章 46: Hashira Training Arc
A special training session began. It was called 'Pillar Training'.
Those who ranked lower than Hashiras trained with them one by one. Usually, the pillars would only train their 'successors' and no one else. And that's because pillars were busy. Pillars had many things to do. Like protecting their assigned regions, gathering information on the demons, and improving their won swordsmanship. But ever since the death of two more Upper Moons and the presence of an individual which could threaten Muzan directly, the demons suddenly stopped appearing. It was like the 'Calm before the Storm'. And because of that, pillars only had to focus on nigh patrol and day training.
"That's great and all, but why are you explaining this to us?" Shinobu asked, holding a piece of braised beef up to her mouth.
"Well, shouldn't the reason be obvious."
"Well, I mean it's obvious, but aren't both Kanao and I at the strength of a Hashira already, why would we need to participate with a bunch of nobodies who can barely function when fighting a Demon." Shinobu thrashes calmly.
"Well, have the strength and skill of a Hashira and actually being a Hashira are two different things." I deadpan.
"And who's fault do you think that is?!"
"This'll be good for you, trust me, after all it allows for you to work with others better while simultaneously getting stronger."
"Why would I need to work together with others when I can just rely on you…" Smiling brightly, Shinobu, realizing her 'mistake', quickly adds on, "a-and Kanao and Mitsuri of course."
Petting Shinobu's head at seeing her reaction, I realize the additional person. "Why Mitsuri?"
"O-oh, no reason." Shinobu gasped, clearly still embarrassed.
"Well anyway, just do it this time Shinobu, for me. And it's not like you'll be suffering alone, it'll be with Kanao too."
"I don't think that makes it better." Shinobu states flatly.
Glad that she hadn't rejected, I head outside the Butterfly Mansion with Shinobu and Kanao, reaching the first initial training with Uzui as the teacher. The sight in front of us is what could be called not pleasant, however.
"Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow! The hell are you people doing!? I got no clue!! Your stamina's low as hell!! This is just basic running, man. If you're going to be this slow, beating an Upper Moon's gonna be a dream within a dream, okay!?" Uzui 'teaches', "Hey, hey, hey, I didn't ask you to lick the ground. It's not break yet, so go for another round! You're all useless! You've got no substance!!"
This was the plan that we had come up with at our meeting. When it came to pillar training, we would have Uzui doing the initial hazing via Basic Stamina Training. Then, we'd have Mitsuri handle flexibility training, and Tokito dealing with quick movement training. Obanai would work on sword skill revision. Shinazugawa would handle pounding training, and Gyomei would train muscle reinforcement. With the addition of Rengoku and myself, the two of us would handle Extreme Environment Training and Balance Training.
Yet this type of training isn't a complete waste of time for the Pillars either, as they have the chance to improve by facing waves upon waves of swordmen. Plus, when everyone had received information that the war might soon come to an end, they all became motivated to prepare.
Except for one man.
No matter how much we had tried to persuade him during the meeting, Giyu refused to participate in the 'Pillar Training'. Giyu's refusal in turn gave me the opportunity to meet with Ubuyashiki. Yet, Ubuyashiki was no longer in the same health as he was so many years ago and he was almost completely wrapped in bandages, bedridden.
"As you can see, I cannot move right now. But even so, I want to talk with Giyu. This is a very important time now. I want everyone to work hard as one. So, I need you to speak with Giyu. I need you to have him stop turning his back on us all alone and face forward with us. Could you have a serious talk with him?"
"Of course, Ubuyashiki, his strength is after all a great boon to us all, surpassing even Shinazugawa."
I could see a smile form on Ubuyashiki's face, "It's good that you understand Shiro."
After that, beside seeing Shinobu and Kanao off to training every day, I would speak with Giyu. It was always one-sided conversations, almost like I was talking to a brick wall, but the wall finally cracked, and Giyu started speaking.
"I never actually passed the Final Selection."
"Eh? The easy one on the Wisteria Flower Mountain?"
"Yes. Back then, There was a boy whose family got killed by demons, just like me. His name was Sabito. I went into the selection with that orange-haired boy." Giyu began, "I was thirteen. We got along right away because we lost our families, and we were of the same age. Sabito had a strong sense of justice. And he was a very kind boy. He was the only one who died in the selection that year. He pretty much single-handedly defeated every demon on that mountain. Everyone aside from Sabito got accepted in that selection."
"I can see that."
Giyu gave me a strange look before continuing his story, "I was injured by a demon who attacked me in the beginning, so I was fading in and out. The Sabito came and saved me. He entrusted me to another boy, then headed toward another voice crying for help. When I came to, the selection was over. I was selected for surviving the seven days. But I am a human who couldn't beat a single demon, and I was bailed out. Can I really say I passed? I am no worthy of becoming the water pillar. I'm not like any of you."
Speeding out in front of me, Giyu lamented. "Just go back to Pillar Training. It's for the best. Don't concern yourself with me anymore. It's a waste of time"
"Giyu, it's not about whether you feel you're worthy or not." I unsheathe my first sword, "Or how the past actions of others might have been more heroic than our own for an entire lifetime," I unsheathe my second sword, "It's about finding your own meaning in life, keeping the promises you've made with others, and unfortunately in our case, it means carrying on the will of those who've died in front of our eyes. We, the pillars choose to follow the path of life, just so we can protect those who cannot. You say you're not worthy to be a pillar, then prove it."
My words seemed to have awoken an old memory in Giyu as he lay frozen in his spot.
Looking back, Giyu says "Shiro. Sorry for the delay, but I'll go train as well. Now, put your sword away."
"You may have steeled yourself," I nod my head, "But in no way have you recognized your strength. Even now, you still think that Sabito is stronger than you, so best defend yourself Giyu, lest I kill you."
