By the time the two of them finally chased Urokodaki Sakonji to the mountain summit, Tanjiro's legs were shaking uncontrollably.
His lungs burned as if they'd been punched from the inside.
"Hah… huff…
We finally… made it…"
Tanjiro braced his hands on his knees, gasping for air.
In contrast, Inosuke was only breathing a little heavily, his rhythm steady and unhurried. His lung capacity far exceeded that of an ordinary person. Heat was even faintly steaming off his body—his Ice Spirit constitution made him feel more comfortable the colder the environment became.
"Hey, old man."
Inosuke stabbed his two swords into the ground and looked toward Urokodaki, who stood at the edge of a cliff.
"So climbing a mountain counts as a test?
Isn't that a bit childish?
If that's all, I might as well teach you. Only a hundred gold pieces—great deal, right?"
Urokodaki ignored the provocation. He simply gazed at the dawn light just beginning to break along the horizon.
"I am a cultivator," he said calmly.
"My job is to forge people who would otherwise only be demon food… into swordsmen capable of severing a demon's head."
"You, right now, are still too weak."
He pointed down the mountain.
"Before daybreak, return to the house at the foot of the mountain.
If you can do it, I'll take you in.
If you can't—go back to wherever you came from."
With that, the old man's figure vanished as if swallowed by the fog.
"That's it? He's gone?"
Inosuke pulled his sword free and walked to the cliff's edge, glancing down into the unfathomable depths.
"Inosuke-kun! We have to hurry!"
Though exhausted, Tanjiro's eyes were resolute.
"Since it's a test, it won't be that simple.
The air is thin here—the path down could be slippery, and there might even be attacks—"
"Shut up. Keep up."
Before Tanjiro could finish, Inosuke leapt forward, plunging straight into the thick mist.
...
The descent was, as expected, far from simple.
Just a few steps in, Inosuke's toe brushed against a thin cord almost indistinguishable from the ground.
Click.
The trap triggered.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
From both sides of the forest, massive logs swung out on ropes, sweeping toward him.
For an ordinary person, the only reactions would be curling up or rolling away in panic.
But Inosuke wasn't ordinary.
"Get lost!"
Without even looking, he swung his twin blades outward.
Crack! Crack!
The thick logs were instantly sawed apart the moment they touched the serrated blades, wood chips exploding everywhere.
"That's a trap?"
Inosuke kicked aside the broken chunks, sneering.
"Can you put in a little skill?
This isn't even as good as my old man trying to scare me."
Behind him, Tanjiro—who had just caught the scent of the trap and was about to warn him—stared at the wreckage littering the ground.
"…!"
He swallowed.
"So… so strong!"
That level of power and reaction speed was overwhelming for Tanjiro at his current stage.
From that point on, the descent became a disaster—for the forest.
And a visual feast for Tanjiro.
Rockfall trap? Saw it apart.
Spike pit? Fill it in.
Hidden throwing blades? Fan them away.
What was meant to be a deadly, near-impossible trial on Mount Sagiri was forcibly turned into a wide, open road by Inosuke.
"I–Inosuke-kun…"
Tanjiro was practically taking a stroll behind him.
Every trap had already been destroyed; all he had to do was step around the debris. Ever since meeting Inosuke, he'd been completely carried.
"Um… I think Urokodaki-san's intention was for us to avoid the traps and train our reactions…
Isn't destroying everything a bit… wrong?"
"Shut up, fishcake Gonpachiro."
Inosuke didn't even turn his head as he casually sliced through another tripwire.
"Dodging is the choice of the weak.
The strong don't adapt to the environment—the strong change it."
He stopped, turned around, and pointed the tip of his blade at Tanjiro's nose.
"And don't think I'm doing this for myself.
Your legs are shaking like crazy—if you fall into a pit and break them, who's going to pay me back?"
"Remember this. Your life is mine now.
Until you pay back what you owe me, you're not allowed to die."
Tanjiro froze.
He looked at the devastated traps, then at the boy who was clearly carving a path for him while pretending not to care.
An overwhelming emotion surged up inside him.
"Thank you! Inosuke-kun!
You really are a kind person!"
Tanjiro shouted, eyes sparkling with trust.
"K–Kind my ass!"
Inosuke reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, shuddering in disgust.
"Don't use that gross word on me!
I'm doing this for money! For money, got it?!"
He turned away to hide the brief flicker of discomfort on his face, venting his feelings by chopping down an innocent little tree beside him.
"Move it! The sun's coming up!"
...
At the foot of the mountain, in front of the wooden house.
Urokodaki Sakonji sat cross-legged on the veranda, holding a cup of hot tea.
Based on past experience, even promising candidates would be worn down by the thin air and dense traps. Making it down before dawn was nearly impossible.
Most would end up battered halfway down the mountain, some even needing rescue.
"Probably another two hours…"
He took a sip of tea and looked at the sky, just beginning to pale with dawn, confident in the difficulty of his test.
Then—
Rumble… rumble…
A strange roar echoed from the forest.
Like a herd of beasts migrating… or a landslide.
Urokodaki raised an eyebrow.
