Kyojuro could never forget the words his mother earnestly told him as she lay critically ill on her bed... "Assisting those weaker than oneself is the innate duty of the strong,"
"And Kyojuro, your mission is to bear this responsibility and fulfill it."
What is weakness, and what is strength?
His mother Ruka did not tell him explicitly, but Kyojuro understood that he, and his father Shinjuro, relative to the ordinary people struggling to survive in the cruel times plagued by evil ghosts, could not be considered "weak."
Kyojuro also knew that his father had read the "Book of Former Flame Pillars" and had lamented to him in anger and frustration: "A person's abilities are determined at birth, geniuses are a rarity, and the rest are nothing of value."
At one time, Kyojuro thought the same. His brother Senjuro was like that, those so-called "genius swordsmen" who wished to be his "successors" were too. Lacking in swordsmanship talent, but... that didn't mean Senjuro and the others couldn't contribute to the "Demon Slayer cause" in other ways!
Kyojuro Rengoku drew his sword, pushed open the door, and stepped into the courtyard. Vaguely, he could see his former self and his brother playing, catching butterflies with his mother, or getting a smack on the head from his father from his memory. Taking a deep breath, he drew his sword and pointed it at the man on the wooden porch holding a sake bottle, shouting loudly: "Father, please pull yourself together!"
Fire is meant to burn, meant for speaking outright... Upon hearing the door, a smaller Kyojuro peered out timidly... Shinjuro took a swig of sake with his head tilted back and looked coldly, "Get out of here!"
Kyojuro Rengoku stepped forward, nen attached to his Nichirin Sword, flames surged forth as he spoke with determination: "Please, father, pull yourself together!"
"Bang!" The sake flask came flying, grazing Kyojuro's ear as it smashed against the wall behind him, breaking instantly!
Sake dripped down the wall... Shinjuro glared angrily at Kyojuro and cursed: "You think just because you read a few pages of remnants and became a Hashira, you're something special?"
"Senjuro, bring me your sword!"
The rage rushed in with the sake, Shinjuro stood coldly, seemingly regaining some of his former majesty in that instant!
Senjuro clung to the doorframe, carefully looking at his brother, then at his father. His face naturally one of long grief now scrunched into the shape of a "囧"...
"Give it to him." Kyojuro seemed calm as he smiled: "Trust me."
"Yes." Senjuro swallowed nervously, worry evident, as he handed over his sword to Shinjuro.
Shinjuro grabbed it with unfamiliarity, swung it a few times, gradually finding the feel... Kyojuro simply waited quietly, until he stopped his movements, walked down the wooden porch in a few steps, and with a casual swing, flames enveloped as it slashed at him... For the first time, he realized why,
When he faced Lord Eiichiro outside the lord's courtyard in the wisteria grove, his "sword techniques" at full strength hadn't seemed to catch his attention at all... Too weak, too slow, and the fire was too cool!
Kyojuro Rengoku was very disappointed, his ken ability activated. Facing Shinjuro's anger-driven blow aiming to teach him a lesson... he countered effortlessly, knocking the sword from Shinjuro's hand and smoothly placed the Nichirin Sword at Shinjuro Rengoku's neck.
"This..."
The confrontation ended in an instant.
In Senjuro's eyes, his brother's sudden "advice" might surely draw a fierce rebuke from their father's anger... but the result told him... his father actually lost!
Though one may not necessarily need to be inferior to one's mentor, and a mentor need not be wiser than their disciple... since childhood, Senjuro had been taught hand-in-hand by Shinjuro, ingraining the belief in his father's strength... Shinjuro was a former "Flame Hashira," the real "Flame Hashira" who completely mastered Flame Breathing sword techniques.
Not his brother, who self-taught "Breathing Technique" from just three remnants.
Yet, this "amateur" defeated his strong father head-on, in one round today!
"Hiss——" A servant secretly witnessed this, eyes wide in disbelief....
In the courtyard, the two faces resembling each other looked at one another, one disappointed, the other shocked... the latter seemed to finally regain a bit of composure, rasping: "You're not the son I knew."
Shinjuro Rengoku seemed to summon a bit of spirit from his depression, his gaze fixed on Kyojuro: "Your strength, your fire, is beyond what Flame Breathing can achieve."
"Who... who taught you?"
What had plunged Shinjuro into depression over the years, apart from Ruka's death, was mostly... his clear understanding of Flame Breathing's limits, that it couldn't possibly contend with Kibutsuji Muzan. The fact was, the "Book of Former Flame Pillars" documents showed... that even reaching its peak, "Flame Breathing" couldn't even kill some powerful Upper Moons,
Which was another major blow to Shinjuro's spirit following Ruka's passing.
"The sun." Kyojuro sheathed his sword, clasping his hands, looking skyward. The evening sun slanted westward, yet to fall into the abyss, the splendid sunset painting half the sky red, draping him in a coat of haze...
The young man smiled at the astonished Shinjuro: "Father, I saw the sun."
Shinjuro: "..."
Stuck in his throat, speechless for a moment.
"Whoosh~"
The breeze swayed the yellow hair of the father and his two sons, and the courtyard once again fell into a long silence...
A moment later, Shinjuro asked, "What's the sun's name?"
Kyojuro responded honestly: "Kamado Eiichiro."
The hem of his white haori tinged red, Kyojuro Rengoku smiled and passed on the words Roy had given him to Shinjuro: "The sun can be me, it can be you, him, every person filled with justice and positivity..."
After a while, Shinjuro laughed,
Next to him, Senjuro was momentarily dumbfounded, since their mother died, it was the first time the boy saw a smile on his father's face. He watched... as Shinjuro laughed louder and more heartily, laughing with his hands on his hips, even tears welled up at the corner of his eyes...
"Interesting, so interesting. Kamado Eiichiro, ask him, could I really do it too?"
"I can, you can too, and Senjuro surely can."
"Hahaha..."
On this day, a few cheerful auras rose over the Rengoku household... those servants who knew the household's affairs looked as if they'd seen a ghost, muddled with disbelief.
They whispered among themselves, or quietly inquired about the masterful Kamado Eiichiro....
Little did they know, the enigmatic Kamado Eiichiro they spoke of had already boarded a speeding train.
"Ladies and gentlemen, mind if I join?"
That night.
Passing through the kaleidoscopic dream corridor, arriving at the familiar Sea of Cognition.
Roy didn't stop, directly pushed open the "Demon Slayer" door, entered the Demon Slayer World once more, and followed the clues provided by Ubuyashiki Kagaya to carriage 7, sitting across from Nightmare, Rui, and... Upper Moon Three Akaza.