Sakonji Urokodaki

"I... I did it..."

Tanjiro sank to the ground with a thud. Although he hadn't killed a human, the sensation wasn't much different. The only difference was that killing a demon carried no guilt.

Tanjiro had done beautifully, even better than Chinatsu had expected. She had thought he might hesitate a little, but this time, he hadn't.

That made sense. After all, in the original story, Tanjiro had hesitated at this stage because he felt the large rock in his hands couldn't crush the demon's head in one blow. He would have needed several strikes, perhaps even dozens. With an iron axe, however, one or two blows were enough, so naturally, he hadn't hesitated.

Just as Chinatsu was about to raise her hands and applaud him in encouragement, applause came from behind her. A mysterious old man wearing a Tengu Mask had appeared behind them. Just as the original story had described, his footsteps were truly swift and silent.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

"Well done. Fast, precise, and decisive. Your ability to act exceeded my expectations. You're the boy Tomioka sent, aren't you? You're more impressive than I imagined."

He spoke as he clapped. This masked old man was the very person they had set out to find.

Cultivator: Sakonji Urokodaki.

Still sitting on the ground, Tanjiro heard someone approach, applauding and praising him. He lowered his head and scratched the back of it, looking a little embarrassed. "It was all my sister's idea. I just followed the plan she came up with."

"Oh? You thought of that?"

Urokodaki looked at Chinatsu in her wheelchair with some surprise. Giyu Tomioka hadn't mentioned the girl in the wheelchair to him. He hadn't expected that seemingly frail girl to have devised the surprise attack.

"Let me ask you something. If this boy hadn't managed to smash the demon's head, what would you have done next? Run away, or keep fighting?"

"Keep fighting, of course. Honestly, the way Tanjiro killed the demon so cleanly already exceeded my expectations."

"Oh? So you had a backup plan?"

Urokodaki watched Chinatsu with interest. In his view, if Tanjiro had failed to kill the demon with his axe, the situation would have taken a complete turn for the worse.

The boy wasn't strong enough to fight a demon, and the girl was in a wheelchair, unable to move... unable to move?

The moment that thought crossed Urokodaki's mind, Chinatsu stood up from her wheelchair right before his eyes. She was hardly unable to move.

"I see. A disguise? Were you pretending so the demon would mistake you for a weak point, giving Tanjiro a chance to attack?"

Urokodaki believed he had figured out the truth and silently praised the girl's ingenuity. But Chinatsu's actual answer was different from his.

She hadn't intended to sacrifice herself to give Tanjiro an opening. She had intended to create an opening for herself.

Still, since Urokodaki had reached that conclusion, Chinatsu wasn't about to explain. His interpretation was pretty good anyway, and it had probably earned her quite a few points in his estimation.

When Tanjiro and Nezuko beside her heard that this had supposedly been their sister's plan, both immediately grew anxious. Neither wanted their sister taking risks for them.

"Chinatsu!!!"

"I'm sorry!!!"

Chinatsu pressed her hands together and apologized to Tanjiro and Nezuko. As Urokodaki watched the three of them, images of the pupils he had once taught rose before his eyes.

The sky gradually brightened, and sunlight fell across their faces. Tanjiro's first thought was how dazzling the sun was today. Only then did he remember that Nezuko was now a demon and couldn't be exposed to sunlight.

Tanjiro hurriedly turned to scan his surroundings, then followed her scent and ran into the Buddhist hall strewn with corpses. Only when he saw Nezuko huddled inside did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Urokodaki appeared behind him without a sound.

"Boy, your name is Tanjiro, correct?"

"Y-yes. My name is Tanjiro Kamado!" Tanjiro quickly turned around and answered nervously.

From their earlier conversation, he already knew that the masked old man before him was Sakonji Urokodaki, the person he had been looking for.

Mr. Tomioka was strong. That meant the elderly Mr. Urokodaki he had recommended was certainly no ordinary man either.

Indeed, Sakonji Urokodaki was no ordinary man. He was the former Water Hashira, once one of the strongest members of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Urokodaki gazed at Tanjiro and said sternly, "Since you killed that demon using the method your sister devised, I won't count it toward your test results. I'll put you through a rigorous test shortly. Let's see whether you have what it takes to become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps."

Although he hadn't been accepted immediately, Tanjiro was already delighted by that answer.

"Understood!"

"Then carry your younger sister and follow me. I'll take care of transporting your older sister!"

And so, a rather astonishing sight appeared on the village's dirt road: an old man wearing a Tengu Mask raced ahead while pushing a wheelchair at a speed utterly at odds with his age and build, while a boy carrying a large basket followed behind, gasping for breath.

Tanjiro's eyes were filled with disbelief. He couldn't imagine how Sakonji Urokodaki could run so fast. Running fast was one thing, but how could he keep it up for so long? After so many kilometers, his speed hadn't dropped in the slightest. He maintained the same pace all along.

Just as Tanjiro was incredulous, Chinatsu sat in the wheelchair Urokodaki was pushing with shock written all over her face. Between the fierce gusts hitting her from the front and the powerful force propelling her from behind, she felt as though she weren't sitting in a wheelchair, but riding a roller coaster at an amusement park.

Th-this... this... this was incredible!

Chinatsu had no objection whatsoever to the speed, even though the wind blowing into her face made it difficult to keep her eyes open.

They ran from darkness into daylight, then from daylight into dusk before Urokodaki finally stopped up ahead. Exhausted and struggling to catch his breath, Tanjiro braced his hands on his knees and panted, "Have... have I earned your... ap... approval?"

"The test is only just beginning. Head up the mountain. I'll look after your sisters while you're up there."

Urokodaki briefly explained the difficulties Tanjiro would encounter during this mountain climb. Tanjiro swallowed hard, then set off in earnest to begin the test.

After sending Tanjiro off, Urokodaki turned his gaze to Chinatsu in her wheelchair. An unusual gleam appeared in the eyes behind his Tengu Mask.

"Young lady, may I have a word with you?"