'The reason I won... was because I learned to detect the scent of the opening thread. When I'm battling someone and I pick up a certain scent, I can see the thread. The thread is connected from my blade to my opponent's opening, growing taut the instant I see it. My blade is drawn to it with great force, and then I slash the opening.'
In the forest, Nezuko stands in front of the sliced boulder. Urokodaki walks toward her.
"Mr. Urokodaki." Nezuko said.
"I had no intention to send you to Final Selection. I didn't want to see children die. I was sure that you wouldn't be able to slice the boulder... but..." Mr. Urokodaki admitted.
He pat her on the head.
"Well done, my girl.
Nezuko, you're... a remarkable kid." He said to her.
Nezuko starts tearing up. He hugs her.
"Make sure you come alive from Final Selection alive. Both your brother and I will be waiting here." He says.
Back at Urokodaki's hut, there's a plethora of food on a table spread out for Nezuko.
"Wow... what's the occasion? There's so much..." Nezuko marveled at the food in front of her.
"You've completed all of your training, so we're celebrating. Don't be shy. Eat up!" Urokodaki said.
"Thank you very much!" Nezuko thanks him.
Urokodaki offers a bowl to Nezuko, she takes it and eats it quickly.
'Nezuko... there's nothing more I can do for you. From here on out, you'll be going through such hardship and strife. Your training will seem like nothing in comparison. So for now, you should rest well without a care in the world.' Urokodaki thought.
Later in the night, Nezuko brushes her hair.
"Nezuko." Urokodaki says.
"Yes?" Nezuko replies.
"Did you enjoy that hot pot?" He asked her.
"Yes! I haven't had a feast in so long!" She said happily.
"A growing girl like you with a hearty appetite should get stronger the more she eats, as well grow bigger in size. But that goes for demons, too. Remember this. Basically, a demon is as strong as the number of humans it's devoured." Urokodaki pointed out.
"So, the more they eat, the stronger they get?" Nezuko asked, brushing out her hair.
"That's right. There are demons who gain strange power, become able to transform their bodies, and even use spells." Urokodaki says, taking something out of a cabinet.
"When your sense of smell becomes keener, you'll be able to tell how many humans a demon has devoured." Urokodaki said, handing Nezuko a Fox mask, taking the same shape of Makomo and Sabito's masks, but a different pattern.
The mask had something like a sun or bulletpoint in the corner of it, and circles where the mouth ends, and the eyes were red with circles inside of them, most of the mask's color was red and white.
Nezuko lays her hand on it, "Whats this?"
"It's called a 'warding mask'. I've charged it with a spell to protect you from harm." He explained.
"Warding mask..." Nezuko murmured.
In the morning, Nezuko prepares for Final Selection, she puts on a kimono with Urokodaki's haori pattern on it with a black undershirt to match it. Before she leaves, she goes to Tanjiro's bed.
"Tanjiro..." Nezuko said.
She grasped his hand lightly.
"I'm coming back no matter what, okay?" She reassured, she kissed his forehead and waved goodbye.
Urokodaki sees Nezuko off.
"Don't worry about your brother. I'll take good care of him." Urokodaki says.
"All right! Thank you very much!" She bows and runs away from the house, but stops.
"I'll be going then, Mr. Urokodaki!" She waved goodbye.
She runs a bit further before turning and saying, "Say hello to Makomo and Sabito for me!" Nezuko called as she ran to Final Selection.
"What? Nezuko... how do you... know those names of dead children?" Urokodaki whispered, horrified.
Nezuko walks through a path full of wisteria flowers.
'Wow, look at all of these wisteria flowers. I thought they were out of season...' Nezuko thought, grabbing a few petals that fell from the wind.
She makes her way to a shrine, she sees other students, one being a boy with yellow hair, his kimono yellow fading into orange, spread with white triangles. She feels like he'll be important later on.
"Ah... there's a lot of people." Nezuko says.
Two kids, Kanata and Kiriya, say, "Everyone. We thank you for coming here tonight for the Demon Slayer Corps Final Selection."
Kanata, a small girl with white hair, says, "There are demons imprisoned here on Mt. Fujikasane, captured alive by the Demon Slayer swordsman, and unable to leave."
Kiriya, a small boy with black hair, says, "That is because wisteria, which demons are weak to, blooms year-round from the bottom to halfway up the mountain."
Kanata says, "However, there is no wisteria from this point on, and so demons abound."
"You need to survive here for seven days to pass the Final Selection." Kiriya says.
"And now, be on your way." Both the kids say.
Nezuko runs through the wisteria-less forest by herself, sniffing around for demons.
'Survive for seven days... that's all I'm going to think about.' She runs to a boulder.
She kneels by the large boulder and watches the area.
'First, I'm going to survive tonight. Once the sun comes up, the demons won't be able to do anything, so I can get some rest then. So I'll have to head east! I'm going to make my way to where the sun rises first!' Nezuko suddenly stops, and then prepares to draw her sword.
