Tanjuro and Tanjiro walked together towards Mt Sagiri. "Hey Father, do you think Nezuko will be there? She only had half a year of training in Flower-Breathing. She might not come this year" Tanjiro asked, looking up at his Father. Tanjuro looked down in thought, his hard practice in Shape-shifting meaning that he looked completely human right now, and even his powerful aura was hidden away, replaced with his usual calm, serene one. Tanjiro couldn't even smell his Father's emotions right now, he was that composed. The 13-year-old was in awe.
He hadn't known his Father could practically erase his own presence! The Demon caught his Son's look and smiled, "what's on your mind Tanjiro?" he asked softly. "Ah! Sorry! I just- how are you doing that? You have practically no presence at all! I'm not just talking about your Demonic aura! I can't even smell your emotions!" the young teen asked. Tanjuro's smile widened slightly, "it's called Selfless State. I believe practitioners of meditation spend their time trying to achieve it. I'll teach you. I've found it very useful in erasing my Demonic presence" he explained.
Tanjiro gaped at his Father. Here he'd though that he couldn't get any cooler! After a bit more walking, the Father and Son reached the Final Selection area. "Oh wow! Wisteria really does bloom here all year! I wonder how they do it?" Tanjiro asked. Tanjuro sneezed. He knew from experiments that he'd done with Urokodaki, that Wisteria wouldn't affect him that much. At worst it gave him Allergy-type reactions. But they'd even tried Wisteria poison, and they'd found that Tanjuro was barely effected by it.
It caused him to break out in rashes, coughing and eventually vomiting if injected into him, but wasn't able to kill him. His body forced him to vomit up the poison. As they walked up the stone steps, Tanjiro kept his nose alert for his Sister. When they reached the top of the stairs, the two looked around, seeing all of the candidates here to become Demon Slayers.
'All of these people. Were they all attacked by Demons? I'm sure they lost most if not all of their family's. Urokodaki told me how rare it is to not lose anyone in a Demon attack. The fact that my whole family is still alive is a blessing that I'll never be able to stop thanking Hinokami for' Tanjuro thought, eternally grateful that the whole Kamado family survived due to circumstance. He shook himself out of his thoughts, 'I have to stay focused, at least until we're away from everyone else. I can't let my aura out or my appearance slip.'
Suddenly two children walked in front of everyone. One had white hair and the other had black. "Welcome" the twins said in unison. "Tonight, you've come to enter the Demon Slayer Corps Final Selection. Thank you all for being here" they said. "Here on Mount Fujikasane, there are several Demons that were captured alive by Demon Slayer Swordsmen." The white-haired girl began to explain, "they are kept here for this event" she continued. "The Wisteria blossoms prevent them from leaving. They bloom on this mountain year 'round. And they cover everything, from the bottom, to halfway to the top" the black-haired boy said.
"But the Wisteria ends here, so Demons abound from this point on." The white-haired one continued. "In order to complete Final Selection, you must survive for Seven days outside the Wisteria's protection." The black-haired twin said. "Now, your trial, begins" they said in unison, bowing and letting them inside the forests. Tanjuro clenched his fists, hoping that either Nezuko would be alright, or that they would meet up with her soon, "let's go Tanjiro" he said, stepping forwards, his Son right beside him.
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The two Kamado's ran through the forest, both having agreed that it would be best to head East. The sooner the sun would rise, the better. They could rest, find food and water and think up their next move. So East it was. The two ran through the trees, hands on their Swords. "Should we look for Nezuko too? If we all work together, we'll be safer than otherwise, right?" Tanjiro asked. His Father thought for a moment, before a Demon's aura caught his attention. "Father!" his Son cried, just as he slid to a stop, "I can feel it" Tanjuro replied.
Suddenly two Demons leapt down at them from the trees. "Ah!" Tanjiro yelped, "look out Father!" Tanjuro stood his ground as the two Demons came down at him, before taking a deep breath, "Hinokami Kagura: Raging Sun!" he cried, decapitating both of them with twin slashes, his Sword bright red with his Solar Flames. The Demon's didn't even have time to scream as they were instantly engulfed in the flames and turned to ash, faster than they would have just by decapitation alone. Tanjiro sighed, "I wish I were that good at Hinokami Kagura. But I can barely use it once without exhausting myself" he said.
His Father smiled softly at him, "it's okay. That's why you switched to learning Water-Breathing until you could handle Hinokami Kagura. You just need to give your body a bit more time, that's all. You'll get there" the Demon replied. Tanjuro had in fact managed to teach his Son the Kagura, and he had picked them all up in months. But when he tried to use them to fight, the moves took too much out of him to be effective in battle yet. So, his eldest Son decided to go back to Water-Breathing until he could handle the Kagura. After all, better to use a less effective style that is easier to use, than a really effective one that your body couldn't handle yet.
