"Oh, Tanjuro, why are you out here? Hurry back inside! You're still sick; what if it gets worse?" Kie Kamado, carrying a baby on her back, urged him with a mix of worry and mild complaint.
"Alright, alright, alright, I'm going back now."
Tanjuro Kamado agreed verbally, coughing as he bent down to grab the axe embedded in the wooden stake, pulled it out, and handed it to Tanjiro.
"Tanjiro, use this to protect yourself and your sister."
Tanjiro Kamado's expression was solemn; he answered loudly and seriously, "Yes!"
"Alright, set off. Come back early."
"If it gets late and you can't make it home, rest in town. Don't travel the mountain road after dark."
Tanjuro patted Tanjiro's head.
Immediately after, Tanjiro set off with his sister, Nezuko.
Tanjiro had previously gone to town with Tanjuro to sell charcoal, so he remembered the way. Although they were getting further and further from home, surrounded by tall, eerie forests, Tanjiro kept encouraging himself and cheering himself on internally.
"Brother, I'm scared—"
"It feels like someone is following us?"
Nezuko nervously tugged on Tanjiro's haori.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here. I'll definitely protect you."
Tanjiro gripped the axe tightly, his eyes wide, cautiously surveying his surroundings.
Even though it was daytime, in the deep mountains and old forests, the tree canopy blocked the sunlight, making the woods dim and eerie.
Suddenly.
Two bloodthirsty, cross-shaped eyes glinted from deep within the forest.
Accompanied by a low, terrifying roar, a large, fierce brown bear charged towards Tanjiro and Nezuko.
"Brother, it's a bear!"
Nezuko screamed in fright.
"Nezuko, hide behind me!"
Tanjiro shouted, gripping the axe handle tightly with both hands, shielding Nezuko. He mustered his courage, trying his best to face the terrifyingly large brown bear.
"Come on, I'm not afraid of you! You won't hurt my family!!"
Tanjiro yelled to bolster his courage. Seeing the brown bear getting closer, he prepared to throw the axe and fight the bear to the death.
Just then, a blond young man wearing a two-toned haori appeared out of thin air in front of Tanjiro.
A majestic nichirin blade was tucked into his waist, and a crow with completely black, unblemished feathers stood on his shoulder.
"Naruto Pillar, slower, slower, I'm going to throw up."
The crow actually spoke human words, its bright black eyes turning into circles as it swayed precariously on Naruto's shoulder, covering its beak with its wing.
"A crow—that talks?"
Tanjiro was stunned by the bizarre sight before him.
"Brother, is it one of the demons Mama talks about?"
Nezuko was both curious and scared of the talking crow.
Naruto ignored the crow, Uromaru, and looked at the charging brown bear.
With just a slight widening of his eyes, a kingly pressure, like a materialized shockwave, blasted forth. Dead leaves on the ground flew, tree branches and leaves trembled, and the brown bear, directly facing Naruto, whimpered in fright, losing even the courage to flee, and immediately fell to the ground, playing dead.
Naruto withdrew his gaze, his peripheral vision catching sight of a frail, hiding man behind a tree trunk.
He had a gaunt face, a sickly expression, held an axe, and wore hanafuda-like nichirin earrings.
It was Tanjuro Kamado.
As Tanjiro and Nezuko's father, he ultimately couldn't rest easy, so he secretly followed them, hiding in the shadows, to see Tanjiro and Nezuko off the mountain.
Even if Naruto hadn't scared the brown bear unconscious just now, for Tanjuro Kamado, who had mastered See-Through World and Hinokami Kagura, dealing with the brown bear would only take two axe swings. He could have easily saved Tanjiro and Nezuko.
Naruto pretended not to see Tanjuro Kamado, turned to Tanjiro, and asked, "I'm looking for a kind of flower. Have you seen it?"
As he spoke, he flipped his palm, taking out a blooming blue spider lily as if by magic.
"Of course, I won't ask for free. If you can tell me where you've seen this flower, I can buy all the charcoal in the bamboo basket on your back."
"Really?"
Tanjiro was first delighted, but after seeing the blue spider lily in Naruto's hand clearly, he hesitated and shook his head.
"Although I really hope you can buy the charcoal, unfortunately, I've never seen a flower like this."
"Never seen it?"
Naruto paused.
How could that be?
Logically speaking, the Kamado family must have accidentally eaten blue spider lilies, perhaps even consumed large quantities, which is why they developed resistance in their bodies. Even after becoming demons, they wouldn't need to eat humans and would be fearless of sunlight.
"Bro—brother—"
"I think I've seen it."
