The Demon Slayer Corps had already informed all trainers and former Hashira about the existence of the Monjushiro long ago.
However, most of them had not taken the warning seriously.
After all
How could an insect possibly be more terrifying than a demon?
But after witnessing Tanjiro's condition firsthand, Sakonji Urokodaki finally understood the danger those creatures posed.
Fortunately, over the past months, Shinobu Kocho and the Butterfly Mansion had managed to develop several broad-spectrum antidotes using poison samples extracted from Monjushiro corpses.
Unless one encountered an especially rare venom variant, those medicines were usually effective.
Without wasting time, Urokodaki immediately retrieved one of the antidotes supplied by the Corps and injected it into Tanjiro's shoulder.
After a long while, the blackened veins spreading across Tanjiro's arm finally began fading.
Only then did Urokodaki quietly exhale in relief.
Yet before Tanjiro had fully recovered, another piece of news arrived from the Demon Slayer Corps.
The Final Selection examination had been moved forward.
Originally, it had been scheduled fifteen days later.
Now
Only three days remained.
The reason was simple.
Monjushiro sightings were increasing rapidly across Japan.
At this point, the creatures were appearing almost as frequently as demons themselves.
The Corps urgently needed more capable swordsmen.
Because of that, Tanjiro returned to the mountain the very next day despite his injuries.
He had already made up his mind.
Before leaving Sagiri Mountain
He would kill that monster.
And he would split the boulder as well.
There was no more time left.
When Tanjiro reached the summit once again, he found the two masked youths already waiting for him.
"You're here again?"
Tanjiro looked worried immediately.
"It's dangerous around here "
Before he could finish speaking, Sabito suddenly vanished from sight.
A wooden sword instantly appeared at Tanjiro's throat.
The speed was overwhelming.
"Do you even have the right to worry about others?"
Sabito's voice remained cold and merciless.
Meanwhile, the girl beside him spoke much more gently.
"It's alright, Tanjiro."
Her fox mask tilted slightly as she smiled.
"We aren't afraid."
"My name is Makomo."
Then she pointed toward the silent boy.
"And his name is Sabito."
Sabito merely lowered his sword without speaking further.
Tanjiro blinked awkwardly.
He still did not fully understand who these two were.
Makomo suddenly clapped her hands together softly.
"Because of recent events, Sabito will be helping train you from now on."
The moment she finished speaking
Sabito attacked again.
His wooden blade descended like lightning toward Tanjiro's shoulder.
Clang!!
Tanjiro instinctively blocked the strike.
This time
He did not lose his sword.
Sabito's eyes narrowed slightly behind the fox mask.
Then the attacks intensified.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The mountain echoed endlessly with the sound of wooden swords colliding.
Makomo quietly watched the two sparring beneath the trees, a faint smile remaining on her face the entire time.
Thus began Tanjiro's relentless final training.
Day after day
Sabito crushed him mercilessly.
Whenever Tanjiro relaxed, he was struck.
Whenever he hesitated, he was punished instantly.
But slowly
Very slowly
Tanjiro began adapting.
Sabito's attacks no longer felt impossible to follow.
Tanjiro started taking fewer hits.
Then he began successfully blocking attacks.
Eventually
He even started counterattacking.
On the thirteenth day, Tanjiro climbed the mountain once more as usual.
But this time, something felt different.
Sabito and Makomo stood quietly before the massive boulder without moving.
Neither of them smiled.
Neither of them prepared to spar.
Tanjiro looked confused.
"What's wrong?"
Sabito silently drew his sword.
This time
It was not a wooden sword.
The blade gleamed sharply beneath the sunlight.
He pointed it directly at Tanjiro.
"Come."
Although confused, Tanjiro instinctively raised his own blade.
The next moment
Sabito rushed forward.
Clang!!
Their swords collided violently.
"Calm down…"
Tanjiro remembered Urokodaki's teachings instinctively.
"Read the opponent's movements… sense the opening…"
Then suddenly
Tanjiro saw it.
A thread.
A transparent line connecting the movement of his sword directly toward Sabito.
In that instant, both of them moved simultaneously.
Slash!!
Tanjiro's blade cut cleanly through Sabito's fox mask.
Crack.
The broken mask fell apart.
For the first time, Tanjiro saw Sabito's real face.
A scar stretched across his cheek in the same place marked on the fox mask.
But despite everything
Sabito was smiling.
Not arrogantly.
Not mockingly.
But gently.
His eyes contained relief…
And sadness.
Tanjiro froze.
