Aftereffects

A gentle yet strong person.

This is Kamado Tanjuro's understanding of Oboro.

It also came from the mouth of an elder.

This is different from the Sun Breathing they have inherited, Sun Breathing has a long history and is now untraceable for Tanjiro Kamado.

At first, all I knew was that it was a 'treasure' passed down through generations in my family, and that I had to learn the Kagura Dance, protect it, and continue its tradition.

We absolutely cannot afford to make any mistakes.

As he grows older and stronger, certain images will surface from the depths of his soul's memories...

Gradually, he seemed to understand something.

The breathing technique he practices is a power, and also a covenant.

He saw the samurai who occasionally flashed through his mind, wearing the same earrings as himself... He also saw a warm, large hand stroking his head, and a blurry figure wearing a haori (feathered robe).

He couldn't see her face clearly, but he felt a sense of warmth.

The first samurai, Kamado Tanjuro, did not know, nor had his father ever mentioned him... but the second person, Tanjiro Kamado knew, was Oboro.

The first memory is too distant, while the second memory is still very clear and close to the present era.

This hazy fragment of memory originated from an elder of the Kamado Clan, someone who had interacted with Oboro during his childhood.

Whether it's what he knows or what his memories show... Oboro is definitely not the guy in front of him! Disgusting!

An unbearable stench! Kamado Tanjuro smelled an unbearable odor emanating from Oboro.

In his vision, Oboro was faintly emanating a black aura that seemed to pollute everything around him.

"Your feeling comes from a man named Sumiyoshi Kamado, your ancestor... and also from another man, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, whose disdain and disgust for demons. You have the blood of the Destiny Clan flowing in your veins, and you can never be separated from demons. Demons brought Sumiyoshi Kamado and Yoriichi Tsugikuni together, and they will also cause your descendants to bear the mission of eradicating demons from the human world in the near future."

"This is... the original route."

"But now, everything has changed."

He said with a long smile.

"Eri."

Tanjiro Kamado turned around and looked at his wife.

The woman, as if by telepathy, immediately went inside and locked the door.

Ghosts are afraid of sunlight.

This is common knowledge.

However, the man in front of him stood calmly in the sunlight, which Tanjiro Kamado found unbelievable.

"I used the blood of demons to transform into a new life... You wouldn't have noticed my abnormality originally. After all, after overcoming the sunlight, I was no different from humans... I could walk in the sunlight as well, which meant that this body of mine was no longer something filthy, but a completely new species. But I underestimated the will of your Kamado Clan, and the beliefs that you have always upheld deep in your souls... This power allows you to see where I came from in this state."

"That's right, in the end, I still turned out to be like this from a ghost."

"It really is..."

Kamado Tanjuro's eyes reddened.

He realized what the former was talking about.

This was a tacit admission of his identity.

The other party was that very person, the real Oboro.

Tanjiro Kamado felt extremely sad... This pain didn't seem to stem entirely from his own emotions, but rather it was something that suddenly burst forth from the depths of his heart.

"No matter how much the outside world changes, your clan seems to always remain the same," Oboro sighed.

Watching Tanjiro Kamado's conflicted, wary, and distressed gaze gradually turn into one of relief.

Oboro chuckled softly, "As expected, even though I am a ghost... you still chose to accept it in the end."

"Why?"

Tanjiro Kamado asked a question.

Oboro is powerful, that much is undeniable.

Therefore, unless he himself wants to become a ghost, no passive factor can change that.

According to the timeline, Oboro should have passed away long ago.

"I want to stay in this world a little longer."

"..."

Tanjiro Kamado fell silent.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, "I'm sorry, I can't serve you."

He meant that he couldn't invite Oboro inside to sit down, but he could still interact with Oboro.

But as a husband, he has to ensure his wife's safety.

Given the Kamado Clan's consistent nature, if Oboro were facing either Kamado Tanpei or Kamado Tanyilang, they wouldn't be so wary of him.

Because, even if it's a demon... as long as it doesn't do evil, the Kamado Clan will most likely treat it the same as everyone else.

They can distinguish between good ghosts and evil ghosts.

Tamayo is a good example.

It should be noted that Tanjiro's family members all died at Muzan's hands, so normally he should have developed an obsessive hatred for demons.

Like some of the representatives in the pillar, but in reality there are none.

From the late Edo period to the present, the world's situation and atmosphere have been altered by Oboro, making the influence of Oni (demons) greater and greater, and all of this is subtly changing people's perceptions.

In addition, Tanjiro Kamado was more concerned about his wife's safety, which led to his behavior.

His personality has changed somewhat compared to that of the traditional Kamado Clan.

Oboro also believed that Tanjiro Kamado must have killed many demons.

