"Hmm… I trust you all…" Kagaya said with a smile after hearing Musashi's words.
"Please, Master, take good care of your health," Musashi said solemnly.
In his opinion, if this illness was caused by a Demon, then after Muzan was eliminated and the Demon disappeared, there was still a possibility that the Master could recover.
"I will…" Musashi's words also gave Kagaya hope.
Now, the decisive battle with Muzan was imminent, and even if eliminating Muzan didn't make the illness disappear, he would persist until he saw Muzan destroyed.
… Three days passed in a flash, and the semi-annual Hashira Meeting was held again, but this time, the participants were not only Hashiras.
Musashi was the first to arrive in the Master's mansion courtyard.
He had barely left his own courtyard in the past three days, constantly Training, so he didn't know if the others had returned.
Because his Kasugai Crow had spread the news of him slaying upper moon one throughout the entire Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, he would be met with praise as soon as he stepped out.
He genuinely couldn't handle such enthusiasm, so he had to lay low, but today, he absolutely had to go out.
Soon after, Kyojuro was the second to arrive.
Upon seeing Musashi, he walked towards him.
Then came Tanjirou, who happily greeted them upon seeing him and Kyojuro, and ran over.
"Is that Kamado, the young man? Have you also been promoted to a Hashira?" Kyojuro was a bit confused by Tanjirou's arrival; he wasn't yet aware of the changes to this Hashira Meeting.
"Huh? I'm not a Hashira yet.
I received orders from my Kasugai Crow telling me to come participate in the meeting." Tanjirou was also a bit confused by Kyojuro's question.
He had only received orders from his Kasugai Crow to attend a meeting, but he didn't know what kind of meeting it was.
"Teacher, this Hashira Meeting has undergone some changes.
Besides the Hashiras, swordsmen with strength close to that of a Hashira have also been invited to attend," Musashi explained to Kyojuro.
"So that's it!
Then for Kamado, the young man, to be able to attend also means your strength has greatly improved!" Kyojuro understood upon hearing this and praised Tanjirou.
"Compared to you, Rengoku-san, I'm still far behind." Tanjirou scratched his head a bit sheepishly upon hearing this.
In terms of strength, Tanjirou should have been promoted to a Hashira long ago.
After all, he had single-handedly slain Daki.
Although she was at the bottom of the Upper Moons in terms of strength, perhaps even weaker than Kaigaku, who was just there to make up the numbers, she was still much stronger than the Lower Moons.
One of the conditions for promotion to a Hashira was simply to single-handedly slay one of the Twelve Kizuki.
By this standard, Tanjirou's strength was absolutely sufficient.
However, the Lower Moons among the Twelve Kizuki were almost entirely wiped out by Muzan alone, and the Upper Moons were too strong.
At this time, becoming a Hashira by eliminating a Twelve Kizuki was almost impossible.
"Hahaha, to have this kind of strength at your age is already very rare!
Keep working hard, and one day you'll surpass us!" Kyojuro laughed twice, encouraging Tanjirou.
After listening to Kyojuro's words, Tanjirou subconsciously looked at Musashi.
He was a bit curious about Musashi's age; from his appearance and personality, he felt that he seemed a bit older than himself.
"Yes, I will definitely work hard!" Although Tanjirou was a bit curious, he didn't ask, nodding firmly as he replied to Kyojuro.
Next, Muichiro and Mitsuri also arrived.
They both returned a few days ago, just like Kyojuro.
Muichiro's Kasugai Crow had even pecked off a feather from Musashi's Kasugai Crow earlier, but Musashi showed no emotion about it.
Upon seeing Mitsuri, Musashi thought of Obanai.
He looked around and found that Obanai didn't seem to have arrived yet, nor was he in the trees.
As soon as Muichiro arrived, he stood there gazing at the clouds in the sky, seemingly lost in thought.
This trip to the Swordsmith Village, due to the large number of people and only one Upper Moon appearing, almost all of them were unharmed.
Mitsuri, on the other hand, enthusiastically ran towards them, chatting happily.
Her mood always seemed to be good; as long as she could eat her fill, she was happy every day.
Next to arrive was Genya.
He also participated in the battle against Upper Moon Four, and he was surprised when he saw Muichiro's Breathing Technique, because the Breathing Technique he learned from Musashi was extremely similar to Muichiro's.
Genya then went to ask Muichiro, and finally found that Muichiro only remembered the name and forms of the Breathing Technique, forgetting everything else.
In fact, Mist Breathing and the Cloud Breathing developed by Musashi still have differences.
These two Breathing Techniques are fundamentally different.
Mist Breathing is derived from Wind Breathing, so it is more aggressive and more intense in nature.
Cloud Breathing, on the other hand, was derived by Musashi from Water Breathing, and its nature is gentler.
Upon seeing Musashi, Genya quickly ran towards him.
He had also received orders from his Kasugai Crow, but he still didn't know this was a Hashira Meeting, nor did he know that his older brother would also be attending.
"Musashi, I participated in the battle to slay Upper Moon Four this time!" Genya said to Musashi with some excitement.
Now, Musashi was like a teacher and a friend to him, and he liked to share things with him.
"Congratulations!" Musashi said to Genya with a smile.
After receiving Musashi's congratulations, Genya remembered another matter and then said to Musashi with some guilt, "But I couldn't complete what you entrusted to me…" He actually really wanted to do this well, hoping to use it to somewhat repay Musashi's kindness to him, but this matter was truly too difficult for him.
"It's okay, everyone has things they're not good at; it's not your fault." Musashi waved his hand, not blaming Genya.
In his opinion, he hadn't fully understood the situation himself, which made Genya feel awkward.
Moreover, Genya had also helped him correct a long-standing misconception.
"Thank you." Genya saw that Musashi didn't pursue the matter and let it go.
It was then that he realized the Hashiras he had met in the Swordsmith Village were all here now.
Seeing this, Genya greeted both Kyojuro and Muichiro.
During the battle with Hantengu, the Hashiras had saved him several times.
After Genya finished greeting Muichiro and Kyojuro, Mitsuri, full of joy, thought it was her turn.
She had tried to greet Genya in the Swordsmith Village but was ignored.
She thought it was just because they weren't familiar then, but now that they had fought together, surely it wouldn't still be like that.
However, after Genya greeted Muichiro and Kyojuro, he fell silent, and even stood at a position quite far from Mitsuri.
"Musashi… Am I… disliked…?
Even though I'm like Rengoku-san and Tokitou-san… why does this child completely ignore me?" Mitsuri's mood rapidly shifted from happy to sad upon seeing this, and she asked Musashi beside her with a tearful voice.
"Cough, cough, that's because Genya isn't good at interacting with girls.
Also, Mr. Iguro seems to have brought you something delicious." Musashi coughed twice as he replied.
He could already feel Obanai's intensely resentful gaze from nearby, holding a large bag of dango.