Chapter 191: Inosuke: This Place is Too Dangerous
The rhythmic clatter of wooden wheels against the dirt road provided a steady backdrop as Akira sat inside the swaying carriage. A blank sheet of paper rested on his knee. Pen in hand, he drafted a letter to Kagaya Ubuyashiki, detailing the general situation regarding Inosuke. His primary request was simple: the Master needed to find a Cultivator with an exceptionally mild temperament to teach the feral boy a Breathing Technique.
Right now, Inosuke lacked even the most basic understanding of human society. Raised by wild boars in the deep mountains, he carried a raw, untamed aura. His blunt words and erratic actions were a recipe for unintentionally provoking the anger of anyone he met.
Living in the unforgiving wilderness since infancy had forced Inosuke to develop a set of highly primitive, fiercely effective combat instincts, entirely devoid of systematic martial arts training. Ordinary swordsmen wouldn't stand a chance of making him behave.
The only reason the boy sat relatively quietly in the corner of the carriage right now was because Akira had established absolute dominance. Earlier, Akira had appeared behind him without making a single sound, effortlessly seeing through his bizarre trick of shifting his internal organs. That single encounter had forced a harsh truth into Inosuke's head: he could not beat this man.
For a creature of the wild, this simple logic of predator and prey was the most effective method of communication.
However, outside of a few retired Hashira, the standard Cultivators within the Demon Slayer Corps lacked the overwhelming physical strength required to suppress Inosuke through sheer force.
Akira sifted through his memories. The most suitable foundation for the boy was undoubtedly Wind Breathing. In the original trajectory of the world, Beast Breathing was a direct derivative of Wind Breathing, cobbled together through sheer instinct and guesswork after Inosuke fought a Wind Breathing swordsman.
While starting him on a different path wouldn't necessarily stop Inosuke from forging his own unique style, it was better to play it safe and stick to the established route.
The problem was the current roster of Wind Breathing Cultivators. Their strength was merely average. They were perfectly adequate for guiding a normal recruit through the basics, but trying to force a feral child like Inosuke to listen to their instructions would be an absolute nightmare.
If brute strength couldn't keep him in line, the only alternative was an overwhelming display of patience and kindness. Beneath his aggressive exterior, Inosuke possessed an incredibly pure mindset. If someone treated him with genuine warmth, his natural instinct would drive him to repay that kindness with absolute loyalty. Win his approval through care, and he would behave.
Naturally, the thought of Wind Breathing brought another idea to Akira's mind. He could just toss the boy to Sanemi Shinazugawa.
Given Sanemi's overwhelming power, suppressing the current Inosuke would be child's play.
The only minor issue was whether Inosuke would survive the training without being beaten to a bloody pulp. The boy's foul mouth wasn't malicious; he simply blurted out whatever crossed his mind. Yet, it was exactly that kind of unfiltered honesty that tended to infuriate people the most.
Akira paused his writing, a dryly amused thought crossing his mind. 'Exactly. I am talking about you, Giyu.'
Combine Inosuke's supernatural talent for stirring up trouble with Sanemi's notoriously short fuse, and Akira highly doubted the boy would finish his training with all his limbs intact.
As for keeping Inosuke at the Butterfly Mansion to teach him personally... that was out of the question. Aside from Akira himself and his father-in-law, no males were permitted to reside permanently on the estate grounds. Even the wounded slayers were strictly confined to the Medical Department wards until they healed.
It wasn't that Akira lacked the knowledge to teach Wind Breathing. He actually knew a fair bit of it. During their past sparring sessions, Akira had copied the forms directly from Sanemi. The Wind Hashira had nearly dropped his blade in shock when Akira suddenly unleashed the exact same moves against him mid-fight.
'Are you going to claim you are not cheating?'Sanemi had demanded.'I never turn my advantages off,'Akira had replied with a calm smile.'Unbelievable,' Sanemi had grumbled.
While Akira wasn't a master at applying Wind Breathing to its absolute limits, guiding a beginner through the foundational steps would be effortless. In fact, the inspiration for Makomo's custom technique had sparked when Akira casually used Wind Breathing during one of their practice bouts.
But Akira had no desire to take on formal disciples. Mitsuri was the sole exception, and even she had only learned the basics from him before figuring out the rest on her own, eventually developing her unique style alongside Kanae.
