Chapter 19: Selection's End
"You coward! You're actually still alive! I heard you fainted the moment you saw a demon and had to be carried around on someone's back. What a useless burden!"
A young man who harbored disdain for the timid Zenitsu jumped forward and taunted him openly.
Zenitsu remained surprisingly unmoved by the mockery. Instead, he replied calmly, "Aren't you all just the same? Hiding in the safe zone marked by Hakuya-senpai's carvings? If it weren't for Hakuya-senpai, you'd all be dead by now!"
"You little brat! Come fight me if you've got the guts!" The young man who had initially taunted Zenitsu flew into a rage upon hearing his retort.
"This coward's got some nerve!"
"Damn it! So arrogant! Don't hold me back—I'll beat him senseless!"
Several other young men, their pride wounded by Zenitsu's words, stepped forward aggressively.
Immediately, five or six young men surrounded Zenitsu, clearly looking for a fight.
Seeing this escalation, Zenitsu quickly retreated behind Tanjiro and pleaded desperately, "Tanjiro! These guys are trying to gang up on me! You can't just stand there and watch!"
"Zenitsu's right. You have no right to criticize him!" Murata spoke up in Zenitsu's defense.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Tanjiro stepped forward and said firmly, "Why are you picking on someone weaker than you? If you're such great fighters, go battle demons instead!"
Tanjiro's words immediately cooled the hotheaded young men's tempers.
Of course, their fear wasn't of Tanjiro himself, but of Hakuya. Since Tanjiro and Hakuya were fellow disciples under Urokodaki, they naturally didn't dare show disrespect to Tanjiro.
"My, what a lively scene we have here."
Hakuya's calm voice rang out clearly.
Everyone turned to look and saw Hakuya, who had appeared seemingly from nowhere, approaching Tanjiro and the others.
Upon seeing Hakuya's approach, the aggressive young men immediately took several fearful steps backward.
"Hakuya-senpai!" Tanjiro called out joyfully. After so many days, Hakuya had finally returned.
The moment Zenitsu spotted Hakuya, he immediately grabbed onto his legs and wailed, "Hakuya-senpai, you're finally back! If you hadn't returned, they would have beaten up me, Tanjiro, and Murata!"
"I understand. You can let go now," Hakuya said with measured calm.
As soon as he spoke, Zenitsu quickly released him, then stood behind him and made faces at the troublemakers.
The troublemakers, seeing Zenitsu's smug expression, were absolutely furious! But with the formidable Hakuya standing right there, they didn't dare act rashly.
"It seems you've all recovered quite well if you have energy for fighting. Would you like me to find a few demons for you to practice on?" Hakuya said, sizing up the troublemakers with an evaluating gaze.
Upon hearing this suggestion, the troublemakers immediately backpedaled with awkward excuses.
"Hakuya-senpai, you're joking! I'm still injured and haven't fully recovered, so I'll pass!"
"Yeah, yeah, my leg isn't very flexible yet, so I'd better not!"
"That's right! We haven't completely healed yet."
"Then get back in line and stay quiet," Hakuya suddenly said with authority, his tone brooking no argument.
The sharp command scared the troublemakers so badly they flinched, finally retreating back into the crowd in frustration.
With Hakuya present, the situation that had threatened to spiral out of control was quickly brought under management, and no one dared cause further trouble.
"Hakuya-senpai, have all the demons been eliminated?" Tanjiro asked curiously, moving past the earlier incident.
Hakuya nodded and answered simply, "Every last one."
Just before sunrise on the seventh day, Hakuya had finally slain the last demon on Mount Fujikasane and received notification of his mission completion.
The system had rewarded him with knowledge of Wood Breathing techniques and an upgraded ability called D-rank Demon Devourer, which would allow him to absorb Blood Demon Arts from demons he killed—though only while in a demonized state, not under normal circumstances.
Demons possessing Blood Demon Arts were on an entirely different power level than the common demons Hakuya had slain on Mount Fujikasane. They were far more dangerous opponents.
Blood Demon Arts were unique supernatural abilities that demons evolved over time. These techniques varied wildly, and each demon's Blood Demon Art was completely unique to them.
Since Hakuya had only encountered basic demons so far, he wasn't yet familiar with these more advanced abilities.
Afterward, Hakuya chose not to remain with the larger group, instead taking Tanjiro and the others to a quieter location.
"Hakuya-senpai, now that all the demons have been eliminated, what should we do next?" Tanjiro asked once they'd settled down.
"Wait until the seven days are complete and the selection officially ends," Hakuya replied calmly.
The following days passed peacefully. During this time, Murata—being the weakest physically—took charge of preparing meals. With nothing else demanding their attention, Tanjiro practiced his Water Breathing forms repeatedly. Whenever he encountered difficulties, he would ask Hakuya for guidance.
Besides instructing Tanjiro, Hakuya devoted himself to studying the Wood Breathing techniques he'd received. Since the system had only provided the basic knowledge, Hakuya wasn't yet certain whether it had its own unique forms like Water Breathing did.
Time passed swiftly, and the seven days concluded.
As the morning sun began rising on the final day, Hakuya led Tanjiro and the others down the mountain.
A sizable crowd had already gathered at the mountain's base—most of whom had survived Final Selection thanks to Hakuya's intervention.
However, Hakuya didn't dwell on this fact; he had simply been fulfilling his mission objectives.
Upon seeing Hakuya arrive, the young men whose lives he'd saved parted respectfully, their expressions filled with awe.
Hakuya's presence commanded the same reverence one might show a visiting dignitary.
