The morning mist was scattered by the wind. The training ground was already filled with people early on, but all were yawning continuously and grumbling.
"Raise your arm a bit higher, exert force." Taka passed by Kenichi, his tone showing no intention of going easy on an acquaintance. Instead, he poked Kenichi's forearm with the hilt of the Asauchi.
Kenichi grimaced, his body instinctively tensing as he strove to straighten his arm according to Taka's instruction.
"Imagine the wind is an extension of your arm..."
Passing by another person, Taka still unselfishly shared his understanding with them. However, his demands regarding form were quite strict, and most people could not meet them.
Rika, walking towards the training ground, watched the complaining crowd and couldn't help but smile.
Ever since Tetsushin handed over the morning training duties of the grounds to Taka, everyone had been getting up earlier and earlier.
These days, Taka continued to hone his sword forms with Tetsushin while also trying to share his insights with everyone at the training ground.
Rika could see that since Taka became an official Demon Slayer Corps' member, their teacher had been considering retirement.
Either he would train Taka to become his Tsuguko, a new Hashira, or he intended for Taka to take over the training ground....
As for Rika herself, she only wanted to stay quietly in Hayama and tend to the graves of Masachika-san and Suzune-nee...
"Taka, there's a visitor in the main guest room asking for you by name."
She called out to Taka, who was instructing the trainees, causing a stir of excitement in the training ground.
'A visitor? Asking for me?' Taka was puzzled, 'I didn't know many people here, and it was so early. Who could it be?'
He slid open the door to the main guest room. The morning sunlight slanted in, illuminating Tetsushin, who was seated in the main seat, and the person before him.
This person wore a plain kimono, covered by a loose, long robe with a sun pattern. On his head was a large straw kasa, from which hung several wind chimes.
Seeing Taka enter, the person looked up, revealing a strangely shaped mask with a round face and puffed cheeks, its expression seeming to smile yet not.... a clown mask?
In front of him, placed neatly, was a long, narrow wooden box wrapped in grey cloth.
"Taka, this is...."
"My name is Haganezuka."
Before Tetsushin could finish introducing him, this strange person directly interrupted him, his voice muffled as it sounded from behind the mask:
"I forged it with my own hands and have personally brought the blade belonging to Nanajuhachi Taka."
'A blade? Oh, the swordsmith who forges the Nichirin Swords.'
Taka closed the door and, at Tetsushin's signal, bowed to the visitor and sat down properly in front of him.
When he had rushed to Mount Fujikasane, the Selection was already over. So he had simply casually chosen a piece of Tamahagane from the remaining supply and given it to a comrade from the Kakushi. They told him that someone would deliver the sword within fifteen days.
"Thank you, I am the one...."
"This is the Nichirin Sword... the sword I forged!" Haganezuka interrupted again, beginning to unwrap the cloth bundle in front of him.
Taka and Tetsushin exchanged a glance. Tetsushin could only shake his head helplessly as Haganezuka continued:
"Nichirin Swords are forged using ore closest to the sun, Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Ore, excellent materials capable of absorbing sunlight and using it to slay demons...."
"I heard that you defeated a demon without using a Nichirin Sword. How did you manage that?"
Haganezuka's words startled Taka.
He hadn't expected Shinsuke and the other two to report in such detail, even including his use of the Asauchi...
He hesitated for a moment, glancing at Tetsushin, then took the Asauchi from his waist and carefully handed it to Haganezuka.
"I just used a convenient old blade I had on hand. In the end, decapitation still required the Nichirin Sword."
Although this was a very important weapon to him, after testing it recently, he had discovered that to anyone other than himself, the Asauchi looked like nothing more than an ordinary, battered old sword, with no special reaction.
Haganezuka took the Asauchi, and his arm suddenly jerked with a start.
He carefully drew the blade slightly, scrutinizing the rusty, mottled corrosion on the Asauchi. Then he looked at Taka, and finally, perplexed, returned the Asauchi to him.
"A very special sword.... But that's not what I came for today...."
He opened the dark wooden box in the cloth bundle, took out the long sword inside, and handed it to Taka.
Like the old Nichirin Sword Tetsushin had given him, this sword's scabbard was also a simple, deep black, without any complicated ornamentation, only a heavy, understated texture.
Haganezuka looked at the sword in Taka's hand and gestured excitedly:
"Nichirin Swords are also called Color Changing Blades. They change color according to the wielder's strength and state of mind..."
"I heard you could single-handedly defeat a savage major demon capable of using a Blood Demon Art. You must be an impressive fellow. I used seven whole days of my complete focus, forging this Nichirin Sword for you with all seriousness...."
"Hurry, hurry, draw it out! Let me see what color it is~~"
"Ah~~ it must be blue, the blue of the sky, the blue of the wind... maybe not, maybe emerald green?... Or perhaps moon white? I'm so curious, hurry up and draw it!"
Watching Haganezuka's gesturing, Taka frowned slightly, but nevertheless solemnly pulled open the scabbard and drew the Nichirin Sword with a clang.
Hum—
As he raised the blade, a deep and prolonged hum vibrated, drawing the attention of the three people in the room.
Haganezuka's eyes behind the mask instantly narrowed, fixedly staring at the churning, rolling air currents on the Nichirin Sword. Tetsushin also straightened up, his gaze grave as he looked at Taka.
At first, a sense of free and light rhythm resonated in Taka's heart. The blade near the tsuba responded to this rhythm, emitting a blue-green light.
But quickly, a cold, oppressive fluctuation, carrying a dark aura, came, instantly dispersing this rhythm.
Almost instantaneously, a cold light flashed on the blade, and then a sudden change occurred.
Near the base of the blade by the tsuba, a thick, coagulated blood-like dark red suddenly spread, carrying an almost uncanny stickiness, as if it had just savagely drunk deep from life.
This dark red rapidly spread upward, causing Haganezuka and Tetsushin's gazes to instantly freeze.
'Red? Was it actually red?'
But before this red could completely spread, another extreme black, as if it could devour everything, abruptly surged up, entangling with this strand of dark red all the way up, relentlessly pursuing it to the last glimmer of cold light at the tip.
Black and red formed a distinctly divided, yet eerily interwoven boundary on the cold blade.
Only not a single trace, not a single wisp, of the verdant green, light blue, or any color symbolizing agility and wildness that a Wind Breathing user should possess.
But before the colors could fully set, those two arcs of light seemed to cancel each other out, simultaneously vanishing without a trace!
Leaving only the shining blade of ordinary steel...
"What is this..." Tetsushin was extremely perplexed, his eyes full of doubt.
"What's wrong, Sensei? Is black-red not acceptable?"
"....It's not that, it's just that black is quite rare, and moreover, a two-coloured Nichirin Sword is even rarer...."
Although this color had never appeared among users of Wind Breathing, it was very similar to the blade of Flame Breathing. At the very least, the current Flame Hashira's blade was like that...
Including himself, he had seen the blades of four Wind Breathing users with Hashira-level talent. Not one was like this… their imagery were all related to wind and sky.
As for the color appearing and then disappearing... that was unheard of....
Haganezuka's reaction was even more intense.
That clown mask trembled, and from behind it came increasingly loud, almost uncontrollable gasps and growls.
He shook his head, leaned in close to Taka's Nichirin Sword, scrutinized it carefully several times, and finally let out an incredulous roar, loud enough for even the disciples on the training ground to faintly hear the commotion.
"Y—O—U—!!!"