"Excuse me, could I trouble you to reforge this sword?"
"Reforge it? Using this same blade?"
The swordsmith was a bit confused, not understanding what Suzuki Makoto's purpose was, but he still nodded and agreed.
"What do you want it forged into?"
"Just use your most conventional method to forge a Nichirin Sword, the kind Demon Slayers commonly use."
Suzuki Makoto didn't have any specific requests; he just wanted to watch the entire process.
The Nichirin Sword was quickly tossed back into the furnace. The bellows huffed, and once the temperature was high enough, the smith used tongs to pull out the red-hot blade and brought his hammer down on it with a powerful strike.
The man's eyes lit up, but he didn't say a word, just continued to stare at the swordsmith's movements.
With each strike of the hammer, the Nichirin Sword was once again reduced to a billet of iron, then drawn out to become a new blade blank.
The smith quenched the blade blank in water, wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked up at Suzuki Makoto.
"How about it, Mr. Suzuki? Should I do it again?"
"No, that's enough. Thank you."
Suzuki Makoto politely declined with a smile, then left the smithy and headed towards the woods outside the village.
The entire forging process just now was very clear. The Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand indeed radiated a more potent sun-like aura before becoming a Nichirin Sword, but his previous assumption that it was purely related to temperature was too simplistic—temperature was just one factor in the forging process.
He drew his own Nichirin Sword. The note on it still read [Awakening], but Suzuki Makoto was no longer very worried. Since Upper Rank Two controlled ice, then Muzan or the other Upper Ranks must be related to the body and moonlight, right?
In any case, even if it wasn't for awakening his sword, he was going to exterminate every last one of these man-eating demons. Getting an extra reward out of it was killing two birds with one stone.
Casting aside these distracting thoughts, Suzuki Makoto began to regulate his breathing and practice Sun Breathing.
As the power of Sun Breathing extended into the Nichirin Sword, Suzuki Makoto's grip on the hilt tightened. As the blade heated up, its body began to turn a dark red, and then patterns that hadn't been there before started to appear.
In the process of creating a Nichirin Sword, besides heating, there was also forging. The two were complementary, allowing the power of the Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand to be brought to its fullest potential.
And Sun Breathing was, without a doubt, the most suitable Breathing Style for a Crimson Red Blade.
Now Suzuki Makoto finally understood why, after Muzan had severed the lineage of Sun Breathing back then, the legacy of the Crimson Red Blade had also vanished with it. It was because the power and heat generated by Sun Breathing were what allowed a Nichirin Sword to reach the state of a Crimson Red Blade.
As for the other Breathing Styles, they were merely incomplete versions of Sun Breathing. Perhaps a Crimson Red Blade could be activated through sheer force, but achieving the power of one produced by Sun Breathing was next to impossible.
Suzuki Makoto slowly exhaled. The issue of the Crimson Red Blade was now solved, but the Demon Slayer Corps' situation still hadn't fundamentally improved.
Regarding the methods and forms of Sun Breathing, he had given his compiled notes to Tanjiro Kamado. Tanjiro then made a copy and delivered the original to Kagaya Ubuyashiki. It could be said that the entire Demon Slayer Corps could now start practicing Sun Breathing—but reality was not as wonderful as one might imagine.
First were the Hashira. Aside from the retired former Flame Hashira, Shinjuro Rengoku, who was willing to cast everything aside to learn Sun Breathing from scratch, all the other Hashira, after a brief attempt, reluctantly reported to their Master that if they were to learn Sun Breathing, there were no shortcuts. They would have to abandon their current strength and start all over again.
Therefore, Kagaya Ubuyashiki could only settle for the next best thing, having only Muichiro Tokito, the youngest Hashira, begin learning it. The others could only temporarily look it over and try things out, seeing if it could indirectly enhance their strength.
As for spreading Sun Breathing on a large scale within the Demon Slayer Corps... one could only say there was a reason Yoriichi Tsugikuni had to branch it out into other Breathing Styles back in the day. Even though a small group of selected "geniuses" from within the Corps had been organized to learn it, their former pride and talent quickly turned to dust in the face of Sun Breathing, resulting in an almost total wipeout.
So the current situation was quite awkward: Sun Breathing was the easiest way to produce a Crimson Red Blade, but it was also the hardest Breathing Style to learn.
Suzuki Makoto sighed and regulated his breathing again, only this time, he used Flame Breathing. Since Sun Breathing wasn't feasible for everyone, he had to try the other Breathing Styles to see if he could find a way to help others meet the conditions for a Crimson Red Blade.
He wasn't some kind of saint, but Suzuki Makoto wouldn't shirk things he was capable of doing. He agreed with the saying "With great power comes great responsibility," and it was this very belief that had convinced Ida Kojuro to make an exception and take Suzuki Makoto on as a disciple back then.
It wasn't until nightfall that Suzuki Makoto returned to the hot spring inn, just in time to run into Mitsuri Kanroji and the Kamado siblings, who had already finished their bath and changed into yukatas.
"Mr. Suzuki! It's been a while! I heard you killed Upper Rank Six and Upper Rank Two! That's amazing!"
The girl's cheerfulness was clearly on the same level as Tanjiro's.
"It was just good luck. Are you here for the hot springs too, Ms. Kanroji?"
"Yes, I really love the hot springs here. I come for a soak every once in a while, it's so relaxing! And the old lady who cooks here is a great chef, I absolutely love it here!"
"Tanjiro is a great cook too, you know. You should have him show off his skills for you sometime."
Suzuki Makoto was just making small talk, planning to go back to his room to grab a yukata and towel for the hot springs, so he didn't notice the sudden change in Tanjiro's expression.
"Really?! Tanjiro! Are you good at cooking too?"
Mitsuri Kanroji grabbed Tanjiro's hand, her eyes starting to sparkle with anticipation.
Tanjiro Kamado's back was already breaking out in a cold sweat, but he couldn't deny what Mr. Suzuki had said, so he could only nod reluctantly.
Because Suzuki Makoto had gone out early and also had lunch in the village, he hadn't seen the Love Hashira eating lunch here—but Tanjiro had eaten with Mitsuri Kanroji at noon.
Cooking wasn't a problem for Tanjiro Kamado, but making enough to satisfy Mitsuri Kanroji's appetite...
"That's great! Tanjiro, once you've recovered, I'll have to try your cooking!"
Hearing Mitsuri's words, Tanjiro Kamado emotionally grabbed the girl's hand and thanked her profusely, much to her confusion.
"Ms. Kanroji, you're such a kind person!"
"Ah... oh, thank you?"
_____
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