Chapter 145 Promised
"Huh?! That guy wants to live in the Butterfly House for a month! I don't agree!"
In the dark night, a crisp cry was heard, and the owl, which had been flying for a long time and finally flew back to the butterfly house, was startled and flapped its wings in dissatisfaction and then flew towards the kitchen.
Inside the house, Shinobu with a look of disgust was looking at the ferocious-looking Busei, while Kanae was sandwiched between the two with a smile on her face, trying to comfort Shinobu.
"Well, after all, it is very convenient to teach sword skills in the Butterfly House. Besides, the frequency of evil spirits doing evil has decreased recently, and the rooms in the Butterfly House are empty."
Hearing what his sister said, Shinobu glared at Busui and then withdrew his eyes. He knew that Busui would never give a good face just because he came to the Butterfly House. Even if the other party had reasons and evidence, he still felt hesitant.
"Well…"
Seeing her sister avoiding her gaze, Kanae pretended to be pitiful, took two steps forward, and pressed her tall and slender body directly on Shinobu's shoulders. She snuggled up to Shinobu and spoke weakly.
"Shinobu, just get along with Mr. Busikawa for a month. This is also for the purpose of defeating the evil spirits later..."
Upon hearing about defeating evil spirits, Shinobu's disgusted expression completely collapsed, while Fuzugawa had a smug look on his face. He turned around and took the trembling Tokito brothers and Inosuke to look for a suitable empty room.
After Fuzugawa and the others left, Shinobu pulled Kanae from her shoulder aside and looked helplessly at her sister whose pity disappeared from her face and who put on a smile again.
"Sister, really..."
Kanae chuckled and evaded the question, then asked Shinobu curiously.
"Where's Mr. Hirata?"
Speaking of wolves, Shinobu first thought of Minako's strange smile. Her face turned red, and then she stretched her right hand into her arms, holding the knife she got from the wolf.
I recalled what just happened in my mind.
…………
“…The power-generating technique needs to be improved…I can’t return the power to the opponent yet…But the movements are very standard…Not bad.”
Facing the Kocho Shinobu who was slumped on the ground and gasping for breath, Wolf put the Kugimaru back into the scabbard and raised the problem that had just occurred during the sparring with the Chunin in a calm tone.
Then he walked forward, stretched out his hand, and tried to pull Shinobu up.
Looking at the wolf with his hand outstretched and no expression on his face, Shinobu found it a little funny for a moment. He did not extend his hand immediately, but spoke to the wolf with a smile in his eyes.
“This scene is so familiar.”
After saying this, while the wolf was still dazed, he took the wolf's hand, stood up, and turned to walk towards the pavilion.
Wolf picked up Minako, who had fallen asleep out of boredom not long after the two of them had practiced together, walked into the pavilion, and placed her steadily on the bench.
He walked towards Shinobu who was leaning against the fence feeding the carp in the water, then looked at the fish swimming in the water. Out of boredom, he carefully compared them with the precious carp he had seen before.
Ok……
Quite a big difference...
When the ninja at the side saw the wolf coming, he stopped feeding it and looked at the wolf. He opened and closed his mouth as if he wanted to say something but was extremely hesitant.
Seeing the other party's hesitation out of the corner of his eye, the wolf looked at the carp without changing his gaze and spoke softly.
"…If you have anything to say, just say it…"
Hearing this, Shinobu gritted his teeth and said to the wolf as if he had made up his mind.
"Can you lend me that green short sword to study it?"
Green short sword... rusty ball...
The wolf didn't expect that this was what the other party wanted to say. He was a little surprised, but when he thought about it carefully, he realized that the green rust poison had little effect on powerful evil spirits and was of no use to him.
Then, without saying a word, he swung the prosthetic hand to take out the rust ball, and operated it on the prosthetic hand with his dexterous hands. With a crisp sound, the rust ball was removed from the prosthetic hand.
He handed the knife with the handle facing outward to Shinobu, who didn't expect the wolf to be so straightforward, and reminded him at the same time.
"…The Rust Poison has little effect on powerful demons."
He carefully took the rust pill, and could not help feeling the green rust poison emanating from it all the time. He was a little frightened, but he still explained to the wolf.
"Concentrated wisteria flower juice is the most horrible poison to ghosts. I want to try to study the principle of this sword and make a sun blade that can emit wisteria flower poison all the time."
After listening to Shinobu's words, Wolf nodded thoughtfully.
"…Is that so…You can go to the New Swordsmith Village and find the blacksmith named Tietsuzuka…He will be very interested…But remember to bring this with you."
After saying that, he took out many bags of antidote from his arms and stuffed them into Shinobu's hands.
