Chapter Twenty Six: New Mission
Nezuko and Kanao were facing each other again in the reflx test, the match was now very close with Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke noting their incredible speed. Kanao was able to edge out a win by grabbing her cup before Nezuko could block it.
'Your speed is incredible!' Praised Nezuko as Aoi finished the test, Kanao's speed was truly amazing.
'Alright Nezuko you now have ten wins and ten losses' declared Aoi. But despite this Nezuko claimed that she was not done yet and asked her brother and her friends if they could run with her while maintaining Total Concentration Breathing, every one was excited except for Zenitsu who was reluctant.
A Few Months Ago In The Dimensional Infinite Fortress
In a distorted space fulled with rooms stood the lower Moon Six. He was summoned here by a Biwa, and as the demon wondered whare he is, the Lower Moon One and Lower Moon Two appeared in the space with him.
The Lower Moon Six wondered if being summoned was the Blood Demon Art of the demon woman in the center of the space, wich was a seemingly infinitely large fortress. Lower Moon Six saw that both Lower Moon Three and Lower Moon Four were also present as well, he now realized that only the Lower Ranks have been summoned which had never happened before, he also wondered why Lower Moon Five isn't here.
At the strum of the Biwa Demon, the Lower Ranks were placed on the floor before her and another demoness. As Lower Six wondered who she was, the woman commanded them to bow down and kneel in a familiar, threatening voice. Instantly the demons bowed down before her, with Lower Moon Six suddenly realizing that the demon woman was actually Muzan Kibutsuji, who had masked his appearance and aura.
Lower Moon Four apologized on the demons behalf for mistaking him.
'Who gave you permission to speak!' said Muzan in a cold threatening tone before he continued speaking.
'Rui has been killed by non other than Kokushibo's son! ' said Muzan angerily, he was disgusted at how weak the Lower Moons are, being a member of the Twelve Kizuke wasn't enough, it was a only the beginning of becoming more powerful and it was the starting point where they can be useful to him.
For over a century the Upper Ranks have not changed and only they have been successful at killing Hashiras, yet the Lower Ranks continued to change and get replaced very frequently.
The Lower Moons were terrified, their demon king was furious, what was Lord Muzan going to do with them?. All of a sudden Muzan pierced the the Lower Moons necks, stabing them in their Carotid Artery, injecting them with his blood. The Lower Moon Demons could feel themselves growing stronger...they could feel their master's blood coursing through their vanes.
'Who ever brings me the head of Kokushibo's son will be rewarded with more of my blood' said Muzan, he knew that the demons might not withstand, but if they survive then the Lower Moons will become more powerful and useful to him.
Then with the strums of the Biwa Demon, the fortress space shifts, transporting Muzan to the surface and manipulating numerous doors to drop the Lower Moons in an unknown town. The demons suddenly saw something as Muzan's blood continues to change them, a vision of Kokushibo's son Tanjiro, and then they heard their master's voice inside their heads.
'Kill him and the Hashira and i shall give you more of my blood' commanded Muzan promising his demons a great reward.
Back With Tanjiro And His Team
It was early in the morning and the four Demon Slayers were woken up by Tanjiro's Kasugai Crow who gave them information about their new mission. The casualties of the Mugen Train were increasing with now forty people missing, they must join the Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku on-site and travel west. At noon Kagaya Ubuyashiki the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps asked his Insect Hashira Shinobu Kocho about his decision to send Tanjiro and his companions to the Mugen Train mission, which Shinobu recommended that he do.
'Tanjiro has such a pure soul and he is strong and resilient with the ability to strive hard everyday, Tanjiro has exceed my expectations and he has a clear goal in mind to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji' said Shinobu in response to Kagaya's question, Kagaya concurs with her, she also mentioned that Tanjiro's grandfather used a "Fire Breathing " style surprising Kagaya.
'Kyojuro could guide him...i believe that he could be the one destined to defeat Kibutsuji' said Kagaya when Shinobu told him about Tanjiro's encounter with Muzan.
As Tanjiro was inside the Butterfly Mansion, preparing to depart on his mission and saying farewell to the people of the mansion, the boy had heard someone approaching in the hallway. It was the mohawk boy from Final Selection but he looked slightly different, he boy had grown taller, he was now about the same height as Tanjiro and he became just as muscular as well.
The boy was walking down the hallway so Tanjiro moved to the side to avoid bumping into him, but the jerk went out of his way to shove Tanjiro in the shoulder.
'Hay i remember you you're the one that hurt that white hired girl!, you jerk! you went out of your way to bump into me and hurt me!' said Tanjiro in a angry voice, the jerk didn't even apologize...he just continued walking like nothing happened!, Tanjiro decided to deal with that jerk later...he had a mission to go to.
Once Tanjiro was outside, he told Aoi about his upcoming mission.
'We haven't been together for long but i'm glad for the time that we spent and i wish you good luck on your mission' said Aoi, she along with Naho,Kiyo and Sumi will miss Tanjiro and Nezuko and their friends Zenitsu and Inosuke, Tanjiro thanked them for taking care of them especially Zenitsu and Inosuke, it was thanks to them that their friends are able to go back into battle, but Aoi brushed aside Tanjiro's gratitude saying that she only survived Final Selection due to luck and that she is now to afraid to go into battle.
As Aoi lamented her inability to fight, Tanjiro said that it doesn't matter, since she helped him, she is now a part of him and he can take her emotions to the battle field, surprising her. Tanjiro left her by asking that she look after him if he ever got injured, Aoi stood still, she was awestruck by Tanjiro's sincerity and Kindness.
Tanjiro then went to say farewell to Kanao, he found the Tsuguko setting alone.
