Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Demon Slayer

Author's Notes

Sorry for such a long wait everyone, I ran into a brick wall and I got really busy with life.

Anyway try to enjoy.

"normal talking"

'inner thoughts'

"flashback talking"

'flashback inner thoughts'

"Demon talking"

'Demon thoughts'

"Techniques"

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Sage of the Demon Slayers

Chapter 4

Proof of Hard Work and Spicy Flowers

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The sun is rising slowly high above the clear sky; bathing the human inhabitants of the earth in a welcoming radiance, while at the same time damming those who are able to live eternally. The forest rustled with reckless abandon as if nature itself was moving in anticipation of the two opposing figures that sat in the middle of a clearing. Not much seemed to happen between the two; both sat almost perfectly still, at least as still as one of them could, there was however a small bowl of steaming ramen sitting between them, tempting both parties to partake of its heavenly flavor.

"You feel like losing an arm old man?" Naruto stated more than asked, and while his body was perfectly still; all one had to do was look into his eyes and they would see an eternal flame burning within them.

"I feel like enjoying a nice bowl of ramen actually" Urokodaki responded almost too smugly for Naruto's taste.

"Umm is this really necessary master Sakonji?" Tanjiro asked, a bit nervous as the two older men stared each other down.

"Of course this is completely necessary Tanjiro, when the old man put ramen on the line he signed his death wish"

"A lot of talk for a 'ninja' who can't even swing a sword properly to save his life."

"Any ninja worth their log can fight someone with a sword, the same cannot be said for the sword wielder." He was of course referring to the self proclaim righteous samurai of the land of Iron and how there was only really one person that could hold a candle to a ninja of his caliber.

Not that anyone really needed to know that but he digressed.

"We shall see if your actions match your words."

A tense silence fell between the three again and almost as if they were in a anime; a single leaf gracefully fell between the two warriors'.

'May the blessing of the log fall upon me in this time of need'

Almost simultaneously they moved; Naruto drawing two kunai in each hand while Sakonjis' sword seemed to almost faze into his hands.

The two were on each other immediately, Sakonji went for a straight downward strike; one which Naruto parried with his right kunai and went in for a forward stab. Sakonji having anticipated this stepped just out of range and twirled his body in a 360 motion dodging the edge weapon and bringing his sword around to bisect Naruto from his waist. Seeing the blade approach him and with his left arm still extended; Naruto brought his right hand over blocking the sword from severing him in two.

Then displaying where all his practical ninja training went, Naruto somersaulted several times away from the old man whilst expertly throwing kunai that moved at speeds the nearby Kamado could not follow.

However Sakonji was not an ex-hashira just for bragging rights as he simply ether nimbly dodged or deflected all the kunai before deciding he had enough and bum rushed the orange wearing youth.

Naruto seeing this decided to take his chance and pulled out two collapsing fuma shuriken before hurling them at Sakonji in a way that was almost impossible to dodge, the older man however while not expecting such large bladed weapons to be throw at him was still able to avoid them by moving in a way that looked as if he were simply water passing in a stream.

A silence filled the air before the mask wearing man spoke.

"You know, if those had hit me i'd probably be dead."

Naruto only gave a sheepish shrug, neither agreeing or disagreeing with the statement. He then pulled out two kunai once again ready to battle. The two dashed at each other with much more vigor than previously displayed.

The spar continued on in a similar matter, Naruto throwing, stabbing or otherwise trying to maim the old man, while said old man would dodge parry or counter nearly every attempt, never really attacking the shinobi; which greatly aggravated Naruto.

Having enough of the consistent dodging, he managed to kick Sakonji square in the chest propelling him a few feet away and allowing them a few moments of tense rest.

They had started their spar around six in the morning and had fought for about six or seven hours. Naruto was breathing quite heavily; drench in sweat as he stared astonished and surprised the old man could keep up so long and yet only seemed to have worked up a light sweat. He internally wondered why all the old people he knew seemed to be irrationally strong.

"While kicking an old man might help you make some space and alleviate your frustration, a high class demon will not only be able dodge your kick but also be able to take the kick and rip your leg off in the processes." Sakonji stated as he lowered his blade, signaling an end to their battle.

"Dully noted" Naruto stated a bit sarcastically.

