Based on Kurosaki Rei's understanding of the original manga, when facing powerful demons, the Hashira relied on three major trump cards: the Transparent World, the Demon Slayer Mark, and the Red Nichirin Blade.
Kurosaki Rei understood the Transparent World as a special state that allowed one to see through an enemy's inner workings—the rhythm of muscle exertion, the frequency of breathing—thus predicting their movements. It was essentially a powerful ability to read one's opponent.
The Demon Slayer Mark was a form of latent potential release. Because it overdrew one's life force, those who awakened the mark later in life generally didn't live past the age of twenty-five.
As for the Red Nichirin Blade, it was originally created when users of Sun Breathing infused their power into their blades, generating high heat to greatly enhance damage against demons.
Later in the manga, even other Hashira could achieve a Red Blade by exerting tremendous grip strength or by forcefully clashing weapons, raising the blade's temperature until it turned crimson.
To be honest, Kurosaki Rei wasn't particularly interested in any of these techniques.
He already possessed skills that unlocked latent potential and boosted combat power. Such "burst-mode" abilities clearly couldn't be stacked endlessly—otherwise all Explorers would just learn these kinds of skills and ignore base attribute growth. Moreover, the Demon Slayer Mark's side effects were far worse than those of his Ghost God state.
As for the Transparent World, its methods for concealing one's presence were somewhat intriguing, but observing opponents, predicting their attacks, and sensing the flow of power were things Kurosaki Rei could already do. He had no need for that almost clairvoyant illusion.
In life-and-death combat, Kurosaki Rei relied more on his combat instincts anyway.
The last one—the Red Blade—felt even more underwhelming to him.
In short, the most useful thing this world had to offer him… he had already obtained: Breathing Styles.
Since childhood, Kurosaki Rei had been fascinated by internal cultivation techniques. This was the kind of system with true potential. Simply put, Breathing Styles directly increased one's stats.
Without sufficiently high base values, things like the Transparent World, the Demon Slayer Mark, or the Red Blade didn't amount to much. A single slash from a Mist Hashira with the Mark couldn't be compared to Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
It wasn't that Yoriichi's talent so vastly surpassed the Mist Hashira's—it was that their numbers weren't even on the same level.
In the battle against Upper Rank One, once the Stone Hashira activated the Mark, it was a completely different story. Every strike was like a critical hit, putting even "Big Brother One" under immense pressure.
Thus, Kurosaki Rei felt there was no need to chase flashy, complicated abilities in this world. Mastering Breathing Styles would be enough.
Under the state of Total Concentration Constant, Breathing Styles could permanently improve the body's constitution. That was why Kurosaki Rei categorized them as "internal cultivation."
And in combat, fully unleashing a Breathing Style could further amplify physical attributes—providing both long-term buffs and explosive burst power.
Within the realm of cultivation systems, this was an excellent framework that Explorers could obtain early on. Kurosaki Rei estimated that within the first and second tiers, Breathing Styles would remain highly effective.
If he could thoroughly comprehend and even refine them, perhaps he could gain even more stat bonuses and use them for much longer.
For now, however, while Breathing Styles were easy to learn, truly mastering them would still take time. At present, Kurosaki Rei's attributes hadn't increased yet; only when using Thunder Breathing techniques did his stats briefly spike by one or two points.
Of course, Thunder Breathing didn't just provide raw numbers. Its defining trait was godlike speed.
When fully unleashed, Thunder Breathing granted a significant speed boost, allowing Kurosaki Rei's flash-step to become even faster.
Greater speed meant higher damage from Imprisoned Demon, so the benefits of Breathing Styles couldn't be judged by numbers alone. Each Breathing Style's unique mechanics mattered as well.
From this perspective, Kurosaki Rei had even considered apprenticing under the Stone Hashira—he felt Stone Breathing had a rather solid "mechanic" too.
"Thank you all for coming tonight to participate in the Demon Slayer Corps Final Selection."
