Demon Slayer: Tanjiro becomes a ghost, Nezuko becomes a pillar!

Chapter 28 Sabin and Mussels

As soon as the voice fell, Midouzi looked in disbelief toward the sound.

Sometime later, a man dressed in a white haori sat atop the boulder.

The man had long, fluffy pink hair and wore a fox-shaped mask with a noticeable shallow scar on the jawline.

When did he arrive?

Ni Douzi's heart skipped a beat, and his pupils contracted slightly.

I couldn't sense his presence at all. Who is he?

Mizuko instinctively gripped her Nichirin Blade tighter, watching the man warily.

"Who are you?"

"I asked nervously."

"Hahaha, you ask who I am? Do I need to tell someone who only knows how to cry—my name?"

After saying that, he jumped down from the boulder and stood opposite the beans.

Midouzi became even more vigilant. With her senses heightened to the extreme, she couldn't even detect his breathing or the sound of him landing, which startled her.

"Weakness, helplessness, regret, frustration... You said you wanted to save your brother, protect your brother, but what are you doing now?"

His voice was calm and clear. As he spoke, he moved closer to Midouzi. When he finished speaking, he picked up the wooden knife from the ground and chopped at Midouzi.

Midouzi dared not be careless, but he also realized that the other man knew him well, so he used the hilt of his sword to block the attack.

"Bang—"

"I'm passing Mr. Urokodaki's test!"

Midouzi blocked the attack, but found that it was incredibly heavy. So, while defending, he said with difficulty.

"test?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his foot and kicked Midouzi in the stomach.

Midouzi immediately raised his leg to block, but was knocked back several meters by the blow before he could regain his footing. He stared in shock at the masked man.

"Slow to react, weak, and clueless about attacking—are you just waiting to be eaten by a demon?"

After saying that, the man leaned forward again, continuing to attack the glutton with the wooden sword in his hand.

"Come on! Fight back!"

The man's voice turned angry.

"Use your crude swordsmanship to fight back!"

While struggling to block and defend, Mizuko quickly recognized the man's technique as Water Breathing through observation.

"No, you're using a wooden sword, while I'm using a real one!"

Midouzi quickly explained, she could tell that this man wouldn't hurt her.

Upon hearing Midouzi's words, the man abruptly stopped what he was doing.

Then, he couldn't help but burst into laughter, his laughter arrogant and unrestrained, filled with undisguised mockery.

"Hahahaha! What a weak swordsman! What a naive idea!"

He slowly wiped the smile from his face, raised the wooden sword in his hand again, the tip pointing directly at Midouzi, his eyes, through the fox mask, becoming sharp and cold.

"From this moment on, treat me as a demon! Treat me as the demon who took your family's lives and turned your brother into a monster!"

Midouzi shuddered, standing there stunned, her pupils contracting sharply, her heart feeling as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand.

"How...how do you know all this?"

"Hmph, what a naive idea."

The man snorted coldly, refusing to answer her question at all, his tone full of disdain.

"Now, either fall like a coward, or pick up your sword and fight with all your might to protect!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the man stopped arguing and suddenly raised the wooden knife with both hands.

The gentle, flowing water scent that had been emanating from the wooden sword now carried a chaotic yet sharp aura.

"Water Breathing, Form Nine - Flowing Water Spray Chaos!"

The moment the low shout fell, the man's figure flashed, and he darted toward Mi Douzi like a ghost.

He lightly touched the ground with his feet, and his body suddenly changed shape.

No longer the previous straight-line attack, but like broken water droplets, his figure suddenly dispersed into several afterimages, wandering and shuttling in all directions.

His knife moved at an astonishing speed, so fast that the trajectory was almost invisible.

Mi Douzi's pupils contracted sharply, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

This move, "Flying Water Foam - Chaos," is even faster and more unpredictable than the one demonstrated by Mr. Urokodaki.

At this moment, Midouzi's senses simply couldn't keep up with his speed.

Just as Nidouzi was about to retaliate, the man had already arrived in front of her.

As the wooden sword swung upwards, Midouzi had no time to react and was knocked away unconscious by the blow.

When Midouzi opened her eyes again, it was already late at night.

"call!"

She sat up abruptly, her chest heaving, the dizziness from being knocked away still lingering in her mind.

But the next second, her movements suddenly stopped.

Because she could clearly see that a little girl dressed in a light-colored kimono and wearing a fox mask on her forehead was sitting on the straw mat next to her.

"You're awake!"

The girl's voice was very gentle and pleasant, which calmed down the panicked Nidouzi.

"Don't worry, Sabito isn't here right now, you can take a break!"

"A shad?"

Midouzi repeated the name in confusion, her eyes full of bewilderment; this was the first time she had heard the name.

"Yes, my name is Makomo."

Makomo nodded, her tone still gentle.

"Sabito and I are both disciples of Master Urokodaki."

As Makomo listened to her explanation, Mizuko's unease gradually subsided.

So the other person was also a disciple of Mr. Urokodaki. No wonder he was here.

She was about to introduce herself when Makomo interrupted her.

"We know you, Kamado Nezuko." Makomo smiled at her, a hint of heartache in her eyes. "You also have an older brother named Kamado Tanjiro, who's still asleep, right?"

"Um!!"

Midouzi's eyes widened suddenly, her face filled with disbelief.

"But...but I've been here for almost a year, why have I never seen you before?"

Besides training, she would visit her brother every day and never saw any other disciples in the mountains or in the wooden houses.

Makomo's eyes dimmed for a moment, but quickly regained their gentleness. Instead of answering her question directly, she changed the subject and began to explain Sabito's situation during the day.

"Don't be angry with Qian Tu. He's actually a really good person, just a bit impatient. He was really anxious because he saw you were training in the wrong way, which is why he treated you so harshly."

"My training? Was it wrong?"

Nidouzi was stunned, her heart filled with doubt. She had been strictly following Mr. Linlong's teachings in her cultivation, so how could it be wrong?

"Yes! That's right."

Makomo nodded firmly, her tone becoming serious.

"The techniques and breathing methods that Master Urokodaki taught you are the most orthodox and basic things, that's true. However, your techniques and movements are just stiff imitations and mechanical recollections of the teacher's demonstrations, without a trace of your own."

"None...belong to me?"

Midouzi looked down at her hands, her fingertips trembling slightly.

She always thought that as long as she mastered the moves taught by Mr. Urokodaki, she would be considered a qualified practitioner.

But now, Makomo's words have left her completely bewildered.

"What should I do?" Midouzi asked anxiously.

Makomo smiled. "Only Sabito can teach you that, but I can teach you other things!"