Training Arc Part 4: Sanemi Shinazugawa

(2174 words!)

Anos: 'Hrrm. Although his adaptation ability for poison has increased dramatically, its still not enough. I guess for the next hour, I will focus on developing his physical skills and his reaction speed. Well now, how are the others faring I wonder?'

--------------(Scene Break!)---------------

Sanemi: "Die!!!"

(Clang! Clang! Clang! Spark!)

Anos casually deflected all of Sanemi' s strikes aiming for his vitals with a stick as he spoke.

Anos: "Despite how much killing intent your releasing, your swordsmanship is not guided by rage. Quite impressive I must admit, however."

Sanemis's sword made contact with the stick in Anos's hand. However instead of clashing as what Anos had been doing before, Sanemi's blade slides on the branch before being imbedded into the ground. Sanemi's eyes widened as he tried to pull his blade back, but couldn't as Anos stepped on the blade imbedding it deeper into the ground preventing Sanemi from retrieving his weapon and then kicking his abdomen lightly causing him to cough spit before being thrown away as he spoke.

Anos: "You all are too over reliant on your blades. Even if its the only weapon that allows you to kill demons, you can still use close combat in scenarios where you've lost your weapon. Most demons rely on the fact that you all are only a danger to them when your armed. They fail to realise that they also can be staggard by striking them at places where the human body has the most nerves connected such as your kidneys, chin, crotches, etc etc."

Sanemi got up his face filled with anger, annoyance and frustration as he replied to Anos's words.

Sanemi: "That may be true, but it's pointless when dealing with demons on the level of an Upper Moon. Their physical strength, endurance, and pain tolerance are all far higher then us humans. And besides, most demons don't even flinch when their arms and legs, or even if their entire body is destroyed. So long as their heads intact, they will never fear death nor any pain we may inflict upon them."

Anos scoffed as he spoke.

Anos: "All I'm hearing is the excuse of a weakling."

Sanemi growled in anger at Anos's words as he charged at Anos once more. Anos shook his head as he spoke.

Anos: "Did you know that I know of a swordsman who can cut his foes with just his gaze."

Sanemi ignored Anos appearing before him delivering a straight punch to Anos's face who calmly spoke.

Anos: "Allow me to show you."

Sanemi's fist that was an inch away from Anos froze. Sanemi had an expression of genuine shock yet he couldn't even utter a word. After a few minutes of being frozen Sanemi recovered enough to speak.

Sanmei: "Just now, you sliced me from the top right side of my body to my bottom left side."

Anos: "Incorrect. I merely projected my intent upon where I would have sliced you. Your body and mind were tricked into believing that my intent had physically happend, and that you were sliced."

Sanemi: "Dammit! Just what kind of nonsense are you spouting now! How the hell can you slice someone just by gazing at them!"

Anos: "Believe what you want, but this technique was made by a human you know?"

Sanemi: "If a human did indeed make such a dangerous technique, I'd believe that such a technique would be studied quite alot to understand its principles that allowed such thing's to happen."

Anos: "But don't you want to learn the technique? It's actually a very fitting one for you. After all, your breathing technique is the most suitable for this technique."

Sanemi remained silent for several seconds before clicking his tongue and replying.

Sanemi: "Tsk. Fine then, teach me the technique."

Anos: "I'm glad your cooperating nicely. I especially hate dealing with stubborn people."

Sanemi: "Just shut up. I'm only doing this because if what you say is true, having the ability to trick an opponents mind into thinking they've been cut will be a massive advantage to our Demon Slayer Corps when the time to kill Muzan comes."

Anos merely shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.

Anos: "How noble of a wish considering you're personality. But let's end the conversation here, and begin your training in earnest."

Sanemi who was about to yell at Anos ended up letting the words die in his mouth as he simply nodded his head.

Anos: "A large part of the training is visualisation and improving your basics and your comprehension of the way of the sword."

Sanemi: "What do you mean by visualisation and comprehension?"

Anos: "Answer me this Wind Pillar. What is the art of the sword to you? Do not think about my question,just give me an answer."

Sanemi: "The art of the sword is merely a way to use the sword to achieve what you want."

Anos: "A common thought about what the way of the sword is. However, it's for this reason that your swordsmanship will never reach my level."

Sanemi: "Then how do you perceive the art of the sword?"

Anos: "The sword is, first and foremost, a weapon but it is never only a weapon. It is an object of power, steeped in conflicting ideas and paradoxical to its core. It is also a symbol of mastery of oneself and the intellect's capacity for discernment. It is an archetype that gives physical shape to some of the most fundamental aspects of the mind and body's condition. The project of making swords dedicated to the Gods and Goddesses was an opportunity to explore these aspects of your nature through myth, weaving abstract contradictions into the work amongst more directly symbolic themes. These weapons have strong apotropaic associations in their symbolism, often combined with concepts of light and truth as powers to turn away evil forces. There are many examples of the spiritual nature of the sword. In its symbolical role the sword combines the idea of honorable defense with notions of glorified violence, revenge and mindless bloodlust. This is a reminder that we can never understand ourselves if we refuse to acknowledge the shadows that dwell outside the light of our consciousness. The sword is therefore an object that compels us to the responsibility of honest reflection."

Sanemi had an extremely annoyed look on his face as he spoke.

Sanemi: "Oi! I didn't ask for an entire philosophy talk about the way of the sword. Make it quicker. We only have two hours in this god forsaken dimension you made remember?!"

