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Chapter 105: Urokodaki Sakonji: I Do Not Accept Disciples
Mt. Sagiri.
"Is this the residence of Tomioka Giyuu's master, the former Water Hashira, Mr. Urokodaki Sakonji?"
At the foot of the mountain, three young men and one woman craned their necks, gazing up toward their destination.
A teenager with a prominent scar on his forehead let out a soft gasp of awe before turning around and bowing deeply to the man and woman standing behind him. "Mr. Suyan, thank you. Thank you and Miss Shinobu for escorting Shigeru and me all this way."
"Thank you both!" Shigeru, the younger boy beside him, quickly followed suit and bowed.
This group of four was naturally Suyan's party, having departed the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters after finalizing their alliance with Ubuyashiki Kagaya. The group consisted of Suyan, Kocho Shinobu, Kamado Tanjiro, and his younger brother, Kamado Shigeru.
The purpose of their journey to Mt. Sagiri was to deliver the Kamado brothers to the former Water Hashira's hermitage so they could master Water Breathing.
At least, that was what the Kamado brothers and Shinobu believed.
Seeing that they had safely arrived at Mt. Sagiri, Shinobu let a sliver of annoyance bleed into her serene smile. "Say, Mr. Scumbag, can we go back to the Butterfly Mansion now?"
Not long ago, Suyan had explicitly asked her to take him to the Butterfly Mansion so he could see the place where Kanae used to live. Yet, the moment the meeting at Headquarters concluded, instead of returning with her, he opted to personally escort the Kamado brothers halfway across the country.
She couldn't fathom why he bothered. Escorting them was a menial task that could have easily been dumped on the highly unpopular Water Hashira, Tomioka Giyuu.
Noticing her passive-aggressive aura, Suyan merely chuckled. "Did I ever say my sole purpose for coming here was to escort Tanjiro?"
"Eh? It wasn't?" Tanjiro blinked in surprise. "Does Mr. Suyan want to learn Water Breathing from Mr. Urokodaki as well?"
Shinobu didn't say a word. She just stared dead at Suyan, a faint, deeply venomous aura radiating from her smiling face. The message was clear: If you actually plan on staying here to learn Water Breathing instead of coming back to the Butterfly Mansion with me, you're a dead man.
"Of course not," Suyan casually denied.
Why would he? He already had access to Sun Breathing, the strongest of all Breathing Styles. Unlike Tanjiro, his physique had no issues handling the immense physical strain of the original forms. He had absolutely zero need to dilute his power by learning a foundational derivative like Water Breathing.
Suyan's goal for coming to Mt. Sagiri was incredibly specific: he was here for the lingering spirits of Sabito, Makomo, and the other fallen children wandering the mountain.
Compared to Kanae's soul at the Butterfly Mansion, whose existence was currently unconfirmed in this reality, the ghosts of Sabito and Makomo on Mt. Sagiri were canonically guaranteed to be here.
Suyan turned to Shinobu. "Shinobu, could you take them up to see Mr. Urokodaki? I have some personal business to attend to—"
Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly paused and corrected himself. "Actually, never mind. It seems there's no need."
Because the man himself had already arrived.
A figure wearing a bright red Tengu mask plummeted down the mountain path at blinding speed, landing soundlessly before them. It was none other than the former Water Hashira, Urokodaki Sakonji.
As Urokodaki suddenly materialized in front of them, Tanjiro and Shigeru physically jumped in fright, startled by both his ghostly speed and the terrifying, long-nosed mask obscuring his face. Tanjiro quickly glanced at Suyan and Shinobu, who remained completely unfazed. Realizing this must be their target, the former Water Hashira, Tanjiro immediately bowed.
"H-Hello, Mr. Urokodaki! My name is Kamado Tanjiro. Please take care of me!"
Urokodaki, however, barely spared Tanjiro a passing glance. His gaze shifted immediately to the only person wearing the official Demon Slayer uniform.
