It had already been a few days since they returned from the Swordsmith Village to the Butterfly Mansion.
After leaving the village, however, Shinobu's sister, Kanae Kocho, did not return to the mansion with Yohan and the others—instead, she headed off on a separate mission.
Word was that she was out on an investigation.
Yohan didn't ask for more details. After all, the Hashira were always busy. It wasn't unusual for one of them to be suddenly assigned a mission.
"Lord Yohan, the Master requests your presence."
A member of the Demon Slayer Corps arrived at Yohan's quarters. Only then did Yohan remember—he had originally planned to bring Tanjiro to see the leader.
"Hm? Where's Tanjiro?"
"He's already there," the Corps member replied. Clearly, they hadn't forgotten about Tanjiro.
They made their way to Kagaya Ubuyashiki's residence.
When Yohan arrived, he saw Tanjiro standing off to the side, furiously scratching his head—clearly, the two had already spoken.
"Yohan, you've arrived." Kagaya Ubuyashiki smiled gently.
"Hello, Master," Yohan said as he casually sat down. He knew full well that today's meeting wasn't about him—Tanjiro was the real focus.
"I just asked Tanjiro about the Breath of the Sun," Ubuyashiki began. "But it seems he doesn't know much."
"Uh… Yohan," Tanjiro turned to him, looking confused, "Lord Ubuyashiki just told me that you said the Breath of the Sun was passed down in my family…"
"But I've never heard of anything like that."
Before coming here, Yohan had already explained to Tanjiro the basics about the Demon Slayer Corps—the breathing styles, the Nichirin swords, and how demons could only be killed with them. So he had a good idea what the Master had been asking.
Still, Tanjiro really had no idea what the Breath of the Sun was.
"Could it be… my father never had the chance to tell me?" Tanjiro murmured, thinking of his father's early death due to illness.
He frowned deeply. The Breath of the Sun… wasn't it the original breathing style, the source of all others? And powerful beyond measure. What if it had been lost forever, and it was his fault for not preserving the family legacy?
Ubuyashiki looked equally uneasy. After finally hearing rumors that the Breath of the Sun might still exist, was it really destined to vanish for good?
"Tanjiro, Master, don't worry." Yohan's tone was light, but steady. "The Breath of the Sun has not been lost."
"Tanjiro, do you remember the dance your father taught you?"
Tanjiro blinked. "The dance…? You mean the Hinokami Kagura?"
He suddenly recalled a scene from years ago—his father dancing under the snow-heavy sky on a freezing night, not long after Nezuko was born. Alone at the shrine gate, his frail body moved tirelessly through the night, flames flickering in the wind.
As a child, Tanjiro had been mystified. How could his sickly father dance like that, nonstop, in the bitter cold?
His mother had told him then—it was a sacred ritual passed down through generations of the Kamado family, a dance offered to the Fire God to pray for peace.
"Yes," Yohan said. "That dance."
"Tanjiro, you just haven't realized it yet—but that Hinokami Kagura is the Breath of the Sun."
Of course Yohan knew. The so-called "dance" was far from simple. Otherwise, how could Tanjiro's father, with a body so weakened by illness, endure an entire night in the snow without rest?
"Tanjiro," Ubuyashiki spoke up, visibly stirred, "could you show us?"
"Yes, of course." Tanjiro nodded and made his way to the courtyard.
To him, it was just a family tradition, nothing secret or sacred. But ever since learning what the Demon Slayer Corps did, he realized he had no reason to keep it hidden. If it really was the Breath of the Sun, then he may have inherited the strongest breathing technique of all.
As memories surfaced, Tanjiro began to move.
The steps flowed naturally, passed down by blood and memory. It wasn't winter, and no snow fell—but at that moment, as Tanjiro danced, he seemed like a spirit born of flame.
"Is this… really the Breath of the Sun?" Ubuyashiki muttered. Though he had never practiced a breathing technique himself, the sight before him was enough to tell—this Hinokami Kagura was far from ordinary.
By the time Tanjiro finished the full dance, he was already panting heavily, breath ragged.
He still couldn't match his father, who once danced through a whole night without pause.
"Well? Yohan? Lord Ubuyashiki?" Tanjiro asked nervously, worry clouding his eyes. Had he let them down?
"No, Tanjiro," Yohan reassured him. "That is the Breath of the Sun."
"The only reason you haven't realized its full potential is because you haven't learned how to use breathing techniques properly yet."
"Properly…?" Tanjiro felt like he was on the verge of understanding something critical.
"Breathing," Yohan said. "You haven't learned to breathe."
Something clicked.
Tanjiro's mind flashed back to moments from his childhood—his father, sitting peacefully, watching Tanjiro and Nezuko play together. Again and again, his father would smile gently and remind him:
"Tanjiro, don't forget to breathe."
Now, finally, Tanjiro understood. His father wasn't just being poetic. He was guiding him—toward the secret of the Hinokami Kagura. Toward the Breath of the Sun.
Yohan, watching Tanjiro sink into thought, turned toward Ubuyashiki and said, "Master, I suggest you send someone to the Rengoku estate."
"There may be records left by the previous Flame Hashira about this subject."
Yohan knew perfectly well that such a journal existed—a handwritten notebook by the Flame Hashira of old. It mentioned the Hinokami Kagura, even if only briefly. It wouldn't teach much, but it would be more than enough to confirm what they now suspected.
"If there's nothing else, Master, I'll take my leave."
He'd said all that needed saying. The rest—he would leave to Kagaya Ubuyashiki.