Inside Hantengu's rat-sized body, the damage was truly catastrophic—it was practically riddled with holes. It was so bad that even Horitake felt a hesitation to lay a hand on him.
Seeing Horitake pause for a moment, Jigoro asked in confusion:
"What is it?"
Horitake shook his head.
"Nothing."
Putting aside that sliver of reluctance in his heart, Horitake prepared to operate on Hantengu. He activated his Spirit Vision, scanning the interior of the demon's body for the curse binding.
Whoa. As expected of Upper Moon Four, the curse belonging to Muzan inside Hantengu was substantial. A thick, heavy mass of black mist was coiling within him—that was the curse binding.
Truth be told, Hantengu was already injured to such an extent that removing such a heavy curse without causing further major damage to his body—lest he actually kick the bucket—would require extreme precision.
A violet arc of electricity lit up at the tip of Horitake's finger. He then pressed this arc against Hantengu's forehead.
Horitake was already an old hand at removing curses; the specific details of the operation need not be elaborated upon.
In short, with a bit of effort, he used the heavenly thunder to grind away and obliterate that thick black mist of a curse inside Hantengu in one go!
However, because Horitake's control wasn't perfectly delicate, the lightning inevitably agitated Hantengu's body, aggravating his injuries slightly more.
Having cleared the curse, Horitake retracted the purple lightning. Just as he was about to deactivate Spirit Vision, something else within Hantengu's body suddenly caught his eye.
Hmm? There is a translucent mark on Hantengu. What is this?
Horitake couldn't help but widen his eyes, straining his Spirit Vision to observe this translucent mark.
This mark didn't look like a curse, yet it undeniably possessed the aura of a demon. It looked like some sort of insignia and seemed to harbor a peculiar ability. It was baffling.
What on earth is this?
Horitake examined it closely again and reached a plausible conclusion:
The translucent mark on Hantengu was undoubtedly a demon technique, but it likely wasn't Hantengu's own. It seemed to be the work of another demon.
This was very strange.
It wasn't Muzan's curse, yet it was another demon's technique. Hantengu was Upper Moon Four; aside from Muzan, who else could leave a special mark or technique on his body?
Wait!
There was indeed one such demon. Not Muzan, nor an Upper Moon in the traditional combat sense, yet one who could leave a technique on the bodies of the Upper Moons.
That demon was... Nakime!
One must not forget Nakime's special Blood Demon Art, which could summon any member of the Twelve Kizuki—or even all of them—from anywhere in the country into the Infinity Castle in an instant!
What did this imply?
It implied that the Twelve Kizuki must have a medium left by Nakime on their bodies. Otherwise, Nakime wouldn't be able to locate them instantly, let alone summon them directly into the Infinity Castle!
In other words, this translucent mark on Hantengu was likely Nakime's doing!
Which meant that as long as this mark existed, Nakime could summon Hantengu back to the Infinity Castle at any time!
Thinking of this, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Horitake's forehead!
Not good! Danger! I must act immediately!
Horitake swiftly mobilized his lightning. Purple electric arcs flashed at his fingertips once more, and he pressed his finger directly onto the translucent mark!
He hoped his heavenly thunder could eliminate this mark just as it had the curse.
Perhaps because the mark was a product of a demon's technique, the lightning—functioning as a natural counter to demons—was equally effective in wearing it down.
Under the stimulation of the lightning, the translucent mark began to fade and disintegrate.
There's hope! Just a little more!
Horitake increased the output of the lightning, grinding away the mark with greater speed.
With a sizzling sound and a wisp of green smoke, the translucent mark was soon completely obliterated by Horitake.
Once done, Horitake withdrew his lightning, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and let out a deep sigh of relief.
That was too close!
Because of that tiny oversight, today could have resulted in disastrous consequences. If he hadn't noticed the translucent mark, if he had ignored Nakime's means, they would be in serious trouble!
Horitake couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. He recalled the words he had spoken at the Hashira Meeting:
If Nakime does not die, the Upper Moons are hard to kill; if Nakime does not die, Muzan runs rampant.
It was truly the case. Nakime's Blood Demon Art, a spatial ability she could use at will, was simply too difficult to deal with—practically impossible to defend against.
Seeing Horitake looking fearful and wiping away sweat, Jigoro and Zenitsu grew nervous.
Zenitsu asked timidly:
"Big Brother, what happened? You didn't fail, did you?"
Shaking his head, Horitake felt a wave of relief.
"No failure. It was a success. I smoothly removed the curse binding from Hantengu's body.
"However, I discovered a different unexpected issue inside him afterward. Fortunately, I resolved that surprise in time, or we could have been in big trouble."
This made Jigoro nervous as well.
"What kind of surprise could make you feel we were in big trouble?"
Horitake let out a breath and explained everything he had just discovered inside Hantengu to Jigoro and Zenitsu—the mark, Nakime, the summoning capability.
Jigoro nodded as he listened, and by the end, he too broke out in a cold sweat.
"It is fortunate you took that extra look and found the translucent mark. And fortunate that you reacted quickly. Otherwise, we really would have faced a catastrophe—the three of us might have lost our lives!"
Although Zenitsu didn't fully understand the technicalities, hearing Jigoro say they might have lost their lives filled him with terror. He suddenly felt that even Mount Momoyama wasn't very safe.
So, what exactly was the "big trouble" Horitake mentioned?
What could be more troublesome than Muzan personally showing up at their door?
Less than a minute ago.
Just as Horitake ground away the curse binding within Hantengu, Kibutsuji Muzan, far away in the Infinity Castle, sensed it.
Muzan, who was flipping through books conducting research, suddenly felt Hantengu's curse vanish.
He was momentarily surprised, but mostly confused.
Logically speaking, the disappearance of a curse could only prove one result: the demon was dead! Once a demon died, the curse within them, like duckweed without roots, would naturally dissipate.
But right now, Muzan only felt the curse vanish; he did not sense Hantengu's death!
Hantengu was definitely not dead. Muzan was certain of this because, as Upper Moon Four, Hantengu possessed a significant amount of Muzan's cells. Muzan could easily determine if he was alive or dead.
But if Hantengu clearly wasn't dead, how could the curse inside him disappear?!
This was truly bizarre.
In all his thousand years of life, Muzan had never encountered such a thing!
Strange things happen every year, but this year seemed to have an abundance of them!
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