anything about you...not even Muzan Kibutsuji..."
Seeing that Kokushibo seemed to be distancing himself from Muzan, Wolf remembered that Kanae once taught him about ghosts, and looked at Kokushibo with some curiosity. Given Muzan's control over ghosts, this statement should not be tenable, right?
unless……
"…Have you escaped from Muzan's control?"
As expected, Kokushibo nodded, raised his charred arm, looked at the sparks flashing from time to time, and murmured:
"That's right... While this flame burned me into this state, it also freed me from Muzan's control... and allowed me to borrow this power."
Before he finished speaking, sparks suddenly rose from his arm and turned into red flames that wrapped around Kokushibo's arm.
This time, a hint of surprise finally flashed across the wolf's face, and then he covered his left arm tightly, with a hint of ferocity flashing across his face.
Seeing this, Kokushibo was slightly stunned, and quickly retracted the flame, revealing his arm that was even more charred and steaming. After seeing that the wolf had returned to normal, he did not mention the abnormality just now and continued to return to the previous topic.
"So... please revive Yoriichi... it will only benefit you, the Demon Slayer Corps."
The wolf shook his head, completely dispelling the malice that had just been aroused in his mind, and then looked at Kokushibo. He was now certain of one thing, that is, Kokushibo did not know the conditions required for resurrection.
...Perhaps I only saw the scene where Isshin-sama was pulled back to the human world by Genichirō...
And... resurrecting Yoriichi... as expected... no wonder Yoriichi Zero-Shiki and Kokushibo look so similar.
Thinking of this, combined with the other party's name, a story about the two brothers was woven in the wolf's mind.
Then Wolf looked at Kokushibo and explained to him.
"...Unfortunately, I don't have that knife. I've never even owned it... And the conditions for using that knife to revive are quite harsh..."
Here the wolf paused, thought for a moment, then continued in a serious tone imitating that of Shinobu.
"…Even if you can be resurrected, your brother will not be happy to see you like this…"
Hearing this, Kokushibo frowned. What does this have to do with my current appearance? Resurrecting Yoriichi was just to compete with him again.
Just as he was about to speak, he remembered the last time he met Yunyi. The old man saw his strong evil ghost body, but spoke with tears in his eyes.
"How pitiful... Brother..."
Thinking of his complicated emotions at that time, and seeing his body which was stronger but uglier, Kokushibo fell into deep thought.
He nodded involuntarily, then as if remembering something, he turned his head and looked at the wolf seriously and said.
"…I never had that sword…but in the fragments that this fire showed me, I saw you holding that sword and standing on a burning castle tower."
"Maybe... I remembered it wrong..."
Having said that, Kokushibo's body trembled, his expression changed slightly, and he spoke to the wolf.
"…Although I got rid of the control over Muzan, Muzan didn't realize… Sona was notifying me to attend the Upper Strings meeting…"
"Goodbye..."
After saying goodbye, after a melodious pipa sound, Kokushibo disappeared in front of Wolf again without any warning, and Wolf had no time to pay attention at this moment.
I kept thinking about Kokushibo's words in my mind.
...The burning castle tower... It only appeared in the memory of following the precepts that the Shura Fire let me see...
That was the fire caused by his life-and-death battle with Isshin-sama, but why was the black Undying Slash in his hand...
Before the wolf could figure it out, the moon was about to set completely, the sky in the distance was slightly brighter, and daybreak was about to begin.
Thinking that everyone in the camp would soon wake up, the wolf turned and walked towards the camp.
The forest paths are exceptionally cool in the early mornings of autumn and winter. Even wolves can't help but feel comfortable, and their minds are still clear even after a sleepless night.
But before he could walk back, a loud clanging sound reached his ears.
As they walked quickly to the camp, they saw Inosuke, who had been unconscious last night, running around the camp like a real wild boar, making roars like a charging pig from time to time.
Behind him, Wuyilang, with a happy look on his face, was chasing after him and shouting.
"Don't run away!"
However, he had not yet recovered from the aftereffects of last night's Divine Snow, and his body was a little weak, so he could not catch up with Inosuke who was running madly.
He deliberately stopped, turned around and laughed mockingly.
"Hahaha! How can a little brat like you possibly be better than the mountain king!"
Then he shouted again and rushed forward, dodging Muichiro who was rushing towards him.
Tianyin, who was still wrapped in a blanket behind him, looked at the two people playing with a gentle smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Ichiro, who was curled up in a blanket, covered his ears and tossed and turned, muttering to himself. When Inosuke shouted "Zhu Tu Meng Jin" again, he could no longer bear it, sat up, and roared like a devil.
"It's so noisy!!"
The high roar echoed through the mountains, startling the sleeping birds.
The two who were chasing each other stopped and looked at Yuichiro. There was silence for a moment, but soon with Inosuke's disdainful snort, the two began chasing again.
Yuichiro's veins popped up when he saw this. He threw off the blanket and rushed out, chasing after Muichiro.
"Damn it! Stop it!"
It’s a pity that no one paid any attention to him.
Looking at the three people in a mess, Wolf turned his head to look at the campfire where only a few sparks were left. The Busikawa, surrounded by purple mist, was sleeping there with his arms and legs spread out, completely unaffected by the outside world.
Seeing this, the wolf made a note of the sleeping pot in his mind.
Will not be woken by noise.
But then, Busei’s beautiful dream came to an end.
Inosuke ran without caring about what was under his feet. He shouted "Zhu Tu" and rushed forward. He stepped over the campfire, stepped on the defenseless belly of Busei, and then continued to run forward.
Suddenly, Busei Kawai bent his body like a cooked shrimp, his eyes widened.
Now the two brothers behind him didn't dare to continue chasing. They stood together in horror, looking at Busei with a dark face, holding his stomach and slowly standing up.
I thought to myself, it’s over.
The wolf, on the other hand, had a calm expression and made another note of the sleeping pot in his mind.
Will wake up after being attacked.