What was that?
The next second—
Crash!
Bushes at the forest's edge exploded apart as two blades hacked through.
A boy charged out front, twin swords in hand, ferocious as a storm. Aside from some wood chips stuck to him, he wasn't even scratched.
Another boy followed behind, panting—but likewise uninjured.
"We're here!"
Inosuke charged up to the cabin, slung his swords over his shoulder, and jerked his chin at the stunned Urokodaki.
"Old man, the sun's not even fully up yet.
So? The tea's still hot, right?"
Urokodaki's teacup trembled slightly.
He looked at Inosuke… then at the path behind them.
The traps… were all gone?
Every rope severed. Every log sawed apart. Even innocent little trees had been chopped down for good measure.
This wasn't descending a mountain.
This was giving Mount Sagiri a buzz cut.
"You two…"
Urokodaki set down his teacup, his voice carrying an imperceptible tremor—and pain.
"How did you do this?"
"How'd we do it?"
Inosuke picked his ear, utterly casual.
"If I saw it, I cut it. If it blocked the way, I sawed it.
What's so hard about that?"
Beside him, Tanjiro scratched his head apologetically.
"Well… Inosuke-kun did most of the clearing. I just ran along behind him…
I'm sorry, Urokodaki-san. I didn't really get any training in."
Urokodaki fell silent.
He looked at the two boys—so different in nature.
One possessed destructive power and perception that even made him uneasy, yet was a spoiled young master.
The other had resilience and honesty, but was too gentle.
Cold and heat. Ice and charcoal.
Together… they might truly bring something unprecedented to the Demon Slayer Corps.
"You pass."
Urokodaki stood up, the gaze behind his mask softening slightly.
"Since you made it back, I accept you as my disciples."
"Tanjiro—you seek to turn your sister back into a human, correct?"
"Yes!"
Tanjiro answered loudly.
"And you?"
Urokodaki turned to Inosuke.
"Judging by your attire, your family's wealth could last you a lifetime.
Why do you seek training under me?"
Inosuke grinned.
"To become stronger.
Strong enough… to trample all those self-righteous people and demons underfoot."
"And also—"
He pointed at the Nichirin sword at Urokodaki's waist.
"I want to know if pushing Breathing techniques to their limit really lets you move so fast… that even airflow can't be sensed. Like that night."
Urokodaki studied him for a long time, then slowly nodded.
"If you can survive, I'll teach you everything I know."
...
From that day on, the training on Mount Sagiri officially escalated.
For Tanjiro, it was training from absolute zero—
swinging the blade, breathing, conditioning the body, repeating every movement tens of thousands of times until it was carved into his bones.
For Inosuke, it was a process of discipline—and humiliation.
Under the waterfall—
"Wrong!"
Urokodaki's stern voice pierced through the crashing water.
"Inosuke! Your blade is too wild! Restrain your killing intent!
Water Breathing is about calm like still water—not biting wildly like a rabid dog!"
"Annoying!"
Inosuke grit his teeth under the waterfall's impact.
He was used to tanking everything with his Ice Spirit physique, used to destroying things with twin blades.
Learning something flexible and flowing was worse than killing him.
"Why restrain it?!"
Inosuke roared, swinging his blades upstream and cleaving the falling water apart.
"As long as it kills demons, isn't that enough?!"
"Then you won't kill them!"
Urokodaki's bamboo sword lashed mercilessly across Inosuke's back.
"If you face a demon stronger and faster than you, all your wild tricks become openings!"
"Learn control! Learn to concentrate your power into a single point!"
"Total Concentration Breathing!
Fill every corner of your lungs with air!"
Day after day—
Beatings. Arguments. More beatings.
Yet amid this brutal refinement, Inosuke was thrilled to discover his body undergoing a transformation.
Under Urokodaki's guidance, he learned to control how oxygen flowed through his bloodstream.
The moment Total Concentration truly took hold, he felt his innate Ice Spirit constitution awaken to a deeper level.
The cold he once absorbed passively could now be precisely guided by his breath, clinging to his blade.
And more importantly—
Every night, when all was quiet, he would drag Tanjiro—dead-tired like a corpse—back to his feet.
"Dance!"
Inosuke barked, iron fan in hand like a foreman.
"Do that fire dance again!!"
Tanjiro never refused.
With each demonstration, another force quietly sprouted within Inosuke—
The unique breathing of the Sun.
Water Breathing's control.
Ice Breathing's destruction.
Sun Breathing's overwhelming dominance.
These three forces were undergoing an unprecedented chemical reaction within Inosuke's special body.
One year later—
Before the largest boulder on Mount Sagiri, Urokodaki Sakonji stood quietly, facing the two youths.
"I have nothing left to teach you.
The rest depends on whether you can split this stone and proceed to Final Selection."
Tanjiro stared at the boulder, eyes resolute.
Inosuke, meanwhile, curled his lip and drew his now-sharper, more vicious-looking twin Nichirin blades.
"So this stupid game of make-believe finally ends?"
He inhaled deeply, white frost forming in the air before his mouth.
"I can hardly wait…
to see some old friends again."
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