CHAPTER 65: CHAPTER 65: DISASSEMBLY

Staring at the Automaton Yoriichi Zero before him, Tetsu no Sosuke fell into deep thought.

The easiest way to understand the overall structure of something was undoubtedly... to disassemble it!

Many inventors actually begin by taking things apart.

Sosuke wholeheartedly agreed with this principle. As a child, he had dreamed of becoming an inventor, and he had dismantled countless old devices around the house—radios, tape recorders, and more.

While he could reassemble most of them, some remained stubbornly unfixable.

For instance, when he was young, his father had somehow acquired an electric meter. Driven by curiosity, Sosuke had taken it apart, confident he could put it back together.

The result... the beating he received remains vividly etched in his memory to this day.

Shaking his head, Sosuke glanced at the Automaton before him, and a faint ache stirred in his rear.

"I shouldn’t disassemble it too thoroughly. Hmm, to ensure no details are missed, I’ll start by drawing diagrams first."

Tetsu no Sosuke removed the Automaton Yoriichi Zero’s clothing, revealing the intricate joints and mechanisms of its body.

He took out paper and pen, first sketching the entire front structure, then circling around to the back.

After meticulously documenting the Automaton’s complete 360-degree form and every detail, Sosuke decided to begin his research by disassembling the arms.

As he sketched, another thought crossed his mind.

Inside the Automaton Yoriichi Zero was a sword.

In the original story, that sword eventually fell into the hands of Tanjiro and, after being polished and repaired by Haganezuka Hotaru, regained its original splendor.

But now... the sword was still hidden within the Automaton.

"If I can truly understand its mechanisms, I might be able to retrieve that sword as well," Sosuke mused.

With this thought in mind, he carefully recorded the complete structure of one arm as a reference for reassembly, then began the disassembly process.

By the time Kotetsu came to find Sosuke again, he had mostly digested the pep talk he’d received earlier.

He had stormed off in a daze, running in circles as he pondered Sosuke’s words. Eventually, he realized they made perfect sense.

Why should he accept his fate based on his innate talent?

Once he resigned himself to fate, there would be no chance for change!

So, he decided to follow Sosuke’s advice. He trained relentlessly at home until he was nearly exhausted. Only then did he remember that Sosuke had carried away Yoriichi Type Zero, and he had no idea what condition it was in now.

He immediately rushed over, and what he saw nearly sent him into a rage!

Sosuke was holding one of Yoriichi Type Zero’s arms, examining it intently. His serious expression made him look like a demon holding a human limb, contemplating which part would taste best.

"... Sosuke! What have you done?!"

The small, wiry boy charged forward, ready to fight Sosuke to the death.

Just as Kotetsu reached him, Sosuke pressed a hand firmly on his head. Kotetsu’s limbs flailed wildly, but he couldn’t even touch Sosuke’s clothes.

"Stop struggling for now."

Sosuke casually pinned Kotetsu to the ground, forcing him to sit. Then he picked up a pen and paper and began jotting down notes.

Kotetsu tried to stand and fight again, but Sosuke’s hand moved swiftly. With a snap, a finger was detached, revealing the metal mechanisms inside.

"You—!"

Kotetsu decided fighting might be the better option after all.

Sosuke glared at him. "I’ll put it back on in a minute."

He examined the detached finger, measured its dimensions, and recorded all the data on the paper.

After that, he seemed to find a knack for it, effortlessly disassembling several more fingers from the arm.

After recording each part, he reassembled them and reattached the entire arm.

Kotetsu watched in a daze. Suddenly, he pulled a key from his chest and activated the Automaton.

The Automaton twitched twice, then suddenly all six arms began moving in unison. However, lacking any weapons, they simply swung wildly through the air...

"It’s fine..."

Kotetsu finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Brother Sosuke, what are you doing?"

Sosuke glared at him. "Enough chatter. Close it."

"Oh," Kotetsu replied immediately. If the Automaton was functioning properly, there was no need to risk his life.

He shamelessly sidled up to Sosuke, eager to learn more. Before he could even speak, he noticed a massive pile of blueprints spread across the table.

They all depicted exploded views of the Automaton’s components.

Kotetsu studied them intently for a long time, eventually realizing they all detailed the same arm.

"Did you record all this?" he asked.

"If not me, who else?" Sosuke retorted, gesturing toward the Automaton. "It?"

Kotetsu pondered this. If the Automaton had done it, that would be a completely different story.

Sosuke glanced at the blueprints in his hand, then walked over and effortlessly disassembled the arm. This time, he completely stripped it down to its bare components.

Kotetsu watched with a pang of sympathy, his heart aching as he observed. It wasn’t until Sosuke held up the core metal components that he finally asked, "What’s this?"

"Hmm... it’s like the robot’s skeleton," Sosuke replied.

Sosuke measured the data, then pointed to a specific spot. "Look here."

Kotetsu leaned closer and noticed a small steel ball at what would roughly correspond to the wrist joint of a human hand.

"This allows it to move as flexibly as a human hand, but the mechanism is incredibly complex. It’s not as simple as putting a steel ball between two iron bars."

Sosuke continued, "Gripping the sword, swinging it, and varying the blade’s trajectory—that’s the first level of difficulty. The second level is figuring out how to transmit precise commands through the central pivot to execute sword techniques..."

Kotetsu nodded, but then realized Sosuke wasn’t talking to him at all.

Holding the metallic skeleton, Sosuke disassembled it a second time, taking apart every component, recording each piece, and then reassembling it.

He examined everything meticulously, never hastily disassembling parts he wasn’t certain he could reassemble. Only after confirming his ability to reassemble a section would he attempt to disassemble it, using the process to verify his understanding.

Lost in a state of complete absorption, Sosuke forgot all about Kotetsu.

Kotetsu felt like a ghost, watching Sosuke sketch diagrams and ponder. As dusk deepened, the man seemed oblivious to the passage of time.

He quietly turned on the lamp for him.

As night deepened, Kotetsu grew tired. After several attempts to stay awake, he finally drifted off to sleep.

It wasn’t until midnight that Sosuke finally grasped the overall structure of the arm and emerged from his trance-like state.

He shook his head, then glanced up and saw Kotetsu. "When did you get here?"

He had completely forgotten about his lengthy conversation with the boy. Shaking his head, he dismissed it and refocused on the blueprints in his hands. "Tomorrow, I’ll try making one arm first. If it succeeds, I’ll continue. If it fails, I’ll analyze the mistakes and start again."