*Asura's POV*
"All right everyone, let's take these guys to another group." I said while taking the female demon slayer in a princess carry not noticing the blush on his face.
Inosuke had two guys on his shoulders, Tanjiro and Haku were standing guard and leading the way through the forest.
*Meanwhile*
*Zenitsu's POV*
"Hey, brat you better handle these beautiful bones with care." Said the old fat guy.
"You aren't even hurt! Why do I have to carry you!!" I shouted while giving my opinion against this unjust arrangement.
"Hey Tanjiro! Why don't you or Haku carry this old guy?" I said while pointing at the old man.
"Sorry Zenitsu I would've done so but me and Haku need to lead the way through the forest. I'm really sorry." Tanjiro said sincerely apologizing.
'Ahh I can't even get angry on that kind of face. Wait! Where's Asura?' I thought while looking around.
"What the hell!!!" I shouted as I looked at the Demon in human skin carrying that beautiful lady in a princess carry with a stoic expression on his face not even noticing the slight blush on her face.
'Why is the world so unjust?' I thought while cursing this world full of pain and suffering for poor guys like me.
"Oi, wrinkle brow I'll carry more than you. In fact I can carry this whole mountain without a sweat!!" Shouted the boarhead.
"Oh yeah? Whoever gets tired first is a weakling." I shouted and got a 'hmmph' as an answer from the boarhead.
I then looked at the old excuse of a demon slayer and started to lift him up.
'This guy is older than Gramps how the hell is he still giving the Final selection? A few more years and he'll be going Senile. I don't think that even Demons will be intrested in eating him.' I thought while trying to lift the huge ball of flab.
"You damm teenagers have no manners nowdays. How the hell did you touch my beautiful waist with such rough hands. In my days we used to handle our elders with respect. So much so..." Said the old guy going on and on about his time as a 'Dashing Young Man'.
'I miss you Gramps.' I thought while continuing on this painful journey I called life.
*Asura's POV*
I looked back to see Inosuke and Zenitsu fighting about who is stronger. Curses like 'Meathead' and 'Wrinkle Brows' were raining from the sky.
But I could also see that Zenitsu was subconsciously using his real strength not all of it but at least some of it. It would be a lot harder for me to get him out of his shell and make him realise how powerful he really is but this will be a good start.
I won't be able to change his personality in a day but I can more than guess how powerful Zenitsu can be if he just gains more confidence in his own abilities.
'This reminds me. I'll have to do something about Urokodaki and Zenitsu's master. I don't know a whole lot about them. One always likes to hide his face behind a mask while the other was hell bent on training his successors . They can be of a lot of use. Same goes for Rengoku's Father.' I thought while already making plans about what to do with the two old Hashiras and one Drunkard.
We finally found another group and this one had 3 people still alive. Quite a good number if we take into account the near inhumane corpses we found in the forest.
"Here take care of these guys. We need to go find more people in the forest. We've already healed most of their injuries so they won't have a rough time keeping up with you guys." I said while turning around to leave.
"Wait!" Shouted one of them.
"Ar... Are you the one that killed the Devil?" He asked while stuttering.
"Haha who the hell are you kidding. Did you look at his clothes does he look like the son of an ambassador. The guy who defeated the Devil saved 5 other canon fodder from there deaths but that cost him his arm. He's told to be the son of one of the High position members of the government. Did you look at these country side boys and there clothes. They look like beggars in front of us from the city." Said another random Mob.
"Hey! Who the hell are you calling a beggar!!!" Inosuke shouted ready to pounce on the guy. Zenitsu and Haku were angry too.
"Inosuke." I said calmly while raising my hand and Inosuke immediately called down.
"We don't have to prove ourselves to any of these guys. Let's leave." I said already walking away from the random group of Mobs.
"But Nii san.." Inosuke started again.
"No means No. Don't worry Inosuke as long as I'm here no one is taking credit for our work. It won't help us if we fight with these guys. They're weak. Now come on." I said and started walking away with the group.
My mind on the other hand was busy with thoughts.
'What the fuck is this? How the hell is the government sending people here. That too brats. In the canon timeline the Ubuyashikis were very rich and the Demon Slayers weren't officialy recognised by the Government but the whole Demon Slayers Corps was autonomous in nature. How the hell did they manage to send a bunch of brats here?' I thought contemplating on the situation until I came to a conclusion which made my back get filled with sweat.
"Muzan." I unconsciously said out loud.
"Who?" Asked Tanjro and Zenitsu as they were the closest to me.
"Nothing. We need to make a stop right now. We'll travel all the way the way to the entrance area in the night it'll be easier as others will be getting attacked by demons at the time so we'll have less of a load to carry. Let's rest first and move out as soon as the sun starts to set." I said but the real reason I needed the group to rest was because I needed to think about my next course of action. I needed to find out the the changes in the Demon Slayer Corps.
'Most likely the only one able enough to manipulate the government would be Muzan. Just a few promises of Immortality and most humans would be in the palm of his hands dancing like his dolls. This means I'll need to have a thorough clean up of the whole Corps. In the canon timeline they were all brave people ready to out their lives on the line and die for humanity but if Muzan has his goons in it to spy on the Corps then it would be a lot harder to make changes in it.' I thought while setting up camp for us to rest.
'If the Demon Slayer Corps is still standing then it means that either the government hasn't been involved in this for long or the Ubuyashikis are still maintaining a certain distance from the others and still haven't let them near their HQ which means that Muzan is still waiting for a chance to strike. It's probably a mixture of the two.' I thought while slowly standing up.
If it wasn't for Muzan being mentally scarred by Yorichi then he wouldn't have hesitated for a second to kill all the Demon slayers but he is still hiding himself that means he at the very least fought with Yorichi like in Canon otherwise he would probably be going Berserk right now. What else could I expect from a 1000 year old Demon who could go Bonkers any second.
This was a lot for me to take in I had to gather my thoughts but first I needed to finish this Final selection exam.
"Zenitsu,Haku come with me."I said as both of them started to follow me.
I took out two bows from my Inventory and gave one to each of them with a few arrows.
I bought these with the money Gramps gave me as I wanted to test something out and if this experiment succeeded then I would feel somewhat less stressed. I wanted to test their strength.
I'll make my friends so strong that the Demons will stand no chance against us.
I needed something to take my mind off the topics of Rats and spies and this'll be a good start.
"Now I'll need you to shoot." I said as I looked at both of them.