The Wisteria Crest House

Giyu Tomioka walked at an unhurried pace, always keeping close enough for the badly injured Moyu to follow. Moyu clutched his chest, each step sending pain through his wounds, but the subtle flow of energy from the Six Eyes at least kept him conscious.

The way down the mountain was longer than he had imagined. Dawn gradually spread across the mountain path, and the scent of Wisteria drifted from somewhere—a smell demons hated, and a symbol of safety.

"Where are we going?" Moyu finally asked, his voice hoarse with weakness.

"The Wisteria Crest House," Giyu answered tersely, without looking back. "There's a doctor."

Moyu understood. In the original story, these Wisteria Houses were scattered across the land, serving as important logistical bases for the Demon Slayer Corps and providing its members with treatment, food, lodging, and information. He hadn't expected to encounter one of this world's central organizations so soon.

About two hours later, a Japanese-style estate surrounded by tall walls appeared at the foot of the mountain. Wisteria grew all along both sides of the walls. Though it wasn't peak flowering season, the distinctive pale-purple clusters still hung like waterfalls, swaying in the morning light.

Giyu pushed open the wooden gate. Sure enough, a conspicuous Wisteria crest was carved above it.

"Lord Giyu." A middle-aged woman in a pale-purple kimono came forward and bowed respectfully. Her gaze then fell on Moyu, and her brow furrowed slightly when she saw the wounds on his chest. "And this is..."

"A survivor," Giyu said succinctly. "He needs treatment."

"Please follow me." The woman asked no further questions and turned to lead the way.

The estate was quiet and clean, with wind chimes hanging beneath the eaves and ringing crisply. Moyu was brought into a brightly lit room, where bedding had already been laid out on the tatami. A white-haired old man waited nearby with a medicine chest.

"Dr. Hirano, sorry for the trouble." Giyu nodded to the old man.

"Let me have a look." The old man knelt and carefully pulled back Moyu's blood-soaked clothing. When he saw the three claw marks, deep enough to expose bone, he drew a sharp breath. "These are... demon claw wounds. Young man, it's a miracle you survived."

Moyu smiled bitterly. It would indeed have been a miracle, if not for the system.

The treatment was long and painful. The old man first cleaned the wounds with a medicinal solution infused with Wisteria. The sting against his flesh brought cold sweat to Moyu's forehead. Next came the salve and bandages, each step precise and practiced.

Throughout the process, Moyu quietly activated the Six Eyes in low-load mode. He "saw" how the active ingredients in the herbs seeped into his wounds, how they suppressed the toxicity of the residual demon blood, and how they promoted cell regeneration. Through the Six Eyes, those complex biochemical processes became a series of clear diagrams showing the flow of energy.

"Hm?" The old doctor, who was preparing a second dose of salve, suddenly paused and examined Moyu's wounds closely. "This rate of recovery..."

Moyu looked down and saw tender pink flesh already growing at the edges of his wounds. Though slow, it was far faster than a normal person's recovery. He understood at once—the energy converted by the Six Eyes was taking effect, and together with the recovery potion he had redeemed earlier, it was accelerating his body's healing.

"Maybe I have an unusual constitution," Moyu explained vaguely.

Giyu had stood against the wall throughout, watching silently. His gaze occasionally passed over Moyu's eyes. Those Azure irises took on a faint sheen as the light changed, something no ordinary person possessed.

After finishing the bandaging, the old doctor gave Moyu a dose of medicinal decoction. The bitter liquid went down his throat, bringing a warm current with it, and his fatigue eased somewhat.

"Rest quietly for three days. No strenuous activity," the old doctor instructed. "Change the dressing once a day. At your rate of recovery, you might be able to get out of bed and walk before three days are up."

"Thank you, Doctor," Moyu said sincerely.

After the old doctor packed up his medicine chest and left, only Moyu and Giyu remained in the room. Silence suddenly settled over them, broken only by the crisp, rhythmic clack of a bamboo tube striking stone in the courtyard.

"Your eyes," Giyu finally said. "Can they see things other people can't?"

Moyu was startled, but kept his expression calm. "Why do you say that?"

"The traces of the fight." Giyu walked to the window, his back to Moyu. "The demon's attack paths were unnatural. Some claw marks suddenly changed direction just before reaching the ground, as though they'd struck an invisible wall. And your evasive movements were unreasonably precise for someone who was badly injured."

As expected of the future Water Hashira. His powers of observation are incredibly sharp, Moyu thought.

"I can see some things... the flow of energy," Moyu said, choosing his words carefully. "A demon's techniques, the weak points of the human body, even the active ingredients in herbs. It's an innate ability. It wasn't obvious before, but it fully awakened when I encountered the demon last night."

A story that was half true and half false was the hardest to see through.

Giyu turned around, his rippled eyes looking straight at Moyu. "Do you want to kill demons?"

"Yes," Moyu answered without hesitation. "I saw it kill people with my own eyes. And... I don't want to be able to do nothing but run away, like I did last night."

He meant it. He didn't want to experience that helplessness or that fear of imminent death a second time.

Giyu was silent for a moment, then said, "Once your wounds have healed, I'll take you to meet someone."

Moyu's heart leaped. Here it comes: Tanjiro and Giyu's master in the original story, the inheritor of Water Breathing.

"However," Giyu added, "whether he takes you as a disciple will depend on you."

"I'll do my best," Moyu said solemnly.

