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

As Yosuke was deep in thought, he suddenly felt his leg bump into something.

Looking down, I saw a little boy with short black hair, black pupils, long eyelashes at the corners of his eyes, and shallow tear troughs on both sides. He had fallen to the ground after bumping into Yosuke.

"Sorry, sorry. I was thinking about something and didn't notice you. Did you hurt yourself?" Yosuke helped the boy up from the ground.

But the boy turned and ran away without saying a word.

Yosuke scratched his head awkwardly, wondering if he didn't look pleasing to children.

"Hey, Yosuke!"

Asma's voice came from not far away.

Asuma familiarly placed his hand on Yosuke's shoulder and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Yosuke shook his head and said, "I didn't see anything, I just bumped into a child."

Asuma looked at Yosuke and frowned: "Yosuke, did you bump into a child from the Uchiha clan?"

"Uchiha?"

"Yes, Uchiha, their clothing has the Fire Fan symbol on it."

Yosuke recalled: "...it seems that the child had a fan-shaped symbol on his back, with the upper part being red and the lower part being white."

Asuma solemnly warned Yosuke, "That's the Uchiha clan, Yosuke. You need to stay away from Uchiha guys in the future."

Yosuke sensed Asuma's displeasure in his words and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Asuma explained, "The Uchiha clan members have rather extreme personalities. In their hearts, the Uchiha clan comes first, and Konoha comes second. They are quite selfish and extreme. Moreover, they are now the Konoha Police Department, and it would be very troublesome to be targeted by them."

After saying that, Asuma muttered to himself, "I don't know what the old man was thinking, that he would entrust such an important position as the Konoha Police Department to the Uchiha."

Yosuke didn't mind, smiled and said, "Thanks for reminding me, I'll be careful."

Over the next few days, Asuma left Konoha to carry out a mission.

Yosuke also gathers intelligence in Konoha every day.

However, on one occasion, while passing by several women, Yosuke overheard some of their conversation through his keen hearing.

"The Fourth Hokage is really cool."

"Yeah, I can't understand why the Fourth Hokage would choose that monster as his wife."

"Perhaps it's because the Fourth Hokage wanted to keep a close watch on that monster, after all, it's the Nine-Tails..."

"Nari, stop talking!"

Upon being scolded, Neri realized she had said the wrong thing and quickly covered her mouth.

Yosuke stepped forward and inquired, "Excuse me, what is this Nine-Tails you're talking about?"

The women's expressions turned extremely flustered, and they hurriedly retorted, "You misheard! We didn't say anything!"

After saying that, he left in a hurry.

Having received no answer, Yosuke could only give up for the time being.

This seemingly peaceful Konoha is filled with untold darkness: Danzo, the Nine-Tails, and... the Uchiha.

And these are perhaps only the tip of the iceberg that Yosuke has seen.

Yosuke arrived in the woods as usual, where Moonlight Gale had been waiting for a long time.

After several days of training, Gekko Hayate has mastered his breathing rhythm, and his swordsmanship has greatly improved under Yosuke's tutelage.

When Gekko Hayate saw Yosuke arrive, he excitedly ran up to him and said, "Mr. Yosuke, I did it! I did it!"

Moonlight Gale kept repeating "I succeeded," tears streaming down his face.

Seeing Moonlight Gale in tears, Yosuke was completely bewildered: "Don't rush to cry, tell me what you've succeeded at?"

Hayate Gekko wiped away his tears: "Mr. Yosuke, I have successfully become a Jonin, although only a Special Jonin, but I have also fulfilled my promise."

Yosuke suddenly realized that when he first met Gekko Hayate, he had said that he was working hard for a promise.

Yosuke smiled gently and said, "Congratulations, Hayate."

Hayate Gekko recounted his promise to Yosuke.

Hayate Gekko has a lover named Yugao Uzuki, and both of them inherited the Konoha-ryu swordsmanship.

However, Uzuki Yugao's talent surpassed that of Gekko Hayate, and she was selected by the Anbu at a young age to become a special Jonin.

Although Hayate Gekko possesses the bloodline limit Transparent Release and knows the Leaf-style swordsmanship, his physical weakness has prevented him from advancing to the rank of Chunin.

Once, Hayate Gekko and Yugao Uzuki made a vow: "We will protect each other forever."

However, since Uzuki Yugao became a Jonin, this vow could not be fulfilled.

Now that the promise has been fulfilled, Moonlight Gale is overjoyed and weeps.

Yosuke was genuinely happy for Gekko Hayate.

Today, Hayate Moonlight trained exceptionally hard, doing his best no matter how strict Yosuke's demands were.

During the training of Moonlight Hayate, Yosuke suddenly felt a gaze watching him.

Yosuke vanished instantly, reappearing behind the person who had been spying on him.

