Who are you calling a stable boy?!

"Ah... even if it's the Lord's request, I find it hard to agree."

The first to speak was Gyomei Himejima.

"I also vehemently object."

Following closely behind was Yu Sui Tian Yuan.

"I will obey whatever my lord desires!"

Kanroji Mitsuri became the first pillar to agree.

"Don't believe it, don't believe it."

Pointing at Tanjiro, Obanai Iguro said coldly, "Demons are so annoying."

"Although I sincerely respect my lord, I truly cannot understand this idea! I object!"

"Rengoku Kyojuro said loudly."

"Slaying demons, this is the Demon Slayer Corps! How can there be a swordsman carrying a demon in the Demon Slayer Corps? I hope my lord will severely punish Tanjiro Kamado!"

This is Sanemi Shinazugawa.

Besides those who have made their stance clear, there are also the Insect Hashira Shinobu Kocho, the Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka, and the Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito, who have remained silent.

Seeing this, Kagaya Ubuyashiki clearly had anticipated it.

He took out the letter written by Urokodaki Sajinji.

In the letter, Urokodaki Sashinji explained that Nezuko, as a demon, had not attacked any humans for two years since being transformed due to extreme hunger.

Furthermore, if Nezuko attacks humanity in the future...

Then, he, Tanjiro, and Giyu Tomioka will all commit seppuku to atone for their sins.

Tanjiro glanced instinctively at Giyu Tomioka, who remained expressionless, and after listening to the contents of the letter read aloud by the boy, he burst into tears.

Even Zheng Jing couldn't help but close his eyes.

"Seppuku? What's that?"

However, there are also those who remain unmoved.

"If you want to die, then just go ahead and die! What's the big deal—"

Before he could finish speaking, Sanemi Shinazugawa felt a sudden, heavy pressure coming from behind him.

In fact, it wasn't just him.

Almost instantly, all the pillars present began to move.

Some stood in front of Kagaya Ubuyashiki to protect him.

some......

They then surrounded Zheng Jing.

"Get to the point."

Ignoring the three familiar faces who had surrounded him again, Zheng Jing stared at Shinazugawa Sanemi and said without a trace of a smile, "If you keep breathing on me like that, I might actually interview you with a sausage."

"...Your Excellency, although I do not know why you are protecting this brother and sister, please forgive my bluntness, but setting aside Shinazugawa's harsh words, what he said is indeed the right argument."

Standing behind Zheng Jing, Beimingyu Xingming said in a deep voice, "Once the evil spirits devour people, it will be too late. No matter how many people commit seppuku to atone for their sins, the dead will never come back."

"See, now we can talk properly."

A smile returned to Zheng Jing's face, and he sat down cross-legged with his hands outstretched.

"That's certainly true, but how can you prove that Nezuko will definitely eat people in the future?"

"What nonsense are you talking about! Does the fact that ghosts eat people need proof?"

As if he had finally found an outlet, Shinazugawa Sanemi turned around and glared at Zheng Jing, scolding him.

"Hey, Tanjiro and his two disciples worked hard for two years to prove that Nezuko wouldn't eat people even when she was starving, and they even risked their lives to vouch for her. And you, after all that talk, you don't have to do anything?"

Zheng Jing clicked his tongue and shook his finger.

"That's how I always do things. I have three main virtues: fairness, fairness, and damn it, fairness. So, whoever makes the claim must provide the evidence, Hakimi."

As he spoke, he winked at Kagaya Ubuyashiki.

"How about that, handsome? It's fair, right?"

"You bastard—"

"That's definitely fair."

"My lord?!"

Turning around in surprise, Shinazugawa Sanemi and the other opposing Pillars looked at Ubuyashiki Kagaya.

"The burden of proof lies with the person making the claim; I believe this is a very reasonable requirement."

"...As long as it can be proven, that's fine, right?"

As they were speaking, Sanemi Shinazugawa suddenly drew his sword—

Immediately, he cut open his own arm!

Not only that, he also suddenly waved his hand, splashing the blood flowing from his arm onto Tanjiro.

More accurately, it was sprinkled onto the wooden box in Tanjiro's hand.

—It was sprinkled onto the neem seeds inside!

"Crunch, crunch, crunch..."

In an instant, the box began to shake.

Realizing that Nezuko was trying to come out, Tanjiro instinctively pressed down on the box.

"Charcoal Boy, let go."

"Old Zheng?"

"What's there to be afraid of with just some rare blood?"

"..."

