Chapter Thirty Five: Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui.
Kyojuro led his new friends to his home. Once they arrived Kyojuro knocked on the door and he was thrilled to be greeted by his younger brother Senjuro. Senjuro let out tears of joy as he hugged his older brother,he was so grateful for his elder brother's survival and grateful to Tanjiro for saving Kyojuro's life. Once Senjuro calmed down, Kyojuro asked his little brother if their father was home. Senjuro confirmed that their father Shinjuro was home,and that made Kyojuro very nervous, making Tanjiro nervous as well,he nervous about what kind of man Kyojuro's father is?.
Elsewhere a family was talking about their adopted son, a boy named Toshikuni. The parents praised their son for his intelligence and kindness, but unfortunately their boy suffered from a horrible condition that prohibited him from being out in the sun light, and they have been dedicating the resources of their pharmaceutical company to try and find a cure for his disease. Meanwhile Toshikuni was in his room, reading a botany book that he had borrowed from his parents library and began to read about a specific plant. Suddenly Akaza appeared, reporting before Toshikuni who was actually Muzan Kibutsuji in disguise. As his blue eyes turned back into their demonic red, Muzan heard Akaza's report and he was absolutely livid!. Not only had Akaza failed to find the blue spiderlily, he also failed to kill Tanjiro and the Hashira!.
In his rage Muzan took hold of Akaza's cells and began torturing him as punishment for his failure. Akaza began to decay and bleed heavily. " You have disappointed me Akaza, not only were you defeated by a non-Hashira swordsman, you have failed to kill Kokushibo's son and the Hashira, how could you be this weak and incompetent!." said Muzan fulled with anger and disgust, he was so enraged and disappointed at Akaza's failure,he was was one of his strongest demons yet he couldn't kill a little boy!. Muzan then dismissed Akaza, reminding him that he was defeated and almost killed by a non-Hashira swordsman.
After his his meeting with his master was over. Akaza stood alone in a forest, the demon was outraged by his humiliation at the hands of Tanjiro, he saw the Kyokokukamusari lying on the forest floor and hurled it into a tree nearby. Remembering that Tanjiro had called him a coward, Akaza furiously punched the Nichirin Katana into pieces. He then put a hand on his chest, and looked at the scar that Tanjiro gave him...and he swered that he will spill Tanjiro's brains out the next time they meet, he will never forget that boy's face, because he looked just like him!.
At the Rengoku Residents
The group where about to enter the home,when they were suddenly met by a drunken Shinjuro. The older man began to verbally lash out on Kyojuro, saying that his son's worthlessness and lack of talent had almost gotten him killed, denouncing him as a fool of a son, he then told his younger son to stop celebrating his brother's return as Senjuro fights hard to stop crying. This scene had triggered a deep anger in Tanjiro, this man reminded Tanjiro of his other grandfather...his father's father Senshi, he remembered the few stories that his father shared about him...that man was an abusive monster of a father, it was no wonder why dad never liked to talk about him, these stories are also the reason why seeing people especially children being abused has become a trigger for him, and why he already hated Shinjuro despite just meeting him, that man is just like his horrible grandfather!.
Kyojuro stepped in and tried to calm his father down, but then Shinjuro saw Tanjiro's earrings and became even more hostile. "You're a user of Sun Breathing!" yelled Shinjuro at Tanjiro,his voice fulled with anger and disgust, this confused Tanjiro since he didn't know what Sun Breathing is, was it related to Moon Breathing?. In his anger Shinjuro tried to attack Tanjiro and tackle him to the floor, but Tanjiro saw it coming and was able to dodge the attack, Kyojuro and Senjuro tried to stop the fight and warned Tanjiro that their father is a former Hashira but Senjuro got hit away by Shinjuro for attempting to stop the fight, as Kyojuro rushed to take care Senjuro who luckily was unharmed, Shinjuro angrirly claimed that Tanjiro had come to mock them as a Sun Breathing user. "The first breathing technique every created! The most powerful of them all! All the other techniques are derived from Sun Breathing! All the others just mimic Sun Breathing. They're just cheap imitations, retrograde versions of Sun Breathing! Fire, Water, Wind...all of them" said Shinjuro explaining Sun Breathing, the man was so furious.
