A training clearing on Mt. Sagiri.
"Someone is coming!"
The pale orange-haired boy, his true face hidden behind a scarred fox mask, keenly sensed something.
The boy turned around, looking down the mountain, and spoke faintly.
"Is it Master Urokodaki's new disciple?"
Immediately after, a light, airy voice came from beside the pale orange-haired boy.
Following the source of the voice, the speaker was a black-haired girl sitting atop the large boulder in the center of the training ground.
The girl wore a short red kimono with a plum blossom pattern, and a smiling fox mask with blue flower designs rested at an angle on her head.
Her clear, translucent cyan eyes resembled precious lapis lazuli, and her appearance gave off a very gentle aura.
"I hope our new junior brother will be more capable this time. I don't want him to die in the Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection. I really don't want to see Master Urokodaki looking so heartbroken and miserable anymore."
The girl's voice was just like her appearance, giving off a gentle feeling, her words floating lightly in the air.
These two were Giyu Tomioka's fellow disciples, and also the lifelong sorrow in the heart of the former Water Hashira, Sakonji Urokodaki.
Sabito and Makomo of the Water Breathing group.
"It's useless. That guy's neck is simply too tough."
Sabito shook his head, denying Makomo's words. "A swordsman who has only grasped the basics of Breathing Styles cannot possibly sever its neck and kill it."
"Damn it! If only I had been a little faster, a little more careful back then!"
Sabito clenched his fists in anger and smashed them fiercely against the boulder beneath Makomo, producing a muffled thud.
"Please don't blame yourself, Sabito. It wasn't your fault."
Makomo leaped down from the boulder and comforted Sabito. "After all, so many of us failed, didn't we?"
As her voice faded, figures wearing similar fox masks began to materialize behind Makomo.
No one spoke; they just looked quietly at Sabito, as if comforting him in silence.
Sabito clenched his fists tightly, biting his lip in frustration, his fingernails digging deep into the soft flesh of his palms.
It was exactly because of this that he felt so frustrated!
As Master Urokodaki's strongest disciple.
Yet, due to overconfidence, he hadn't even noticed the condition of his own Nichirin Sword during the Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection.
As a result, during his final confrontation with the Hand Demon, he accidentally pushed his Nichirin Sword to the breaking point, and because of a momentary lapse in focus, he was killed by the enemy.
He wasn't frustrated over his own death, but rather secretly hated his own incompetence.
If he had just been a little more careful back then and eliminated that Hand Demon on Mt. Fujikasane, then these fellow disciples before him wouldn't have followed in his footsteps.
And Master Urokodaki wouldn't have had to feel such heartbreaking sorrow time and time again.
"Hello there, excuse me, are you Mr. Urokodaki's disciples?"
At this moment, a rather frivolous voice came from in front of them, interrupting Sabito's memories.
Sabito looked up and found a man with black hair and black eyes standing right in front of him.
Sabito asked in astonishment, "You can see me?"
"Of course."
Su Yan replied softly.
If he were observing with the naked eye, he naturally wouldn't have the ability to see this group of illusory figures.
But once he used the technique of Gyo, everything changed.
Su Yan could clearly see the figures of these deceased members of the Water Breathing group right in front of him.
Su Yan asked again, "So, you are Mr. Urokodaki's disciples, right?"
"That's right, we are indeed Master Urokodaki's disciples."
Makomo looked curiously at the man who could see them and asked, "Are you Master's new disciple?"
"Nope."
Su Yan replied, "Mr. Urokodaki's two new disciples are still down the mountain talking with him. I came here specifically for you, Miss Makomo!"
"Eh? For me?"
Makomo looked at the unfamiliar man in surprise.
She had already been dead for five or six years, and it didn't seem like she had ever crossed paths with him while she was alive, right?
After all, his appearance was quite memorable.
If she had seen him before, she definitely wouldn't have forgotten.
Su Yan nodded and said, "Yes. To be completely honest, I want to tame you, Miss Makomo, to become my Nen Beast."
Regarding Makomo, one of the great lingering regrets of the Demon Slayer world.
Su Yan's initial thought was the same as with Mitsuri Kanroji and the others—he had harbored the idea of forming a contract with her before even meeting her.
But after seeing her current state with his own eyes, Su Yan's intuition warned him.
His contracting ability would be useless on Makomo while she was in a soul state.
Instead, the ability he had awakened first but never used—Equivalent Exchange—was telling him otherwise.
He might be able to use the power of Equivalent Exchange on the girl before him, fulfilling her dying wish as a condition in exchange for ownership of her.
Turning her into a Nen Beast belonging to him, similar to the Snowball Beast.
As for why only Makomo?
True, the Equivalent Exchange ability could indeed be used on Sabito and the other members of the Water Breathing group.
But it would be meaningless.
Because after fulfilling the conditions of Equivalent Exchange and gaining ownership, Makomo would be able to enter Greed Island under the status of being Su Yan's property.
But Sabito and the others could not.
The reason was simple: Greed Island rejected the entry of all males except for Su Yan.
"Tame? Nen Beast? What does that mean?"
Makomo tilted her head, placing an index finger against her lips as she looked at Su Yan with a face full of question marks.
"You should know about Onmyoji, right?"
Su Yan explained simply, "A so-called Nen Beast is an existence similar to a Shikigami under an Onmyoji."
"I will find a way to fulfill your final dying wish. In exchange, you will need to become my Nen Beast."
"That's pretty much how it works."
"Is that so?"
Makomo scratched her cheek.
As an Onmyoji was the most widely known mystical profession in the island nation, Makomo naturally knew about it as a native.
But she had always thought they were fake, merely a misunderstanding born from ordinary people witnessing the Demon Slayer Corps slaying demons.
However, since the other party could see her, what he said was probably true, right?
Makomo couldn't help but feel a bit tempted. If he could truly help them kill that Hand Demon on Mt. Fujikasane...
Then becoming his Shikigami didn't seem like a bad idea.
"If you want us to become your Shikigami, then let me test your strength first!"
But before Makomo could make up her mind, Sabito stepped forward, gripping a wooden sword.
He completely failed to notice that Su Yan's mention of a Nen Beast only included Makomo and no one else.
After all, in Sabito's eyes, he was the strongest swordsman among them. If the man was going to choose a Shikigami, why would he ignore him?
As such, he naturally had to properly weigh Su Yan's strength.
Otherwise, a weakling would have no chance of fulfilling their dying wish and defeating that Hand Demon on Mt. Fujikasane.
Makomo looked at Sabito pointing his sword at Su Yan, stunned for a moment, before muttering weakly to herself, "I don't think he used the plural 'us', did he?"
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