A clear, youthful female voice interrupted Kurosaki Rei's整理 of the world's information. He looked up toward two figures emerging from the wisteria forest.
They were a pair of twin girls with shoulder-length hair, wearing kimonos embroidered with wisteria patterns. Their onion-like purple eyes looked somewhat eerie at first glance.
Seeing the two girls, Zenitsu subconsciously moved closer to Kurosaki Rei, hiding behind him as he trembled.
"Within this Mount Fujikasane, demons captured alive by Demon Slayers are confined," the white-haired girl began explaining the rules. "These demons cannot leave…"
"That's because wisteria flowers—hated by demons—bloom year-round up to the mountainside," she continued. "But beyond that point, there are no more wisteria flowers… which means demons will appear."
Zenitsu shuddered upon hearing this, pressing even closer to Kurosaki Rei. Despite already knowing how the Final Selection worked, he couldn't help but feel afraid.
"Survive here for seven days," the black-haired girl continued. "That is the condition for passing the Final Selection."
Many of the Demon Slayer candidates exchanged uneasy glances, though some remained calm. Kurosaki Rei scanned the crowd—besides the original protagonists, there were two older-looking individuals who hadn't appeared in the manga. They were likely Explorers.
Those two also noticed Kurosaki Rei. Seeing Zenitsu sticking close to him, a flicker of surprise crossed their eyes before turning gloomy.
The two Explorers were in a terrible mood. After arriving at the selection site, they finally faced reality—
Hardly anyone had chosen the Demon Slayer Corps faction.
Once their initial passion cooled, doubt crept in regarding their original decision.
This world had a total of thirty-six Explorers. If the Explorers present here represented the entire Demon Slayer faction, then didn't that mean it was three versus thirty-three?
And the Muzan faction already had a combat advantage to begin with. How were they supposed to play this out?
For a moment, despair filled their hearts. They were already thinking about hiding and simply muddling through this world.
As long as there was no erasure penalty tied to failure, they didn't plan to complete any tasks. Survival was the top priority.
"Then… I wish you all a safe journey."
The two kimono-clad girls bowed and spoke their words of blessing.
This only worsened the two Explorers' irritation. They weren't afraid of the Final Selection itself—but the phrase "safe journey" felt eerily like a prophecy of their future in this world.
"Senior Brother Rei… even though I'm really scared, I'll do my best and won't hold you back."
Zenitsu forcibly suppressed his fear and spoke with difficulty.
He knew his senior brother would look after him, but since he had come here, he didn't want to be nothing more than dead weight hiding behind Kurosaki Rei. That would be far too shameful, unworthy of Grandpa's teachings.
Kurosaki Rei smiled when he heard this. He had half expected Zenitsu to cling to him—but Zenitsu's performance wasn't bad at all.
"Senior Brother will give you a question," Kurosaki Rei said. "As long as you slay one demon, I'll guarantee you safely pass the selection."
"Just kill one demon?"
Zenitsu froze. "But demons are really scary…"
As he spoke, he lowered his head. He recognized his own cowardice. There were countless demons on this mountain—Senior Brother was only giving him the simplest possible trial.
"Don't worry, Senior Brother. I'll definitely try my best to slay a demon!"
Zenitsu mustered his courage.
He finally understood what his senior brother meant. If he didn't even have the strength to kill a single demon, then he simply wasn't qualified to join the Demon Slayer Corps.
Even if Senior Brother protected him through the selection, it would only push him into an even more dangerous abyss—after all, Senior Brother couldn't stay by his side forever.
Did he really want to remain a useless coward in everyone's eyes?
He didn't want Senior Brother to worry about him. He didn't want to disappoint Grandpa either.
So he would try. He would slay a demon—prove himself worthy of becoming a true Demon Slayer.
Seeing the other candidates entering the mountain one by one, Kurosaki Rei stepped forward.
"Let's go," he said. "Our selection begins."
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