"A blue blade is pretty good. Look at how pure the color is. Chinatsu, your mastery of Water Breathing might even surpass Tomioka's someday."
Even that was a conservative estimate from Urokodaki. Giyu Tomioka considered himself less talented than Sabito, while Chinatsu and Tanjiro were both more talented than Sabito.
Still, Giyu Tomioka had created the eleventh form of Water Breathing himself, which was proof of his talent. He fully deserved the title of strongest Water Hashira in centuries.
Listening to Urokodaki, Chinatsu really wanted to poke fun at his talk of "purity." Since when did Nichirin Blade colors have different levels of purity? This felt straight out of the Baki series a couple of studios over.
A certain strongest creature on Earth: "Your purity is too low!"
Chinatsu: "Get lost! You're in the wrong series!"
Chinatsu shook her head hard, then carefully studied the Nichirin Blade in her hand, getting a feel for it.
Uh... I have to admit, this blue is beautiful.
Suddenly, a crow's cries came from outside the cabin. A few seconds later, the crow flew inside. It was just about to land when it sensed Chinatsu's presence, slammed on the brakes in midair, and flapped its wings to put some distance between them.
"Tanjiro! Chinatsu! I bring orders! Head to the village northwest of here! Young girls have been disappearing there! Every night, more young girls vanish! Find the demon hiding there and slay it! Take care! This is your first mission as members of the Demon Slayer Corps!"
After delivering its message, the crow immediately flapped its wings, turned around, and flew out through the window. Since Chinatsu had no messenger crow, Tanjiro's had to deliver orders to both of them-a shared quest in party mode, essentially.
"Big sis, we've got work!"
"Yeah. Let's try to finish it quickly."
Chinatsu slid her Nichirin Blade back into its sheath. She didn't remember this mission very clearly, since the "Spider Mountain arc" was what had first gotten her interested in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. The earlier story had been relatively thin. All she remembered was that there seemed to be a demon with a Blood Demon Art who liked eating young girls.
But that wasn't a problem. The demon couldn't be all that strong. Tanjiro could easily solo it, let alone with a two-person party... no, Nezuko was coming too, so that made it a three-person party.
Meanwhile, Nezuko was in another room, separate from Chinatsu and Tanjiro. With her superhuman demonic hearing, she heard their conversation.
She clenched her fists and lowered her head, psyching herself up, even though she was feeling a little sleepy.
As Chinatsu and Tanjiro rose to their feet, looking ready to leave, Urokodaki gave a quiet cough and said calmly, "There's a specially made wooden box in the room on the left. It's lighter and sturdier than an ordinary wooden box. You can use it to store a few things."
With Haganezuka present, it was best not to reveal that Nezuko was a demon if they could avoid it.
Chinatsu and Tanjiro nodded, immediately understanding Urokodaki's meaning. After they went to the room on the left and retrieved the wooden box, Nezuko shrank her body and climbed inside, holding a wooden training sword. Tanjiro strapped the box onto his back and prepared to set off.
Chinatsu and Tanjiro: "We're off, then!"
After fifteen days, they left Urokodaki's cabin once again. Urokodaki stood outside, watching them go.
Be sure to take care of yourselves!
Once they were out of Urokodaki's sight, Chinatsu mulled it over and finally reached for her sword, drawing her blue Nichirin Blade from its sheath.
"Big sis, why did you suddenly draw your sword?"
Tanjiro hurriedly looked around, nervous. They were already coming down the mountain, and an inhabited town wasn't far away.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba took place in the Taisho era, the era before Showa. By this time, samurai were already forbidden from carrying swords. If ordinary people saw such a sharp Nichirin Blade, it would definitely cause considerable panic.
"Don't worry. I just want to try an experiment. It'll only take a moment, and nobody will see." Chinatsu looked at the Nichirin Blade in her hand, with its blue ripple pattern. While descending the mountain, she had thought it over from every angle and finally hit upon an extraordinary possibility. Now, she was ready to test it.
Chinatsu and Tanjiro maintained low-consumption Total Concentration Water Breathing throughout the day. Now, however, Chinatsu stopped using the Water Breathing Style and switched to the Hinokami Kagura Breathing Style.
Her previously calm body instantly felt as though her blood were boiling, and her temperature noticeably rose a degree. First, the blue Nichirin Blade she held sent a sharp sting through her palm. Then its blade began to change color.
From bottom to top, the blue blade actually turned black. Chinatsu tightened her grip on her Nichirin Blade and performed Dance on the spot. The power it displayed far exceeded what either she or Tanjiro had imagined.
"Big sis, your blade turned the same color as mine!"
"Just as I thought. My blade can change colors along with my Breathing Style. Now that's a true color-changing blade." Chinatsu nodded in satisfaction.
As long as heaven hadn't locked her into Water Breathing, that was enough. After all, once Hinokami Kagura could dish out damage later on, who would use Water Breathing? Chinatsu was still looking forward to reenacting Yoriichi Tsugikuni's moment right in front of Muzan someday.
"What do you take life for?!"
Chinatsu couldn't help blurting it out. Beside her, Tanjiro looked utterly baffled. What... take life for... what?
Chinatsu awkwardly cleared her throat and waved a hand, telling him not to mind it.
"Let's keep going. We'll try to finish this quickly."
"Right!"
The two continued onward and soon reached an inhabited town. Of course, this wasn't their destination, but walking through it helped Chinatsu learn a great deal about the era. The Taisho era, which preceded Showa, wasn't nearly as backward as she had imagined.
That made sense. After all, the Taisho era already had trains, and armed forces each carried firearms. During the final battle, the Demon Slayer Corps' Oyakata-sama had even detonated a large quantity of black powder at a single point, inflicting considerable damage on the Demon King Muzan at close range.
Chinatsu and Tanjiro pressed on, passing through one town after another until they finally reached the town mentioned in the crow's report.
The moment they arrived, Tanjiro's heightened perception under Total Concentration, together with his sense of smell that surpassed a dog's, immediately told him there was something unusual about this town.
"I smell a demon."
Tanjiro's brows furrowed slightly. Although the scents were muddled, determining the direction wasn't difficult for him now.
"All right, Tanjiro. Let's go!"
Before you continue