Giyu nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave the room.

For the next two days, Moyu rested at the Wisteria House. During that time, he studied the exchange shop through the system interface.

The beginner section was unlocked, displaying a dazzling array of abilities:

[Body Replacement Technique package (Clone Technique/Body Replacement Technique/Transformation Technique): 300 gold coins]

[Six Powers: Shave: 400 gold coins]

[Basic Observation Haki (introductory): 500 gold coins]

[Chakra Refinement Method (basic): 200 gold coins]

[Universal Breathing Style Enhancement (beginner): 350 gold coins]

He had only 150 gold coins at the moment. He was broke and couldn't redeem a thing.

System, if I want to learn Water Breathing, which ability would help me most? he asked inwardly.

[Analyzing... Recommendation: Universal Breathing Style Enhancement (beginner). It can improve comprehension of Breathing Styles and the speed of adaptation, lowering the threshold for training. Note: Breathing Styles in this world and redeemed abilities belong to different systems. The results of combining them vary from person to person.]

Moyu made a note of the suggestion, though he couldn't redeem it for now. He wanted to see how far he could get with the help of the Six Eyes; if he needed it, he could redeem it later. Gold coins had to be spent where they would count.

Over those two days, Moyu also tried to familiarize himself further with the Six Eyes. In low-load mode, he could keep them active for several hours without a headache, using them mainly in two ways:

The first was observing himself. The Six Eyes allowed him to "look inward" at the flow of energy within his body, especially the energy that flowed from his eyes, which the system called "trace amounts of Cursed Energy." He discovered that he could slowly move this energy through his body with his mind. Though there was very little of it, it strengthened his cells and accelerated his recovery. With the Six Eyes' precise control, he could even guide the energy to his wounds, increasing the speed of healing by about thirty percent.

The second was analyzing his surroundings. The various medicinal herbs grown at the Wisteria House appeared to him as collections of energy in different colors and forms. By observing the doctor prepare medicines, he gradually came to understand which combinations of herbs produced synergistic effects—something that might be useful in the future.

On the morning of the third day, the old doctor removed the bandages to examine him and was surprised to find that the wounds had already scabbed over and begun healing at the edges.

"It's incredible," the old doctor said, shaking his head. "In forty years of practicing medicine, I've never seen such powers of recovery. Young man, your constitution is extraordinary."

Moyu merely smiled. He knew it was mainly thanks to the Six Eyes and the recovery potion.

That afternoon, Giyu appeared at the Wisteria House again. He looked Moyu over, and seeing that he could move freely, said, "Get ready to leave. My master lives in the mountains. It's a day's walk."

Moyu had already packed. In truth, he had little luggage: only a set of clean clothes and some dried provisions supplied by the Wisteria House.

Before he left, the middle-aged woman handed Moyu a small bundle. "There's medicine for changing your dressing and a Wisteria sachet inside. Please take care."

"Thank you for looking after me these past few days." Moyu bowed in thanks.

After leaving the Wisteria House, Giyu led Moyu north. The two walked in silence, with only their footsteps echoing through the forest. Moyu kept the Six Eyes active at the lowest level, observing Giyu's steps. The perfectly measured rhythm of each stride was clearly the result of long training.

Toward evening, they stopped to rest beside a stream. Giyu built a campfire and roasted the rice balls he had brought with him.

"Mr. Giyu," Moyu finally asked, "what kind of person is your master?"

Giyu stared at the dancing flames for a long time before answering, "Strict, but fair."

"Then, Water Breathing... is it hard to learn?"

"Hard." Giyu's answer was blunt. "A Breathing Style burns your life in exchange for strength."

Moyu fell silent. That was the cruel truth of Breathing Styles in the original story: the curse that prevented swordsmen with Demon Slayer Marks from living past twenty-five.

"Do you still want to learn it?" Giyu looked at him.

"I do," Moyu said firmly. "If that power can save more people and protect the people I cherish, then it's worth spending some of my life..." Besides, a Breathing Style wouldn't necessarily use up his life.

He thought of the system and the various abilities he might be able to redeem in the future. Perhaps he could find a way to avoid the side effects.

Giyu asked no more and simply handed him a roasted rice ball.

Late that night, Moyu lay on his simple bedding, gazing up at the starry sky. The night sky in this era was breathtakingly clear, the Milky Way stretching across it and the stars as numerous as grains of sand.

[Ding. Host detected approaching contact with a key figure: Sakonji Urokodaki. Long-term task triggered: Master Water Breathing.]

[Task requirements: Learn all ten forms of Water Breathing within three months and pass the Final Selection.]

[Task reward: Gold coins awarded according to degree of mastery (500–2,000); unlock eligibility for the intermediate exchange section.]

[Failure penalty: None (but the opportunity to receive Sakonji Urokodaki's instruction will be lost)]

Learn all ten forms in three months? Moyu estimated inwardly. In the original story, Tanjiro had taken about two years to master Water Breathing, but he had started from scratch. With the help of the Six Eyes, Moyu might be able to shorten that time.

But the Final Selection... that meant fighting dozens of demons on Mount Fujikasane for seven days. Only those who survived could become members of the Demon Slayer Corps. In the original story, only five had survived that selection: Tanjiro, Zenitsu Agatsuma, Inosuke Hashibira, Kanao Tsuyuri, and Genya Shinazugawa.

The road to becoming stronger was strewn with thorns from the very beginning.