"Not to mention you have yet to learn to control your emotions while fighting, what would happen If I had a hostage? or I said some rude comments about your 'great log'? Your attacks are powerful yes, but lack precision and patience." Sakonjis' voice was stern and lecturing.

"You stay away from the Holy Log!" Naruto glared at Sakonji, pointing his right kunai at him threateningly, practically ignoring everything else the old man said.

"See? exactly my point, and most of all; while you may have a trained body compared to most people-"

In almost the blink of an eye the goblin mask wearing old man was holding his blade near millimeters from Narutos neck; drawing a few drops of blood when Naruto moved just a little too much.

"-To a fully trained demon slayer you're only about sub-pare." He then removed his blade from Narutos neck and turned to address Tanjiro.

"Now Tanjiro what did you learn?"

Naruto tuned them out and fell flat on his back, enjoying the cool afternoon breeze wash over his sweaty body, empty bowl of what was ramen sat close by. He started to think about the time that had passed since he arrived in this strange place. If he remembered correctly its been about four months, the first month was obviously spent half surviving and looking for civilization and half helping Tanjiro find Sakonji. After which for the past three months they'd spent training their assess off. Naruto specifically was trying to get down that stupid 'Total Concentration Breathing' technique or whatever it was called.

Sakonji had stated that without the technique it would get more and more unlikely that they would survive an encounter with a demon; high class or not. The only problem for Naruto was that most demon slayers were trained at an early age usually between the ages of 8 to 14, from then on it would be almost impossible for a trainer to teach the person. Naruto understood that part a little bit more though when he thought of the elemental nations and how most ninja actually started training at around 4 or 5. Hell he heard during the clan war days; if you were able to hold a kunai without stabbing yourself; you were a ninja.

Naruto was kinda glad he didn't grow up around that time.

'The Great Clan Days' he supposed.

Regardless due to his age and already amassed skill set Sakonji would not be able to teach him his specific style of utilizing the breathing technique, not to mention Naruto never really liked using swords, at least not nearly as much as he liked stabbing things with his kunai. Therefore Sakonji would do the most he could for him, which was basically just teaching him how to do the technique and how to hold a sword, the rest would be up to Naruto himself.

'its almost like when I made the rasenshuriken'

He liked to think he was at least half-way done with learning it, but Sakonji didn't really give a time frame on when he expected Naruto to understand how it worked. On the other hand he gave Tanjiro a year to two years due to him being oblivious of everything involving demon slayers. All in all they were both coming along nicely, at least Naruto thought so.

"Naruto!"

"Y-yes!?" Naruto practically jump into a salute at the harsh shout of his name.

"Are you paying attention?" Sakonjis' mask stared back at him somehow impatiently.

"Of course i'm paying attention old man!"

Sakonji seemed to gain a tick mark while letting his next words convey his annoyance.

"Okay, what were Tanjiro and I discussing then?"

Naruto glanced at Tanjiro hoping the younger lad would at least give a hint, to which Tanjiro gave a shrug.

'Probably too afraid of getting his ass whooped.' Naruto thought almost too bitterly before turning back to Sakonjis' mask; he figured if he was going to get the answer wrong, he might as well fail with a certainty of 100%, so with that in mind..

"Ramen?"

"..."

"..."

"Yes actually" Came a dry response, Naruto blinked for a moment before reacting.

"Really!? I-I mean of Course! it is the food of the gods after all! why wouldn't you be discussing it!"

Both Tanjiro and Sakonji deadpanned at him before going back to the topic at hand.

"What I am referring to Naruto; is that in order for you to truly apply yourself during training, you need a motivation, a very tangible and immediate motivation. You for example had a nice freshly made bowl of ramen that could have potentially been eaten or thrown away had you not fought for it. In a similar vain, Tanjiro needs a motivation that he can see, sure Nezuko is his main motivation but without her here watching him; he losses a direct source."

"So in a way your trying to find a way to motivate him to push past his limits?" Naruto ventured a guess.

"Precisely" He returned his attention to Tanjiro.

"You need something that can be accessible to you on a moments notice while you descend the mountain, something that will give you strength and allow you to ignore your pain. Having said that; I do think it's about time for you to head up."

Tanjiro for his part merely smiled and turned to the mountain, prepared to start his accent.

"Ah I do believe you're forgetting something."

Tanjiro turned around a question on his face before a sword and sheathe was thrust into his hands.

