Demon Slayer: My breathing technique went awry after Nezuko pushed me down.

"Who cares!"

Tanjiro bristled, but instinctively straightened his posture when facing Kanao. "Y-hello! I'm Kamado Tanjiro!"

Kanao looked at him, nodded, and then...

And that was the end of it.

She regained her quiet demeanor, her gaze fixed on the blooming wisteria in the distance, as if the conversation just moments before had been nothing more than a passing breeze.

Tanjiro: (￣□￣；)

This girl... she's so hard to talk to...

But she's really beautiful, no wonder the lecherous senior brother keeps getting close to her.

No! That's not right, now is not the time to think about that!

Now that things have come to this, shouldn't we be focusing on the selection process?

"Don't mind it, don't mind it." Shirakawa Yu patted Tanjiro's shoulder and lowered his voice, "Kanao, she... well, she's a bit special."

"Special my foot!" Tanjiro pulled Shirakawa Yu aside, lowering his voice and gritting his teeth.

"Senior! Have you forgotten why we're here? Nezuko is still waiting at home! How could you, how could you—"

"So what?" Shirakawa Yu raised an eyebrow.

"You're just hitting on other girls!!!" Tanjiro almost lost control of his voice.

Shirakawa Yu picked at his ear, looking completely matter-of-fact: "Tanjiro, you don't understand. I call this the 'Power Expansion Plan'."

He pointed at Kanao, then at himself: "This one looks incredibly strong. The closer I get to her, the more efficient my breathing technique will become. The more efficient my breathing technique becomes, the stronger I will be. The stronger I am, the better I can protect you—"

"Protect me?!"

"—With your sister." Bai Chuanyu added with a smile, "See, the logic is complete."

Tanjiro stared, speechless for a moment.

It seems... to make some sense?

wrong!

This is clearly fallacy!

Just as Tanjiro's head was smoking, two crisp clapping sounds came from the open space in front of him.

All eyes turned to that direction.

Two little girls, one with black hair and the other with white hair, wearing wisteria-patterned kimonos, were standing there at some point.

They looked exactly alike, with habitual smiles on their faces and identically calm voices.

"Thank you all for coming to the Demon Slayer Corps Final Selection tonight."

"In this vine-covered mountain, the demons captured alive by the swordsmen are imprisoned."

"They cannot leave this place because wisteria, which ghosts hate, blooms all year round from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside."

"However, there are no more wisteria flowers ahead of here."

"Ghosts can roam freely in the mountains."

"Surviving here for seven days—that's the qualification requirement for the final selection."

They bowed at the same time:

"Then, I wish you all good luck in your military endeavors."

The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

The participants, who had been talking or daydreaming, almost simultaneously gripped the hilts of their knives.

The crowd began to move.

Some took a deep breath and rushed out, some cautiously observed their surroundings, and some formed small groups and moved forward slowly.

Tanjiro gripped his Nichirin Blade tightly and looked at Shirakawa Hayao: "Brother, we—"

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Shirakawa Yu turn around and extend his hand to Kanao, who was still standing quietly under the tree:

"Kanao, want to come along?"

Tanjiro: (╯°Д°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Are you still trying to pick up girls at a time like this?!

Kanao glanced at Shirakawa Yu's outstretched hand; this time, she didn't even flip a coin.

She merely glanced at Shirakawa Yu with her light purple eyes before leaving.

Their light footsteps disappeared into the depths of the woods.

Shirakawa Yu was a little sad, "...Ah, I was rejected."

Tanjiro, seeing Shirakawa Yu's discomfiture, immediately covered his mouth to stifle his laughter.

"Duang~"

Tanjiro gasped and crouched down, clutching his head in his hands.

Shirakawa Yu hid his slightly red and numb fist, bared his teeth and snorted, "Don't think I won't hit you just because you're tough!"

Looking in the direction Kanao had left, Shirakawa Yu took a deep sniff of the lingering floral scent in the air and memorized the smell.

