"Total Concentration: Constant!!!"
Hearing that unfamiliar term from Urokodaki, Tanjiro couldn't help drawing out his exclamation in surprise. Once he finished, he blinked and continued with complete sincerity, "Total Concentration: Constant... what's that?"
"Uh... you've already learned Total Concentration Breathing. Constant means maintaining that breathing state for extended periods, so every step and every slash uses one hundred percent of your speed and strength. Staying in that concentrated breathing state for so long also improves your physical fitness. But this technique is very difficult to learn. Very few members of the Demon Slayer Corps can reach that level."
Within the Demon Slayer Corps, only the Hashira and those with the potential to become Hashira could master this technique.
Normally, a cultivator would never teach this technique to an apprentice during their initial training, but this was clearly no normal situation.
Come on, if we're doing this, let's go big!
The first year was for building their foundations and learning Water Breathing.
The second year marked the start of their training in Total Concentration: Constant.
Chinatsu felt as though she was trying to max out her level before leaving the starter village. If she actually mastered Constant, wouldn't killing demons during Final Selection be as easy as chopping cabbages?
However, training in Total Concentration: Constant was no easy task. Maintaining a focused mental state while enduring the physical strain it brought was the foundation of breathing-based sword techniques-Total Concentration Breathing. Constant meant sustaining that state for long periods until it became the norm.
Was it a bit like Super Saiyan 1 and Super Saiyan 1 Full Power?
Chinatsu and Tanjiro wasted no time starting their training in Total Concentration: Constant. At first, they could only sustain it for a few short minutes, but eventually they managed dozens of minutes, then even several hours. It sounded easy enough, but a great deal of time passed along the way.
One night.
Tanjiro was writing in his diary as usual. What? What self-respecting person kept a diary? Let me tell you, only two kinds of people in this world kept diaries. One was the thoroughly unserious sort, who only did it for show. The other was the exceptionally earnest sort, and Tanjiro belonged to the latter.
After condensing the day's events into a few sentences and recording them in his diary, Tanjiro put away his pen, closed the notebook in his hands, and let out a heavy breath.
Just as he turned to look at Nezuko, who lay asleep beside him, Chinatsu happened to stop by after washing up and caught sight of his face, which looked far too careworn for his age.
"What's wrong? Still worried about Nezuko?"
"Mm... yeah. Sis, ever since we came here to train, Nezuko hasn't woken up once. What if she never wakes up again?"
Tanjiro gazed anxiously at Nezuko lying on the floor. The only reason he had managed to endure her prolonged sleep all this time was that he kept reassuring himself and finding plenty of things to do, exhausting himself so thoroughly that he had no energy left to overthink it.
But that was no lasting solution. As they gradually worked through their training, he began to have more breathing room, and his worries about Nezuko surged up like a tide.
In the original story, Tanjiro had always stayed optimistic and positive. But whether someone watched the anime or read the manga, they could only see what was shown on the screen or page.
Things were different for Chinatsu now. She could feel every minute and every second of this world. Moments that flashed by in the anime and manga, or weren't shown at all, were real experiences she had actually lived through.
"Tanjiro, don't worry so much. Nezuko and I were both affected by the same demon's blood. I can faintly sense that she's just asleep. She'll wake up before long."
"Really?! If that's true, then thank goodness. I'll do everything I can to find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human."
Chinatsu's reassurance immediately eased much of Tanjiro's anxiety. As for that claim about "faintly sensing" anything... of course she had made it up. Chinatsu couldn't sense a thing. Knowing the original plot was far more useful than any supernatural perception.
"It's getting late. Get some sleep."
"Okay. Good night, Sis."
The days passed one after another. While learning Total Concentration: Constant, the two also quietly practiced Hinokami Kagura. Though they still couldn't sustain it for very long, its power far surpassed Water Breathing. Both treated it as a secret weapon for opponents Water Breathing couldn't handle.
Before long, two years had passed since they arrived to train. In Chinatsu's eyes, this was where the main story of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba truly began. Everything before it had been more like a prologue.
The Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection!
Passing this selection would make them members of the Demon Slayer Corps and earn them their starter equipment, which also happened to be the strongest weapon against demons-a Nichirin Blade.
Chinatsu was already raring to go, and Tanjiro had waited far too long for this day as well. After hearing Urokodaki say they could attend Final Selection, Tanjiro was too excited to sleep. Yet when he got up the following morning, he had no dark circles under his eyes. He still looked several times more energetic than an ordinary person.
Chinatsu wasn't doing much "better." Tanjiro longed to join the Demon Slayer Corps, but wasn't she just as eager for the main story to officially unfold?
Although arriving at this point in the timeline meant that many earlier regrets and tragedies were already beyond her reach, thanks to Crocodile-sensei's devilish storytelling prowess, Chinatsu would have plenty of opportunities to reverse tragedies in the future.
Early the next morning, Chinatsu walked over to the mirror in the wooden cabin. As she tidied her hair a little, she noticed the wheelchair behind her reflected in the mirror.
For a moment, Chinatsu considered spending a while longer in the wheelchair and acting out that classic fantasy-novel routine: "keep a low profile and pretend to be weak-get looked down on-get mocked-the protagonist makes a move-put everyone in their place-keep pretending to be weak-get looked down on again"...
But the idea lingered in Chinatsu's mind for only an instant before she quickly dismissed it herself.
Showing off and putting people in their place certainly felt good, but she couldn't stand being mocked so frequently as part of that routine. Even if she later showed off and threw their mockery back in their faces, it would still leave her feeling uncomfortable.
Keeping a low profile was fine, but deliberately doing so just to repeat an endless cycle of humiliating people? No thanks.
Besides, Chinatsu didn't believe there were really that many blunt people in the world who would wear their contempt and mockery openly on their faces, or even say such things straight to someone's face... no, idiots was the better word.
All I need to do is be my true self. And my name now is... Chinatsu Kamado!
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Chinatsu took a deep breath. She quickly turned and left the room, then the cabin, stepping outside.
Today, she would leave this mountain with Tanjiro and head to Mount Fujikasane to take part in the Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection!
Before you continue