On the cliff above Sagiri Mountain, the lingering traces of blood and lightning still had not faded.
All along the mountainside, shattered rock and burn marks were scattered in disarray, and at the center of it all stood Kokushibo.
His blade was still glowing red, having retained the flames of the Red Blade. Before him, the quietly fallen body of the Demon Slayer Corps' Water Hashira, Tsuyomi Ren, was growing cold.
Kokushibo's six eyes slowly lowered. Below the cliff, half-hidden by mist, there was still one survivor.
Haigara Katane. Covered in blood, he was leaning against a rock and barely keeping his breathing going. His presence was faint, but it had not gone out.
"He still hasn't bled out."
"This generation's Hashira doesn't die right away, even after having his flesh torn apart and losing so much blood..."
Kokushibo slowly lowered the tip of his sword. If he dropped it just a little farther and swung, that faint flame would be extinguished in an instant. The Demon Slayer Corps' new sprout would be cut out at the roots and never grow into a threat again.
The toe of his foot touched the edge of the cliff. The rock gave a short groan and crumbled.
Kokushibo remained still for a moment, his hand tight on the sword. All six eyes blinked at once, and within them, a complicated tremor passed.
――Finish him. If you let him live, he'll pick up a sword and come at you again.
――Leave him. At that level, he is still no threat.
Two opposing voices collided within him. Yet in the end, the sword did not move.
Kokushibo raised his head and looked up at the sky. A round moon had risen between the clouds. Its light shimmered beautifully, as if taking shape from Moon Breathing itself. At the same time, it called to mind a shadow from the past that he could never erase.
Not his own memory. And yet, also a memory branded deeply into the body’s owner.
In that instant, an old memory flashed by. The battle with his younger brother, Yoriichi. And the shadow he had never been able to cut down.
Kokushibo exhaled slowly.
As though his interest in Katane at the edge of the cliff had already faded, he turned his gaze elsewhere.
"Go... Survive. Prove it to me, that worthless life saved by the Hashira."
"...Come back up with a sword in your hand again."
His voice scattered into the wind and disappeared. Katane, staggering below the cliff, seemed to catch the faint echo and widened his eyes.
But Kokushibo no longer looked at him. He sheathed his sword and turned away. The flames of the Red Blade gradually faded, returning the blade to its calm violet sheen.
Mist once again rolled over the cliff.
Kokushibo walked away from the mountain. His back sank into the darkness like a heavy, unshakable shadow.
From below the cliff, Katane reached out a hand. Toward a shadow he could never touch, he let out a breath mixed with blood and tears.
"Water Hashira... I... I will absolutely...! I will kill that damn demon――!!"
The mist covered the mountain once more. One had died, and one had survived. But that survival was no mere accident. It was a heavy inheritance preserved atop someone else's death.
And Kokushibo. The whim of a powerhouse standing on an overwhelming level.
That place on Sagiri Mountain was still bathed in the cold moonlight that shone over the mountainside.
§§§
In the deep dawn, a young man staggered along a road still shrouded in mist.
His haori was torn, and the red blood smeared across it had dried in the wind.
He collapsed to his knees in front of the headquarters gate. The low-ranking slayers on guard rushed forward and shouted.
"Haigara-sama! The Water Hashira has returned!"
"Call a medic! The bleeding won't stop!"
Covered in dirt, Katane reached out a hand to stop them.
"...Wait. Ren-sama... Water Hashira Tsuyomi Ren-sama... on Sagiri Mountain..."
His voice was so thin it seemed ready to break at any moment, but the message was immediately carried to the master's mansion.
The white paper doors opened, and Ubuyashiki Kagaya appeared.
Even in the darkness, his face glowed softly, and beside him sat the Flame Hashira and the Wind Hashira.
Katane bowed low, almost crawling on bloodied knees.
"The Water Hashira... fought against one of the Upper Ranks... and passed away. He saved me."
At once, the meeting room fell silent. The Wind Hashira ground his teeth and sprang to his feet.
"Damn it! Another one died?!"
The Flame Hashira slammed a fist into the floor.
"You ran back to headquarters and left that monster alive?! You should've just died there! And you still call yourself a Hashira?!"
Katane's shoulders trembled. But he lifted his head.
Only his eyes were burning.
"......I'm sorry. I betrayed everyone's expectations. The Upper Rank One was too strong. He was a monster that should not exist, one whose attacks did not work no matter what we did."
Katane's gaze slowly dimmed. The Water Hashira who had died in his place. That figure would not leave his mind. Overcome by immense guilt, Katane was drowning in helplessness and loss.
But to tell everyone the will Ren had left behind, he raised his head again and said quietly, "He saved me and smiled until the very end. He believed in human potential......"
At that, Kagaya gave a quiet nod.
"I see. Ren lived until the end as a true member of the Demon Slayer Corps."
With Kagaya's words, the meeting room fell into dead silence.
This was the worst possible situation. The Demon Slayer Corps, which had been operating under the five-Hashira system, had suffered one crack, and the restoration that had returned only created another.
An ominous feeling, as if something was endlessly going wrong, pressed lightly on everyone's shoulders.
Kagaya spoke softly, appearing calm, but more than anyone else, he was trembling with anxiety.
It was because the Upper Ranks were so overwhelmingly strong.
The sight of his precious children falling one after another was carving a huge hole in his heart.
The meeting room was, quite literally, draped in a funeral shroud.
A silence with no breeze at all, yet that silence was as heavy as stone and suffocating.
The Wind Hashira still could not sit still and paced back and forth. Veins bulged in his hands, and his cracked voice rang out.
"Upper Rank One...! We lost that monster again? He even killed Ren, so how much longer are we supposed to keep watching this kind of thing?!"
The Flame Hashira also closed his eyes as if swallowing fire, then slammed his fist down on the floor.
