Chapter 14: Hakuya's Hunt
Tanjiro and Zenitsu Agatsuma then ventured deeper into Mount Fujikasane, asking each other questions about their backgrounds.
As they chatted, they gradually became acquainted.
Unbeknownst to them, Hakuya—now acting alone—had, through his influence, brought forward the timeline of Zenitsu Agatsuma and Tanjiro's meeting.
From this point on, the story's trajectory began to shift.
Having already entered the deeper parts of Mount Fujikasane, Hakuya soon encountered a demon blocking his path.
This demon had been imprisoned on the mountain for quite some time and was ravenous for human flesh.
Upon seeing Hakuya, the demon's drool flowed uncontrollably, its disgusting appearance utterly revolting.
Hakuya paused, saying with obvious disgust, "What a revolting creature."
"The Demon Slayer Corps finally brought me fresh food! The smell is making my mouth water!" The demon, regarding Hakuya as prey to be devoured, couldn't help but let out a horrifying laugh.
However, the next moment, the demon's laughter abruptly ceased, and Hakuya appeared behind it.
"Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash."
Hakuya spoke calmly, resheathing his Nichirin sword.
The next second, the demon's head tumbled to the ground. In its final moments, fear and disbelief filled its eyes.
"How could you be so powerful...?"
With the demon's final words, its body and head quickly turned to ash, completely vanishing from this world.
After dispatching the demon, Hakuya carved a water ripple mark on a nearby tree trunk.
Then Hakuya continued searching for his next target. Following the mini-map provided by his system, he quickly headed for the nearest red dot.
The demons of Mount Fujikasane were marked with red dots on his system's minimap. With this assistance, Hakuya no longer had to search for targets aimlessly.
However, the minimap wasn't available twenty-four hours a day—only during the nighttime hours when demons were active.
Hakuya suspected this was a system feature designed to prevent him from hunting demons during the day. After all, demons feared sunlight and hid during daylight hours. If Hakuya could use the radar minimap to find them then, they'd have nowhere to escape, becoming nothing more than sitting ducks.
It seemed his system didn't want him completing the mission too easily, limiting his active hunting to nighttime.
Of course, Hakuya could have chosen to search during the day, but without the radar minimap, it would have been nearly impossible to find any demons. Even if he could locate any, he'd probably only find one or two at most.
Therefore, Hakuya naturally wouldn't exhaust himself to that extent.
"Don't come near me! I don't want to be eaten!" By the time Hakuya arrived at the next location, a demon had already tackled a young man and was biting mercilessly at his neck.
At this critical moment, Hakuya leaped into the air and executed Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel. His Nichirin sword traced a perfect circular arc, water droplets visibly following the blade's path. Then the demon's neck was severed cleanly by the technique.
The demon, about to devour the young man, was instantly reduced to ash, and the young man was spared from being eaten.
Although Hakuya's intervention saved a life, the boy had still been bitten on the neck, and blood immediately flowed down, staining his clothes red.
Hakuya didn't show excessive concern for the injured boy. He simply looked down at him and asked calmly, "You're not going to die, are you?"
The boy looked up at Hakuya in astonishment. He still remembered him—after all, Hakuya had demonstrated his skill in front of everyone at the start, shocking all the participants.
The boy shook his head and said, "Thank you!"
"If you want to survive, stay near areas where I've marked the tree trunks with water ripples," Hakuya said calmly.
With that, Hakuya continued on to his next target.
"Am I really still this weak?" The boy watched Hakuya leave, gaining a new understanding of his own limitations.
In the following hours, one demon after another fell to Hakuya's Nichirin blade. It wasn't that Hakuya was extraordinarily strong—it was that the demons used for the selection trial were relatively weak. Because they were imprisoned here, these demons naturally had fewer humans to prey upon, so their strength couldn't increase.
During this time, Hakuya didn't encounter the petite girl he'd approached earlier. This struck him as somewhat unusual, since he'd been systematically sweeping the mountain for demons, so crossing paths was likely.
After all, Hakuya had encountered nearly everyone who had come to participate in Final Selection, including Tanjiro multiple times—but the mysterious girl remained elusive.
Whenever Hakuya spotted Tanjiro, he chose to avoid him, so the two never truly met face-to-face. Hakuya wanted Tanjiro to confront the demons on his own, to experience what he needed to experience.
The night's hunt soon ended, and as the sun rose, the remaining demons retreated into the depths of Mount Fujikasane.
Hakuya had spent the entire night clearing out a three-kilometer radius, and he assumed the remaining demons had retreated to the mountain's interior.
