This is also why a large number of newcomers die on Mount Fujikasane every year.
Besides insufficient strength, a lack of mental fortitude is also a fatal weakness.
This year's Final Selection had a much heavier scent of blood than previous ones.
Because previously it was always the human side that bled, but this year, most of the demons within Mount Fujikasane had already died under Chu Yang's blade.
There were no longer any demons nearby who dared to remain in the shadows, peeking at Chu Yang; they vaguely sensed that Chu Yang, even in the midst of battle, could occasionally glance at their locations.
"That little girl, who knows where she ran off to," Chu Yang exhaled a long breath, feeling a bit tired. Although none of the demons just now were his match, constantly slaying demons could still be exhausting.
"Forget it. If I can save her, it's fate; if not, then it's her destiny." Chu Yang re-shouldered his zanmatō, glanced back at the group of young swordsmen who were too scared to stand, and turned to leave.
He felt that even if these people managed to walk out of Mount Fujikasane alive, many of them would likely choose to give up and abandon the idea of joining the Demon Slayer Corps.
Nearly six hours had passed since nightfall; in at most one or two more hours, dawn would break.
The murderous aura and bloodlust emanating from Chu Yang were so dense they almost shot into the sky; no demons or monsters dared to approach him.
Just as Chu Yang was about to give up searching for Makomo, his nose suddenly caught an extremely strong stench, even fouler than the young demon he encountered at the temple that day.
Hand Demon!
His intuition told Chu Yang that this was the Hand Demon's scent, so he immediately headed towards the source of the smell.
The further he walked, Chu Yang gradually saw a large number of shattered tree trunks and cracked forest ground. Clearly, this was a battlefield, and the two warring parties seemed to be constantly moving deeper.
Chu Yang continued to walk...
"I've eaten a total of 12 of Sakonji Urokodaki's disciples, little fox. You're about to become the 13th, and it's only been a year since I ate that last kid."
"Hehehe..."
The Hand Demon continuously let out triumphant cackles, then provoked Makomo with words, "You really like wearing those masks to your deaths. Otherwise, I might not have discovered your identities."
"To you, those are masks that can ward off disaster? Hahaha, how is that any different from Sakonji Urokodaki personally killing you? How ironic!"
Makomo trembled all over. Every word from the Hand Demon was like a sharp thorn, piercing deeply into her heart. Especially after hearing the full account of Sabito's death from its mouth, her mental state gradually crumbled.
"Shut up! It's not like that at all! Sakonji Urokodaki gave us those disaster-warding masks so we could return safely!"
"I will never allow you to insult Sakonji Urokodaki like that!"
Tears welled up in Makomo's eyes, and then she let out a roar!
And because she lost her composure, her breathing became erratic!
Originally skilled in agility, her speed gradually slowed down, causing the advantageous position she had maintained to be instantly reversed.
Makomo's mind was in disarray, and her movements became severely distorted.
The cunning Hand Demon seized the opportunity to launch a fatal attack on the bewildered girl.
All the arms wrapped around its head spread out and shot towards Makomo. Each of its arms possessed immense strength, which was why it was called the Hand Demon.
Makomo, realizing what was happening, was still a step too slow.
She tried desperately to escape the encirclement of the arms, but her feet were still caught by the Hand Demon.
"Hahahaha!!!"
"I said I'd kill all of Sakonji Urokodaki's disciples, and you're no exception!"
The excited Hand Demon exerted a little force, and a horrifying scream immediately escaped Makomo's mouth. Her legs felt as if they were caught in a pair of vices, about to be torn off.
"Die, brat!"
No sooner had the Hand Demon finished speaking than it heard a whistling sound in its ear, as if something heavy was flying towards it at high speed.
As soon as this thought surfaced in its mind, the Hand Demon was immediately startled.
The next second, an absurdly large zanmatō flew past its face, kicking up a spray of blood.
Several arms wrapped around Makomo were instantly severed simultaneously!
"Ah ah ah ah!!!!"
The indescribable agony sent the Hand Demon into an instant frenzy. It looked around, roaring furiously:
"Who is it? Who's the damn bastard!!!"
"That's quite frightening." Chu Yang leaped from the shadows, landing beside his zanmatō, and casually kicked away the severed arms on the ground.
He picked up the zanmatō, rested it on his shoulder, and chuckled, "You look pretty creepy. Let me fix you up so you don't look so ugly."
After taunting the Hand Demon, Chu Yang glanced at Makomo lying on the ground. The young girl was unconscious, but her face unconsciously showed an expression of pain, clearly indicating that she had been injured when the Hand Demon grabbed her earlier.
Chu Yang sighed, "I was a step late, but thankfully, her life was saved."
"Don't talk big! Both of you are going to die!" In that short time, most of the Hand Demon's severed arms had regenerated. It roared and charged at Chu Yang, its massive form like a tank.
Thump thump thump~~~
The ground trembled.
Chu Yang gripped his zanmatō with both hands, his blood turning scalding hot from his Breathing Style.
As it coursed through his entire body, white streams of air exhaled from his mouth and nose.
He stomped his feet hard, cracking the ground beneath him, and launched himself forward like a cannonball, colliding head-on with the Hand Demon with his shoulder.
The previously furious Hand Demon was so shaken by the impact that it couldn't even stand steadily. Losing its balance, it fell backward, its entire body exposed.
