Chapter 202: Upper Rank Seven Demon
The battle at Infinite City was about to erupt, with some people unluckily forced to separate while others, fortunately, gathered together, acting side by side.
Tanjirou was one of those few lucky ones.
Transferred into Infinite City, Tanjirou just happened to have two familiar faces he spent his days with by his side.
These two companions were none other than Zenitsu and Inosuke.
However, the atmosphere among the three of them was not as harmonious as it used to be.
In the past, it would have been Inosuke recklessly charging ahead, with Tanjirou and Zenitsu frantically trying to catch up and stop him, clumsily hanging behind him.
But today, it was not Inosuke who was recklessly ahead; it was Zenitsu.
The usually timid and fearful boy, who hated going on missions and killing demons, who dreaded facing any life-threatening situation, was now striding forward in silence, his face expressionless and cold.
Tanjirou and Inosuke followed right behind Zenitsu, trying to keep up while starting a conversation.
"Hey, Sleepyhead, what’s gotten into you?" Inosuke, ever blunt, shouted at Zenitsu, "You’ve been acting really weird lately, did you eat something wrong?"
Tanjirou could deeply relate to that.
Lately, Zenitsu indeed had been acting very strangely.
Ever since coming to the Swordsmith Village and receiving that letter which had drastically changed his expression, Zenitsu had become different from before, no longer timid and crying easily, but instead being silent and diligently training from dawn till dusk, totally unlike his former self.
In the past, the training at Swordsmith Village would have had Zenitsu complaining after three days, playing the victim after five, and pretending to be dead after seven, acting as if he was about to give up.
This time, though, Zenitsu did not complain or play the victim. He did not pretend to be dead either. Instead, as if driven by some obsession, he trained even harder than Tanjirou and Inosuke, truly surprising those who knew him and understood him.
In the span of that month, Zenitsu only showed a smiling face once in front of everyone.
That was the day he learned that Nezuko had turned back into a human.
After that, Zenitsu stopped showing any smiles, training fiercely every day. His demeanor caused concern for Tanjirou, who was observing him.
Inosuke might appear heartless and wild, giving off an impetuous and noisy vibe, but in reality, he was more sensitive than the average person, especially sensitive to Zenitsu’s changes.
That’s why today, Inosuke was not charging ahead with loud shouts. Instead, he was sincerely following Zenitsu.
Unfortunately, Zenitsu didn’t seem to appreciate it.
"Stop yelling, Boar," Zenitsu didn’t turn around, continuing forward, his voice cold, "You’re so loud, I can’t hear anything. We won’t find that guy this way, be quiet."
"So who exactly are you looking for?" Inosuke persisted, "Did that guy upset you? Tell me, I’ll help you chop him up!"
"No need," Zenitsu’s expression remained icy as he spoke in a low voice, "That guy, only I can kill him."
"You..." Inosuke seemed to want to say more but was stopped by Tanjirou.
"Alright, Inosuke, calm down, don’t be agitated," Tanjirou soothed Inosuke first, then turned to Zenitsu, "What exactly happened, Zenitsu? Tell us."
Zenitsu remained silent, saying nothing.
Seeing Zenitsu like this, Tanjirou showed a worried expression.
"Aren’t we companions?" Tanjirou said, "Nezuko is also very worried about you."
At this, Zenitsu’s steps finally came to a halt.
Tanjirou and Inosuke immediately stopped as well, watching Zenitsu in silence, their eyes filled with concern that they couldn’t hide.
Seeing Tanjirou and Inosuke like this, Zenitsu clenched his fists then let out a sigh.
"You probably don’t know, do you?" Zenitsu suddenly said, "I actually have an older fellow disciple."
Older fellow disciple?
Tanjirou and Inosuke both looked puzzled.
"My master was once a Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps."
Zenitsu shared this with Tanjirou and Inosuke.
The Pillar he referred to was a master of Thunder Breathing.
In the Demon Slayer Corps, a swordsman who mastered the Thunder Breathing technique and rose to the status of a Pillar was not known as the Thunder Pillar, but rather the Sound Pillar.
Zenitsu’s master was the former Sound Pillar, a pillar-level swordsman who had honed Thunder Breathing to the pinnacle of its potential.
After his retirement, there had been no Sound Pillar appointed in the Demon Slayer Corps, leaving one of the five fundamental breathing styles without a Pillar, while all the other four had Pillars representing them.
That was simply how things were.
Thunder Breathing was notorious among the current breathing styles for being difficult to master, demanding incredibly high physical quality from its practitioners due to its speed and explosive power, which were the fastest and strongest among all breathing techniques. The training requirements were so rigorous, second only to Sun Breathing.
In the history of the Demon Slayer Corps, among the five fundamental breathing styles, Flame Breathing and Water Breathing always had someone reaching the status of Pillar without any gap, while the other three had their absences. Thunder Breathing had the most absentees, which showed how difficult it was to train in.
