As Mitsuri waited at the bottom of Mount Fujikasane, she anxiously awaited her student Hajime's return. "It's the last day of the final selection. Hajime will be coming down any second," she said to herself. Hajime's brother Hiroshi wanted to come, but Mitsuri refused because she had seen several survivors come out severely injured or missing limbs.

As Mitsuri waited, the survivors began to come down. Kanao was the first to descend. "Hello, Kanao!" Mitsuri waved her hand, but Kanao never met her eyes as she waved back and left. 'Kanao and Hajime trained together. Hajime considered her a friend, so I hoped they would come down together.' Mitsuri thought.

Following Kanao, a boy with yellow hair came down. The boy looked at her and started to blush. Mitsuri waved at the boy, and his face turned fully red. He was about to say something when a sparrow came down from the sky and pecked his head. The boy screamed and started to run from the sparrow. If Mitsuri didn't know better, she would think the sparrow winked at her as it continued to chase the boy.

After him, a boy with a buzz cut came down. He didn't seem to notice Mitsuri, and if he did, he didn't care. Mitsuri was beginning to worry that Hajime hadn't come out yet.

After the buzz-cut boy, a boy wearing Hanafuda earrings came down, looking excited. Mitsuri was happy that most of them weren't hurt, but she couldn't shake the worry about Hajime. 'What if Hajime was seriously injured? I need to go see,' Mitsuri thought, starting to run up the stairs. 'The next person I see, I'm going to question them about Hajime,' Mitsuri vowed to herself. As if her words came true, a boy with red hair came down. Mitsuri ran straight up to him and grabbed his shoulder.

"Is there a pink-haired girl still up there?" Mitsuri asked. The boy had a good poker face; she couldn't tell anything from his expression. "No, there were not any girls with pink hair that came back," the boy said. Mitsuri's heart dropped. She threw the boy to the side as she began to run up the stairs as fast as she could. She would usually have apologized to the boy for throwing him, but she was not in the right state of mind.

As she reached the top, the twins were the only ones there. She made eye contact with them, and she could practically see the guilt in their eyes. Mitsuri gritted her teeth as she ran past them into the forest. 'She could still be in there, maybe just injured,' Mitsuri thought, tears starting to come out.

"Mitsuri-chan, wait!" one of the twins screamed after her, but Mitsuri didn't stop. She did not need to go too deep to find Hajime.

Mitsuri stopped and looked at her lifeless, bleeding body. Tears started to come out, but she still walked towards Hajime. Mitsuri sat next to her and cradled her head. Mitsuri made eye contact with her dull, lifeless eyes. As Mitsuri looked down at her neck, the bruising of a blade being pushed into her neck could be seen. Mitsuri gritted her teeth as she realized this wasn't the work of demons. If it was, there wouldn't be a body. 'One of the others killed her...And I'm going to find who did it, and I'm going to kill them.' Her eyes shone with anger and determination for revenge.

-A large house that is surrounded by land-

A library with a young, pale-looking boy reading was disturbed by a creature coming out of a beautiful vase. "My lord I have concerning news." The creature had a very bizarre and grotesque physiology, taking on the form of a pale white, abstracted, grotesque humanoid figure with a muscular upper torso that has no arms and resembles that of an armless statue growing from a porcelain vase, similar to a djinn. His midsection is a red-violet color while his lower half, or his tail is black. He had multiple infant-like hands that lined along his head and back.

Its face was even more distorted, with large green-lipped mouths located where one would expect his eyes to be located, and his actual eyes were located vertically from one another on his face; one eye appeared in the constantly open bottom mouth and the other was seated at the center of his forehead. The kanji for Upper Rank was engraved on his forehead's eye and the for Five was engraved on his mouth's eye.

"What is it, Gyokko?" The boy asked.

"There is news about a human with the power to control the body like their puppets," Gyokko replied.

The boy lifted his eyebrows. "Are you saying there's a human that has a similar power to Rui?"

"Not like Rui's, but it's similar since they both can control the body. But unlike Rui, he seems to only be able to control the body," Gyokko explained.

"How did you get your hands on this information?" The boy asked.

"One of my vases is in the house of a boy who went to the final selection. He just returned, and he was talking about a red-haired boy who controlled his body and made him fight a bone demon." Gyokko was going to say more, but the boy stopped him.

"Gyokko, do you remember the Former Lower 3?" The boy asked, putting his hand on the bridge of his nose.

"I don't remember their name, but I remember they can manipulate bo-" Gyokko cut himself off, realizing something. "Oh, he's the demon who banished himself to the final selection to kill off potential demon slayers, as a way of redeeming himself."

