Kyoujurou ate all thirty lunch boxes consecutively. The battle on the Infinity Train had greatly depleted his strength, and for the past two days, while unconscious, he could only receive nutrient solutions. Now that he had woken up, he was indeed very hungry.
Of course, more importantly, he didn't want to waste the little girl's kind intentions.
"Xiao Yang, could I ask a favor of you?"
Chiba Yo finished cleaning up the lunchbox and heard Kyoujurou speak to him.
"Please tell me, Teacher. I will absolutely not decline," Chiba Yo replied earnestly upon hearing this.
"I carried out this mission with those three youths. Along the way, I promised to take those three youths as my Tsuguko and guide them in their training. However, my current physical condition is not very good, so I would like you to guide them for a period of time in my stead."
Kyoujurou said to Chiba Yo.
"Is Teacher talking about Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and Inosuke?"
Chiba Yo asked Kyoujurou upon hearing this. He was not yet clear on the specifics of Kyoujurou's mission this time, only having gathered a general idea from what the Master had just said.
"Mm-hmm," Kyoujurou nodded.
"Okay, I will guide them well during this time. Since Teacher has taken them as Tsuguko, then they are also my junior disciples. I will take good care of them," Chiba Yo replied with a smile.
Thinking about becoming the senior disciple to Tanjirou and the others, Chiba Yo felt a bit of anticipation. He had never truly guided anyone in training before and didn't know what it would feel like.
"Thank you," Kyoujurou smiled and said to Chiba Yo.
...
After a while, Kyoujurou fell asleep. Seeing this, Chiba Yo quietly walked out of the ward and closed the door.
Recalling Kyoujurou's entrustment just now and the truth about Hinokami Kagura he had learned from Tamayo earlier, Chiba Yo decided to go find Tanjirou and the others.
...
On the training ground, Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were diligently training.
Tanjirou was doing push-ups on the ground, Inosuke was pulling large rocks with a rope, and even Zenitsu, who was usually lazier, was running to practice his speed.
"Charge! Charge!"
Inosuke shouted loudly while pulling the rocks, his heart filled with unwillingness. As an extremely competitive person, he had been completely unable to help during the final encounter with the Upper Rank demon on this mission, not even having the qualification to intervene in the battle, which made him feel extremely pained.
When he saw Kyoujurou being carried away by the Hidden members, he swore to train desperately to become stronger, and he immediately began training upon his return.
Tanjirou and Zenitsu were largely the same, feeling unwilling because they couldn't help.
"Tanjirou, Zenitsu, Inosuke, stop for a moment."
Chiba Yo, who had arrived at the training ground, called out to the three.
Upon hearing his voice, the three stopped.
"Chiba-san, what do you want? Say it quickly, we still need to train," Inosuke snorted, speaking to Chiba Yo with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"Teacher has asked me to train you for a period of time. Do you want to start now, or rest for a day and start tomorrow?" Chiba Yo directly stated his purpose, speaking to the three.
"Teacher? What's that?" Inosuke asked, somewhat confused.
Tanjirou, who was nearby, reacted upon hearing this and asked Chiba Yo with some surprise, "Has Rengoku-san woken up already?"
"What! That amazing Big-Eyed Grumpy guy woke up?" Inosuke asked in surprise after hearing Tanjirou's words.
Kyoujurou's strength displayed on the Infinity Train had also impressed him.
"Really?" Zenitsu also leaned over and asked.
On the Infinity Train, he had mostly been sleeping the entire time, and by the time he woke up, it was almost dawn. He wasn't quite clear on what had happened; he only learned the specific details from Tanjirou later.
"Mm-hmm," Chiba Yo nodded with a smile.
"That's great..." Tanjirou said happily upon hearing this, and then he asked Chiba Yo, "Can I go visit Rengoku-san?"
"I want to go too!" Inosuke immediately raised his hand upon hearing this.
"Me too!" Zenitsu also followed suit.
Chiba Yo shook his head at them and said, "Teacher is already asleep now. If you want to visit him, you can wait until tomorrow."
"Alright then." Upon hearing Chiba Yo's words, Tanjirou expressed his understanding, and then he answered the question Chiba Yo had initially asked them.
"Let's start training now. I want to become even stronger!"
"At the very least, I want to have the strength to help Rengoku-san and the others. I don't want to be able to do nothing but just watch from the sidelines anymore..." Tanjirou said to Chiba Yo with determination.
"What about you two?"
Chiba Yo was not surprised by Tanjirou's reaction. He then turned to Zenitsu and Inosuke and asked.
"I also want to start training today, but your training won't be too harsh, Yo, will it?" Zenitsu asked with some concern.
He had never heard of Chiba Yo guiding others in training before, so he felt a bit uneasy.
"Of course, it won't be too harsh. I will start with the minimum standard and gradually increase it to find the most suitable training volume you can handle. At the same time, I will also guide your sword techniques and Breathing Technique," Chiba Yo replied to Zenitsu.
When he said this, he actually omitted a sentence: using himself as a reference.
Upon hearing Chiba Yo's words, Zenitsu relaxed and said with some admiration, "I didn't expect you to be quite professional!"
"This is my first time trying to guide others in training. I hope I can help you all become stronger," Chiba Yo said somewhat shyly upon hearing Zenitsu's praise.
"Hmph hmph hmph hmph, the competition between the two of us hasn't happened yet. If you can't beat me, don't expect me to listen to you!" Inosuke said to Chiba Yo, putting his hands on his hips.
Upon hearing his words, Chiba Yo also remembered this matter. Earlier, when Inosuke learned that he was a Hashira, he proposed a competition with him, the content of which seemed to be speed. At that time, he wanted to talk to Tanjirou about Hinokami Kagura, so he didn't agree. Now that Inosuke brought it up again, he naturally couldn't refuse.
"Okay, then let's start the competition now. Do you chase me or do I chase you?" Chiba Yo said to Inosuke.
"Of course, you chase me! I, Inosuke, the King of the Mountains, will definitely not be touched by you!" Inosuke said to Chiba Yo, putting his left hand on his hip and pointing his right thumb at himself.
"Then you call out 'start'," Chiba Yo said to Inosuke upon hearing this.
"Start! Ha..."
Inosuke had just shouted "start" and was about to run directly into the distance, but before he could take a step, he felt a hand already on his shoulder.
"This should be enough, right?"
A familiar voice came from behind.
Inosuke felt a similar sensation to when Giyuu had tied him up last time, but this time it was even more terrifying. His normally superior perception now had no effect whatsoever; even though he now clearly knew Chiba Yo was behind him, he still couldn't sense him.
Tanjirou and Zenitsu, who were standing by, intending to watch the competition, hadn't even reacted before the competition was already over.