At that moment, the blond boy suddenly opened his eyes and cried out in pain.
Thud! Thud!
The bodies of the two demons collapsed to the ground, landing directly in front of him.
The boy froze for a brief moment.
Then he suddenly jumped up and screamed.
"AAAAAH! DEMONS!"
Clutching his face with both hands, he jumped around wildly in terror.
Then he noticed Chiba Yang sheathing his sword nearby.
The blond boy immediately rushed behind him, grabbing Chiba Yang's arm while crying in relief.
"You killed those two demons, didn't you?! Please let me follow you! I'm begging you, let me stick with you! Otherwise I'll definitely die here! I really will! Please save my life!"
Tears and mucus streamed down his face as he shouted desperately, as if he had just found his savior.
Chiba Yang was momentarily confused by the boy's behavior.
Clearly, the blond boy himself had killed those two demons. Yet he acted as though he had no idea.
Judging by how easily he had eliminated them, surviving seven days here should not have been difficult for him.
"You killed those demons yourself," Chiba Yang said calmly, pulling his arm free. "It had nothing to do with me."
Hearing that, the blond boy stopped screaming for a moment.
He stared at Chiba Yang with tear-filled eyes, clearly unconvinced.
"I don't care! I'm following you anyway."
In his mind, he had already decided that Chiba Yang must have been the one who killed the demons.
"Do whatever you want," Chiba Yang replied. "If you want to follow me, then follow."
Seeing Chiba Yang allow it, the blond boy immediately brightened.
"That's great! My name is Zenitsu Agatsuma! What about you?"
"Chiba Yang."
After introducing himself, Chiba Yang picked a direction and began moving deeper into the forest in search of other demons.
Zenitsu quickly hurried after him.
"Yang, where are we going now? Shouldn't we find somewhere to hide until morning, then go look for food?"
Zenitsu asked curiously.
"To find demons," Chiba Yang answered.
"And kill them."
Zenitsu stopped walking.
He laughed awkwardly.
"Haha… you must be joking. You're actually pretty funny."
"I'm not joking," Chiba Yang replied, turning his head slightly. "Didn't we come here for the Final Selection to join the Demon Slayer Corps?"
"And the purpose of the Demon Slayer Corps is to kill demons."
Zenitsu saw that Chiba Yang was completely serious.
Panic immediately appeared on his face.
"But we aren't members of the Demon Slayer Corps yet!" he protested desperately.
"The Final Selection only requires us to survive here for seven days. There's no need to actively hunt demons, right?"
Most people who wished to join the Demon Slayer Corps had suffered personally at the hands of demons.
Their hatred burned deeply, pushing them to eradicate demons from the world.
But there were exceptions.
Zenitsu Agatsuma was one of them.
Burdened by enormous debt, he had been taken in by the former Thunder Hashira after the man paid off his debts and recognized his potential.
Under his teacher's orders, Zenitsu had been forced to participate in the Final Selection.
Because he had never truly encountered demons before, his hatred toward them was nowhere near as intense.
For Zenitsu, this Final Selection was simply another trial given by his master.
As long as he survived, it would be enough.
"If you're afraid, you can hide somewhere yourself," Chiba Yang said calmly.
"I'm going to kill every demon on this mountain."
Without another word, he sprinted deeper into the forest.
Zenitsu stared at his retreating figure, struggling internally.
In the end, he made up his mind.
"Wait for me, Yang!"
Zenitsu shouted as he chased after him.
"Yang, if a demon shows up, you have to protect me! I'm really weak! Any demon could kill me easily! If you don't protect me, I'll definitely die here!"
Zenitsu followed behind Chiba Yang, clutching the edge of his clothing while rambling nonstop.
He had repeated similar sentences more than ten times in just a short period.
It was hard for Chiba Yang to connect this terrified boy with the one who had effortlessly killed two demons earlier.
At first, Chiba Yang had reassured him that he would protect him.
Now he simply ignored him.
The two continued walking through the forest.
Suddenly, Zenitsu's ears twitched.
He abruptly pointed in a direction and screamed.
"AH! There's a demon over there!"
Chiba Yang immediately looked in the direction Zenitsu pointed.
However, he saw nothing.
"Where?" he asked.
"About two hundred meters ahead!" Zenitsu said firmly while clutching his sleeve. "I can hear it!"
Chiba Yang decided to trust him.
Drawing his Nichirin Blade, he ran toward the direction Zenitsu indicated.
"Wait for me!"
Zenitsu hurried after him.
Sure enough, after running about two hundred meters, Chiba Yang finally saw the demon Zenitsu had sensed.
Crunch… crunch…
A massive demon, at least two heads taller than an average human, crouched on the ground gnawing on something.
Under the moonlight, Chiba Yang could clearly see what it was eating.
A human leg.
A corpse lay nearby, still gripping a Nichirin Blade. Its neck had been twisted unnaturally.
The bloody scene reminded Chiba Yang of the massacre in his village.
Zenitsu arrived moments later.
Seeing the horrific sight, he could not even make a sound.
"You creatures… should never exist in this world."
Chiba Yang's voice burned with anger.
He rushed forward with his sword raised.
The giant demon turned its head toward the sound and swung its powerful right arm toward him.
But its movements were already completely predicted.
In an instant, Chiba Yang slashed twice.
The first cut severed the demon's arm.
The second sliced cleanly across its neck.
"So… so strong…"
Zenitsu stared in awe.
Chiba Yang had killed the enormous demon instantly.
The demon's body slowly crumbled into ash.
Chiba Yang sheathed his Nichirin Blade and walked over to the fallen corpse.
Looking at the mutilated remains, he slowly brought his hands together.
After silently offering a prayer, he took a piece of broken wood and carved it into the shape of a crude shovel.
Then he began digging into the earth.
"I'll help too."
Zenitsu walked over as well.
Although he was still frightened by the corpse, he did not retreat.
"Alright."
Chiba Yang turned and gave him a small smile.