Deep in the mountains, a boy with deep red hair and crimson pupils stood gripping his sword, his breathing steady and focused. A scar marked the left side of his forehead, standing out starkly against his sweat-dampened skin.
At last—sensing the perfect opening—he swung.
With a single, decisive strike, the blade cleaved straight through the massive boulder before him.
The stone split cleanly in two.
For a moment, the boy simply stared at the result, disbelief flickering across his face.
Splitting that spherical boulder was the final trial set by Urokodaki Sakonji. In his eyes, anyone who couldn't accomplish this had no right to participate in the Demon Slayer Corps' entrance examination.
To defeat Kibutsuji Muzan, avenge his slain family, and restore his sister Nezuko to her original human form, Tanjiro knew he had no choice but to grow stronger. And the first step toward that goal was to join the Demon Slayer Corps—the organization dedicated to eradicating demons.
Tanjiro had already met every other requirement of Urokodaki Sakonji's harsh training. Yet this boulder had remained an immovable obstacle, blocking his path again and again.
Through relentless daily effort, however, he had finally mastered the technique.
And now, the stone lay split before him.
Recently, Nezuko had fallen into a deep, prolonged slumber, which only heightened Tanjiro's urgency to find a solution. Seeing his determination and success, Urokodaki Sakonji could no longer stop him.
With no further excuses, he allowed Tanjiro to depart for the Demon Slayer Corps examination.
Thus, the young boy set out on his journey.
Before Tanjiro left, Urokodaki Sakonji handed him a mask—proof of his lineage—as well as a spare Nichirin Blade.
Following the map given to him, Tanjiro eventually arrived at the examination site known as Mount Fujikasane.
Yet the place before him looked nothing like what Urokodaki Sakonji had described.
According to his master, Mount Fujikasane was a cage—a prison built to confine demons. Tanjiro had imagined something nightmarish, steeped in terror and despair.
But when he arrived, he found no such horror.
Instead, the foot of the mountain was breathtakingly beautiful.
Vibrant wisteria blossoms blanketed the area, their soft purple hues stretching as far as the eye could see. Beneath the flowers, a large crowd of young men and women—much like Tanjiro himself—had gathered to take the Demon Slayer Corps entrance exam.
Their numbers were at least twice what Urokodaki Sakonji had previously mentioned.
As his master had warned, the Demon Slayer Corps' exam was notoriously dangerous. Most swordsmen who lacked rigorous training had little to no real experience fighting demons, and for them, participation was practically a death sentence.
That was why, in most years, the number of examinees was small. Mastering Breathing Techniques and earning a mentor's approval were absolute prerequisites.
And yet, Tanjiro saw no such scarcity here.
The crowd was so dense it almost felt like a festival.
Listening closely to the murmurs around him, Tanjiro quickly grasped the reason.
The sudden surge in participants this year stemmed from rumors surrounding last year's entrance exam.
It was said that a monster-like individual had appeared during the previous examination—someone who single-handedly slaughtered every demon imprisoned on Mount Fujikasane, wiping out nearly a century's worth of captives.
As a result, the mountain had been left temporarily barren of demons.
Believing that this year's exam would therefore be far easier, many people had chosen to participate now.
"Hmph. A bunch of weaklings."
The scornful voice cut through the chatter.
"If you're so afraid of facing demons, why even show up? Do you really think the Demon Slayer Corps are idiots?"
"If you think the mountain hasn't been restocked with demons, you're delusional. If you're entering this exam with such a casual mindset, you might as well go home now—before you die without ever understanding what killed you."
The speaker was a boy with a dark, spiked mohawk and a hideous scar carved across his left cheek.
He was no ordinary examinee.
This was Genya Shinazugawa, the younger brother of the current Wind Pillar, Sanemi Shinazugawa.
The boys who had been gossiping earlier bristled with anger at Genya's harsh words.
But faced with his ferocious aura and the terrifying scars marring his face, none of them dared to confront him directly. In the end, one of them forced an awkward smile and shot back:
"You talk a big game—but isn't that exactly why you chose to take the exam this year?"
The retort was sharp, bordering on defiant.
After all, while the Demon Slayer Corps was undeniably dangerous, it offered extraordinary benefits in the current era.
Most people in society struggled just to secure enough food to survive. In contrast, Demon Slayer Corps members enjoyed generous待遇 and were respected wherever they went.
"I'm nothing like you trash," Genya snarled.
"What I'm going to do is exactly what that monster did last year—wipe out every demon on this mountain."
With those words, Genya Shinazugawa turned and walked away.
Despite his explosive temper and abrasive attitude, his intentions weren't truly malicious.
If those people entered Mount Fujikasane with such a careless mindset, they would almost certainly die.
Reaching up, Genya touched the gruesome scar that stretched from his cheek to the bridge of his nose. Dark memories surfaced, and his expression twisted with renewed fury and hatred.
Only those who had faced demons firsthand understood just how grotesque and inhuman they truly were—creatures that defied all common sense.
Though his goal had been to keep the unprepared from throwing their lives away, Genya's terrible personality ensured that his warning achieved the opposite effect, earning him nothing but resentment.
As the appointed time arrived, the Demon Slayer Corps' entrance exam began as scheduled.
The black-and-white-haired twin girls—the same ones who had greeted Ren Kuroda and his group the previous year—once again appeared before the assembled examinees.
Surveying the crowd, now more than twice the size of before, the twins delivered not only the rules of the exam, but an additional warning.
Their message echoed what Genya had said earlier.
They urged anyone who had come hoping to exploit an easier exam to withdraw immediately.
The situation on Mount Fujikasane was far from optimistic.
Thanks to the Pillars' efforts, the number of demons on the mountain had been replenished to a certain degree. While these newly captured demons lacked the accumulated resentment and ferocity of those imprisoned for decades, they were still vastly beyond the capabilities of ordinary humans.
Especially the demons captured by the so-called "Demon Pillars."
Some of them were even comparable to the former ruler of Mount Fujikasane—the infamous Hand Demon.
Against such creatures, not only would ordinary people stand no chance, but even novice demon slayers who had mastered Breathing Techniques might fail to survive.