Night deepened, the light of the bright moon shining over this traditional Japanese mansion, casting mottled shadows through the courtyard.
Rows of carefully tended wisteria trees stood on both sides of the stone path, their petals drifting gently on the wind, like a silent rain of flowers.
In the tranquil night, only the sound of a water clock knocking echoed.
A young man, his face seriously disfigured above the neck and both eyes blind, gazed up at the sky, feeling the gentle night breeze.
Beside him, a woman of similar age knelt, caring for the man who had difficulty moving, just having poured him a fresh cup of tea.
The young man took the tea handed to him by his wife. The two sat in silence, yet a peaceful warmth filled the air.
A crow's cry broke the stillness, carried by the night wind as it landed on a tree branch, cawing, then unexpectedly speaking in human language:
"Urgent report, the final selection at Fujikasane Mountain is over! Urgent report, the final selection at Fujikasane Mountain is over!"
The crow repeated the message several times, causing the two below to stir.
The young man tightened his grip on the teacup. He hadn't expected the selection to end so soon. Judging from the time it took the crow to deliver the message, the whole process from start to finish couldn't have taken more than half an hour.
His first thought was that all the young candidates had perished. He only hoped many had escaped to the wisteria area and chosen to withdraw, rather than all being killed by demons.
"What are the casualties?" asked Kagaya Ubuyashiki, 97th leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. Even with his calm temperament, each time he heard news of deaths from the selection, it pained his heart.
"Zero casualties. All 41 members who participated passed the selection!" replied the crow.
"All of them passed!?" His wife, Amane Ubuyashiki, exclaimed in shock. "But the selection only lasted half an hour, didn't it?"
As soon as she spoke, she suddenly realized—surviving the selection might not just mean lasting seven days. If all the demons in Fujikasane Mountain were eliminated, there'd be no reason for the trial to last any longer.
"It seems an exceptional child has appeared," Kagaya smiled. Still, more than the appearance of a genius, he was simply relieved that none of his children had been wiped out.
"It was Lord Kuwajima's disciple, a man named Gusion. He single-handedly cleared the entire Fujikasane Mountain in half an hour. There are no more demons there," the crow added.
"Kuwajima's disciple… Gusion." Kagaya muttered, "I have heard of him. He was taken in by Kuwajima ten years ago, but supposedly never learned the Breathing Techniques. I never imagined he'd be so powerful."
Amane wasn't surprised her husband knew of Gusion—he remembered the names of every Demon Slayer, including the fallen and those still in training.
"Do you want to meet this child?" Amane asked, suggesting whether such a strong talent should be given a higher rank directly.
Within the Demon Slayer Corps, the top combatants were the Hashira, and beneath them were the ten ranks: Kinoe, Kinoto, Hinoe, Hinoto, Tsuchinoe, Tsuchinoto, Kanoe, Kanoto, Mizunoe, and Mizunoto. Normally, new recruits who passed the selection started at Mizunoto, the lowest.
"No need. With his strength, he'll surely rise to the top soon enough. It'll save trouble and idle talk," Kagaya waved his hand.
"What about the others who passed with him?" Amane asked. Similar things had happened before—when exceptionally strong candidates appeared, more people survived the selection, but many of those later died at the hands of demons after joining.
"Assign them to the various Hashira for evaluation. If they're not strong enough, have them become Kakushi," Kagaya decided after a moment's thought.
"What about the next selection?" Amane, like her husband's secretary, always took his instructions and made the necessary arrangements, as his health was failing and much work fell to her.
"As for the selection… I think we should pause for now," Kagaya said. "Demons have been more active lately, and the Hashira are busy with their missions and can't capture new demons for the selection. Besides…"
He paused, his blind eyes turning toward the night sky. "…I sense that the situation is about to change."
…
Elsewhere, after the selection ended, an awkward situation arose atop Fujikasane Mountain.
"Everyone, don't worry. New ore will arrive soon, and everyone will receive their Nichirin Blade," said two little girls. They, too, seemed new to the situation—the special Scarlet Ore and Scarlet Iron they'd prepared to forge swords weren't enough.
They had prepared thirty sets of high-quality forging materials, more than enough based on previous years, since many candidates usually died or withdrew.
Fortunately, after this selection, quite a few recognized their own limits. After facing demons, they realized they lacked the courage to fight, and decided to give up becoming Demon Slayers.
"So these are the forging materials…" Gusion examined the ore at the table. Using his identification ability, he found they were purple-quality forging materials.
Those who scraped by felt guilty, so no one dared compete with Gusion. He picked the highest-quality rated ore… and gave it to Zenitsu.
He also chose a good piece for himself, planning to certify it and bring it back to sell.
Items, equipment, or materials not part of the quest rewards in the mission world couldn't be taken out directly—they had to be certified with End Coins. The certification fee was usually less than half the item's real value, so explorers could make a profit.
Of course, there was a limit—only five certified items could be brought out per mission world.
Gusion had only recently learned this loophole from the sailor-uniform girl who forged his gear. She said if he provided materials, she'd forge for him at a discount, and the best way to get materials was from various mission worlds.
When Tanjiro came up to select his forging material, he bowed politely. "Hello, I'm Kamado Tanjiro. Thank you for your care during the trial!"
"That's right, Gusion-senpai is the strongest!" Zenitsu had become Gusion's number one fan. He never expected guaranteed pass meant literally killing every demon in the mountain.
"Zenitsu, remember, after today I won't be by your side anymore," Gusion warned, not wanting Zenitsu to rely on him too much.
Turning to Tanjiro, he said, "Hello, I'm Gusion."
He'd always liked Tanjiro's character while reading the manga—no one could hate such a gentle saint. People only disliked fake saints.
"It's an honor to meet you. I only passed thanks to you. I'm ashamed, but I still want to become a Demon Slayer and work hard to slay demons, so I'm going to shamelessly pick out my ore," Tanjiro said, bowing again and going to pick his material.
No one objected—many had seen Tanjiro fighting demons. His strength was clear; he'd killed several before the trial ended.
After Tanjiro chose, Kanao and Genya also came up to pick materials.
Genya, usually hot-tempered, would have rushed up first, but Gusion's presence was so imposing he dared not act up.
After everyone picked, Gusion advised Zenitsu, "Zenitsu, I suggest you train a bit, then start over—your Thunder Breathing is still far from mastery, and you're way behind that girl."
Zenitsu followed Gusion's gaze and saw Kanao, his eyes going wide. In fact, he'd already noticed her—his survival instinct included finding a girl to marry and leave offspring.
"She's really strong—I saw her kill a demon instantly," Tanjiro agreed.
"You're all about the same age, so you can try asking her about her training," Gusion suggested, knowing this group wouldn't have the leisurely growth time of the original story. Once they became official Demon Slayers, they'd be targeted by Muzan's faction.
He'd learned from the last world that protagonists weren't invincible—Tanjiro could die. Though he didn't expect to rely on Tanjiro's power to defeat Muzan, strengthening the Demon Slayers' ranks was always good.
So, he didn't want these kids running off on adventures. They should train at the Butterfly Mansion until they mastered total concentration breathing, or else even Lower Moons could kill them.
"Wait, Gusion-senpai, you're telling us to train, but what about you?" Zenitsu asked, suddenly noticing something off.
"Me?" Gusion grinned. "I'm going to meet the legendary Twelve Kizuki."