"Caw! Caw!" A Kasugai Crow landed on the windowsill. Tanjirou looked over at the sound, and after hearing what the Kasugai Crow had to say, his face lit up with excitement. He ran to the training ground and told Inosuke, who was currently training:
"Inosuke! It seems like our newly reforged nichirin blades are arriving soon!"
"Really?!" Inosuke stopped his movements, equally thrilled.
"Ah! It's Mr. Haganezuka's scent!" His nose twitched slightly. Mr. Haganezuka's scent was getting closer and closer to the Butterfly Mansion. Tanjirou and Inosuke happily ran out of the Butterfly Mansion, and from a distance, they saw two people wearing funny, comical Hyottoko masks.
Haganezuka Hotaru had a straw hat on his head, its edge adorned with several wind chimes that made a crisp sound with every step he took.
"Hey! Hey there, Mr. Haganezuka!"
"How have you been... Eh?!" Tanjirou greeted the two, but Mr. Haganezuka suddenly pulled out a cleaver and charged at Tanjirou. Even with the mask on, his anger was palpable.
Tanjirou stiffened, sidestepped to dodge, and spoke in disbelief.
"Um... Mr. Haganezuka?"
"How dare you break my blade, you, you, you!" Mr. Haganezuka gripped the cleaver with both hands, the bulging eyes of his mask looking as if they would shoot fire at any second. His arms and the backs of his hands were covered in bulging veins, and immense fury surged towards Tanjirou.
"I'm so sorry! But I almost died too, and the opponent was very strong..." Tanjirou cautiously explained himself, but Haganezuka Hotaru wasn't listening at all. He poked Tanjirou's head forcefully with his finger, each poke harder than the last.
"It's all your fault! It's because you're too weak that the blade broke! Otherwise, how could my blade possibly break?!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! But..." Tanjirou was drenched in sweat, trying to block Mr. Haganezuka's hand.
"I'm going to kill you!!" Raising the cleaver again, Tanjirou could only run. Mr. Haganezuka chased him relentlessly, swinging the cleaver behind him.
"Huh? What's going on?" Inosuke just watched, pouted, and ignored them. Right now, the nichirin blades were more important!
Shinobu and Kanzaki Aoi, who were nearby, saw Tanjirou being chased. Shinobu said playfully, "Is this some new training?"
"I don't think so."
"Oh, right, Aoi, could you please call Yoizumi over as well?"
"The Master ordered a nichirin blade to be forged for him by the Swordsmith Village people. Let him try it out."
"Yes!" Kanzaki Aoi nodded respectfully and walked towards Yoizumi's room. So Yoizumi also had a nichirin blade now. A demon holding a demon-slaying weapon, what a strange combination.
She reached the room door and raised her hand to knock.
"Yoizumi, please come with me. Your nichirin blade has arrived."
nichirin blade?
Yoizumi opened the door and saw Kanzaki Aoi freeze the moment she saw him. He touched his face. Was there something strange about him?
"What's wrong?"
"No! Nothing at all!" Kanzaki Aoi struggled to tear her gaze away from the several small top knots on Yoizumi's head. Was this Yoizumi's new hairstyle?
It was certainly unique!
"Please follow me."
Led by Kanzaki Aoi into a room, his gaze lingered on Shinobu for a few moments before quietly moving away. Shinobu smiled at Yoizumi.
"Yoizumi, you're... here."
Oh my~
Shinobu leisurely stared at Yoizumi's brand-new hairstyle. Such a cute style paired with such a stoic face, it really didn't match at all. She pressed her lips together, tilted her head, and tried hard to suppress the urge to laugh.
Hmm?
He tilted his head slightly, not understanding why everyone looked so spaced out the first time they saw him.
"You must be Yoizumi. This is your blade."
Haganezuka Hotaru presented a nichirin blade with a platinum-colored scabbard, which refracted light with a faint blue luster.
He took his own nichirin blade and examined it.
Haganezuka Hotaru was very pleased with his work and urged, "Quickly, see what color your nichirin blade is!"
He gripped the blue and white hilt and slowly drew the nichirin blade, which made a "clang" sound as it was unsheathed.
What color will Yoizumi-nii's blade be?
Tanjirou watched curiously.
Everyone present stared at the nichirin blade in Yoizumi's hand.
He held the nichirin blade horizontally in front of him. He, too, was curious what color his nichirin blade would be.
The color transformation began at the end of the blade, a frosty white spreading to the tip. Pure white formed the base, infused with a hint of gray-blue, like the thin mist of a winter morning, or the clear coolness of moonlight on ice.
The blade tip, exposed to the light, showed an icy coldness like snow, with an extremely faint blue-gray halo at the edges. The blade body, hidden in shadow, appeared grayish-white, with the hazy layers of an ink wash painting.
Shinobu walked to Yoizumi's side. She paused slightly at the color of the nichirin blade. It was a color she had never seen before, but it unexpectedly suited Yoizumi very well.
"Wow~ Yoizumi-nii's blade has such a beautiful color!" Tanjirou said, leaning closer to look at the nichirin blade.
"It's the first time I've ever seen this color!" Haganezuka Hotaru excitedly stepped forward.
Kanaemori exclaimed in admiration, "What an elegant color! I wonder which breathing style school you belong to?"
Yoizumi shook his head, "I don't use a breathing style."
"Eh? It's rare to see a Demon Slayer Corps member who doesn't use a breathing style." Kanaemori secretly thought it was a pity.
"What?! He doesn't use a breathing style? Such a blade would surely be wielded exceptionally well!" Haganezuka Hotaru clicked his tongue. How could such a fine blade forged by him be wasted like this... "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Tanjirou apologized profusely, bowing to Mr. Haganezuka and Kanaemori as they left.
Kanaemori walked away, muttering angrily.
His previous calm and gentle demeanor had vanished without a trace.
The two nichirin blades he had forged for Inosuke had been chipped in several places by Inosuke using stones. He had been absolutely furious. If Tanjirou hadn't held him back, he might have also chased Inosuke around the Butterfly Mansion with a cleaver, only to be knocked down by an annoyed Inosuke.
"Don't you like the color of your nichirin blade?" Shinobu saw Yoizumi silently contemplating the blade's color since it appeared, and she asked proactively.
"No." Yoizumi raised the nichirin blade with one hand, letting the twilight reflect on it.
A color similar to snow.
His few memories were almost all related to snow.
Snow permeated all his experiences.
The blood that splattered on the snow the first time he killed someone in that distant memory.
Being discovered by Tanjirou in the cold, snowy ground.
Finally, his family, who vanished in the snow.
He neither liked nor disliked it.
But one day.
He would use this frosty-white nichirin blade to cut off Kibutsuji Muzan's head.
Where it began, there it would end.
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