Thud!
The heavy impact reverberated across the tatami and shook the entire room.
"Ren was a Hashira. Faster than anyone, and brighter than anyone. And yet, in a single blow..."
His voice trembled, but the blaze of his anger did not go out.
The Stone Hashira seated behind him remained silent. Yet the heavy breath seeping out from between his tightly shut lips trembled low, like a thousand-year-old boulder crying out.
Katane pushed himself up as if crawling on his knees. Blood was still flowing from his wounds, but his eyes had grown even firmer.
"...The Water Hashira saved me. I have to bear the meaning he left behind in death, all by myself. For that, I will endure any pain."
The Wind Hashira clenched his teeth and turned away.
"What exactly do you think you can endure? In front of that monster, anyone would be torn apart. Kotaro, Ren, and now it's your turn."
His words were cruel, but that was simply the other face of fear. In the Wind Hashira's eyes, anger was mixed with suppressed terror.
Agreeing with him, the Flame Hashira—Rengoku Danzo—spoke up.
"As a Hashira... retreat is not permitted, Haigara Katane. At first, when you became a Hashira, I thought you could take Kotaro's place."
"But I realized you aren't fit for it. You are immature. What exactly can you do in that condition? It's easy to talk big! You! You...! Don't go around saying that anything is possible just because you can mouth the words!"
"This Demon Slayer Corps exists...! To annihilate demons! Not to be a place for your revenge!"
The Flame Hashira's rebuke burned through the room like fire.
His voice was tangled with fierce anger and despair at the same time. It was the anger of someone who seemed less to be mourning a comrade's death than to be scolding himself for his own helplessness.
Katane's shoulders shook hard. More blood ran from his wounded body, but an even deeper wound was clawing at his chest.
"...I didn't run away."
His voice cracked, but it did not break.
"The Water Hashira... saved me. He pushed me away. That was his final wish. I couldn't betray it."
The Wind Hashira frowned and stepped toward Katane. His footsteps pounded the tatami like a storm.
"If you'd stayed, you'd have just died together. Then that would've been better! If you're a Hashira of this Demon Slayer Corps, can you really come back alone and leave your comrades behind?!"
Katane lowered his head. But at the same time, his eyes burned like a flame deep within the darkness.
"Surviving... was not my will. But now that I have survived, I will absolutely... absolutely carry on the will entrusted to me."
The Flame Hashira ground his teeth. Those words were by no means empty. But the swordsmanship Katane had shown was still far too weak to bridge the gap against Kokushibo.
"If your words are sincere, then prove it with that sword. Show it with your blade, not your mouth!"
Thud!
The Flame Hashira's fist struck the floor again.
The Stone Hashira slowly lifted his eyes. His gaze passed over the Wind Hashira and the Flame Hashira, then settled on Katane's battered body.
"...There is also survival heavier than death. What you are carrying now is exactly that."
His voice was low, but as heavy as stone.
"If you cannot endure that weight, then Ren's death will only become meaningless."
The meeting room continued on with even the breathing feeling heavy.
Everyone was sunk in anger and loss, but at the same time, they could feel that Katane's resolve was not a lie.
Then Kagaya quietly raised a hand and drew everyone's attention.
"Enough."
Kagaya's voice was as soft as silk, yet it was enough to calm the anger binding the room.
Supporting his frail body, he slowly stepped forward. His gaze was as unwavering as moonlight piercing deep mist.
"Flame Hashira, Wind Hashira, and all of you. I understand your anger and grief right now. But blaming the one who survived is never right."
His words were low, but firm.
Kagaya's gaze turned to Katane.
"Katane, you are still immature. In your sword, your breathing, and your heart. And yet you survived. That was no accident. Ren entrusted that survival to you."
Tears welled at the corners of Katane's eyes, mixing with blood. But he did not lower his head.
"......Master."
Kagaya nodded.
"Then there is only one thing you must do. Prove it not with death, but with life. If your sword is still incomplete, sharpen and refine it. If your breathing is still immature, raise it onto a new path."
The room fell silent. Even the Wind Hashira clenched his teeth and said no more.
Kagaya's final words rang lightly through the room.
"Upper Rank One is strong. With the Demon Slayer Corps as it stands now, it will be difficult to overcome that wall. But you must overcome it. I will not entrust that mission to the present you, Katane."
"M-Master...?"
Kagaya's gaze settled into calm stillness. He took a breath, then spoke once more with clarity.
"I said I will not entrust that mission to the present you, Katane. That does not mean I am taking the mission away from you."
His eyes slowly moved across the Hashira.
"You are a Hashira as well. Refine your path as one. The mission I will give you now is not revenge, but preparation."
The Wind Hashira raised his brows slightly. The Flame Hashira loosened the fingers clenched into both fists. The Stone Hashira silently bowed his head and accepted the decision.
Kagaya continued.
"Rest for the time being until your body has fully healed. Then return to Sagiri Mountain. For one hundred days, read the mountain's veins and the veins of the wind, and advance in your training of the mind. Rebuild Water Breathing from its roots, and complete even one form of your own."
"My judgment is that the position of Hashira is not right for you right now. It was my oversight to place you there so hastily. Once you have completed even one form of your own, I will raise you back to the position of Hashira."
When Kagaya finished speaking, the air in the room sank once more.
The Wind Hashira exhaled a long breath with his eyes closed, the Flame Hashira loosened his jaw between tightly pressed lips, and the Stone Hashira lowered his head.
Kagaya quietly went on.
"Katane. As of today, you will step down from the seat of the Water Hashira. Lay down the title and return as a single slayer. After the mourning period ends, you will enter one hundred days of mist training."
Katane merely bowed his head at Kagaya's command.
"...I will obey your words, Master..."
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