Tanjiro sighed, "I know" he replied. Tanjuro gently pat his Son on the head, "you'll get there" he repeated. Tanjiro sniffed the air to see if there were any Demons nearby, before stiffening. "What is it Tanjiro?" the Kamado Patriarch asked. "Nezuko! I smell Nezuko! And she's in danger!" the 13-year-old cried, running into the trees as fast as he could. "Tanjiro, hold on!" his Father cried. "Nezuko needs help! I have to save her!" the boy called back, continuing to run. "I know, but let me carry you, otherwise, you'll use up all of your energy just running around!" Tanjuro replied.
Tanjiro slowed to a stop, before sighing. He nodded, climbing onto his Father's back as the man knelt down. As soon as Tanjiro has a good hold on him, and Tanjuro has wrapped his arms around his Son's legs, he is off again, hurrying towards where Tanjiro pointed was the direction of Nezuko's scent. A few minutes later, they have to dodge a large swiping hand as it shoots passed them. "Nezuko!" Tanjuro cried, seeing the pink of his Daughter's Kimono flashing passed as Nezuko dodges and flips out of the way of the Demon's grasping hands.
"Dad?!" Nezuko yelped as she sliced a couple of the Demon's arms off with her dark pink sword. "Let's help her!" Tanjiro cried, unsheathing his sword and running towards the Demon. He cut off two arms that were headed towards his little Sister, while Tanjuro grabbed Nezuko and moved her away from the Demon. "Dad!" Nezuko sobbed, wrapping her arms around him. "I couldn't get close enough to it, no matter what I did! All I could do was dodge the arms! I almost-!" she cried. "It's okay Nezuko, I won't let this Demon hurt you. I promise I'll protect you" Tanjuro tried to soothe his Daughter, the 12-year-old using her Total-Concentration Breathing to calm her heaving breaths.
The giant Demon turned to face them, "well, well, what do we have here?" he asked. Tanjuro could see now that it had multiple arms as well. Tanjuro turned a calm look on the Demon, "Nezuko, go hide. I'll handle this" he said, standing up. "But Dad!" the black-haired girl cried. "It's fine. Don't worry about me Nezuko. Just stay back with Tanjiro" Tanjuro ordered. He stepped towards the other Demon, "I won't allow you to harm my children" he growled, his Demonic anger leaking through. With that, his transformation slipped, and the man reverted to his Demon form. He was able to hold back his power though.
"What? Why are you protecting these two when you're a Demon like me?" the Hand Demon asked in confusion. "It's because they're my children. I won't let anyone harm them!" Tanjuro replied calmly. He took a deep breath, "I pray that you can repent for whatever you've done in the afterlife" he said. The Demon shot many of it's arms towards him, but the Kamado sliced through each one like hot butter, running up one of the arms, as the Demon tried to grab him with more smaller arms that he grew from the large one Tanjuro was running up.
"Ha! You can't kill me! You're too weak!" another large arm reached out for him, "I'll crush your head, then go for those kids!" Just then Tanjuro ignited his Sword with his flames, leaping towards the other Demon's head. As he did, the Hand Demon gasped, suddenly feeling that if he let the other Demon reach his head, it wouldn't matter if his neck was strong. As he stared at the flaming Demon man, a fuzzy image came to mind. That of a man with red clothes and long hair. For some reason, even though he'd never seen this man before, the image sent a spike of terror through him. 'No! No! I don't want to die!' "Help me big Brother!" the Demon screamed in terror.
Nezuko gasped, before she stood up, "Dad! Move!" she cried. Tanjuro leapt away, letting his flames die away, as his daughter raced up the frozen arm, "Total Concentration, Water-Breathing: Blessed Rain After The Drought!" she cried, using the one Water-Breathing Form she made sure to memorize, even after she'd switched to Flower-Breathing instead. Nezuko cut the Demons head off in such a smooth strike that Tanjiro gasped. He almost wished he'd learnt Water-Breathing just to have a move like this. The Demon's head fell off and he gasped, as memories flooded his mind.
Tanjiro moved closer to his Sister and Father as he smelt the Demon's emotions change. Guilt, regret and pain crashed into him all at once, and he began to cry. Tanjiro walked over to the dissolving body and grabbed a hand that hadn't dissolved all the way. "Please God. Help him. Whatever this person did in the past, please don't let him suffer anymore. I can smell his regret, sadness and pain. Please. Please let him be reunited with his Older Brother. He's already suffered enough" Tanjuro prayed, as the Demon's head began to cry. A few minutes later, the body was completely gone, and Tanjiro let out a shuddering breath.
"This Demon. May have been responsible for many deaths, but he was still just a child. I smelt that in his final moments. Only a child, who wanted his big Brother" Tanjiro clenched his fists in anger, "I will never forgive the creator of the Demons for as long as I live!" he said. His family members just gave him a moment of silence as he calmed down. "Let's go, Father, Nezuko" he said in determination. "Right" Tanjuro said, walking over to his Son and placing a hand on his shoulder in comfort, "the Final Selection isn't over yet" he added.