But the snow only fell harder and harder, as if, with the arrival of winter, the heavens intended to unleash all the reserves accumulated over three seasons in one go. It snowed continuously for three days and nights.
Hardy sat beneath the eaves, wiping his Nichirin Blade, watching the blizzard gradually subside.
Dawn was approaching. It was time to set out.
...
...
Heavy snow weighed down the green pines, yet the pines stood tall and straight.
The snow in the mountains was deep, but with chakra clinging to his soles, one could walk as easily on snow as on water—there was no need to worry about the terrain.
"Tsk, I'm still late, after all?"
Hardy walked through the snowy woods, sensing the thick scent of blood ahead, and couldn't help but shake his head.
From the nearby forest came the sounds of fierce struggle. Hardy parted the bushes and walked over.
A beautiful but ferocious-looking demon girl was shielding a boy holding an axe.
Opposite them stood a young man with an indifferent expression and complicated eyes.
As expected, it was the Kamado siblings and Giyu Tomioka.
Fortunately, Kamado Tanjiro was still alive, which meant the Hinokami Kagura had not been lost.
Now, he needed to find a way to extract the Hinokami Kagura from Tanjiro.
In just a brief moment, Hardy had already formulated a plan.
"A member of the Demon Slayer Corps?"
Seeing Hardy, Giyu Tomioka frowned slightly.
At this moment, because of Nezuko's behavior—so different from ordinary demons—he had already decided to protect the Kamado siblings, even planning to take them to Mount Sagiri and entrust them to his most trusted teacher, Sakonji Urokodaki.
But Hardy's arrival made Giyu Tomioka hesitate.
What if this Demon Slayer wanted to kill the boy's sister?
Should he try to send him away first?
Before Giyu Tomioka could speak, Hardy took the initiative:
"I didn't expect to see the Water Hashira here as well. It seems you've also looked into this family's background?"
This family's background?
"Does their background matter?" Giyu Tomioka replied.
Hardy rolled his eyes at him.
"You mean, you're wondering if there's something special about their family background, right?"
"Right, you're quite articulate," Giyu responded.
A few black lines appeared on Hardy's forehead.
So, what I just said was an accurate translation of your words, huh? Why does it sound so much like sarcasm? Combined with Giyu's icy, indifferent expression, it seemed even more like mockery. If it were Sanemi Shinazugawa here instead, with his bad temper, they'd probably already be fighting.
"What… are you two talking about?" Tanjiro gripped his woodcutting axe, standing protectively by Nezuko's side.
"I'd already sent someone to ask you to leave the mountain, but you refused. Otherwise, your family's tragedy wouldn't have happened."
Tanjiro's axe slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. He stood there, dumbfounded.
"How could that be…"
Back when someone came to ask their family to leave the mountain, after discussing with his mother Kie, they agreed that staying on the mountain was more convenient for chopping wood and making charcoal, so they declined the invitation.
But that decision ended up costing his entire family their lives?
"You knew there would be a demon coming for them today? Then do you know that only Muzan and the Twelve Kizuki can turn humans into demons?"
Giyu Tomioka questioned Hardy.
"How could I know exactly when a demon would come for them?"
Hardy shook his head and said,
"Do you remember what I said before? The Kamado family's background is anything but ordinary. Based on all the information recorded in ancient texts that my Uesugi clan was able to gather, I've concluded that the Kamado clan is most likely connected to the original swordsman who created the Breathing Techniques."
"The records state that he was the strongest swordsman in the history of the Demon Slayer Corps, and nearly killed Muzan once. But his Breathing Technique was too advanced—no one else could master it at the time—so it was transformed into a ritual dance to the fire god and passed down among the people in a very secretive way."
"Muzan would never allow a power that could harm him to exist in this world, so the Kamado family was bound to be targeted by demons sooner or later, in order to erase all traces left by the original swordsman who nearly killed Muzan."
Giyu Tomioka turned to look at Tanjiro.
"So, does your family have a ritual dance to the fire god? If not, then your family died for nothing."
Hardy looked at Giyu's serious expression and couldn't help but cover his forehead.
Is this guy really just feeling sorry for him?
How has someone with such a bizarre way of speaking survived this long?
Probably because he's strong enough that no one's managed to kill him yet!
"The ritual dance to the fire god… the Hinokami Kagura…"
Tanjiro looked down at his reflection in the blade of his axe, murmuring softly.
"Good, so you do have it."
Hardy walked over to Tanjiro and, under Nezuko's wary gaze, placed a hand on Tanjiro's shoulder.
"To think you can hold yourself back from attacking—truly different from other demons. Don't you think this demon is remarkable, Senior Giyu?"
Without waiting for Giyu Tomioka's reply, Hardy turned to Tanjiro again.
"We're demon hunters from the Demon Slayer Corps. We specialize in killing demons like your sister."
Tanjiro hurriedly raised his axe to shield Nezuko again.
"But I think Senior Giyu, like me, believes your sister is a special case—maybe she doesn't have to be killed. But if other demon hunters see her, she'll definitely be killed."
Hardy pointed at Giyu Tomioka.
"Do you want to protect your sister?"
Tanjiro nodded firmly.
"I'll teach you! Use the Hinokami Kagura you possess as your bargaining chip! Here's what you should do…"
Hardy chattered endlessly in front of Tanjiro, leaving the honest farm boy thoroughly bewildered.
But Hardy didn't think he was trying to fool Tanjiro.
In the original timeline, after Nezuko's situation was discovered two years later, Giyu Tomioka managed to force the Demon Slayer Corps to accept Tanjiro's approach by declaring, "If Kamado Nezuko ever eats a human, both Sakonji Urokodaki and I will commit seppuku." But that was based on two years of living together.
By then, Sakonji Urokodaki and the Kamado siblings already regarded each other as family, and Giyu Tomioka also saw Urokodaki as family.
The endorsement of a current Water Hashira and a former Water Hashira carried a lot of weight, but Hardy's approach was just as feasible.
Of course, Hardy had his own motives—if he didn't do this, how could he get Tanjiro to obediently reveal the Hinokami Kagura as soon as possible?
Giyu Tomioka stood to the side, listening to Hardy's explanation. At last, he spoke up:
"I really envy your mind, being able to make such a difficult thing seem so simple."