Makomo led Keqing up the mountain. She did not know why Keqing wanted to see her master, but she trusted Keqing completely and harbored no suspicion.
As they climbed, Makomo told Keqing about some of the things that had happened here. Sakonji Urokodaki had taken in many children who had lost their parents and trained them as prospective members of the Demon Slayer Corps. Yet... every one of them before Makomo had disappeared without a trace during the final selection on Mount Fujikasane!
Soon, it would be Makomo's turn...
Makomo was not as strong as the others, but she was more agile and could skillfully use all ten basic forms of Water Breathing.
Ordinary demons were no match for Makomo.
Logically speaking, the final selection on Mount Fujikasane... the demons inside were meant for newcomers to practice against. None of them should have been particularly powerful, and Makomo's strength should have been more than enough to pass.
Even Sakonji Urokodaki could not understand why. Every disciple he had taught was fully capable of passing the trial, yet all of them had failed!
Having learned about the "plot," Keqing understood. There was a demon in Mount Fujikasane's final selection that far exceeded what newcomers could handle—a Hand Demon that had devoured dozens of prospective Demon Slayer Corps members.
All of Sakonji Urokodaki's disciples had died at the Hand Demon's hands. If she did not intervene... Makomo would likely die to it as well.
Makomo was not weak, but if she learned in the middle of battle that all her senior brothers had died at the Hand Demon's hands, and that it had deliberately eaten everyone wearing fox masks—Sakonji Urokodaki's disciples—she would surely be shaken to the core and defeated.
As they chatted, they reached another spot. Makomo took Keqing's hand of