"Ah~ I can already see the Butterfly Mansion; we'll be there soon." Tanjirou quickened his pace, and as he reached the entrance, he saw someone sitting right at the main gate.
Tanjirou instinctively went to greet him.
It was Mr. Haganezuka.
"Haganezuka… AHHHHH!"
An overwhelmingly strong scent of anger rushed into Tanjirou's nostrils, and he trembled, clutching his head.
He forgot!
His nichirin blade was broken!!!
He cautiously looked at Haganezuka Hotaru and tentatively called out, "Mr. Haganezuka?"
The anger seemed to solidify into a tangible form. Tanjirou visibly panicked. The moment Haganezuka Hotaru saw Tanjirou, he stood up abruptly, grinding his back teeth with an ear-piercing sound.
"You… you… you!" Haganezuka Hotaru pulled out that familiar cleaver and charged at Tanjirou.
"You dared to break my nichirin blade again!"
"Unforgivable!"
"I won't forgive you!"
"I'm going to kill you!"
Tanjirou took off running, shouting back as he fled, "Calm down, Mr. Haganezuka! I'm sorry! I didn't do it on purpose!"
"Then you did it intentionally, didn't you?!" Haganezuka Hotaru pursued him relentlessly. Breaking the nichirin blades he had painstakingly forged, one after another—this kid absolutely did it on purpose!
Otherwise, how could his nichirin blade possibly break?!
Thinking this, Haganezuka Hotaru threw several small knives from his sleeve, each sharp blade aiming for Tanjirou's back.
Terrified, Tanjirou quickly shielded the wooden box; he couldn't let it get damaged.
Inside the wooden box, Yoizumi reached out to protect Nezuko's head. As Tanjirou ran and jumped, Yoizumi would occasionally bump his head.
His head hit the inner wall of the wooden box again, and Yoizumi helplessly chose to lean directly against it.
"Thump, thump, thump."
One could tell it was a good head.
"Come here quickly!" Kanzaki Aoi suddenly appeared at the small door of the Butterfly Mansion, motioning for Tanjirou to come over. After he entered, she heard Mr. Haganezuka's voice receding and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Tha… thank you."
"Tanjirou, go rest first. As for Mr. Haganezuka, I have a plan."
"That's a huge help, Miss Aoi!"
In the end, Haganezuka Hotaru received many mitarashi dango, and Tanjirou successfully obtained a new nichirin blade. What joyful news… "Tanjirou~, you're back~" Agatsuma Zenitsu saw Tanjirou and clung to him, his true purpose being the wooden box on Tanjirou's back.
He held wildflowers he'd picked from who-knows-where, smiling sweetly.
As soon as Tanjirou put down the wooden box, Zenitsu eagerly crowded over, pushing Tanjirou aside.
It's been so long since I last saw Nezuko-chan. I wonder if she missed me~
Hehe~
He reached out to open the wooden box, offering the fresh flowers he held, his head bowed shyly.
"Nezuko-chan~ These are specially picked for you~"
Yoizumi looked at the blonde man in front of him and pushed him away with his hand.
"Ah, Big Brother Yoizumi~"
Why does he feel so strange today?
Yoizumi stopped paying attention to Agatsuma Zenitsu, emerged from the wooden box, and shook his dizzy head.
After returning to his normal size, he scooped up Nezuko and carried her away; he didn't want her to be led astray.
"Big Brother Yoizumi, don't take Nezuko-chan away!"
Tanjirou finished tidying his belongings and said, "Zenitsu is in such good spirits today."
Helplessly placing the fresh flowers on the bedside table, Agatsuma Zenitsu hummed with a clearly good mood.
"Because I don't have to take medicine anymore."
His wounds were mostly healed, and the medicine had been stopped. After such a terrifying mission, the Demon Slayer Corps probably wouldn't assign him any more missions for a while.
Now he could finally rest!
"Time to go play."
Seeing Zenitsu so happy, Tanjirou thought, does he not know about the training with Kyoujurou?
Well.
He forgot to tell him.
"Um… Zenitsu," Tanjirou scratched his face. He really didn't want to ruin Zenitsu's good mood, but he had to let him prepare in advance.
"Hm?"
"Next, we'll be undergoing special training with Kyoujurou."
"Hm." Agatsuma Zenitsu didn't react, still nodding in agreement.
"So there's no rest."
"Hm… Hm?!"
Who?
The Flame Pillar is training who?
Me?
Agatsuma Zenitsu slowly squatted down, clutching his head with both hands, then lay down on the ground.
"Eeeek! Ahhhhhh!"
"I don't want to! I don't want to!"
"I barely survived such a dangerous mission, and they still won't let me rest and relax!"
"Eeeek!"
Tanjirou, sweating profusely, tried to comfort him.
"Precisely because we've been through such dangerous missions, shouldn't we become stronger?" Tanjirou gripped Zenitsu's shoulders firmly.
Meeting Tanjirou's resolute gaze, Agatsuma Zenitsu sniffled.
He wasn't entirely unable to understand.
He just wanted to complain a bit.
And Tanjirou was pressing too hard; his shoulder hurt so much!
Pouting, his golden-brown eyes looked to the side.
"I get it."
"I think I just heard 'special training'."
"This great me will participate too!" Inosuke flipped into the room directly from the window. The wild boar head headdress on his head was filthy; it was clear he'd been playing in the mountains again.
"Yes, let's do our best together!" Tanjirou said with a smile.
On the other side.
Yoizumi carried Nezuko back into the room. The sun outside was strong, not very suitable for Nezuko to run around.
Because he had drawn blood, it was difficult to rest in the wooden box. Seeing his sister looking sleepy, he had her lie on the bed and covered her with a blanket.
"Sleep."
He gently stroked his sister's head, and only after she gradually fell asleep did Yoizumi leave the room.
He should go see Kyojuro Rengoku. Although he had drawn so much blood again, using his Blood Demon Art was still not a problem.
At most, he would remain in his child form for a few more days.
After searching, he found that Kyoujurou was not in the infirmary. Yoizumi finally found him standing in the courtyard, holding his nichirin blade in his left hand.
"Are you starting training already? Won't you rest a bit more?" Yoizumi spoke from the shadows of the long corridor.
"Yoizumi, you're back! Now that I can get out of bed, I can't sit still." He stopped his sword-swinging motion. The sweat on his brow clearly showed that he had been training for a long time.
"I can heal you right now. Come with me."
They returned to Kyojuro Rengoku's room together. Untying the bandages, Yoizumi placed his hand on the severed arm.
Blood Demon Art: Rotation
A gentle, glowing light merged into his body. The missing arm regenerated little by little before Kyoujurou's eyes, until it became a complete right arm.
Yoizumi exhaled a breath of turbid air. Fortunately, it was successfully completed this time, and he returned to his child form.
"Try it."
"Hm!"
Kyojuro Rengoku picked up his nichirin blade and eagerly ran outside, freely brandishing his sword techniques.
Feeling the intense heat within his sword techniques, Yoizumi felt relieved.
It seems there's no problem.
"It's exactly the same!…" Kyojuro Rengoku said happily, then was startled by the volume of his own voice.
That's right… He turned his head to look at the nearby forest. He could actually hear the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, and the birdsong was incredibly clear.
His hearing had returned.
"Hm, I detected that your ears were also damaged, so I healed them too," Yoizumi explained, noticing his confusion.
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