The so-called "experiment" was mainly to test the regenerative abilities of an Edo Tensei body.
Hikari Uchiha gathered chakra into her right hand, shaping it like a blade, and swiftly severed Aoi Kamado's wrist, shoulder, and neck in succession.
The scene caught everyone off guard.
Tanjiro and Nezuko's jaws dropped, their faces frozen in disbelief.
Takeo and the other kids, freshly "revived" and eager to protect their mother, started crying and shouting, trying to rush over to help. But Hikari's Kage Bunshin clones intercepted them, one clone per kid, holding them aloft as they flailed helplessly.
Rengoku Kyojuro, standing nearby, ventured cautiously, "Miss Hikari, what are you…?"
"Shh—"
"Watch closely."
Hikari raised her index finger, signaling for silence.
In just a few minutes, Aoi Kamado's severed hand, arm, and head dissolved into a cloud of dust before reforming at their respective places on her body. The sight was even more shocking than her earlier "resurrection," leaving Bulma and Rengoku feeling like their worldview had been forcibly shattered—again.
But soon enough.
Rengoku Kyojuro and Uzui Tengen seemed to pick up on something, instinctively growing wary.
"Miss Hikari, could it be that Tanjiro's mother and the others… were turned into demons by you?" Rengoku asked.
"No, it's different from demons."
Hikari shook her head slightly. "Think of the bodies created by Edo Tensei as puppets molded from earth, temporarily housing a soul. In this state, they don't need to eat or sleep, they don't age or die, and any damage they take heals after a short time… Oh, and they're not afraid of sunlight either."
"But this ninjutsu isn't flawless. If you look closely, you'll notice fine cracks all over their skin, and their physical strength is probably weaker than when they were alive."
—Her judgment came from noticing that Aoi Kamado's wounds healed much slower than she'd expected.
As for their combat ability…
Aoi Kamado was just an ordinary person in life, not a fighter, so testing that wasn't straightforward.
But it wasn't hard to guess—
In the original *Naruto* storyline, even during the Fourth Great Ninja War, the four Hokage summoned by Orochimaru's Edo Tensei were far weaker than they'd been in life. And this version, developed by Tobirama Senju in Konoha's early days, was likely even less effective.
Knowing that white-haired Hokage's style, he probably designed this technique to be paired with Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags. If it was just meant for self-destructing bombs, then how much strength the Edo Tensei body retained didn't really matter.
(*Guess I'll need to make a trip to Otogakure sometime and snag Orochimaru's improved version of Edo Tensei…*)
Having confirmed the intel she wanted, Hikari waved a hand, signaling Aoi Kamado to step back.
Then she turned to Rengoku Kyojuro and Uzui Tengen.
"Honestly, this was my first time using this ninjutsu, so I'm not entirely sure how it works in this world—what effects it'll have, whether it'll hold up after Bulma and I leave, or if using demons as sacrifices might cause side effects… For now, this was just a test run."
"Kyojuro, Tengen, this is also why I asked you two to come along."
"Tanjiro and Nezuko might not be equipped to handle any issues or complications that crop up later, so I'm counting on you guys to take responsibility. Whether you tell the other Hashira or Mr. Ubuyashiki about what happened tonight is up to you."
"…"
The two Hashira exchanged glances, a bit stunned, but nodded. "Thank you for trusting us, Miss Hikari. We'll figure out how to handle it properly…"
After a few final instructions, Hikari let out a breath and looked up at the night sky.
"Well then…"
"Time for Bulma and me to head back."
Her trip to the *Demon Slayer* world had pretty much accomplished all her goals—
She'd gotten the hang of "Breathing Techniques," copied some of the "Hinokami Kagura" from Tanjiro, collected a bunch of live demons and blood samples, and snagged a pile of mystical items, useful or not.
A full haul, no question.
Sure, she was curious about Kibutsuji Muzan and those Upper Ranks—catching them for experimental material sounded tempting—but after staying this long without a lead on their whereabouts, sticking around felt pointless. For now, she'd let it go.
Besides, with Tanjiro around, if Muzan ever showed his face, she could always pop back.
So…
"See you later. Please pass our goodbyes to the others."
"Bye-bye, everyone~"
Hikari and Bulma waved, their bodies flashing into beams of white light before vanishing on the spot.
"???"
Rengoku Kyojuro's owl-like eyes widened even further. He stood there, dazed, before whipping around to Tanjiro. "Tanjiro, what was that… with Miss Hikari and the others?!"
Tanjiro, busy following Hikari's earlier instructions and nervously checking on Aoi Kamado and the others, mumbled a vague reply. "Uh… I don't know the details exactly, but Miss Hikari and the others… they don't seem to be from this world."
"Not from this world? What's that supposed to mean?" Uzui Tengen's face was a giant question mark.
As Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, they'd seen their fair share of wild things.
Up until now, Hikari's abilities, while mind-boggling, hadn't completely upended their understanding of the world.
But tonight…
From "resurrecting the dead" to regenerating severed limbs to vanishing in a flash of white light… every bit of it was rewriting their reality. Even as Hashira, they didn't know what to make of it.
Suddenly, Rengoku Kyojuro looked up at the bright moon, as if struck by a revelation. "I get it now… No wonder Miss Hikari was staring at the night sky like that. She and Miss Bulma must be kami from the heavens! They've gone back to their homeland!"
"?"
Uzui Tengen blinked, then slowly caught on. "Yeah… being able to bring back the dead—that's gotta be the power of Izanami-no-Mikoto, who rules over Yomi's slopes, right?"
"No, Miss Hikari kept glancing at the moon before she left. I bet she's the pure and flawless Kaguya-hime, living on the moon!" Rengoku declared with conviction.
"Then what about Miss Bulma? Is she Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, living on the moon with her?"
"…Collecting sunlight to make weapons? That's something only Amaterasu-Omikami could pull off!"
At that, the two Hashira locked eyes, feeling like they'd stumbled onto some earth-shattering truth.
Tanjiro: "?"