Then, regardless of the ninja who hadn't reacted, he walked to the wooden stake used for training. With a flash of cold light, the Kakimaru was unsheathed and he chopped down the stake directly. He held it in his hand and carved something with the sharp blade of the Kakimaru.
Looking at the antidote in his hand, Shinobu looked strange and asked Wolf in a hesitant tone.
"...Wolf...Do you think I'm taking advantage of others...and tarnishing the Ashina School?"
The wolf, who had quickly finished carving and put the wedge pill away, shook his head, then exhaled to blow away the wood chips, revealing the appearance of a short-bladed scabbard.
He handed it to Shinobu and said while looking at him seriously.
"No... because the true meaning of Ashina-ryu... is to win at all costs... Come on."
After taking the scabbard, Wolf's words kept repeating in Shinobu's mind, so much so that he didn't even notice when the other party took Minako away.
Coming back to his senses, looking at the empty courtyard, Shinobu felt extremely warm. With a smile on his face, he inserted the poisonous dagger in his hand into the scabbard.
thump.
………………
"I should, I should go take a rest."
After the memories ended, Shinobu spoke to Kanae in an uncertain tone, but the other party looked unconvinced. Shinobu, who knew her sister's character well, naturally did not dare to stay any longer.
He turned and fled to the two rooms downstairs, leaving Kanae with a look of regret on her face to guess on her own.
Back in the room, Shinobu contacted the New Swordsmith Village through the Crow and explained that he would visit tomorrow.
………………
On the other side, in the ward, Busei looked at the three people shivering on the hospital beds with an unnatural expression.
I always feel like something is weird...
But there was no extra room for them to stay in at the moment, and they would be lying on it most of the time anyway, so it made no difference if they lay down now.
The expression on his face became ferocious again. He took out a booklet with crescent moons drawn on it from his arms, threw it on Ichirō's quilt, and said to him.
"Take a look at it tonight, and then you can practice this from now on."
After saying that, he walked out of the room, ignoring the noisy ward behind him, and headed towards the guest room where he had stayed before.
But when he passed the wolf's room, he saw the lock hanging on it, paused, and looked at the full moon outside, feeling a little confused.
Haven’t you come back yet?
………………
At this time, in the courtyard of the Butterfly House, a figure stood alone under the moonlight, staring at the Butterfly House with several lights on for a few minutes, then turned and walked out of the gate.
But a confused yet aggrieved voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Is Mr. Wolf leaving again?"
Hearing the voice, Wolf turned around, looked at Minako who was rubbing her eyes behind him, and responded softly.
"…Um…"
He told the Demon Slayer Corps that the Lower Moons would cause chaos in a month, but he did not tell them that the Upper Moon demons would collectively hunt him down and even surround him.
Because if they tell the Demon Slayer Corps, they will definitely arrange for the Pillars and the Wolf to fight the enemy together, but they can't face the powerful Upper Moons, or even the sudden attack from the Demon King Muzan.
Casualties among the people are inevitable, and now... there are also the markings brought by the resurrected Yunyi. Even if they survive, they may still have markings because of the battle between life and death.
Twenty-five years old? Too young...
The illusory scene he saw in the library that day reappeared before him. Wolf sighed inwardly. At the age of twenty-five, he was not even older than himself when he was a ninja walking on the brink of life and death in his previous life.
He didn't want to see either outcome...
So… I decided… since I am not good at fighting against many enemies alone, I will try to reduce the number of ghost months as much as possible in a month…
...More importantly...is to find the resurrected dead soul and send him back to the underworld.
After that... I, who also possess the power of immortality, should also...
Thinking of this, Wolf tightened the skill [Bai Lei] on his back and looked at Minako with a firm gaze.
"I have to go and do...my duty..."
Looking at the wolf turning around and about to leave, tears welled up in Minako's eyes. She always felt that Mr. Wolf's departure this time was strange. He went out quietly by himself, without telling anyone else and didn't want to tell her.
"Wait a moment!"
With a choked cry, Minako quickly reached for the bag of sugar in her arms, but the bag was empty without her knowing, and the wolf was still moving forward. In desperation, she took a step forward and rushed towards the wolf.
But after taking a few steps, he fell to the ground, looked up at the wolf that had not stopped, and couldn't help sobbing softly.
"Ouch... the candy is gone... Ouch..."
After a while, with a sigh, Minako, who had fallen to the ground, was picked up by a pair of big hands. Wolf half-knelt on the ground and gently wiped the tears from her face, speaking softly, but his tone seemed unsure even of himself.
"Next time I come back... I'll bring you..."
Minako opened her slightly red and swollen eyes, sobbing and stretching out her little finger.
"I... believe Mr. Wolf... this is... an agreement..."
After hesitating for a moment, Wolf also stretched out his little finger and hooked it on Minako's finger, his voice a little low.
"Well...it's a promise..."