Chapter 11: Sabito and Makomo
Taisho Year 4, January.
Two months had already passed since Nanaha arrived at Urokodaki Sakonji's place.
During these two months, Nanaha had not relaxed in the slightest.
Although he had not formally taken Urokodaki Sakonji as his master, Urokodaki Sakonji had still taught him quite a lot about making mechanisms and traps.
Besides that, Nanaha was still receiving Kanae's careful guidance.
From time to time, Urokodaki Sakonji would stop and silently watch Nanaha's figure as he practiced. The way he swung his sword, certain tiny habits in his turns and thrusts, all reminded him of that girl who had become a Hashira yet died far too young...
Whenever that happened, he would always let out an almost inaudible sigh.
"Haaah!"
"Damn it, I still can't cut it!"
Today, Tanjiro had already swung his sword three thousand times!
Normally, it was only one thousand.
But he still had not passed the test Urokodaki Sakonji had set for him.
Tanjiro sat on the ground, the palms of his hands covered in thick calluses. To be honest, even Nanaha felt inferior to Tanjiro's diligence.
"Nanaha, is there still something I'm not doing well enough? Why can't I ever split that boulder?" Tanjiro felt restless and agitated inside.
He had a reason he absolutely had to become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps!
But the setback before him had dealt him a heavy blow.
Nanaha smiled and said, "Don't worry. I believe you'll definitely do it!"
"That's true. I'll definitely do it! After all, I still have to save Nezuko!" Tanjiro stood up again. "Ohhhh! I'm doing another three thousand swings today—"
"Hey, your arms are going to break!"
—
Late at night, Tanjiro tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
During this time, he often sparred with Nanaha and exchanged insights with him.
He discovered that Nanaha was improving all the time, while he himself still seemed stuck in place.
"No, if this keeps going, I'll get left behind!"
Tanjiro simply sat up and started putting on his clothes.
He quietly left the bedroom and brought out the steel sword Urokodaki Sakonji had given him.
"Don't worry, Nezuko-chan. Big brother will never give up!"
Tanjiro came to the back mountain, where there was a huge round boulder.
Use a sword to split a boulder?
That was simply too outrageous.
Nanaha also could not sleep that night. He walked to the back mountain, chatting with Kanae as they strolled.
"The Final Selection is almost here," Nanaha could not help sighing.
Time had really passed quickly.
More than half a year ago, he had still been an ordinary person who knew nothing.
And now, he had somehow become a swordsman who inherited Flower Hashira Kanae's legacy.
"Nervous?"
"Not really." Nanaha had already built confidence in himself by now.
"Hehe, Nanaha-kun really is cute," Kanae's voice remained as warm and gentle as ever.
"Come to think of it, if I join the Demon Slayer Corps, I'll meet your younger sister, right?"
Naturally, Nanaha was referring to Shinobu Kocho.
"Little Shinobu..." Kanae sounded a little troubled. "It's been such a long time since I've seen her. I wonder how she's been lately."
"Hah!"
Just as they were talking, Nanaha suddenly heard a sound.
It was Tanjiro!
"What is Tanjiro doing out this late?"
Nanaha followed the sound, and sure enough, Tanjiro was there, swinging his steel sword again and again at the boulder, yet it remained completely unmoved.
"Damn it, why can't I still split it?! Do I really have no talent at all? But if I can't join the Demon Slayer Corps, what will happen to Nezuko? I have to find medicine that can turn Nezuko back into a human... but... but I'm so weak... I'm sorry, Nezuko. Your brother, I..."
"Hey, what are you sniffling and whining about at a time like this?"
A cold voice rang out.
Tanjiro looked up and saw a boy with medium-length peach-colored hair suddenly appear in front of the boulder. He wore a fox mask with a large, obvious slash across it.
"Who are you?"
The moment Tanjiro saw the boy, he immediately became curious.
"You still have the leisure to care about who I am? Swing your sword at me right now!"
"Eh? But this is a real blade. I might hurt you!" Tanjiro immediately refused.
The fox-masked boy slightly raised the wooden sword in his hand. In the blink of an eye, he was already right in front of Tanjiro.
The wooden sword in his hand came crashing down at Tanjiro.
But Tanjiro reacted at once, raising his steel sword and barely managing to block the attack.
"Hmph. Your personality may be weak, but you've got a bit of ability."
Tanjiro, however, looked a little angry.
"Don't just attack people without saying anything first!"
Because during this period, Tanjiro and Nanaha had constantly been fighting and training together, his strength had naturally improved compared to before.
But the other boy clearly had no intention of stopping and continued pressing his attack against Tanjiro.
After watching for a while, Nanaha quietly left.
"Nanaha-kun, that boy..."
"Yeah." Nanaha confirmed, "Just like you, he's also a soul."
"Looks like Tanjiro isn't ordinary either."
Nanaha did not deny it.
Early the next morning, when Nanaha woke up, Tanjiro was still sleeping soundly, looking extremely tired.
Nanaha lit the firewood, prepared breakfast, and after eating his own portion, he left.
He went straight to the place where Tanjiro trained by cutting the boulder.
"Sabito, I can call you that, right?"
Nanaha's voice rang out across the empty training ground.
The morning was thick with fog, and a figure slowly walked toward him from within it.
But it was not Sabito.
Instead, a cute and charming girl with her mask tilted to one side appeared.
"Hm?" Kanae looked at the girl in front of her and felt a trace of surprise. "This little girl is a soul too..."
The girl was Makomo. Just like Sabito, she too was one of Urokodaki Sakonji's disciples.
And on this Mount Sagiri, there were other children's souls as well. Their identities were all the same.
"Mr. Nanaha, you are very strong. Both Sabito and I can feel that. We hope you can help Tanjiro as much as possible." Makomo lowered her head slightly. "Tanjiro is the one with the greatest hope of defeating it, and... we don't want Master Urokodaki to lose any more of his children."
"Don't worry. Tanjiro will have more friends in the future, and he'll become much stronger too." As Nanaha spoke, he revealed the wooden sword tucked at his waist. "A rare opportunity. Want to try?"
The corner of Makomo's lips curved slightly upward, and at some point a wooden sword had appeared in her hand.
"It would be my honor."
"Hummm—"
No one knew how much time had passed before Tanjiro came running to his training ground in a panic.
"Whoa, why did I oversleep today?! I haven't even finished my morning training yet... though Nanaha-brother's breakfast really was delicious—"
When Tanjiro reached the training area, what he saw was Nanaha standing there alone.
Nanaha was supporting himself with a wooden sword, white steam rising from his body in strands, while his face was covered in mud and sweat.
"Nanaha, what happened to you?" Tanjiro hurried to Nanaha's side, deeply anxious at the sight of how exhausted he looked.
Nanaha slowly pushed Tanjiro's hand away.
"I'm fine. You should go train first. I'm going back to rest."
With that, Nanaha forced himself upright and staggered away.
As he walked, he muttered, "A whole group ganging up on one person is way too unfair..."
Tanjiro watched Nanaha leave, and the next moment, a spirited expression appeared on his face.
"Nanaha is already so strong and he's still training this hard. I can't lose to him either!"
Behind Tanjiro, Sabito and Makomo stood watching the path Nanaha had taken. Makomo tilted her head playfully and looked at Sabito.
"That guy is really strong. Even when all of us joined forces, we still couldn't beat him."
Sabito gave an ambiguous nod.
"Yeah. But thanks to him, it'll probably be hard for us to teach Tanjiro anymore."
"Don't worry. He already promised me that he'd help take care of Tanjiro."