Roy pushed open the door and walked into the mountain forest.
Winter had passed, and in early spring, the greenery was sprouting... Mt. Sagiri, which saw no sun year-round, faintly gained a few touches of green, brimming with life.
Sabito followed him out without a word. Makomo stayed with Urokodaki Sakonji, from time to time stirring up a ghostly wind to help him clear away the wood shavings from his carving. When she looked again...
Roy maintained his stance, feet nailed to the ground, using his waist as a pivot to drive his core, which activated his elbows and connected to his hands. He swung his sword continuously, the count rapidly approaching five thousand.
"How many swings?" Makomo flew up into a tree, standing beside Sabito.
She, who started to get confused once the count passed three thousand, had decisively given up, handing the task to Sabito.
"Four thousand nine hundred."
"Huh?"
Makomo glanced at the sky. There was still a long time until dusk, and he was already at 4,900 swings. Could it be...
"Eiichiro is going to break his bottleneck today?"
"I don't know if he'll break it." Sabito said, "I only know that he took a break in the middle to eat a few dango and drink a pot of hot tea, resting for half a shichen (one hour)."
Makomo: "..."
'It could only be him...' If it were anyone else, their jaws would have dropped in shock.
The girl told herself not to be surprised; she should be used to it by now. Her gaze numbly shifted back to Roy. Her brow twitched, and she was stunned again. 'Why does it look like... after just one night, that guy Eiichiro has grown taller again?'
"You noticed it too?"
The sleeves and pant legs of the sword-swinging boy were clearly a size shorter, revealing his wrists and ankles.
Sabito let out a faint sigh. "When my parents were still alive, they used to tell me a story. They said not to go into the bamboo forest after it rains, for fear that the bamboo shoots, growing taller by the节, would jump out and hit people."
"I didn't believe it back then, but now..."
The fox boy laughed at himself. "Even if Eiichiro suddenly told me he was transformed from a bamboo stalk, I wouldn't be surprised."
"Shishou is joking," Roy said as he raised his hand for another swing. The sword light whistled, scattering the mist.
"I'm not joking." Sabito crossed his arms, his voice full of envy. "If I had had one-tenth of your strength back then, I wouldn't have died at that guy's hands."
"I don't need one-tenth, just one-twentieth is fine." Makomo rested her chin on her hand and called out to Roy, "Hey, Eiichiro, can you tell me, what do you eat to grow so fast?"
The little girl had always been self-conscious about her height, and she was still thinking about it even after death. Sabito rolled his eyes at her, exasperated, not knowing what to say.
Roy swung his sword again, smiling without answering.
'I can't very well say, "Eat you."'
When it came to souls and resentment, the senior disciples present were likely no weaker than Meritonio's sister. In fact, because they had practiced Breathing Styles, their souls were condensed as if tangible. He reckoned... the Life Energy would be exceptionally abundant.
At this thought, Roy was startled that he would have such a wicked idea—to actually consider eating his fellow disciples—just because of "greed." He frowned, quickly realizing something was wrong...
Within his own heart, many "negative emotions" were lurking. He hadn't noticed them usually, but now that he calmed down to examine them...
Some came from the vengeful souls killed by the "Joker" terrorist, some from the girl and other Nen users tortured to death by "Grinder" Harrison, some from "Meritonio's" sister and the victims he had turned into "art" or crushed into meat paste. Even... even "Nanno Kōji," whom Roy had first rescued, was among them...
These "victims" actually held no ill will towards Roy himself. They had been dormant, with no intention of rebelling, until today, when Makomo's words triggered his "greed," and they began to stir...
Roy frowned, lost in thought... A person, as an independent individual, is inevitably complex. The "human heart" can't possibly be spotless; there will always be a bright side and a filthy side... They exist separately, yet are also a unified opposition.
'In that case,'
"Since I chose to accept them, I inevitably have to accept their 'filth' along with them..."
The boy gradually came to an understanding. He started a swing, and it went wide...
"This is the so-called "Law of Equivalent Exchange." If I want to increase my strength, I must bear the risks that come with that "increased strength"..."
"Shh!" Sabito noticed Roy's stance had faltered and quickly signaled Makomo not to distract him any further.
Makomo also knew what was important and shut her mouth.
Roy's brow was tightly furrowed. Having identified the problem, he quickly corrected his stance and continued swinging his sword. His mind raced, trying to figure out how to expel these negative emotions. Otherwise, if they accumulated, it was highly likely that, just as his father Silva had said... his mind would become twisted, and he would fall to madness...
Unconsciously...
The boy swung his sword.
The count passed five thousand, passed fifty-five hundred... fifty-six hundred... fifty-seven... fifty-nine... it was rapidly approaching six thousand.
At the exact moment Sabito counted "the five-thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-ninth swing"—the setting sun broke through the mist, casting a ray of light on Roy's face. Warmth immediately welled up in his heart.
He paused slightly. Two suns pff! ignited in his eyes...
...seeing through all falsehood and confusion...
'That's right... The sun rises, the night recedes...'
'Wherever the sun shines, all filth will naturally retreat...'
A flash of inspiration...
Roy had a sudden epiphany. He gently closed his eyes, silently visualizing the sun in his mind.
Bzz... An inexplicable resonance radiated out from him, passing through Sabito and Makomo, making both their spiritual bodies tremble!
They stared intently... The asauchi held in Roy's hands began to show spots of red.
At first, there were only two or three scattered dots, then a line, then they connected into a patch, and finally, it spread across the entire blade. Here on Mt. Sagiri, shrouded in fog year-round, it bloomed with a dazzling red light!
As the boy swung the sword diagonally... all the "negative" emotions lurking deep in his heart were routed in a single blow, turning into wisps of black smoke that flew from the top of his head.
Caught by the wind, they were annihilated into nothingness...
Following that was a massive, flaming slash! It crossed a distance of nearly thirty meters, severing a wooden stake, plowing open the ground, splitting a birch tree, and stopping just one inch from Urokodaki Sakonji's toes...
BOOM!
The birch tree fell, stirring up a cloud of snow...
In the vast whiteness, the old man—who had come under the cover of night to check on his disciple's practice—had the "Tengu mask" on his face crack! It split in two down the middle and fell to the ground, revealing the shocked and speechless, weathered face beneath!
'A red blade... Sword aura burning like flames...' His memory was instantly pulled back to several years ago. It was the day his beloved disciple, Giyu Tomioka, completed his training, and also a day of his own quiet sorrow...
That day, Giyu, with Sabito's help, had passed the Final Selection on Mt. Fujikasane and officially became a member of the Demon Slayer Corps. He was at home, waiting for the swordsmith to deliver his sword... He clearly remembered something the man said when he had Giyu test the blade.
He was searching for a swordsman who could turn his Nichirin sword red. Or rather... the entire Swordsmith Village was searching for this swordsman.
And now...
"Haganezuka Hotaru... the man you've been looking for... has been found."