In the early morning of Mount Sagiri, the wind and snow, which had been raging all night, finally came to a halt.
Nine thousand ninety-eight!
"Nine thousand one hundred and ninety-nine!"
"Ten thousand--!"
Accompanied by a powerful roar,
Tanjiro Kamado, shirtless, delivered his final blow in knee-deep snow!
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Tanjiro braced himself on his thighs with both hands, exhaling thick white mist with each breath.
Although I was so tired that I could barely lift my little finger.
But Tanjiro's wine-red eyes shone with a light brighter than the rising sun.
He did it!
He completed the sword-wielding task assigned by Mr. Giyu using only his human body!
Not far from Tanjiro,
Giyu Tomioka stood quietly in the snow.
He didn't immediately switch to his stabbing mode after Tanjiro swung his sword, as he usually did.
The harshness in those unfathomable blue eyes had vanished, replaced by a faint expectation.
"Tanjiro."
Giyu's calm voice rang out in the crisp air, without him deliberately raising his voice, yet it clearly reached Tanjiro's ears.
"The path, Mr. Urokodaki and I have already paved for you."
Giyu looked at the panting boy in front of him.
The image of him stubbornly getting up despite being tortured to the point of near death in the snow flashed through my mind.
"What remains is to use your own will to cut through all the confusion that stands in your way..."
"You're from the Water Breathing lineage, don't embarrass Master Urokodaki."
These simple expectations, when they reached Tanjiro's ears, were just as devastating as a hundred tear gas canisters!
"Waaaaah... Mr. Giyu!!"
Tanjiro's eyes instantly reddened.
He straightened his back, ignoring the soreness in his muscles, and bowed deeply to Giyu Tomioka, shouting:
"Yes!! I will absolutely not let Grandpa Urokodaki and Mr. Giyu down!"
"I will definitely become stronger! Strong enough to slay all evil spirits! I will never Water Breathing lineage!"
Looking at Tanjiro's passionate expression, as if he were about to commit seppuku at any moment,
On Giyu's perpetually expressionless face, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly upwards by a millimeter.
"Creak--"
Kie Kamado was wearing an apron, her eyes red-rimmed, clearly having overheard their conversation behind the door and secretly wiping away tears.
She walked quickly down the steps, carefully holding a large, steaming rice ball in her hands.
Behind Kie, Nezuko, Takeo, Delia, and Shigeru all rushed out in a swarm.
"Mr. Tomioka..."
"Tanjiro has caused you so much trouble these past few days. Our family truly doesn't know how to repay your immense kindness..."
Kie's voice choked with emotion as she handed the rice ball in her hand to Giyu:
"There's nothing good in the mountains, these are some hot rice balls I made. Please remember to eat them while they're hot on your journey."
Giyu looked at the kind and simple mother in front of him, silently reached out his hands, and accepted the steaming rice ball.
"Thank you, I will enjoy it."
For the first time ever, Giyu said a few more words.
Big brother! Will you come to see Nezuko again in the future?
Nezuko, dressed in a pink kimono, stretched out her two little hands and reluctantly tugged at Giyu's clothes, her eyes filled with innocent longing.
Seeing the little girl's pitiful appearance, a soft corner of Giyu's heart was gently touched.
He gently patted Nezuko's head twice.
"Yes, they will come."
After saying that, Giyu put the rice ball into his arms, then turned around and picked up the iconic red and white haori from the wooden shelf next to him.
Just as Giyu was preparing to leave through the snow, bringing this deeply moving farewell to a perfect close—
"Gah! Gah--!"
A horrible scream came crashing down from mid-air!
Like a runaway fighter jet, Kanzaburo flapped his wings, creating a whirlwind, and crashed headfirst onto Giyu's shoulder.
"Urgent call! Urgent call! Hurry!"
Kanzaburo used his claws to grab Giyu's haori.
"The Master has ordered! Return to headquarters immediately! Stop with the sentimentality! Let's go! Gaaah!"
The warm and touching atmosphere of parting shattered into a million pieces of glass with a snapping sound from Kanzaburo.
Tanjiro's expression, which had just been one of overwhelming emotion, froze on his face, tears still clinging to his eyelashes, as he stared at the crow that had spouted such wild words.
