People in Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began with Demon Slayer

Asuma looked at Yosuke beside him and asked, "Who is this?"

Jiriku introduced Asuma: "This is Mr. Yosuke, a wandering samurai who has traveled here."

Asuma was very curious about Yosuke, because since Chiriku became the head of the Fire Temple, he had almost never left the temple. It seemed that his purpose in leaving the temple today was for Yosuke.

Asuma assumed Yosuke was a friend of Jiraiya, so he asked, "Where is this Mr. Yosuke from?"

"I come from the Land of Iron." Yosuke had done his homework to prove his identity. In this world, ninjas were the mainstream, and only the Land of Iron was a neutral samurai country. There were no ninjas there, but a group of combatants called "samurai" protected them.

Asuma, the son of the Hokage, had heard of the Land of Iron.

"The Land of Iron... How is Admiral Mifune?"

Yosuke nodded slightly: "Thank you for your concern. Admiral Mifune is doing well."

Asuma was quite enthusiastic as long as the ninja wasn't from an enemy village: "Hahaha, welcome to our Land of Fire, Mr. Yosuke. Our Konoha is very prosperous. You can come to Konoha to find me, and I'll show you the charm of Konoha."

"I have longed to visit Konoha, a place that loves peace, for a long time. My next destination is Konoha. I hope that Mr. Asuma will not mind if I disturb him there."

Hearing Yosuke praise Konoha, Asuma felt honored and his impression of Yosuke continued to improve: "Of course I don't mind, Konoha welcomes everyone."

Over the next few days, Yosuke explored the surrounding area like any other tourist, while Jiriku, in order to observe Yosuke, took on the role of tour guide, leading Yosuke around the area.

Asuma, seemingly unwilling to return to Konoha so soon, joined Yosuke and Jiraiya's group of tourists.

Time flies, and a week has passed. Yosuke's gentle personality and some strange stories have made him and Asuma good friends.

From Asuma, Yosuke also learned about the basic situation of Konoha.

The current leader of Konoha Village, the Hokage, is Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze is now known as the strongest and fastest man in the ninja world. During the Third Shinobi World War, he single-handedly killed more than fifty elite Jonin from the enemy country.

He single-handedly fought against the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee, holding his own in the slightest.

The high command of the former rival ninja village, Iwagakure, once issued an order that anyone who encountered the Yellow Flash could terminate their mission without being punished.

It can be said that Minato Namikaze single-handedly reversed Konoha's disadvantage in the war, thus making them the victorious nation.

Konoha Village's assessment of Minato Namikaze is: "The 'Yellow Flash' who cut through the darkness of the ninja world is renowned far and wide, and he can even soar through space and time!"

After the Third Hokage stepped down, Minato Namikaze naturally became the Fourth Hokage.

Such high praise made Yosuke very eager to meet this legendary figure.

Chapter 154 Sparring

The next day.

Asuma bid farewell to Yosuke and Jiraiya, now that he was skipping work to go on vacation, he had to return to Konoha to report for duty.

Just as Asuma was leaving, Yosuke greeted him, "Yosuke, how about it? Want to come to Konoha with me?"

Yosuke, who was already heading to Konoha, would find it much easier to have Asuma as his guide, so he readily agreed.

The two walked together, stopping and starting along the way, enjoying themselves immensely.

Asuma, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, casually asked, "Hey, Yosuke, what made you choose to travel the world?"

Now that Yosuke and Asuma have become friends, he doesn't want to deceive him, so he says ambiguously, "Actually, I'm chasing a wanted criminal, but I don't have any news about him, so I can only travel the world while searching for him."

"Is that so...that's a real shame."

Asuma couldn't help but think of Orochimaru, his father's most prized and most regretted disciple.

Asuma's father, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, treated Orochimaru better than his own son, yet Orochimaru still betrayed Konoha and became a rogue ninja.

Jiraiya, also one of the Legendary Sannin, is traveling the world in search of Orochimaru, just like Yosuke.

"I believe you will find him someday."

Yosuke nodded and said, "Yes! I firmly believe that too."

Asuma stretched, his joints cracking and popping, and he let out a comfortable groan.

"I haven't trained for several days, and my body is practically rusty. Yang Jie, let's have a spar."

Yosuke asked in surprise, "Oh, so suddenly?"

Asuma looked intently into Yosuke's eyes and said, "I can sense that you are very strong. Just take it as a man's competitive spirit!"

Seeing Asma's unusual excitement, he stopped making excuses.

The two stood apart, facing each other.

Once everything was ready, Asuma pulled out his signature ninja tool, the Chakra Blade.

"Let's go!"

Asuma quickly advanced to Yosuke's side and began engaging in close-quarters combat.

The extremely high frequency of the sword swings made it impossible for Yosuke to dodge all of them. Only by using the unsheathed Ama-no-Murakumo sword could he block all the attacks.

Asuma used the momentum to leap into the air and exhaled a cloud of hot ash, instantly engulfing Yosuke.

Yosuke felt the temperature of the soot; it was high, but not hot enough to cause injury.

Just as Yosuke was wondering, Asuma's molar made a unique sound, and then a huge explosion occurred in the area where the ash was scattered.