Having realized that this was Shinazugawa Sanemi's "proof," Tanjiro gritted his teeth and released the box.

(Nezuko...you have to hold back, Nezuko!)

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Nezuko slowly crawled out of the box.

She was drenched in sweat, panting heavily, her cherry-pink vertical pupils fixed on Shinazugawa Sanemi.

"Come on, you devils! It's time to eat! This is your favorite!"

"..."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Nezuko moved!

She turned her face away, closed her eyes, and refused to look at Shinazugawa Sanemi.

Apart from Giyu Tomioka, the Pillars all showed some degree of surprise upon seeing this scene.

"Hakimi, are you going to keep calling me or not?"

Standing up, Zheng Jing pointed at Shinazugawa Sanemi with both fingers and grinned, sticking out his tongue.

With his face buried in his hands, looking as if he were about to grind his teeth to dust, Shinazugawa Sanemi fell silent once again.

Zheng Jing suddenly started walking.

"Excuse me, excuse me."

Bypassing Kyojuro Rengoku, Zheng Jing walked up to Sanemi Shinazugawa, squatted down, and reached out his hand to him.

"Not calling anymore? Then give me your hand."

"what?"

"Still breathing on your face? Can't accept defeat?"

"Huh?! Who are you calling a sore loser?! Fine! It's just an arm, one or two, you can have it or leave it!"

Zheng Jing caught Shinazugawa Sanemi's arm, which was basically cleaving at him, and with a flick of his fingers, an inconspicuous golden bolt of lightning pierced through his fingertips and into Shinazugawa Sanemi's forearm.

Sensing something amiss, Shinazugawa Sanemi instinctively pulled his hand back.

To his surprise, Zheng Jing did not stop him, but let him pull his hand back.

What did you do?

"Do you think I'm trying to disgust you or help you?"

Zheng Jing rolled his eyes.

"You like having scars, but I won't let you have them."

Scars?

As if realizing something, Shinazugawa Sanemi looked down at his arm.

The wound he had inflicted himself was now nowhere to be found.

Chapter 25: I Will Bring My Talent to the Demon Slayer Corps

"..."

"What are you all doing staring at me like that?"

Zheng Jing stood up and waved his hand somewhat irritably, meeting the gazes of everyone present.

"Playing dumb won't work. Even after applying diluted blood, you still couldn't get Charcoal Boy's sister to make a mistake. What other skills do you have? Just bring it on!"

The few pillars who held opposing views exchanged glances, but none of them spoke.

It was Ubuyashiki Kagaya who spoke up.

"Everyone, in that case, could we try to accept Tanjiro and Nezuko? At least, I think their hard work all this time deserves a chance."

No one responded to their lord's words.

Unperturbed by the Pillars' silence, Kagaya Ubuyashiki continued, "Also, there's something else I want everyone to know about Tanjiro."

"He had a direct encounter with Muzan Kibutsuji."

Upon hearing this, all the pillars were startled.

"Really?!"

"where?"

What does he look like?

What are his abilities?

"Speak!"

In an instant, the Pillars bombarded Tanjiro with a barrage of questions, leaving him tense and bewildered.

"Gentlemen."

It wasn't until Kagaya Ubuyashiki spoke that the Pillars, who had been making a racket just a second ago, suddenly fell silent and lowered their heads.

"Muzan is sending his men to hunt down Tanjiro. The reason might be simply to keep him quiet, but it's also possible that something unexpected has happened to Nezuko... In any case, I don't want to let this hard-won opportunity slip by."

"Does everyone understand now?"

"..."

Having said all that, even though they still couldn't accept the existence of demons within the Demon Slayer Corps, none of the Pillars dared to object to Kagaya Ubuyashiki's decision.

The ultimate goal of the Demon Slayer Corps is to eliminate the source of many tragedies, the progenitor of demons, Muzan Kibutsuji.

However, Muzan Kibutsuji was a cautious guy who could be described as cowardly.

Whenever he felt truly threatened, he would hide without hesitation.

As the progenitor of demons, Muzan Kibutsuji possessed a lifespan so long that its end was unknown.

So even if a powerful swordsman emerges in the Demon Slayer Corps capable of killing him, he only needs to hide away at all costs, hide for a hundred years, until that powerful swordsman grows old and reaches the end of his life, and until no one can threaten him anymore before he comes out.

The Demon Slayer Corps pursued Muzan Kibutsuji for over a thousand years using this tactic of "enduring the old man's death," and Muzan resolutely carried it out for over a thousand years.