Setting out for Mount Fujikasane

Chinatsu and Tanjiro stood outside the wooden cabin, with Urokodaki beside them. He held a mask in each hand and offered them to the two siblings.

"These are Disaster-Repelling Masks. Perhaps they can protect you from misfortune. I'll take good care of Nezuko while you're away for the final selection, so go without worry," Urokodaki said solemnly.

Chinatsu and Tanjiro accepted the oddly shaped masks and nodded. Tanjiro was wearing a blue uniform that represented Water Breathing, but Chinatsu wasn't. That brought them to an incident that had left her utterly speechless.

Urokodaki had misjudged Chinatsu's bust size, leaving the chest of her women's uniform rather... empty?

Unlike Nezuko's impressive bust, her older sister Chinatsu's chest only barely qualified as something other than flat. When she first received the outfit, she had even suspected that it was an act of "malice" from Urokodaki.

Urokodaki's answer was, "The person who made it said it was based on the average bust size for women."

The corner of Chinatsu's mouth twitched at that answer, but her reaction wasn't particularly intense.

"Isn't having a smaller chest a good thing? Just thinking about fighting with a huge bust in the way makes me uncomfortable. I'm glad mine is small."

Chinatsu genuinely wasn't making excuses, but to Tanjiro and Urokodaki, her words sounded like a cry of anguish. Tanjiro even produced two large steamed buns from somewhere...

Before Tanjiro could open his mouth and say something that was guaranteed to be awful, Chinatsu slammed a Fist of Love into his unbelievably hard forehead. She silenced him at the cost of hurting herself almost as much as she hurt him.

Chinatsu: "D-don't take this too far!"

The matter ended there, and she changed out of the outfit. Although clothing like that could serve as proof of identity, having Tanjiro wear his while traveling with her was enough. At worst, she could fold hers up and carry it with her, then show it if anyone checked.

"We'll be off, then."

Tanjiro bowed slightly to Urokodaki, then turned to leave for Mount Fujikasane. Chinatsu merely gave a small nod toward Mount Fujikasane. Just as she was about to turn away, she spotted a boy and a girl in the distance behind Urokodaki, though she couldn't tell whether they were real or an illusion.

Sabito and Makomo?

In the blink of an eye, the two vanished completely from Chinatsu's sight.

Sabito and Makomo were former students of Urokodaki who had died during the final selection. If what she had just seen wasn't an illusion, then she must have seen their souls, just as Tanjiro had in the original story.

Pure souls that remained in this world after death instead of reincarnating. Their lingering attachment must have kept them here... Don't worry. I'll tear that demon to pieces!

With a confident smile, Chinatsu waved toward the spot where the two had appeared, then turned and left Urokodaki's side. She left behind a somewhat puzzled Urokodaki, along with an even more puzzled Sabito and Makomo.

"Sabito, did that girl see us?"

"Maybe. Tanjiro and... Chinatsu. Maybe they'll be able to avenge us."

The two stood together, silently wishing the siblings well. In truth, they... especially Sabito, had originally possessed the strength to kill the demon that had killed them.

But before encountering that vicious demon, Sabito had exhausted much of his strength clearing out large numbers of weaker demons on the mountain so that more candidates could survive. His sword had also become badly worn. As a result, its blade shattered when he clashed with that demon, and the demon crushed his head...

That vicious demon used the Disaster-Repelling Masks carried by Urokodaki's students to identify them. Whenever it spotted someone wearing one, it would turn and attack Urokodaki's student, even if it had other prey right in front of it.

During this final selection on Mount Fujikasane, Chinatsu and Tanjiro would undoubtedly become that demon's targets. The ultimate outcome wouldn't change, but Chinatsu felt there was plenty of room to alter how they got there.

Killing it with a single slash would let it off a little too easily.

Walking beside Tanjiro, Chinatsu lowered her head slightly, a devilish smile spreading across her face. At the sight of it, Tanjiro couldn't help letting out a small sneeze. He had a feeling something big would happen soon.

Mount Fujikasane wasn't far away. Or rather, at their current speed, that distance hardly counted as far.

Feeling the strong wind rush against her face as she ran, Chinatsu felt wonderful. She could feel that same breeze while someone pushed her in a wheelchair, but actually running on her own two legs was a completely different experience.

The two raced over the ground faster than Bolt, and even when they reached the vicinity of Mount Fujikasane, they didn't stop.

To the other candidates who had arrived near Mount Fujikasane and were preparing to climb it for the final selection, the siblings were, to exaggerate a little, like two gusts of wind sweeping past. More plainly, by the time the others reacted, all they could see were two figures receding into the distance.

The path was lined with wisteria trees bearing purple flowers that resembled willow catkins. Their wisteria blossoms were like deadly poison to demons. It was precisely because of those flowers that Mount Fujikasane served as the Demon Slayer Corps' final selection site, making it quite safe.

Only after reaching the mountainside did the two finally stop. The area was filled with people preparing to take part in the final selection, just like them. Most wore grave expressions, clearly having steeled themselves for what lay ahead.

With just a casual glance, Chinatsu immediately recognized several important characters from the original story. Compared with the nameless extras around them, they were far too distinctive.

Yellow hair, a grave gaze-Zenitsu Agatsuma.

A scarred face, a fierce gaze-Genya Shinazugawa.

A smile, pink clothing-Kanao Tsuyuri.

"Chinatsu, we have to pass the final selection!"

Not knowing exactly how strong he had become, Tanjiro was a little nervous. He worried whether he was strong enough to pass the final selection, so he was giving himself a pep talk.

Chinatsu said nothing. He might have no damn clue how strong he was right now, but he would soon enough.

The two stood together, quietly waiting for the final selection to begin. As the minutes ticked by, more and more people turned their attention toward them.

One reason was that Chinatsu, standing beside Tanjiro, wasn't dressed like the rest of them, not to mention her striking appearance.

The other was that those who had arrived after Chinatsu and Tanjiro realized the two gusts of wind seemed to have been them, drawing attention to their strength.

About half an hour later, two children in kimonos, a boy and a girl-though one of them was a boy-walked up before the candidates, carrying lanterns.

"Thank you all for coming tonight to take part in the Demon Slayer Corps' final selection..."