Chapter 61: Response
When the sun climbed to its zenith, casting sharp shadows across the wisteria-laced clearing, the participants for this year's Final Selection began to step into the mountain forest.
Kanzaki Akira did a rough headcount from his hidden vantage point. There were just over twenty of them, a number similar to the group from his own time. He spotted them immediately: Kanae, Giyuu, and Sabito, standing together as a tight-knit unit.
One detail stood out. None of the three wore the distinctive warding masks crafted by Urokodaki Sakonji. The deep pain the Hand Demon's rampage had inflicted upon the old master had made him unwilling to forge such easily recognizable tokens ever again. In their place, he had provided small, portable items—protective charms, Akira noted, tucked securely into the pockets of the trio's uniforms.
For now, Akira and Makomo had no intention of revealing themselves. As proctors, they couldn't afford to show any blatant favoritism toward the examinees they knew. Besides, watching the seamless teamwork the three had already developed, Akira felt they had little to worry about during their seven days on Fujikasane Mountain.
By his estimation, even Kanae, whose strength was still developing, possessed the skill to pass the Final Selection on her own. His only real concern was how they would handle the psychological strain of facing demons for the first time. The true test was whether they could execute their techniques when confronted with the grotesque, twisted forms of their enemies, made all the more monstrous in the gloom of the forest.
This was especially true for Kanae. Her entire life had been altered. Having never experienced the tragic loss of her family, it was uncertain if she possessed the same fierce determination to face demons head-on. Though he had tested her resolve before, a knot of unease remained in Akira's stomach.
As he was lost in thought, Kanae seemed to sense his gaze from across the clearing. She glanced around, her eyes scanning the trees, but the angle was wrong. She couldn't pinpoint where he and Makomo were hidden.
In the meantime, the participants had begun to disperse, fanning out from the entrance in two rough groups to find a defensible spot for the first night.
"How should we split the work?" Makomo asked, turning her head as she watched the last of the candidates disappear into the woods.
"Let's use the entrance as a centerline. You take the left, and I'll take the right. How does that sound?"
"No problem." Makomo nodded, then her gaze flickered to Sabito's group as they headed deeper into the right-hand section of the forest. She turned back to Akira, a teasing glint dancing in her eyes.
Akira met her look calmly. He wasn't going to deny it; he was uneasy about Kanae and intended to keep an eye on her personally.
"Let's go," he said, his tone shifting back to business. "And remember, there's no need to be polite to those who overestimate their own abilities. Tell the obedient ones to leave on their own. The disobedient ones? Kick them out directly."
"I know, I know. You can go," she chirped, waving him off.
"You..." Faced with Makomo's playful dismissal, Akira shook his head, a helpless sigh escaping him. In her deep green eyes, he saw it all—the complex swirl of loss, a flicker of jealousy, and a hint of grievance hidden just beneath her bright smile. This headstrong girl refused to let any of it show, burying it all under a layer of jokes.
It was precisely because of this that Akira found himself unable to simply turn and leave.
He steadied his own emotions, his gaze softening as he looked into her eyes. "When the selection is over," he began, his voice slow and deliberate, "if nothing else is going on, let's go to the Butterfly Mansion together for a while."
Regardless of the complexities, some kind of answer, some form of acknowledgment, was only right.
Makomo's eyes widened in surprise. Then, the smile on her face blossomed, becoming genuinely radiant. The complicated shadows that had lurked in her gaze were swept away in an instant.
"Sure," she said, her voice light and happy. She was truly happy now.
"It's a promise, then. I'm off!"
Without waiting for Akira's reply, Makomo leaped into the trees, her figure quickly vanishing into the dense foliage.
Pushing his other thoughts aside for the moment, Akira turned and ran in the direction Kanae's group had taken. He would finish the task at hand before dealing with anything else.
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide."
With a single, fluid motion, Sabito decapitated the several demons that had surrounded their small group. As he watched their bodies crumble to dust, he turned back to Giyuu and Kanae, who had just drawn their swords, a touch of pride on his face.