"Correct, and did you know what the fool thought was a great idea?" The boy asked. "No..?" Gyokko said.

"He stayed in the wisteria trees so the humans would let their guard down, allowing him to surprise attack them. But staying in the wisteria tree for too long made him weak, and so he got himself killed," the boy answered.

"Well, it's his fault for meeting such an end. After all, he is the former Lower 3 for a reason. And what kind of idiot would think that was a good idea?" Gyokko remarked.

"Yes, unfortunately, his misguided plan did yield results by eliminating several Slayers and contributing to the loss of potential Demon Slayers. Now that he's gone, we must devise a new strategy to continue our mission of thinning the ranks of the demon slayers," the boy said as he and Gyokko began to plan.

-Swordsmith village-

Sasori and the woman found themselves in a medical bay, undergoing examination by another Kakushi. "Yep, you've got a broken spine," the medical Kakushi stated. The woman, concerned, asked, "How long will the recovery take?"

"Considering the severity, it might take a while. I recommend visiting the hot springs for healing. Also, I'd strongly advise you to quit," the medical Kakushi suggested.

"WHAT? WHY!?" the woman exclaimed, her voice a mix of shock and horror.

"You have Brittle Bone Disease," the medical Kakushi revealed. The news hit her hard, and it seemed like her entire world was crumbling before her eyes.

"What is that?" Sasori asked. He had never heard about Brittle Bone Disease before. "It's a disease that makes the victims' bones fragile. Her condition isn't too bad, but still not fit for a Kakushi," the medical Kakushi said. "What do I do with my life now? I wasted most of my life on becoming a Kakushi," the woman said, sounding dejected.

"Well, I mean, ahh... yeah, there are no other words for it," the medical Kakushi said, trying to sound comforting but brutally failing. Sasori could easily tell the medical Kakushi was not experienced in emotional support. "I got a Ph.D. in Medicine for nothing," the woman said.

"Wait you have a Ph.D. in Medicine?" Sasori asked, surprised that she couldn't pursue another profession. "Well, yeah, every Kakushi needs to have a Ph.D. in medicine," she said. "Why don't you become a Doctor?" Sasori asked.

"The Ph.D. only works at a job in the Demon Slayer Corps. I'll need to get a normal Ph.D. to get a job as a doctor," she said. "Why can't you work as a medical Kakushi?" The medical Kakushi asked. "The only medical bays are here and in the Butterfly Mansion. I can't work with the Butterfly Mansion because the Insect Hashira doesn't like me, and here, how often do people get injured?" She asked.

"Well, I mean, not that often. Everyone here is quite strict about safety. You're the first in a while to have an injury, and everyone here barely gets sick," the medical Kakushi said. "See, what am I supposed to do here? There's no job to do," she said with a huff. "Ahh, you're a workaholic," the medical Kakushi said.

As the woman was going to make a remark, the door to the medical bay was abruptly opened. It was a middle-aged man with neck-length black hair that spiked near the ends. His hands are covered in visible blisters and he wears a Hyottoko mask over his face. He pointed at Sasori. "You... you're a slayer, right?" The man asked. "Yes, is there a problem?" Sasori asked. "A group of bandits is approaching the village. They have weapons. Go deal with them!" The man said.

"Take me to them," Sasori said. The man led Sasori to a gate where six men were standing ten feet away. Three of them looked like teens, possibly young adults. One was a tall, burly-looking man, and the other one looked short and skinny. Sasori was probably taller than that man. The last man was of average height, with the only defining part about him being the yellow neckerchief that had a staining of red that looked like a splash of blood.

The woman and the medical Kakushi followed. "Miss, you need to stay in your bed," the medical Kakushi said, but a quick glare from the woman made him shut up.

"Well, don't you have a nice figure? It would be a shame to kill you without using it," the man with the yellow neckerchief,  presumably the leader, said as he licked his lips while looking at the woman. She glared at him with eyes that were filled with disgust.

"What kind of weapon do you want? A katana? A hammer? An axe? Or..." The man who brought Sasori here was going to ask, but Sasori stopped him.

"No need to use your weapons for these imperfections," Sasori said confidently. The six men before him had the same amount of chakra as an infant would have. Now that Sasori thought of it, most of the people he met had small reserves compared to infants. The only ones who had at least a decent amount of chakra were the four kids at the final selection, the pink-haired woman he met on the stairs, and the demon he and Zenitsu fought, which had the most chakra compared to a high-level Chunin.

"Oh, don't we have a tough guy here? Kid, why don't you run off before we kill you," another man said.

