A simple and clean room.
Sunlight filtered through the window screens into the room, making the interior neither dim nor overly bright.
A familiar scent permeated the air.
"Sakonji Urokodaki-sensei's house?" Lexon recognized at a glance that this was where he and Tanjiro had lived for two years.
During the two years of Lexon's leisurely sign-ins and Tanjiro's arduous training, the two of them had squeezed into this very room together.
If Tanjiro didn't collapse from exhaustion and fall asleep instantly, he would gradually drift off while chatting with Lexon.
Looking back now, there was a sense of nostalgia.
Lexon's thoughts churned.
In his memory, this was something from over a decade ago.
It felt quite distant.
'Has Urokodaki-sensei been cleaning it all this time...?' Lexon murmured, looking at the clean room.
Even though he doesn't live in this room...
Even the positions of the bunk beds where Tanjiro and I slept haven't changed...
As he thought, a slight smile appeared on Lexon's lips.
He opened the bedroom door and entered the main hall of Sakonji Urokodaki's house.
It was still the same familiar layout.
A slightly aged wooden house...
Everything was arranged as orderly as before.
Through perception, Lexon already knew no one was home, so he wasn't surprised by the silence.
"I wonder where he went, Urokodaki-sensei." Lexon didn't intentionally expand his perception to search. He simply sat by the familiar hearth, added a few pieces of firewood to the flames, and felt the residual heat radiating from the fire.
It was winter in the world of Demon Slayer...
Snowflakes like goose feathers continued to fall outside the window.
The temperature was low and cold.
Though Lexon had long ceased to react to such temperatures.
It couldn't help but evoke memories in his mind.
It was just like when he first arrived in this world...
Deceiving Tanjiro, signing in on him, witnessing the death of his family...
Images flashed through his mind like a slideshow.
Speaking of which, souls do exist in this world, right...?
Lexon suddenly remembered.
Although many years had passed since the death of Tanjiro's family and their bodies had long since turned to dust...
If he could find their souls, it seemed possible to resurrect them, just like Sasuke's parents...
However, in the Naruto world's Pure Land, the Sage of Six Paths was in control, making it convenient to ask for souls.
But the destination of souls in the Demon Slayer world was unknown.
Let's try to find it.
With that thought, Lexon's Six Paths level spiritual energy radiated outward, consciously focusing on an elderly woman about to die of old age several miles away...
"Mother! Mother!!"
Amidst the cries of her relatives, the woman passed away completely.
Then, under the focus of his spiritual plane, Lexon vaguely saw something...
A phantom figure similar in shape rose from the old woman's body, drifting toward a certain direction in the void, and then vanished from Lexon's awareness.
'It's a bit difficult, but I'm confident...' Lexon could sense that faint connection leading to an unknown place.
It just required some effort.
And it might cause quite a stir.
Let's set it aside for now.
Lexon thought.
"Creeak..."
Suddenly, the wooden door of the house was opened, making a slightly piercing sound.
A white-haired old man wearing a Tengu mask walked in.
Upon entering the house, he was clearly stunned to see someone inside, his body freezing in place.
"Welcome back." A gentle smile appeared on Lexon's face as he spoke to Sakonji Urokodaki.
"I should be the one saying those words." The voice from beneath the Tengu mask carried an uncontrollable smile.
"Then you say it," Lexon said with a smile.
"Welcome home, Lexon." Sakonji Urokodaki also smiled and spoke steadily.
The two of them sat down together by the hearth.
"You've grown much more handsome... Lexon." Sakonji Urokodaki remarked with the sentiment of an elder.
"It's nothing," Lexon responded, then asked Sakonji Urokodaki: "Why are you still wearing that Tengu mask, Urokodaki-sensei?"
"I'm used to it," the aged voice came from under the mask. "Where have you been all this time? Tanjiro and the others have had no news of you at all. They couldn't find you even if they wanted to; it was as if you had disappeared."
"Ah... I went somewhere a bit far away," Lexon brushed it off with a casual reason. "I'll be leaving again after staying for a while."
"I see..." Sakonji Urokodaki clearly believed Lexon's words and then said in a steady voice: "Tanjiro and Nezuko miss you very much, as does Giyu Tomioka. Remember to visit them before you leave; don't just visit an old man in his seventies like me."
"Teacher is still young," Lexon said with a smile as he placed his hand on Sakonji Urokodaki's shoulder.
Because Sakonji Urokodaki trusted Lexon, he didn't offer any resistance.
Six Paths Yang Power, mixed with various energies beneficial to the body, was funneled in.
Instantly, Sakonji Urokodaki's outer skin, wrinkled and aged by time, gradually regained some elasticity. The wrinkles on his face beneath the Tengu mask also began to fade.
His white hair turned black in an instant.
His elderly body gradually regained the vitality and vigor of his middle-aged years.
"Lexon... this... you..." Sakonji Urokodaki's voice was clearly filled with astonishment.
Lexon lowered his hand and continued to smile. "I told you, Teacher is still young."
"You..." At this moment, Sakonji Urokodaki couldn't even finish a complete sentence.
He could clearly feel the surging vitality and vigor within his body.
It was like returning to his youth...
This kind of power that could restore an old person's youthful life... was it not something only a god could possess?
After a long silence, Sakonji Urokodaki finally spoke: "Tanjiro has a girl he likes now."
He didn't ask Lexon questions regarding this power but steered the conversation elsewhere.
"Kanao Tsugikuri?" Lexon responded.
"Yes, that child," Sakonji Urokodaki said as he took off his Tengu mask, facing Lexon with his true face.
"This is the first time I've seen Teacher's face... it looks very approachable," Lexon teased, looking at Sakonji Urokodaki's face, which appeared very kind and gentle.
"In the past, I was mocked by demons for looking weak because of this, so I put on the Tengu mask at Jigoro Kuwajima's suggestion," a smile bloomed on Sakonji Urokodaki's gentle face as he told Lexon.
'Kuwajima... Zenitsu Agatsuma's master...?'
"I see..." Lexon replied, then continued with a smile: "Then you won't need to wear that mask anymore. Showing an approachable face can also let people know you're a kind person... and besides, aren't you naturally such a person, Teacher?"
"Then I'll wear it less often in the future," Sakonji Urokodaki nodded in agreement.
Afterward, Lexon and Sakonji Urokodaki talked for a long time about many things.
How the Demon Slayer Corps had been during his absence...
How their acquaintances were doing...
They really talked about so, so much.
Until night fell.
Since it was already night, Lexon chose to stay in the familiar room for a day.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]