When Shinjuro told Tanjiro not to get cocky for being a Sun Breathing user, Tanjiro broke down and asked if Shinjuro was unable to see his own weakness which has caused him despair to blamed himself for Kyojuro almost dying, as he sprinted towards Tanjiro and readied a punch, the former Flame Hashira grabbed him and violently punched Tanjiro's face repeatedly until Tanjiro finally gave him a headbutt stopping Shinjuro, knocking him unconscious. Later Tanjiro apologized to Kyojuro and Senjuro for for headbutting their father, but Kyojuro had informed him that Shinjuro has already left to buy more sake. Kyojuro apologized for his father's behavior, and explained how his family has been going through hard times ever since their mother Ruka died and how her death had sent their father into a deep grief and depression, Tanjiro and Nezuko felt sympathy for them, they remembered what it was like when their mother and grandfather died, it did not justify Shinjuro's actions but it explained why Shinjuro was this way and it did make the Tsugikuni siblings feel bad for him, Senjuro then presented Tanjiro with the records created by the past Flame Hashira only for everyone to be shocked to see the pages ripped when they opene them!. Kyojuro and Senjuro apologized, believing their father had torn the pages, though Tanjiro dismissed their apology saying that he will train harder and master his Hinokami Kagura.
After Tanjiro and Nezuko had departed, Kyojuro tried to speak to his father but he dismissed him saying that what ever he had to say was worthless, believing that he was going to say something bad about him, "I love you dad, please take care of yourself" was all that Kyojuro said before quietly leaving. Now by himself, Shinjuro finally put his drink down, smashing his sake gourd, and began to cry.
As Tanjiro and Nezuko were walking home, Nezuko noticed that Tanjiro was sad, she asked what was troubling him and he revealed that their father's old Nichirin katana the Kyokokukamusari had been destroyed during his fight against Akaza. Tanjiro was devastated when they showed him the remains of the Kyokokukamusari, they said that the Kakushi had found it ruined and smashed into pieces!. Nezuko tried her best to comfort her brother but to no avail. While Tanjiro appreciated his sister's effort to comfort him but their was no solace for him, his father would have been so disappointed, he was such a failure...he had let everyone down...he was unworthy to wield his father's legacy.
Once the siblings arrived at the Butterfly Mansion, Kanao, Aoi, Kiyo, Sumi and Naho greeted them, the girls asked Tanjiro to choose the Nichirin ore that his new sword will be forged from. Using his sense of smell Tanjiro was able to find and select the best ore for his new sword, now all he had to due was wait for fifteen days for his new sword to arrive.
The the next day, Kagaya and the Hashira were gathered for their semi-annual meeting, and Tanjiro took this opportunity and he proposed a training session for the entire Corps, to which everyone agreed, they had to train and get stronger if they were ever going to stand a chance against the Uppermoons. The training session lasted for six months. Tanjiro and the Hashira had learned a lot from each other during those six months. The first four months where about learning from the Hashira while the last three months where about Tanjiro teaching the his fellow Demon Slayers and Hashira. Tanjiro taught them everything that his father taught him as well as what he learned from his personal experience as a Demon Slayer. The Demon Slayers that caught Tanjiro's eye were also dragged into the training and even the former Flame Hashira Shinjuro Rengoku came to help, Shinjuro wanted to be a better father for his sons and he decided that the best start would be to finally give Kyojuro proper training, his first born child almost died because of his negligence and he wasn't going to let that happen again.
At the end of each week, Tanjiro would test those who had received his teachings to see how well they were doing. Those who haven't grown enough and reached Tanjiro's standards were told not to aim higher, Tanjiro also gave the Slayers and Hashira advice and suggested how they can improve. By the end most of the Demon Slayers and the Hashira except for Gyomei had awakened their Demon Slayer Mark as well as the transparent world, and the Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui was able to develop a unique form of transparent world that relyed on his hearing, and finally all the Slayers that had the most potential were promoted to the rank of Kinoe, this would help strengthen their ranks and make it easier for them to slay demons, these six months also helped bring the Demon Slayers closer as a family, even the more aloof Hashira like Giyu and Obanai began to open up, though unfortunately Tanjiro and Nezuko were still unable to bond with Sanemi and Obanai and many Demon Slayers still feard them. But t at the end the whole entire Corps had gathered to celebrate the completion of their training and their growth as well as their growing bond as a family.
Author's Note: yes there will be two Hashira training Arcs in this story, also we are about to enter the Red light district Arc yay!.
