Chapter 23 — Minami no Hiroshi's Last Wish × The First Glimpse of Nen's Nature Transformation
"Posthumous Nen"—as the name implies, it only manifests after death.
For example, the Kakin Empire's Second Prince, Camilla Hui Guo Rou: her Nen ability, Million Lives Cat, activates passively upon death, seizing the killer's life to resurrect her.
Or Neferpitou, the Chimera Ant's "cat-girl," who, even after being slain by a blackened Gon, unleashed Posthumous Nen. Through Doctor Blythe, she manipulated her headless corpse to stall Gon from pursuing the King, only ceasing once her body was destroyed beyond repair.
Or the collected abilities in Chrollo's arsenal—among them, the Posthumous Nen ability Lovely Ghostwriter…
Or Hisoka's self-resurrection, achieved by forcing his aura to restart his own heart.
In short: Posthumous Nen is terrifyingly flexible. It can rescue oneself, or it can curse and retaliate against others. Its hallmarks are always the same—obsession, intensity, willpower.
But the man before them did not fit this mold.
First: Minami no Hiroshi was just an ordinary traveling merchant, not a Nen user.
Second: this was the Demon Slayer world, a realm where Nen did not exist. As a local "native," there was no way he could touch Nen unaided—unless guided by Roy.
That left only one possibility—
He was a fragment of soul.
The soul: the immaterial essence, the distillation of a human's will and spirit made manifest beyond the body.
This truth revealed itself when Tanjiro instinctively tried to help Minami to his feet—only for his hands to pass straight through the man's body.
Ghost… is he another kind of demon?
Tanjiro froze. After facing corporeal fiends like Sato Takeichiro and Tsuchihara, this incorporeal "ghost" left him at a loss for words.
But Minami no Hiroshi himself was calm. Perhaps it was the natural temperament of a merchant who'd wandered the land for years, skilled in smiling through every storm. He chuckled warmly:
"My benefactor need not trouble himself. To die to a demon's fangs and still glimpse the world one last time—it is already fortune enough."
As he spoke, his form wavered. The cold wind thinned his outline further, threatening to scatter him like mist.
"Niisan, he's… he's fading!" Tanjiro cried, panic-stricken.
He had seen too many bones tonight. He could not bear to watch another "life" vanish.
But—was this still life?
Roy fell into thought.
Silently, he wrapped Nen around his right hand and, imitating Tanjiro, reached to lift Minami.
And to their astonishment—he succeeded.
For an instant, Minami no Hiroshi's phantom gained weight and shape, as though given a body once more.
Eyes wide with shock, Minami bowed low. "Thank you, benefactor. I feel… steadier now."
Tanjiro gasped in delight, circling him like a child around a festival lantern. "Niisan, look! He really feels solid now!"
But Roy said nothing. He could feel it—his Nen was being drained.
Minami could only remain so long as Roy supplied him with aura. Once that flow ceased, dissolution would be inevitable.
At its core, Nen is born of the triad of spirit, aura, and mind. It reflects emotion, will, and personality—the intangible "volume" that defines a human being.
In short: it is a system of "Values" and "Mechanisms"—a power of human reckoning made real.
So it's because of Nen that I can touch a soul?
Roy's eyes narrowed in realization.
At that moment, his "panel" flickered.
Beneath Nen Shape Manipulation, a new line appeared—
Nen Nature Transformation.
Roy stiffened. Was this… a reward for slaying demons?
He remembered that in his great grandfather's (zigg's) notes given by Maha, nature transformation was mentioned once, but never detailed. Perhaps the old man believed that until Roy fully opened his aura nodes and systematically trained his Nen, delving too deeply into nature transformation was premature.
And so, he had been given only half the path.
But…
What Maha could never have imagined—Roy's Nen ability was "The Gate of Cognition."
From the very first dream, he had been walking deeper and deeper into its mysteries, exploring and developing his own Nen step by step.
And now came the question—
When I return… should I ask him for the missing half of the manual on "Nen Nature Transformation"?
Roy pondered for a few seconds, then shook his head inwardly. No hurry.
Food is eaten one bite at a time. Roads are walked one step after another. Right now, what mattered most was strengthening his aura reserves, and fully mastering the Breath of the Sun—especially how to maintain "Total Concentration Breathing."
Countless thoughts flickered through his mind before he pulled himself back to the present. He turned to Hiroshi and said bluntly:
"Don't thank me. You will still disappear."
The merchant was no Nen user. His body had been destroyed beyond recovery. There was no chance for "Posthumous Nen" to resurrect him.
The wisp of soul remaining was held together only by Roy's aura—and Roy could not forever supply energy to sustain a stranger.
"I already said—being able to see the world once more is fortune enough." Hiroshi smiled faintly.
"But if you vanish… you'll be gone for good!" Tanjiro blurted out, anxious at the man's calm resignation.
"Quiet." Roy shot him a sharp glare.
Then, with steady eyes, he regarded the kneeling merchant. To still have such serenity at the edge of oblivion—Roy found himself, in spite of everything, respecting the man.
"You truly are an optimist," he said evenly. "If you still have unfinished business… speak. If it's within our power, we brothers will see it done."
Tanjiro immediately added, "Yes! I'll help too—" then quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, sneaking a sideways glance at Roy in case he had said too much.
But this time, Roy let it pass.
"There is one thing," Hiroshi said at last. He gazed toward Mt. Sagiri, its slopes draped in snow like a bridal veil. His knees buckled, and he once again prostrated himself before Roy.
"I beg of you, benefactor—let me see my daughter one last time. Then, I can leave without regret."
Roy's expression did not shift. "How old is your daughter?"
"A year and a half."
"Does she call you father yet?"
"She does." The man's face softened into pure happiness. "Every time I return home, she runs to me and presses her little body against my chest, shouting 'Papa, Papa,' drooling all over my face…"
His voice trembled, but he pressed on:
"I dreamed of braiding her hair into little pigtails when she grew a bit older… of taking her to Tokyo, letting her taste famous rice dumplings… stopping by the Muto family's children's shop, buying her beautiful dresses, watching her smile at her own reflection in the mirror…"
Hiroshi spoke and spoke, as if he would never run out of words.
Roy did not interrupt. He simply listened in silence.
Beside him, Tanjiro could no longer hold back his tears, his cheeks streaming.
The dying demon Tsuchihara's final cry—"This damned world!"—echoed suddenly in Tanjiro's ears.
He found his hand drifting unconsciously to the axe at his waist.
The blade caught a sliver of moonlight.
A sharp, icy gleam flashed across its edge.