Another ten days passed. Light snow drifted through the air.
The great doors of a temple slowly swung open.
"Namu Amida Butsu." Gyomei Himejima pressed his palms together and softly intoned the Buddha's name to Sui.
"You have successfully completed your training in Stone Breathing, Sui-dono. What are your plans now? Will you return to Osaka and seek out the newly appointed Wind Hashira?" said the monk, built like a great bear.
Standing before the gate, the beautiful young woman holding a biwa likewise brought her hands together and bowed lightly in return.
"I plan to visit the Rengoku estate first," Sui said.
"The Rengoku estate?" Gyomei rumbled thoughtfully. "The child of the Rengoku family is currently away on a mission. He has not long since become an official member of the Demon Slayer Corps. If your goal is to train in Flame Breathing, this is not an ideal time."
"The Master said the Rengoku family also preserves books dating back to the Warring States period. He hopes I can borrow and study them," Sui replied. "If I can obtain the methods for Flame Breathing, then perhaps I won't need to wait for the next Flame Hashira to emerge."
"I see." Gyomei nodded. "I have indeed heard that the Rengoku family has passed down exquisite martial techniques for generations, along with a complete system for training in their breathing style."
"Yes." Sui tilted her head with a faint smile, then bowed. "Then I shall take my leave."
"Please wait."
"Is there something else, Himejima-san?"
"Sui-dono is blessed with extraordinary talent. In such a short span of time, you have mastered multiple breathing styles. However…" Gyomei paused.
"Please, speak freely."
"Your body is still somewhat lacking. Your speed is excellent, but your strength and stamina are both rather poor." Gyomei produced a small scripture volume. "This is a text from the temple on tempering the body. I hope it may be of some help to you."
Judging by the creases in its pages, it was something he had pored over day and night.
During the ten days of training, not once had Sui's Stone Breathing forms managed to break through the Rock Hashira's defense. Even when she switched to the same Water Breathing forms, the result was the same. The only thing that ever put real pressure on him was still her Thunder Breathing. Divine speed made up for her weakness in strength, and the thrust of Thunderclap and Flash was enough to tear open even Gyomei's dense, stone-like defensive sword forms.
But even that was not enough to create a greater threat.
Whenever the two crossed blades at the temple, Gyomei Himejima won twenty-one times out of twenty-one. Though his forms were difficult to catch once Sui used Thunder Breathing, these were unavoidable sparring matches, and Sui was not allowed to stop midway to rest. Every bout ended only when her stamina ran dry.
Later, at Gyomei's request, Sui opened her Mystic Eyes.
Under their gaze, forms that could not ordinarily harm the Rock Hashira became perilously deadly. Combined with the divine speed of Thunder Breathing, she no longer needed exceptional strength or stamina; the Rock Breathing defense was cleanly torn apart.
From that moment on, the tally became twenty-eight wins for Sui and zero for Gyomei.
And it was then that Gyomei finally understood the Master's intention.
As the strongest body in the Corps within the records of the past century, he would be the one to block Muzan Kibutsuji's attacks in the final battle to come, while Sui would be the one to pierce the Demon King's defense and kill him.
Sui was the sharpest sword in the Demon Slayer Corps, the sword that could slay the Demon King.
Gyomei Himejima was the shield that would protect that blade, creating the opening for it to pierce the Demon King's life.
The appearance of those Mystic Eyes was a heaven-sent opportunity.
A future that had once seemed impossibly distant now became vivid in the monk's mind. They were drawing close to victory. Close enough to touch.
Seeing Sui accept the scripture, Gyomei nodded. "Then I shall not delay you further, Sui-dono. Please take care on your journey."
"Thank you very much, Himejima-san."
Sui took her leave.
Snow fluttered down over the street. With her eyes closed, Sui felt the cold flakes landing against her skin, when someone suddenly called out to her.
"You're little Sui, aren't you?"
It was an old woman who lived near the temple. According to Gyomei, whenever his flute playing became unbearably awful, she would come after him with a broom in hand.
"That Himejima fellow's flute has improved a lot lately. It's all thanks to you, Sui-chan," the old woman said. Her gaze fell on the simple fur shawl draped over Sui's long dress. "My, my, are you leaving already? Come to think of it, your biwa playing is truly superb. These past few days, I've been sitting beneath my eaves every afternoon, drifting off to sleep while listening to you play."
While staying there, Sui had introduced herself to the neighbors visiting the temple as a music teacher who had come to tutor Himejima-san.
As a result, quite a few wealthy households in the area had come seeking her out, hoping she might become a music tutor for their children.
"Girls as young as you, and yet already a musical master, are hard to come by these days!" everyone said. Sui could only smile and deflect the offers. One family had even quoted her a staggering fifty yen an hour.
Unlike the others, this old woman never invited Sui to tutor anyone, but she was especially fond of her.
"Where are you headed, little Sui? The weather's not good, and traveling now doesn't seem very convenient."
Her voice was warm with concern.
"Not too far." Sui shook her head. "To the Rengoku household in the nearby town."
"The Rengoku household?" The old woman froze, clearly familiar with the place. "I hear that family is an old and distinguished house. Their master lost his wife and turned very fierce. He had a terrible temper to begin with, and now he's impossible to get along with. Won't he make things difficult for you?"
