He originally thought that Grandpa Urokodaki would be like those legendary reclusive masters, first testing his perseverance, then stroking his beard and saying with satisfaction, "You are a promising student," before finally imparting all his knowledge to him.
How... how could they reject me without even giving me a test?!
"Why? Grandpa Urokodaki!"
Tanjiro was so anxious he was almost in tears.
"Was it because I didn't kowtow loud enough? Or do I look too stupid? I can really endure hardship!"
Sakonji Urokodaki sighed helplessly.
Instead of explaining Tanjiro's qualifications, he decisively pointed a finger at Giyu Tomioka, who was standing to the side as if it were none of his business.
Don't ask me why.
"That brat Giyu gave me a death order before he came, repeatedly telling me that I absolutely, positively, under no circumstances should I teach you even the slightest bit about the 'Water Breathing' technique!"
At this point, Sakonji Urokodaki's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
"I am a renowned water Cultivator! All I've ever taught in my life is how to teach Water Breathing!"
"He won't even let me teach you Water Breathing, so what kind of teacher am I? Should I teach you how to grow radishes?"
"So, I won't accept you! I can't teach you! Go find someone else!"
Sakonji Urokodaki flicked his sleeve, effectively kicking this hot potato back to him.
"Boom--!"
These words struck Tanjiro like a bolt from the blue.
"Mr. Righteousness... Mr. Giyu won't allow me to teach?!"
Tanjiro's brain completely shut down.
He stiffly turned his head and looked at Giyu Tomioka standing to the side.
"I see..."
Suddenly, a tragic fantasy, comparable to a melodramatic romance novel, began to play out in Tanjiro's mind.
"Mr. Giyu wouldn't let Grandpa Urokodaki teach me Water Breathing..."
"That's because... Water Breathing is Giyu- sensei's signature technique!"
"Mr. Giyu must think that someone like me, who once became a demon and whose blood is impure, is simply not qualified to learn that noble and pure swordsmanship!"
"He must be disgusted with me! He thinks I'm a burden!"
Under this crazy imagination...
Tanjiro's entire body, from head to toe, instantly lost all color!
But--!
Tanjiro's resilience is invincible!
Even if I can't learn Water Breathing, I absolutely cannot give up!
Tanjiro mentally rallied himself, gritting his teeth.
"Since Grandpa Urokodaki can't take me in..."
Tanjiro's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Whoosh!"
Tanjiro changed direction without hesitation!
He glided across the snow on his knees like an abandoned but still shameless stray dog!
"Thump!"
He rushed straight up to Giyu Tomioka, and then... stretched out his hands and grabbed Giyu Tomioka's leg!
"That... that Mr. Giyu!"
Tanjiro looked up, and his ashen face instantly came back to life. His wine-red eyes were filled with a hopeful and yearning that seemed to melt anyone's heart.
"Since Grandpa Urokodaki won't accept me, then please accept me as your Tsuguko!!"
I want to learn from you!
"Please let me be your Tsuguko, Master Giyu!!"
This sudden act of clinging to someone's Sakonji Urokodaki distance, but even made Giyu Tomioka, who was usually unfazed by the collapse of Mount Tai, twitch his eyebrows violently twice.
"..."
Giyu lowered his head and looked at the dark red head that was stuck to his leg like a piece of chewing gum.
The air fell into a deathly silence for a second.
Then.
In Tanjiro's eyes, filled with boundless anticipation.
Giyu Tomioka was not moved in the slightest.
He was extremely cold, extremely ruthless, even with a hint of disdain... He lifted his leg and then, without any hesitation, forcefully pulled his thigh out of Tanjiro's embrace.
Don't call anyone "master" casually.
Giyu's voice was as flat as water, devoid of any warmth, instantly shattering Tanjiro's illusions.
"First, I have never had the habit of taking in Tsuguko. I haven't before, I don't now, and I won't in the future."
"Secondly, the reason I didn't let Urokodaki- sensei teach you Water Breathing is because you already have the foundation of Sun Breathing!!"
"The prolonged exertion required for Water Breathing will clash with your physical constitution and hinder your training."
Giyu looked down at the dumbfounded Tanjiro.
"I brought you here only at the Master's request, to teach you how to properly use 'Sun Breathing' to save your life."
That's all, don't flatter yourself.
Click--
These were accompanied by these chilling and biting words.