'This smell, it's a demon! And it's nearby!' Nezuko looks around, searching for its location.
'Where is it? Where is it coming from? I can't pinpoint the direction of the scent!' Nezuko panics, but calms down and smells the air.
"From above!?" Nezuko exclaims.
She looks up, a demon jumps from the trees and charges toward her from the sky, she rolls out of the way, so the demon crashes into the ground.
"Hahaha!" The first demon cackles.
"A demon..." Nezuko mutters.
A second demon appears from behind, it jumps and aims to strike Nezuko. She draws her sword.
"Graaaa!" The demon shouts.
"Urk!" Nezuko blocks the demon from scratching her.
The first demon yells, "Damn you!"
The first demon starts attacking the second demon.
"Don't even try to grab my prey, man! Get off my turf, dammit!" Demon one yells.
"To hell with you! Just beat it!" Demon two exclaims.
'Two of them right from the get-go? I wonder if I can take them...' Nezuko thinks, tilting her sword.
"That's my prey, you know!" Demon one spat.
"Shut up! It's first come, first served!" Demon two spat back.
Both of the demons run at Nezuko and jump for an aerial attack, she blocks both of their attacks. Then the second demon kicks her away. She lands on the ground with a skid.
'I'm okay! Just calm down and watch their movements! Remember your training!' Nezuko reassured herself.
Both of the demons run at Nezuko again.
"It's been ages since I've eaten human flesh!" The second demon exclaimed.
'Total Concentration. Water Breathing.' Nezuko thought while taking a deep breath to find the opening thread.
'The scent of the thread. Fourth Form. Striking Tide.' Nezuko thought, and with one attack, she killed both of the demons.
'I did it... I defeated demons! I've grown stronger. All that training wasn't for nothing... I've mastered it! If I slash a demon with the special sword Mr. Urokodaki gave me,' Nezuko remembers her training.
Urokodaki says, "A demon's weak spot is its neck! But you can't kill it with a normal sword even if you slash the neck."
"Then, how can I take it down?" Nezuko asks.
"The swords wielded by the Demon Slayer Corps were forged with a special kind of steel, that's the only way to kill a demon. They're called the 'Nichirin Blades.'"
Nezuko snaps out of her trance and puts her sword back in the sheath. A rotten smell suddenly fills the air, Nezuko pinched her nose in disgust.
"What's this rotten smell?!" Nezuko exclaims, gagging.
"Ahhh!" A boy screams.
She turns her head to the side, removing her hands from her face. The boy was running, scared out of his wits.
"No one ever told me! I never signed up for this!" The boy exclaimed.
'What's going on?' Nezuko stood idle.
She sneaks behind a tree and sees the cause of the boy running, a large demon, which she named the 'Hand Demon', lumbering for him.
'What the hell is that?!' Nezuko yells in her mind.
Makomo and Sabito are sitting where Nezuko sliced the boulder.
"Do you think Nezuko can beat that one?" Sabito asked, lying down on his back.
"I don't know. No matter how hard you try, it's never enough. You know that well yourself, don't you?" Makomo replies.
Back at Final Selection, the boy is running away from the demon. He trips on a fallen tree branch and falls over.
"What's this morphed demon doing here anyway?! They didn't tell us a thing!" The boy exclaims, trying to get back on his feet.
The demon comes into view, he's holding a dead candidate. Then the Hand Demon ate the candidate. Nezuko swore she could smell the scent of fear coming from the tree next to her, but she didn't look.
'He got eaten!' Nezuko thought.
The demon grows in size, the boy picks himself up on his feet and starts running away.
"Ahhh!" The boy yells.
Before he can get far, the demon extends one of its arms, grabbing him by the ankle and dragging him towards the demon.
"Ahhhhhhh!" The boy starts screaming and crying.
"Ah...!" Nezuko exclaims.
She hesitates, but grips her sword firmly.
'Don't wimp out! Save him... Save him! Save him! I'm not powerless anymore! Move! Water Breathing! Second Form: Water Wheel!' Nezuko cuts the demon's arm off.
The boy drops near her feet, then the demon notices her mask.
"Ooh, another sweet fox has come to me." The Hand Demon cackles.
"'Another?'" Nezuko questions.
The Hand Demon's arm grows back.
"Little fox cub, what is the year of Meiji now?" The foul demon asked.
"It's the Taisho Period now." Nezuko answers, not letting her guard down.
"Taisho? Ahhh!! Holy shit!! Time has passed into a new period!!? Again! Again while I've been held prisoner inside this place! Ahhh!! Unforgivable!! Unforgivable!! Damn you, Urokodaki!! Damn you, Urokodaki!! Damn you, Urokodaki!! Damn you!!!" The demon exclaims, scratching his skin with all of his hands.
"How do you you know Urokodaki?" Nezuko says, gripping her sword even tighter.
