While the people in the street were walking towards their everyday routines, the two Hashiras were staring at what the former Hashira just said.
"Hold on, did you just say you were the former Hashira?!" asked Sanemi.
"Well, my official title was the Rumble Hashira," replied Jigoro as he shoots a smile and rubs his head. "However, I realize that people don't recognize the title, so I just introduce myself as the Thunder Hashira."
Giyuu recognized the title. From what glimpses he heard from Tanjiro and Nezuko, Jigoro was Zenitsu's teacher. However he also heard that title a long time before...
"Yes... I heard of you before from my master..."
"Oh is that so? May I ask who your master is?"
"Sakonji Urokodaki..."
Jigoro stared in surprise before letting out a joyful laugh. "Really! What a surprise! It must be fate meeting a student of my good comrade!"
"Yes... my master spoke highly of you..."
From what Giyuu remembered, his master only spoke of him once. It was when Giyuu and Sabito asked where he got his mask. Sakonji then told them the story of how the Rumble Hashira recommended him to wear the mask, and he wore it ever since. From how he spoke, Giyuu picked up that his master viewed Jigoro with great respect.
"Why I am touched," said Jigoro with a laugh. "Sakonji is a great friend, and was one of the best Hashiras in our generation." Jigoro then turned to Sanemi. "And how about you? Any chance I know your master?"
Sanemi just stared in hesitation before responding, his face for once devoid of major emotion, "Not a chance. I didn't have a master."
It was true. Aside from the cultivator that taught him the basics of Wind Breathing and Kumeno Masachika, he had to uncover the breathing styles of the form by himself.
Jigoro, however, perked up when hearing Sanemi's statement. "Oh my. You must be a remarkable slayer. Especially since I can tell from both of your uniform's buttons that you're a Hashira. It's not easy to reach that position, and almost impossible if you don't have any formal training."
Sanemi could only look away, a slight blush on his face. "Well yeah, I guess...". Giyuu looked at the interaction with his usual indifferent face. It wasn't everyday that he got to see Sanemi shy from praise.
"Well regardless, I do wonder why two Hashiras are here? Are you two perhaps here for the demon sighting?"
Sanemi looked back at Jigoro with a puzzled look. "Demon sighting"
"Hmm. It seems you both aren't aware of it." Jigoro closed his eyes and put his hand on his chin, stroking his beard while pondering. After a moment he came to a conclusion.
"Follow me you two. I will explain on the way..."
As the three men started making their way to Jigoro's abode, the former Rumble Hashira started explaining the situation.
"Essentially, there's been a demon sighting near the outskirts of this town. Two days ago, a family went out at night, only for their cloths and belongings to be found in the woods with blood. The people are certain that it was a wild bear, but I am almost certain this was the work of a demon. And so yesterday I sent a crow towards the Master to inform him of the matter".
"And that's why you thought that we were sent to exterminate the demon," interjected Sanemi.
"Yes," continued Jigoro. "Although to my knowledge, it would make little sense to send two Hashiras for a demon sighting..."
Sanemi quickly looked at Giyuu, who gave a quick nod in response. Sanemi, satisfied with the answer, turned to Jigoro who was walking in front of them and replied,
"We aren't here for the demon sighting, but we would happily take care of it if you could help us with something."
Jigoro turned his head to Sanemi's statement. "Oh? And what could I help you two with?"
"We are actually on a journey for training," answered Sanemi. "and we are looking for a suitable place for it. If it doesn't bother you, would you mind if we request you to house us for our training?"
Sanemi gave a polite bow, which was followed by Giyuu replicating it. Jigoro looked at the two Hashiras in slight confusion and amusement.
"Well, I don't see what more training a Hashira would need..." replied Jigoro, leaving the two Hashiras sweating bullets. If Jigoro refuses their proposal, then they would have to continue to look for another training area.
"But..." continued Jigoro, causing the two Hashiras to tilt their heads upwards towards him. "I'm always happy to help anyone from the corps. It would be my honor to house you two while you train." Jigoro had a smile on his face as he looked at the two Hashiras.
