Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey

[Seiji's POV]

Two days have passed since I returned to the Flower Mansion and the Hashira meeting which I requested to be held was granted.

This time, even Shinobu was not exempted, she had to attend the meeting whether she liked it or not.

"Don't worry Shinobu, I'll be fine. I spend most of my time sleeping anyway," Kanae said with a thin smile while looking at her sister.

She was still on her bed, only ever leaving it to go to the bathroom. She was starting to eat normal food again but that too only in a few quantities. Her body couldn't digest normal food just yet.

"I know that, but..." said the girl who forbade me from staying beside her at all times. Now she understood what it felt like, justice was served.

"You're acting like here and the headquarters is not two hours away," I said with a shrug while observing the sisters.

"He is right, I'll be fine. I'm not made of glass you know," Kanae agreed, causing Shinobu to release a defeated sigh.

"Okay then, I'll be back soon," she said before turning around and walking toward the door.

"Let's go quickly," she said right before walking past me.

"....."

"Make sure to tell me everything that happened in detail when you get back," Kanae said while giving me the final wave.

"Of course," I said before I left the room too.

Shinobu and I immediately made our way to the Demon Slayer headquarters. The journey was swift and we reached our destination in a little over an hour.

When we arrived there, I was pleasantly greeted by my old partner whom I hadn't seen in a while.

"....." It did not even let out chirps like the rest of the birds around it. No, it refused to release a sound.

"Raven," I called out her name while she gently floated above. I lowered my head slightly and she immediately made herself comfortable on top of my head.

My purple hair acted like a natural nest for her as she anchored her little feet on my scalp. After a few more nuzzles, she fit perfectly on my head.

"Thank you for delivering my message," I said.

"The bond you have with your bird always strikes me as odd. Nonetheless, it's adorable," Shinobu commented beside me.

"Well, not every demon slayer had to trust their Kasugai crow with their life as I did," I said, recalling all the times I got good sleep, knowing that Raven was keeping an eye out for me.

There were also a few moments where she saved me from demons sneaking up from behind.

"Let's hurry. everyone else is already there," I said and we went past the entrance gate of the headquarters.

There were guards and servants when we entered but none of them stopped us. They knew who we were. Instead, they inclined their head slightly when we passed them. It was a sign of respect for the warriors that were protecting them.

We made a beeline to the main building without exchanging more words. When we reached there, all of the Hashiras were present and this time, even Ubuyahsiki was there.

"Seiji, Shinobu, you're here," Ubuyashiki heard us before he saw us. He turned his head to us with a smile.

His white pupils could not see us clearly anymore, he was turning blind. That was why he heard us first.

"Sorry for making you wait," Shinobu bowed to the master and also to her fellow Hashiras.

"It's fine. We know your sister's condition and how busy the medical corps is these days. There is no need to apologize for anything," Gyomei said, his hands joined in prayer.

He and Tengen were there too. I could feel their aura from miles away-ehem, I mean I could see them from miles away.

Gyomei stood in the middle, towering over everyone else like the absolute unit he was. Tengen's height followed, slightly shorter but still taller than the rest. And then Giyu, Rengoku, and Sanemi were relatively similar in height.

Shinobu and I joined them in the line they had assailed in, facing the veranda of the main building where Ubuyashiki sat with his wife.

After that, we all went to one knee in unison.

"The Hashiras have gathered as you ordered!!" we said altogether.

Ubuyashiki threw his usual kind smile on his face. It was not an arrogant smile that was glad to see so many powerful warriors kneel before him, no, it was similar to how a father would smile at his children. They were warm and proud.

"It may seem like I was the one who called the meeting today but in actuality, this time, the emergency Hashira meeting has nothing to do with me," Ubuyashiki explained in his weak voice that was barely making vibrations as they left his mouth.

His head turned to me, although I was not sure if he could see me, "It was Seiji, who called the meeting today,"

Everyone turned their head towards me after that, expecting me to explain why I had called them here.

"Seiji, if you will...."Ubuyashiki nudged.

I stood up and walked towards the side where everyone could see me without craning their neck too much.

Then I started, "Thank you for coming together despite all your duties. I called you all here because I have information of utmost importance to discuss with you all,"

No one interjected so I continued.

"During my short travel which was granted to me by Lord Ubuyashiki, I've discovered many things. And I wanted to share these with you as I believe they could ensure everyone's safety. "

"Starting with...the information I had on every single Upper Moon, including all of their powers and weaknesses," I said and immediately, I saw the expression on their faces change.

Information about the Upper Moons was invaluable. After all, to know your enemy is the most important thing in war.

"Although I am infinitely curious about how you got information that we weren't able to get in centuries, I will trust you, Seiji," Ubuyashiki said and I nodded to show appreciation.

He was not asking me any questions on whether the information was really true or how I got it when he was probably trying to do this same thing for years. Instead, he was putting his trust in me. His logical mind gave me a rare pass.

He had faith in what was supposed to be the pillar of pillars.