He did not understand why they suddenly looked at him that way.
Then
The surrounding mist thickened.
Sabito and Makomo's figures slowly began fading away.
"Tanjiro…"
Makomo's voice sounded distant now.
"Do your best."
Those became their final words.
And then
They vanished completely.
Tanjiro stood there in stunned silence.
But before he could process what had happened
A sharp sound suddenly tore through the air.
Whoosh!!
Tanjiro instinctively slashed toward the source of danger.
Clang!!
His blade struck against an incredibly hard shell.
The Monjushiro had returned.
The giant insect screeched furiously before lunging toward him with massive mandibles.
But Tanjiro was no longer the inexperienced boy from before.
He twisted aside skillfully and avoided the bite.
Then he leapt directly onto the creature's back.
"Before I leave this mountain…"
Tanjiro gripped his sword tightly with both hands.
"I'm going to kill you!"
He swung downward with all his strength.
Clang!!
The attack barely left a scratch.
Tanjiro's eyes widened.
"So hard?!"
Not only was the shell unbelievably durable
It was slippery as well.
Seizing the opportunity, the Monjushiro spread its wings violently and attempted to throw Tanjiro off its body.
However, by opening its wings
It exposed the softer area beneath its shell.
Tanjiro reacted instantly.
He grabbed one of the creature's tentacles tightly with one hand while raising his sword high with the other.
Then he drove the blade directly downward.
Stab!!
"HISSSSSSSS !!"
The Monjushiro shrieked in agony.
It flew wildly through the air before suddenly crashing backward in an attempt to crush Tanjiro beneath its body.
Water Breathing
Full Concentration!
Tanjiro abandoned his sword instantly and hurled himself away using the creature's own tentacle for leverage.
Unfortunately
He miscalculated.
Instead of escaping cleanly, he slammed directly into the underside of the monster's abdomen.
The Monjushiro seemed equally horrified.
Its entire body convulsed as if screaming:
Let go! We're both going to die!!
Boom!!!
Both Tanjiro and the creature crashed violently into the mountainside.
Fortunately, Tanjiro had unintentionally used the Monjushiro itself as a cushion, preventing fatal injuries.
The monster, however, was horribly mangled.
Tanjiro finally relaxed slightly.
Then suddenly
His nose twitched.
A strange scent spread through the air.
The shattered remains of the Monjushiro began writhing rapidly.
Tanjiro's eyes widened instantly.
"It's regenerating!"
Urokodaki had already taught him about the creatures' biology.
As long as the true core hidden inside the body remained intact
A Monjushiro could regenerate endlessly or escape by abandoning parts of itself.
"Not this time!"
Tanjiro suddenly perceived that transparent thread again.
Without hesitation, he grabbed the sword still embedded inside the creature's body.
Then he inhaled deeply.
Water Breathing, Eighth Form:
Waterfall Basin!!
A tremendous downward slash crashed like a waterfall descending from the heavens.
Boom!!
The Monjushiro's body exploded apart completely.
And hidden within the torrent of slashes
The tiny true body concealed inside was severed instantly.
The battle was over.
Later, after descending the mountain, Tanjiro unknowingly passed the giant boulder that now stood cleanly split in half.
Meanwhile
On top of the broken stone, Sabito and Makomo quietly sat together.
Around them stood the spirits of the other children once cared for by Urokodaki.
Makomo smiled softly.
"Sabito…"
"He did it."
"He split the boulder…"
"And he defeated the monster too."
Sabito looked toward the distant forest quietly.
Then he nodded once.
"Yes."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"He can definitely defeat that demon."
After resting for two days, Tanjiro finally prepared to leave for Final Selection.
Before his departure, Urokodaki personally handed him a fox mask.
A protective mask meant to ward off misfortune.
As Tanjiro prepared to leave, he turned around and smiled brightly.
"Thank you for everything, Urokodaki-sensei!"
Then, without thinking too deeply, he added:
"And please thank Sabito and Makomo for helping me too!"
Silence.
Urokodaki froze completely.
"…What?"
Beneath the tengu mask, his eyes widened in disbelief.
"How do you know those children's names?"
Tanjiro blinked in confusion.
He did not notice the trembling in Urokodaki's voice.
Nor did he notice
Standing quietly behind Urokodaki
Were Sabito, Makomo, and all the children Urokodaki had once raised.
Their transparent figures smiled gently.
"Urokodaki-san…"
"We couldn't bear to leave you alone."
Just as he once instructed them long ago
No matter the outcome
They all returned home first.
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