Chapter 88: For My Sake, Hit Him with a Hadouken!
It wasn't that Ubuyashiki Kagaya didn't want to reform the Demon Slayer Corps.
It was that he faced a mountain of logistical nightmares and historical
constraints.
Was he unaware of the brutality and the high mortality rate of the Final
Selection? He knew better than anyone. As the head of the family, every report
from every selection site landed on his desk first. He knew exactly how many
children fell just inches away from the finish line.
Since inheriting his position, he had silently memorized the names of those who
died and those who gave up, year after year. Naturally, the thought of change
had crossed his mind more than once.
But the Breathing Styles, the Cultivator system, and the Final Selection—this
trinity was the "Optimal Solution" the Corps had iterated over a thousand years
of blood-soaked trial and error. The "survival of the fittest" meat-grinder had,
in fact, consistently produced the top-tier warriors known as the Nine Hashira.
Reduce the difficulty? Lower the mortality rate?
Ancient records showed periods where the Final Selection was abolished entirely.
New recruits were sent on missions immediately after finishing their training
under a mentor.
The result? The overall mortality rate actually rose.
Experienced veterans were killed trying to bail out incompetent rookies.
Recruits with weak wills sold out Corps secrets or the locations of Cultivator
dojos to save their own skins. Some even begged for mercy before demons,
choosing to "descend" and become monsters themselves in exchange for eternal
life.
Following a joint petition from the Hashira of that era, the reforms were
scrapped, and the old ways were reinstated within a single generation.
Later leaders had proposed similar ideas, but they were almost always met with
fierce opposition from the Cultivators across the country. Even the Master could
not easily overturn a system that a thousand years of swordsmen had defended
with their lives.
And then there was the issue of "Resource Management." If they followed
Natsuya's plan—deploying squads or Hashira to act as Proctors for weeks at a
time—the front lines would collapse.
The Demon Slayer Corps had zero "redundant" units. Every powerful swordsman was
a firefighter; they went wherever the fire was hottest. If a Lower Moon started
slaughtering a village in the North while the Selection was happening in the
South, they couldn't afford to have their best players sitting in a forest
watching rookies.
For Kagaya, every day was a cruel balancing act. Every decision meant choosing
who to save and who to abandon. With only four active Hashira and fewer than ten
high-ranking Slayers total, the idea of "Proctors" was a luxury they simply
couldn't afford.
Furthermore, not every Hashira or Cultivator believed in "Protecting the Weak."
Some saw mercy as an insult to those who had already died. They had climbed to
the top over the corpses of their comrades; they believed the next generation
should be forged in the same fire.
Finally, Kagaya spoke of a more personal, grim reality.
The average career of a Slayer was short. The lifespan of an Ubuyashiki male was
shorter. Most of them didn't live past twenty-five.
He didn't have ten or twenty years to slowly push through a gentle reform.
Kagaya's father had committed suicide after just one year as leader, unable to
handle the guilt of watching so many children die for him. Kagaya himself had
taken the mantle at four years old. Now, the symptoms of the curse were
appearing on his skin.
He might have five years left. Maybe ten. He didn't have the time to test
unproven systems. And no one could guarantee that a change wouldn't trigger a
catastrophic failure, as it had in the past.
Most Ubuyashiki spent half their lives fighting agony and the other half
ensuring the family survived long enough to see Muzan dead. They had to navigate
the tides of history—avoiding destruction by the Shogunate, the nobles, or the
encroaching Western powers. Even with his family's near-prophetic intuition,
just keeping the Corps afloat for a millennium had taken everything they had.
"But even so," Natsuya's voice broke the heavy silence, "you can start with
small patches, right?"
"If you don't have enough elite units, you need to value the 'common' units
more. Give them room to grow."
"Even if they don't become Hashira, they can still reach the Kinoe or Otsu tier
if they don't die as rookies."
Natsuya leaned forward, warming up to his "System Patch Notes" lecture.
"And these ranks—Mizunoto, Mizunoe, all that. You should probably overhaul the
ranking logic too. Right now, everything below Hashira and Kinoe is basically
based on seniority and time-in-service. It doesn't reflect actual combat power."