On the outside, Sanemi had a face of gratitude. However on the inside, he was mentally crying in relief.
'Ahhh, thank god! I don't know how long I could keep traveling in search!'
Soon the three of them finally reached the house. It was a humble home, more suited for a civilian then a retired Hashira. However, his house was located on top a small mountain, making it isolated from the village underneath it. With grassy hills near the house and a lone tree in a plain field, this area served as a ideal place for cultivating Demon Slayers.
As Sanemi and Giyuu were following Jigoro towards the house, they spot a lone boy near the tree. He seemed to be meditating and practicing his breathing. With his black hair and black patterned haori, he stood out from the lush greenery around him.
The boy opened his blue eyes to the footsteps in front of him, only to be greeted with his master and two unfamiliar figures.
"Ah, greetings Master."
"Hey Kaigaku," replied Jigoro. "You can stop your training now. We have guests over. Go prepare some tea for us."
Kaigaku looked at the two individuals. He glanced at their uniforms, and upon looking at the gold buttons, got a quick idea on who they are. He swiftly stood up, bowed, and jogged into the house. Giyuu could only look at his retreating figure with unreadable eyes.
"Is he your student..." asked Giyuu.
"Ah yes. That's Kaigaku, my only student" replied Jigoro. "I'm teaching him the ropes of Thunder Breathing. He's a talented and hard-working fellow, although a little arrogant at times." Jigoro gave a quick laugh towards the end of his statement.
Giyuu only replied in silence. He didn't know a 'Kaigaku' from his time, only that Zenitsu was Jigoro's student. It's possible that Jigoro simply didn't meet Zenitsu yet. Giyuu silently hoped that he wouldn't change anything that could jeopardize the two meeting.
After a couple minutes, Giyuu found himself sitting in Jigoro's dining area with a cup of jasmine tea. Jigoro took a sip in satisfaction while Kaigaku silently excused himself from the room.
"So tell me," asked Jigoro between sips. "I've never got to be introduced to the two of you"
"I'm Sanemi Shinazugawa, the Wind Hashira" said Sanemi as he put his cup down.
Giyuu continued to sip on his tea before responding, "... Giyuu Tomioka... Water Hashira..."
"Ah, so a Wind and a Water Hashira. I kind of guessed your title from your master, Tomioka-san. It's very nice to formally meet the both of you." Jigoro gave a small bow, which was followed by the two Hashiras in response.
"The honor is ours, Kuwajima-san... We are grateful that you are letting us stay..."
"Ah don't worry! The pleasure is all mine, although I got to ask." Jigoro once again puts his hand on his beard. "Why exactly do you two need training, and especially far from headquarters? Don't you two have responsibilities as Hashiras?"
Giyuu glanced at Sanemi, who glanced back. They both seemed to have a mental conversation with one another.
'Do you want to answer this?' asked Giyuu.
'I'd rather not. Best you do it,' replied Sanemi.
'But I don't to answer either...' added Giyuu, with a straight face.
'I don't care about what you want. Do it. Now!' finished Sanemi, as he hardened his gaze on Giyuu.
Giyuu let out a sigh before responding to Jigoro, who was oblivious to the invisible conversation that just occurred.
"Well..." Giyuu started before pausing, leaving Jigoro confused. Sanemi was looking at Giyuu, his hardened face only betraying the mental insults he's throwing at Giyuu for pausing at a awkward time. However Giyuu was simply thinking the best way he can explain this while not being too unbelievable and suspicious.
"Well you see..." continued Giyuu, snapping Sanemi back to attention. "Recently Shinazugawa had an encounter with Uppermoon 2..." This caused Jigoro to inhale sharply as he straightened his back. Sanemi meanwhile was just thinking why Giyuu would mention something that felt insignificant for the conversation. Then again, Sanemi was never the brightest out of the two.
"Wow, that must have been something" interjected Jigoro as he looked to Sanemi. "You must have been very talented and lucky to survive an encounter with it"
Before Sanemi could respond, Giyuu added, "While fighting him... Shinazugawa managed to turn his blade red..."
Jigoro raised his eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes... after this... when he went for a strike to the demon... the Uppermoon found it more difficult to regenerate their limbs..."
