DS Chapter 67 – Ren: Sanemi, Who Taught You to Train Like This?
Even Inosuke, who had been lying in the corner minding his own business, quietly tidied up his pigsty before moving another two meters away.
Sanemi coughed awkwardly.
He indicated that what had just happened was an accident.
When he was little, he had been very good at pulling radishes, so he had simply demonstrated his skills on the spot.
After all, he thought giving a massage was just pulling on someone's shoulders. How hard could it be?
But who would have thought...
He had messed up big time!
Sanemi nervously looked at the three Tomioka brothers.
"You all saw that was an accident, right? Who's next?"
No one spoke.
The air fell into an awkward silence.
Looking a little embarrassed, Sanemi said,
"It's fine. I've already figured out how to do massages. I'll make it up to you this time. Are you sure none of you want to give it a try?"
The three Tomioka brothers shook their heads in perfect unison.
Their rejection couldn't have been more straightforward.
A vein bulged on Sanemi's forehead.
"Are you all scared?"
Still, no one answered.
Sanemi's temper flared instantly.
Pointing at the nearest person, he barked,
"You're the second brother, right? You. Get over here!"
Before Tomioka Jirō had a chance to resist, a scarred hand reached toward him.
Just as Sanemi's demonic claw was about to grab Tomioka Jirō...
Just as Jirō was about to fall into despair...
A figure suddenly appeared behind Sanemi.
Tall and upright, with a handsome face and an imposing presence, he was like a ray of dawn piercing the darkness.
Hope instantly returned to Jirō's eyes.
Smack!
Sanemi's hand was caught.
A voice sounded from behind him.
"Sanemi, who taught you to train like this?"
"Do you call this training? At this intensity, you'd work even a dog to death."
Hearing that, Sanemi turned around angrily. The moment he saw Ren, his expression darkened.
"I am the Wind Hashira! By rights, you should address me as Lord Wind Hashira!"
Ren looked at him speechlessly.
"I haven't even joined the Demon Slayer Corps yet. Why should I call you the Wind Hashira?"
He glanced at everyone huddled in the corner.
Then, recalling the small cart Aoi Kanzaki had pushed away earlier, he immediately pieced everything together.
Stroking his chin, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Sanemi.
"Sanemi... don't tell me you were copying my massage techniques?"
"What did you say?!"
Sanemi's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately blurted out, as if someone had stepped on a cat's tail.
"As if I'd copy you! I have my own training methods!"
"Oh?"
Ren replied indifferently.
"Then what exactly is this rehabilitation training you've come up with?"
"What is it? Heh."
Sanemi gave a disdainful grin before pulling out a wooden sword from somewhere and resting it on his shoulder.
"Of course it's Infinite Onslaught Training! Only this kind of training can ignite the patients' passion for slaying demons!"
"You really are..."
Ren was at a loss for words.
Infinite Onslaught Training was a training method Sanemi had created specifically for the Demon Slayer Corps.
According to the original story's Hashira Training, only Demon Slayers of at least Mizunoe Rank or above could reach the fifth stage of Infinite Onslaught Training.
That was precisely the problem.
The patients currently recovering at the Butterfly Mansion had only just recovered from serious injuries.
Their bodies had yet to regain their strength.
Making them pick up swords and fight now was obviously far too early.
It was like sending an elementary school student to a cram school and immediately handing them advanced mathematics problems. It would be a miracle if they could solve them.
Seeing Ren's scrutinizing gaze, Sanemi asked somewhat defiantly,
"Ren, what are you doing here? Have you already finished with your patients?"
Ren shrugged.
"Of course. I'm not as slow as you."
"What?! Already?"
Sanemi looked stunned.
The next moment, he quickly looked toward Ren's training grounds.
The four Demon Slayers under Ren's care were sitting quietly in meditation.
Beside them stood a table covered with empty medicine bowls.
Sanemi's eyes widened.
Had Ren's patients already finished both the reflex training and the cat-and-mouse training?
He then glanced at the patients under his own care.
There was simply no comparison.
Three were huddled in corners.
One was lying in a pigsty.
Another had already been sent to the Butterfly Mansion's "ICU."
The sight made Sanemi's eyelids twitch.
He simply couldn't understand why Ren could accomplish something that he couldn't.
Unable to hold himself back any longer, Sanemi finally asked,
"Ren... how exactly did you do it?"
Ren raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised that Sanemi had asked so directly.
Shaking his head, he calmly replied,
"Sanemi, compared to clearing training stages, I care more about whether my patients recover."
"Since you're standing here today as a doctor, you have to think with healing as your goal."
"If you neglect a doctor's duty just for the sake of winning a competition, you'll accomplish nothing in the end."
"So, treat your patients with sincerity, and sooner or later, that sincerity will be returned to you."
"Returned...?"
Sanemi murmured thoughtfully.
For the first time, he realized the gap between himself and Ren.
At the same time, after hearing Ren's words...
The eyes of the Demon Slayer Corps members watching from the sidelines sparkled.
They couldn't help but exclaim,
"Wow~ Brother Ren is amazing! He really cares about us~!"
"So Lord Wind Hashira understands Brother Ren's good intentions now, right? He'll treat us like human beings from now on!"
"No, I want to stay at the Butterfly Mansion a little longer! I want to see Brother Ren every day~!"
"Big Brother is so handsome! I love him so much~!"
Everyone was moved by Ren's words.
The phrase "treat your patients with sincerity" resonated deeply with the members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Most of them were orphans who had gathered here because of their hatred of demons.
Ren's kindness let them experience a warmth they hadn't felt in a long time.
It was the same warmth they had once received from their parents or older siblings.
Many of them couldn't help but tear up.
Even the Tomioka brothers standing behind Sanemi had tears in their eyes.
"Ren-san is truly incredible!"
"Yeah! If Ren-san had arrived any later, we'd have ended up in the infirmary with our eldest brother!"
"Wuwuwu... Ren-san is truly our benefactor!"
The three brothers were on the verge of tears.
No wonder the Insect Hashira, Kocho-san, was willing to spend so much time with Ren.
He really was a gentle person.
If only they had been a little braver... just a little firmer when refusing Sanemi in the first place...
Then they wouldn't have had to risk their lives training under that fool of a Wind Hashira.
They had already resigned themselves to their fate because they had chosen Sanemi themselves.
Yet Ren still hadn't given up on them.