Red Sun Heart Refining × Urokodaki Sakonji's Shock!
Roy Gate of Opening and walked into the woods.
Winter has passed, and early spring brings forth new green shoots... The once sunless Mount Sagiri is now tinged with a touch of green, bursting with vitality...
Seito followed without a word. Makomo accompanied Urokodaki Sakonji, occasionally whipping up gusts of cold wind to help him clean up the wood shavings scattered from the carving. When they returned...
Roy maintained his stance, his feet firmly planted on the ground, using his waist as the core to drive his elbows, which in turn moved to his hands, continuously slashing, and it looked like he was about to make five thousand cuts.
"How many cuts?" Makomo leaped up the tree and stood next to Seito.
Once she started getting confused after counting more than three thousand, she decisively chose to give up and handed the task over to Seito.
Four thousand nine.
"Um?"
Makomo glanced at the sky; there was still a long time until dusk, and the price was already 4,900 dollars. Could it be...?
Will Eiichiro be able to break through his bottleneck today?
"I don't know if he can break through," Sabito. "I only know that he ate a few dumplings, drank a pot of hot tea, and rested for half an hour."
Makomo: "..
It had to be him... Anyone else would have been utterly astonished.
The girl told herself not to make a fuss, that she should be used to it by now... Her gaze blankly fell on Roy, her eyebrows twitching, and she was startled again. How come, in just one night, Eiichiro has grown taller again?
You noticed too?
The Sun-Earring Boy wielding the knife had sleeves and trousers that were noticeably too short, revealing his wrists and ankles.
The Sabito sighed softly, "When my parents were still alive, they told me a story that said you shouldn't go into the bamboo forest after it rains, lest the bamboo shoots grow taller and jump out to attack you."
"I didn't believe it before, but now..."
The fox- Sun-Earring Boy chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Even if Eiichiro suddenly told me he was transformed from bamboo, I wouldn't be surprised."
"Senior brother is joking," Roy raised his hand and swung his blade again, the blade flashing and dispersing the mist.
"I'm not joking." Sabito crossed his arms and said with no small amount of envy, "If I had even a tenth of your strength back then, I wouldn't have died at that guy's hands."
"I don't want one-tenth, I just want one-twentieth!" Makomo, resting her chin on her hand, called out to Roy, "Hey~"
"Eiichiro, can you tell me what I should eat to grow as fast as you?"
The little girl was always bothered by her height, even after she died... Seito rolled her eyes at her, not knowing what to say.
Roy stabbed again, then smiled but didn't answer.
You can't exactly say "I'll eat you."
Since this matter involves resentment of the soul, the senior brothers and sisters present are not necessarily much less capable Molitonio's sister. In fact, because they have practiced Breathing Style, their souls are so condensed that they seem almost tangible, suggesting that their Life Energy is extraordinary.
At this thought, Roy was surprised that he would suddenly have Evil Nen because of "craving," even considering harming his own senior brothers and sisters. He frowned and quickly realized that something was wrong...
Deep within my own heart lurks many Negative Emotions, previously unnoticed, but now, upon closer examination...
Some were the wronged souls killed by the terrorist "Jester," some were the girls and other Nen user tortured and killed by "Meat Grinder" Harrison, some were "Molitonio's" sister and the victims he turned into "artworks" and crushed into mincemeat, and even... "Minamino Hirotomo," whom Roy first rescued, was among them...
These "victims" actually harbored no ill will towards Roy. They had been lying low without any intention of revolting until today, when Makomo's words triggered their "cravings" and they began to stir...
Roy frowned, lost in thought... Humans, as independent individuals, are inherently complex; the human heart is never entirely untainted, always possessing both a bright and a sordid side... These exist separately, yet are also in a state of unity of opposites...
So, since I've chosen to accept them, I inevitably have to accept their "filth" as well. The Sun-Earring Boy gradually realized this, and with a swift stroke, he missed...
This is the so-called "law of equivalent exchange": if you want to increase your strength, you must bear the risks that come with that increase.
"Shh"
Seito noticed that Roy's carrying frame was deformed and quickly reminded Makomo not to be distracted by him anymore.
Makomo, being a sensible person, shut up upon seeing this.
Roy frowned. Having realized the problem, he quickly adjusted his stance and continued wielding his sword. His mind raced, trying to figure out how to dispel these Negative Emotions. Otherwise, if they accumulated, they might end up like his father, Silva, had said... a twisted mind and a descent into demonic possession...
Without realizing it...
The Sun-Earring Boy swung his sword, the number of strikes surpassing five thousand, five thousand five... five thousand six... five thousand seven... five thousand nine... and it was already approaching six thousand...
At the very moment when Sabito counted to "the five thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth cut" -
The setting sun pierced through the mist, casting a ray of light onto Roy's face. Warmth immediately welled up in his heart, and he was slightly taken aback. His eyes suddenly lit up like two suns.
Having seen through illusion and delusion...
Yes... the sun rises, the night fades...
Wherever the sun shines, everything naturally retreats.
A flash of inspiration...
Roy, suddenly inspired, gently closed his eyes and silently Visualization the sun in his mind. "Buzz..." A strange rhythm emanated from him, piercing through Sabito and Makomo, causing their spirits to tremble!
Upon closer inspection... the Asauchi sword, held in Roy's hands, began to show red spots. At first, there were only two or three scattered spots, then a line appeared, followed by a patch, and finally, it spread across the entire blade. In the misty, Mount Sagiri, it shone with a dazzling red light...
With a slash from the side by the Sun-Earring Boy-
All the negative emotions lurking deep within him crumbled instantly, transforming into wisps of black smoke that rose from above his head and vanished without a trace in the wind...
Then came a massive fiery slash that spanned nearly thirty meters, severing wooden stakes, splitting the ground, and shattering birch trees, stopping just an inch from Urokodaki Sakonji's toes.
"Boom!"
The birch tree fell, sending snowflakes flying...
In the vast expanse of white, the old man who came to check on his apprentice's practice under the cover of night had his "Tengu Mask" snap in two and fall to the ground, revealing a shocked and speechless, weathered face beneath!
A crimson blade... burning with fiery Sword Qi... "Memories flashed back to several years ago, to the day his beloved disciple, Giyu Tomioka, graduated from his apprenticeship, a day that also filled him with sorrow..."
That day, Giyu passed the Mount Fujikasane selection thanks to Sabito, officially becoming a member of the Demon Slayer Corps. He waited at home for the swordsmith to deliver his blade... He clearly remembered something the swordsmith said when he had Giyu try out the sword: he was searching for a swordsman who could make Nichirin Sword turn red, or rather... the entire Swordsmith Village was searching for that swordsman...
And now...
"Haganezuka Hotaru, the person you've been looking for has been found."