Zenitsu: Grandpa, You've Really Gotten Me Killed!

The night breeze rustled through the Wisteria, bringing a slight chill.

Tanjiro took a deep breath and, with Zenitsu effort, pried Zenitsu apart finger by finger.

"Calm down and listen to me!"

Tanjiro crouched down, placing his hands on Zenitsu's shoulders, his wine-red eyes filled with sincerity.

"You don't need to be afraid anymore, and you don't need to keep clinging to my legs!"

"I've wiped out all the evil spirits that were lurking in the outer area of this Mount Fujikasane! Even that three-eyed ghost from earlier was the last one in the vicinity!"

"So, just stay obediently in this outer area and don't wander off."

"I assure you, for the next seven days, not a single mutated mosquito will appear here. For you, this place is safer than your own bed right now!"

These words were spoken.

Zenitsu Agatsuma, sitting on the ground, seemed to have been put on pause.

His eyes widened little by little on his tear-streaked face, and his mouth opened so wide it could practically fit a giant rice ball.

Zenitsu stared at Tanjiro, dumbfounded, as if he had heard some unbelievable story.

Before Zenitsu could recover from this immense shock...

Tanjiro had already stood up.

He brushed the dust and snot stains off his trousers and looked up at the deepest part of the forest.

"My goal is to enter the inner circle and find even stronger demons."

Tanjiro turned around, waved to Zenitsu who was still petrified, and smiled as brightly as ever:

"Because the demons there are stronger, if I don't go and deal with them, more innocent swordsmen might die."

"Well then, let's say goodbye here! I hope you pass the selection smoothly! Good luck!"

After saying that.

This straightforward red-haired boy gave Zenitsu absolutely no chance to persuade him to stay.

His figure instantly transformed into a blur, rushing towards the inner circle of the Wisteria Barrier, disappearing into the night in the blink of an eye.

"Huh? Wait..."

Zenitsu stretched out his hand, looking at the empty forest, and didn't react for a long time.

A while later...

"Never mind!"

"The inner circle? Let whoever wants to go! Only a fool would willingly run off to fight those terrifying monsters!"

"All I have to do is find a secluded patch of grass on the outskirts of this area, sleep soundly for seven days straight! After seven days, I can return alive and well! It's simply paradise!"

Zenitsu was immersed in his perfect "lying down and surviving" plan, a happy smile on his face.

He immediately looked around and spotted a dense thicket of bushes, intending to lay out a bed of hay and begin his seven-day "hibernation."

However--,

Just as he took two steps, preparing to disappear into the bushes...

"Smack!"

His steps abruptly halted in mid-air.

The smile on her face, like the tide, gradually receded and disappeared.

The floodgates of memory were suddenly opened.

Zenitsu as if he had returned to that thunderous Momoyama once again.

He remembered his grandfather striking his head hard with that heavy wooden cane, his furious roar of disappointment seeming to echo in his ears once more, transcending time.

"Zenitsu! You're such a crybaby! You can cry! You can feel scared and want to run away! That's human nature!"

"But! You absolutely cannot give up! You absolutely cannot be a coward hiding behind others forever!"

"If you only think about surviving on other people's charity, then you deserve to wallow in the mud for the rest of your life!"

"Draw your Nichirin Blade, confront what you fear most, and cut it down! This is the only way for me, Jigoro Kuwajima, to become a Demon Slayer Corps swordsman!"

A Zenitsu evening breeze blew, and Zenitsu's short, golden hair was slightly disheveled in the wind.

His body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Reason, in its frenzy, told him:

Don't go to the inner circle! You'll definitely get eaten if you go there! Stay on the outer circle and try to survive; at least you'll have a chance to stay alive!

But on the other hand, he felt an even more suffocating sense of guilt.

If he really lay low in this absolutely safe outer circle for seven days and managed to get away with it.

He will never be a coward, one he despises! He will never be able to lift his head and look directly into his grandfather's expectant eyes!

"Waaaaah..."

Large tears welled up in Zenitsu's eyes again.

"Slap! Slap!"

Sudden!

Two loud slaps rang out in the silent woods.

Zenitsu Agatsuma raised his hands and slapped himself hard across both cheeks!

Two bright red handprints instantly appeared on her fair cheeks.

"I'm such a useless piece of trash... I'm sure I'll die in there... Waaaaah..."

Zenitsu's face was covered in tears.

He turned his back to the safe outer grassy area and faced the inner forest that exuded a terrifying, Demon Aura.

"Grandpa... you old man, you've really ruined me..."

Zenitsu cried out loudly, gripped the Nichirin Blade at his waist, and embarked on the path to death leading to the inner circle.

After passing through a large area of ordinary woodland on the outer edge.

Ahead, a breathtaking spectacle appeared.

It was a natural barrier formed by countless densely planted Wisteria trees.

This is precisely the absolute dividing line between the outer and inner circles.

Because Wisteria are deadly poisonous to evil spirits, the powerful evil spirits in the inner circle cannot break through this barrier to reach the outer edge. Therefore, this Wisteria Barrier has become an absolutely safe vacuum zone.

The Demon Slayer Corps has stationed a fully armed "hidden" unit of several dozen members here, responsible for registering the identities of prospective swordsmen who dare to step into the inner circle and providing them with short-term supplies.

At this moment, at the entrance to the barrier.

Several masked members of the Kakushi Division were sitting idly on a few wooden crates, chatting aimlessly.

"Ugh, this is incredibly boring. Since it got dark, only five or six members have made it into the inner circle!"

A tall, thin member yawned and complained.

"There's nothing we can do. The rules have changed, and the surrounding environment is so peaceful. How many people would actually come here to die?"

Another chubby member analyzed the situation in a precocious manner.

"Captain, what do you say?"

The tall, thin member looked at the squad leader who was sitting in a folding chair with his eyes closed, resting.

The squad leader didn't even open his eyes, his tone was numb:

"Don't get your hopes up too high. If ten people manage to escape here and register looking disheveled before dawn, that would be a miracle Master."

"Our task tonight is to spend the night here in this cold wind."

However, just as they finished speaking...

"Da, da, da."

"Good evening, everyone! Is this the registration area for entering the inner circle? My name is Tanjiro Kamado."

Tanjiro stopped very politely, bowed, and greeted him.

The squad leader stared blankly at the almost excessively clean-looking boy in front of him, his hand holding the calligraphy brush frozen in mid-air.

He would have gotten here as a blood-soaked, disheveled fellow.

"Kamado... Tanjiro?"