Jigoro's eyes widened towards that statement. "Difficulty in regeneration? Such an ability exists?"
"Yes... Ubuyashiki-sama sent the two of us to investigate this ability and whether there are more abilities we could unlock, since we two demonstrated the most potential in discovering them... While the master has increased the responsibilities of the other Hashiras to cover our own, he expects the two of us to slay any demons we come across with..."
"Hmm, I see. And you training so far from headquarters?"
"The Master deemed it best we discover these abilities in isolation from the Hashiras, as he doesn't want our training to occupy any attention from the other Hashiras..."
Jigoro responded in silence, seemingly taking in the new information. Giyuu took the silence as an opportunity to take a sip of his tea. Sanemi meanwhile finally pieced why Giyuu mentioned his encounter. If Giyuu just mentioned that Kaguya sent them to train with no good reason to why, Jigoro may have been suspicious and asked more questions.
"This certainly makes sense," said Jigoro suddenly, interrupting Sanemi from his train of thought. "If we can make these abilities available for all slayers, this will be a great progression for the corps."
With that Jigoro stood up, followed by the two Hashiras. "Please, stay as long as you both need to here. I doubt I will be much assistance, but I will be available to help"
"Thank you, Kuwajima-san," said Giyuu as he and Sanemi gave a slight bow.
"In the meantime," interjected Sanemi, with a small grin and slight craze in his eyes. "Why don't you tell us more about this demon situation?"
Jigoro grinned in response. "Of course! Let me tell you exactly where the incident happened."
And so, Jigoro informed the two Hashiras about the specifics, and before they knew it the sun has disappeared and the two Hashiras were walking towards the woods. As they entered the woods, the ambient lights from the town disappeared and was replaced with leaves and bark, and the ambient noise from the insects were enlarged in the forest.
Sanemi and Giyuu were walking, hands resting in their katana.
"God! Where is this damn demon!"
"Be patient Shinazugawa... From the terrain, it's unlikely for the demon to migrate to a different location..."
"Tch, these damn demons! Damn cowards, I tell you!"
While Sanemi was kicking rocks in frustration, Giyuu was looking in his surrounding for any clues. They both continued to walk for a while until something caused Giyuu to pause.
"Oi, Tomioka! Found something?!" asked Sanemi as he looked behind to see Giyuu looking down at the ground.
"... There's multiple footprints here..." said Giyuu with his stoic tone and face.
Sanemi walked to Giyuu to see what he was seeing. On the dirt were indeed many imprints of feet. They seemed to fade, but they were undoubtfully feet. Near the area were trampled plants and broken sticks.
"Ah, it was probably that family that was killed. Poor people were probably running as that damned demon was chasing them," concluded Sanemi as he walked away. Giyuu, however, still remained stationary.
'But the victims were a family of four,' thought Giyuu. 'These footprints, are definitely more than four.' Giyuu's eyes squinted in response to the conclusion.
All of a sudden, a blur rushed out of the trees and towards the white-haired slayer. Its claws aiming to pierce his neck. However before it could make contact, it lost feeling in its entire body.
'Huh that's weird? Why can't I feel my body?'
As the demon looked down it saw its body falling limp from his point of view. In a blink of an eye, Sanemi pulled out his katana and severed the demons neck. As the demon started to disintegrate, its last sight was of the Wind pillar holding his green katana out to the side, his eyes still facing forward.
Tch, filthy demon." said Sanemi. "Did it really think it could sneak up on me like that?"
Giyuu glanced at Sanemi, unfazed from the occurrence that just happened. However, his gut told them that they weren't out of the woods just yet. And then he felt it. Behind him, a demon shot from the ground and went to bite him. Giyuu swiftly drew his blade and effortlessly severed it's neck before it could reach Giyuu. As the demon disintegrated, Giyuu got a glimpse of the demon. While he couldn't get a look at the face, the body seemed to be identical the demon that went for Sanemi earlier.
'But how? I just saw Shinazugawa slay it?'
"Oh wow! You two are fast! You both must be Hashiras!"
