Following the winding and rugged mountain road, Tanjiro Kamado finally arrived at Mount Fujikasane before nightfall.
A cool night breeze blew by, carrying with it a strange floral fragrance.
Tanjiro looked up, his wine-red eyes instantly stunned by the scene before him.
The Wisteria covering the mountains and fields, in this cold season when they shouldn't be blooming, are like purple waterfalls, blooming brilliantly under the night sky!
The clusters of purple flower spikes swayed in the wind, emitting a faint glow, forming a stunning natural barrier.
"The scenery here is so beautiful, and the scent of the Wisteria makes me feel so at ease."
"Compared to the snow-covered and icy Mount Sagiri..."
"Mount Fujikasane, which served as the Final Selection examination venue, is practically a tourist hotspot for a spring outing!"
With this relaxed mindset, Tanjiro took light steps and stepped onto the last set of stone steps.
After passing through a huge red torii gate, a wide assembly plaza appeared before him.
There were about fifty prospective swordsmen scattered around the square at that moment.
Although the number of people was not as large as expected, the tension, fear, and trepidation about the unknown weighed heavily on everyone's shoulders.
Some of these teenagers were repeatedly wiping their Nichirin Blades, some were crouching in a corner with their knees drawn up to their chests, trembling, and some were even gagging in fear.
The brutal elimination rate and the instinctive fear of death are vividly displayed here.
However--
It was in this somber atmosphere that...
A heart-wrenching scream suddenly erupted at the edge of the square!
"Help me!!"
"I'm definitely going to die! I'm 100% going to die in this godforsaken place!!"
"I'm so young! I haven't even held a girl's hand yet! I don't want to go and feed the ghosts!!"
Tanjiro looked in the direction of the sound and froze on the spot.
A boy with short blond hair and wearing a yellow triangular-patterned haori was lying on the ground without any dignity.
He clung tightly to the leg of a passerby swordsman, tears and snot streaming down his face like a waterfall, his entire face contorted into an expression of extreme terror!
The passerby swordsman whose leg was being grabbed was speechless, desperately trying to pull his leg away, only to find that the blond kid was incredibly strong.
"Hey! Let go of me! You coward, don't wipe your snot on my pants!" the passerby swordsman yelled angrily.
"I won't let go! Unless you promise to protect me 24/7 once you're inside! Please, brother! You'll have the mercy to protect me, right!"
The blond-haired boy Zenitsu Agatsuma, cried so bitterly that it was heartbreaking to hear and see.
And less than twenty meters away from Zenitsu.
The art style suddenly shifted to the other extreme!
"The pigs are advancing! The pigs are advancing!!"
A strange man, shirtless with wildly defined muscles, was wearing a gray Boar's Head.
He held a dented, serrated Nichirin Blade in each hand, and heavy, hot breath was billowing from his nostrils.
"Come on! You bunch of cowards! Who dares to fight me!"
Inosuke Hashibira was as excited as a bull on stimulants. He charged through the crowd, wildly provoking the already tense swordsmen around him with his hard Boar's Head.
"Bang!"
Inosuke couldn't stop in time, Boar's Head slammed directly into the trunk of a Wisteria tree, sending petals flying everywhere.
But instead of feeling any pain, he turned his head and stared at Zenitsu Agatsuma was still on the ground clutching his leg and crying.
"Hey you over there, you crybaby blond trash! So noisy! I'll use you as a warm-up!"
With Inosuke charged straight at Zenitsu like a runaway bulldozer!
"Waaaaah! A wild boar monster is going to eat people!!" Zenitsu's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets in terror, and he let out an even more piercing scream.
A farce was about to unfold.
"Whoosh--"
A steady yet graceful figure suddenly appeared between the two.
"Both of them had very mixed smells."
"They must be calmed down before facing the brutal test. This is for everyone's safety!!"
Tanjiro's eyes became incredibly clear.
Just as Inosuke's ferocious Boar's Head was about to crash down...
His body sank slightly, and his hands seemed to draw a perfect Tai Chi arc in the air.
Having undergone a year of grueling physical training under Sakonji Urokodaki, Tanjiro had long since mastered the art of controlling his strength.
His hands landed precisely on either side of Inosuke's Boar's Head.
"Buzz--"
Inosuke felt as if his violent momentum, enough to shatter rocks, had crashed into a giant ball of cotton, all of his power instantly dissipated without a trace.
Immediately afterwards, a clever force came through the hood, guiding his body to forcefully turn half a circle in place and come to a steady stop.
"What?!"
Inosuke gasped in disbelief through the Boar's Head.
However--,
What followed was even more disorienting.
"Wow, you're really strong, you friend wearing that Boar's Head!"
A bright smile bloomed on Tanjiro's lips.