Giyu's eyes burst wide open as he hurriedly pulls his sword from his sheath, barely defending a slash that I throw at him.
"Please just let me go." Giyu shakes, a dumb expression covering his face.
"No." I say happily, putting a little more pressure into my blades, causing Giyu to rocket away.
"If you can force me to use a single breathing art in my fight against you, I'll consider it your win."
I could see doubt cross through Giyu's eyes, but with the death threat looming over him, he had no other option. Putting his blade back in his sheath, Giyu breathed in and used 'Water Breathing Seventh Form: Piercing Rain Drop'.
Disappearing from his spot, Giyu appears before me, brandishing his blade, and trying to piece where my head is. Tilting my head off to the side, I slice my sword in my right hand upwards, but Giyu clashes swords, a rather poor option as I send him skyrocketing into the air.
Yet this seemed to be a part of his plan, as he uses 'Water Breathing Sixth Form: Whirlpool', fiercely twisting in the air to try and shred through me. Yet, I'm not known for being able to best Uzui's swordsmanship for nothing. Using my dual katanas to block each of the weaving strikes, Giyu once again lands on the ground, immediately going into 'Water Breathing Tenth Form: Constant Flux'.
Clashing his singular blade against my two, I blink in surprise when their knocked away by the very first strike. Spinning around, Giyu uses his second strike, sending my skidding backwards. This in turn gives Giyu even more space to complete more rotations, making his Water Dragon much more powerful.
Barely defending against each of these strikes, I eventually become a blur akin to the Battle Doll back at the Swordsmith Village, defending against the disgustingly fast and powerful strikes that Giyu would execute every second. Yet, the strain on Giyu's body from using this technique for so long didn't go unnoticed by me, leaving for his last slash to only send me rocketing backwards, tumbling against the gravel ground.
"You're beyond human."
Taking Giyu's comment as a compliment, I of course respond with, "Thank you!"
Looking at Giyu's lackluster, tired stance, I decide to relieve him of this battle.
Charging forward and slicing at Giyu with twin horizontal strikes, I see a small smile grace his lips, instantly making me unnerved.
"Lull" I hear him murmur.
My strikes instantly lose all their power behind them, and my movements become sluggish for a moment. But it was in that moment that Giyu made his next move using 'Water Breathing First Form: Water Surface Slash'. Finding no other way to dodge this attack than to use a breathing art, I use 'Sun Breathing: Fake Rainbow'.
Giyu almost loses his mind when he slashes through my head, but seeing that the image of me disperses, he lets out a sigh of relief.
Clapping for Giyu, I congratulate him. "Such impressive tactics Giyu, you've managed to beat me."
"I still would've lost had you used Breathing Arts from the beginning."
"Oh, I don't know about that," I wink. "With the amount of power, you just displayed, you could probably go toe to toe with Akaza, the Upper Moon Three which I had killed. Giyu, you must realize that your strength is nothing to scoff at, you are the third strongest Hashira that we have, so when it comes time for the final battle, we, the Demon Slayer Corps, need you there."
"It still seemed a little unnecessary to do that…" Giyu whines quietly.
Laughing aloud, I pat him on the back, "Now, come along, let's have a cold soba eating contest."
Unknown to him, I had my Demon Slayer Mark activated since his second strike of 'Constant Flux'.
~
Having added Giyu to the team, I spent the next month simply having continuous spars with Rengoku, waiting for anyone to pass all the test and make it to us. Yet, Gyomei's test seemed too hard for everyone, so I considered placing our training in front of Gyomei's, but every Hashira advocated against it… I wonder why.
Though, with this much free time, it was fun to watch all the suffering that each Demon Slayer had to go through, especially when they reached Shinazugawa's test, since he was so unbiased and would beat everyone, no matter their gender. He's a true gender equalist.
A few were so close to finishing Gyomei's challenge, but with the final two trainings being not compulsory, a lot of the Demon Sayers gave up. But Gyomei's Tsuguko came in for Rengoku and I as he taught Tanjiro, Inosuke, Shinobu, and Kanae on how to push the rock.
Luckily, I managed to get Kanao and Tanjiro as our first victims.
"I don't understand why there isn't anyone here, isn't this just extreme condition and balance training, what could be so bad about it." Tanjiro asked innocently.
Me and Rengoku both gave each other a thumbs up before setting up a single log in the middle of a field. There was no fire that surrounded the log, there wasn't even a weapon (except our personal ones) in sight, it was just us and the log.
"Stand on it." I point to the log.
Tanjiro, being completely clueless, put himself on the log.
"Now do your best."
Immediately after saying that, I released all of my killing intent. Extreme Conditions wasn't about the area itself, but instead about the killing intent that demons released naturally. We didn't want Demon Slayers freezing up after all.
Rengoku of course add his own killing intent on top of mine, but he would also throw rocks at the base of the log, causing it to shake ever so slightly. But that small shake would directly transmit to the person standing at the top.
Tanjiro unfortunately didn't last very long as his knees instantly locked, falling off the log, only to be saved by his teacher Rengoku.
Balance was the aspect of being able to stay upright even when in disorienting situations.
We proceeded to do the same with Kanao, yet the same result ensued. Later, Shinobu and Inosuke joined our training, but the same results came for them too.
Shrugging in confusion, the night proceeded on calmly just like it always had, and I was laughing happily with Mitsuri, Kanae, and Shinobu as we finished with our trainings.
*Rustle*
Still laughing, I instantly grabbed the thing that was hidden in the bush and opened my palm to find an eye staring back. My smile then turned empty and I crushed the eyeball in my hand.
"So, he's finally come. Let's give him hell."
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