Final selection
=- Fujikasane Mountain -=- Giyuu POV
Giyuu and Sabito are now at the meeting place for the final selection.
The mountain is decorated with beautiful wisteria. Their sensei had told them that demons don't like these flowers and avoid them.
There are up to 13 other people there. They are all between the ages of 13 and 17.
“Look how many people are here,” whispers Sabito to Giyuu. Giyuu just nods in response.
“Don’t be so nervous. Loosen up a bit,” Sabito says, bumping Giyuu with his elbow.
Sabito jogs forward while Giyuu calls after him. “Wait, I’m coming.”
A short time later two people arrive who introduce themselves as Kakushi. They wear dark clothing. Definitely a uniform. To keep their identity secret, they wear scarves over their heads and over their mouths. It is only possible to see her eyes.
“Good evening,” says the first person.
“Welcome to the final selection process on your way to becoming a demon hunter,” says the second.
“Here on Fujikasane Mountain, there are a large number of demons that have been captured by the hunters. This mountain is their prison,” says the first person again.
The second person explains. “The reason they can't escape is because from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, the wisteria blooms all year round. Demons shy away from these flowers.”
“From here to the top of the mountain, there are no more wisteria. But demons.”
“You have to survive in this area for seven days. That’s the only way you can pass the final selection to become a demon hunter.”
“We wish you much success,” both people say at the same time.
Sabito and Giyuu look at each other briefly. They walk towards the gate that marks the entrance.
=- Start of the exam
“We have to stay in here for seven days,” Sabito thinks out loud as they walk through the overgrown forest.
“Let’s go east. That’s where the sun rises first,” explains Giyuu. “We can then rest until Sundown. We should also stay away from the dense trees.”
Sabito, who has now put on his mask, nods to him. “Good idea.”
They start running. After a few minutes they both stop. “Do you feel that too?” asks Sabito.
“Yes,” answers Giyuu, who is now also wearing his mask.
They stand back to back with their swords drawn in order to better defend themselves.
A demon storms from Sabito's side. “Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin,” he says as he beheads the demon.
Are they ugly, Giyuu thinks as he stares at the demon. What else did I expect from something like demons?
=- Sabito POV
These demons are really strong, he thinks.
He looks over at Giyuu who just stares at the demon. But he can't see his facial expression through the mask.
“We have to move on,” says Sabito to Giyuu. They start running further east.
After running for a while they see another contender. They stop in front of him.
"Hello. My name is Sabito,” Sabito greets him. "Hello. I’m Murata,” the boy greets back. The boy looks very scared and out of place.
“Would you like to run with us?” Sabito asks the boy. "Gladly. Thanks, Sabito and ehh.”
“This is Giyuu,” Sabito introduces him.
“What form of breathing do you use?” he asks the other candidate. “Water breathing. And you."
“We too,” says Sabito happily, pointing to himself and Giyuu, who is still standing quietly behind him.
=- Summary of the next few days
The three of them run on. They come across several demons that are easy to defeat. Sabito kills every demon he sees, while Giyuu hasn't killed a single one yet.
On the sixth day, Giyuu and Sabito are separated. Murata, who feels like the leftover, is left behind with Giyuu. They had only exchanged a few sentences so far.
=- Giyuu POV
Sabito just ran ahead, Giyuu thinks as he looks in the direction Sabito disappeared.
He must have killed 50 demons by now and left me none left. He saves everyone here. But if they don't fight, they don't learn. On the other hand, you just have to survive the test. Nothing was said about killing the demons, only about surviving, he reflects.
He looks over at Murata. “Can you take care of yourself? Or are you coming with me after him?” Giyuu asks the other.
"I-I'm coming with you." Murata says after thinking for a while, shaking.
“Then let’s go,” says Tomioka and starts running. They run in the same direction as Sabito.
Giyuu hears an ugly laugh from the direction Sabito disappeared and runs faster. Murata stays behind but keeps running.