Because of Hakuya's cleanup that night, all the young people who had participated in Final Selection gathered together to discuss his motives.
Some believed Hakuya acted out of deep hatred for demons, actively seeking them out to satisfy his vengeance.
Others said Hakuya was trying to attract the attention of the Demon Slayer Corps leadership and secure better treatment within the organization.
Of course, all sorts of theories arose, and Hakuya's actions became the primary topic of discussion among the participants.
Tanjiro and Zenitsu Agatsuma happened upon the gathered group. Overhearing their discussion about Hakuya, Tanjiro began asking questions.
Seeing that Tanjiro also wore a similar warding mask, the young men naturally showed him great respect and shared what they knew.
"Tanjiro, your Hakuya-san is so amazing! We're all hiding for our lives, but he's out there actively hunting demons!" Zenitsu Agatsuma, hearing about Hakuya's exploits, exclaimed in admiration.
Tanjiro didn't respond to Zenitsu immediately. Upon learning of Hakuya's actions, he was both shocked and puzzled.
Why would Hakuya actively seek out demons to kill? Wouldn't it be enough to just survive seven days? Was he really pushing himself this hard? Or was he doing this to clear the path for everyone else's safety?
"Tanjiro, as long as Hakuya-senpai kills all the demons on Mount Fujikasane, we'll be completely safe!" Zenitsu Agatsuma was already imagining this perfect ending.
Tanjiro remained silent, choosing to ignore Zenitsu. After spending the entire night with him, Tanjiro had learned that Zenitsu wasn't just timid—he was also incredibly talkative.
So Tanjiro usually chose to tune out most of the nonsense that came out of Zenitsu's mouth.
However, now that Tanjiro knew Hakuya was doing something so dangerous, he couldn't help but worry about him.
"Zenitsu, we need to find Hakuya-senpai quickly!" Tanjiro said suddenly.
Hearing this, Zenitsu looked puzzled and asked, "Tanjiro, Hakuya-senpai is hunting demons everywhere. Why should we go looking for trouble? We might even get in his way!"
Tanjiro could tell that Zenitsu really didn't want to go with him, so he didn't force the issue. Instead, he said, "Fine then! You can stay with them, and I'll go find Hakuya-senpai alone!"
Seeing that Tanjiro was about to leave him behind, Zenitsu immediately panicked. After spending the night together, he'd developed a certain fondness for Tanjiro and had come to understand and trust his strength.
"Tanjiro, don't leave me! These people were only rescued by Hakuya-senpai—it's not safe to follow them. If I really encounter a demon, they can't protect me, and I still need to survive so I can find a girl to marry!" Zenitsu immediately grabbed onto Tanjiro, refusing to let him leave.
Zenitsu's words immediately irritated the surrounding young men. While what he said was true, they felt that even if they couldn't defeat a demon, it wasn't some coward's place to belittle them.
"What are you saying, you little brat? Believe it or not, I'll beat you up right now!"
"Coward! You're asking for a beating!"
"You coward, what right do you have to criticize us?"
Countless taunts rained down on Zenitsu, and the timid boy immediately retreated behind Tanjiro, saying fearfully, "Tanjiro, they're too scary! I don't want to follow them!"
Seeing this, Tanjiro realized that Zenitsu had earned the hatred of these young men. Furthermore, Zenitsu's words were actually true. If it hadn't been for Hakuya's cleanup and rescue the previous night, these recovering youths would have been devoured by demons.
Therefore, if Zenitsu followed them, he'd probably be bullied constantly.
"Everyone, listen. Since we're all gathered here anyway, why don't you all come with me to find Hakuya-senpai?" Tanjiro considered the idea of traveling as a group. If they all acted together, their chances of survival would be much higher. Even if they encountered a demon, they could all watch each other's backs.
Tanjiro's suggestion caused many to pause and think, and the atmosphere suddenly grew quiet. After experiencing life-and-death situations, they valued their own lives even more.
No one immediately responded to Tanjiro's call. Everyone wanted to stay in the safe zone marked by Hakuya's water ripple symbols and spend the remaining days in peace.
"Well, I'm injured. I'd just be a burden if I came along. Count me out!" A young man who was more seriously wounded was the first to respond.
Hearing this, Tanjiro looked at him. His right forearm—the one he'd used to hold his sword—was completely gone. The severed limb had been bandaged with strips of his own clothing, and the bleeding had stopped.
It had clearly been torn off by a demon the night before. He obviously wasn't in any condition to accompany Tanjiro in the search for Hakuya.
Tanjiro nodded without saying anything more.
With the first person speaking up, the other boys—all injured to varying degrees—refused Tanjiro's offer for similar reasons.
In the end, only a handful of young men with less serious injuries, strong personalities, and enough courage chose to join Tanjiro in his search for Hakuya.
After confirming who was following him, Tanjiro searched among the gathered participants for the lone girl who had made it to Final Selection.
After searching several times, Tanjiro still couldn't find her anywhere.
Could she not be among them? Where could she be? Or had something terrible happened to her? Had even Hakuya-senpai failed to save her?
Overwhelmed with sympathy, Tanjiro couldn't help but worry about the missing girl.
To speed up their search for Hakuya, the group took a brief rest and, taking advantage of the safety of daylight, set out on their quest.
Meanwhile, deep underground in a cavernous area beneath Mount Fujikasane, the demons gathered in pitch darkness.
Although the place was completely dark, the demons could see everything clearly.
A gigantic, grotesquely deformed demon slowly walked into the center of the underground space.
This demon was not only enormous but also covered in densely packed arms of all sizes—dozens upon dozens of human hands sprouting from its malformed body.
"What's going on? Why are you all gathered in my territory today?" the hand-covered demon asked leisurely.
Judging from its appearance and demeanor, this demon was clearly the most powerful one on Mount Fujikasane.
"Master Hand Demon, a ruthless individual joined the Demon Slayer Corps selection last night. Many of our kind met their end at his hands."
"That's right, Master Hand Demon! We're no match for him. Please, sir, help us eliminate him!"
"Please, Master Hand Demon!"
"Please, Master Hand Demon!"
After one demon explained the situation, all the demons gathered underground began pleading for assistance.
Upon hearing this, the Hand Demon scoffed and said, "You're a disgrace to demonkind! You can't even take out one little brat? Pathetic!"
"How powerful can some kid participating in Final Selection possibly be? Can't you all just work together to kill him?"
Faced with the Hand Demon's question, all the lesser demons fell silent.
When confronted by the more powerful Hand Demon, these weaker demons naturally didn't dare disobey. The relationships between demons weren't as harmonious as they might appear. If they weren't careful, these lesser demons could be killed or even devoured by the Hand Demon at any moment.
The air grew tense with silence. Suddenly, the Hand Demon remembered something and asked, "Is this boy wearing a fox-like warding mask?"
"Yes! Master Hand Demon, that incredibly powerful boy is indeed wearing a fox-like mask," replied one of the demons who had witnessed Hakuya's massacre the previous night.
Upon hearing this confirmation, the Hand Demon's sinister, eerie eyes suddenly filled with fury and murderous intent.
All the lesser demons were frightened by the Hand Demon's sudden change in mood, fearing he might erupt and take his anger out on them.
"So he's another one of that old Urokodaki's apprentices? What a stubborn, immortal fool!" the Hand Demon said with deep resentment.
The reason the Hand Demon resented Urokodaki Sakonji so deeply was because he had been imprisoned on Mount Fujikasane by Urokodaki himself.
Not long after transforming into a demon, the Hand Demon had been captured alive by Urokodaki Sakonji and brought to Mount Fujikasane to become one of the "examiners" for Final Selection. Fueled by resentment and hatred, the Hand Demon had devoured many of the young people who came to participate in Final Selection, including several of Urokodaki's early disciples.
It was because of this that the Hand Demon had become the most powerful demon on Mount Fujikasane and survived to this day.
"Tonight, all of you will come with me to destroy that brat! We'll massacre this entire selection group!" the Hand Demon immediately issued an order to all the demons gathered there to hunt down and kill Hakuya.
"Long live Master Hand Demon!"
"Long live Master Hand Demon!"
"Long live Master Hand Demon!"
From the caverns more than ten meters underground, triumphant cheers echoed from all the demons.
Meanwhile, Hakuya sat under the shade of a tree, munching on dried provisions, completely unaware that his actions had earned the hatred of every demon on Mount Fujikasane and that he'd become their primary target.
Hakuya simply waited for nightfall so he could continue completing the mission assigned by his system.
At the same time, Tanjiro continued searching for Hakuya, unaware that his actions were only bringing him closer to danger.
As night fell, Hakuya—who had been resting against a tree—opened his eyes and stood up.
The system's radar minimap had activated, but Hakuya didn't see any red dots on the display. He estimated it would take some time for the demons to fully emerge from their hiding places.
Meanwhile, Tanjiro had mistakenly assumed that Hakuya had ventured deeper into Mount Fujikasane to hunt demons, so he led his group further into the mountain's interior. What Tanjiro didn't know was that after killing demons the previous night, Hakuya had been resting in the safe zone marked by his water ripple carvings and hadn't chosen to go deeper into the mountain at all.