I thought he would be harder to convince. I expected with all my heart for him to be more incredulous. It was why I didn't reveal what I knew back when we had the Hashira meeting after my fight with Doma. I needed to create an excuse as to how I got the information.

It was kind of flattering actually.

I continued, "Everyone already knows about Upper Moon 2 and Upper Moon 6, so I won't get into detail about them. I've slayed them as well so it's irrelevant,"

"So I'll start with Upper Moon 5," I said and took a pause.

I looked at each of them, one by one, studying the varying degrees of emotions shown on their faces. I made sure they were all paying attention to what I was about to say next. Even the hotheaded Sanemi was quiet as he looked at me with rapt attention.

"Gyokko," I said, "The Upper Moon 5 is a demon called Gyokko,"

"Out of all the demons you would have encountered, he probably has one of the most grotesque appearances. He has a torso without limbs and his body is covered in scales like a fish. He has multiple baby arms growing from his back and his body is like a statue that extends from a pot, like the djinn in myths. His face is even more disturbing with a single eye in the place where he should have a mouth and two mouths located in where he is supposed to have eyes. He is an abomination," I said, recalling what the demon looked like from the manga.

I went into details about their appearance because I wanted them to recognize him immediately if they ever saw him.

"His power includes teleportation using his pots and exceptional flesh manipulation. He also has an unknown amount of other abilities but they are all related to his pots. He can summon demonic fish, the tentacles of an octopus and can use water-based attacks. You should avoid getting hit by him at all costs as he has poison as well," I said.

I allowed silence to settle amongst us as they digested my words. Then i continued.

"Overall, he is as strong as any of you. Luckily, he is the weakest amongst the Upper Moon and two Hashiras should be enough to slay him safely,"

After I said that, I could almost see question marks forming above their heads. Everyone had their own sets of questions they wanted to ask.

They raised their hands.

"I will answer all your questions after I say everything so please wait," I said.

The answers to their question might be answered automatically as I discuss more about the Upper Moons. Therefore I should finish everything I had to say first before taking questions.

"The Upper Moon 4 is a demon called Hantengu," I said, "This one is a bit tricky and it should require multiple Hashiras to slay him without causality. Or, powerful demon slayers led by a Hashira,"

"Hantengu's blood demon art allows him to separate himself into seven demons, each representing one of the seven negative emotions he had as a human. So although he is one demon, fighting him will be like fighting against seven different demons, each having enough strength to rival a Lower Moon," I said.

"That's not all, each entity he splits into, they all have their own unique blood demon art," I finished.

"Man, that's some bullshit ability," Sanemi couldn't help but comment with a grumble. They were not completely new to demons making clones or splitting themselves but this one was different in the sense that every single one is like its own individual demon with its own blood demon art.

"Indeed," Ubuyashiki mused thoughtfully, "It's always harder to fight against these types of demons than demons that are just strong,"

"But here's the trick to defeating him. Hantengu has a main body that represents the emotion of fear. This body is an absolute coward and won't fight back. Instead, he would shrink himself to the size of a needle and hide away so that no one can kill him." I said.

"Kill the main body, the demon that represents fear and you kill the demon completely," I said.

"So it's not like Upper Moon 6 where you have to slice thier head off at the same time," Giyu asked.

I nodded, "Correct,"

But that was not enough. I wanted them to know every important information there is to know. So that they could have the best chance of survival and hence victory.

"Hantengu usually multiply when you chop off his head so beware of that. Then I'll explain the abilities of each of the representation clones," I said and paused to take a breath.

I started explaining the abilities of each clone one by one. It took quite a lot of time as they all had individual demon art that did not co-relate with each other. But I tired my best and I shared enough for them to be able to fight against the Upper Moon 4 with no surprises.

"So in summary, these are their abilities; Anger is lightning, Pleasure is wind, Sorrow can use spears, Joy can fly and has sound-based attacks, Hatred can manipulate wooden dragons and Resentment can increase his size," I said.

"Everyone got that?" I asked and they all nodded, but with varying degrees of sureness. The likes of Ubuyashiki and Tengen were certain but Sanemi and Gyomei were not too sure.

I smiled. I should give them a pamphlet where I note down the important details.

"Okay, with those out of the way, let's discuss the truly dangerous ones. I would like to remind you that the gap in strength between the 3rd and 4th Upper Moon is very big. The top 3 are in another realm of their own. They cannot be compared to the lower ranks," I said and took another pause to let my words sink in.

"If you encountered either one of the remaining two of the Top 3 Upper Moon, then please run for your own safety. Try to save others but forget the idea of slaying them," I said, "They all possessed power beyond even mine,"

I could see them gulp at my last words. I was in front of them, they could feel my strength and they had something to comapre the demons to. If the two demons were stronger than me, how absurdly strong were they?

In truth, I was already stronger than Akaza I was sure. But they haven't really seen my fight at my full power. So in their respective, what i said was true.

"Let's start with Upper Moon 3...." I said and took a deep breath before I even uttered the name.

I shot a glance at Rengoku.

"Akaza,"

..

..

..

[IMAGE]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------