The City Streets are on Fire

Nowhere at all, now way out

The group of three usually met up once every few months to discuss things going on with demons. Strangely, Kokushibo, upper rank one, was helping out with this. Maybe it was because Giyuu and him were friends but how did that even happen? A Hashira and a demon? This was more absurd than the situation with the Kamado siblings.

Most of the information that was relayed was just going in one ear and out the other for Sanemi. Same old crap about not really knowing when Kibutsuji's next attack was. He hadn't been very active which left room for suspicion but Sanemi just stopped giving a shit after the third or fourth time being told this.

However, Kokushibo brought up something new this time. Finally a change, something big just as Giyuu and Sanemi had been hoping for... or rather, dreading.

"Although not much has changed over the past four months, I have noticed that the human population in the lower two tiers has severely decreased," he paused to let this sink in, then he continued, "As for the demon population, it has been dropping less and less."

Giyuu glanced between Sanemi and Kokushibo, "Less? Even with our latest innovations?" he questioned.

"Your technological advancements are the problem." Kokushibo proceeded to hand the water pillar a piece of paper. Sanemi leaned over Giyuu's shoulder to catch a glimpse. It was a list and the writing was small. Sanemi's eyes were anything but good so he couldn't make out much.

Sanemi squinted harshly and cursed at Kokushibo's old fashioned way of doing things under his breath. Barely anybody writes on paper anymore. From what the wind hashira could see, there were multiple different numbers indicating a kill count between innocent people and demons.

"...But there were hundreds of precautions that went into these to prevent the slaughter of the city's population," Giyuu said while reading further through the list, "There's no possible way a few select units could have killed this many people."

Kokushibo simply shook his head and replied, "There is no denying that the Demon Slayer Corps' latest robotics have been tampered with. I have yet to figure out just who did it, but I have reason to believe that it was the doing of another within my ranks."

Sanemi grit his teeth as he grew more and more angry about the situation. Veins that weren't visible before started to pop up.

"So you're telling us that we've gotta track down and disable all those hacked units you listed on top of hunting demons? That and you don't even know who did it?"

Kokushibo said nothing about the last part, "Precisely. I predict that if they are not dealt with soon, in months time demons will get the upper hand and completely wipe out the corps. The rest of the city would follow suit."

The wind hashira felt particularly galled that the upper rank demon didn't answer his other question but he wasn't going to pick a fight with anybody just yet. Sanemi and Giyuu turned to look at one another, then Sanemi made a sarcastic comment.

"Kocho and Uzui will definitely get a kick out of this."

"Right..." Giyuu glanced back at the list, "How do you think the person who hacked the mechs got past all the precautions?" This question hung in the air for a while. It was clear no one had any ideas.

The mechs and other assorted robots in the corps were specifically designed to help reduce the level of casualties relating to the demon hunters. This way, the rookies could get a chance to work on their skills before going out on missions. After all, not everybody was trained by a retired hashira.

The fact that they were getting hacked meant there was some sort of loophole in the code. Two other hashira, the sound hashira and the insect hashira, had worked day in and day out to make sure there was no possible way to get past the walls put in place to prevent something like this from happening.