The conversation between Tanjiro and Sakonji Urokodaki lasted until dusk.
Then, from the next room, there ca the faint sound of movent.
Tanjiro turned sharply.
The next mont, the door slid open.
Nezuko stood there.
For an instant, Tanjiro simply stared, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Two full years.
After sleeping for two full years, his sister had finally awakened.
"Nezuko...!"
He rushed over as if his body had moved on its own, throwing his arms around her. Tears poured down his face at once, hot and unstoppable.
"This is great... this is really great... I'm so glad you're all right..."
Nezuko did not speak. She only wrapped her arms around him in return and held him there quietly, as though comforting him in her own silent way.
Watching the siblings reunite, even Sakonji Urokodaki could not help but feel relieved.
Inside the blade, however, Alex's attention had already shifted elsewhere.
He was considering which ability to unlock next.
After weighing the options for a long ti, he finally settled on one.
Feedback.
It was the most practical choice.
If he unlocked that ability, he could funnel power back into Tanjiro and help him grow stronger more quickly. And the stronger Tanjiro beca, the more efficiently he could kill demons.
Which ant more Emotion Points.
A perfect cycle.
Alex nodded to himself in satisfaction.
"Tanjiro," he thought, "you'd better not let down."
...
Another fifteen days passed in the blink of an eye.
During that ti, under Sakonji Urokodaki's guidance, Tanjiro hunted down several more man eating demons and witnessed Asuramaru's power again and again.
Any demon cut by the blade found its regeneration crippled. Wounds refused to close. Blood kept pouring out, weakening them faster and faster.
And the blade itself was absurdly sharp.
Against a demon's neck, it slid through with barely any resistance at all, as smoothly as a kitchen knife through tofu.
No matter how one looked at it, this sword was the natural enemy of demons.
Because of that, Sakonji placed even greater hopes on Tanjiro than before.
...
At the sa ti, another visitor was making his way down the forest path.
He wore a yellow kimono patterned with sunbursts, carried a long rectangular box wrapped in canvas across his back, and had a straw hat with little wind chis hanging from the brim. A hideous mask covered his face.
Before long, he happened upon Tanjiro.
But before Tanjiro could say anything, the man had already marched straight up to him and declared in a booming voice, "I am Haganezuka! I have forged Kamado Tanjiro's sword and brought it here myself!"
Tanjiro blinked, then bowed slightly.
"I'm Tanjiro. Please, co in—"
Haganezuka ignored him completely.
He pulled the package from his back, undid the wrappings, and began talking to himself as if delivering a grand lecture.
"This is a Nichirin Blade, forged by my own hands. The raw materials used in a Nichirin Blade are—"
Tanjiro had no choice but to stand there and listen as the man rambled on and on. Only after a long while did Haganezuka finally step inside the house.
By then, Sakonji Urokodaki had already been waiting for so ti.
The three of them sat together.
Haganezuka placed the sword in front of Tanjiro and continued in the sa forceful tone, "Nichirin Blades are also known as color-changing swords. Their color changes according to their owner. For a child of the sun like you, it may turn a brilliant red. Go on. Draw it. Let see."
Tanjiro obeyed imdiately and drew the blade.
The steel flashed.
Then, before their eyes, the blade began to darken.
Its color deepened, and deepened again, until it beca jet black.
"Black?!" Haganezuka's entire body trembled.
Tanjiro, seeing his reaction, hurriedly asked, "What is it? Is that a bad sign?"
Fortunately, Sakonji answered from the side.
"No. It's simply rare. A pitch-black blade is seldom seen."
But Haganezuka clearly did not share his calm.
His shoulders shook with outrage.
"I thought I was going to see a vivid red blade!" he shouted. "How infuriating!"
Before Tanjiro could react, Haganezuka lunged forward and tackled him to the floor, pinning him down face-up like a madman. In the struggle, his gaze fell on the sword at Tanjiro's waist.
Asuramaru.
The next instant, he snatched it.
He released Tanjiro, then staggered to the side and drew the blade with trembling hands, examining it with almost obsessive intensity.
At the very first glance, the eyes behind his mask seed to ignite.