Before its arms could even make protective movements, its head was severed by Chu Yang's blade amidst its staggering.
The flying head stared directly at Chu Yang, its eyes filled with disbelief.
In the moment its life plunged completely into darkness, the Hand Demon's voice was filled with regret and unwillingness, "Impossible... Humans can't possess such power!"
It believed its body was as hard as steel, yet it was like paper in front of Chu Yang.
"Phew." Chu Yang wiped the sweat from his brow. After a night of exertion, he finally felt like he was just finishing his warm-up.
After slaying the Hand Demon, Chu Yang scooped up the unconscious Makomo. Before leaving, he felt something in the unseen observing him.
It must be Sakonji Urokodaki's deceased disciples...
It was a pity Chu Yang couldn't have come a few years earlier; otherwise, he would have had the chance to save more young people.
Chu Yang carried Makomo and circled Mount Fujikasane, using his Observation Haki to pinpoint two demons that had devoured a large number of their own kind, then slew them.
Although they weren't as strong as the Hand Demon, they were still beyond what a newcomer could handle.
For the next seven days, Chu Yang continued to slay the demons that had grown to a certain extent. The scent of blood on Mount Fujikasane was much stronger than before.
Chapter 62: Selection Ends
In fact, most of the demons caught by the Demon Slayer Corps and brought to Mount Fujikasane were relatively weak, perfectly suited for training newcomers.
Demons like the Hand Demon, which grew by devouring a large number of their own kind, were rare. Such occurrences were difficult for the Demon Slayer Corps to foresee.
On the second day of the Final Selection, Makomo woke up, but her legs were temporarily incapacitated due to injury.
During the period of hunting demons within Mount Fujikasane, Chu Yang had been carrying her on his back.
But even with an extra person on his back, it did not affect his movements in the slightest.
It was then that Makomo realized the immense strength of Chu Yang.
Fighting demons alone and fighting demons while carrying someone were entirely different matters.
This proved that Chu Yang's strength was on a completely different level from the demons in this mountain and from them, the young swordsmen participating in the selection.
By the seventh day, Chu Yang began descending the mountain with Makomo.
Upon reaching the torii gate halfway up the mountain, he found that many more people had returned than he had initially expected.
Most of the swordsmen who participated in the selection survived, all thanks to Chu Yang, but many of those who survived chose to leave, also because of Chu Yang.
The powerful demons had basically all died at Chu Yang's hands; for them, these seven days were more like ordinary wilderness survival.
Many of them had personally witnessed Chu Yang's brutal slaughter of demons.
Upon seeing this monstrous young man again, everyone's expressions became incredibly complex.
Fear, terror, awe, and gratitude.
No matter which emotion was more prominent, their gazes remained fixed on Chu Yang.
Chu Yang did not care how they viewed him; he didn't even bother to glance at these people, walking directly towards the official overseeing the selection.
The young swordsmen moved aside for him, causing the overseer to turn his head and eye Chu Yang with a meaningful gaze.
Chu Yang gently placed Makomo, who was on his back, on the ground and said loudly, "Please help me send this girl to the Butterfly Mansion. Her legs are injured and need treatment."
As soon as he finished speaking, members of the "Kakushi" immediately stepped forward, took Makomo from Chu Yang, and began emergency treatment for her.
"I heard them say you almost wiped out all the demons in the mountain by yourself?" The overseer teased with a half-smile, "Thanks to you, many people passed this trial without getting any training. The Demon Slayer Corps has gained a lot of useless new blood."
Chu Yang scoffed, retorting, "Most of them will die anyway, but it's better to die late than early. Instead of dying here during these seven days, it's better to live and take a few demons down with them later before they die."
"To be honest, I don't understand why you're so eager to send this group of inexperienced swordsmen here to their deaths. Rather than a selection, it's more like feeding the demons in the mountain."
"This is a foolish and irresponsible form of selection."
They could easily have the cultivators guide these newcomers to gain more experience fighting demons, but they never do. Instead, they insist on these beginners, who only know Breathing Styles, undergoing some kind of extreme survival.
If they're going to do it, they should at least have more actual combat experience first!
Chu Yang's dangerous remarks made the overseer's expression change, because the Final Selection was a tradition passed down by the heads of the Demon Slayer Corps for generations. His words were undoubtedly a direct attack on the Ubuyashiki family.
He warned Chu Yang with an unkind expression, "Didn't your cultivator tell you not to speak carelessly?"
"Every single demon in Mount Fujikasane was personally captured and placed there by us after confirming they were suitable for novice combat. If they can't even pass this stage, it only means their strength is insufficient to become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps."
"Heh~" Chu Yang's lips curled upwards, mimicking the overseer's previous half-smile, and said, "There was a demon in there that continuously ate fifty of its own kind, and also ate more than a dozen swordsmen participating in the selection. Guess how strong it was?"
The overseer was stunned, but looking at Chu Yang's expression, he didn't seem to be lying. If such a demon truly existed, then it would at least be an abnormal demon capable of using Blood Demon Art.
Most of the swordsmen who entered were indeed just feeding this monster.
But then, the overseer's expression gradually firmed, and he said forcefully, "Once you officially become a Demon Slayer Corps member, such situations are countless. Most of the time, we are fighting demons stronger than ourselves."
"It has been this way since demons were born a thousand years ago. We have no choice..."