The Hand Demon had always swallowed its human victims whole.
But that did not mean it would swallow a person along with their Nichirin Blade.
Those Nichirin Blades, forged with Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Ore, were usually cast aside carelessly after it had finished devouring the bodies.
It had never imagined that someone could lose their blade and still maintain an unshakeable will to fight in the moments that followed.
Even less did it expect someone to immediately snatch another blade from the surrounding corpses.
Weren't these brats wearing fox masks supposed to be completely blinded by rage the moment they heard how many of their seniors it had eaten?
Or shouldn't they fall into a state of helpless, bewildered shock the exact second their blade snapped?
How was this pink-haired brat reacting so fast?
And why the hell was he using his fists?!
Was he really trained by that bastard Urokodaki?!
"Giyu, keep going!"
Sabito shouted toward the boy in the red haori.
The offensive flared up again!
Armed with a new blade, Sabito's coordination with Giyu grew even more ferocious.
Even though the Hand Demon was now fighting desperately, the tilting balance of the battle could no longer be reversed.
Flashing cold steel intertwined like flowing water.
Thick, fleshy arms severed one after another under the relentless slashing.
The two moved as if treading on waves, finally cutting their way into the perfect position for a decisive strike.
"Water Breathing, Total Concentration!"
Sabito accelerated abruptly, stepping through the surging waves as he slid and lunged into the blind spot of the Hand Demon's side defenses.
"Water Breathing!"
Giyu's expression remained grim as he leaped through the swirling ripples of water, his movements blurring into a massive flurry of afterimages.
"Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent!"
"Third Form: Flowing Dance!"
The Hand Demon's defense was utterly shattered, and its vital weakness—its neck—was completely exposed beneath the Nichirin Blades of the two swordsmen.
My neck has multiple layers of protection, these two brats definitely can't cut through it!
In the gap between life and death, the Hand Demon repeatedly hypnotized itself with this thought.
There's no way, no way, no way they can cut through it... like hell they can't!
I'm going to die, I'm going to die!
Just as the final blow was about to connect, a familiar, somewhat cheerful voice abruptly cut into the battlefield.
"Whew, close one, close one! Made it just in time!"
"Thunder Breathing, True Total Concentration!"
"First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
A burst of blue and gold lightning exploded with a deafening roar!
It was so fast that it seemed to rip through the fabric of space, leaving the air slightly warped and heavy with a scorched scent in its wake.
Arriving later but striking first, the attack sliced precisely through the gap between Sabito and Giyu's strikes.
With a single flash, the Hand Demon's massive head flew into the air.
The newcomer was a handsome youth, his haori fluttering gently in the wind. Beneath the haori, various small items and trinkets seemed to be hanging from his belt.
Sabito blinked, looking at the familiar face that now seemed to carry a bit more sharpness and composure.
He ventured tentatively, "Senior... Natsunishi?"
Only then did Natsunishi seem to notice them.
"Fox and Uchiha—" His gaze drifted past their heads for a moment. "Ah, it's Sabito and Giyu."
"Looks like I timed my arrival perfectly."
Giyu sheared his blade back into its scabbard, looking at Natsunishi with a rare glimmer of happiness from their long-awaited reunion.
The black-haired boy spoke up, "We were not in any danger just now."
When the senior said "just in time," did he think they were locked in a bitter struggle and rushed over out of concern to help?
A barely perceptible curve tugged at the corner of Giyu's mouth.
Even for someone as emotionally reserved as Giyu, a faint warmth welled up in his heart upon meeting Natsunishi again after so long. To him, just like Sabito, Natsunishi was a comforting friend who felt like an older brother.
"Huh? I never said you guys were in danger," Natsunishi replied, looking somewhat bewildered. "I was just afraid the demon would die too quickly."
What did he mean by making it just in time?
Naturally, he meant making it in time to steal the kill.
He really didn't know what was wrong with this Final Selection dungeon on Mount Fujikasane. The density of demons here was far lower than back at Lake Ashi when he had taken his own exam. He had intentionally taken a long detour to get here, only to find a measly two or three demons along the way, and all of them were small fry well below his required execution threshold.
Now that he had finally run into a demon that was somewhat elite, he obviously had to rush over like a house on fire to claim the experience points.
As for whether this demon could actually harm these two?
Don't be ridiculous.
One had an energy level of 48, and the other was at 30. Combined, they practically equaled the demon's level. The opponent didn't even have any particularly tricky abilities, just a rather straightforward Blood Demon Art involving extra arms. Barring any accidents, it posed absolutely no threat to them.
Natsunishi even felt that if his hand speed had been a fraction of a second slower, this hard-earned experience packet would have flown right out of his grasp.
Seeing Natsunishi's completely matter-of-fact expression, Giyu stood in silence.
Give me back the emotional warmth I felt just a second ago.
"Senior, your way of making an entrance... is still as unpredictable as ever," Sabito said as he walked over, offering a wry smile. "That troublesome demon didn't register in your eyes at all, did it?"