Nezuko hid behind Tanjiro Kamado, tugging at his sleeve, and whispered.
"Nezuko, when did you see it?" Tanjiro was full of doubt.
Nezuko poked her head out, curiously observing Naruto, and answered her brother's question: "It's the herbal medicine 'Tsuma-ao' that Mama usually makes for us to eat."
"Tsuma-ao? How could that be—"
"That looks similar to wild grass, it's simply——wait a minute, the stem and leaves of this flower really do look like the Tsuma-ao we eat."
Tanjiro's eyes widened little by little.
Nezuko put a finger on her chin and said seriously, "Because Tsuma-ao only blooms for a short while at noon, so Brother hasn't seen Tsuma-ao bloom."
"I happened to see it, and it looks exactly like the flower in Brother's hand."
Naruto was overjoyed after hearing the conversation between the siblings. Being able to find the "Tsuma-ao" that the Kamado family ate meant finding the blue spider lily, naturally saving the extra exchange coupons needed to purchase blue spider lilies from the Underground City store.
Naruto said generously, "Uromaru, inform your master to send money to the Kamado family."
"By the way—Tanji, how much is your charcoal?"
As an honest person, Tanjiro truthfully reported a normal price.
"Tell your master to have Giyu Tomioka bring 1 million Ba to the charcoal selling family." Naruto didn't care how much the charcoal on Tanjiro's back cost anymore.
He just stated a number himself.
"Understood, Naruto Pillar!"
The crow cried out, flapped its wings, and flew away.
"1 million Yen!?"
This astonishing number stunned Tanjiro and Nezuko, who had never seen such wealth.
Naruto smiled calmly: "This amount of money is nothing to the Ubuyashiki family, who have been in business for a thousand years. It's just a drop in the bucket."
"Alright, as agreed, I've bought a basket of charcoal. Can you take me to find the blue spider lily now?"
Nezuko was about to agree when Tanjuro, who had been hiding not far away, stopped concealing himself and appeared, saying, "Cough, cough, cough, young man, let me take you instead."
"Father!"
Tanjiro and Nezuko were both overjoyed to see Tanjuro suddenly appear.
Nezuko even leaped over, excitedly hugging Tanjuro's leg.
Tanjuro coughed a few times, patted Nezuko's head, and said to the eldest son of the Kamado family, "Tanjiro, take your sister home first."
"Also, tell your mother to cook some good dishes for lunch, cough cough—say we have a distinguished guest."
"Yay~ We're having meat for lunch~"
Nezuko cheered.
Tanjuro swung his axe, slaying the unconscious brown bear, and gave Naruto an apologetic smile: "Sorry, I took the liberty."
Naruto waved his hand indifferently: "It's fine. Bears eat people, so people can certainly eat bears."
And so.
Tanjiro and Nezuko, who were planning to go to the town to sell charcoal, turned back halfway.
Somewhat astonishingly, Tanjuro, who appeared frail and sickly, coughing constantly, actually carried the several hundred jin heavy brown bear and returned home with Tanjiro and Nezuko.
Naruto knew that Tanjuro had activated the Sun Breathing technique, temporarily enhancing his physique, but the drawbacks were also very obvious.
"The power you're using is squeezing your own potential and damaging your cells. If you want to live a few more years, it's best to use it less in the future."
Naruto warned Tanjuro, manipulating shadows to form a giant beast claw that easily lifted the several hundred jin brown bear.
Tanjuro saw the giant black claw, took a deep breath, and said with a strange expression, "Are you—a demon?"
"Yes, and no."
"I was right, you are indeed no ordinary person."
"Whether you are a demon or not, I can sense that you truly bear no ill will."
While chatting, the group returned to the Kamado shack. Kie Kamado, who was nursing a baby, quickly brought the younger children out to greet them.
As soon as Naruto put down the brown bear, the Kamado children cheered and surrounded him.
Tanjuro, meanwhile, gave Kie Kamado a few instructions, then led Naruto to search for the location of the blue spider lily.
"According to stories passed down from our ancestors, during the Sengoku period, there was a swordsman named Yoriichi Tsugikuni who was a close friend of my ancestor, Tanjuro Kamado. He left our ancestor a pair of hanafuda earrings and taught a dance called 'Hinokami Kagura,' which has since been passed down through generations of the Kamado family."
"Besides that, the flower you are looking for, sir, was actually a strange flower planted by that Sengoku swordsman beside his wife's grave. Now, a thousand years later, that solitary flower has already become a sea of flowers."
Tanjuro recounted the story of Tanjuro Kamado and Yoriichi Tsugikuni while leading Naruto to a spacious grassy area on the back mountain.
