The Selection of the Demon Slayer Corps

Three days later, outside the Yeshan Breeding Center.

With Rika's help, Asuka got a neat black short haircut today, and left his old cotton coat, which had always been with him, at Hayama Training Center. He then changed into a bright green kendo uniform.

Kenichi, who was seeing him off, seemed to only realize today that this kid was actually quite handsome... but before, he had always been gloomy and unkempt, so he hadn't noticed at all...

Damn it... He's handsome and talented, I'm so envious....

"Asuka, remember what I said: if you encounter an enemy you can't handle, try cooperating with your teammates! In this world, it's always easier to have companions to walk hand in hand..."

This child's physical abilities far surpass those of ordinary Demon Slayer members, but his psychological issues... Arashizaki thought that perhaps letting him spend more time interacting with people before going would help...

"I understand, Arashi-sensei." Asuka nodded in agreement, tightening the asakusa sash on her chest once more.

Pear Blossom handed him the prepared luggage and entrusted him with the following instructions:

"Mount Fujisaki is quite far from here. You can travel south along the main road for about seven days, or you can rent an oxcart in the town at the foot of the mountain. Once you see the mountain covered in wisteria blossoms, you'll understand... Be careful."

"Thanks."

After Arashizaki Tesshin briefly explained the itinerary and precautions for the final selection, Asuka ran down the mountain without looking back.

This was also the first time in two years that he had left Yeshan.

"Are you really alright, teacher?" Rika gazed at Asuka's retreating figure and spoke softly, "Wouldn't it be better for Asuka to stay here and be a breeder?"

"...The wind is howling outside the mountains, pear blossoms."

Arashi's gaze did not follow the birds, but instead looked towards the gloomy sky in the distance.

"The demons' power is growing stronger... The Demon Moons are becoming more active, while the quality of the Demon Slayer Corps is declining..."

"Time waits for no one, Rika. Asuka is a resilient child; he will help our lord..."

"I hope so." Pear Blossom bowed slightly.

Final selection.

It is the final test before becoming a full-fledged Demon Slayer.

The swordsmen who participate in the selection will enter a training ground called Fujikasayama and be required to survive there for seven days.

In the Fujikasa Mountains, a large number of small demons captured by the Demon Slayer Corps are imprisoned. They have only killed one or two people and are not very strong.

For powerful swordsmen, this is an easy goal to achieve, so the final selection is more about eliminating ordinary people who join the Demon Slayer Corps without formal training and who rely on bloodlust and brute force.

In the brutal battlefield of ghost hunting, one cannot succeed without absolute strength and the courage to face death.

A few days later, Asuka followed the path instructed by Mr. Arashi and arrived at a stream.

Having lived two lives, this was the first time he had traveled such a long distance alone, which touched his closed-off heart to some extent.

The wind in the woods, the wind by the stream, the wind in the rice paddies—they're all different...

Sitting by the stream, Fei Niao felt more and more that the life he had lived before was worse than that of a dog, where he was just struggling to survive every day.

"Aizen..." He had already remembered the name of the bespectacled man.

At that time, he was tricked into Aizen's secret laboratory by a group of black-clad Shinigami under the pretense of cooperating with the Gotei 13's investigation, and they gave him a few meals and water.

There, he felt his soul being constantly torn apart and reassembled, and even his concept of time was shattered.

In the end, he was brutally thrown into this world, but the man named Aizen left him no explanation.

How can I get back? What am I? Human or a wandering spirit? The bird knew nothing.

He gripped the shallow bat tightly in his hand; it was his deepest obsession during training over the past two years, whenever he was on the verge of giving up.

I'm going back, back to Soul Society, to kill that bastard!

"You look quite angry?"

A thick, cold voice suddenly rang out from the stream in front of them, and the bird's expression changed drastically.

He leaped backward, quickly creating distance between himself and the stream, his hand already on the hilt of his knife, watching the writhing water in front of him warily.

Although he wasn't a Demon Slayer yet and didn't have his own Nichirin Blade, Arashi-saki-sensei still found him a handy old sword to use for the selection process.

"Would you mind telling me, little one?"

A grown woman dressed in a mud-covered kimono slowly rose from the water and appeared on the shore, accompanied by a twisting sound.

Although it was covered in mud and its hair was wet and stuck to its pale forehead, its facial features were unusually delicate and beautiful, with a strange kind of beauty.

The woman stared intently at the handsome Fei Niao with her eyes that shimmered with a bluish-gray light, uttering an unpleasant, sticky sound:

"What a beautiful face... I'm so envious... I really want to have her..."

Ghost?

Asuka quickly accepted the other party's identity.

He calmed himself down and sensed the spiritual pressure emanating from the other person...

Arashizaki Tesshin once said that demons feed on humans, and generally speaking, the more people they have eaten, the stronger they become, and they will also awaken various terrifying superpowers, so one cannot be careless.

The demon before us... is very strong... it feels about the same strength as Miss Rika...

It seems to be a powerful demon that has devoured many lives.

The female ghost seemed quite pleased with Asuka's reaction, a trickle of sticky saliva even dribbling from the corner of her mouth. "So good, so good... quick reaction, sharp mind... I really want to kill her..."

The next moment, the female ghost twisted her body and pounced towards the bird.

Although it didn't seem to move very fast, the ghost was filled with an eerie sense of agility.

The ground beneath the ghost's feet instantly became soft and slippery, as if it had turned into ice or been coated with soapy water, carrying its entire body forward.

In the blink of an eye, the female ghost was already in front of him!

With a sudden jolt, the female ghost's pale arm lashed out like a whip, and several dark red waves surged from her arm, seemingly a deadly move hidden within the physical attack. It was instantly detected by Asuka's spiritual pressure perception!

The female ghost condensed countless fine, bead-like arrows of blood, which shot out from her arm joints! She intended to take Fei Niao's life while he was distracted!

"Wind Breathing - Third Form: Sunny Breeze Tree!"

Almost the instant the blood spur left its body, the bird reacted.

He took a deep breath, his lungs bulging like bellows, instantly drawing air into his body.

A vibrant green vortex appeared out of nowhere, hissing and swirling around the blade.

With itself at the center, the bird instantly unleashed a storm of counter-clockwise rotating sword blades, shattering the dense blood arrows that were coming straight at it!

Not only that, after the blood arrow was cut and shredded by the wind blades, the female ghost's arm, which was swinging down, was also cleanly severed by the flying birds!

Its brow furrowed, and it quickly leaped backward to create distance between itself and the bird, its expression turning serious.

"The Demon Slayer Corps? I just dodged one, and now I'm running into another... What bad luck..."

She shook her severed arm, and the severed part of the female ghost made a twitching sound. Then, the flesh and blood tissue began to frantically condense and intertwine, rapidly assembling together at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In just a few breaths, a long, slender arm, white as jade, grew back.

You hurt her.