Urokodaki scratched the back of his head, adopting a thoughtful posture. "If my memory serves me right, you are Kocho Shinobu, the newly promoted Insect Hashira, correct? For an active Hashira to personally seek out an old man on Mt. Sagiri... does the Master have orders for me?"
"You could say that," Shinobu replied, temporarily shelving her grudge against Suyan as she maintained her professional, polite smile. She gestured to the two brothers. "These two are Kamado Tanjiro and Kamado Shigeru. The Master respectfully requests that you take them under your wing and instruct them in Water Breathing."
"Logically, I shouldn't refuse a direct request from the Master, however..."
Hearing this, Urokodaki finally took a long, scrutinizing look at the two brothers. The boys standing before him undoubtedly looked like excellent, resilient material. But looking at them only dragged up agonizing memories. He thought of the fourteen brilliant, hardworking disciples he had painstakingly trained over the years.
Aside from Giyuu, who survived to inherit his mantle as the Water Hashira, every single one of those children had perished in the meat grinder of the Final Selection at Mt. Fujikasane. The endless cycle of sending eager children to their slaughter had left the old man thoroughly broken and exhausted.
Behind the terrifying Tengu mask, Urokodaki's expression contorted with pain. "However, I made a vow a long time ago that I would never accept another disciple. Furthermore, I clearly lack the competence to nurture true swordsmen. I ask that you return to Headquarters, Miss Insect Hashira, and humbly ask the Master to rescind his order."
"There is no need to be so overly modest," Shinobu shook her head, her tone gentle but firm. "As the mentor who cultivated the current Water Hashira, the entire Corps, including the Master, has absolute faith in your abilities. This boy, Kamado Tanjiro, is the inheritor of Sun Breathing. The Master places extreme importance on him and his brother. Moreover, Tanjiro possesses an abnormally sharp sense of smell, exactly like you, Mr. Urokodaki."
"Water Breathing is the style derived directly from Sun Breathing, making it the closest operational equivalent. If anyone in the Corps can forge these two boys into proper swordsmen, it is unequivocally you."
"Sun Breathing?!" Urokodaki's breath hitched.
The title of the 'Ultimate Breathing Style' was a legend known to nearly every veteran in the Corps. But what shocked him even more was that the boy standing in front of him shared his unique, supernatural sense of smell.
This time, Urokodaki was genuinely moved. Two wildly conflicting emotions warred in his chest. One was the suffocating guilt over Sabito and the other fallen children. The other was a burning, desperate hope to take Tanjiro in. What if this boy, like Giyuu, was the exception?
After a brief internal struggle, the old master finally relented. "I understand. I will accept them as my disciples. However, if they fail to meet my exact standards, I will absolutely forbid them from descending the mountain to participate in the Final Selection."
"Naturally," Shinobu smiled, breathing a quiet sigh of relief. "Since the Corps has placed them in your care, their training and fate are entirely in your hands."
"And what about him? Is he also here to learn Water Breathing?" With the matter settled, Urokodaki finally turned his attention to Suyan, who had been standing silently off to the side since his arrival.
"No, I am simply in a cooperative partnership with the Demon Slayer Corps. You don't need to concern yourself with me," Suyan replied casually. "My purpose here is entirely different from theirs. Would you mind if I headed up the mountain alone to meet a few friends?"
"Friends?" Urokodaki blanked for a second.
He was the only living soul residing on Mt. Sagiri. Who on earth was this man planning to meet? However, considering the Insect Hashira was vouching for him, Urokodaki didn't suspect Suyan of harboring malicious intent.
"You may go," Urokodaki nodded.
Without a moment of hesitation, Suyan bypassed the group and dashed up the mountain path, heading straight toward the boulder where Urokodaki traditionally trained his students.
He already knew exactly where he was going. A moment ago, he had expanded his En, blanketing the mountain in his aura. Within the dense forest, he had detected thirteen distinct clusters of energy—anomalies that felt like a bizarre hybrid of latent Nen and biological signatures.
Unless he was gravely mistaken, those thirteen clusters were exactly what he had come for.
The lingering, unfulfilled souls of the former Water Hashira's beloved disciples, eternally trapped on the mountain.
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