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Chapter 119: Busujima Saeko Issues a Challenge
"So huge! You've got to be kidding me..."
Makomo turned around and stared blankly at Busujima Saeko as she approached. Her eyes instantly locked onto Saeko's chest, which was massive enough to rival the two YukimiBotamon seniors combined. Makomo's jaw dropped in sheer disbelief.
She had an inexplicable urge to reach out and poke them, just to verify if they were actually real.
After all, in the Taisho era of the Demon Slayer world, malnutrition was the standard. Regular girls simply didn't grow like that. Kanroji Mitsuri was a total anomaly, and that was only because she came from a wealthy family and never lacked nutrients growing up.
"And who is this? A new little sister?" Saeko didn't mind Makomo's blatant staring. She offered a warm smile before turning to Suyan.
"This is Makomo. She's a bit of a dummy," Suyan said, shaking his head. He quickly clamped a hand down on Makomo's head to prevent her from doing anything impulsively inappropriate. "Her existence is a bit unique. Right now, she's a Nen Beast, just like the YukimiBotamons."
Without dwelling on the topic, he smoothly pivoted. "What about you, Saeko? Did you run into any interesting prey after we split up at headquarters?"
Saeko had just walked out of the Dimensional Gate behind him. However, the gate she used hadn't connected to the zombie-infested Highschool of the Dead world, but to the demon-filled Demon Slayer world.
Suyan rarely restricted the girls' use of the Dimensional Gate, and they were free to travel to the Demon Slayer world whenever they pleased. But after the initial novelty of exploring Taisho-era Japan wore off a few days ago, most of them had lost interest in the technologically backward era. They vastly preferred exploring the magical, fresh environment of Suyan's Greed Island.
Only Saeko remained actively engaged, roaming the Demon Slayer world in her capacity as a hunter to satisfy her endless thirst for combat.
When she and Suyan separated earlier that morning, she had used the intelligence provided by the Demon Slayer Corps to track down demons. Suyan fully supported this; he had specifically asked her to keep an eye out for demons wielding Blood Demon Arts while she hunted.
"A Nen Beast?"
Hearing Suyan's explanation, Saeko looked at the dazed girl with newfound interest.
Then she realized something. She, Shizuka, and the others all had exceptionally generous figures. Was Suyan finally changing his tastes? First the tiny Nezuko, and now this slightly airheaded Makomo?
But she didn't voice her teasing thoughts. Answering Suyan's question, she said, "No interesting prey, unfortunately. Though..."
With the intelligence network of the Demon Slayer Corps backing her up, Saeko's hunting efficiency had skyrocketed. Because demons didn't come out during the day, she had previously spent her nights scouring deep mountains and dense forests. She never worried about ambushes. Her Nen reserves were only a fraction behind Suyan's, and while she wasn't an Emission-type user—only possessing a 40% affinity for it—deploying her En as a short-range radar was incredibly easy.
One sweep of her En, and any demons hiding in the dark were instantly exposed.
Sadly, the demons forced to scrounge for food in the wilderness were mostly bottom-tier trash. Forget Blood Demon Arts; aside from being marginally smarter than zombies, they still died to a single swing of her sword.
The targets provided by the Corps, however, were much better. The Corps tracked demons by following murder reports, which meant the demons they located had actively consumed humans and possessed actual combat strength. This made Saeko's hunts significantly more enjoyable.
Even though she hadn't encountered a Blood Demon Art yet, her combat experiments today had yielded something else.
"While I was practicing Sun Breathing today, I discovered a very fascinating secret~" Saeko purred.
"A secret?" Suyan smiled dismissively.
What kind of secret could Breathing Styles hide that he didn't already know?
The Demon Slayer Mark? The Crimson Red Nichirin Blade? The Transparent World?
It wasn't like she had magically communed with the spirit of Yoriichi Tsugikuni just by using Sun Breathing.
"But I'll leave that up to you to figure out," Saeko winked mischievously.
This was clearly petty revenge for Suyan instantly grasping the secrets of Breathing Styles the very first time he watched Tanjiro perform the Hinokami Kagura, yet refusing to tell her immediately.
"Of course," Saeko added smoothly, "If you're willing to beg me, I could just tell you the answer right now."
The Demon Slayer Mark? Suyan glanced at Saeko's exposed skin. There were no mysterious tattoos or crests to be seen. Furthermore, she knew he wasn't a fan of tattoos, so it definitely wasn't that.
The Crimson Red Blade?
That trick was practically useless to someone at Saeko's level. Heating up a blade wouldn't amplify her combat power in any meaningful way.
By process of elimination, that left only one option: the Transparent World.
To be fair, based on the original lore, it was a genuinely fascinating technique. According to the descriptions, once a swordsman unlocked the Transparent World, their perception shifted entirely. They could see through their opponent's skin, observing the flow of blood, the contraction of muscles, and the alignment of joints in real time, allowing them to perfectly predict the enemy's next strike.
It was conceptually similar to the Nen application of En, but with a hyper-focused, physiological specialization. If that's what she had unlocked, it definitely warranted her "fascinating" appraisal.
"Beg you?"
Even though Suyan had already deduced the secret, he didn't spoil her fun. His lips curled into a wicked smirk. "Are you issuing a challenge, Saeko?"
"Precisely. Will you accept my challenge, Suyan?" Saeko smiled elegantly.
Suyan raised an eyebrow. "Same rules as always? The winner decides top, bottom, front, or back?"
"The time limit is tomorrow morning. If you haven't figured out the secret by then, it's my turn to be on top next time~" Saeko declared her terms.
"You think I'd back down?" Suyan scoffed playfully. "I accept your challenge!"
"Then you'd better hurry. I'd hate for you to run out of time tonight while dealing with the combined assault of all our sisters," Saeko said, her eyes narrowing in a sly, fox-like grin.
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