"Imperfections like you should just kill yourselves," Sasori said. One of the men ran toward Sasori, screaming as he threw a punch. Sasori skillfully evaded the attack, countering with a swift punch to the side of his face, causing blood to spew from his mouth and forcing him to turn to the side. With his legs exposed, Sasori kicked the man's leg, and the audible sound of bones cracking echoed. The man screamed, falling to his knees. Seizing the opportunity, Sasori grabbed his head and twisted it, the sickening sound of the man's neck breaking resonating in the air.

The remaining bandits looked on in shock as Sasori let the lifeless body fall to the ground. Sasori grinned menacingly. "Who's next?" he asked with a smile that could make the devil proud etched across his face. Another bandit charged at him with a knife, attempting to strike at Sasori's neck. Swiftly evading the attack, Sasori pulled out a kunai from his pouch.

With precision, he thrust the kunai into the man's neck, causing blood to spatter into his face. In a quick reaction, one of the bandits armed with a crossbow aimed at Sasori, but Sasori used the dead man as a human shield. The crossbow bolt struck the man, and Sasori swiftly threw the kunai at the crossbow-wielding bandit, hitting him in the head and causing blood to spew out.

Sasori dropped the body he had used as a human shield and grinned at the last three bandits still standing. The atmosphere grew tense as the bandits realized the formidable opponent they were facing. "What are you two standing there for? Go kill him!" the leader shouted, panic evident in his voice. The burly-looking member and the shortest member lunged at Sasori. The burly man wielded a club with nails poking out, while the short man brandished a cutlass. The confrontation intensified as the bandits attempted to overcome the skilled and deadly ninja before them.

As the shorter man attempted to thrust his cutlass at Sasori, Sasori swiftly seized his arm and neck simultaneously. The burly man was going to hit Sasori with his club due to the height difference between the short man and Sasori. The attack wouldn't have hit the short man. Sasori grinned, realizing that all he had to do was duck and lift the short man, The result was a gruesome spectacle with brain matter splattering in all directions, leaving Sasori unscathed and the short man incapacitated.

The burly man, shocked at killing his own comrade, left himself open to Sasori's decisive attack. Sasori grabbed the cutlass the short man was using and cut the burly man's hands in one fluid move. The sound of the man's hands and club falling to the ground was the only thing that was heard before the burly man began to scream. Even his screams didn't last long, as Sasori beheaded him. The man's body fell to the ground as Sasori stood on top of his corpse. He grinned at the leader, who looked horrified as he began to run.

"Don't even try," Sasori said as he moved his hand forward, using his chakra strings to connect to the man and pulled his arm back, making the man get pulled back. "What is going on? How are you doing this?" the man questioned. "You will be dying soon, so there's no need for you to know," Sasori said.

"Wait! Don't kill him yet." Sasori looked back to see who said that. It was an elderly man who was partially bald on the crown of his head but had white, shoulder-length hair. His face was obscured by a Hyottoko mask, similar to the mask the man who brought Sasori here had. Sasori looked at the man with a questioning look. "I have questions for this man. After I'm done, you can continue," he said. Sasori simply nodded.

The man walked past the dead bodies of the bandits as he made eye contact with the Bandit leader. "How did you find this village?" The man asked with a threatening tone.

"We heard a girl screaming directions, so we just followed the noise and found this village!" The leader said. The woman looked guilty at that moment but Sasori was the only one who noticed it "Did you see what this girl looked like?" He asked. "No, just the voice," the bandit answered. "What were your intentions for this village?" he asked. "We were just hoping to rob the village, that's it," the bandit said as Sasori put the cutlass next to his neck. "Are you sure that was it?" Sasori asked with a calm-looking face, but his tone screamed danger. The bandit said nothing. "Better start talking, or I'll skin the information out of you," Sasori threatened. "Okay, we were hoping to find some pretty women so we can sell them!" The bandit said as Sasori looked at the old man. He simply nodded at Sasori as he turned his back to them.

A grin came across his face as he put the cutlass in the bandit's hand.

Sasori moved his finger, and the man, unable to control his own body, put the cutlass next to his neck. The man realized what was happening and began to beg Sasori. "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. I'LL GIVE YOU MONEY, SLAVES, WOMEN, ANYTHING, JUST DON'T KILL ME." The man's desperate pleas echoed through the air, but Sasori remained unfazed, his expression unyielding. As Sasori simply flexed his finger, the man's continued begging was cut off as he beheaded himself.

As Sasori turned his back to the now-dead leader, there was only the man who brought him here, the old man, the woman, the medical Kakushi, and another person who was a bit away from sight. Sasori couldn't read the expressions on the faces of the man and the old man because they were wearing masks, but due to their chakra flickering, he could tell they wore anxious expressions. The medical Kakushi looked like a victim of mental warfare, and the woman only looked disturbed.

