The Most Luxurious Lineup in History

"Do we know each other?" Sabito asked. Hiruma's gaze was too strange, giving him the illusion that they were acquaintances—though the kind he had absolutely no memory of.

Hiruma smiled slightly and said with complete sincerity, "Maybe we've met before."

Sabito nudged Giyu and asked, "Someone you know?"

Giyu shook his head. He did not know this person at all.

"Oh!"

"Even if we hadn't met before, we've met now!" Hiruma unleashed his natural familiarity and shamelessness. Mainly because he really had met the two of them, albeit only one-sidedly.

"Forgot to introduce myself. Tendo Hiruma!" He extended a hand warmly. "I think we're destined to meet. How about being friends?"

To be honest, Sabito did not dislike this overly familiar guy. It was good to make friends when traveling, after all. He took Hiruma's hand and said:

"Sabito. Please take care of me from now on!"

And so, the five of them climbed the mountain together. Other than Giyu, who did not say a word the entire way, the rest got along quite well.

The halfway point of Mount Fujikasane was practically the end of the Wisteria Flower forest. There was a platform here, and as Hiruma's group stepped onto the stone dais, every swordsman participating in the selection had arrived.

Around twenty-five people were taking part in the Final Selection this time. Compared to previous years, that was quite a lot.

The mountain path wound like a snake along the slope. At its end stood a red torii gate.

The torii resembled a gate leading into hell, standing at one side of the platform. Its crimson frame stood in stark contrast to the green mountain forest around it, as though it had been carved from blood.

A tall man stood beneath the gate. His long hair looked like blazing flames. It was Rengoku Shinjuro.

He had actually arrived only an hour before the swordsmen, having just completed a mission.

The Demon Slayer Corps was currently short on manpower. One Pillar had to do the work of ten. There was no helping it.

The most shocked were Hiruma and The Trio. Even if they were beaten to death, they would never have expected to meet Shinjuro in such a manner.

Shinjuro glanced at the three of them but said nothing. He cleared his throat, and his passionate voice rang out.

"Everyone, I am the Flame Pillar, Rengoku Shinjuro. I am also the examiner for this selection."

Shinjuro was like a loudspeaker, his voice thunderous enough to raise the dispirited morale considerably.

"The rules of the Final Selection are simple..." As he spoke, Shinjuro turned sideways and pointed beyond the torii with one hand. "Pass through here and survive for seven days on a mountain filled with Demons. That is all."

"Seven days later, if you can stand here alive, congratulations. You will have succeeded!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he pointed toward the road down the mountain. "If you are afraid of dying, there is still time to regret it. Go down the mountain. There is nothing shameful about that, because everyone wants to live."

Shinjuro had finished speaking. He would give these children time to think and make their choice.

After a moment, not a single person left. They might have been afraid, they might have feared death, but they were absolutely not cowards.

Most of them bore irreconcilable hatred toward Demons. Until the Demons were exterminated, they would not rest.

Shinjuro nodded approvingly, then shouted in a spirited voice:

"Excellent! The future of the Demon Slayer Corps is entrusted to all of you. May fortune favor you in battle!"

"Selection begins!"

He took the initiative to clear a path. Kyojuro was the first to rush from the crowd. The moment he passed beneath the torii, father and son met each other's eyes, and everything went unspoken.

At that moment, Shinjuro was not an examiner, but a father. He was personally sending his son into cruel hell. The Rengoku Family had done so for generations.

Son, do your best!

Kyojuro read his father's lips. He tightened his grip on his sword hilt, faced forward again, and felt his blood boil. He would never disgrace the Rengoku name.

Iguro Obanai followed closely behind. He nodded to Shinjuro and pursued Kyojuro at top speed.

With someone taking the lead, the young swordsmen streamed forward, embarking on their journey without hesitation.

Tendo Hiruma was the last person to step through the torii. He wore a confident, composed smile and spoke in a firm, powerful voice:

"Uncle, seven days from now, not a single Demon on Mount Fujikasane will remain alive!"

"We're terrifyingly strong!"

Hearing that, Shinjuro laughed heartily. He chose to believe in his son and Hiruma's group, even if there were a hundred Demons on Mount Fujikasane at that very moment.

As Hiruma's figure vanished beyond the Wisteria Flower forest, only Shinjuro remained on the enormous stone platform.

Just then, his Kasugai Crow descended and issued a mission.

"Rengoku, Rengoku! Demon spotted, one day's journey from here!"

"Got it!"

"The children are working hard. I can't fall behind either!"

Shinjuro raced down the mountain, the corners of his mouth raised as he looked forward to good news seven days later.

Great swathes of wisteria rushed past behind Hiruma like frames from a movie reel. The lingering light of the setting sun was like a long arrow, piercing through the boundary between the upper and lower mountain, passing through Hiruma.

From afar, the towering Mount Fujikasane looked as though someone had tied a golden ribbon vertically around it.

On this ribbon-like path, Kyojuro led the way, with Iguro Obanai close behind. Sabito and Giyu were in the middle of the group, while Hiruma brought up the rear.

He had not been wrong at all. The swordsmen participating in this Final Selection were terrifyingly strong.

Five future Pillars were among them. It was truly the most luxurious lineup in history.

From afar, the brilliant golden afterglow covered half of Mount Fujikasane, but it gradually shrank, and the golden ribbon began to disappear.

Gradually, only one corner of the mountaintop remained covered in golden light before it vanished completely.

Night fell.

The entire mountain stirred. It was time for the Demons to come out and hunt.

The Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection was a trial of life and death for the swordsmen, but for the Demons, it was a lavish feast.

"Dinner time!"

"Those stupid humans have come to throw their lives away again!"

"I'm eating ten! Most of the swordsmen participating in the selection are idiots!"

"That's right, it's been so long since we last had meat!"

"Humans deserve to die!"

Bloodthirsty, crazed voices rose from the depths of the mountain. Pairs of scarlet eyes quietly opened, filled with greed. They had been holding back for too long.

One hundred Demons against twenty-five inexperienced swordsmen seemed like rather favorable odds. But no matter what, these Demons could never have imagined—

Someone was cheating, and there was more than one of them.

The sky was black as ink, and the Demon purge began.

In the deepest part of Mount Fujikasane was an area shrouded in layers of mist. It was terrifyingly quiet; there were not even any wild beasts.

Suddenly, a pair of cold yellowish-brown eyes snapped open, shattering the silence. Those eyes resembled demons from the abyss, radiating endless chill.

Looking carefully, one would discover that the eyes were actually growing from a massive ball of flesh that appeared to be formed from countless arms.

Dark green arms continuously writhed as though searching for a target. The entire flesh ball exuded a suffocating aura that made one's skin crawl.

"Urokodaki's disciple has come to throw his life away again. Hehehe!"

A chilling laugh echoed through the deep mountains. The most cowardly Demon on Mount Fujikasane had made its move.