"You'll be descending the mountain with that now, and when you arrive back we will begin your basic sword training, do not be late." with that said Sakonji turned around beckoning Naruto to follow him.

"See ya later Tanjiro, try not to die!" Naruto gave him a bright smile before running after trainer.

Tanjiro smiled back before staring at the sword then to the mountain, determination in his eyes.

"We're one step closer to turning you back into a human Nezuko." Determination filled his as he began sprinting to the top of mountain.

As he ran though his thoughts drifted to Naruto and what drove him, Sakonji said everyone had a reason for fighting to stay alive and strong people usually had a reason for why they were so strong, Narutos' motivation for the training secession was the bowl of ramen, but what Tanjiro wanted to know is why Naruto had already gotten so strong?

What had driven him to be such a skilled and cable fighter?

With so many thoughts running through his head he hardly noticed his arrival at the top of the mountain. Steeling himself and focusing on the now, he began his descent.

3 months later

Tanjiro stood on a peak overlooking a beautiful waterfall, his eyes nearly sparkling at the majestic sight as he had never seen one himself due to always providing for his family; which the thought of them brought a small frown to his face.

Shaking his head to free his thoughts he turned to address the two other occupants on the peak, who; as far as he could tell were discussing the base of the water breathing stance, which Tanjiro himself would begin learning today.

"So all the Total Concentration breathing actually does is make a human on equal level with a demon physically but without an actual stance and practiced katas to equal, the human could easily be torn apart." Sakonji spoke addressing both youth.

"Ah so is that why we're at a waterfall? I thought it was just to take a break and relax a little." Though his voice sounded low-spirited Narutos attitude remained on the positive deposition of his surroundings.

"Tanjiro has learned enough of the basics, its time for him to truly understand what it means to wield a blade under the guidance of a retired hashira." Sakonjis voice was both proud and harsh at the same time.

He then promptly kicked Tanjiro off the cliff straight plummeting to the base of the waterfall, he then cupped his hands over this mask (as if that was going to make a difference) waited for the boy to resurface and yelled down at Tanjiro.

"The first step to this training is to become one with water Tanjiro! Feel the power! The Force! The flexibility! You will not leave this waterfall until it is ingrained into your very being!"

Tanjiro, the ever present good boi that he is, found a spot where he could stand directly under the waterfall, nearly forcing him to his knees before attempting to periodically stand upright.

"I AM WATER!" The demon slayer in training screamed as he 'became' water.

"Well you gotta give the kid points for enthusiasm that's for sure." Naruto spoke looking down at the young boy. His eyes reflecting a sort of reminiscing feeling in them; what Naruto could be reminiscing about Sakonji wasn't sure.

"I suppose, he has time yet. You on the other hand have been able to get the basics of the breathing technique in record time, however you'll need to come up with your own stance, something that compliments your normal fighting style." Sakonjis' voice vaguely reminded Naruto of another white haired old man, he shook his head, as if freeing himself of such melancholic thoughts and turned to the old man.

"Yea I guess I got just as high of a mountain to climb as Tanjiro ehh?"

The silence that entered the conversation at his attempted pun was almost suffocating.

"Anywaaayy, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately."

"Surprising."

"OK rude...what I've been thinking about the methods of killing demons, when Tanjiro and I first arrived you said only a nichirin blade and the sun could permanently kill one right? That just seems like too narrow of a window to me."

"Ah yes well, there actually is another two ways to terminate a demon, though both are usually much harder to accomplish."

"What are they? come on you can tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone!" Naruto practically begged the old man on his knees.

"Its not some closely guarded secret you hyperactive idiot!"

Naruto comically and visibly deflated, a small storm cloud floated over his head as he muttered on about how people should respect his intellect and how Konohamaru never called him an idiot. He then popped back up a bright smile on his face as if he wasn't just in a depressed state. Sakonji merely grumbled at Narutos' constantly shifting attitude before continuing his explanation.

"As I was saying these two ways are normally very difficult to accomplish, the first way is to gather wisteria flowers which are a sort of natural demon deterrent, though the flowers by themselves aren't necessarily poisonous, you'd have to gather quit a lot and mix them with other known poisons to really get a worthwhile effect. The other way is much harder, and almost impossible to achieve unless the demon your fighting is really stupid."

He glance at Naruto as they were both watching Tanjiro train.

