Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

Mr. Urokodaki never mentioned the story of that wood carving, and Tanjiro never asked about it. He just thought it was Mr. Urokodaki's casual carving practice because Mr. Urokodaki has always had very skillful hands.

But he hadn't considered why Mr. Urokodaki would have kept such a meaningless item so carefully. He had never asked, never considered it, even though he had received a gift from Rinkou before, a gift hand-carved and still with the rough marks of youth. He had seen it with his own eyes, but he couldn't remember it. He knew Rinkou stayed here, but he had never considered whether it could be a gift from Rinkou for Mr. Urokodaki.

Reality is always like this. One small, accidental, and inconspicuous coincidence after another will eventually become a painful truth that pierces people.

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So why did Rinko leave here? This is a question that Tanjiro often wondered about when he was on the mountain.

From Makomo, he learned many stories about Rinkou he hadn't known before. He was a gifted and capable child, quicker to react and learn than anyone else, and he was the fastest to descend a mountain. Although he couldn't master water breathing due to his frailty and lack of maturity, he had achieved such proficiency in swordsmanship that even Urokodaki-san was pleased.

It would be great if Rinkou could stay in the mountains. He could train with him like Makomo and Satsuki. With Rinkou by his side, these difficult days would be more bearable. If it were Rinkou, he would also help him find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human.

The more he thought about it, the more he regretted Rinko's departure. But at the same time, he was even more confused. Why did Rinko leave? The distance from his home to here was not short. Rinko had spent so long to get here, with the guidance of his master and the company of his friends, so why did he choose to leave?

This confusion was not resolved until the final test on Fujixi Mountain, when it was answered by the hand ghost.

Both Santo and Makomo were disciples of Mr. Urokodaki, but they both died in the assessment a few years ago.

So, he left because he was overwhelmed by the shock? Tanjiro had come to this conclusion.

If Rinkou leaves this place, and leaves Mr. Urokodaki's training and education, no one knows what will happen to him if he loses his goal with such a weak body.

But at that time, Tanjiro found it difficult to think of a more suitable possibility except death.

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At this moment, the memory of the past gave Tanjiro a hard punch.

Tanjiro couldn't understand why he saw Rinko here, why he saw Rinko in Muzan Kibutsuji's arms. Rinko didn't die? She was still alive? That was great, but why, why was Rinko the same as when he first met her?

In that brief moment, countless thoughts flashed through Tanjiro's mind.

He remembered that ghosts would not age with the passage of time. If a child was turned into a ghost, it was possible that the child would maintain his original appearance. He might look like a ghost, but in fact, he didn't know how many years he had lived. This was all possible.

But Rinko couldn't be a ghost. He remembered that when he first met Rinko, he looked well-behaved and quiet. Although his health was very poor, he was not a ghost. That was what happened after that.

It is not impossible to think so. Lin Guang's health is not good. Maybe when he was about to die, he was targeted by a ghost and turned into a ghost by accident.

This must be the case, this must be the case. Muzan must have deliberately turned Rinko into a demon and kept her by his side, so Rinko didn't recognize him, just like how Nezuko lost her memory after becoming a demon, but just like Nezuko, Rinko still retained her human instincts, so she looked like a human.

Tanjiro tried to deceive himself and gave himself countless explanations.

But with the next breath, you will be hit hard by reality.

That was Rinko's scent. The smell of blood on Muzan was so strong, so strong that he could smell it even from such a distance. It was a more disgusting smell than any other ghost he had ever smelled, so much so that he couldn't even catch Rinko's scent at first, and ignored the existence of someone else in Muzan's arms.

But now, at this distance, he could catch that faint smell. Even though it was much thinner than the air on the mountain, it was real and it was the smell of Lin Guang.

Exactly as I remembered.

Nezuko's scent changed after she became a demon, but Rinkou's scent remained the same as he remembered, unchanged.

What does this mean?

Tanjiro was so shocked by his vision that he was speechless.

If the taste hadn't changed, if Rinko had always been Rinko, then that meant that from the first time they met, that boy standing in the snow, the boy who raised his hand toward him obediently.

It's just a ghost.

The most difficult fact to accept is the explanation that makes everything fit together.

Why can't Rinko eat human food? Why does he look so weak but can walk so far by himself? Why did Rinko look safe and sound when they first met, his hands were like ice but he was not sick, he drank a big bowl of hot soup but he had to sneak out of the house, why does he feel uncomfortable at night after eating something?

It's not because of any poor health.

It's just because Rinkou is a ghost.

From the beginning to the end.

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The gods must be extremely busy, to a degree that Tanjiro cannot even imagine, which is why his life is filled with so many unexpected things that he cannot imagine.

Everything was going well. He had seen Muzan Kibutsuji with his own eyes, but he let him get away. He had met an old friend who he thought was dead, but he realized belatedly that he was a ghost.

When he was angry and desperate, he met a demon who claimed to be a doctor. He said he wanted to kill Muzan Kibutsuji and save Rinkou.

Tanjiro felt like his head was in a mess.

And when Miss Tamayo said that Rinko had become a demon hundreds of years ago, Tanjiro felt that his brain was completely broken.

Could such unexpected troubles keep coming one after another? He was almost unable to bear the blow.

As he was thinking this, a ball of unknown origin shattered the wall.

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I'm not sure if you can tell, so I'd like to mention that there's a difference between what Tanjiro thinks is the timeline of Rinko and the actual timeline.

Basically, Tanjiro thought Rinko came to become his apprentice after leaving his home, and left again after Makomo died. (Tanjiro thought Rinko's journey was: Tanjiro → Sakonji) So he came. (In reality, Rinko's journey was: Sakonji → Tokito and his brother → Tanjiro)

Because Makomo's descriptions were vague, and he didn't specify when he came and when he left, I think this is vague because the soul can't remember how long it has been dead, or rather, doesn't care how long it has been dead. In addition, Makomo and Sanusa have always been reluctant to reveal that they are dead, so they are even more vague, so as not to let Tanjiro realize that the time is wrong. Therefore, Tanjiro has always misunderstood the timeline. But it doesn't matter, he will figure out what is going on in the next chapter. Miss Tamayo will be online after a long absence.

(I didn't originally want to write about Tanjiro's arc, but after thinking about it, it seemed a bit weird not to write about it, so I'll make up for it and use him to talk about Tamayo and the various situations of the Demon Slayer Corps, trying to use him as an information transfer station.)