Sanemi and Giyuu turned their heads to the voice, only to see a figure above. On top of a branch was the same demon the two Hashiras slayed. She was wearing a navy kimono, with a brown fur coat on top. She was wearing a ronin hat, and her hands had sharp claws. And on her face, there were blue circular markings on her cheeks, and her blue eyes had text on her yellow irises.
"Tch, it's Lowermoon Three," said Sanemi with a slight grin.
"I must say, I've never killed a Hashira before! I'm honestly a little scared," said the demon as she clapped her hands happily. "However if I kill two Hashiras, Muzan-sama will be thrilled with me!"
As soon as she finished, a demon launched itself from the trees, only to be severed by Giyuu. Another came from above, only to also be severed by Sanemi. As Sanemi looked at the demons slayed, he was greeted with the same Lowermoon. Soon there was rustling in the trees surrounding the Hashiras. Sanemi and Giyuu put their backs close to each other, covering each other's blind sides. The same Lowermoon that was speaking above them walked from the darkness. Then another walked next to her. Then another. Then another. Soon the Hashiras were surrounded by a group of demons that look exactly like the demon above them.
"It's certainly a sight, but I'm sure you both figured it out. My Blood Demon Art allows me to make perfect copies of myself. Every single demon out there is me!"
"Hmm, is that so?!" said Sanemi. "Usually when something like this happens-"
Sanemi immediately blitzes the demon above them, severing her head and leaving her in shock.
"-it's always good to go after the main body!" finished Sanemi with a grin.
The Lowermoon's shocked face disintegrated. However once after that, Sanemi heard laughter around him. The female demons surrounding them were still there and laughing.
"Hahahahahaha! That was certainly a good try!" said one of the Lowermoon's in front of Giyuu.
"Unfortunately for you both," said the Lowermoon behind Giyuu, causing him to turn towards the voice. "These all are parts of me."
"Meaning if you want to kill me," said another copy. "You're going to have to kill of of me!"
Soon all 30 of the demons surrounding Giyuu rushed towards him. However Giyuu took a breath and whispered,
"Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance..."
Giyuu winded his body and rushed in a circular path, flowing towards each demon and severing their heads.
As the demons disintegrated, more copies came out of hiding, this time rushing at Sanemi who was on the tree branch. Sanemi kicked of and did a back flip. Then he prepared his swing and said,
"Wind Breathing, Seventh Form: Gale, Sudden Gusts!"
Sanemi swings his katana, shredding the five demons after him in an instant before landing cleanly on the ground. As he gets close to Giyuu he ask him,
"Oi Tomioka! Are we just going to wat for them to come to us?! What do you say we go after them?!"
Giyuu slices a copy that charged after him, leaving some blood splatter on him.
"Hmm... Sure... I'm okay with what you want to do..."
"Hah! That's more like it!" scoffed Sanemi as he trusts his katana in the neck of two copies, severing their heads.
Soon the Hashiras split up and go away from the clearing, slaying any copies they come across with. As they unleash massacre towards the Lowermoon, one copy leaves the forest in a rush.
'Damn it! I know I was excited to kill them, but I'm not dumb enough to fight two Hashiras! That's suicide!'
As she was leaving under the moonlight sky away from the woods, she pondered on her next plans.
'Right now I have 200 copies. For every person I devourer, I gain the energy to create one. It'll be a pain to remake them, but those 200 should buy me time to flee. I'm gonna have to start over and find small kills to replace my arsenal.'
The Lowermoon was running fast, however soon she heard a second set of footsteps getting closer.
'No-No way!'
The Lowermoon looked behind, only to see a checkered haori rushing after her.
"Water breathing, First Form..."
And before the Lowermoon could defend herself, Giyuu unleashed a powerful strike that severed her head.
"Water Surface Slash..."
As her head left her body, she caught the bloodied Hashira sheath his sword. Upon further inspection, she determines that all the blood on him was her own.
"What the-Why are you here?! Don't you know you're leaving my other selves to the other Hashira?! I told you, I can only be defeated once all my copies are slain! Killing me will do nothing!"
