Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for just $7 to get early access to all upcoming chapters!
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations
─────
Chapter 106: The Long-Forgotten Equivalent Exchange Ability
A training clearing partway up Mt. Sagiri.
"Someone's coming!"
A young boy with peach-colored hair, his face hidden behind a fox mask bearing a distinctive scar over the cheek, keenly sensed the approach. He turned, gazing down the mountain path, and spoke in a flat tone.
"Is it Mr. Urokodaki's new disciple?"
A soft, airy voice drifted over from right beside him. Sitting atop the massive boulder in the very center of the training ground was a black-haired girl. She wore a short, red kimono patterned with plum blossoms, and a fox mask adorned with blue flowers sat askew on her head. Her clear, cyan eyes sparkled like precious lapis lazuli, giving her an incredibly gentle and endearing aura.
"I hope this junior disciple is a bit more capable. I don't want to see anyone else die in the Final Selection. I can't bear to see Mr. Urokodaki look so heartbroken again."
The girl's voice matched her appearance—gentle, weightless, and ethereal.
These two were Tomioka Giyuu's fellow disciples, and the eternal source of grief in the heart of the former Water Hashira, Urokodaki Sakonji.
They were Urokodaki's Disciples—Sabito and Makomo.
"It's useless. That guy's neck is simply too hard." Sabito shook his head, instantly rejecting Makomo's optimism. "A swordsman who has only grasped the basics of Breathing Styles cannot possibly sever its neck and kill it."
"Damn it! If only I had been a little faster, a little more careful!"
Sabito clenched his fists in fury and slammed them against the boulder beneath Makomo, producing a heavy thud.
"Please don't blame yourself, Sabito. It's not your fault." Makomo leaped lightly from the rock to comfort him. "After all, so many of us failed, didn't we?"
As she finished speaking, more figures wearing identical fox masks began to materialize behind her. None of them spoke; they simply gazed at Sabito in silent, comforting solidarity.
Sabito gripped his fists tighter, biting his lip in frustration as his fingernails dug deep into the soft flesh of his palms.
This was exactly why he felt so much resentment!
As Mr. Urokodaki's strongest disciple, his sheer overconfidence had blinded him during the Final Selection—so much so that he hadn't even noticed the wear and tear on his own Nichirin Blade. It was only because his sword snapped at the crucial moment against the Hand Demon that he had frozen in shock, allowing the monster to kill him.
He didn't resent his own death; he hated his own incompetence.
If he had just been a little more careful and killed that Hand Demon on Mt. Fujikasane, the juniors standing behind him wouldn't have followed in his tragic footsteps. He wouldn't have caused Mr. Urokodaki such agonizing sorrow time and time again.
"Moshi moshi, are you Mr. Urokodaki's disciples?"
A rather frivolous voice suddenly rang out from in front of them, snapping Sabito out of his grim memories.
Sabito raised his head to find a young man with black hair and dark eyes standing right before him. Astonished, Sabito asked, "You can see me?"
"Of course," Suyan replied softly.
If he relied purely on his naked eye, he naturally wouldn't have been able to perceive these ethereal phantoms. But once he applied the Nen technique, Gyo, everything changed. Suyan could clearly see the lingering spirits of the fallen Water Breathing Disciples.
"So, you are Mr. Urokodaki's disciples, right?" Suyan asked again.
"That's right, we are indeed the master's disciples." Makomo looked curiously at this strange man who could perceive them. "Are you the master's new disciple?"
"Nope." Suyan shook his head. "Mr. Urokodaki's two new disciples are currently at the bottom of the mountain having a chat with him. I came up here specifically for you, Miss Makomo!"
"Eh? For me?"
Makomo blinked at him in surprise. She had been dead for five or six years now, and as far as she could recall, she had never crossed paths with this man while alive. Given his striking appearance, she surely would have remembered him.
"Yes. To tell you the truth, I want to make Miss Makomo my Nen Beast," Suyan nodded.
As one of the great tragic figures of the Demon Slayer world, Suyan's initial thought had been to form a Contract with Makomo, much like he had done with Kanroji Mitsuri and the others. However, upon seeing her current state in person, his intuition warned him that his Contract ability would be useless on a soul.
Instead, his very first awakened—and entirely unused—Nen ability, Equivalent Exchange, resonated within him. It whispered that he could use its power on the girl before him, fulfilling her dying wish as the exchange condition to acquire her ownership.
He could turn her into a Nen Beast completely bound to him, much like YukimiBotamon.
As for why only Makomo?
It was true that Equivalent Exchange could technically be used on Sabito and the other disciples. But it would be pointless. Once the exchange was complete and Suyan gained ownership, Makomo would be able to enter Greed Island by virtue of being his "property."
Sabito and the boys could not. Greed Island strictly rejected all males except Suyan himself.
"Make me your Nen Beast? What does that mean?" Makomo tilted her head, pressing an index finger to her lips as she looked at Suyan in total confusion.
"You should know what an Onmyoji is, right?" Suyan offered a simple explanation. "A so-called Nen Beast is an existence very similar to an Onmyoji's Shikigami. I will find a way to help you fulfill your final dying wish, and as the exchange condition, you must become my Nen Beast. That's pretty much the gist of it."
"Is that so?" Makomo scratched her cheek.
As a Japanese girl, she was naturally familiar with the Onmyoji, the most widely known occult profession in the island nation. But she had always assumed it was just a myth—a misunderstanding spawned by ordinary people witnessing the Demon Slayer Corps in action.
However, since this man could actually see her, perhaps what he said was true?
Makomo couldn't help but feel a flicker of temptation. If he really could help them kill that Hand Demon on Mt. Fujikasane, then becoming his Shikigami didn't seem like a bad deal at all.
"If you want to make us your Shikigami, then you'll have to let me test your strength first!"
Before Makomo could gather her thoughts, Sabito grabbed a wooden practice sword and stepped forward. He had completely missed the part where Suyan explicitly stated that his Nen Beast offer only applied to Makomo.
In Sabito's eyes, he was the strongest swordsman among them. If this man was looking for a Shikigami, why would he ignore the strongest? Therefore, it was only natural that he properly gauge Suyan's combat prowess.
If he was weak, he wouldn't stand a chance of fulfilling their dying wish and defeating the Hand Demon anyway.
Makomo stared blankly at Sabito pointing his sword at Suyan, then muttered weakly to herself, "I don't think he said the word 'us'..."
─────
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations