Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

Clearly, this was the first time everyone had worked together as a team, and there were many, many problems.

Fortunately, the ghost we encountered was weak enough.

Su Mu even felt that, back then, he could have killed all of these flustered swordsmen by himself.

Clearly, if a team cannot cooperate, it may not only fail to achieve a result where 1+1 is greater than 2, but may even hinder each other, resulting in 1+1 being less than 1.

The evil spirit was weak and clearly panicked. Its limbs were quickly severed, and its head was cut off by Su Mu, who arrived shortly afterward.

Constitution +0.1

Agility+0.1

Strength+0.1

Spirit +0.1

As the ghost's head fell to the ground, the group stopped in their tracks, panting heavily.

Some looked excited, some groaned in pain from their injuries, some sat on the ground panting... No one stopped to care for their wounded comrade, no one paid attention to their surroundings, no one...

Kaigaku, holding his Nichirin Blade, looked at the group of swordsmen with his blue eyes, a hint of disdain in them. What use was this so-called group of teammates?

It was only by killing the weakest of the demons that he was in such a wretched state, while he could easily sever the demon's head with a single stroke.

He couldn't help but look at Su Mu, wondering why someone with such great strength would associate with such a weakling.

It's really incomprehensible.

…………

After slaying the evil spirit, Su Mu's first priority was to look after the wounded and bandage their wounds.

After treating the injuries, Su Mu called everyone over to summarize their experience together.

Even a simple team collaboration can present numerous problems. In general, it's easy for situations to arise where no one is willing to back down, leading to disputes and conflicts. Ultimately, this can cause a team to fall apart.

However, when a leader who is strong enough, authoritative enough, and patient enough resolves these issues, eliminates conflicts, or shifts them elsewhere, the team's cohesion will be quickly strengthened. Then, when everyone works together towards the same goal, the team's progress will be rapid.

Thus, through stumbles and setbacks, they summarized their experience from their first hunt of evil spirits.

Makomo and Tanjiro stayed by Su Mu's side, silently watching everything. At the same time, they were also thinking about what they should do after becoming swordsmen, whether in a future team or as the founder of a team.

…………

The first demon-slaying attempt was noticeably bumpy, even resulting in injuries. However, the second encounter with a demon went much more smoothly. Facing the fleeing demon, Shinichi Izumi and Akio Inoue, who were practicing "Wind Breathing," did not engage in a bloody battle after catching up with the demon. Instead, they aimed to hinder its progress, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. Once they did, the group took their positions in an orderly fashion: some cut off legs, some cut off arms, some held their swords to their sides for immediate assistance, and others stood guard with swords to prevent any unexpected situations...

Then, to Kaigaku's astonishment, he easily killed the demon without any mishaps involving teammates colliding with him.

After killing the ghost, Su Mu, as usual, asked everyone to summarize their experience. When opinions differed, arguments easily arose. Then, naturally, everyone would look to Su Mu for judgment, and naturally, everyone would begin to trust him.

This kind of conviction is no longer based on initial submission to the strong or helpless obedience to overwhelming power, but on genuine and heartfelt recognition.

…………

When they encountered the ghost for the third time, the efficiency was surprisingly fast. Almost immediately upon meeting, everyone was already lined up and cooperating in an orderly manner.

This demon was stronger than any of the demons they had encountered before, but this clearly stronger demon lasted for a shorter time than the previous ones.

When Su Mu successfully severed his head, Kai Yue's expression was one of shock.

What shocked Kaigaku even more was that he discovered that the team members were gradually starting to trust each other. Even when they saw that an attack by a demon could obviously endanger Watanabe Masashi's life, Watanabe Masashi still did his best to do what he was supposed to do. And his companion, Nishimura Kenichi, did not let him down and blocked the potentially life-threatening attack for him.

This is already a sign that he is willing to entrust his back to his companions.

This was unimaginable to the extremely self-centered Kaigaku.

Is it possible to achieve this level of achievement in such a short time?

Because he was never able to truly cooperate with the team, Kaigaku quickly became a loner.

No one wanted to be Kaigaku's teammate, even though Kaigaku was clearly stronger.

No one is willing to entrust their back to Kaigaku because they don't believe Kaigaku will wholeheartedly protect them.

Therefore, gradually, people began to view Kaigaku in a different light.

However, it was only because of the captain's permission that Kaigaku, who was clearly somewhat arrogant, was ultimately allowed to follow.

So, after the fourth hunt down of the evil spirits, Su Mu found Kaiyue: "I'm sorry, it seems that you are not very cooperative with the team."

"I can tell."

Kaigaku lowered his head, his expression quite complicated. He truly envied this kind of team that was willing to entrust their backs to each other.

However, to integrate into such a team, one needs to entrust one's back to one's teammates, which is something that Kaigaku finds difficult to do.