Anos sighed in disappointment as he replied.

Anos: "To make it easier for you to understand. The way of the sword is a state of being where you can achieve the ability to cut what you want to and to not cut what you don't want to regardless of what you use. Allow me to demonstrate."

Anos plucked a single leaf from one of the nearby plants, and pulled out Sanemei's blade from the ground as he spoke.

Anos: "Tell me Sanemi Shinazugawa, do you think if I swung your blade at this leaf it will cut right through with ease?"

Sanemi frowned in confusion but still answered.

Sanemi: "Of course it will cut the leaf. My blade is sharp enough to cut through demon's flesh like tofu. It's impossible for a leaf to not get sliced by the blades sharpness."

Anos merely hummed before he let the leaf fall from his hand, and in front of Sanemi's intense gaze, Anos swung the blade down onto the leaf with incredible strength and speed. However.

Sanemi: "Impossible!"

Before Sanemi's eyes, the blade had long made contact not just with the leaf, but with the ground as well. However, not only was the blade not buried in dirt, but the leaf wasn't even sliced as well!

Anos: "This is what it means to be a true swordsman. To be able to cut anything that stands in your way. To forge your mind and body to become a blade so sharp your gaze alone can cut through even the laws that govern your world."

Sanemi: "Prove it."

Anos: "Hrrm?"

Sanemi: "There's no way that leaf couldn't have been sliced by my blade. I want you to slash at my head with my blade. If you're telling the truth, then I should not have to worry about losing my life am I right?"

Anos: "Very well then."

Sanemi: 'I bet you it was all a fluke. Maybe a blood demon art, or even a strange form of magic that allowed him to not slice that leaf even with my blade.'

Anos approached Sanemi before he swung the blade aiming for Sanemi's neck. However, not even a single drop of blood was spilt as the blade didn't even break through Sanemi's skin shocking him to his core as he turned around noticing Anos standing behind him.

Anos: "Believe me now?"

Sanemi: "... Are you saying that I can reach such a level of skill?"

At Sanemi's words, Anos started laughing out loud startling Sanemi slightly before making him annoyed with his laughing.

Sanemi: "Oi! Why are you laughing?!"

Anos stopped laughing after several minutes, and he even wiped a tear he had shed hearing Sanemi's words.

Anos: "I apologise for my outburst just now. Its just that the fact that you think you can reach such a level of skill was simply such a funny joke that I couldn't help but burst out laughing. I must admit, you may have a future as a comedian."

Sanemi became enraged at Anos's words and sent a kick at Anos's testicles only to be dodged without a single care. Sanemi's eyes twitched in annoyance as he spoke.

Sanemi: "I was being serious when I asked that question you know!"

Anos: "And I was being serious when I said that you should be a comedian. You are the first individual across the entire omniverse to have made me laugh hard enough to shed a tear. You'd definitely be an excellent comedian."

Sanemi: "Listen here you bastard, I just want you to train me so we can get it all over with."

Anos sighed in disappointment as he spoke.

Anos: "(Sigh). Very well then, for now I want you to focus on the fundamentals of your sword technique. Start from the most basic sword swing, and after you can't swing it anymore, you will switch to the second most basic swinging of the sword, so on and so forth. Do not count how many times you've swung your blade, just focus on the form and footwork."

Sanemi: "How will this help me in any way? All I need is enough strength to kill Kibutsuji Muzan."

Anos: "All your techniques still comes from the basics of how to even swing your blade. Never underestimate the power of training your basics."

Sanemi: "Alright then."

As Sanemi started swinging his blade, Anos picked up a piece of rock and flicked it at Sanemi. However, the rock missed Sanemi and instead just struck the ground nearby him causing Sanemi to jump away out of Instinct as he glared at Anos and spoke.

Sanemi: "Oi! What was that for?!"

Anos: "This is to help improve your focus. If this was an actual fight, you would have lost because you lost focus just now. You must learn how to multitask and keep your focus at the same time. Once mastered this skill will prove to be your greatest weapon."

Sanemi grumbled in annoyance, but still picked up his blade and swung it down once again. This would continue for some time until Sanemi could no longer stand. As Anos looked down upon his exhausted body he nodded his head with a satisfied expression as he spoke.

Anos: "For now eat up and then rest. You still need the stamina to go patrolling later on."

Sanemi who was lying on the ground groaned slightly as he spoke.

Sanemi: "I don't see or smell any food."

Anos: "Los"

Suddenly before Sanemi's blank gaze, dozens of various dishes appeared, alongside side some Ohagi which is Sanemi's favourite food. Botamochi is a wagashi (Japanese confection) made with glutinous rice, regular rice (ratio of 7:3, or only glutinous rice), and sweet azuki paste (red bean paste).

Anos: "Once your done eating, you may exit this dimension to rest and prepare yourself for your regular patrols."

Sanemi sighed in annoyance, but went ahead and started eating. When he noticed that there was even Ohagi, he looked at Anos suspiciously as he questioned.

Sanemi: "Oi, why is there Ohagi?"

Anos: "It's your favourite dish, so I just created it to silence you. As for how I know what you're favourite dish is, I've already told you all before. There is nothing that I don't know about."

Sanemi's eye twitched in annoyance as he spoke.

Sanemi: "Weirdo"

Anos rolled his eyes and ignored Sanemi as he pondered.

Anos: 'The only ones left are Gyomei and the Rengoku family. I wonder if they are enjoying their training?'