at the same time.
Hundreds of kilometers away.
Inosuke was squatting on the ground, carrying a rock that was larger than himself.
His eyes were closed, and he was concentrating intently on regulating his breathing.
With each inhale and exhale, the muscles in his legs bulged high like surging waves.
The next moment, Inosuke gritted his teeth, strained his legs, and leaped forward with all his might.
Bang!
Inosuke landed with the stone on his back, completing a standard frog jump, and shouted as he did so.
"198!"
After briefly adjusting his breathing and posture, Inosuke took another deep breath.
With legs bent to gather strength, he leaped forward again like a cheetah.
"199!"
After readjusting his posture, Inosuke jumped forward again. While in mid-air, his nose suddenly itched, and then...
Achoo!
The sudden sneeze disrupted Inosuke's posture, Inosuke body instantly lost its balance in mid-air.
He immediately lost his balance, and with a 'thud,' Inosuke's legs fell heavily to his knees.
The stone on his back shifted forward, Inosuke's head to slump down.
" Inosuke!" Tanjiro was also doing frog jumps with a stone on his back nearby, called out anxiously after seeing this.
At the critical moment, Inosuke demonstrated his amazing reaction speed and physical coordination.
He swiftly shifted his hands from behind his back to brace them on the ground, as if by lightning.
His head, like a nimble turtle, quickly retracted into his chest.
In an instant, his spine and head cleverly formed a near-perfect ramp.
The stone rolled straight down the slope.
Inosuke slowly got up, gently shook his head, and took a few deep sniffs.
"Damn it! That sneeze came out of nowhere!"
" Inosuke, are you alright?" Tanjiro anxiously put down the stone and rushed to Inosuke's side, asking with concern.
Inosuke tilted his head slightly to the side and upwards in disdain.
"Hmph, what could possibly happen to me!"
"Even if that rock really crushes my head, nothing will happen to me."
"I was just wondering which is harder, my head or this rock, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to test it out!"
After saying that, Inosuke rolled up his sleeves, which weren't even there, and bent over, looking as if he was about to bang his head against the rock.
Tanjiro quickly stopped him when he saw this.
" Inosuke, that's enough, that's enough!"
Zenitsu had also put down his stone, couldn't help but burst into laughter upon seeing this.
"Hahaha! Tanjiro, go ahead and let him crash into it! I want to see which is harder, his head or a rock!"
"Huh? Are you looking down on me? Let me tell you, my head is definitely harder than this rock!" Inosuke retorted defiantly.
"Hahaha... Go ahead!" Zenitsu continued to laugh unrestrainedly from the side.
"Alright, Zenitsu, stop causing trouble! Otherwise, Inosuke might actually run into him!" Tanjiro gently scolded Zenitsu, his tone tinged with helplessness.
Having said that, he turned to look at Inosuke, his eyes filled with sincere advice:
" Inosuke, let's hurry up and pick it up and start practicing, otherwise Shinobu-sama won't let us off the hook if we don't finish this afternoon!"
Just as Inosuke was about to say something, a voice came down from the trees above.
"Hey! Didn't I tell you to do 300 frog jumps while carrying stones? Why are you all standing here resting?"
Although the voice was gentle, it made the three of them shiver involuntarily, as if a cold wind had blown by, instantly waking them from their playful banter.
Zenitsu hurriedly and clumsily picked up the stones, shouting loudly:
"We're jumping right now!!"
Shinobu Kocho stood on the treetop, watching the group jump far away again, and couldn't help but smile helplessly. She turned her head and looked at the horizon.
"I wonder how things are going with my sister and Teiichi..."
Kuroishi Village, Delia's House.
Delia's mother watched helplessly as the policeman remained silent for a long time after she gave the time, her heart, which had just settled down upon seeing the policeman, began to race again.
Her lips trembled slightly as she asked, somewhat fearfully:
"M-Sir, you're not leaving, are you?"
Teiichi slightly raised his eyes, glanced at Delia's mother, but did not directly answer her question. Instead, he asked in a steady tone:
"Aside from the time of the sacrifice, there won't be any other situations where people are suddenly kidnapped and taken away for sacrifice, right?"
"No... no!" Delia's mother hurriedly replied, then, unable to contain her fear any longer, she asked anxiously, "Sir, you won't leave, will you?"
Upon hearing Delia's mother's question, Teiichi calmly replied:
"It's still a long time here, I..."
Upon hearing what the adult in front of her said, Delia's mother's face turned deathly pale. She seemed to have lost her mind and quickly took a few steps back.
Then, with a thud, he knelt down, his forehead pounding heavily on the ground, and pleaded tearfully:
"Sir, please, you must save Delia! She's my only child, and she's so young. She shouldn't be taken away as a sacrifice to that demon! Please, save Delia!!!"
Her body trembled violently, and tears streamed down her face like a burst dam, soaking the ground beneath her feet.
Delia's mother's sudden movement snapped Kanae out of her daze. She instinctively stood up, hurried over to help Delia's mother up, and gently comforted her:
"Don't worry, no matter what, we will definitely save Delia. We won't let that Delia eat her!"
Delia's mother was helped up by Kanae while sobbing. Although Kanae had said she would save Delia, her eyes were still fixed on Teiichi.
Teiichi looked back calmly, his expression unmoved by Delia's mother's pleas and cries.
It wasn't until Kanae looked over that Teiichi spoke again:
"Don't worry, what she says is what I say! We will definitely save Delia!"
"But we still have a bit of time here, so we might need to take care of some other things first."
At this point, Teiichi that Delia's mother looked like she was about to speak again, he quickly said:
"But don't worry, I'll arrange for someone to come and keep an eye on things during this time. We won't leave until that person arrives!"
"We'll come back once things are settled over there, if things here aren't resolved yet!"