"It's alright, there's only this one area in the mountains, we'll run into them eventually."

Resolution: 0.15%

"Senior brother!!!" Tanjiro, who had stood up again, finally exploded, grabbing Shirakawa Yu by the back of his haori collar. "Everyone's gone! Shouldn't we be setting off too!!!"

"Okay, okay~ Let's go, let's go~"

Shirakawa Yu let Tanjiro drag him along, his face still bearing that lazy smile. "Tanjiro, don't be so tense. Seven days is plenty of time—"

Before he could finish speaking, a shrill scream suddenly came from deep in the woods ahead!

"Aaaaaaahh ...

This was followed by the sticky sound of flesh being torn apart, and a tooth-grinding chewing sound.

The air froze instantly.

Tanjiro's face turned pale instantly.

Shirakawa Yu's smile faded slightly, and he gently placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

“...It seems,” he said softly, “that the selection process has already begun.”

Chapter 23 The Hand Demon Appears, Makomo's Sorrow.

Deep in the mountains and forests.

Shirakawa Hajime and Tanjiro walked side by side at a moderate pace.

Tanjiro was on edge, his nose twitching occasionally as he vigilantly caught any unusual scent in the wind.

"Senior brother, shouldn't we hurry up?" Tanjiro asked in a low voice. "It seems like everyone else has rushed ahead."

"What's the rush?" Bai Chuanyu walked slowly, his gaze seemingly casually sweeping over the surrounding trees and shadows.

"The selection process lasts for seven days. If you rush in too much, you'll easily become a target."

He paused, turned his head to look at Tanjiro, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips: "Besides, as guests, we should give the host some time to prepare, shouldn't we?"

The words had barely left his mouth—

"Heh...heh heh..."

From the bushes on the left came heavy, eerie breathing.

Tanjiro drew his sword instantly, the gleaming blade slicing through the dim forest in an arc.

A ghost with bluish-gray skin and cloudy eyes crawled out from behind the tree.

Its body was hunched over, with bone spurs on its nails and elbows, and thick saliva dripping from the corner of its mouth. It stared intently at Shirakawa Yu.

"Humans...human beings..."

"It smells so good... I'm hungry..."

Tanjiro took a deep breath, assumed the starting stance of Water Breathing, and his eyes sharpened: "Brother, leave this to me."

Bai Chuanyu took a half step back, crossed his arms, and adopted a posture of watching a good show. "Please do as you please. Let me see the results of your training over the past year."

"Yes!" Tanjiro shouted in a low voice, taking a sudden step forward.

"Water Breathing - First Form: Water Surface Slash!"

His figure flashed by like flowing water, the blade tracing a smooth arc.

The ghost charging in front didn't even have time to react before its head was severed from its body, turning into black ash and dissipating in mid-air.

However, before Tanjiro could catch his breath, another demon suddenly sprang out from the treetop above his head.

It brandished its sharp claws and roared as it pounced.

Tanjiro remained calm, dodging to the side and turning his sword around. Clearly, he had already caught a whiff of the hiding demon's scent.

"Water Breathing - Second Form - Waterwheel!"

His body spun like a wheel, and the blade light transformed into a ring of water, slashing out and easily cutting through the demon's claws.

"Water Breathing - Fourth Form - Tide Surge!"

Tanjiro leaped into the air, his sharp blade, enveloped in a stream of blue water, instantly slicing through the neck of the demon still in mid-air.

"Hoh..." The ghost's roar was stuck in its throat, and its body began to collapse and dissipate.

Tanjiro sheathed his sword, took a slight breath, and turned to look at Shirakawa Yu, his crimson eyes filled with anticipation. "Brother, how was it?"

"So-so," Shirakawa Yu said, but his eyes showed approval.

"His movements were clean and efficient, and his breathing was steady. It seems that this year of chopping stones has paid off."

Tanjiro scratched his head sheepishly, then, remembering something, clenched his fist in frustration.