But before he could say a word, a sharp pain erupted on the back of his head.
"Ouch!"
"Who hit me?!" Sabito yelped, clutching his head as he spun around. Before he could see his assailant, he heard Kanae's voice from behind him, filled with pleasant surprise.
"Kanzaki-kun?"
"Yes. I'm one of the proctors for this selection."
"Kanzaki, what did you hit me for?" Sabito's indignant voice cut through the momentary reunion between Akira and Kanae.
"You killed a few weakened demons and were already getting cocky. Who else would I hit but you?" Akira replied, his tone perfectly righteous. Of course, the more important reason was that he had wanted to see if Kanae could handle the demons on her own, but Sabito had cleared out the grunts before she even had a chance to act. That had prompted Akira, who was hiding nearby, to step out and deliver a corrective knock.
"I... Humph!" Sabito turned his head away in a huff. In that moment, the desire to one day surpass Akira and give him a sound beating became even more deeply ingrained in his mind.
"Mr. Kanzaki, are you very free?"
"Hahaha—"
"Pfft."
Giyuu, with his usual deadpan delivery, ended the conversation with a single sentence. The triumphant smile vanished from Akira's face and reappeared on Sabito's. Even Kanae couldn't help but bring a delicate hand to her lips, her shoulders trembling as she suppressed her laughter.
Giyuu's logic was simple: Mr. Kanzaki is a proctor. I heard from Makomo-senpai that this role is held by high-ranking members who are free during the Final Selection. Therefore, he must not have much to do lately. I will greet him by asking about his current situation.
"Heh..." A dry chuckle escaped Akira's lips. Every time he faced Giyuu, he experienced what it meant to laugh when you were truly speechless. Tomioka Giyuu was, by all accounts, a very polite young man. Even after all this time, he still addressed him as "Mr. Kanzaki" with genuine respect in his voice, yet he somehow managed to say the most baffling things with that same respectful tone.
Akira looked like he was laughing, but in reality, he was at his wit's end.
"Alright," he said, clapping his hands together. "The Final Selection is meant for every new swordsman to face demons directly, to filter out those unable to slay them. It's not anyone's personal show. I'm off. You three continue."
With that, Akira gave a small wave and vanished before their eyes.
He still needed to check on the other candidates. As a proctor, while he couldn't guarantee zero casualties, he couldn't neglect his duties. He had to save those he could.
The seven days were not long; they passed in a flash.
Perhaps because he had resolved his internal conflict much earlier in this timeline, Giyuu, despite a flicker of nervousness during his first real encounter, successfully decapitated the demon.
And Sabito, after Akira's reminder, reined in his impulse to clear the entire mountain of demons by himself. This was, after all, a selection, not his personal stage.
During those seven days, in the area Akira was responsible for, only one unlucky boy died, unable to last even two seconds after calling for help. Two others were injured, their skills simply too lacking to fend for themselves.
On Makomo's side, two candidates died before she could reach them in time, and one was seriously injured.
In the end, out of the twenty-plus participants, only Kanae's trio and two others who had performed reasonably well passed the trial. Some of the remaining survivors chose to join the Kakushi, while others opted to return to their Cultivators for further training.
When the selection concluded, Akira brought Kanae and Makomo back toward the Butterfly Mansion.
Sabito had originally wanted to drag Giyuu along to join the fun and watch the drama unfold. Over the past few months, he had noticed that both his senior, Makomo, and the more recently arrived Kanae seemed to have feelings for Akira.
Unfortunately for him, the moment he and Giyuu approached, Makomo pulled rank as his senior and ordered him back to Mount Sagiri to deliver the news of their success.
Along the path back, the two girls deliberately lagged a few steps behind Akira, huddling together and whispering.
Akira had no intention of eavesdropping. He had his own problem to consider: how to handle the upcoming confrontation, where everything was about to be laid bare.
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