The sounds of laughter and chasing echoed around...
Unfortunately, only Roy enjoyed it alone.
"Gurururu..."
The water boiled, lifting the kettle's lid.
With quick eyes and hands, Tanjiro picked up the kettle, poured a cup of hot tea, and handed it over...
He leaned in and whispered to Roy, "Nii-san, why do I feel that this place is eerie, like someone is watching us?"
Father Tanjuro, the first in the Kamado family since the ancestor Kamado Tanji to step into the "Transparent World" in a millennium, perhaps passed on his bloodline, or maybe it was the ancestors' blessing... endowed Tanjiro with an extraordinarily sharp sense of smell.
Years later, after training in "Water Breathing," he was able to sniff out Sabito's sword movements, predicting his attacks in advance, and splitting his mask open, showing signs of having one hand touching the edge of the "Transparent World."
Therefore, it's not surprising that he can now detect some abnormalities just by intuition.
"What did you smell?"
"I don't know... it kind of smells like Uncle Minamino..."
Tanjiro's nostrils flared, not knowing how to describe it.
Where he couldn't see, several gusts of eerie wind blew in, surrounding him.
Among them were Shinsuke and Fukuda, who were playing...
"Whoa—"
"This guy has such a keen sense of smell..."
"Just like Master, he can locate ghosts just from their scent and tell how many people they've eaten..."
"From this, maybe he's even more suited than Giyu to learn the 'Breathing Technique'..."
Chattering... several living souls were intrigued by Tanjiro's words...
They fluttered around his head, but none recklessly dove through his body...
Clearly, they understood the concept that living souls could impact living humans.
"Hiss..." Tanjiro took a breath and thought, why did it suddenly get cold?
He quickly hugged his shoulders and squeezed closer to Roy...
Roy focused on eating his dumpling, washing it down with a cup of hot tea, and noticed the boys and girls accompanying Urokodaki Sakonji were also looking over in surprise...
His gaze calmly went directly through their bodies, fixing on Urokodaki Sakonji nearby.
The Old Water Hashira carved masks one cut at a time, blending into the world as if he existed and didn't, easily overlooked unless one purposely searched or focused on finding him.
This state was somewhat similar to [Zetsu], both sensing and blending into nature, using nature to reduce their own presence.
The difference is one sealed all "Nen" inside to strengthen the five senses, while the other relied on extraordinary skills honed over decades... how much "similarity" and how much "difference" there is, is worth pondering, provided—
He is willing to give an opportunity for inquiry.
"Ka... ka..."
Sawdust flew as the carving knife in Urokodaki Sakonji's hand unknowingly switched to a new one, perhaps not accustomed to it yet or maybe because of the audience, causing him to be distracted, resulting in this cut—
Going awry,
the fox's mouth skewed as if mocking him...
What use is carving when you can't even protect your students.
"Master..." Makomo squatted silently beside, and beside her, was the silent Sabito...
Urokodaki Sakonji was stunned for a few seconds, exchanged the damaged mask for a new piece of wood, and continued carving, seemingly unaware of people outside the courtyard.
Tanjiro anxiously wrung his hands.
The young boy couldn't contain himself and said, "Nii-san, should I go knock on the door?"
Door?
Is there even a door here?
"Hashiras" do not need doors to block Evil Ghosts; they themselves are the "door."
Roy took a sip of hot tea and leisurely said, "If you can't sit still, go into the mountain and catch some wild game."
After eating too many dumplings, he needed some oil, perfect for a meat feast.
"No, I'll stay here with you." Tanjiro shook his head.
He always felt something was wrong and didn't want to be separated from Nii-san.
"If you're not going, I will." Roy stood up, ignoring Tanjiro's calls, took three steps into two, stepped on "Dark Step," and vanished.
His speed was really too fast,
so fast that a remnant was left in place, making people think he hadn't moved.
"Hmm?"
The eerie wind blew...
Several gazes, as if rehearsed in advance, uniformly turned over... but still a beat late, only catching Roy's "tailwind."
Fukuda shrieked—
"What speed this guy has!"
"Shinsuke, did I see that right?"
Shinsuke gave him a look and said, "You're just dead but not blind, do you need me to lend you my eyes to see if you saw it wrong?"
Just as they exchanged that look, Roy returned, leisurely walking with two wild rabbits in hand.
"Hiss—"
It's in chaos...
The flames dancing on the bonfire jumped sporadically...
The living souls previously surrounding Tanjiro surged towards Roy, curiously observing him, as if trying to see if he really grew an extra leg.
They dared not get too close, as Roy moved, they automatically parted ways, ending with—
Sabito, holding a tachi!
"If you had this speed back then, you wouldn't have died." Makomo stood up, her beautiful eyes shimmering with disbelief as they reflected Roy's figure.
Sabito was silent...
Indeed, if he had such speed back then, he could have easily escaped even if he couldn't fight back, but...
Could he really escape? What about Giyu after escaping? Back then, he was the crybaby coward... facing that guy, he probably couldn't even hold his sword.
Sabito shook his head with a smile, turned seriously to Makomo, and cryptically said, "This time, I really feel, there's a chance."
"Hmmmm... let them eat first."
...
The fire melted the snowflakes, releasing heat around...
He took an axe from his waist, prepared the rabbits with the freshly boiled hot water...
Roy and Tanjiro, each with one, skewered on sticks over the fire...
"Sizzle... sizzle..." the fat turned into oil and dripped down, fueling the fire... soon, the two rabbits were roasted to a mouthwatering golden brown...
It's a pity there's no cumin... nor any barbecue seasoning... in the cold and snow, it's impossible to find onions or ginger for marinating... the only seasoning found was a small jar of salt that Tanjiro dug out from his basket...
But even so, it attracted many "gourmands"...
Such as "Fukuda," "Shinsuke," and "Makomo"...
The little girl stared intently at the roasted rabbit in Roy's hand, licking her lips, and said to Sabito, "Hey~ Sabito, think of a way... I want to eat."
'What can I do?'
'You said it yourself, "watch" them eat.'
Sabito was speechless and chose to remain silent, then caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye...
"If the rabbit isn't pre-oiled and marinated, it'll taste gamey; if you don't mind, follow me inside, and I'll handle it..."
Urokodaki Sakonji somehow appeared beside the bonfire...
The broken fox mask lay quietly tossed on the stump...