When Yosuke saw the figure, he was surprised to find that it was the same child he had bumped into on the street.

The boy looked at Yosuke with a blank expression, unsure of what to do.

Yosuke tried to appear as amiable as possible and asked the boy, "What's your name?"

A childish voice came from the boy's mouth: "Uchiha Itachi."

Are you interested in swordsmanship?

Itachi Uchiha nodded his little head.

For some reason, Yosuke had a very good feeling about Itachi Uchiha.

"Since you're interested, you can watch us train from the sidelines."

Uchiha Itachi was overjoyed and ran with his short legs to the edge of Yosuke and Hayate Gekko's training session.

Yosuke chuckled and patted Itachi Uchiha's head. He didn't take Asuma's comments about the Uchiha clan to heart. Perhaps there were some extreme and biased people, but one cannot generalize.

Yosuke said to Gekko Hayate, "Alright, now it's time for practical training. Hayate, are you ready?"

Moonlight Gale nodded and said, "I'm ready!"

Chapter 163 Practical Application

The daily combat training is what Moonlight Gale looks forward to most, because each combat session allows him to identify his weaknesses and correct them.

"Now that you're ready, let's begin. This practical exercise is open to all combat styles, meaning you can use abilities other than swordsmanship."

Moonlight Gale took a deep breath: "Go! Secret Sword? Moon Shadow!"

Moonlight Gale used the Instantaneous Movement Technique, moving so fast that it created several moving afterimages, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion.

With a flash of sword light, Moonlight Gale's blade was already slashing towards Yosuke's neck.

Uchiha Itachi, who was watching from the sidelines, was astonished. Was this still training? This was practically a real battle!

In contrast, although Gekko Hayate's attack speed was extremely fast, he had already thought about what to do after Yosuke blocked his attack.

From the very beginning, Moonlight Gale never intended for his attacks to hit.

As expected, Yosuke only took a small step back, causing Moonlight Gale's attack to miss.

Gekko Hayate performed several backflips, creating distance between himself and Yosuke.

Hayate Gekko used his Kekkei Genkai, Touken, to conceal his form, causing Yosuke to lose sight of him.

Just when Gekko Hayate thought he was safe, Yosuke made a move.

"Don't rely too much on your bloodline limit. Although your Transparent Escape can conceal your form, it cannot hide your breathing!"

Yosuke rushed to an open space, where there was no one around, yet he resolutely swung his sword.

All that could be heard was the clanging of swords against metal, and then the figure of Moonlight Gale appeared, using a katana to defend against Yosuke's attack.

Using the momentum of the Moonlight Gale, he retreated and escaped Yosuke's attack range, quickly forming hand seals.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Moonlight Gale split into two shadow clones, each of which drew its sword.

"Konoha Style Swordsmanship: Dance of the Crescent Moon!"

The shadow clone and the main body quickly teleported in front of Yosuke, and attacked Yosuke's waist, throat, and head with their swords respectively.

Yosuke was very satisfied with Gekko Hayate's attack; both the timing and the choice of vital points were perfect.

Yosuke swiftly unleashed three sword strikes, deflecting Gekko Hayate's attack.

Seeing that his attack had failed, Moonlight Gale once again distanced himself from Yosuke, waiting for the next opportunity.

Yosuke bowed slightly, assuming a stance as if drawing his sword.

Moonlight Gale felt a terrifying aura lock onto him, and cold sweat began to drip from his forehead.

"In response to your efforts, Gale, take this!"

"Breath of the Sun? Seventh Form? Sunset Turn!"

Yosuke instantly flashed into the air, his unsheathed Ama-no-Kurakumo sword wreathed in flames, and unleashed a horizontal slash while upside down.

Gekko Hayate tried to dodge, but locked in by the aura, he couldn't even move his feet. He could only raise the sword in his hand, attempting to block Yosuke's slash.

With a 'ding' sound.

Yosuke's scabbard struck Gekko Hayate's katana. Gekko Hayate felt the powerful impact and scorching heat from the blade, which made his hand ache. Moreover, the moment the swords touched, his katana broke in two.

Hayate Gekko stared in disbelief at the broken sword in his hand. His katana was custom-made with a touch of expensive chakra metal, making it exceptionally flexible and tough. He never expected that Yosuke would sever it with a single blow, and from its scabbard no less.

Uchiha Itachi, who was standing to the side, was dumbfounded. He had just arrived in the forest and had initially chosen to observe Yosuke and Gekko Hayate from a distance out of curiosity. However, he did not expect to discover how powerful Yosuke was when he observed them up close.

Uchiha Itachi couldn't help but wonder, were all samurai so powerful? Then why were there so few samurai he had ever seen, and those he had seen were all very weak?

"I lost."