'Thank you for helping my friends with their rehabilitation' said Tanjiro.
Kanao didn't say anything wich confused the boy, Kanao then took out her coin, flipped it and saw its side.
'All i did was follow the master's orders' replied Kanao, the Tsuguko said that Tanjiro did not need to thank her and bid him farewell. Tanjiro was surprised that Kanao spoke to him, and he asked her about the object that she just flipped and why?.
As Kanao continued to bid him farewell, she explained that the coin was to help her make decisions she can't make on her own, pointing out that she never intended to talk with Tanjiro but the coin result made her do it.
'Why didn't you decide on your own accord?' asked Tanjiro, he was honestly worried about Kanao and her lack of decisiveness. Kanao said that it didn't matter, nothing mattered to her, so she can't decide, but Tanjiro didn't have any of it, every thing matters, there has to be something that matters to her!.
'Then the voice in your heart must be really small' Tanjiro said in conclusion and he suddenly had an idea!.
He asked Kanao for her coin, which she gave reluctantly, Tanjiro then ran out to the yard and explained his intentions to Kanao, he will flip the coin to decide if she should listen to the voice in her heart from now on. Tanjiro flecked the coin, but the coin went to high, making him lose sight of it. He decided that landing on "Heads" will make her listen. Kanao was consumed by worry and concern throughout the entire situation, but thankfully it was soon over when Tanjiro caught the landing coin, Tanjiro then brought it over so he can see the result, and Kanao was anxious since she couldn't see the moment the coin landed. Tanjiro looked at the coin to see the result and he was overjoyed when he saw that it landed on "Heads". He then returned the coin and when Kanao stretched her hand to take it, Tanjiro suddenly put it in her palm while holding her hand shocking her. Tanjiro bid her good luck and said that its the heart that drives people. And now made to listen her's can grow 'As strong as you want it to' said Tanjiro. He bid her goodbye and walked away, only for Kanao to ask how he made it land on "Heads" she was unsure about the result even though she saw Tanjiro's hand and was sure that he didn't cheat.
He only told her that it was by chance and that had it landed on "Tails" he would have continued to flip the coin to get the correct result. Tanjiro smiled brightly at Kanao then left. Visibly struck by his bright personality, Kanao held the coin close to her.
In a final test, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke attempted to break the largest gourds, with Tanjiro, Kiyo, Sumi and Naho cheering them on. The trio had all succeeded in breaking the gourds, signifying their mastery of Total Concentration Breathing Constant. As the slayers were being seen off by the girls, Tanjiro suddenly saw the Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka in the distance, Tanjiro called out to the Hashira who saw that Tanjiro and his team were about to embark on a mission. Giyu commended Nezuko,Zenitsu and Inosuke for mastering Total Concentration Breathing Constant. Tanjiro thanked Giyu for helping him and Nezuko.
'You can thank meby killing demons' Giyu said to Tanjiro when the maroon Demon Slayer said that he wasn't sure how to thank the Hashira.
And then Tanjiro suddenly heard the girls crying as they are about to leave and he told them to take care. Zenitsu teared up, while Inosuke was giddy over holding the food, meanwhile Kiyo told Zenitsu to learn to respect and be considerate of girls, shocking him with her blunt request.
'Ahhh aren't you sad that i'm leaving?' asked Zenitsu to wich the girls answered no, disappointing Zenitsu.
With this, Tanjiro took the lead and the four left for their mission.
Once the Demon Slayers arrived at a train station, they saw the location of their mission the Mugen Train. Inosuke was awestruck at the sight of the "creature" as he called it believing it is the 'Master of this land'.
'It's just a train' Zenitsu said correcting his boar headed friend. Inosuke decided to lead the charge prepared to draw his blades.
'Simmer down its just a train, a vehicle for travel and transportation,my dad told me about them but this is the first time i have seen one in person' said Tanjiro.
And then Inosuke headbutts the train's carriage to attack it, causing the police to arrive to attempt to arrest them. After successfully evading the authorities, Zenitsu explained that the japanese government doesn't recognize the Demon Slayer Corps, which is why they can't have their weapons exposed in public!...Tanjiro was dismayed to learn that all their work goes unknown which Nezuko and Zenitsu agreed with, so they decided to hide their swords behind their backs, which didn't work on the shirtless Inosuke.
At that moment the train began to move, forcing the Demon Slayers to chace it and climb aboard, but Zenitsu was lagging behind, causing his friends to help him get on. Once they were all on board, Inosuke became amazed by the train's speed.
'WoW the speed of this thing is incredible!' said Inosuke admiring the train's speed.
Tanjiro was then approached by Zenitsu, the thunder breath user was worried about Nezuko and asked of it was wise for Tanjiro to bring his sister with him, Zenitsu believed that Nezuko should have stayed at headquarters for her own safety. Nezuko was offended by Zenitsu's statement, she got close to him and said.
'Wherever we go, Tanjiro and i will be together, we're never going to be apart again' nothing can ever break the bond between them. Tanjiro then began reminiscing on the journey that they had taken together to reach this point. On-board the train with them was the Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku.
What they didn't know was that the Lower Ranks of the Twelve Kizuke were also on board with them.
Author's Note: we have now covered entire first season of Demon Slayer!. Since Tanjiro is Kokushibo's son in this alternate universe, his personality is going to be slightly different, he is still the same kind soul that we all know and love, but because Kokushibo is his father, Tanjiro developed a stoic and serious personality, wich is quite a contrast to the light hearted personality he had in the original canon, this is also why Tanjiro is less tolerant of Zenitsu and Inosuke, he takes no Bull Shit.