The plan remained simple. Akira would bring Inosuke to the Corps, arrange a suitable Cultivator, and let him tackle the Final Selection once his training was complete.
Because he had to manage Inosuke's erratic travel pace, several days passed before Akira finally returned to the familiar grounds of the Butterfly Mansion. Gyomei had departed the carriage midway to handle his own duties, leaving Inosuke to trail behind Akira. A Kakushi was already scheduled to arrive shortly to escort the boy to his new master.
"Brother!"
The moment Akira stepped through the entrance of the small courtyard, a familiar figure pounced.
Akira reached out instinctively, catching Kanao smoothly in his arms.
However, the usual warm greetings were entirely absent. She didn't murmur how much she had missed him. Instead, her head turned, her dark eyes locking onto the strange, boar-headed boy lingering near the gateway.
"Brother, who is he?" Kanao asked, her voice perfectly level.
"Oh, him," Akira replied casually. "His name is Hashibira Inosuke. He is an orphan I picked up on the way back."
Hearing the dismissive introduction, Inosuke bristled. He opened his mouth, ready to shout a loud retort about being the King of the Mountains.
Before a single sound could leave his throat, a violent shiver racked his entire body.
His feral instincts screamed. An incredibly dangerous aura radiated from the girl resting in Akira's arms. She looked to be exactly his age, yet her gaze was entirely devoid of light.
In the span of a single heartbeat, Inosuke felt as though he had been cornered by an apex predator. The illusion of a cute, harmless girl vanished completely. To his highly tuned senses, she was a terrifyingly fierce creature, far more lethal than the largest bears or wolves he had ever wrestled in the wild. The urge to yell at Akira evaporated into thin air.
'In this house, it is more than enough to have just one person picked up by Brother...'
The dark, possessive thought echoed silently behind Kanao's unblinking stare.
Sensing the sudden, heavy shift in the atmosphere and recognizing the dangerous signs of Kanao's mood souring, Akira quickly cleared his throat. "Someone will be arriving to take him away shortly."
The effect was instantaneous. The oppressive, deadly aura vanished. Kanao blinked, her eyes softening as she reverted to her usual gentle self, making the chilling darkness from a moment ago seem like a mere hallucination.
Akira and Inosuke both exhaled a quiet sigh of relief at the exact same time.
Stepping further into the courtyard, the sharp clack of wood striking wood echoed through the air. Kanae and Makomo were locked in a fierce sparring match. Mitsuri was nowhere to be seen, likely out on a mission.
Inosuke watched the two older girls move. Their wooden katanas blurred through the air, kicking up violent storms of dust with every heavy impact. The sheer kinetic force behind their strikes made his chest tighten. Once again, a deep sense of weakness washed over him. He felt absolutely zero sense of security in this place.
A girl his own age had just triggered his primal fight-or-flight response with a single look. Now, these two slightly older girls were casually displaying enough power to crush his skull without breaking a sweat.
Then, his gaze shifted to Akira standing beside him. This man, who smiled so warmly at these terrifying girls, was the ultimate monster—a being who could see the microscopic shifts of his internal organs without even trying.
Compared to the absolute freaks living in this estate, the flesh-eating demons Akira had warned him about suddenly sounded like a walk in the park.
"Akira-kun, who is he?"
Noticing Akira's return, Kanae and Makomo halted their spar. They lowered their wooden blades, staring at the newcomer with clear confusion.
He had the body of a human boy, yet he wore a hollowed-out boar's head over his face. More concerning was his posture. Despite standing upright and breathing, he looked entirely dead inside, his spirit visibly crushed.
Ignoring Inosuke's strange, catatonic state of mental projection, Akira gave the girls a brief rundown of the situation.
A short while later, a masked Kakushi arrived at the gates, bowing respectfully before leading a strangely compliant Inosuke away.
The boar-headed boy didn't even bother to throw out his usual tough parting words. There was no promise to beat Akira after training, no loud declarations of his greatness. He simply followed the Kakushi in silence.
Watching Inosuke's rapidly retreating figure—which looked suspiciously like a desperate escape—Akira stroked his chin. He turned to the beautiful girls standing beside him, a look of genuine bewilderment on his face.
"Is the Butterfly Mansion secretly some kind of dragon's den or tiger's lair?"
Kanae, Makomo, and Kanao exchanged blank looks, completely clueless, before shaking their heads in unison.
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