In the dead of night, inside a guest room at a Wisteria House.
Yamada sat cross-legged on the tatami mat, looking at the 360 dimension points on the system panel, and asked casually in his mind, 'System, how many points are needed to upgrade the current template to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan Period?'
[Ding! To upgrade the current template to the 'Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan Period', 50,000 dimension points are required.]
[To unlock more advanced stages like the 'Rinnegan', more points will be required.]
'50,000 points, huh... It seems I have a long way to go.'
Yamada rubbed his chin and decisively closed the panel.
Killing a demon with a Blood Demon Art in one shot gave 50 points, but causing emotional fluctuations and cognitive changes in Shinobu netted 200 points.
This showed that simply killing small mobs was just a bonus. Changing the fate of plot characters and causing them shock was the real way to farm points.
—
Early the next morning.
Yamada pushed open the sliding door, and the fresh air accompanied by the faint fragrance of wisteria flowers rushed toward him.
In the courtyard, Shinobu had already changed into a clean Demon Slayer Corps uniform. Over it, she wore her iconic butterfly-patterned haori and was adjusting the nichirin blade at her waist.
"Good morning, Tanaka-san. Did you rest well last night?"
Hearing the sound of the sliding door behind her, Shinobu turned around and greeted him with a smile.
"Unexpectedly well. Are you heading out already?" Yamada stretched and walked onto the porch in his geta.
"It can't be helped. A Hashira's duties are quite complicated, and I have to rush to the next jurisdiction to confirm the movements of demons." Shinobu said softly.
However, the next second, before she could finish, her geta suddenly exerted force.
Shring—
Accompanied by an extremely faint sound of a sword being unsheathed, Shinobu instantly transformed into a nimble purple poisonous butterfly, suddenly crossing a distance of several meters.
The specially-made slender nichirin blade, carrying a sharp whistling sound, pointed straight at Yamada's throat.
It was incredibly fast. This wasn't a lethal blow, but an extremely sharp test at the Hashira level.
As the Insect Hashira known for her speed, Shinobu was curious about Yamada's miraculous reaction speed from last night. She wanted to see if this mysterious young man, who didn't even bother to draw his sword, could keep up with her speed in the unsuspecting morning.
However, faced with this thrust that was so fast an ordinary swordsman couldn't even see an afterimage, Yamada didn't even sway his shoulders.
Hum!
His originally clear black eyes turned crimson in a tenth of a second. Three black tomoe appeared in his pupils, spinning rapidly.
Three-Tomoe Sharingan, activate!
Under the capture of extreme dynamic vision, Shinobu's lightning-fast thrust seemed to be put in slow motion in Yamada's eyes.
The contraction of her muscles, the shift of her center of gravity, and even the trajectory of the blade tip piercing the air—everything was crystal clear down to the millimeter.
"Too slow."
Yamada gave a light chuckle, his head tilting just half an inch to the side with an extremely small movement.
Swish!
The slender blade brushed past his neck, failing to cut even a single strand of his hair.
At the same time, Yamada raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers accurately pinching Shinobu's blade.
Snap!
A crisp clashing sound rang out, and time seemed to stand still at this moment.
Shinobu's movement came to an abrupt halt. She instinctively tried to pull back her nichirin blade, only to find the blade remained motionless.
"Ara..."
Shinobu's eyes widened slightly, her gaze fixed on Yamada's crimson eyes, her voice carrying an undisguised shock. "Tanaka-san, your eyes..."
If last night was just a fleeting illusion, now she clearly saw these eerie red eyes. Just by being stared at, she actually felt a sense of horror as if all her flaws and movement intentions were instantly seen through.
Most terrifying of all, as one of the fastest among the current Hashiras, her full-force probing strike had been effortlessly caught by the other party with just two fingers.
[Ding! Host demonstrated the Sharingan's superior insight, greatly overturning the perception of the key character Kochō Shinobu.]
[Dimension points +150!]
"It's just a hereditary ocular technique of my family that can see through high-speed movement trajectories."
The crimson in Yamada's eyes quickly faded as he released his fingers, looking at her with a half-smile.
"However, if you greet me this way in the morning, I might take it seriously."
Shinobu sheathed her sword. The shock on her face quickly subsided, returning to her gentle smile, though a deep sense of awe and curiosity was added to the depths of her eyes.
"Sorry. I was just so curious about your strength that I couldn't help myself."
After this brief test, Shinobu's evaluation of Yamada rose by several levels.
Powerful, mysterious, and at ease.
"It seems the trial at Mount Fujikasane really is just a stroll for you."
Shinobu took a small purple wisteria sachet from her sleeve and tossed it to Yamada. "This is a wisteria sachet I prepared myself. Although it can't deal with high-level demons, it's quite effective at repelling annoying insects and low-level demons. Consider it an apology for my rude test just now."
Yamada reached out to take it and sniffed it. A faint, refreshing medicinal fragrance cleared his mind.
"Thanks. Well, see you later."
"Good luck in battle. I hope to see you officially wearing the uniform at the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters in a few days."
Swoosh!
Shinobu waved her hand, turned, and disappeared into the depths of the forest.
After watching Shinobu leave, Yamada weighed the sachet in his hand and casually tied it to his waist.
"Rest is over. Time to get down to business."
Mount Fujikasane, the Final Selection site.
A large number of demons are kept there year-round for new recruits' trials. To the current Yamada, it was simply a natural Dimensional Point ATM.
Especially that Hand Demon who has lived for over forty years and ate Sabito and Makomo. It's definitely a key boss that can drop a lot of points and even affect the perception of Water Hashira Tomioka Giyu.
Yamada turned back to his room to grab his Kusanagi Sword and strode out of the Wisteria House, heading toward Mount Fujikasane at high speed.