Trial

Urokodaki was reminded of the old days, he still vividly remembered his disciples, they were all courteous, every one of them was diligent and trained like a madman.

A silent smirk made up on his face, which slowly faded away after remembering how they ended up, all of their faces were printed inside his head, covered in blood.

His heavy pupils lay on the young child in front of him, he did not even seem past ten years of age, yet, here he was after seeing his entire village, including his parents get slaughtered.

The kid seemed to really mean when he said he had only one purpose to live for, Urokodaki sipped his tea before replying.

"Follow me"

Inei kept his Katana on the side and walked behind Urokodaki, the man led him into a dense forest turning uphill.

Urokodaki started to ascend, Inei silently followed behind, after five minutes of climbing uphill, Inei felt the oxygen in the air decrease rapidly.

It was getting hard to preserve his breath, but following the breathing technique he always used, he was able to breathe with much more ease.

Urokodaki noticed this and his pupils shrunk to the size of a pinball, Urokodaki suddenly stopped in his tracks and faced Inei.

"Where did you learn to use that technique?"

He asked with a strict tone, Inei calmly gazed at the man before him and responded.

"It was passed down by my parents, they told me to learn it"

Urokodaki was confused.

'He's using the water-breathing style without even knowing it... but how? I'm absolutely sure no student of mine passed down the technique without informing me, then how did his parents get the breathing technique?'

Urokodaki was in a very tight spot, the breathing techniques were very sacred, if they became common knowledge, it would cause havoc throughout the whole world.

"And when was it passed down to you?"

"Just two months ago"

'What!?'

Urokodaki was shocked beyond belief, did this child in front of him really say he learned the breathing technique under 2 months?

"I see"

But he remained unfazed on the outside, he could not afford to show weakness toward anyone.

After a short while, Inei and Urokodaki reached the mountaintop, covered in mist and surrounded by a dense forest.

Inei looked around, he squinted his eyes after confirming there was nothing besides the mist and the trees in the surroundings.

"Master, what exactly am I supposed to do?"

Urokodaki felt his heart clench as he was referred to as "Master", the word brought up pitiful memories.

Despite the mood, Urokodaki slightly glanced toward Inei.

"Return downhill before sunset, if not, you can forget ever about becoming a demon slayer... that is also if you make it out alive"

The man vanished on the spot with a burst of speed Inei thought was never possible, he tried to peek downhill but the fog was hindering his sight.

"Make it out alive... Huh? I guess it won't be easy afterall"

Inei took his first step.

Swoosh!

'Fuck!'

He was barely able to dodge an arrow that bruised past his cheek, leaving a small cut on the side of his face.

Inei grimaced as he inspected the ground, squinting his eyes, he was able to spot a thin thread that connected to a tree nearby.

'Traps... so that's what he meant'

Finally getting the gist of the situation, Inei started to cautiously descent. His eyes scanned for any hidden threads or similar.

While passing through the trees, he grabbed a branch, which broke with the slightest of strength he exerted.

His eyes widened and his heart thumped, he quickly got away from the place and stared at the spot with an anxious look.

Minutes passed and nothing happened, he finally sighed a breath of relief after confirming he just broke a normal branch.

"Phew, almost gave me a heart attack"

He continued walking, still looking for threats, he was easily passing through until something unexpected happened.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a barrage of wooden spikes emerged from the bushes, despite being on high alert, Inei's reflexes couldn't match the speed of the attack.

He dodged some fatal ones but got hit in the thighs and shoulder by some, he gritted his teeth and leaned on a nearby tree to support his body.

It was looking really bad for him, the injuries coupled with the lack of oxygen in the air were making it worse.

Tatsumi somehow gathered his strength and continued using sheer will, he couldn't end it now, not ever.

'This is just the beginning, I have to endure and move forward!'

He steeled his resolve and dragged his body, his every step felt heavy as a boulder because his muscles were aching.

Tatsumi couldn't remove the spike, it would make the injury worse, because of it, his thighs and shoulder felt as if they'd been getting stabbed every time he moved.

Luckily for him, his journey to the halfway point was pretty smooth, but alas, his luck had run out.

Inei lost his footing and staggered, by which, unfortunately, he stepped on a bamboo stick, he felt his senses get to the extreme, and quickly jumped out from the position.

Very soon after, a giant log tied to a rope on either side came crashing down and landed on the ground where he previously stood.

He stepped back, accidentally activating a hidden rope, he was caught off guard and bamboo sticks came flying, sticking his abdomen, back, and chest at the same time.

Inei gasped for air, his internal organs felt like they were squeezed out of blood, his face paled as coughed out blood.

He took in deep breaths trying to subdue the pain, but it felt like it would last forever, finding no way out of this predicament, Inei decided to grit his teeth, stand up and continue forward.

He quickened his pace, which led to activating more traps and getting more and more injured, but he had to endure.

***

There was only 1 hour remaining before sunset, Urokodaki patiently sat on the wooden floor and waited.

Soon, he picked up footsteps, he slowly stood up. He walked toward the entrance, but before he reached the door, it

opened, revealing an injured and gasping youth.

Inei grinned before he fell on his back, Urokodaki stood there for a while before going to pick him up.