Despite the confusions.
Tanjuro decided to part ways with his family for now and travel with Giyu.
There are two reasons why.
Firstly, Tanjuro is definitely being targeted by Muzan after his stunt.
Therefore, going to reunite with his family at Mt. Sagiri right now would invite danger, akin to inviting a wolf into a chicken coop.
He figured that as long as he made sure Muzan's attention was focused on him, his family would be safe.
Second, the Dragon's Heritage.
In the world of "Sekiro," whenever he died and had no "resurrection" energy stored.
He would usually respawn at the statues called "Sculptor's Idol."
This ability of rebirth is obtained by absorbing the vitality of the surrounding creatures.
Such an affront to nature has a consequence that causes the beings whose life force was stolen to develop an incurable disease.
—Dragonrot.
Those who contract the Dragonrot will slowly die in agony as their life force keeps getting drained away.
It is a difficult disease to cure, and only by using a rare ingredient called Dragon's Blood Droplet could you be healed from its nightmares.
'I don't even know if there is such an item in the Demon Slayer world.'
However,
He did bring the ability to revive immediately with the "resurrection" obtained from his Dragon's Heritage.
As long as he had enough charge to "resurrect," then he wouldn't disturb others' life forces.
The way to recharge "resurrection" is very straightforward.
—Killing.
The Dragon's Heritage makes sure that he gains vitality when he kills demons.
'I died once before.'
'It's sheer dumb luck that my "resurrection" power activated in this world.'
He was just grateful that he didn't sap Tanjiro's, Goto's, or Masao's life forces to revive that time.
Truly, it is luck for him to have this power.
Because he clearly remembers that he did not have this power when he fell into a coma.
---
---
"Caw!"
The black crows circled in the sky, occasionally cawing at the humans who followed them. The piled-up snow on the pine tree branches and leaves falls rustlingly.
Tanjuro and Giyu were standing under the shade of the tree.
"How did it... come to..." Tanjuro is in deep thoughts, and he held his chin with his hand. The snow was thick at his feet, and he leaned against the tree, muttering to himself.
His clothing has changed from the yellow and black haori before to a dark red haori. It was thanks to Goto that he was wearing these new clothes because his previous ones were destroyed.
Giyu was alert beside him as he observed their surroundings. Eventually, his eyes rest on the katana on Tanjuro's waist.
"Tanjuro-san." Giyu said hesitantly.
"Hm?" Tanjuro turned his head slightly and looked at Giyu.
Giyu slowly reached out and pointed at Kusabimaru.
"Your sword... is not a Nichirin blade."
"Can it kill demons?"
His tone was filled with curiosity and came from the heart.
Tanjuro looked down at Kusabimaru and pulled the blade out of its sheath.
Click.
The pure black and polished blade reflected Tanjuro's tired expression, as if the blade had been through an oiling care.
'That's right.' Tanjuro realized.
'Kusabimaru is just a very hard, very sturdy katana.'
The reason it was able to hurt Muzan was because he burned the blade and forcibly turned it into a red blade.
But he couldn't spend an hour before every conflict to burnish his katana.
Tanjuro turned his head to look back at Giyu.
"Indeed..." He said gently. His expression is kind as a smile appears on his face. His red high ponytail slightly swinging in the wind.
"So many things happened; my brain can't keep up."
Tanjuro nodded at Giyu, silently agreeing to his question.
"...?"
Giyu's rippeless pupils reflected Tanjuro's smile. He suddenly frowned and stood still.
For some reason, Giyu felt a chill run through his body.
Sreek... Sreek...
He took two steps back, feet crunching the snow as he looked at Tanjuro with a disgusted face.
Giyu looked at Tanjuro as if he were the most disgusting thing in the world.
Tanjuro's smile stiffened on his face, and rage veins popped out of his forehead.
He believes himself a good-tempered man. Yesterday's events were such a high-tension gamble and adrenaline rush that only after the danger passed did they leave him exhausted emotionally and mentally.
He was trying to cheer himself up after noticing that he looked more tired than he let on.
Unexpectedly,
Tomioka Giyu is far more difficult to communicate with than imagined.
Tanjuro took a deep breath as he sorted out his emotions.
"You."
Tanjuro's forehead was bulging with rage veins as he pointed at Giyu.
"You must be hated a lot."
"!!"
Giyu's expression turned to shock. He opened his mouth to retort but choked the word in when he saw Tanjuro's face.
Before the two of them got into an argument.
One black crow circled and swooped down toward Giyu at top speed. It braked and flapped its wings before crashing.
"Caw!"
"Order! From HQ! Tomioka Giyu!"
"Go to the snow-covered mountain in the north! You must go now!"
"Now!"
"Caw!"
Then, it used its beak to peck Giyu's head and kept cawing.
"Giyu! Oyakata-sama has given his order!"
"I understand, Kanzaburo." Giyu acknowledged his kasugai crow.
Kanzaburo seemed to be in high spirits as he heard Giyu's affirmation as it flew high and cawed again.
"North! North ahead!"
---
---
Because demons generally don't appear during the day.
The members of the Corps usually use this time of day to travel, track, or investigate the demon locations.
Time passed, and dusk slowly fell.
Pitch-black night gradually rose from the other side of the sky, covering the dazzling blue sky.
At the northern snowy mountain.
There have been rumors of demons hunting people in the area. The Corps has sent many members to investigate, but they all returned without success.
After a series of failed investigations and attacks, Tomioka Giyu was dispatched to purge the area.
A small town was stationed at the foot of the mountain.
The snow had already piled up to people's calves, and temperatures seemed to have dropped fiercely, leaving only a few people on the streets.
---
---
"Roar!!!"
In a dark second-floor room at an inn in the village.
The brown figure has its back to the door, squatting on the ground as its head is lowered to chew its meal.
Chomp, chomp, glug, glug.
The figure seems to be having a feast as the red semi-coagulated blood flowed on the floor into the door.
"Hm?"
It seemed to notice he was being watched.
The brown figure stopped chewing and turned his head to face the door. Hideous veins covered his face as his scarlet pupils twitched around and scanned their surroundings. In its hand, he was holding a foot that was cut off at the ankles.
Its hideous face and dense veins did not conform to human characteristics, let alone the unicorn horn that grew on top of its head.
All indicate the identity of the brown figure.
"He—cough!"
In the corner of the room, a young man whose clothes' color was soaked in blood was leaning against the wall, half-lying on the floor with his head down.
"Quick... run..."
"Demon..."
His eyes were dull, and half of his face was gone, as only blood remained. His hoarse voice took everything he had to warn others of the horrors in their home.
He held a simple pistol in his hand; his fingers twitched as he used every last bit of his strength to pull the trigger.
Bang!
With a flash of sparks that lit up the room, the bullet spiraled and hit the sandbags at the other corner of the room.
Then—
BOOOMM!!