Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

Chapter 131 Practice

"It looks like Kokushibo taught you something new."

Lin Guang did not answer, but just held the long sword and took steps towards him, one step, two steps, and then disappeared from his sight when he estimated the distance.

"You're like a little mouse."

The pitch-black forest was the best cover, and only this open space was illuminated by the moonlight. Akaza's vision swept across the darkness in front of him inch by inch. This level of darkness was not much different from daylight for a ghost.

"Keeping hidden all the time."

This was a mockery, but also a provocation. Men always hated the weak, and they didn't like this dishonorable way of fighting.

"And unfortunately, you are not a wild cat."

The voice was very soft and spoken very quickly, but the moment the voice appeared, Kong Shi swept across the dark area as if he had locked onto a target, but he did not hit anything and made the expected unusual sound.

It failed. Akaza wasn't surprised, but he narrowed his eyes slightly.

If it were any other human or any other ghost, and they fought him in this way, they would surely be turned into a pile of mud after being found, but since the opponent was Rinkou, everything was different.

The weak would resort to despicable means. Rin was a weakling, and his methods weren't exactly fair, but at least the boy wouldn't do anything awful. There was a difference between having to hide and deliberately hiding.

Moreover, even with his innate ability to be invisible, Lingguang rarely carried out a true sneak attack, not even as a harmless joke.

For boys, most of the time, the truly effective "sneak attacks" come from unintentional playfulness.

"So why do I have to fight you? It's like this every time, but what's the purpose of doing this? What's the benefit for me..."

This time the sound came from above. When the boy raised his head, the blade held high just blocked the moonlight, and only his eyes shone in the darkness he created.

The blade came from above, but Akaza easily dodged it. Rinko's skills were well-suited for combat, dishonorable but effective. However, the boy truly disliked fighting. Even though he now possessed sufficient skills, he still lacked the heart to surge and leap.

"A little more progress never hurts."

An ambiguous answer is actually another form of being speechless.

Linguang belatedly realized what a foolish thing he was doing. Asking why they had to fight was pointless. Asking a man whose mind was solely focused on fighting, training, sparring, and becoming stronger was as foolish as asking Douma why he ate so much. After all, that was all they had in mind.

It's like there's only one obsession left in Kokushibo's head. Rinko doesn't know the specific content of that obsession, but there's always a reason to support it, which allows Kokushibo to live firmly until now and be stronger than any other ghost.

"Being distracted during a battle is a serious mistake. Didn't Kokushibo scold you?"

Along with the persuasion, a fist came at him. Lin Guang's body reacted faster than his scattered reason. He curled up with the long sword pressed in front of him. The price of taking the punch was the clear sound of broken bones.

Rinkou heard it, but didn't care. In comparison, he was more concerned about the Nichirin Sword in his hand, which seemed to be fine but might not be able to withstand another punch from Akaza.

"He scolded me, more than once, but I always did that, so he got used to it."

This time, Rinkou didn't try to hide, but he didn't raise the blade again. He put the Nichirin Sword into the pot. He just stood there and made a gesture towards Akaza. It was unknown who he learned this provocation from.

Akaza was very fast, but Rinkou's reaction speed had been honed even faster, and all his punches and kicks missed the target as the boy dodged in a seemingly hasty but actually steady manner.

In fact, even if Lin Guang took a punch, it wouldn't have any effect on him. But who would like to be interrupted or penetrated? Besides, isn't the purpose of training to make it so that when facing the ghost hunters later, they can't touch them at all?

The moment he was distracted, Rinko's head was injured, and blood floated in the air like blooming flowers and exploding fireworks. The wound healed in an instant, and he didn't lose focus again. Akaza's increasingly fast punches and kicks only made him keep circling around in this open space.

"I take it back."

It was Akaza who put a pause on the fight. He shook his wrists and stretched his muscles, as if he had only just finished warming up.

"Ok?"

Lin Guang's body maintained the posture of dodging, leaning back slightly, and swinging his arms to pull his center of gravity back before falling.

"You're not like a mouse, you're like a fish, slippery. You can see it but you can't catch it. When you finally touch it, it slips through your fingers."

Akaza licked the blood off the bones. This amount of blood was not enough to make him make any greater progress, but it was enough to serve as bait to make the hunting dogs raise their tails.

"And you really don't look like a wild cat, you look like a hound."

Rinko was keenly aware of the subtle change in the atmosphere. He took two steps back. The battle was interrupted by Akaza and then started again by him.

This was a meaningless attempt. At least for Rinko, Akaza might gain something, but for him, it was really meaningless. Akaza's attacks, whether in terms of speed, power or range, were difficult to compare with Kokushibo's.

Rinko, who had been taught by Kokushibo that he would be chopped into pieces if he didn't dodge, found it difficult for him to make any further progress when facing Akaza.

-

Akaza may still not want to stop, but the appearance of the sun is a more effective terminator than Rinkou's reluctance.

The boy was still easily picked up and placed steadily on the man's shoulders. He relaxed, pressed on the man's head, and let the other party carry him and run through the woods.

"So I came here just to be your stake?"

Lin Guang spoke softly, sounding listless.

"No, I don't think so."

"You sound like you know why I was sent here."

The weight on top of his head was tilted, and Akaza guessed that it was because the boy had tilted his head and rested his cheek on it.

"Correct."

"Tell me."

"Do you remember why you were thrown here before?"

"I remember, but I think I've made it clear enough that I don't want to, or can't, learn to fight."

The boy's brain was actually quite dull, this was Akaza's conclusion after observation, and this wasn't meant to be derogatory; in fact, he considered it to be a strength. Rinkou's mind was very simple, and it was easy to tell what he was thinking and what he wanted to do. He couldn't hide too many dark thoughts, at least Akaza liked this aspect of him.

But not the current situation.

"Use your brain, Rinkou, and think about what happens after that."

This question stumped Lin Guang. He tried to recall, but he could not remember clearly what happened after that. Perhaps it was not important enough, or perhaps it was because it was too long ago. In any case, he thought for a long time before he caught some clues.

"But I can't make friends anymore."

Rinko is very stupid, and this time Akaza really wants to scold him.

"Besides friends, don't you have anything important in your little head? Why was it thrown to an unknown upper rank? Have you forgotten? Or you told me yourself."

The words of rebuttal were on the tip of his tongue, but Rinkou didn't actually say them. Instead, he paused, thought, and then swallowed the words "I'm not trying to recognize someone's face because I don't know him" that came to his mouth without thinking.

"Like you want to see how I can help you?"

Lin Guang finally remembered a little bit. After his first trip to study, there was indeed a special period of time when he had to spend time with the unfamiliar upper ranks whom he had never met before.

What was the last sentence that Muzan said at that time?

(Hands-on experience is always the most effective way to learn what you need.)

Rinkou remembered now.

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【tips：

It's been a while since I've written about ghost stories, and my mind's been a bit stagnant. I've been slacking off for a couple of chapters to refresh my thinking, and I've come up with some new ideas for the main plot, which are quite different from what I originally envisioned. I'm guessing it'll be a completely different direction from the original...

This is what happens if you don’t draft.]