Several days passed in a flash.
In that time, the main trio had finally completed all the training they were supposed to.
Today was the day they would head back out on a real mission.
"Mr. Fox, I will be in your care from here on."
Tanjiro Kamado turned to look at Vincent Fox, who was now also dressed in a Demon Slayer uniform, and smiled brightly.
"Same here. I will be relying on you too."
Vincent smiled back.
"You are supposed to be really strong, right? Fight me."
At some point, the boar headed Inosuke Hashibira had already drawn his twin blades and was charging straight at Vincent, bellowing.
Stop, you idiot.
Zenitsu Agatsuma appeared just in time, grabbing Inosuke by the boar mask and yanking him back.
At this point, Zenitsu had more or less become Inosuke's external rationality regulator.
"Inosuke, Mr. Fox is our teammate now. Demon Slayers are not supposed to try to kill each other."
Smack.
Aoi Kanzaki's hand chopped down on Inosuke's head with a crisp crack.
"Idiocy is fine, but there are limits. Keep this up and I will make sure you stay here and drink medicine for a few more days."
Seeing that Inosuke finally quieted down, Aoi eased her stern expression and looked over the four of them.
"Your strength is much better than before. But before you leave, there is still one last test."
"A test?" Zenitsu perked up immediately.
"Wait right there. I will run a few laps and show you my power."
As he spoke, he started to undress… no, started unstrapping his training weights.
"Stop."
Aoi cut him off loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Why does this Demon Slayer Corps feel so unreliable?
She stepped aside and revealed the huge gourds the three little attendants had just carried in.
"If you can blow these gourds apart, it proves your training has paid off."
She moved aside to give them space.
The four of them exchanged glances.
Over the past few days, they had all managed to break these large gourds one after another.
This kind of test really was no big deal to them now.
They stepped up, each taking hold of a massive gourd.
"Begin whenever you are ready," Aoi said lightly.
Whoosh.
All four puffed out their cheeks and blew hard into the gourd mouths.
Bang.
Vincent's gourd exploded first.
Right after that, Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu's gourds burst in quick succession.
"Congratulations!"
Naho, Kiyo and Sumi leapt about like hyperactive cheerleaders, flowers clutched in their hands as they celebrated for the four.
A light figure appeared in front of them without a sound.
It was Shinobu Kocho.
"Congratulations, boys. You have finally finished your training here at the Butterfly Mansion."
She smiled gently and glanced at the shattered pieces of gourd in their hands.
"At this point, you have already mastered Total Concentration Breathing Constant. You have taken another step on the path toward becoming Hashira."
"Though you still have about ten thousand steps left, as long as you keep moving forward one step at a time every day, the road won't feel so long."
Shinobu truly was happy for them.
"Huh? It is still that far away?" Zenitsu's face collapsed.
"All that training, and we only finished one ten thousandth of the journey…"
He was practically on the verge of tears.
"Please don't lose heart, Mr. Zenitsu."
The three little girls crowded around him.
Naho lifted up the food box in her hands so they could all see.
"These rice balls are for you. You have to go out there and slay lots and lots of demons."
"What? Food?"
Inosuke reacted like he had just discovered some incredible treasure.
He hurtled forward, hands lunging straight for the neatly arranged rice balls.
"Hey, don't eat those now."
"Spit it out."
Ignoring Zenitsu's protests, Inosuke chomped down like he had been starving for days, swallowing one rice ball after another.
"Stop, you walking famine. You are embarrassing us."
Zenitsu clung to his boar mask, desperately trying to drag him away.
Just then, Tanjiro noticed the familiar figure off to the side.
"Mr. Tomioka."
He waved as he jogged over.
Wearing his usual expressionless face, Giyu Tomioka gave Tanjiro a small nod.
"Looks like you have learned Total Concentration Breathing Constant. Keep working at it."
"Thank you. I will."
Tanjiro nodded vigorously, then said with excitement, "I still have not thanked you properly for everything you did for Nezuko. I finally have the chance to thank you to your face."
Giyu turned his gaze toward the three youths.
"If you want to thank me, do it by working. The road to demon slaying is long. You still have far to go."
His eyes lingered on Vincent for a moment.
"Perhaps your first goal should be to surpass that boy."
"Mr. Fox?"
Tanjiro caught on immediately.
"Mr. Fox is really strong. But it will not be long before I become someone as strong as he is."
Giyu gave a tiny nod, so small it was almost imperceptible.
"His power comes from surviving many brushes with death. I hope you can keep going."
"Yes. I will."
Tanjiro nodded again.
Feeling the boy's determination, Giyu gave him one last glance, then vanished from sight in a single step.
Elsewhere, Zenitsu was also making his final farewells.
"You are all here to see me off because you will be lonely without me, right?"
"I will be fine even if I am the one staying behind, you know."
The three girls remained unmoved by his dramatics.
"Mr. Zenitsu, please be more mindful about how you treat girls, and about boundaries," Naho said calmly.
Zenitsu blinked.
"That feels… strangely light."
"But you would still be a little sad if I were not around, right?"
"Not at all."
The three girls answered in perfect unison.
After finishing their goodbyes at the Butterfly Mansion, the four of them set off for their next mission location.
Shinobu took out a map.
"Head here. In recent days, dozens of people have vanished from this train. Our preliminary judgment is that a demon is behind it."
"Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku will be meeting you there."
"And also…"
She looked at Tanjiro.
"As for your breathing style, since Mr. Rengoku is the Flame Hashira, he might have some ideas."
"Yes, ma'am."
Tanjiro straightened up, and the four of them departed.
As the sky gradually darkened, they finally arrived at the train station.
Tooot. Toooot.
Steam billowed into the air as the train prepared to depart, its whistle shrieking loudly.
Inosuke froze at the sight before him, completely stunned.
"Wha, wha… what is that creature?"
His loud country bumpkin yell drew plenty of stares.
"That has to be it. That is definitely it. This land's ruler."
Inosuke's country idiot mode flipped on to maximum.
"Come out, ruler of this land. I challenge you."
"Stop hiding. If you are a man, come out here and fight me. There is no one stronger than me on the ground."
"Why are you not answering? If you keep this up, I am going to attack first."
Zenitsu: "…"
Vincent: "…"
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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