“Come here, number 13.” Giyuu hears from afar. He's running even faster now. You can't ignore the hostility.
Just as he gets there he sees Sabito's sword break and the demon takes his chance.
The demon is a monstrously large, veiny, hulking thing with olive skin, blood-red fingernails, and beady yellow eyes with cross-hatched pupils. He has multiple arms and his mouth is huge, with jagged teeth.
The demon giggles as he wraps one hand around Sabito's head and crushes the head with his hand.
Although it happens quickly, the cracking sound of the skull shattering cannot be ignored.
Giyuu stops for a moment in shock. The demon stuffs the rest of Sabito's headless body into its large mouth. Then the demon looks over at him.
“Oh, another fox,” says the demon with exaggerated joy. “Your lucky number is then 14.” it continues.
“What?” asks Giyuu, who was able to compose himself again with an angry undertone.
“I've eaten so many of Urokodaki's students. Because this man brought me to this mountain, I eat every one of his students. I always recognize them by the beautiful masks that Urokodaki gives you.”
I haven't known Urokodaki for long, but this thing has no right to mock him, Giyuu thinks angrily. He also killed Sabito.
Why did this idiot run off alone for no reason? He hasn't even had a proper rest in the last few days, Giyuu continues to complain in his mind.
But he doesn't draw his blade. Not immediately. Giyuu looks around and closes his eyes; he doesn't feel anyone around who could see him.
Good, he thinks. The demon crawls towards him.
“Come here fox,” he says and stretches a hand around Tomioka’s waist. The demon holds Giyuu tight enough that he can't escape, but not tight enough to crush him.
Because of his sudden grip, his mask falls to the floor and shatters. Giyuu, whose eyes are now visible, looks directly at the demon.
"Sabito, the boy you just killed will be the last student of Urokodaki you will kill," Giyuu says directly to the demon's face.
“Do you really believe that?” the handdemon chuckles. “You’re trapped. All I have to do is crush you and you're dead. The only reason you're still alive is because I'll torture you until the end of your short life."
“Do you really believe that?” asks Giyuu. The demon looks him straight in the eyes. Giyuu activates his Sharingan. The demon looks straight in and is caught by a genjutsu.
Have fun, thinks Giyuu. He climbs out of the demon's now loose hand. But he stops on his hand and draws his sword.
His neck must be hatd if Sabito didn't manage to cut it, Giyuu thinks and looks at the frozen handdemon.
"I haven't had the chance to kill one yet," he remarks. I'll just try it. Sensei said it takes not only strength but also technique and I'm definitely better than Sabito when it comes to technique.
Giyuu takes a deep breath and swings to strike. "Fourth Form: Striking Tide." Giyuu says as he aims at the demon's neck.
He strikes at the handdemon in practiced, flowing movements. The sword gets stuck in his neck, but Giyuu uses more strength.
The demon's head falls off. "What? What is happening here?!” the demon asks, confused, surprised and scared.
“You’re dying. I beheaded you.” says Giyuu who jumps in front of the demon’s head.
"How? I true until just the day that bastard brought me here,” the demon practically screams.
“You must be panicking right now. Correct? You wanted to take revenge for Sakonji Urokodaki locking you up here." Giyuu says in a mocking voice. “A tip from me. Next time, crush the body immediately. If there is a next time.”
The demon just looks up at him. He sees the red eyes of the child in front of him. The moonlight behind him makes them appear blood red.
“Y-You demon! You monster!” screams the demon in panic in its final moments before it disintegrates.
Demon? Monster? Really now? Those were his last words? Pathetic, Giyuu thinks as he looks at the disappearing head. He deactivates his Sharingan again.
Tomioka hears footsteps in the distance. He looks in that direction and sees Murata running towards him.
"It's all ok? Did you find Sabito?” the boy asks, completely out of breath.
“Sabito is dead,” Giyuu says cautiously. Murata looks at him with a shocked and pitying look.