"I know him, all right! Because Urokodaki is the one who captured me! I'll never forget that day 47 years ago! Back when he was still hunting demons. It was the Edo Period during the Keio Era." The hand demon says.
"Hunting demons? Edo period?" Nezuko asked, with genuine intrigue.
'Grr! Stop, Nezuko! Don't be friends with a demon that has killed many people!' Nezuko thought shaking her head violently.
"You're lying! No demon has ever lived that long! The only demons in here should've only eaten at least two or three humans! They don't live long because they're killed during final selection! And they eat their own kind!" The boy exclaimed pointing a finger out.
"Yeah, but I've survived all this time. Inside this wisteria prison, I've eaten at least fifty of you brats." The demon said.
"Fifty...?" Nezuko asked, horrified.
"Eleven... twelve... thirteen... that makes you number fourteen!" The demon cackled.
"What are you talking about?" Nezuko asked.
"The number of Urokodaki's disciples I've eaten, that's what. I promised myself to kill each and every one of them..." He said.
"Wha...?" Nezuko stood there, traumatized.
"Let's see... the ones who particularly stand out to me... it's those two. Those two... one was a female brat in a flowery kimono. She was the strongest. The other one was a small boy with a scar by his mouth, and an unusual hair color, he was the weakest of the two. But he was agile." The demon remembered.
"Wha..." Nezuko trembled.
'They had already been killed by this demon? But I was with them!' Nezuko thought.
"That mask. I can tell by the fox masks Urokodaki carved. The same style of carving he used for his own mask. Warding masks, right? Everyone got eaten because they were wearing them. They're all here inside my belly. Urokodaki might as well have killed them himself!
When I told this to the boy, he was angry and fell into a rage. And right after that, he lost control of his movements! I ripped off his arms and then..." the demon went on.
"Gr... yah!" Nezuko grunted, running towards the demon. He attempts to grab her, but she cuts the hands away.
"Calm down, Nezuko. Your breathing is uneven." Makomo said, rooting for her silently.
"It's alright! Never mind us!" Sabito says.
The Hand Demon manages to get to Nezuko and punches her, sending her flying into a tree, she starts bleeding by her upper right part of her forehead. She falls to the ground and then the warding mask breaks. The demon moves toward Nezuko slowly.
'I'm getting out of here while the demon's taking that girl!' The boy thought, running away from the scene.
"Another one of Urokodaki's brats is dying... I wonder how he's going to feel when another one of his kids comes home. I wonder what kind of look he'll have on his face. Oh man, I wish I could see it..." the Hand Demon cackled.
Shigeru calls from Nezuko subconscious, "Big sis... Big sis...! Big sis!"
"Ah!" Nezuko screams.
She jolts awake and jumps out of the way before getting impaled by one of his hands.
'Grrr... she dodged it. So she can still move.' The demon thought.
"Great! I can have some fun now!" The demon cackled.
His arms extend towards Nezuko again, she cuts them all and sends the hands flying. When they regrow, she dashes to the trees where she is harder to spot.
'Dammit! Not matter how many arms I cut, they'll grow back in a second!' Nezuko thinks of a strategy.
"You know you can't defeat me just by slashing my arms off. Then again, not even that black haired girl could cut off my head!" He cackled.
Nezuko cuts off a few more hands to face the monstrosity.
'I can't just let this go... before any more lives are sacrificed. I gotta bring him down now!' Nezuko thought.
"Ahhh!" She let out a fierce battle cry.
She runs forward and cuts more arms and sniffs the air.
'A demon's scent coming from the ground?' She sniffs, confirming it.
She jumps into the air at the perfect time, evading many arms protruding from the ground.
'She jumped! Dammit, I missed her! But there's no way she can dodge this attack in mid-air!' The demon got cocky.
The arm reaches out for Nezuko's head.
"Do you think Nezuko is going to lose, too? His neck is very tough after all..." Sabito said, unsure about Nezuko's fate.
"She may lose, and she may win. Either way, there is one irrefutable fact. That Nezuko... is the woman who sliced the toughest, largest boulder of all." Makomo says, changing Sabito's mind a little.
"Urrr!" Nezuko grunted.
She kicks the demon's hand, sending a small shockwave through his arm.
'She deflected it!' The demon thought.
"Grrrrah!" Nezuko yells.
She runs down the demon's arm. As she does, many smaller arms grow from the arm she's running on, she cuts all of the miniature arms and continues running at a fast pace.
'Total Concentration. Water Breathing!' Nezuko thinks, concentrating on the battle.
'She got too close to me! Not to worry, my neck is too thick to cut. She won't be able to slash it!' The demon laughs.
'First Form!' Nezuko thinks.
'As soon as she fails to cut my neck, I'm going to crush her head! Just like I did to the black haired one!' He laughs.
In Nezuko's mind, the opening thread connects.
She cuts his neck, beheading him swiftly.
"Ughh...." The demon groans.
'Water Surface Splash!' Nezuko thinks, landing on the ground with her feet, perfectly balanced.