"Tanjiro! Don't forget to bring the rations!"
From inside the house behind him, his middle-aged mother, Kie, came running out carrying a bundle of provisions.
"I almost forgot about that..."
Slapping his forehead, Tanjiro quickly turned back and accepted the package from his mother.
After all, the Final Selection required staying in that demon-infested Mount Fujikasane for a full seven days!
If he didn't bring food in advance, he would starve to death inside before the demons even got a chance to kill him!
"Big brother! Take care on your way!"
From the house behind, his adorable sister Nezuko stood at the doorway with his younger siblings, smiling as they saw him off.
And behind his siblings, Tanjiro's father, Kamado Tanjuro—whose health had always been poor—sat on the bed, watching him with a gentle smile.
For as long as Tanjiro could remember, his father's health had been in terrible condition.
Because of this, even though his father possessed the strongest abilities in the entire Demon Slayer Corps, the Master had never once asked him to go out on missions.
After all, his father's current condition truly couldn't withstand the exhaustion of traveling outside...
He remembered that two years ago, a physician at the compound had even declared that given his father's condition, he absolutely wouldn't survive the past winter.
Now spring had arrived anew. Although his father had miraculously survived this winter, his health had indeed reached a very dire state.
Perhaps the day when his father would truly leave them was indeed not far away.
He truly hoped that before his father passed, he could witness with his own eyes the day when all demons in this world were completely eradicated...
Father and son's gazes met. In Kamado Tanjuro's serene smile, Tanjiro nodded firmly, then turned and ran off.
"Don't worry! I'll definitely return safely!"
"..."
Mount Fujikasane, halfway up the mountain compound.
As the date for the Final Selection approached, this year's prospective Demon Slayers had gathered from various places to participate.
After the reforms implemented by the current Ubuyashiki Master over a decade ago, the Final Selection had become much more scientific and standardized.
Before the selection officially began, there was an initial screening team composed of numerous cultivators conducting the first round of assessment.
Its purpose was to weed out those prospective Demon Slayers hidden among the crowd whose strength was insufficient to participate in the Final Selection, but who had snuck in for various reasons.
"Next, what's your name? Hmm... Water Breathing swordsman?"
"Alright, go to the open space over there and show me all the techniques you know."
"What?! You only learned two forms and dare to come here for the selection? Who let you come? What's your cultivator's name?!"
"Less nonsense! Determination to kill demons requires strength to back it up! Get out of here right now! Come back next year!"
"Next!"
"Oh? A Wind Breathing swordsman?"
"Mmm... Your techniques are smooth, and you're physically healthy. Alright, you've passed. Go wait at the camp up ahead... Next!"
At the camp halfway up Mount Fujikasane, elderly cultivators were carefully screening this year's prospective Demon Slayers one by one.
In a line of several dozen people, Tanjiro stood obediently in queue, waiting patiently.
He wasn't worried about failing the assessment, because that was simply impossible.
Under his father's guidance, Tanjiro had seriously trained in Breathing Styles and honed his swordsmanship from a young age.
Now he could continuously perform the first six forms of Sun Breathing without stopping or exhausting himself!
Although he still couldn't perform all the forms of Sun Breathing in one continuous sequence, just these six forms alone were more than enough to pass this Final Selection!
Tanjiro was brimming with confidence!
"Waaah... I'm done for, I'm gonna die... I'm definitely going to die here this time... Waaah... Grandpa..."
"Hmm?"
Unlike Tanjiro's confidence, the prospective Demon Slayer standing right in front of him was trembling all over.
This was a young boy, not very tall, wearing an orange-yellow haori, with messy golden hair—utterly unremarkable in appearance.
"Um, are you alright?"
Looking down at this trembling golden-haired boy, Tanjiro couldn't help but ask with concern.
"I-I'm very much not alright..."
The boy turned his head at the voice, revealing his swollen cheeks on both sides, with clear slap marks visible.
"Whoa! What happened to your face? Please bear with me, I'll get medicine for you right away!"
Startled by the boy's miserable state, Tanjiro immediately began rummaging through his backpack for medicine.
What Tanjiro didn't know at this moment was that this pitiful golden-haired boy before him was none other than the disciple of former Thunder Hashira Kuwajima Jigorō—
Agatsuma Zenitsu.
Zenitsu was an orphan, abandoned by his parents at birth, and thus had grown up fending for himself in the city.
In the year Zenitsu turned fifteen, the girl he liked eloped with another man, and conveniently took all of Zenitsu's money with her, leaving him drowning in debt.
It was then that Kuwajima Jigorō, who had been searching for suitable candidates, appeared.
This former Thunder Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps took a liking to Zenitsu at first sight. After paying off all his debts, he took Zenitsu in as his disciple, addressed each other as grandfather and grandson, and taught him Thunder Breathing.
Zenitsu also had a senior fellow disciple named Kaigaku.
But unlike his outstanding senior brother, Zenitsu's own talent didn't seem particularly remarkable.
No matter how he practiced, he could only ever master the first form of Thunder Breathing.
Yet despite being such a good-for-nothing, Zenitsu's grandfather Kuwajima Jigorō always had faith in him, and even directly sent him to participate in this year's Final Selection.
Driven by his survival instinct, Zenitsu initially refused.
But after receiving several hard slaps from Kuwajima Jigorō that left his eyes completely clear and bright, Zenitsu finally arrived here reluctantly.
He had once believed that Mount Fujikasane would become his burial ground.
But after witnessing the assessment process just now, Zenitsu gradually changed his mind.
So that's how it was!
So there was actually such a screening process before the selection began?
So as long as your Breathing Style mastery was insufficient, you wouldn't have to participate in the selection?
What more was there to say!
As someone who had only learned the first form of Thunder Breathing—a super, mega, ultra good-for-nothing—he absolutely...
"Hmm? You're Agatsuma Zenitsu, right? Alright, you don't need to be assessed. You've passed directly, hurry inside."
"WHAT?!"
His eyes wide with disbelief, unable to trust his own ears, Zenitsu immediately lunged forward upon hearing the assessing cultivator's words, hugging the man's leg with tears streaming wildly as he roared:
"WHY?! WHY?!"
"I've already become this pathetic! Why would you let me pass?!"
"I'll die, you know! I'll really die, you know!"
"Let go, you brat! Your master already sent a letter informing us! Your strength is more than enough for the Final Selection! Stop acting crazy here! Get inside now!"
What?
Hearing this, Zenitsu was completely petrified.
So... he actually possessed something called "strength"?
...
(World-famous painting: The Big Butterfly visiting Mitsuba, asking why the painting only shows Mitsuba carrying the little butterfly home?)
(Of course, it's because the Big Butterfly is visiting Mitsuba~)
(I can't keep doing this, bullying the Big Butterfly every day—I'm too evil, meow~)