“I just killed the demon,” Giyuu explains. "I understand. My condolences.” is the only thing Murata says.
“Let's move on. We have to be back at the gate tomorrow evening.” Tomioka says and starts to walk away. Murata nods and walks behind him in silence.
=- End of the exam
Giyuu and Murata both come out of the forest first. After everyone has arrived, he notices that only Sabito has died.
Giyuu recognizes many groups. Sabito has saved each of these people from a demon at least once.
He hears praise about Sabito from many directions or that the others didn't have to kill any demons because of Sabito killed everyone.
He has definitely overworked himself. But he didn't want to take a break either, Giyuu thinks angrily.
“Welcome back,” says the person from the first day on the mountain, pulling Giyuu out of his thoughts.
“Congratulations. To pass the final selection process to become a demon hunter,” says the second person.
“Am I finally getting a katana?” says an impatient voice from the background.
“First of all, you will receive the traditional troop clothing. To do this, we will measure your bodies and engrave your rank on your clothing,” the first person replies.
“There are ten of these ranks. Kinoe, Kinoto, Hinoe, Hinoto, Tsuchinoe, Tsuchinoto, Kanoe, Kanoto, Mizunoe and Mizunoto,” she explains further. “Currently, you all still have the lowest rank, Mizunoto.”
“Next, please choose your Tamahagane. Your katana is forged from this special material. It will take about 10 to 15 days to complete,” the second person continues.
“But first.” the first person claps his hands twice. You can hear crows cawing in the distance.
14 crows each fly towards a person and sit on their shoulders.
Giyuu sees a crow flying towards him. He seems old as he tries to land a bit awkwardly. He lifts his arms up and lets the crow land in his palm.
“Each of you will be provided with a Kasugai Crow. They will serve as a means of communication for you on your travels,” it goes on to explain.
After the explanation, the people go to a cloth-covered table. They pull off the cloth and underneath lie 15 small metal-like chunks.
“Everyone chooses a Tamahagane for their katana,” says the second person.
“How am I supposed to know which one to take?” asks a person in the background.
Giyuu looks at the stones. They all look the same, he thinks.
He walks towards the table and briefly closes his eyes. He grabs a random chunk and picks it up. Then he makes room for the next one.
After everyone has selected their ore, the measurements for the uniform are taken.
=- On the way back to Sagiri Mountain
Tomioka is pretty tired, but still continues to go back to Urokodaki. The old crow - Kanzaburo as he introduced himself - sits quietly on his head.
Giyuu notices a familiar hawk flying above him. He holds out his arm so the falcon can land on it.
“Hello Farukon,” he greets the bird. The bird greets him with a coo and waits for the signal from his master.
What do I do with Kanzaburo, he thinks, until Giyuu notices that the crow has fallen asleep on his head.
“All right. "Farukon, I want to talk to Hinokami." he tells the falcon. The surroundings change and Giyuu stands in front of the fire god again.
“Good evening.” Giyuu is the first to Greet. “Good evening,” the god greets back.
Giyuu tells him what happened in the final selection. That Sabito died and he beheaded the demon that did this.
"How do you feel?" the god asks, to Giyuu's surprise.
Giyuu lowers his head a little. “I'm upset. But not as upset as if it were Sakura or Naruto who died. I've known them both for a lot longer. I was also angry when the demon insulted Urokodaki.”
“I understand,” says the god in a comfortingly calm voice. “Before you go, I have a gift for you.” The god takes out a piece of cloth.
It is a well-known green, patterned fabric with a geometric hexagon pattern in yellow and dark green. There is a well-known Hitai Ate on it. His old headband. He was already wondering where it went.
“I wish you a nice journey home. Please contact me if you have any further questions or are not feeling well. Or if you just need something.”
"Understood. Thank you very much.” Giyuu says somewhat dejectedly and with a weak smile. "Have a nice day."
The dimension disappears again and he now holds the material in his hand. Giyuu continues walking as if nothing happened. The falcon flies above him like a sentinel.