The morning sunlight pierced through the thin mist, spilling across the massive torii gate at the foot of Fujikasane Mountain.
As the Final Selection was officially declared over, the twenty-two surviving swordsmen each received a Kasugai Crow for communication and Tamahagane for forging their Nichirin blades, preparing to set off on their journey home.
"Um... Mr. Rin!"
Tanjiro Kamado, carrying a heavy wooden box on his back, suddenly stepped forward behind Rin, who was preparing to leave, and bowed deeply.
His forehead was almost touching his knees, and his voice was filled with undisguised gratitude and awe.
"Thank you very much!"
Tanjiro was an honest person, and his sense of smell far surpassed that of ordinary people.
When he entered the rocky forest deep within Fujikasane Mountain, he had not only smelled the unfathomable, abyss-like aura surrounding Rin but also the terrifying resentment left behind by the giant demon that had been reduced to ashes by lightning.
Even the lingering scent alone made Tanjiro feel suffocated.
He could not even imagine what kind of tragic, one-sided slaughter would have occurred if Rin had not killed that enormous creature with countless arms, which had lived for who knew how many years, before these newcomers who had not even fully mastered Total Concentration Breathing encountered it.
His master, Sakonji Urokodaki, had told him that extremely dangerous demons lurked within the mountain.
Tanjiro was certain that the gigantic mutated demon slain by Rin had been the most terrifying existence on this mountain.
"If you hadn't cleared out that monster and most of the demons in the mountain beforehand... I'm afraid more than half of us would not have made it out alive. I, Tanjiro Kamado, will never forget this kindness!"
Hearing Tanjiro's words, Genya Shinazugawa, who was standing nearby with his mohawk, let out a cold snort.
Although he did not say anything, the look in his eyes as he watched Rin no longer carried the arrogance from seven days earlier. It had been replaced entirely by deep apprehension.
He never wanted to experience that terrifying illusion from the previous night again, the one that had nearly shattered his soul.
As for Zenitsu Agatsuma, if Tanjiro had not firmly grabbed the back of his collar, he would probably have already rushed forward to hug Rin's leg, crying and begging to become his subordinate.
"No need to thank me. I only kill demons to... cough, pass the time."
Rin turned and looked at this stubborn future Hashira.
"If you really want to thank me, then remember to leave the kills to me if you encounter high-level targets like the Twelve Kizuki in the future."
Leaving behind a remark that left everyone bewildered, Rin did not stay any longer.
Chakra instantly gathered at the soles of his feet and exploded outward.
Bang!
With a dull sonic boom, the ground beneath Rin's feet cracked inch by inch.
His body shot into the air, leaving behind a black afterimage. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the endless sea of trees.
"So fast! I can't even see the afterimage! What kind of Breathing Style is this?" Tanjiro's eyes widened in shock as he gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Standing at the back of the group, Kanao Tsuyuri silently watched the direction in which Rin had disappeared. In those purple eyes that were usually as still as a quiet well, an unfamiliar light flickered for the first time.
She tightened her grip on the piece of Tamahagane in her hand, the symbol of passing the trial, and turned to walk in another direction.
...
Meanwhile, at the Ubuyashiki Estate, the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps hundreds of kilometers away from Fujikasane Mountain.
Within the quiet courtyard, the atmosphere was so tense that one could hear a pin drop.
The current head of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, sat in the main seat of the washitsu.
On his face, which was covered with purple curse-like Demon Slayer Marks, a rare expression of extreme astonishment mixed with joy appeared.
On the tatami in front of him, two Hashira wearing haori were half-kneeling.
Insect Hashira Shinobu Kocho.
Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka.
In the center of the washitsu, two Kasugai Crows that had just flown back from Fujikasane Mountain with all their strength flapped their wings while reporting the "bizarre" results of the trial in sharp, cracking voices.
"Caw! Wiped out! Wiped out! The demons of Fujikasane Mountain were wiped out by a single person!"
"Twenty-two survivors! Unprecedented! Caw!"
"A monster! A monster named Rin! Using fire! Using lightning! That giant mutated demon with dozens of arms that lived for more than forty years was torn into dust by him with lightning from his bare hands! Gone! Caw caw!"
Hearing the chaotic report from the Kasugai Crows, even Giyu Tomioka, who was usually expressionless and indifferent to everything, suddenly had his deep blue eyes contract.
"Dozens of arms... a mutated demon that lived for more than forty years?" Giyu Tomioka murmured to himself.
During that cruel selection years ago, he had been attacked by a demon at the very beginning and had fallen unconscious from severe injuries.
By the time he woke up, the selection had already ended. But.. his senior Sabito, whose talent far surpassed his own and who had shone like the sun, had remained in that mountain forever.
He had never seen Sabito's killer with his own eyes, nor did he know about the specific grudge between that demon and the trainer Sakonji Urokodaki.
He only knew that the one who should have survived was Sabito, and that he himself was not worthy of becoming the Water Hashira.
This heavy guilt had weighed on him for seven long years.
Ubuyashiki Kagaya's already blind eyes curved slightly. Although he could not see, his mind was exceptionally clear and his memory astonishingly sharp.
"Dozens of arms, over forty years..." Kagaya coughed twice, his gentle voice carrying a trace of emotion. "Giyu, do you still remember Lord Urokodaki's reports from many years ago? During the Edo period, he personally captured a Morph Demon alive and imprisoned it on Fujikasane Mountain. Calculating the time, more than forty years have passed."
"To have avoided the wisteria poison for all these years and grown into such a massive, twisted form by devouring countless swordsmen... if I am not mistaken, the thirteen children Lord Urokodaki sent to participate in the selection over the years who never returned, including Sabito and Makomo, all perished at the hands of this monster."
Boom!
Ubuyashiki Kagaya's gentle words struck Giyu Tomioka like a thunderclap.
All this time, he had believed that Sabito died from exhaustion after continuously fighting various demons while protecting weaker companions like them.
Only today, through their master's deduction, did he learn that the one who killed Sabito had actually been that terrifying Morph Demon that had lived for more than forty years and specifically hunted Urokodaki's disciples.
And now, that giant nightmare lurking within Fujikasane Mountain, the one he had never even been able to avenge personally, had been reduced to ashes by a newcomer named Rin.
Giyu Tomioka abruptly lowered his head and clenched his teeth. Although he tried to suppress his expression, his slightly trembling shoulders and fists, clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, betrayed the turbulent emotions within him.
"Sabito... Makomo.."