"But you can't just wander around here. Everyone's tense; we need to conserve our energy and stay calm to face the real test."
Faced with this kind of heartwarming sentiment that completely defies expectations.
Having grown up in the mountains, living alongside wild animals and only knowing the Inosuke was instantly struck dumb, as if by lightning!
His face, hidden beneath the Boar's Head, inexplicably flushed bright red.
A feeling of nausea, unlike anything he had ever experienced before, that sent shivers down his spine, instantly spread throughout his body.
"What... what do you mean by this?!"
Inosuke looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his muscles bulging out of shape.
He pointed at Tanjiro, his voice stammering:
"Your eyes are disgusting! Why are you looking at me with those weak, limp eyes?! Get angry! Draw your sword!"
"I'm not angry. I think you're a very energetic and nice person."
Tanjiro's smile grew even brighter.
"Screech! I'm not fighting anymore! You're a complete freak!"
Inosuke was completely overwhelmed by this sense of acceptance. He covered his Boar's Head, like a wild boar cub encountering its natural enemy, and turned around and ran to a corner of the square.
After calming the frenzied boar, Tanjiro turned around and walked towards Zenitsu Agatsuma was still lying on the ground trembling.
He reached out his warm hand and gently patted Zenitsu's messy blond hair.
"It's okay, don't be afraid."
Tanjiro's voice is full of power, possessing a strange, soothing magic.
"Once we're in the mountains, if we encounter any danger, you can hide behind me. My name is Tanjiro Kamado, and I'll protect you."
These words were like a beam of light shining into a dark abyss.
Zenitsu slowly raised his head, and in his eyes, which had been filled with despair, was reflected Tanjiro's incredibly reliable figure.
"Really... really?"
Zenitsu sniffed, and tears welled up again, but this time they were tears of emotion.
"Tanjiro... you're practically a bodhisattva reincarnated! Waaaaah, I've decided, for the next seven days, I'll cling to your leg even if it kills me!"
The corner of the square, which was originally tense and chaotic, suddenly changed its atmosphere due to Tanjiro's intervention, becoming filled with a strange yet harmonious atmosphere.
After calming down the two troubled children.
Tanjiro stood up, and his exceptionally sensitive nose twitched twice in the air.
"Um?"
Tanjiro raised an eyebrow slightly.
In his sense of smell, the fifty-odd swordsmen around him, whether emanating fear, excitement, or tension, all exuded a strong emotional scent.
However, right at the very edge of the square, under a huge Wisteria tree.
However, there is a "vacuum zone".
No fear, no joy, no sorrow...
Tanjiro followed the almost imperceptible scent.
A girl with a single side ponytail and a pink butterfly hair accessory was standing quietly under the tree.
She was wearing a purple kimono, and her delicate face bore an empty, soulless smile.
It is Kanao Tsuyuri.
He recalled the hopeful request that Ms. Flower Hashira Kanae made to him back in the Butterfly Mansion.
"Tanjiro, please, you must find a way to make Kanao show a real smile."
Tanjiro's heart stirred slightly. Without the slightest hesitation, he strode towards that lonely corner.
At this moment, Kanao was staring blankly at the noisy swordsmen in the distance.
She felt no turmoil; she was neither afraid nor looking forward to the impending trial of death.
She habitually took out a copper coin from her pocket, engraved with the characters for "outer" and "inner".
Unsure whether to adopt an aggressive or defensive approach in the upcoming assessment, she decided to leave her fate to a coin to decide, as she always did.
With a slight push of the thumb, the coin is tossed high into the air.
Under the moonlight, the copper coins tumbled and gleamed with a cold light.
Just as the coin was about to fall back into her palm...
"Snap."
A hand reached out from the side without warning.
That hand not only caught the copper coin in mid-air, but also directly covered Kanao's slightly cool little hand!
"Why?"
Kanao's unfocused purplish-red eyes finally showed a slight fluctuation upon this sudden physical contact.
She turned her head blankly.
What came into view was Tanjiro's smiling face, so close to mine, radiating sunshine.
Tanjiro's wine-red eyes were crystal clear, reflecting Kanao's face, which seemed to be wearing a mask.
"Kanao, we meet again."
"Actually, in this trial full of unknowns, you don't need to flip a coin to decide your actions."
He gently placed the coin in Kanao's palm, then tightly closed her fingers.
"A coin can only show heads or tails, but your heart holds countless possibilities!"
"In the time to come, I hope you can try to listen to your inner voice!"
"I promised Ms. Kanae that I would make you laugh from the bottom of your heart!"
???
Feel the lingering heat on the back of your hand.
In the depths of Kanao Tsuyuri's lifeless eyes, a barely perceptible ripple finally appeared.