"A normal civilian wouldn't know this and nearly all low ranked demon slayers probably won't ether, but demons are never born, they are made, though usually it takes a powerful demon to make someone a demon, but all demons in some way share there blood with the very first and most powerful demon." He turned completely to Naruto getting the ninja full attention.

"Muzan Kibutsuji. No one knows how he attained his power but it is unquestionable that he is the most dangerous of all demons, but Muzan is very paranoid and so with his power he has put a curse upon his name; any demon that dare utter his name will die in a horribly gruesome matter for if a demon were speaking of Muzan they could potentially give information on his whereabouts." Sakonji finished his lecture and turned back to Tanjiro, who was remarkably still standing under the waterfall.

Naruto turned his eyes to Tanjiro as well; though he wasn't honestly paying attention to the kid. His mind was more focused on the wisteria flowers that Sakonji spoke of, the flowers while not canonically deadly in base form had the potential to kill a demon if they were concentrated enough. He could remember a few times in his past of ninja who had poisoned tipped daggers but he wondered if there was some way to make a blade constantly poisonous.

"Hey master Sakonji?"

The old man stopped throwing rocks at Tanjiro and turned to him, why he was throwing rocks at the poor boy Naruto didn't know, but he went ahead and asked the question that was on his mind.

"Would it be possible to coat a normal sword in wisteria poison and make the sword deadly that way? Or Maybe forge a sword with wisteria poison in it?"

Sakonji took a moment to think about the question, while the wisteria flowers were definitely a good deterrent against demons it usually took a very concentrated mixture and quite a lot of it, he did recently hear of a current hashira from Giyu, that was unable to slice a demons head off and used a special mixture of the flowers poison to kill demons but it was still a nichirin blade at its base so he was unsure if a normal blade could reach the same effect.

"I am unsure if a normal blade could reach the same level of lethality as a nichirin blade even if it was forged with wisteria poison, however it would most undoubtedly be better than using a normal blade by itself. Why do you ask?"

"Do you think if I got a swordsmith to coat Kusanagi in this poison, it could be used to kill demons?" Naruto question was voiced with some hope, he wanted to keep some part of Elemental Nations with him, he still wanted to return someday after all.

"I suppose; though you'd have to find a willing swordsmith, normally they won't do any work on a sword until after you become a demon slayer not to mention you get your own nichirin blade once you pass final selection so it'd be kinda hard to find a swordsmith that would want to modify a normal blade over a nichirin blade."

Naruto adopted a thinking pose for a moment before asking another question.

"How long do you think I have before I'm able to get this breathing technique mastered?"

"Hmmmm, I'd give you about six months at the least to about a year at the most and around the same time to develop a stance." Seeing Narutos look of determination he suddenly felt that his expectations were about to be steam rolled.

"Right well that means I gotta get this thing down in three months then!" A fire burned in his eyes as he began walking away into the forest surrounding the waterfall, most likely to continue his own training.

Sakonji could only shake his head.

"This is why I prefer one student at a time, these two are going to be the death of me."

In The Forest with Naruto

Naruto continued walking a fair distance away from the master and student duo, nearly twelve kilometres before coming upon an area full of thick vines and other types of foliage, he approached an area that looked exactly the rest of the forest; only to move a few vines and tree branches out of the way to reveal an expertly hidden cave. As he walked deeper into the cave the sound of heavy chains and loud angry thrashing could be heard reverberating of the walls.

He then came upon what looked like a makeshift door made of a mixture of logs and vines, it had no visible handle as he picked it up and moved it aside to reveal an almost pitch black room that had only the light from the wholes in the door as he placed it back to illuminate it.

The sounds of chains and thrashing had long died down when he moved the door and in their place came a low growl coming from what sounded liked the center of the room.

Naruto gave an unseen smile as he spoke in a purposefully cocky inflection.

"Soooooo how has your day been?"

The growl he received in response was almost gratifying.

End of Chapter Four

Author's Notes

OK so this chapter took an awful long time to write for a varying number of reasons and quite honestly I'm still not finished with it so there is going to be a part two of this chapter that will also take forever to write and get posted but that's beside the point.

All in all I wanted to thank everyone that has left a review or just favorite or followed my story. My work schedule got fucked up and so did my sleep schedule cause of the virus but i'm trying to write whenever I feel motivated. Most of my free time is spent asleep or playing games so its gonna take awhile for part two to be written.

Have a nice day or night.