Natsunishi glanced at the demon, which was already beginning to slowly disintegrate into ash.
"You mean this speed bump?"
Its energy level wasn't even a fraction of his own. If he hadn't been rushing to steal the kill, he wouldn't have even needed to use a Breathing Technique.
Standing to the side, Murata had turned completely to stone, his mind buzzing erratically. A... a speed bump?
Although he didn't quite understand the exact meaning of the modern phrase, he could clearly hear the casual contempt in the youth's tone.
The monster that had slaughtered over fifty swordsmen and had briefly driven Sabito and Giyu into a corner—in this person's eyes, it didn't even warrant being taken seriously?
Are the examinees in this Final Selection really this powerful?
Sabito seemed to notice Murata's bewildered state and spoke up to explain, "This is Senior Natsunishi. He is a very formidable senior within the Demon Slayer Corps."
Murata asked, sounding confused, "But aren't only the apprentice swordsmen taking the exam allowed to enter the Final Selection grounds?"
That was true. Sabito and Giyu also turned curious gazes toward Natsunishi.
"Oh, about that." Natsunishi reached into his robes, pulled out a jade token, and flashed it casually. "I came here on a special assignment."
However, the three of them did not recognize the object.
"It's a tally of authority, got it?" Natsunishi didn't bother to explain further, changing the subject instead. "By the way, are the demons in this selection ground always this scarce? I barely ran into any. It's much quieter than when I took the exam."
Murata and Giyu simultaneously turned their eyes to look silently at Sabito.
The demons were actually plentiful, it was just that... almost all of them had already been wiped out by this specific person.
"Um, Senior Natsunishi... actually, it might be because we cleared out quite a few of them just now," Sabito said, scratching his head with a touch of embarrassment.
Hearing this, Natsunishi's eye twitched slightly.
"You guys are really draining the pond to catch the fish. Don't you know how to harvest sustainably by leaving some for later?"
Is the senior scolding us for killing too many demons?
It seemed to make sense. If all the demons were wiped out completely, wouldn't they have to trouble someone like Senior Natsunishi to capture and bring in a fresh batch of demons for the next selection?
Natsunishi looked deeply pained. "What a waste! Dammit, I barely got to cut down any!"
Sabito and Giyu stared at him in confusion.
Seeing that the group looked inclined to keep chatting, Murata weakly offered a suggestion, "Um... gentlemen, should we perhaps find another place to catch up? It still feels a bit unsafe here." As he spoke, he anxiously scanned the surrounding woods.
"There's no need, Senior Natsunishi is right here." Sabito looked at the spot where the Hand Demon had completely dissolved. He could faintly sense that a certain ominous weight that had hung over him was rapidly fading into the distance. Smiling, he added, "Right now, this is the safest spot on the entire mountain."
Only then did Murata dare to look closely at Natsunishi.
Could this person be a Hashira?
After a brief exchange to catch up on their recent situations, Natsunishi waved his hand dismissively at the two of them. "You guys have pretty much passed the selection by now. Just behave yourselves and stay near the entrance. Don't interfere with my grinding—I mean, my mission."
Giyu asked, "Senior, where can we find you after this?"
"Keep leveling up. If it's meant to be, we'll run into each other within the Corps." Leaving them with a vague answer, Natsunishi's figure blurred, and he vanished into the forest like a ghost, as if he had never been there at all.
The three stood in silence for a moment.
Giyu spoke up, "Should we tell Master Urokodaki? About that Hand Demon, and the fact that it killed so many of our seniors."
Sabito hesitated for a brief second before shaking his head. "There's no need. It would only cause Master more grief."
Perhaps because the most formidable Hand Demon had been eliminated, or perhaps because Natsunishi was stirring up a storm deeper within Mount Fujikasane as he executed his mission, the remaining days of the selection proceeded exceptionally smoothly.
They didn't encounter any powerful demons again. In fact, they barely ran into even ordinary demons. The three even had enough leisure to patrol the outer areas and rescue other examinees who had fallen into difficult situations.
Seven days later, the selection finally came to an end.
The survivors walked out of the mountains one after another. Aside from the two unfortunate swordsmen who had perished to the Hand Demon at the very beginning, almost all of the twenty-odd participants survived. It was an exceptionally rare passing rate for the selection. Even the attendants responsible for overseeing the exam were seeing such a result for the first time.
After receiving their tamahagane and Kasugai Crows, Sabito and Giyu instinctively searched among the staff for that specific figure, but they found nothing.
Sabito said, "Senior Natsunishi must have already left."
Giyu replied, "Yeah."
At that moment, Natsunishi was already dozens of kilometers away. Standing by the shores of Lake Ashi, he caught the faint, lingering scent of demon aura drifting in the breeze.
He let out a sigh. "The weeds here aren't growing very well... Let's clean up quickly and head back to see the old man."
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