Inside the wooden house at the foot of the mountain, Nezuko lay to one side, snoring loudly in her sleep.
Urokodaki and Chika sat facing each other, the atmosphere between them somewhat subtle.
“Girl, could you take off your clothes?”
“Huh?”
Even though Chika was mentally prepared, these words made her heart skip a beat, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly.
Old man Urokodaki, although…
but…
you are…
“Do you want to check the wounds on my body?
This much should be enough, right?” Chika naturally didn’t think Old Man Urokodaki was a pervert trying to make a move on her.
She reached out and slightly pulled down a corner of her clothing, revealing one shoulder.
A very prominent wound that extended down into the covered area was already visible.
Under his mask, Urokodaki’s eyes flickered slightly.
Although he had roughly guessed the extent of the young girl’s injuries, this wound was simply too severe.
If a normal person had suffered an injury of this magnitude, they probably wouldn’t even be able to crawl out of bed; the aura they emitted should have been much weaker.
Urokodaki continued to stare at the wound, and he actually felt as if it was already showing signs of faint self-healing.
“Incredible, incredible.
Girl, your wound seems to be healing itself.
It will be completely healed before long, and perhaps not even a scar will remain…
This kind of self-healing ability is absolutely not something a human can achieve.”
“So?”
“I suspect that your body might have undergone a special change, just like your sister Nezuko.
You do not fear sunlight, and if you have no strong desire for blood and humans, then this change is simply too…”
Urokodaki did not continue, because he felt like he was about to lose his composure.
But he couldn’t be blamed.
After all, this situation was truly too rare.
Demons gained powerful abilities far beyond humans, but the price was an unbearable bloodlust and being reduced to ash when exposed to the sun.
But the girl before him possessed a recovery ability stronger than a human’s, yet she did not fear the sun and seemed to have no bloodlust like a demon.
This change could almost be described as ‘evolution’.
Humans and demons had fought for a thousand years, and humans had always been suppressed because demons could inflict severe or even fatal wounds, while the damage humans dealt to demons could be quickly recovered.
Even if they eventually defeated a demon, the heavily injured members of the Demon Slayer Corps were very likely to retire or even die.
If this was true evolution, and if it could be promoted to the entire Demon Slayer Corps, then perhaps the disadvantage against demons over the past few centuries could be reversed.
Of course, if this evolution was achieved through demon blood, many in the Demon Slayer Corps would surely reject it.
It still required careful consideration…
Although Urokodaki was wearing a mask, Chika could guess what kind of expression he probably had on his face.
Her body was indeed very strange.
The wounds were healing themselves, the pain was not obvious, she didn’t fear sunlight, and she had no bloodlust at all.
Although her body still had some difficulty moving freely like a normal person, Chika had a special feeling that a ‘power’ beyond her imagination might be hidden within this seemingly weak body.
A few hours later.
The sound of “Thud!
Thud!
Thud!” footsteps came from outside the wooden house.
The door was pulled open, and Tanjirou walked in, panting heavily.
Drops of blood flowed from the forehead of the iron-headed boy.
“I…
I’m back…”
After Tanjirou finished speaking, he lay weakly on the floor of the wooden house.
Urokodaki turned to look at Tanjirou and then glanced out the window to judge the time.
Truly surprising.
He didn’t expect the boy to pass the test so quickly.
A young boy with a powerful conviction, a demon girl who turned into a demon but restrained her bloodlust, and a girl who seemed to have achieved evolution and was impossible to see through.
These three…
interesting.
“Then let’s begin the training tomorrow.”
The next day.
Tanjirou climbed out of bed early.
Urokodaki began to teach Tanjirou knowledge about demons and humans.
Tanjirou listened very seriously, occasionally showing a surprised expression, and would even take notes when encountering things that were difficult to understand.
Chika sat nearby to listen as well.
Although she already knew the knowledge Urokodaki was teaching, it was still necessary to put on an act.
With the theoretical knowledge finished, next came the practice of physical techniques.
Urokodaki constantly set traps on the mountain for Tanjirou to navigate, the faster the better.
Once he reached the target, Tanjirou was given a sword to simulate future combat scenarios.
For these practical sessions, Chika could only watch from the sidelines because her body hadn’t fully recovered.
However, the speed of her recovery was already quite fast—or rather, the recovery speed was increasing day by day.
In just one short week, the wounds on Chika’s body didn’t even leave a scar.
She felt that she should be able to rid herself of the constraints of the wheelchair.
After Tanjirou successfully completed the training stage of the mountain traps, he began his formal practice in using the sword.
On this day, Chika stood up from the wheelchair and walked step by step toward Urokodaki and Tanjirou.
“Can you include me?”
Hearing Chika’s voice, Tanjirou snapped his head around to look at her, so startled that he almost dropped the sword in his hand.
He said flusteredly, “Sister!
Why are you standing up?
The wheelchair…
the wheel—!”
Bang!
Before Tanjirou could finish, an iron fist of love slammed hard into his iron head, which even demons called hard.
Tanjirou’s words came to an abrupt halt, and he covered his forehead with both hands, stumbling back two steps.
“Stop talking about the wheelchair all day, okay?
It’s been a week already.
I can’t stay in a wheelchair forever, right?” Chika said indifferently.
Tanjirou blinked blankly.
Was it normal for such a severe injury to heal in a week to the point of not needing a wheelchair?
Urokodaki looked at Chika, who had stood up from the wheelchair, a glimmer of light appearing in his eyes beneath the mask.
At this moment, Chika didn’t look like someone who had been severely injured a short while ago.
Her complexion was rosy, and her hair was more reddish compared to the brown hair of Tanjirou and Nezuko.
In terms of appearance, she was a different type of great beauty compared to Nezuko.
Of course, being a beauty had nothing to do with becoming a member of the Demon Slayer Corps.
After all, the Insect Hashira and Love Hashira in the Corps were also beauties.
The Demon Slayer Corps did not judge based on appearance or gender; the only criteria for evaluation were’strength’ and ‘resolve’.
“Then you can practice along with Tanjirou.”
He had just given Tanjirou a sword, and Urokodaki still had a blade on him used for demonstrating sword techniques.
He could just let Chika use it later.
Since the students were ready, Urokodaki didn’t waste any more time.
Before teaching the two of them ‘Water Breathing’, Urokodaki wanted to impart basic swordsmanship to them to build a good foundation for their future techniques.
Urokodaki estimated that he would need to teach for about two years, but when he actually started teaching, the time it took to reach the point where there was nothing left to teach was far beyond his expectations…