"Hey, Hardy-kun, why did you stop?"
Murata noticed Hardy suddenly halt, so he gripped his Nichirin sword tightly and looked around warily.
"Looks like our luck's up. There's a slightly tougher one ahead. Wonder if it can take more than one of my strikes."
Hardy pointed forward.
Murata followed his gaze.
In the mist-shrouded, pitch-black forest, a massive demon silhouette, as large as a small mountain, was lumbering toward them.
It was a grotesquely huge demon, its head, neck, and body wrapped in branch-like arms.
Its bizarre appearance and enormous size gave it an oppressive presence.
The Hand Demon.
Speak of the devil!
"You've got to be kidding! A large, aberrant demon whose body has undergone such drastic changes—how could something like this show up in the final selection?!"
Murata's teeth chattered as he stared at the Hand Demon, his face the picture of fear.
"Forty-three, forty-four…"
The Hand Demon stretched out several of its hands, counting as it went.
"I already ate one tonight, so that makes forty-five… No, no, there are two more, so it should be forty-seven."
The Hand Demon fixed its yellow, bell-like eyes on Hardy and Murata.
To his credit, Murata drew his sword and stood by Hardy's side.
"K-Hardy-kun, I don't know why such a powerful demon is here, but there's no way rookies like us can handle something of this level! We'll have to work together if we want to escape. You're stronger, so you have a better chance—I'll cover you."
Murata's voice trembled, but his tone was resolute.
In this world, most Demon Slayer Corps members really are admirable people…
After all, joining the Demon Slayer Corps means casting aside thoughts of life and death and dedicating oneself to the righteous cause of fighting demons. It's a choice that's a trial in itself.
"Struggling is useless. Just let me eat you quietly~"
The Hand Demon loosened the hands wrapped around its neck and mouth, revealing even more arms, which all shot toward Hardy and Murata.
"Murata."
"Yeah?"
"You're a good guy."
As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of blue blade light swept through the air.
"Breath of Wind, Eighth Form: Primary Gale Slash!"
A massive spiral wind blade instantly shredded the Hand Demon's attacking arms, then its body and head.
In less than a single breath, the Hand Demon's entire body was torn apart, turning into a rain of blood that quickly dissipated into ash.
Murata was stunned.
"Well, what a shame. This guy looked pretty tough, but he went down so easily. Another one-shot kill."
Hardy shook his head in disappointment.
"Alright, it'll be dawn soon. Let's hurry and find the next demon—perfect for you to practice on."
"Huh? Eh?"
Murata stood there dumbfounded for a moment, then hurried to catch up.
Hardy didn't go on a demon-killing spree on the mountain like Sabito did.
He just wandered around, killing any demons he saw, and let his new underling Murata practice on the suitable ones.
Even so, by the end of the night, Hardy had slain nineteen demons, including the strongest—the Hand Demon.
Perhaps because of this, there were more survivors from the final selection this time.
"This time, a total of nine members survived."
Amane Ubuyashiki, holding a golden Nichirin sword and accompanied by two children, looked at the group coming down from the mountain with a face full of delight.
Most of them looked battered, some even wounded, but Hardy alone was spotless, calm and collected, as if he'd just been sightseeing.
Next was Murata, who had stuck to Hardy like glue. Aside from some dust from battle, he was unhurt, his clothes intact.
Nine survivors—this was the highest pass rate for the Demon Slayer Corps' selection in recent years.
Was it because of Hardy?
Amane Ubuyashiki's beautiful eyes turned to Hardy.
As...
Yahya Ubuyashiki's wife and assistant, she is fully aware of Hardy's identity. She also knows that in their letters to Yahya Ubuyashiki, the cultivators of both the Wind and Thunder Breathing techniques have praised Hardy highly.
"Everyone, congratulations on passing the Final Selection trial. Now, please choose a piece of scarlet ore from here. The selected ore will be delivered to the Swordsmith Village today to be forged into your Nichirin Blade."
Ubuyashiki Amane pointed to a table where pieces of scarlet ore were neatly arranged.
So-called scarlet ore is the crude form of the Crimson Iron Sand after preliminary refinement.
Hardy casually picked a large piece and walked over to Ubuyashiki Amane.
"Hardy-kun, is there something you need?" Amane asked with a gentle smile.
"One piece of ore and one sword might not be enough for me. May I ask, Senior Amane, if you could have the swordsmiths forge the parts on these blueprints for me as well?"
Hardy took several blueprints from his basket and handed them to Amane.
The parts were components for an armor-type semi-puppet that Hardy had designed to aid in his own combat.
Without any Crimson Iron or a way to process the ore himself, Hardy had no choice but to entrust these to the swordsmiths of the village.
"I will ask the swordsmiths and have them help you make these, Hardy-kun," Amane replied, glancing over the blueprints. She saw they were full of mechanisms and weapons she couldn't understand, so she put them away.
Occasionally, members of the Demon Slayer Corps have special requests for their Nichirin Blades. For example, the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, uses a chained flail and axe, and in the future, the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, will have a whip-like sword resembling a ribbon.
"In that case, I'll leave it to you, Senior Amane," Hardy said with a slight nod.
She nodded in return, then waved her hand toward the sky.
Suddenly, several crows flapped down from above.
"Hardy-kun, this is Mameko. From now on, she will be your Kasugai crow for communicating with the Demon Slayer Corps. By the way, she loves eating green soybeans, especially garlic-flavored ones," Amane said, pointing to a slender but somewhat dopey-looking crow.
"Caw—do you have any green soybeans?" the crow, Mameko, asked, tilting her head.
Amane handed a bag of beans to Hardy.
Hardy poured some green soybeans into his palm and fed them to the crow.
The crows here are highly intelligent—whether this is natural or the result of special training by the Demon Slayer Corps, Hardy wasn't sure.
If it was the latter, Hardy would like to get his hands on their training methods.
Crows are excellent summoning beasts in the Shinobi world. Many Konoha ninja, especially the Uchiha, keep them as companions, and some have even developed jutsu in combination with crow summons.
But before that, he could try training his Kasugai crow as a summoning beast.