Because of this misunderstanding, Tanjiro and Hakuya completely missed each other.
"Tanjiro, is Hakuya-senpai deliberately avoiding us? We've been searching for him all day and can't find him! What are we going to do if we encounter a demon?" Zenitsu complained, exhausted.
Tanjiro wore a serious expression and didn't respond to Zenitsu's whining. Now that darkness had fallen and they still hadn't found Hakuya, Tanjiro began to doubt whether his decision had been a mistake.
Going so deep into Mount Fujikasane—if they encountered any danger, would he be able to handle it?
Just as he was questioning himself, Tanjiro caught an extremely strong scent—the unmistakable smell of demons.
"Something's coming!" Tanjiro said in a low, tense voice.
As soon as Tanjiro spoke, Zenitsu immediately hugged him tightly and shouted, "Tanjiro! Don't scare me like that!"
Tanjiro felt somewhat helpless, but he was obviously used to Zenitsu's reactions by now. He carefully analyzed the scent, only to realize that the source of the smell was rapidly approaching them.
As the smells drew closer, they became extremely complex—not like the scent of a single demon, but of many demons converging on their location.
"Run back down the mountain!" Tanjiro shouted immediately. There was no time to hesitate. The sense of danger flooding through his body made him act decisively.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, before anyone could take a single step, several dark shadows suddenly emerged from the trees and blocked their path.
"They've really—they've really appeared! Tanjiro! We're really going to get eaten this time!" Zenitsu cried out in horror and despair.
Tanjiro's face was grim as he ripped Zenitsu off him, yelling, "Zenitsu, pull yourself together! Now's not the time to fall apart! Get behind me!"
The other young men in the group also gritted their teeth in determination. Encountering five demons at once was crushing despair.
Facing just one demon had nearly killed them before, and now, confronting five at the same time, they would likely be devoured down to their very bones!
"There's more behind you, Tanjiro!" Zenitsu screamed at the top of his lungs.
Facing so many demons at once was a first for Zenitsu, and it was far more than his fragile nerves could handle.
Still screaming, Zenitsu finally couldn't take it anymore and fainted dead away.
Tanjiro spun around and saw several more demons appear behind them, completing the encirclement.
"We're really going to die here!" The young men who had followed Tanjiro to find Hakuya expressed their despair openly.
Tanjiro hadn't expected Zenitsu to faint from the shock of the scene, but he was too preoccupied to pay much attention. He could only kick Zenitsu's leg and yell, "Zenitsu, wake up! It's not time to sleep!"
However, Tanjiro's attempts failed to rouse Zenitsu, and after several tries, he decided to ignore him for the time being.
"Hehehe~ A fox mask! Looks like we found one!" The demons surrounding Tanjiro and his companions chuckled menacingly.
"Hold them here until Master Hand Demon arrives to deal with this one!" another demon commanded.
Meanwhile, Hakuya headed deeper into Mount Fujikasane, but after walking for quite some time, no demon markers appeared on his minimap, which struck him as very odd.
Could it be that his actions the previous night had actually frightened the demons? Were they now too afraid to come out and hunt?
Feeling somewhat helpless, Hakuya continued deeper into the mountain, trying to determine if the demons had hidden themselves in the deepest, most remote areas of Mount Fujikasane.
Hakuya was completely unaware that, due to his own actions, Tanjiro and the others were now in a desperately precarious situation. Tanjiro, in turn, had no idea that Zenitsu—who had followed him out of sheer terror of being left alone—was actually the key to turning the tide of this battle.
Surrounded by demons on all sides, Tanjiro felt an invisible, immense pressure weighing down on him, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
After several tense moments, Tanjiro realized that the demons didn't actually seem to be planning to attack immediately—it was as if they were waiting for something.
His instincts told him he needed to break this stalemate quickly, or else the situation would only worsen.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Tanjiro began to regulate his breathing and slowly unsheathed his Nichirin blade.
The moment Tanjiro drew his sword, the demons surrounding him and his group visibly flinched and took several steps backward.
Tanjiro saw this reaction clearly and was momentarily stunned. Were these demons actually afraid of him? But if they were afraid, why would they surround him in the first place?
Tanjiro's mind raced as a sudden flash of insight struck him.
These demons weren't afraid of him at all—they were actually afraid of his senior, Hakuya. Clearly, Hakuya's massacre the previous night had left a deep psychological scar on these demons, and seeing another person wearing Urokodaki's fox mask had triggered their fear.
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