Is a Hashira truly a Pillar of support?
It was clear this fellow hadn't spent his years in the Corps merely idling about.
The look of shock at having his strike blocked vanished in an instant. To continue his assault, he twisted his body, intending to heave his blade upward with a powerful diagonal sweep.
I was just about to focus my strength using Moon Breathing.
CRACK-BOOM!
A bolt from the blue on a clear day.
With the echoing roar of thunder, someone stepped between me and the one-eyed youth.
"Now, now! Let‘s call the duel there!"
The woman, who had been doing nothing but smiling, firmly stepped onto the one-eyed youth‘s blade and struck the side of my attack with her sheathed sword, forcing its trajectory wide.
"Calm yourself!"
Rengoku grabbed both my arms from behind to pull me away, while the one known as Banda gripped the one-eyed youth's shoulder with his right arm.
The monk stood before me as if to protect me, staring down the one-eyed youth.
"You‘ve grown far too excited, haven't you, Lord Shimotsuki? Wind Breathing already has a wide area of effect; what were you thinking, using it here in a courtyard covered in gravel?"
"Shimotsuki, I understand your reasons. But that went too far. The Master could have been injured."
Hearing the woman and the monk, the one-eyed youth glared at the woman for a moment. Then, looking down at his pinned blade, he let out a long sigh.
"Haa... I did get too carried away."
Leaving his Nichirin Blade pinned under her foot, he knelt toward Ubuyashiki Kazuha.
"My deepest apologies. I sincerely ask for your forgiveness for threatening your safety in a moment of reckless passion."
"I am quite all right," Ubuyashiki replied with a smile.
Once his apology was accepted, the youth stood up and looked at me.
"I apologize to you as well. I lost my composure."
Good heavens. A samurai from the Sengoku period with a pride as high as the heavens is apologizing so readily?
Perhaps this fellow is a decent sort after all.
With that small disruption concluded, the Master resumed speaking.
"Your point is valid. It is understandable that you cannot comprehend the reason for maintaining the Final Selection as it is. The difficulty is irrationally high, and the condition to simply survive for seven days rather than hunt Demons is indeed nonsensical. It is inefficient."
"If you know that so well, then why..."
Ubuyashiki pointed a finger toward his own eyes.
"In the Ubuyashiki family, there is an ability passed down through the generations."
An ability?
"A foresight that allows us to look into the days ahead. In short, prophecy."
What did prophecy have to do with the Final Selection?
"The reason for our Demon Slayer Corps‘ existence is to defeat our nemesis, the King of Demons: Kibutsuji Muzan."
Wait, there‘s a big boss behind the Demons?
"My eyes told me that Kibutsuji Muzan will eventually, without fail, be defeated by our Demon Slayer Corps. However... results are only achieved when individual threads of cause and effect are woven and connected. While minor details may shift, there are certain threads of causality that must be in place for the ultimate result to manifest. Unless those threads are woven together, that future simply will not occur."
"Are you trying to say that this irrational Final Selection is one of those necessary threads?"
To me, someone thoroughly sick of superstitions, it sounded like nothing more than a hollow excuse.
Since Breathing Styles, Demons, and talking crows existed, a prophecy wouldn't be out of place. But did it make sense to mindlessly erase countless futures—the lives of young people—for the sake of one uncertain future?
"Are you saying it's acceptable to grind the futures of so many people to dust just for the sake of a single superstition?"
"Tsugikuni...!" the monk‘s voice rose in warning.
"Anji, it is fine. His anger is justified."
The Master silenced the monk instantly. Hearing the Master's response, the monk pressed his hands together in prayer as if he had no other choice.
"There were times I, too, wished this sight was nothing but superstition. But painfully, it has always told me the truth. It has never spoken a lie. I searched and searched for a future where Kibutsuji Muzan could be defeated without being entwined with that irrational Final Selection. But the future did not change."
He smiled bitterly before continuing.
"Tsugikuni, you are entirely correct. For the sake of that one future, many children lost their lives unreasonably. However, if Kibutsuji Muzan is not defeated, lives beyond counting will be taken. I had to choose between the lives of the children joining the Corps and the lives of the people Muzan would eventually kill....?"
The Master suddenly stopped speaking.
"Master?"
Seeing his sudden change, the Hashira checked on his well-being, but—
"Hehe. I see. So that's how it is...."
He suddenly broke into a smile and looked directly at me.
"The Final Selection shall be abolished immediately."
What? Just like that?
@@@
The Hashira Meeting proceeded smoothly.
I was just a fresh recruit who had just joined the Corps. As such, I had intended to wait outside, but Ubuyashiki said it didn't matter, so I remained standing quietly beside Rengoku.
