Before he had finished speaking, Rokuya's right hand abruptly tightened around his sword's hilt. He did not even need to draw it. With just a slight flick of his wrist, Shura, weighing three hundred jin, came crashing down onto the ground ahead of him, scabbard and all, like a falling meteor!
Boom!!!
A deafening crash erupted through the courtyard. The hard ground instantly fractured into a spiderweb of cracks. A violent blast of air, mixed with broken stones and white sand, formed a small tornado that sent Tanaka, who had been lying on the ground, flying.
"Aah!!!" Tanaka screamed as he slammed into the distant courtyard wall like a sack of rags. He coughed up a great mouthful of blood and passed out on the spot.
The sudden turn of events changed the expression of everyone present.
Kagaya turned his unfocused gaze toward Goto of the Kakushi Corps and asked softly, "Goto, please give everyone an accurate account of your investigation in Mochizuki Village."
Drenched in sweat, Goto immediately stepped forward and declared loudly, "Yes, Master! After a detailed investigation by the Kakushi Corps, the facts of the Mochizuki Village incident are as follows: when ambushed by demons, Kanoto swordsman Tanaka offered no effective resistance whatsoever, abandoning his sword and fleeing instead. Both the penetrating wound in his back and the break in his blade are consistent with being struck while fleeing with his back to the enemy. His accusation that swordsman Rokuya attacked him underhandedly was entirely fabricated!"
Goto swallowed, his voice trembling slightly with agitation. "We examined the battlefield inside the limestone cavern. At the scene, we found the ashes of forty-nine ordinary demons and one mutated demon leader standing three meters tall! Every fatal wound... was inflicted in a single strike! The cuts were as smooth as mirrors and bore residual traces of terrifying heat and destructive power. According to testimony from the one hundred and twelve surviving villagers at the scene, all fifty demons were killed head-on by swordsman Rokuya alone, in an extremely short time!"
At those words, the entire courtyard fell deathly silent.
Even Gyomei Himejima, who had been weeping all along, stopped moving his prayer beads and opened his clouded white eyes. Tengen Uzui's mouth dropped open in an exaggerated gape, his red eye makeup seeming to twist slightly with his shock.
"Fifty? Including a three-meter mutated demon?" Tengen Uzui cried in disbelief. "What kind of flashy joke is this?! Even I would have to put in some effort to wipe out that many demons in such a short time without getting hurt. And a brat who joined only a month ago, who's barely had time to warm his Mizunoto badge, did it alone?!"
"Not only that," Kagaya said with a slight smile, a trace of fervor and gratification in it that most would have struggled to detect. "If I remember correctly, during the Final Selection on Mount Fujikasane half a month ago, swordsman Rokuya also single-handedly cleared out more than forty demons across the entire mountain, including the Hand Demon, who had lived for over forty years and devoured countless disciples of Urokodaki. In other words, in just one month since joining, the number of demons swordsman Rokuya has slain independently has already approached one hundred."
Kagaya slowly rose to his feet. Though his body was frail, his presence as a leader made everyone lower their heads. He pointed at the unconscious Tanaka. "Swordsman Tanaka fled in the face of the enemy, falsely accused a fellow swordsman, and displayed corrupt character, gravely violating the rules of the Demon Slayer Corps. I hereby strip him of his qualification as a swordsman. He is to be exiled effective immediately and never accepted again!"
"Yes!" Two members of the Kakushi Corps immediately stepped forward and dragged Tanaka out of the courtyard like a dead dog.
Having dealt with Tanaka, Kagaya sat down again and directed his eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through everything despite being nearly blind, toward Rokuya, who still stood in the same spot with an indifferent expression.
"Swordsman Rokuya, your achievements have already far exceeded every existing assessment standard in the Demon Slayer Corps." Kagaya's voice echoed through the courtyard. "Slaying a total of fifty demons is one of the mandatory requirements for promotion to Hashira. Not only have you met it, you have surpassed it with an unprecedented display of overwhelming strength."
Kagaya took a deep breath, his tone becoming utterly solemn. "Therefore, I propose promoting Takanashi Rokuno to the Demon Slayer Corps' highest fighting rank-Hashira!"
Boom!
Those words were like a heavy bomb dropped into a still lake. The entire courtyard instantly erupted into an uproar.
"Master!"
A brash, deep voice suddenly rang out, breaking the calm.
The Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, who stood to Kagaya Ubuyashiki's right, took a great stride forward. His tall, muscular body was like a wall. The jeweled headband on his forehead reflected dazzling sunlight, and the golden armlets around his thick arms gave a clear jingle with his movements.
Tengen Uzui folded his arms across his chest and looked down at Rokuya, who stood in the center of the courtyard, his brows tightly knotted.
"Forgive my bluntness, Master! This is utterly unflashy!" Tengen Uzui's voice reverberated through the courtyard like a great bell, carrying undisguised skepticism.
Rokuya lifted his eyelids and calmly looked at the Sound Hashira renowned for his flashiness. He said nothing, merely shifting Shura on his shoulder into a slightly more comfortable position.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki did not grow angry. Instead, he asked gently, "Tengen, what do you think is inappropriate?"
"Everything!" Tengen Uzui extended a finger and pointed straight at the tip of Rokuya's nose. "This brat is only fourteen, isn't he? He's only been in the Corps for a month, hasn't he? Yes, I admit that killing fifty demons alone is impressive, and being able to swing that ridiculous butcher's blade so fiercely means he has some strength. But-"
Tengen Uzui's gaze sharpened, his tone taking on a battle-hardened severity. "He kills a bunch of low-level demons that haven't amounted to anything yet and one mutated piece of scum on his first official mission, and we rush to promote him to Hashira? For him, that's no flashy blessing. It's a death warrant!"
Standing to one side, the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, pressed his palms together. Two streams of tears flowed from the corners of his eyes, his rugged face filled with compassion. "Namu Amida Butsu... Tengen has a point. This child is entwined in an extremely heavy burden of killing karma. Though he did it to save people, he is like a peerless, deadly blade fresh from the forge. Without the tempering of years and the honing of worldly experience, he could easily break from being too unyielding. Amitabha, how pitiful..."
"You hear that, you little brat?!" Tengen Uzui grinned, revealing sharp canine teeth, his entire body radiating the oppressive presence of an apex predator. "The title of Hashira means you'll no longer be facing trash that only bullies the weak in villages, but real monsters-the Twelve Kizuki! Without the maturity gained from surviving several brushes with death, without the experience of clawing your way through despair, if you take a Hashira's seat on brute strength alone, the moment you encounter an Upper Rank, your death won't be flashy in the slightest!"
Although Tengen Uzui's words were harsh, even somewhat provocative, Rokuya keenly caught the hidden goodwill deep in his eyes.
It was the concern of a senior for a junior. Tengen Uzui had seen too many self-proclaimed prodigies grow arrogant and complacent over a moment of brilliant achievement, only to end up as mutilated corpses before the Twelve Kizuki's Blood Demon Arts that defied all reason. He did not want the young man before him, with his boundless potential, to die before his time because he had shouldered the crushing weight of being a Hashira too early.
Before you continue