"We already slayed all of you..."
'What?' The Lowermoon couldn't believe it, but as she looked into herself she realized, its true. In a span of minutes, the Hasshiras manages to slain all 200 copies of her.
"No way? How? How is this poss-" whimpered the Lowermoon before her face disintegrated. As all the remnants of Lowermoon Three left the earth, Giyuu headed back into the woods to rendezvous with Sanemi.
***
"Yoshita, I don't know if this feels safe..."
"Don't worry Kiyoha! Nothing is going to happen. And even then, I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you!" said Yoshita as he puts his arm around her in a protective manner.
"But-I heard that there was a family that died near here." whimpered Kiyoha, who was shaking in fear.
"The authorities said it was a bear attack. We are in the road and near the town. There will be no bear that comes for-"
The sound of a twig snapping emits, and both of them yelp and hold each other in fear. They turn to the direction of the sound, being the woods with nothing but darkness shown in it.
Yoshita, regaining some confidence, shielded Kiyoha behind him while putting a brave face. "I'm-I'm sure it was nothing"
Another twig snapped in the same direction, and both of them shuddered violently. As they look at the woods, they see something coming from that direction. Yoshita and Kiyoha are petrified and are unavailable to move from fear. As the figure gets closer, the silhouette of a man is outlined from the moonlight. Yoshita breathes a sigh of relief as Kiyoha mutters a "thank god".
"Wow. We thought you were something else! What are you doing in the woods late at nig-" However as Yoshita gets to see the sight in front of him, his words die in his tongue.
Walking towards him is a man with blood over him. His white hair is stained with red, and his eyes were bloodshot with the look of a killer. What really made his hair stand up, was the green sword in his hand, covered in red lush blood.
"Man, for someone so boastful, her neck was really unprotected. I was able to slice through that like butter."
'Slice through a neck... like butter?' Yoshita and Kiyoha were sweating bullets.
"Oi! What are you two doing here!"
Kiyoha lets out a yelp in fear as the man stops right in front of them, his sword resting on his shoulders. Upon inspection, his face and body were filled with scars. With such a sight, the two frightened people came to a conclusion.
'This-this guy is a bandit!'
"Hello! I asked you both a question! What are you two doing out here!"
"Pl-pl-l-l-please don't hurt us! We didn't mean to stumble here!"
Sanemi raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh?"
"W-w-we don't have any money! So please don't slice our necks! Or kill us!" screamed the man.
Sanemi finally looked at himself, seeing the blood on his uniform and his sword, before finally putting the pieces together.
"Oh wait you got it all wrong!" shouted Sanemi as he went to put his katana back in its sheath. However him moving his sword was interpreted as an attack, and the two people stumbled back in fear from the action.
"AHHH! PLEASE DON'T HURT US! WE PROMISE NOT TO TELL ANYONE ABOUT YOU!" screamed Kiyoha.
"Calm down lady! What I'm trying to say-"
"PLEASE DON'T KILL US! WE PROMISE WE WON'T BE OUT AT NIGHT ANYMORE!" Both Yoshita and Kiyoha were crying as they were scooting back. However they quickly hit an obstacle. Upon looking at it they were greeted with legs. When they looked up... they were greeted with the sight of another man. He was also covered in blood, and he had a blue sword in his hand. When the couple looked at his face, they were greeted with a expression so dark and gloomy, it could only convey wrath and murder.
"Is there a problem here..."
Upon hearing those cold words from the man, both Yoshita and Kiyoha screamed in pure terror. They quickly shot up and sprinted towards town, screaming apologies to god as they left the two Hashiras in the dust. As they got out of distance within mere seconds, Giyuu looked at Sanemi in hidden confusion.
"What's wrong? I saw those two on the floor... was there a problem they were facing... or another demon?"
Sanemi lets out a sigh before turning to walk back to town. "Ah, forget it Tomioka. Lets just head back to Kuwajima-san's house before anyone else spots us like this."
Giyuu, still confused on what just happened, decided to just sheath his sword and walk besides Sanemi. With all the blood on his haori, he would need to it tomorrow. Although maybe a shower would do first...