"You have all these tiers, but they only affect the salary. Against a Moon-rank
demon, anyone below Kinoe is just a one-shot."
Natsuya pointed toward the yard where Kyojuro and Shinobu were still training.
"I've seen Rank 2 Slayers weaker than those two kids. And I've seen Rank 5s
and 7s who were twice as capable as the 'veterans'."
Kagaya nodded slowly. He understood Natsuya's point.
"Boss, if you want to break the cycle of talent-attrition, you have to maximize
your 'New Blood' retention. Stop the meaningless losses. I don't think the
resistance to that would be as high as you think."
Natsuya spoke with a tone that made Kagaya feel, for a moment, that the boy
wasn't even from this era.
"Small steps first. You know the saying? 'The best time to plant a tree'?"
Shinjuro and Kagaya exchanged a look. The Flame Hashira, knowing a bit about
gardening because of his wife, mused, "In the spring? When the soil thaws and
the roots can take hold—"
"No," Natsuya interrupted. "It was ten years ago."
Shinjuro: "?" (What kind of nonsense is that?)
Kagaya, however, caught the meaning immediately. He asked softly, "And the
second best time?"
Natsuya's expression turned solemn.
"The second best time... is right now."
The tea room fell into a stunned silence.
Natsuya had been a constant source of shock since he arrived at the estate.
Shinjuro had to admit the boy's words carried a strange, heavy truth.
Kagaya looked at Natsuya with profound respect. "Then, Natsuya-kun... where do
you suggest we take the first step?"
Natsuya didn't hesitate.
"Lower the lethality of the Final Selection. Shift the primary metric to
'Willpower' and 'Conviction' rather than just survival."
"Pass the talented ones as Slayers. Pass the ones who fail the combat check but
have the heart for it as Kakushi or Butterfly Mansion staff. Don't just discard
them."
"You don't need Hashira to monitor the sites. Use mid-tier Slayers with solid
records to act as Proctors. And the 'Demon Hunting' part of the exam? Keep it.
But send an 'Exterminator' to clear the map of any demons that have
'over-leveled' or developed Blood Demon Arts. Ensure the rookies don't hit a
vertical difficulty spike they can't clear."
"Once they pass, don't send them solo. Make them 'Interns.' Give them a
centralized boot camp to learn demon biology and team tactics. Then let them
shadow a veteran for a few missions."
"Otherwise, sending a fresh Mizunoto against an unknown threat is just gambling
with human lives. And the house always wins."
Natsuya kept going, covering everything from logistics to the ranking system. To
a modern man from 2099, the Corps' management was a mess.
Kagaya listened to every word, nodding occasionally. He felt a great weight lift
from his chest. Finally, he reached a decision.
"I apologize, Natsuya-kun. I cannot promise a total overhaul of the Corps'
system right now."
"HOWEVER..."
He paused, reaching into his kimono. He pulled out a specialized token made of
white jade—neither metal nor wood, cool and smooth to the touch. He placed it
gently into Natsuya's hand.
This gesture felt like he was handing over the only lever he could currently
move in the massive machine of the Corps.
"I can entrust you with this—the symbol of my personal authority. Take this Jade
Crest. It is the proof of the Ubuyashiki family. With this, you have the right
to enter and leave any of the five Final Selection sites across the country as
you please."
"The priests and the Wisteria Houses will recognize your word as mine."
"I ask you to go. Act as the 'Gardener.' Cut down the 'weeds' that have grown
too large in those forests. Ensure that the 'seeds' of our future are not
crushed before they can bloom."
"In time, we will take the results of your work and use them to drive the deeper
reforms the Corps needs."
This wasn't a mandatory order from a Master. Nor was it a sudden, chaotic
revolution. It was the start of a trend—a natural, irreversible change from the
bottom up, led by a warrior who had climbed every step of the ladder.
"Natsuya Kokonoe... for the sake of everyone..."
Kagaya looked up. His clear, curse-clouded eyes reflected the boy's resolute
face.
"Please... become a Hashira as quickly as you can."
It was a request from a leader. But more than that, it was the hope of a man who
finally saw a light at the end of a thousand-year tunnel.
☆☆☆
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