“Hey, Shimizu-kun, why did you stop?”
Seeing Shimizu suddenly stop, Murata gripped his Nichirin Blade and warily looked around.
“Not bad luck, encountering one that’s a little stronger. I wonder if it can take more than one of my strikes.”
Shimizu pointed ahead.
Murata followed the direction Shimizu was pointing.
In the dark forest filled with mist, a gigantic demon figure, as large as a small mountain, was walking towards them.
It was a fat and enormous demon, with withered branch-like arms wrapped around its head, neck, and body.
The grotesque appearance, combined with its huge size, was quite intimidating.
The Hand Demon.
Speak of the devil!
“N-No way… A large, deformed demon whose body has undergone a huge transformation, how could it appear during the Final Selection!”
Seeing the Hand Demon, Murata’s teeth chattered, his words slurred, his face filled with fear.
“Forty-three, forty-four…”
The Hand Demon stretched out several hands in front of him, counting continuously.
“I already ate one tonight, so it should be forty-five, no, no, there are still two more, so it should be forty-seven.”
The Hand Demon looked at Shimizu and Murata with its bell-like yellow eyes.
Murata surprisingly mustered the courage to draw his sword and stood beside Shimizu.
“Sh-Shimizu-kun, although I don’t know why such a powerful demon would appear here, demons of this level are not something rookies like us can deal with! We must join forces to have a chance to escape. You are stronger and have a better chance. I’ll cover you.”
Murata’s voice trembled, but his tone was quite firm.
In this world, most members of the Demon Slayer Corps truly have impeccable morals…
However, joining the Demon Slayer Corps means choosing to disregard life and death, dedicating oneself to the racial cause of fighting against demons, which is the very first selection process.
“Hm?”
“You’re a good person.”
As the words fell, a blue blade of light flashed across the void.
“Breath of Wind, Eighth Form: Initial Gale Slash!”
A spiraling, giant wind blade instantly shredded the Hand Demon’s attacking arms, followed by its body and head.
In less than a breath, the Hand Demon's entire body was torn apart, turning into a rain of blood that quickly dissipated into ashes.
Murata was stunned.
“Well, what a pity, this guy looked quite strong, but he was so fragile, killed in one move again.”
Shimizu shook his head regretfully.
“Alright, it will be dawn soon, let’s quickly find the next demon, I’ll let you practice on it.”
“Oh, eh?”
Murata was stunned again, then quickly followed.
Shimizu didn't act like Sabito, crazily killing demons on the mountain.
He just wandered around, killing any demons he saw, and letting his newly recruited underling, Murata, practice on suitable ones.
Even so, by the end of the night, nineteen demons had died at Shimizu’s hands, including the most powerful Hand Demon.
Perhaps it was because of this that more people passed the Final Selection this time.
“This time, a total of nine members have survived.”
Amane Ubuyashiki, holding a golden Nichirin Blade, looked at the people coming down from the mountain with her two children, her face full of surprise.
Most of them looked disheveled, some had suffered minor injuries, only Shimizu was neatly dressed, looking calm and relaxed, as if he had come for a tour.
Secondly, there was Murata, who clung to Shimizu's leg. Apart from getting some dust on his body during the battle, he was not injured at all, not even his clothes were torn.
Nine people surviving is already the highest pass rate for the Demon Slayer Corps' selection in recent years.
Could it be because of Shimizu?
Amane Ubuyashiki’s beautiful eyes looked at Shimizu.
As Ubuyashiki Kagaya’s wife and assistant, she clearly knew Shimizu’s identity, and also knew that the trainers of the Wind and Thunder Breathing Styles had praised Shimizu in their letters to Ubuyashiki Kagaya.
“Everyone, congratulations on passing the trial of the Final Selection. Next, please choose a piece of corundum here. The selected corundum will be sent to the Swordsmith Village today to forge your Nichirin Blades.”
Amane Ubuyashiki said, pointing to the corundum neatly arranged on a table.
The so-called corundum is the ore embryo obtained after preliminary refining of scarlet crimson ore.
Shimizu casually picked a large one and walked towards Amane Ubuyashiki.
“Is there anything you need, Shimizu-kun?”
Amane Ubuyashiki asked with a smile.
“One piece of ore might not be enough for one sword for me. May I ask, Amane-senpai, if you could give these parts on this blueprint to the swordsmiths to help me forge?”
Shimizu took out several blueprints from his backpack and handed them to Amane Ubuyashiki.
The parts were components Shimizu made for an armor-type semi-puppet to assist him in battle.
Without scarlet crimson iron or a way to process scarlet crimson ore, Shimizu could only hand these over to the swordsmiths of the Swordsmith Village.
“I will ask the swordsmiths for Shimizu-kun and have them help manufacture them.”
Amane Ubuyashiki glanced at the blueprints, finding that they were incomprehensible weapons and mechanisms, and put them away.
Occasionally, there are swordsmen in the Demon Slayer Corps who have different requirements for their Nichirin Blades.
For example, Himejima Gyoumei, the Stone Pillar, has a Nichirin Blade that is a flail and axe blade connected by chains, and Kanroji Mitsuri, the future Love Pillar, has a soft sword like a ribbon.
“In that case, I will leave it to Amane-senpai.”
Shimizu nodded slightly to Amane Ubuyashiki.
The latter nodded in return, then waved to the sky.
Instantly, several crows fluttered down.
“Shimizu-kun, this is Mameko, which will be used to contact you as the Kasugai Crow of the Demon Slayer Corps from now on. By the way, Mameko likes to eat green beans, especially garlic-flavored ones.”
Amane Ubuyashiki said to a slender but seemingly dull Kasugai Crow.
“Caw—do you have green beans?”
The Kasugai Crow, Mameko, tilted its head.
Amane Ubuyashiki handed a bag of beans to Shimizu.
Shimizu sprinkled some green beans on his palm, feeding the Kasugai Crow.
The crows here are very intelligent, it is not known whether they are naturally so, or whether they have undergone special training by the Demon Slayer Corps.
If it is the latter, Shimizu would like to get his hands on this training method.
Crows are a good kind of summoning beast in the ninja world. Many Konoha ninjas, especially the Uchiha, raise them and have developed some ninjutsu that cooperate with crow summoning beasts.
But before that, he can first try to cultivate the Kasugai Crow into a summoning beast.