However, he felt that Su Mu's claim that he could assemble a team that could fully serve him was no longer empty talk.

Because, in a short period of time, the team this person assembled had already achieved a very tacit understanding.

"I'm afraid that from now on, you'll only be able to be a lone wolf in the team."

Su Mu spoke calmly.

Kaigaku remained silent, then raised his head: "When will I be worthy of having such a team serving me?"

Su Mu simply looked at Kaiyue with a smile.

Although he didn't say it, Kaigaku clearly understood and knew that his current strength was far from sufficient.

Su Mu didn't say anything more to Kai Yue, turned around and continued running towards his teammates. As he arrived, everyone immediately showed happy expressions and were very enthusiastic.

As Kaigaku followed closely behind, almost no one paid him any attention.

The two completely opposite attitudes made Kaigaku clench his fists even tighter.

Su Mu saw all of this. What Kai Yue might never know is that the chances of encountering such a team, to whom one could entrust one's life, are so slim as to be impossible, for someone as self-centered as Kai Yue.

Therefore, the extremely self-centered Kaigaku probably only acts this way because he always feels that he is not strong enough.

He will only work harder on his demon-hunting journey, let more people see his power, and kill more demons.

but……

No one would want to be teammates with an extremely self-centered and selfish person, even if that person is really strong.

…………

"kill!"

When they encountered the demon again, the team's excellent teamwork significantly increased their speed in killing it.

It even gives you the illusion of chopping melons and vegetables.

Meanwhile, on Mount Fuji, many people who had been hiding elsewhere began to come over and try to join the group.

As a result, Su Mu recruited many new people.

Then, he separated half of the original team's veterans into a new queue, recruited half of the new members for this new queue, and then handed the queue over to Makomo.

"Can...can I?"

Makomo was clearly a little insecure.

"How do you know you can't do it if you haven't tried?"

Su Mu patted Makomo on the shoulder and said in a calm tone, "At least in my eyes, Makomo is a very powerful girl. Moreover, she is only leading a team. In the future, Makomo will become a powerful female swordsman of the 'Pillar'."

Looking into the man's clearly convinced gaze, for some reason, she didn't want to disappoint those eyes that believed in her.

"I will lead this team well."

Makomo clenched her fists, and beneath her mask, she bit her lip.

"Ah."

Su Mu simply replied and then instructed Makomo to lead her team to cooperate.

Su Mu did not intend to lead the remaining team, but instead handed it over to Tanjiro.

Tanjiro clearly hadn't expected the adults to entrust this team to him. As a boy, Tanjiro felt somewhat apprehensive, but mostly excited.

"Why doesn't the lord lead the way himself...?"

Tanjiro asked cautiously.

"Because it's not suitable."

Su Mu patted Tanjiro on the shoulder: "Your teammates are probably still quite resentful of you. There are still a few days left in the assessment. Let your teammates see you in a different light."

He patted Tanjiro on the shoulder and said softly.

Tanjiro was somewhat confused as to why the adults said it wasn't suitable. Seeing that the adults didn't seem inclined to explain, he had no choice but to leave. Filled with trepidation and excitement, he began his first journey leading a team.

"Although Tanjiro is much weaker than Makomo right now, he should be able to win over his teammates with his personal charm very soon."

Watching Tanjiro's retreating figure, Su Mu lowered his head and whispered to Kanao.

Kanao blinked her pinkish-purple eyes, a thoughtful look on her face.

"As for why I'm not suitable, it's because I'm not someone who's willing to entrust my back to others. In the short term, with my strong abilities and some disguise, I can achieve tacit cooperation, but after that, things will gradually change."

He patted Kanao's shoulder gently: "Because people's hearts are very sensitive things. Sometimes you can sense whether someone is truly sincere or not."

He looked at Kanao, noticing her beautiful brows furrowed, and reached out a finger to gently stroke the bridge of her nose.

"Perhaps, only Kanao can make me feel at ease entrusting my back to her."

Kanao blinked her pinkish-purple eyes, and when she heard her uncle say that he was willing to entrust his back to her, her hands unconsciously clenched.

Then, she very gently took her uncle's hand.

The girl didn't say anything, but her eyes were very determined.

Su Mu smiled as well, but he didn't say that he would also be the person Kanao could trust the most.

Chapter 139 There has never been a precedent before (4/4 (two-in-one))

A place where wisteria flowers bloom.

A vast, endless cemetery.

A blind man stands before this vast cemetery.

The man's blind eyes were pure white, and the hair on the sides of his head was shaved short, with only short black hair combed back on the top of his head. He was very strong, wearing the Demon Slayer Corps uniform, a string of large red prayer beads around his neck, and a brown haori with the words "Namo Amitabha" written on it.