Tanjiro seemed to hear the sound of his own boyish heart shattering completely in the cold wind.
He was rejected instantly by two consecutive Water Hashira.
For a young man with a strong sense of self-esteem and full of passion, this was like a nuclear bomb.
"Nobody wants him..."
Tanjiro finally couldn't hold back his tears any longer.
He shuffled dejectedly to a dark corner next to the cabin, squatted down, and pitifully drew circles in the snow with one finger.
_(:з"∠)_.
"I really am a wild child who doesn't even deserve to be taken in..."
"Nobody wants to teach me..."
"I might as well just freeze to death in the snow..."
Tanjiro exuded an extremely intense aura of desolation, and even the falling snowflakes seemed to deliberately avoid this unfortunate fellow.
I watched Tanjiro squatting in the corner, drawing circles.
Sakonji Urokodaki shook his head helplessly, inwardly cursing Giyu as a "heartless blockhead."
"Alright, stop playing the victim."
Urokodaki stepped forward and kicked Tanjiro's butt.
"Although I won't take you as my disciple, since this brat has entrusted you to me for special training, I must keep my promise."
The voice beneath the Urokodaki mask turned stern, carrying a chilling aura.
"Go back to sleep, kid."
"Starting tomorrow morning, I will show you why Mount Sagiri is called a hell for Cultivators!"
The next morning.
Before dawn, the entire Mount Sagiri was shrouded in a thick, impenetrable white fog.
Visibility was less than five meters, and the air was filled with a biting chill; even the air we breathed felt like it was freezing in our lungs.
"Huff... huff..."
Tanjiro, dressed in thin training clothes, stood at the edge of a wooded area at the foot of the mountain, shivering from the cold.
The hellish training has officially begun.
Your task is simple.
Sakonji Urokodaki stood on an extremely thin branch, like a weightless ghost.
His voice drifted from all directions through the thick fog, making it impossible to pinpoint his location.
"Start from here, run up to the highest peak of Mount Sagiri, then run back down to the cabin."
"I've set up some small traps in this mountain."
Urokodaki's tone was nonchalant.
"Avoid them. If you can come back alive before sunset, you'll pass."
"Did you hear me?!"
"Listen carefully!"
Tanjiro roared, having completely forgotten the frustration of being rejected last night.
He took a deep breath and pushed off with both legs.
"This little challenge is absolutely nothing to me, Tanjiro Kamado..."
"Whoosh!"
Tanjiro dashed into the thick fog like an arrow released from a bow!
However.
Just as he confidently took his third step.
"Thud."
A slight pulling sensation came from my toes.
Tanjiro's pupils suddenly contracted:
"Oh no! A tripwire!"
"Bang--!"
Before he could react, the bushes to his right suddenly exploded!
A row of enormous bamboo rafts, each as thick as a thigh, swept out with a terrifying sonic boom that tore through the air!
"Ahh!"
Tanjiro was terrified. He had no time to dodge and could only rely on instinct, rolling like a gourd as he lunged hard at the thorny and muddy slope on the left.
"Swish!"
The huge bamboo raft barely grazed his scalp, snapping several small trees in half!
If he had been even 0.1 seconds slower, he would definitely be strung up like a candied hawthorn skewer by now!
"Gurgle--"
Tanjiro rolled wildly through the mud and thorns for seven or eight meters before finally stopping.
"Pah! Pah! Pah!"
He scrambled out of the muddy puddle, his face covered in black mud, and his mouth full of bitter leaves and mud.
"This is what you call a tiny trap?!"
Tanjiro spat out mud, roaring internally.
"This is clearly an attempt to kill me! Does Grandpa Urokodaki intend to kill me?!"
But this was merely an appetizer for the hellish training at Mount Sagiri.
Over the next few hours.
Tanjiro truly understood what it meant to be targeted by the entire mountain – a feeling of utter despair.
"Whoosh!"
As I walked along the flat path, a barrage of flying knives suddenly rained down from the treetops overhead!
"Splash!"
The seemingly solid rock collapsed as soon as you stepped on it, revealing a cave several meters deep filled with barbs!
Falling rocks, throwing knives, craters, and poisonous stingers...
Every inch of land and every tree in the Mount Sagiri seemed to possess life, relentlessly tormenting this fledgling youth.
"Help me!"
All morning, Tanjiro's piercing screams echoed through Mount Sagiri.