Zenitsu Agatsuma

"That hurts!"

The yellow-haired boy opened his eyes with a cry of pain.

Thud! Thud!

The two demons' bodies collapsed to the ground, landing right in front of the yellow-haired boy.

The yellow-haired boy froze for a moment, then immediately jumped up screaming.

"Aah!!! Demons!!!"

The yellow-haired boy clutched at his mouth with both hands, shrieking in fear and hopping around wildly. Then he spotted Chiba Yo sheathing his blade.

He immediately dashed behind Chiba Yo, grabbed his arm, and burst into tears of joy.

"You killed those two demons, right?! Let me stay with you! Please, you have to let me stay with you, or I'll die here! I know I will! Save my life!"

He clung to Chiba Yo's arm, shouting through tears and snot as though he had found his savior.

His behavior left Chiba Yo baffled for a moment. The yellow-haired boy had clearly killed the two demons himself, yet he seemed completely unaware of it.

And judging by how easily he had just killed those two demons, surviving seven days here should hardly have been difficult for him.

"You killed those two demons yourself. I had nothing to do with it," Chiba Yo told him honestly, pulling his arm out of the yellow-haired boy's embrace.

At Chiba Yo's words, the yellow-haired boy stopped shouting for a moment and stared at him in disbelief, tears still clinging to his face.

"I don't care. I'm staying with you anyway." The yellow-haired boy was now utterly convinced that Chiba Yo had slain the two demons.

"Suit yourself. Follow me if you want." Seeing this, Chiba Yo said no more and let him have his way.

The yellow-haired boy immediately brightened when Chiba Yo agreed.

"Great! I'm Zenitsu Agatsuma. What's your name?"

"Chiba Yo," Chiba Yo replied.

With that, he picked a direction and began searching for the other demons on the mountain.

Zenitsu hurried after him.

"Yo, where are we going now? Shouldn't we find somewhere to hide, then go look for food after sunrise?"

Zenitsu questioned Chiba Yo with some curiosity.

"To find demons and kill them," Chiba Yo replied.

Zenitsu stopped in his tracks, laughing in disbelief. "Hahaha, you must be joking. I didn't realize you had such a sense of humor."

"Of course I'm not joking. Didn't we all come to this Final Selection to join the Demon Slayer Corps? And isn't the Demon Slayer Corps' purpose to kill demons?" Chiba Yo turned and asked him, somewhat puzzled.

Seeing that Chiba Yo did not seem to be joking, Zenitsu grew anxious and earnestly tried to reason with him. "But we're not members of the Demon Slayer Corps yet. All we have to do to pass this Final Selection is survive here for seven days. There's absolutely no need to go hunting demons, right?"

Most people who wanted to join the Demon Slayer Corps had suffered at the hands of demons. Their hatred ran deep, and they joined with the sole desire to exterminate every demon in the world.

There were exceptions, however. Zenitsu had been buried in debt when the former Rumble Hashira recognized his talent, paid off his debts, and took him on as a disciple. He had then come to the Final Selection at the Rumble Hashira's insistence to join the Demon Slayer Corps.

Having never encountered demons before, his hatred of them was probably not so intense. That might also have been part of the reason he had accepted Nezuko so quickly despite her being a demon.

To him, this Final Selection might simply have been a test from Grandpa Kuwajima, one he only needed to pass. It was hardly surprising that he would think that way.

"If you're scared, find somewhere to hide on your own. I'll wipe out every demon on this mountain."

Completely unmoved by Zenitsu's attempts to persuade him, Chiba Yo turned and ran in the direction he had chosen.

Zenitsu watched Chiba Yo's figure recede into the distance, utterly torn. In the end, he made up his mind.

"Wait for me, Yo!"

Calling out, Zenitsu chased after Chiba Yo...

"Yo, if a demon shows up, you have to protect me! I'm really weak. Any demon could kill me. If you don't protect me, I'll definitely die here!"

Chiba Yo walked through the forest, searching for signs of demons while Zenitsu followed behind, tugging on his sleeve and babbling nonstop. He had repeated similar pleas at least ten times in this short stretch, and Chiba Yo found it hard to reconcile the boy before him with the one who had killed two demons in a single stroke.

At first, Chiba Yo had reassured him that he would protect him, but now he no longer wanted to respond at all.

As the two walked together, Zenitsu's ears suddenly twitched. Then he pointed in one direction and let out a terrified scream.

"Aah!!! There's a demon over there!"

Chiba Yo immediately looked where Zenitsu was pointing, but saw no sign of a demon.

"Where?" Chiba Yo asked.

"Just ahead, a little over two hundred meters away. I heard it!" Zenitsu answered confidently, clutching Chiba Yo's sleeve.

Chiba Yo chose to trust Zenitsu, drew his Nichirin Blade, and ran in the direction he had indicated.

"Wait for me!" Zenitsu hurried after him.

Sure enough, after advancing roughly two hundred meters, Chiba Yo spotted the demon Zenitsu had mentioned.

Crunch, crunch...

A massive demon, two heads taller than an ordinary person, was crouched on the ground, gnawing on something. By the moonlight, Chiba Yo saw what it was eating: a leg.

A corpse lay on the ground in front of it, a Nichirin Blade still in its hand and its neck twisted and broken.

The blood-soaked scene reminded Chiba Yo of the tragedy that had struck his village.

Zenitsu arrived just then, but the sight before him left him unable to make a sound.

"Creatures like you truly have no right to exist in this world," Chiba Yo said furiously, then raised his blade and charged.

Hearing him approach, the massive demon turned and swung its powerful right arm at Chiba Yo.

But Chiba Yo had already anticipated its movement. In an instant, he delivered two slashes: one severed the massive demon's arm, while the other swept straight through its neck.

"So... so strong..."

Zenitsu looked on in admiration after Chiba Yo instantly killed a demon twice his size.

As the massive demon's body gradually turned to ash, Chiba Yo put away his Nichirin Blade and approached the corpse on the ground. Looking down at its mutilated remains, he slowly pressed his palms together.

Please, pass on to heaven.

After offering a silent prayer, Chiba Yo carved a broken piece of wood into the shape of a shovel and began digging.

"I'll help too."

Zenitsu came over. Although the corpse frightened him a little, he did not back away.

"Mm." Chiba Yo turned and smiled at Zenitsu.