"You just killed them without hesitation," the woman said, sounding disturbed. "It's called self-defense; they attacked first," Sasori explained.

"Young man, my name is Tecchin Tecchikawahara. I am the chief of the Swordsmith Village. As a thank you for protecting the village, I'll be making your sword myself," the man now known as Tecchin said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tecchikawahara," Sasori said. "No need for the formalities, just call me Tecchin. And if you need anything at all, you can ask me about it or ask Kozo," Tecchin said, pointing at the man who brought Sasori here.

"Actually, I do have a request to ask you," Sasori said. "What is it?" Tecchin asked. "Is there a workshop I can use?" Sasori said. "We do indeed have a workshop, but it's outside the village in the forest, and the tools there are probably rusted by now since no one has used it in a long time, But we could replace them," Tecchin said, pointing towards the woods.

"That would be perfect. Could you guide me there?" Sasori asked. Tecchin nodded toward Kozo, who nodded as he began to guide Sasori into the forest.

As they walked for only a couple of minutes, they found a small cabin made of wood. Kozo pulled out a key and opened the door to the cabin, which creaked as Kozo had to push the door hard to open it.

As Sasori peered into the cabin, cobwebs, and dust adorned every nook and cranny. Surveying the tools, he noticed they were all rusted. "We haven't used this place in a long time. We could easily replace the tools and clean up this place by the end of the day," Kozo explained. "Thank you for going to the trouble of replacing the tools and cleaning it up for me. I would pay you for it, but I currently don't have any money," Sasori expressed his gratitude. "Nonsense, you protected our village; this is the least we can do for you," Kozo said, flabbergasted that Sasori thought he needed to pay them. "Now, why don't I take you to your room?" Kozo suggested as he guided Sasori back to the village gate.

The corpses of the bandits were still there. "Oi, someone get here and clean this up!" Kozo yelled to several men who, if they weren't wearing masks, Sasori would see several faces of pure disgust.

"I can clean it up. I made the mess after all," Sasori said. "Nonsense, they can handle it," Kozo said. "Then how about I get rid of the bodies?" Sasori insisted as he used his chakra string to attach to the bandits' corpses and detach limbs.

"If you keep insisting, fine," Kozo said as the corpses of the men stood up. "WHAT TH-" Kozo was going to scream, but Sasori interrupted him. "It's me; calm down," Sasori said as he began to guide the corpses and detached limbs of the men into the forest.

"Sometimes I can't tell the difference between Slayers and demons," Kozo said as he instructed the men to clean up the blood and brain matter.

As Sasori was far away from the village, he pulled out a storage scroll and sealed the bodies of the bandits. "I need to make some new puppets before I encounter something dangerous," Sasori said to himself as he began to return to the village.

-Several hours later-

Sasori was lounging in his room when a knock could be heard from the bamboo door. Sasori went and opened it.

It was a woman with black hair that seamlessly transitioned into white halfway down. "Can I help you?" Sasori asked. "I get I'm not wearing my face cover, but you're still hurting my feelings." the woman said with mock sadness in her voice "And for what I want, I just want to talk to you," She said.

Sasori realized who it was. "Ah, it's you, the girl whose back I accidentally broke," he said. "How about a proper introduction? My name is Ayumi," the woman now known as Ayumi said as she gave Sasori her hand as an invitation to a handshake.

"My name is Sasori," he answered but did not reach out for the handshake. "Not much of a shaker, are you?" She teased as she dropped her hand. "Can I come in?" She asked. Sasori moved to the side, letting her in.

They sat in the middle of the room, a table between them. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" Sasori asked. "Just wanted to invite you to my first day as a teacher," she said. "You're a teacher now?" Sasori asked. "Yeah, I quit being a Kakushi and asked the chief if I could teach the people here medicine. For those who aren't blacksmiths, so I thought that I could teach them. The chief approved, and dealing with children would make me work harder," she explained. "So you came here to invite me to your first class?" Sasori asked. "Yep, my first class is starting today. If you have nothing to do, you can visit," she said. "Sure, I don't have anything to do, and also, how did you get healed so fast?" Sasori said. "Oh, I just went to the hot springs; they have some sort of healing property," Ayumi said as another knock at the door took their attention.

As Sasori opened the door, there was a petite young woman with a small frame, slender build, and a pale complexion. She had large eyes that lacked pupils, only a haze of gradient purple, making her eyes appear similar to those of insects. "Hello, my name is Shinobu Kocho. I'm here to question you about the final selection," she said.

-Author's Notes -

Expect a chapter every Saturday.