The meeting covered the progress of teaching Breathing Styles to the rank-and-file members and how to select new recruits now that the old exam had been abolished.
Regarding the reform of the selection process, the Hashira were men and women of the Sengoku period; their ideas were such a mess that I wondered if they were even trying, though they were still less brutal than the previous exam.
Fortunately, the Master asked for my opinion, allowing me to correct the things that felt wrong.
The Hashira didn't push back much when I offered my thoughts, so I was able to overhaul it according to my own standards quite smoothly.
Thus, the new selection process was decided as follows:
Since the death of a participant is a loss of talent, a medical team is kept on standby. If a participant is injured, they are immediately retrieved and treated, and given the opportunity to try again later.
Those who fail are assessed for other talents or given the choice to leave. If they have specific aptitudes, they are recruited as support personnel for the medical or catering units.
An 'experienced Demon Slayer' is defined as one who has served in the Corps for three years and passed an exam evaluating their qualities as an examiner.
Examiners are to be paid a higher salary than ordinary slayers.
This way, needless sacrifices could be reduced, actual mission capability could be verified, and even those not suited for combat could be placed in other roles.
I wanted to set an age limit as well, but this was the Sengoku period, and most of the participants were around my age or a year older, so that couldn't be helped.
After the meeting, the Master returned to his chambers with a final request for us to devote our strength to the Demon Slayer Corps.
The man called Banda approached me.
"Do not take the attitude the Hashira showed you to heart. They hold no ill will toward you."
They literally tried to use Breathing techniques on me. You call that no ill will?
"In particular, the Stone Hashira and the Wind Hashira act that way because they fear the organization‘s collapse if the hierarchy is disturbed. Even if you are Rengoku‘s Tsuguko and the great master who passed down the Breathing Styles, you are still a new recruit. Especially given your conduct toward the Master, it wouldn't have been out of line to execute you on the spot."
Thinking about it, he was right. Especially considering this was the Sengoku period.
"Still, it is true the Hashira view you favorably. The fact that the Wind Hashira attacked with his sheath and not his blade is proof of that."
Well, since he apologized immediately, I didn't hold a grudge either.
"And I have something to ask of you."
Something to ask?
"It is regarding Mist Breathing."
"Mist Breathing?"
"You‘ve heard from Rengoku that we were able to create five styles by applying the Sun Breathing you taught us to our own schools. But we haven‘t been able to derive a style that fits 'Mist' yet. I wondered if you might know a way."
"Mist Breathing?"
"Yes! This is how it should be!"
I mean, does it even make sense for everyone to master it within a single week?
It‘s not that the three years I spent were strange. It‘s Yoriichi and the other five Hashira who are the anomalies!
Hmm....
I used Sun Breathing for three years, and then my body—habituated to that style—breathed on its own and transformed it into Moon Breathing. Furthermore, I am a case where I mastered the Breathing first and then created a swordsmanship style based on it.
My circumstances were different from the Hashira who derived Breathing from their existing sword styles, so I doubted I could give proper advice.
"What are the characteristics of the 'Mist' school, exactly?"
"If I had to say, its characteristics are confusing the enemy or overwhelming them with a flurry of small, rapid attacks."
"Hmm. Is there a Breathing Style with similar commonalities?"
"Hmm.... It is similar to Wind Breathing. They both emphasize speed and a relentless offensive."
"Then why not look for the source in Wind Breathing rather than Sun Breathing?"
"From Wind Breathing?"
"Yes. They share many common traits, do they not?"
"Hmm... I do not mean to disparage the Wind Hashira, but if we mimic an imitation rather than the original source, wouldn't the power decrease further?"
....This sounds exactly like the old me.
I was like that too. Back then, I was obsessed with the idea that mimicking Sun Breathing would only lead to a weaker style. But how should I advise him?
"All humans are but imitations of the monkey. All gods are but imitations of man. Mimicking something does not mean its performance will drop. Rather, because it is a branch, it can be refined. Adding the necessary meat and removing the unnecessary fat—isn't that what it means to mimic and progress?"
I was just spouting nonsense. I had no choice; what else could I say? I didn't really know the details either.
The only thing I knew for sure was that we would never be like Yoriichi. How could we, when that guy treats Sun Breathing like a mere breathing exercise?
However, I can certainly become stronger than the 'me' of yesterday.
And by doing so, wouldn't I eventually reach the same heights as Yoriichi?
Well... can anyone even reach that height?
========================
The website for reading paid chapters is available on my Patreon. The number of chapters on Patreon: 53
Link: patreon.com/UltraMagnus_T