"Blood Demon Art: Crystalline Tree of Avici!"
Upper Rank Four, Hantengu, split into four separate entities before instantly merging into one. The cowering, elderly demon transformed into a handsome young man in golden armor—Zohakuten. He struck the "Hatred" drums on his back with thunderous force, summoning over a dozen massive wood dragons that roared as they lunged toward Goku.
"Blood Demon Art: Killer Fish Scales!"
Upper Rank Five, Gyokko, shed his skin and emerged from his porcelain pot in his "True Form." He moved with erratic, high-speed leaps, reaching out with his "God Hands"—a single touch of which would transmute Goku's flesh into a heap of mindless seafood.
"Blood Demon Art: Flying Blood Sickles!"
"Blood Demon Art: Eight-Layered Sash Slash!"
From the back of Upper Rank Six, Daki, the true powerhouse emerged: her brother, Gyutaro. He unleashed a swarm of poison-laced blood sickles while Daki extended eight razor-sharp sashes to weave a web of death.
All six Upper Moons coordinated their counterattack from every possible angle. They realized that even if Goku could fire another blast of that terrifying energy, he could only target one direction at a time. The remaining five would tear him apart.
"You guys are a lot stronger than I thought! I'll fight you first, then go find Muzan!"
Goku didn't flinch; instead, a wild, predatory grin spread across his face. This level of intensity was exactly what his Saiyan blood craved. But just as he was about to power up and dive into the fray, nine streaks of light leaped past him, intercepting the demons.
"Stone Breathing, Fifth Form: Arches of Justice!"
"Sound Breathing, Fifth Form: String Performance!"
"Flame Breathing, Esoteric Art, Ninth Form: Rengoku!"
"Insect Breathing, Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag!"
"Love Breathing, Fifth Form: Swaying Love, Wildclaw!"
"Mist Breathing, Seventh Form: Obscure!"
"Wind Breathing, Ninth Form: Idaten Typhoon!"
"Serpent Breathing, Fifth Form: Slithering Serpent!"
"Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm!"
The Hashira had made their move. Gyomei and Muichiro teamed up against Upper Rank One, Kokushibo. Shinobu and Giyu engaged Upper Rank Two, Doma. Kyojuro took on Upper Rank Three, Akaza. Sanemi charged Upper Rank Four, Hantengu. Obanai confronted Upper Rank Five, Gyokko, while Uzui and Mitsuri handled the siblings of Upper Rank Six.
As they clashed, the Hashira shouted back to Goku in unison: "We'll hold them off! Go kill Muzan Kibutsuji!"
They knew Muzan was a coward. Seeing an attack capable of vaporizing him would send him into a panicked retreat. If he escaped today, the victory over the Kizuki would be hollow—he would simply hide for another century and rebuild his army.
They couldn't let Goku get bogged down here. Only Goku had the sensory range to track the King and the spatial ability to bypass the castle's defenses.
"Okay! Be careful, everyone!"
Goku's battle instincts were sharp; he grasped the strategy instantly. He closed his eyes, ignoring the chaos of the battle, and expanded his perception. He quickly located two signatures that didn't belong to the Kizuki. One was in the very center of the castle, but the other was buried in the deepest, most secluded sanctum.
His gut told him the deepest one was the prize. It was thick with a concentrated, oily evil that surpassed everything else in the fortress.
"Apparate!"
With a sharp crack, Goku vanished. He reappeared instantly in the heart of the sanctum, standing directly in front of a man with black hair, plum-red eyes, and skin as pale as paper.
Muzan's pupils constricted to pinpricks. The boy had found him.
Bi-ing!
The sound of the biwa rang out, and Muzan vanished just as Goku's fist began to move.
"Damn it! How can such a terrifying human exist?!"
Muzan reappeared in a private room of a brothel in the Yoshiwara Entertainment District. His chest was heaving with a fear he hadn't felt since the Sengoku era. This was worse than Yoriichi.
Yoriichi had been a master of the sword; this boy was a master of erasure. If that beam had hit him, Muzan knew he wouldn't have been able to split his body into 1,800 pieces to escape. He would have simply ceased to exist.
He immediately commanded Nakime through their mental link. He shifted his shape, disguising himself as a common oiran, and began calmly applying makeup to his face while his mind screamed with orders. He wasn't ready to hide for centuries yet. He wanted to kill that boy first.
...
"He got away?"
Goku stood in the empty sanctum, closing his eyes to sense for Muzan again, but the trail had gone cold. Muzan was now outside his immediate sensory range.
Suddenly, the sound of the biwa echoed through the halls again. Goku felt the space around him warp and fold. In the blink of an eye, the wooden corridors of the Infinity Castle were gone, replaced by the damp, jagged walls of a massive underground cavern.
Then, seven figures materialized around him.
The six Upper Moons (including both Gyutaro and Daki) had been forcefully pulled from their battles with the Hashira and dropped into this cavern alongside Goku.
Muzan's strategy was simple: isolate the "monster" and swarm him. By moving the fight to a neutral underground cave, he had stripped Goku of his allies and forced a 7-on-1 deathmatch.
In Muzan's mind, if seven Upper Moons couldn't kill one human boy, then nothing could.