Zenitsu’s master was the former Sound Pillar, and his achievements in reaching Pillar status through Thunder Breathing was testimony to his strength.
But when Zenitsu mentioned his master, it wasn’t to boast about his power.
"I was taken in by him after being tricked, accumulating heavy debts, it was my grandfather who bought me and made me his disciple. He was the one who took me into the mountains to train."
Zenitsu began telling his own story.
"Grandpa was a very strict man. Because the Breath of Thunder is difficult to cultivate, he always trained his disciples harshly."
"Since the training was just too arduous and the Breath of Thunder was so hard to master, I always avoided training and tried to run away, but Grandpa never gave up on me, catching me and bringing me back again and again."
"Yet in the end, I only managed to learn the First Form of the Breath of Thunder, and even now, I haven’t mastered any of the other forms."
There are a total of six sword forms in the Breath of Thunder, which is almost the fewest among all breathing styles.
But no one would consider the Breath of Thunder weak.
On the contrary, precisely because the Breath of Thunder is so powerful, it has only six forms. These six sword forms are enough to slay demons, leaving them without a path to heaven or a gate to hell.
Zenitsu, however, only learned the First Form of the Breath of Thunder and hadn’t mastered any of the other five forms.
"Still, Grandpa never blamed me. He even told me that if I could only learn this one sword form, then I should perfect it to the utmost, honing it to the absolute limit of limits."
When talking about the master he called Grandpa, Zenitsu’s expression was no longer cold.
Until—
"That person is different from me."
Zenitsu clenched his teeth.
"He had more talent than me, more skill, and he started learning earlier. Even with the notoriously difficult Breath of Thunder, he managed to master five of the sword forms."
"If he continued to train and managed to learn the last form, it wasn’t impossible for him to take Grandpa’s place in the future and become the long-vacant Hashira of the Demon Slaying Corps."
"I could never raise my head in front of him, but I always felt that if someone were to become Hashira, it should be him."
"But...!"
Zenitsu’s voice, filled with hatred and anger, suddenly shifted to a sneer.
"But you see, humans have their limits, so I chose to become a demon, Zenitsu!"
As such a voice sounded, Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and Inosuke all swiftly turned around, hands reaching to the hilts of their swords at their waists in unison.
In front of the trio, a person slowly walked over from around the corner, coming into their view.
It was a youth with black hair and aqua eyes, thick eyebrows, wearing magatama pendants and bracelets.
The youth was armed with a sword, pointed ears, and pale skin, with black tiger stripes on his face, and fangs protruding from his mouth, clearly visible as he bared them in a grin.
Undoubtedly, the youth was a demon.
And not an ordinary one at that.
The proof was in the numbers in his eyes.
But Zenitsu didn’t care about that. At the sight of the youth, he started to breathe heavily instantly.
"Kaigaku!"
Zenitsu roared at the other.
"Yo, long time no see, Zenitsu."
The youth known as Kaigaku greeted Zenitsu, neither warmly nor kindly, but rather with a malicious aggressiveness.
"So you indeed came to Infinite City too, that’s great." Kaigaku smiled and said, "After Muzan-sama ordered us to exterminate the Demon Slaying Corps, I thought to myself, since that’s the case, you should be taken care of by me."
"Luckily, we met successfully." Kaigaku’s smile turned fierce, full of mockery as he said, "Otherwise, someone as weak as you would definitely have been killed by some miscellaneous small fry demons by the roadside, right?"
"You..."
Kaigaku’s words did not cause Zenitsu to lose his wits. Instead, they spurred the impulsive Inosuke to draw his sword.
"Wait! Inosuke!" Tanjirou once again stopped Inosuke, exclaiming in shock, "Something’s not right, look at his eyes!"
Tanjirou’s words finally made Zenitsu and Inosuke pay attention to the numbers in Kaigaku’s eyes.
One eye bore the word "Upper Moon."
The other bore the number "Seven."
"Upper Moon... Seven...?"
Everyone was shocked.
What’s going on?
Weren’t there only six Upper Moons?
How come there’s an Upper Moon Seven now?
"Ah? Are you talking about this?" Kaigaku touched his own eyes, still smiling unabatedly, "That’s right, I am Upper Moon Seven, the first demon in history to bear the number ’Seven’."
"The Twelve Kizuki essentially ceased to exist when the Lower Moons were disbanded, so not long ago, Muzan-sama restructured the Kizuki."
"Because that great person doesn’t need Lower Moons who are of no use, the Kizuki will no longer have Lower Moons. Instead, an additional position has been added among the Upper Moons."
"From now on, there will no longer be such a thing as the Twelve Kizuki, only the seven demons of the Upper Moons."
"’The Seven Upper Moons’—this is the new Kizuki."