Chapter 328: Nezuko Becomes Human

In the end, the Reward Points he originally had were only enough to buy two 【Five-Yang Red Pills】, which Jiu Shu said could undo Demonization,

but with Jiu Shu's help, for the same cost, he refined a full furnace of five pills for him.

The price was that two tasks for collecting Yin-attribute materials were added to Tanjiro's task list,

and if he could not complete them on time, his favorability with 【Jiu Shu's Yizhuang】 and Jiu Shu himself would drop to freezing point.

The remaining Reward Points

were not enough to directly exchange for or purchase new skills, so Tanjiro directly upgraded his 【Water Breathing】 to Lv. 10 and purchased an Insight Pill to awaken a Skill Entry.

【Surging Waves】: When performing continuous strikes, damage increases by 20%.

The current Tanjiro,

his overall strength had already surpassed that of an ordinary Demon Slayer; if placed in the weaker eras of the Demon Slayer Corps hundreds of years ago, a Lv. 10 Breathing Technique would be enough to serve as a 【Pillar】 level Swordsman.

A hazy white light flashed by,

and Tanjiro returned to Sagiri Mountain,

telling his trainer everything about becoming a Reincarnation Game Player and carrying out the Counterattack Mission.

Urokodaki Sakonji.

"Is that true?"

Urokodaki Sakonji, wearing a red demon mask, revealed a look of shock.

The head of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, had given instructions that if a Reincarnation Player appeared, it must be reported immediately,

as these were people who could shoulder great responsibilities in the future.

He never expected that Tanjiro, whom he thought highly of, would actually become a player as Oyakata-sama had described.

"Attack me!"

Urokodaki Sakonji threw out a wooden sword and looked at Tanjiro with a serious gaze as he spoke.

According to Oyakata-sama,

there was simply no way to become a player; it was as if one were chosen by a God, with no rules to speak of, and one could only pray silently in one's heart.

If the situation were true, it would truly be the good fortune of the Demon Slayer Corps.

"Alright."

Tanjiro did not refuse; this was the best way to prove he was not spouting nonsense.

An aura like flowing water appeared around his body as he swung the wooden sword.

Clang! The next instant,

the two wooden swords collided; the immense arm strength did not snap them, but instead erupted with a low hum like metal.

Urokodaki Sakonji's eyes widened slightly, revealing shock.

The counter-shock force coming from his wrist was very strong.

If it were an ordinary Swordsman, they would only think that Tanjiro's arm strength had suddenly increased or that he was naturally powerful.

But, as the former Water Pillar, possessing extremely skilled and superb sword techniques, he made a judgment in an instant.

The other's physical fitness had not changed in the slightest; it was still the same as before he disappeared.

The reason he could suddenly feel the other's arm strength increase was entirely due to the rapid progress of the Breathing Technique!

How could that be? Because of the shock, Urokodaki Sakonji's breathing became somewhat rapid.

As a trainer, Tanjiro was a reserve Swordsman he had personally cultivated to participate in the 【Demon Slayer Corps Selection】; although he acknowledged and secretly praised Tanjiro's excellent talent,

in less than a year, no matter how excellent Tanjiro's talent was, he should have barely reached the level of an ordinary Demon Slayer.

How could he suddenly erupt with such profound sword skills?

Water Breathing...

Only those with a clear mind, calm and steady, could successfully practice it; its characteristics were agility and defense, defensive counterattacks, and winding and circling like flowing water.

As a Breathing Technique that leaned toward defense, it was not as intense as Stone or Flame Breathing in terms of improving physical functions.

Therefore, the sudden, significant improvement in Tanjiro's physical functions

meant that his Water Breathing had explosively increased in the mere two days he had disappeared...

directly reaching a level comparable to his own from that of an ordinary Demon Slayer.

And he was the former Water Pillar!

"Continue!"

Urokodaki Sakonji steadied his breathing, and faint white steam sprayed from the bottom of his red demon mask.

His aura climbed to its peak; it was truly shocking to think he was testing a Swordsman who had only been training for a little over half a year. The ten forms of Water Breathing were swung out by him without any hesitation,

and the entire training ground

seemed to be stirred by constantly surging waves, with the clear, gurgling sound of water flowing.