There were no trees blocking the view here, only a large expanse of unremarkable "wild grass."
Tanjuro looked up at the sky and murmured, "It should be soon, just wait a little longer."
Naruto waited patiently.
The clouds in the sky moved, revealing the hidden sun. At precisely noon, the previously unremarkable "wild grass" ground, as if absorbing the essence of sunlight, suddenly bloomed with countless azure flowers.
Blue spider lilies!
And it was a sea of flowers!!
Beautiful and magnificent.
Naruto and Tanjuro stood amidst the sea of flowers, with the scorching sun overhead.
Tanjuro looked at Naruto with a hint of surprise.
As a "demon," he was exposed to sunlight completely unharmed?
Was he not afraid of the sun!
In reality, Naruto's main body had already switched with his Shadow Clone; his main body was hidden in the shadows, while the Shadow Clone stood in the sunlight.
What did his main body being afraid of sunlight have to do with the Shadow Clone?
Furthermore, by controlling shadows to block the sunlight, he still didn't have to worry about sun exposure.
"With so many blue spider lilies, even if Miss Tamayo can't research a potion, I can overcome sunlight and complete my transformation just by eating the flowers."
Naruto's mind stirred. The shadows at his feet rose and extended, forming a giant, pitch-black scythe. It swung with a "swoosh," cutting a huge arc, directly harvesting the entire sea of blue spider lilies and then stuffing them all into his item bar.
The quantity of blue spider lilies in the item bar directly stacked to 99+!
"I won't be staying for lunch. As for the money for Tanjiro's charcoal, it shouldn't take more than a day or two for someone to deliver it."
Naruto didn't blame Tanjuro for his probing, but he also had no desire to stay at the Kamado family's house for a meal. He directly spread his Shadow Wings, soared into the sky, and swiftly departed.
Western-style mansion.
Tamayo sat in front of a pile of precise instruments, her brow furrowed in worry.
"Failed, failed again."
"One blue spider lily is simply not enough, but this flower is extremely rare and precious. Otherwise, Kibutsuji Muzan wouldn't have searched for a thousand years and still not found a single one."
"What should I do?"
"Without blue spider lilies, I can't continue researching and making the potion. Should I contact Naruto—"
Tamayo held a Dungeon team badge, her face filled with worry.
Suddenly.
A gentle breeze blew open the window.
Immediately after, dozens, even hundreds, of blue spider lilies, carried by the wind, scattered throughout the entire room.
Tamayo stood amidst the blue spider lilies, completely stunned.
She looked outside again, only to see a figure had already teleported away.
"It must have been Sir Naruto who came. Where—where did he find so many blue spider lilies?"
"But with so many flowers, I can definitely successfully develop the potion."
Tamayo mustered her energy and continued her research, utilizing the large quantity of blue spider lilies provided by Naruto.
One month passed quickly.
The flow of time in the Demon Slayer World was similar to that in the Goblin Slayer World, roughly a three-to-one ratio.
Naruto occasionally stayed in the Fire Shadow World and occasionally returned to the Demon Slayer World to check the progress of the Perfect Demon King potion.
He also met Mitsuri Kanroji before she became the Love Pillar.
At that time, Mitsuri Kanroji was on a blind date with a bespectacled man. The bespectacled man mocked Mitsuri Kanroji for eating too much, and was directly thrown into the water by Naruto, who was passing by.
"Sir Naruto, Sir Naruto, can you hear me? This is Tamayo. The potion you requested, I have successfully developed it."
Naruto, who was casually shopping in Tokyo with Mitsuri Kanroji, Kanae Kochou, and Shinobu Kochou, suddenly received a message from Tamayo.
"One month—it's finally done?!"
Naruto's eyes lit up. He immediately bid farewell to the three women and then teleported over.
Western-style mansion.
Naruto arrived via Shadow Instant Kill Array, using the Dungeon team badge for positioning.
Tamayo was slightly startled to see Naruto appear out of thin air, but she had already grown accustomed to it.
A smile played on her lips as she held up the glass test tube in her hand, shaking it a few times in front of Naruto, saying with considerable pride, "Sir Naruto, Tamayo has fulfilled her mission and successfully developed the potion to overcome sunlight."
"Good! I'll try it!!"
Naruto took the glass test tube, being cautious, and first used his Appraisal Eye to identify what kind of potion it was.
After all, in the original work, Tamayo successfully developed a medicine that could turn demons into humans.
Muzan's defeat was partly due to Tamayo's contribution.
As soon as an Appraisal Eye was cast, the seemingly ordinary glass test tube actually glowed red!