Tanjiro, glancing around the gathered participants, immediately spotted the lone girl who had come to participate in the selection.
Relief washed over him—she had survived after all!
Hakuya also noticed the young woman and thought to himself, "She must have been hiding extremely well. I searched all over Mount Fujikasane and never found her."
This time, Hakuya chose not to approach her.
"Welcome back!"
Two gentle voices rang out as a pair of identical twin children emerged from beneath the wisteria trees.
The twin children—both with distinctive features and formal kimonos—walked before the crowd and continued in unison: "Congratulations to all of you. You have successfully passed Final Selection."
As the twins made their announcement, Hakuya's system notification sounded in his mind, confirming mission completion and distributing rewards—including an upgraded mastery of Water Breathing's Tenth Form and a unique Time Reversal Item that could reverse time within a thousand-meter radius.
"Enough talk! What happens next? Where's my sword?"
A young man with an aggressive mohawk hairstyle—his hair shaved completely on both sides with only the center remaining—spoke impatiently. His fierce appearance was accentuated by a prominent scar under his right eye.
Hakuya's attention was drawn to this rude interruption. After a quick assessment, he realized this wasn't one of the participants he had rescued.
"First, we will provide you with Demon Slayer Corps uniforms. We need to take your measurements and have your rank engraved," one twin explained.
"There are ten ranks in total," the other continued.
"From lowest to highest: Mizunoto, Mizunoe, Kanoto, Kanoe, Tsuchinoto, Tsuchinoe, Hinoto, Hinoe, Kinoto, and Kinoe."
"All of you currently hold the lowest rank: Mizunoto."
The twins continued their explanation, alternating speakers seamlessly.
"I asked you where my sword is!" the mohawked youth interrupted even more impatiently.
The twin children didn't acknowledge his rudeness but continued with their prepared remarks: "Today, each of you will select the tamahagane ore for forging your Nichirin blade. However, it will take ten to fifteen days before your swords are completed."
"Until then—" the white-haired twin said, clapping their hands.
Numerous crows suddenly flew out from beneath the wisteria trees. They circled overhead before descending to land on the shoulders of their designated owners.
"From this moment forward, these Kasugai crows will accompany you."
"The crows serve primarily as messengers. All mission assignments and information will be relayed to you through your crows."
The twins concluded their explanation.
Hakuya observed the crow that had landed quietly on his shoulder and couldn't help reaching up to gently stroke its feathers.
Zenitsu looked at the small sparrow perched on his own shoulder, then said in confusion, "A crow? But this is clearly a sparrow!"
"Stop with the nonsense!"
At this point, the mohawked youth became completely impatient. He roughly shooed away his assigned crow, then strode toward the twin children with visible anger.
"I don't care about crows! I want my Nichirin blade now! The color-changing sword used by the Demon Slayer Corps!" The youth shouted angrily, then grabbed the white-haired child's hair and yanked hard.
The white-haired child showed absolutely no reaction or emotion, allowing the mohawked youth to pull their hair as if they were an emotionless doll.
At that moment, a new system notification appeared in Hakuya's mind—a mission to rescue one of Master Ubuyashiki's children, with both a significant reward and an equally significant penalty for failure.
Without a moment's hesitation, Hakuya moved. He appeared instantly before the mohawked youth, grabbed his wrist, and applied pressure—breaking it with a audible crack.
The youth immediately released the child's hair and howled in pain over his broken wrist.
Hakuya didn't spare the aggressive youth a second glance. Instead, he focused his attention on the white-haired child before him.
He reached out gently and smoothed their disheveled hair back into place. Then, with surprising tenderness in his voice, he said, "When you're older, I'll make you my wife."
Hakuya's gentle tone combined with his boldly possessive words caused the young child's eyes to widen as they gazed up at him.
The system immediately confirmed his mission success.
Tanjiro had initially thought Hakuya was simply defending the child from abuse, but he never expected his senior to follow up with a marriage proposal. He truly didn't know what to say about this situation!
The child is still so young! It will be over ten years before they're grown! By then, you'll be a fully grown man in your twenties!
The white-haired child nodded solemnly to Hakuya, as if accepting his declaration.
The black-haired twin looked at Hakuya and their sibling quietly but said nothing.
Seeing this exchange, many in the crowd felt both envious and jealous. No one had expected Hakuya to actually win over one of Master Ubuyashiki's children.
Zenitsu, being extremely envious of Hakuya and obsessed with finding someone to marry, decided to imitate him. He approached the other twin with black hair and declared: "When you grow up, I'll make you my wife too, just like Hakuya-senpai did! Please marry me! I really, truly like you!"
Seeing Zenitsu's attempt at imitation, the crowd couldn't help but snicker and mock him. Those voices seemed to say: You're just a coward who wants to copy the great Hakuya? You're seriously overestimating yourself!
The black-haired child showed absolutely no emotion at Zenitsu's confession, simply staring at him quietly like an expressionless doll.
Just as Zenitsu eagerly anticipated a response, the black-haired child stated flatly, "I'm a boy. I cannot become your wife."
"I'm a boy. I cannot become your wife."
"I'm a boy. I cannot become your wife."
These words repeated over and over in Zenitsu's mind, his mental world shattered as if struck by lightning.
"That's impossible!" Zenitsu nearly choked.
Unable to accept this devastating truth, Zenitsu immediately stumbled back to Tanjiro and Murata, crying dramatically, "Tanjiro! Murata! I'm dying! He's actually a boy! A boy! Waaahhh!"
Everyone present was equally shocked by the black-haired child's revelation. Who could have imagined that such an adorable child—even wearing a traditional girl's kimono—was actually male?
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