However,

Tanjiro, who was being treated as his opponent, was not drowned by the sword techniques that surged like water in the slightest;

instead, he was evenly matched, also kicking up waves of his own.

Even,

despite it being the same sword technique, the further they went, the stronger Tanjiro's sword swings became.

It was as if they were ocean waves carrying immense power, one wave stronger than the last...

Crack.

Urokodaki Sakonji froze in place, the wooden sword in his hand snapped.

A crack appeared on the red demon mask on his face, and then it shattered completely into two halves, falling to the ground.

If it had been a Nichirin Sword or an ordinary iron weapon, he would have already been decapitated by Tanjiro like a demon.

"Are you alright, Teacher?"

Tanjiro looked at Urokodaki Sakonji, who was standing there in a daze, with a worried expression.

He felt somewhat annoyed at his own recklessness for being unable to hold back in time; being defeated by a greenhorn like himself must surely leave a bitter taste in his teacher's mouth...

He could judge that his Lv. 10 Water Breathing was roughly on par with Teacher Urokodaki Sakonji.

But he possessed the Entry granted by the Insight Pill, 【Surging Waves】, which could continuously increase the power of his Sword Skill through successive strikes; since Water Breathing happened to be a continuous Sword Skill, Teacher Urokodaki Sakonji was no match for him.

"That final move... to actually be able to comprehend your own Sword Skill from within Water Breathing?"

Urokodaki Sakonji, his face revealed, turned bright red.

It was not out of shame or annoyance at being defeated by a junior, but out of excitement and agitation as he said, "Tanjiro, your current strength is enough to serve as a Water Pillar!"

Shame and annoyance?

Having a chosen one like Tanjiro was a stroke of luck for the Demon Slayer Corps and the entire Demon Slayer Continent; his own failure was only natural, so how could he feel shame or annoyance? Tanjiro felt a bit embarrassed under his gaze and blushed, saying, "That is an Entry..."

"Being able to be chosen by God is a talent in itself; there is no need to belittle yourself."

Urokodaki Sakonji suppressed the agitation in his heart and said, "I will explain your situation to Oyakata-sama..."

"There is one more thing."

Tanjiro almost forgot and hurriedly took out the 【Five-Yang Red Pill】 that Jiu Shu had refined for him, saying, "This is a Pill I obtained from the Samsara Game; it should be able to remove my sister's Demonization state and eliminate the demon blood left in my sister's body by the Demon King."

Five-Yang Red Pill,

the size of a thumbnail and entirely crimson red, named Five-Yang because it required the collection of five types of Yang-attribute herbs to refine.

"A Pill that can purge demon blood?"

Urokodaki Sakonji had just taken out paper and pen and almost thought he had misheard; he had fought demons for countless years and had seen countless families destroyed by the blood of Kibutsuji Muzan.

Those who turned into demons, no matter how strong or resilient their will was during their human days, could not escape the control of the Demon King and would eventually degenerate into pure demon creatures that fed on human blood.

For nearly a thousand years, countless people had pondered ways to turn demons back into humans, but every method had been tried without the slightest success.

It was as if it were a locked fate.

Therefore, when he saw Tanjiro carrying Nezuko, who had turned into a demon, although he did not say it aloud, Urokodaki Sakonji had no expectation from the bottom of his heart that Nezuko could ever become human.

Being able to restrain the desire to eat humans,

was already something Urokodaki Sakonji had never heard of, and now,

Tanjiro was actually saying there was a way to turn a demon into a human?

Unthinkable! "The first Pill, I want to give it to my sister."

Tanjiro's tone was firm; everything he did stemmed from his hatred for demons and his sense of justice in wanting to save humans threatened by them, but it was also driven by his determination to turn his sister back into a human.

"Try it first..."

Urokodaki Sakonji's voice was somewhat hoarse as he spoke.

He watched eagerly as Tanjiro moved the bamboo basket and carefully coaxed the oblivious Nezuko into eating the Pill, as if it were a candy.

"A-woo!"

The miniature version of Nezuko puffed out her cheeks, chewed twice, and swallowed the Pill into her stomach.

(End of this chapter)