Giyu's deep blue eyes narrowed slightly.
My Master urgently summons me?
He didn't say a single unnecessary word.
Giyu turned around and gave a slight nod to the Kamado Family as a final farewell.
The next second.
"Bang!"
The snow beneath Giyu's feet exploded into a cloud of white mist.
He instantly transformed into a deep blue afterimage, like a bolt of lightning slicing through the snowfield, disappearing into the vast forest of Mount Sagiri, leaving only a trail of snow whipped up by the gale.
Half an hour later, at the Ubuyashiki Estate.
Unlike the snow-covered landscape of Mount Sagiri, the garden of Ubuyashiki is now at its most tranquil in early winter.
Several evergreen pines and cypresses stand tall around the courtyard, while a few early cherry blossoms, oblivious to the season, stubbornly bloom on the branches.
A gentle breeze blows, cherry blossoms fall in profusion, and sunlight filters through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the clean and tidy stone path.
Quiet and peaceful, as if everything was in perfect tranquility.
"Click, click..."
A series of steady footsteps came from the end of the courtyard corridor.
Giyu Tomioka entered the courtyard, looking travel-worn.
His haori hem was still damp with the fine snowmelt unique to Mount Sagiri, and he exuded a cool, aloof aura that kept strangers at bay.
However--
Just as Giyu stepped into the center of the courtyard.
"Hiss--"
A faint hissing sound came from a sturdy cherry tree.
"Oh, look who's back!"
On the thick branches of the cherry blossom tree,
[Serpent Hashira] Obanai Iguro is sitting cross-legged in a difficult posture.
The white snake "Kaburamaru" coiled around his neck was staring down at Giyu with its vertical pupils, its red tongue flicking in and out of the air.
Obanai looked down at Giyu, her heterochromatic eyes, one gold and one green, filled with undisguised disdain.
"I could smell the aroma of burning charcoal from a great distance!!"
"What, our Demon Slayer Corps' most idle 'big shot,' you've finally decided to roll back from that remote mountain village?"
[Damn it! That slow-witted, expressionless guy is finally back!]
Does he know how anxious I am right now?
No! I wasn't waiting for him on purpose! I just happened to be enjoying the breeze in this tree!
But... this guy has been at Mount Sagiri for so long, his aura seems to have become more composed?
Why do his perpetually calm, dead-fish eyes look so punchable?
Obanai was about to launch into a long, scathing attack.
We must teach that expressionless guy Giyu Tomioka, a lesson he won't forget: slacking off at headquarters will come at the cost of being ridiculed!
However--
Giyu didn't even raise his head.
His deep blue eyes were fixed straight ahead, and his steps didn't falter even for a millimeter.
He merely gave a perfunctory, slight nod as he passed under the cherry blossom tree.
Yes, he nodded.
That counts as saying hello.
Then, he strode straight toward the Japanese-style room where his Oyakata-sama was.
There was no attempt to deduce why Obanai was angry, nor any consideration of what awkward emotions were hidden behind that sarcastic remark.
In his mind, Obanai Iguro was always this noisy; it was a normal, natural phenomenon that didn't require any intervention.
"..."
The Obanai in the tree still had its mouth in a ready-to-spit position.
His entire body, however, was like a stone sculpture that had been weathered for thousands of years, completely frozen on the tree branch.
A gust of autumn wind blew by, swirling up a few cherry blossom petals that Obanai's bandaged face.
"He... he actually dared to ignore me?!"
Obanai's brain went blank for a full three seconds, and then a surge of blood rushed straight to the top of her head!
"Giyu Tomioka! You damn poker face! How dare you ignore my read messages! What do you take me for?! A cicada in a tree?!"
Obanai was so angry that she trembled all over. She slammed her fist heavily on the tree trunk, causing cherry blossoms to fall like rain.
The white snake -Kaburamaru around its neck hissed in protest.
If it weren't for the fact that Master's tatami room was right in front of them, Obanai would have definitely drawn her Nichirin Blade and jumped down to shred that bastard's haori to pieces!
"You just wait! I'll make you pay for this mission!"
Obanai jumped down from the tree and followed Giyu with a dark expression.