"No," Sui said. "The head of the Rengoku household was once my teacher. I owe him a great deal. He was actually a very good man… and he has already passed away. I'm going there to look after the two children he left behind."
"What? He died?" The old woman stared. "That Rengoku fellow was said to be in excellent health. In town, during a dispute, he once lifted a full-grown man with one hand like he was picking up a chicken. How could someone like that die?"
"He died of illness." Sui bowed politely. "I should be going now, ma'am."
"All right! Travel safely, Sui-chan!"
The old woman waved her off.
Light snow fell over the streets.
Dusk was settling in.
The fine flakes dusted Sui's hair like grains of salt, whitening the road as if a pale mist had settled over the world. The air was so cold now that the snow did not melt, only slowly gathered beneath her feet, leaving behind a faint line of footprints where she passed.
Several loose strands of hair caught the snowflakes and hung beside her face like ink spreading across paper.
Though her fingertips rested on the biwa strings, she did not pluck them; it looked instead as though she were cradling a crescent moon frozen in her arms, and the whole world had gone quiet before her.
Now and then, a flake landed at the corner of her lips and melted, leaving behind a tiny dark stain like a kiss from the heavens themselves upon the girl they adored.
"The crow said a guest was coming. Was it you?"
At the street corner stood a black-haired boy in the snow, a white snake coiled around his neck. Despite the bitter winter, the serpent had not gone into hibernation.
Half the boy's face was wrapped tightly in bandages. Pale blue veins showed faintly beneath his skin.
He had an unusual pair of mismatched eyes. His right eye glimmered faintly amber, while his left was a murky gray-green. Standing in the falling snow, the flakes seemed to avoid him, giving him an entirely different presence from the Sui who stood amid the snowfall.
He was like a stalk of bamboo growing in shadow.
"The Rengoku family's child?" Sui tilted her head in confusion. In her impression, the Rengoku bloodline did not look like this.
"No. My name is Obanai Iguro. I'm staying at the Rengoku estate for the time being. Senjuro came down with a fever, and the crow passed on word that a Hashira would be visiting, so I came to receive you."
His voice was low and rough, nothing like what one would expect from someone his age.
"This way. Please come in."
The gate opened, and Sui followed him inside. Obanai Iguro remained quiet, but the white snake around his neck kept hissing at her over and over, full of open hostility.
"Kaburamaru, stop that. She's a Hashira. Someone like Rengoku-san. She's not a bad person."
The boy stroked the snake gently, but the hissing did not stop.
At that moment, Sui froze slightly and said from behind him, "Have you ever seen a serpent demon?"
Obanai spun around at once. "What did you say? How do you know that? Did Rengoku-san tell you?"
"No…" His mismatched gaze locked onto her. "What is this feeling? There's something on you… something that feels like her."
"I once slew a demon called the White Serpent," Sui said. "She was Lower Rank One. In life, she had been a shrine maiden living at Shirora Mountain Shrine, serving a white serpent deity known as Rakaran. Child, does that name mean anything to you?"
She set down the biwa and crouched before him, gently brushing a hand through his hair.
It was black, like seaweed drifting underwater.
"After killing the White Serpent demon, I was left with one lingering question," she said softly. "When she was still human, she had taken in a child. What became of that child in the end?"
Sui looked at him steadily.
"The White Serpent's name was… Aya."
Obanai Iguro trembled. "A… ya?"
He remembered that name.
Obanai Iguro had been born on Hachijojima.
The Iguro family, in his own eyes, was a shameless bloodline that prospered by harming others, living in luxury, building lavish houses, and indulging themselves with stolen wealth. A family rotten to its core, without the slightest sense of shame.
For three hundred and seventy years, only daughters had been born into the family.
And then, he had appeared: a rare male child.
At the age of twelve, he was brought into a resplendent room. Lying upon the raised platform at its center was a female demon, half woman and half serpent.
She was the very root of the Iguro family's sin. For over three centuries, they had lived off the wealth she brought back after killing and robbing others.
In exchange, they offered her their children as human sacrifices—she loved nothing more than devouring infants. And he, a boy with naturally mismatched eyes, had immediately aroused the monster's interest.
At the thought, Obanai's hand rose unconsciously to touch his face.
Because he was still too young, the demon had not eaten him.
But driven by her cruel whim, she had demanded that he be made to "resemble a serpent," and his own family had mutilated him, cutting his mouth open and leaving him permanently disfigured.
In the end, he escaped from that family. The enraged serpent demon slaughtered the entire Iguro household and came after him.
And it was then that Rengoku-san had appeared.
A man like living fire.
When Rengoku-san saved him… when Rengoku-san killed the serpent demon pursuing him… when her severed head struck the ground…
The name she had called out was this one.
Aya-neesan.
So even a monster like that had family?
That had been the question in Obanai's mind back then.
And now another question had arisen.
His strange eyes fixed on the girl before him.
Why… why did this Hashira carry a trace of the serpent demon on her?
P.S. Yes… why indeed? laughs
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
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TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
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Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
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Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 95
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 89
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 61
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 65
Uma Musume: From Beginner 61
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 37
Uma Musume: I Want All 35
I Can Copy Unique Skills 36
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
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