In order to overthrow the world, the successors can transform demons at a much faster rate than Muzan...

In order to compete with the successors and the Demon Slayer Corps, Muzan, even though he intentionally controlled the number of demons, still made them ten or even dozens of times more numerous than in the original story.

In that era of constant warfare, the town at the Mount Kumotori was able to remain intact, untouched by the demons' ravages. The Kamado Clan must have played a part in this.

After Tanjiro Kamado finished speaking, he bowed deeply to Oboro.

"It's alright, would you like to talk to me?"

Oboro waved his hand, indicating that Tanjiro Kamado didn't need to feel guilty.

"Good."

Tanjiro Kamado nodded.

Then, the two sat on the wooden stakes in the open space outside the house.

They talked for less than an hour.

Oboro then got up and left, watching Tanjiro Kamado see him off.

He didn't say anything, but Oboro asked about the continuation and past of the Kamado Clan over the past hundred years.

Tanjiro Kamado is likely the fifth-generation descendant of Kamado Tanjiro. Unlike the previous Kamado Clan, Tanjiro Kamado was accompanied by his grandfather during his childhood.

Unlike Kamado Tanjiro, who only had one father.

This is because the side effects of Sun Breathing on the body are reduced, allowing each generation of Kamado clan members to live a long time, which also indirectly stabilizes the inheritance of Sun Breathing.

To make the descendants of the Kamado Clan even stronger.

However, in just over a hundred years, the Kamado Clan has already produced six generations, which means that some people in that period had very short lifespans and may have died shortly after giving birth.

It has nothing to do with the Sun Breathing, nor is it connected to the environment created by Oboro.

If the Kamado Clan were to descend from the mountain and enter the world, Oboro would surely hear the news.

There's only one reason why people live short lives.

Oboro understood when she met Tanjiro Kamado.

Perhaps including Kamado Tanjiro, and the two generations after him... are all forcibly deducing the breathing technique, which was given to the Kamado Clan by Oboro and can increase lifespan to a certain extent.

From this perspective, Kamado Tanjiro might want to further improve the Sun Breathing. Given that the child's feelings for him are also quite special, he might indeed put a lot of effort into it.

The problem is that the power of breathing techniques far exceeds that of breathing exercises, and Kamado Tanjiro simply cannot achieve it by figuring it out on his own.

If something goes wrong, breathing techniques can become fatal.

This practice of internal breathing is no joke.

However, they are still Kamado Clan.

The efforts of several generations have not been in vain; at least Tanjiro Kamado in front of him... he has managed to get 'luck'.

In Oboro's perception, every meridian and blood vessel in Tanjiro Kamado's body had 'breath' flowing and circulating.

This forms one small cycle after another.

What's even more special is that the path to luck... isn't one of the ones Oboro taught them.

It was invented by the modern-day Kamado Clan themselves.

This achievement surpasses even that of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Lung had a feeling... he was close to reaping the rewards.

He wanted to gain that power that transcended breathing techniques and approached the realm of metaphysics.

That's why he went to Mount Kumotori.

This was the first 'seed' he planted.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to come see Tanjiro Kamado at all.

"A bond has been formed..."

On the way down the mountain, Oboro recalled the image of Kamado Tanjiro, the boy who liked to stare at him.

Bonds... In the world of Demon Slayer, there are different shining points.

He himself did not realize that he would form a bond with Kamado Tanjiro and have such a great impact on that child.

Although unintentional, it did indeed harm the latter.

Without this constraint, Kamado Tanjiro would have lived a good life and would never have thought about studying breathing techniques.

They certainly wouldn't give any instructions to their descendants.

"Thinking I had everything under control, I still miscalculated... Indeed, even I can't calculate everything; the world is too complicated."

"Especially people's hearts... and feelings."

He muttered to himself.

The power of the soul may seem unsolvable, but there are things it cannot do.

For example, predicting the future.

He was thinking of using the bloodline of the Kamado Clan to upgrade his 'breathing technique', but he didn't want Kamado Tanjiro to die young.

This is a massive undertaking that requires the wisdom of generations of people. There are many ways to extrapolate from this, so there's no need to be so radical.

Result...

The period when Kamado Tanjiro grew up should have been the decade or so that he orchestrated, which was known as the 'end of the world'.

From the moment he Hunter x Hunter to the present day, Oboro has never regretted anything he has done.

He has his own pursuits and purposes.

But now, he suddenly felt... a little heartache.

Thinking of Tanjiro Kamado, Oboro immediately thought of Netero, Rita, and Fante... as well as all those faces from the past.

"The aftereffects of leaving Hunter x Hunter... this doesn't seem like you."

Long sighed self-deprecatingly.