On Misty Mountain
Crack, crack.
A faint scraping sound arose from underground.
In the depths of the desolate mountain forest, the earth swelled slightly into a small mound that continued to writhe.
Bang!
Suddenly, a curled vine burst through the mound and grew rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, reaching over a meter tall in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, a grayish fruit began to form on the vine.
An eerie heartbeat sound emanated from within the fruit, as if something was growing inside.
Before long, a large dark shadow silently appeared next to the fruit from the darkness, quickly writhing and slowly taking human form.
Grayish-white skin, horns on the head, golden left eye inscribed with "Lower Six" - Lower Rank Six Kamaro smiled as he watched the fruit continue to ripen.
Crack!
Under Kamaro's gaze, a long fissure split open in the gray fruit.
A blood-red claw suddenly extended through the crack, followed by another.
The two claws gripped the fissure and pulled forcefully.
Crack!
Kamaro watched as the fruit was torn open and a petite figure stumbled out from inside.
Completely naked, dripping with viscous fluid covering their body, white hair clinging tightly to the face, red eyes still faintly showing traces of fear, but the characters "Lower Five" were still strikingly visible within it eyes.
If any Demon Slayer who had accompanied Shinichi and Yuichiro saw this scene, they would be utterly astonished.
Lower Rank Five Mukago was actually not dead?
They had seen with their own eyes Mukago's head being cut off by the two Hashira.
This was actually Mukago's hidden technique.
The cowardly demon had long since prepared an escape route - a vine hundreds of meters long buried deep underground was her means of survival.
The Mukago that had fought Shinichi and the others earlier could only be considered her "fruit" in a sense.
Mukago's true root was hidden in the underground vine.
She was cautious enough to suppress her aura and only dared to emerge from the ground after Shinichi and the others had completely left.
"Cough cough cough! Damn those Hashira... demons!" Mukago had just started cursing when she opened her eyes and saw a figure smiling at her, scaring her quite a bit.
Mukago instinctively covered her naked body, looking at Kamaro with uncertainty.
"Lower Six? Why are you here?"
Seeing Mukagos reactions, Kamaro was amused.
They were both demons, what was there to hide?
Once you become a demon, who cares about those trivial differences between men and women?
"Heeheehee, why can't I be here? By the way, your battle just now was quite unique. I think Muzan-sama would be very interested in it," Kamaro said with a grin.
Hearing this, Mukago's expression changed drastically.
"You, what are you trying to do? Are you threatening me?"
.....
Not far away, every move of the two Lower Rank demons was observed by a pair of blood-red eyes.
A low growling sound continuously echoed in the dark undergrowth.
*****
Behind Misty Mountain.
"Tanjiro, you, you really did it?"
The sweet and cute-looking Makomo widened her beautiful eyes, covering her mouth in disbelief as she looked at the boulder as tall as a person in front of her.
A clean sword mark ran through the entire boulder, the cut surface so smooth it was hard to believe it had been sliced by the ordinary-looking fifteen-year-old boy before her.
Tanjiro panted, his forehead covered in sweat, his hands still trembling.
Despite this, he still gripped his Nichirin Blade tightly.
It wasn't until he heard his senpai surprised voice that Tanjiro realized he had actually cut through the boulder.
He had finally completed Master Urokodaki's test!
He could now participate in the Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection!
"Great! I did it..." Tanjiro had just started to cheer when his body was suddenly overwhelmed by endless fatigue.
He collapsed uncontrollably to the ground, but his hand still didn't let go of the Nichirin Blade.
"Oh no, Tanjiro, be careful!" Makomo quickly supported Tanjiro, her eyes filled with concern as well as admiration and appreciation for her junior.
She had personally witnessed Tanjiro's growth over this period of time.
Makomo, who had returned from the Demon Slayer Corps to visit Urokodaki, stayed for a while at her master's request to help teach her juniors.
It was during this time that Makomo got to know Tanjiro, this kind and pure-hearted boy.
Of course, she also met the cute and special Nezuko.
At first, Makomo was also very surprised by Nezuko's identity, but after days of interaction, she let go of her misgivings.
At the same time, among all the disciples, Tanjiro's hard work and diligence left a deep impression on Makomo.
Just now, Makomo, who had come to the back of the mountain by chance, saw Tanjiro training diligently by himself.
Until now, on Misty Mountain, the only people Makomo had seen who could split a boulder apart were Urokodaki and Sabito.
But today, Tanjiro became another one.
"Tanjiro, you're really amazing," Makomo said sincerely as she helped Tanjiro up.
Tanjiro was also excited because Master Urokodaki had told him that when he could split the boulder, it meant he had reached the standard to participate in the Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection.
In other words, he could join the Demon Slayer Corps!
'I must join the Demon Slayer Corps, I must turn Nezuko back into a human!'
This sentence had been repeated countless times in Tanjiro's heart.
Meanwhile, not far away, a pair of eyes under the tengu mask had seen everything.
Looking at the split boulder, Urokodaki's heart also flashed with a moment of bewilderment.
This child had actually done it.
The boulder-splitting test was actually more of a well-intentioned lie from Urokodaki.
In fact, many swordsmen who had already joined the Demon Slayer Corps might not be able to split a boulder in one strike.
When Urokodaki initially set this test for Tanjiro, he didn't really expect Tanjiro to complete it.
He just wanted the child to practice his sword skills more.
When the time was right, Urokodaki would tell Tanjiro he had reached the standard.
But unexpectedly, in less than half a year, Tanjiro had actually done it!
Just as Tanjiro had said, he could now participate in the Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection.
But Urokodaki hesitated.
Was Tanjiro really ready now?
To join the Demon Slayer Corps, especially with his sister Nezuko.
Regarding Tanjiro's constant talk about turning his sister back into a human, Urokodaki actually knew very well that it was almost impossible.
A demon is a demon.
In thousands of years, there had never been a demon that could turn back into a human.
But Urokodaki had never mentioned this to Tanjiro.
Perhaps he was unwilling to shatter the hope of this kind-hearted child.
PS : Canon Soon!
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