When the explosion stopped and the smoke cleared, Yosuke's figure had vanished from the spot.

Asuma looked around warily, but still couldn't find Yosuke.

Suddenly, a round of applause rang out. Asuma looked up and saw Yosuke standing on the tree trunk, clapping.

"Asuma, that's a really powerful move. That sound just now was the sound of a flint, wasn't it? You hid the flint in your molars. What a brilliant idea! To ignite and explode those ashes unexpectedly is a way of attacking that's hard to notice."

Asuma took a deep drag on the cigarette dangling from his lips and said dejectedly, "But it didn't cause you any harm, did it?"

Asuma then questioned, "Yosuke, why do you keep hiding? I can sense that you are stronger than me, but do you really look down on my strength? Don't you even deserve to draw your sword?"

"Feel sorry..."

Yosuke decided to respect Asuma's choice, using his thumb to push the Ame-no-Murakumo sword out of its sheath, gripping the hilt with his right hand, and slightly arching his body.

Asuma's hair stood on end instantly, feeling as if he were locked onto by a terrifying aura. Yosuke's posture was extremely solemn.

"A samurai's draw sword slash...?"

Asuma focused his attention, fully prepared for Yosuke's impending attack.

"Sun Breathing? First Form? Modified? Round Dance Flash!"

A thunderous sound, as if tearing through the air, rang out. In Asuma's vision, Yosuke's figure transformed into a flame. Before Asuma could react, Yosuke's blade was already at Asuma's neck.

"Alright, that's enough of our sparring."

Yosuke sheathed the Ama-no-Murakumo sword and patted Asuma on the shoulder.

Asuma was still in a daze. The flames on Yosuke's blade were clearly not generated from chakra, so what were these flames wrapped around the blade? Were they flames generated by friction with the air? That was too far-fetched!

Yosuke didn't actually want to use such a powerful sword form as Sun Breathing, as it would make Asuma's experience too bad.

However, there was really no other way. Ordinary swordsmanship was no match for Asuma, who was a Jonin. Yosuke's Blood Demon Art and Blood Breathing were too bloody and bizarre to use. Therefore, he had no choice but to use his strongest technique, Sun Breathing.

"I lost..." Asuma's somewhat dejected voice came through.

Just as Yosuke was about to comfort Asuma, Asuma burst into laughter and exclaimed excitedly, "Now I finally understand what Kai is thinking. It feels so good to have an opponent!"

Just as Yosuke was wondering who Kai was, Asuma threw his nearly burnt-out cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. Then, Asuma pointed a finger at Yosuke and said, "From today onwards, Yosuke, I will consider you my lifelong rival! One day I will surpass you!"

Yosuke was somewhat dazed, wondering what had gotten into Asuma that made him suddenly act this way.

However, Yosuke didn't mind, thinking that Asuma would be fine in a while.

But Yosuke immediately regretted why he hadn't rejected Asuma back then.

The journey to Konoha would take another three days. During these three days, Asuma would find various excuses to spar with Yosuke, and these excuses would become increasingly bizarre.

"Yosuke, we just finished eating, let's have a spar!"

"Yosuke, let's spar one more time before we go to sleep!"

"Yosuke, let's spar as we go!"

"Yosuke! Yosuke!..."

Just when Yosuke was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, he finally saw hope.

The gates of Konoha appeared before them.

"Yosuke, we..."

"Stop! We've arrived in Konoha. Let's put the sparring session on hold for now!" Yosuke stopped Asuma in time.

Asuma sighed sadly. Over the past three days, he had benefited greatly from his constant battles with Yosuke and could clearly feel his strength improving.

Each time Asuma's strength improved, he would challenge Yosuke to a duel, and Yosuke would always be slightly stronger than Asuma after his improvement.

This made Asuma somewhat addicted to the feeling, and he was also extremely curious about Yosuke's strength.

Asuma looked up at Yosuke's retreating figure, who was eager to enter Konoha, and silently swore an oath.

"Yosuke, one day I will grow strong enough to make you use your full power, and then I will defeat you!"

Chapter 155 Red-haired Female Ninja

Yosuke wanted to enter Konoha, but was stopped by two ninjas guarding the village gate.

"Please show your pass to enter Konoha!"

A year has passed since the Battle of Kikyo Mountain, a war that determined the outcome of the Third Shinobi World War.

The peace of this year was hard-won for everyone, so naturally, unfamiliar faces coming to Konoha from outside need to be checked before they can enter Konoha.

Asuma stepped forward and said, "I'll take him to register. Yosuke is a samurai from the Land of Iron. He has very little chakra and doesn't know any ninjutsu, so he couldn't possibly be a spy from another village."

Upon seeing that it was Asuma, the son of the Third Hokage and a Jonin of Konoha, the two gatekeepers nodded and stepped aside to let Yosuke pass.

Asuma led Yosuke into the analysis department. The war had just ended, and everyone was extremely vigilant. The usual procedures still had to be followed.

Under the influence of a sensory ninja, Yosuke was examined to see if there were any sealing techniques in his body, and his chakra level was even less than that of a Konoha genin, so he was judged not to be a ninja.

Yosuke obtained the pass without any trouble, allowing him to freely enter and leave Konoha.