The golden crow set in the west, and the jade rabbit rose in the east. Being winter, night arrived early.
Mount Sagiri today was as peaceful as ever.
"Grandpa! Help me! I can't keep training like this! If I keep training like this! Someone's going to die! Someone's definitely going to die! Help! Murder!"
Uh... Mount Sagiri today was probably still as unpeaceful as ever.
This occasional unrest was just Zenitsu's daily wailing and crying.
Zenitsu was still the same, unable to endure the rigorous training, he would start playing clever tricks, using various methods to escape the tough exercises.
What hadn't old man Jigoro Kuwajima seen? None of Zenitsu's escape methods ever worked; he would always be caught by the old man's flaws! And then came an even harsher training session!
Sure enough, Jigoro was chasing the lazy and fleeing Zenitsu. This was a daily scene on Mount Sagiri.
Zenitsu, with a collapsed face, desperately scurried through the barren peach forest, constantly mumbling about not wanting to train and that he would die.
Although Jigoro was leaning on a cane, and one leg was even a prosthetic, his speed was not at all slower than Zenitsu's. He relentlessly pursued Zenitsu, cursing and angrily demanding Zenitsu to go back and continue training.
"Zenitsu! Stop for this old man! Today's training isn't over yet!"
Zenitsu ran desperately ahead, shouting:
"No, Grandpa, if this continues, I'll die!
With such training intensity, I'm afraid I'll die young before I even find a girlfriend.
I don't want to train! I want a beautiful big sister!"
(Hmm, don't worry, your beautiful senior sister will arrive in a few days.)
Hearing Zenitsu's disappointing words, Jigoro was also quite exasperated. The old man couldn't help but recall what Horitake had said before: "You can't carve rotten wood!"
Of course, this was just Jigoro's angry thought at the moment. Although Zenitsu was timid, he was definitely not to the extent of rotten wood that couldn't be carved.
Just look now.
It hadn't snowed on Mount Sagiri this year; the land was barren, and so was the peach forest.
Zenitsu moved rapidly, dodging left and right, through the dense peach trees.
Although he was fleeing in a very disheveled manner, his speed and agility were indeed extraordinary. This speed alone already showed glimpses of his future use of Thunder Breathing.
It was evident that Jigoro's training of Zenitsu over the past year had been quite effective, only Zenitsu himself hadn't realized it.
Jigoro had noticed this.
In fact, Jigoro's relentless pursuit of Zenitsu to bring him back for training was also a form of training.
Zenitsu was desperately sprinting through the peach forest, and it was night, so visibility was quite poor.
To avoid crashing into peach trees and slowing down, Zenitsu had to focus his attention and increase his agility, and this run lasted for half an hour.
Jigoro seemed to be chasing, but he wasn't truly serious; rather, by chasing, he forced Zenitsu to flee and run, thereby achieving his training objective.
If Jigoro had truly unleashed his speed, Zenitsu would not have been able to escape at all.
Just like that, the chasing and fleeing training between the old man and the young boy continued for over half an hour.
This was precisely Jigoro's objective.
Although Zenitsu's training level hadn't met the standard today, with this additional half-hour of fleeing training, the training level was now just about right.
Moreover, before this, Zenitsu could only run desperately for half an hour. Now, he could even run for over half an hour, showing that Zenitsu was also making progress.
Sure enough, after running for over half an hour in one go, Zenitsu truly couldn't keep going.
The silly boy still believed that his fleeing was merely simple escaping, not a form of training.
He leaned against a peach tree, panting heavily, his lungs aching from being strained, and his legs feeling like they were filled with lead. Zenitsu truly couldn't run anymore.
Seeing his grandpa walking over, Zenitsu was almost in tears:
"Grandpa! Spare me! I really can't go back and continue training. If I keep training like this, I'll die!"
Jigoro thought to himself at this moment, with this extra half-hour of fleeing, today's training quota had already been exceeded.
He thought this in his mind, but on the surface, Jigoro said:
"Alright, it's getting quite late tonight anyway. If we drag on any longer, we won't even have dinner, so let's just leave it at that for now."
"That's... that's great, Grandpa."
Zenitsu's body slumped, and he was about to collapse onto the ground.
Unexpectedly, Jigoro's words weren't over yet:
"Any training quota not completed today will be made up tomorrow, and as punishment, it will be doubled tomorrow!"
Zenitsu almost felt like dying. He was dumbfounded, practically collapsing:
"Grandpa! Are you trying to train me to death!?"
Jigoro's mustache bristled and his eyes widened:
"Doubling your efforts now is to prevent you from being unable to defeat a demon and losing your life in the future! Brief fatigue is always better than losing your life later, isn't it!?"
But Zenitsu's words were quite disappointing:
"Grandpa! I already said it! I don't want to join the Demon Slayer Corps!
If even regular training like this can kill people, wouldn't my chances of dying be even higher after joining the Demon Slayer Corps?
I don't want to! I haven't even found a beautiful big sister to marry yet! It would be such a waste to die like this!"
Jigoro was utterly furious. He smacked Zenitsu on the head with a thump:
"You scoundrel! Your words are utterly spineless!
Zenitsu, you absolutely must join the Demon Slayer Corps in the future! You must work hard to slay demons!
Get rid of all those thoughts about definitely dying and those idiotic notions about a beautiful big sister! From now on, give me your undivided attention to diligently train and cultivate! Do you hear me!?"
"Impossible, Grandpa, I can't do it!
How can I cut off my own thoughts and desires? Finding a beautiful girl to marry is my lifelong dream! Not even Grandpa can stop my dream!"
"You scoundrel! Disappointing!"
Jigoro was almost beside himself with anger.
He couldn't help but recall his eldest disciple.
Horitake, his eldest disciple, was now the Heaven Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, the strongest combatant in the Demon Slayer Corps! He had achieved outstanding merits in the Demon Slayer Corps, respected by all, and had already surpassed his master.
But why was his second disciple like this?
As the saying goes, comparing people is like comparing death, comparing goods is like throwing them away.
If Jigoro only had Zenitsu as a disciple, it would be much better.
But he had Horitake as an eldest disciple first. With such a gem preceding him, when compared to Horitake, Zenitsu was absolutely nothing!
Therefore, Jigoro was infuriated every day by Zenitsu's cowardly behavior and those idiotic words.
Speaking of which, the old man's health was truly good.
If it were any other old man in his seventies or eighties, being angered like this every day, he would have long since suffered a brain hemorrhage.
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