His breathing grew rougher and rougher.
"This... this sword... this edge... this flawless curve, these green patterns, this hilt..." His voice shook. "And this material... what in the world is this made of...?"
His hands began caressing the blade with horrifying tenderness.
"It's the most perfect work I have ever seen...!"
Inside the sword, Alex was instantly appalled.
Can you get your hands off ? I'm not into this!
Unfortunately, it was not the right ti to reveal himself again, so he could only send a ssage to Tanjiro instead.
"Tanjiro! Don't just sit there like an idiot. Get back!"
"Eh? O-Okay!"
Tanjiro snapped out of it, quickly sheathed his newly received Nichirin Blade, and stepped forward.
"Please return that sword to ," he said.
Haganezuka did not even look at him.
His entire soul seed to have been sucked into the blade in his hands, as if he were staring at so peerless beauty that had descended from heaven.
Tanjiro had no choice but to reach forward and try to take it back.
And right then—
A Kasugai Crow flew in through the open doorway.
It folded its wings and landed neatly inside the house, then opened its beak and spoke in a hoarse, almost human voice.
"Kamado Tanjiro! I bring orders!"
Tanjiro stared at it in surprise.
Even now, a talking crow was still sothing he had not quite gotten used to.
The Kasugai Crow continued.
"Proceed to the town northwest of here. Young girls have been disappearing there. Find the demon hidden within the town and slay it!"
The crow paused for emphasis.
"Take note. This will be your first battle as a Demon Slayer."
Tanjiro's expression imdiately turned serious.
"My first battle..."
Then he turned again and reached for Asuramaru—
Only for Haganezuka to stubbornly refuse to let go.
The two of them ended up tugging the sword back and forth like children fighting over a toy.
Inside the sword, Alex was already considering whether erging in person to beat Haganezuka with his own creation would count as poetic justice.
Sakonji Urokodaki watched from the side in silence, saying nothing.
Ti passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, dawn arrived.
Tanjiro changed into the Demon Slayer Corps uniform. Over it, he wore his familiar green and black checkered haori. One sword now hung at each side of his waist.
At so point, the scar on his forehead had subtly changed shape, though no one around him seed to notice.
Alex noticed.
He stared at it for a mont, uncertain whether what he was seeing counted as the mark beginning to show.
Before Tanjiro departed, Sakonji gave him a few final instructions. Then he brought out a wooden box prepared for Nezuko.
Once everything was ready, Nezuko shrank her body and climbed inside.
Tanjiro lifted the box onto his back.
Seeing that, Alex could not help making a dry comnt in his own head.
Well done. Tanjiro has officially unlocked the title: Little-Sister Carrier.
Still, the joke only lasted a mont before his mood brightened again.
After all, they were about to go kill demons.
Then another thought surfaced.
If he rembered the original plot correctly, then before long, they would run into Muzan Kibutsuji himself.
And when that happened...
Alex's imagination imdiately took a darkly delighted turn.
He could possess Tanjiro for a mont and repeat Yoriichi's words right to Muzan's face.
Just imagining Muzan's expression was already entertaining.
As for whether Muzan would retaliate personally?
Alex did not believe it for a second.
That man was the purest breed of coward. Even if he acted, he would only send underlings to test the waters first.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing his face when that happens..."
A malicious chuckle escaped him before he caught himself.
Then he paused.
"...Have I beco more twisted because I turned into Asuramaru?"
He fell silent for a mont.
"I used to be such a good and upright young man."
...
Outside, Tanjiro carried the wooden box on his back and walked down Mount Sagiri beneath Sakonji Urokodaki's watchful gaze.
He followed the road northwest.
Step by step, he left the mountain behind and began his journey as a true Demon Slayer.
By noon, he reached the town ntioned in the crow's orders.
Crossing the wooden bridge at its entrance, he looked up and saw a bustling settlent spread out before him. People moved through the streets in an endless stream. Shops were open. Voices drifted through the air. Everything seed lively and ordinary.
Tanjiro slowed slightly and looked around.
"The town to the northwest... this should be the place, right?"
Still not entirely certain, he stepped forward and walked into town.
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