Pfft—!
A head bearing an expression of disbelief and terror shot high into the air.
"Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: God of Fire Thunder!"
"How is this possible! That move... why have I never seen it before!"
"Of course... of course that old man still taught you the ultimate technique! That bastard!"
As Kaigaku's severed head fell toward the abyss, it stared at the golden figure standing among the shattered ruins, still holding the posture of a completed sword strike. The jealousy in his heart reached its peak as he continued to curse.
Zenitsu, who had unleashed that attack, was already completely drained. His body swayed as he teetered on the edge of the collapsing platform.
"You're wrong... big brother..."
"This wasn't taught to me by Grandpa. This is my own form..."
"I really wanted to use this move... fighting beside you..."
Kaigaku's head was burning rapidly. His life had already reached its end.
"Impossible! Trash like you creating your own sword form? Don't make me laugh!"
"Cough—!!"
Zenitsu suddenly convulsed violently, blood gushing from his mouth in great spurts.
God of Fire Thunder was the ultimate pinnacle of Thunder Breathing. The strain it placed on the body had already surpassed the limits of what a human could endure.
Combined with the repeated forced use of Thunderclap and Flash during the battle, the pain raging through his body had become unbearable.
Muscles tore apart. The bones in his calves had shattered into fragments.
He could no longer stand.
"It's over... Grandpa..."
Zenitsu's vision began to blur. He could feel his body tilting backward.
The corridor he had been standing on had completely collapsed. Beneath him lay the bottomless abyss of the Infinity Castle, leading into endless nothingness.
With both legs completely numb, he could not even adjust his posture.
Zenitsu thought of his master—the old man who leaned on a cane, stern-faced yet always giving him rice balls whenever he cried.
"I'm sorry, Grandpa... I'm still... so useless."
"Hahaha! Even if you created your own form, what does it matter? From this height, you'll die with me!"
"In the end, that old man's Thunder Breathing will still disappear! Serves him right!"
"...It won't disappear, child."
Just as Kaigaku continued cursing endlessly, a figure he could never have imagined shot upward like lightning and firmly caught the falling Zenitsu.
"This... this is impossible..."
Kaigaku's voice faded completely into ashes, leaving not the slightest trace that he had ever existed.
"Who..."
Zenitsu struggled to open his eyes.
Through the hazy blur of tears, he saw a figure—both illusory and unmistakably clear.
It was an old man wearing a yellow-brown kimono. His expression was stern, yet filled with boundless kindness.
Jigoro Kuwajima.
His strong hands, hardened by years of gripping a sword, were now firmly holding Zenitsu's shoulders, providing the final support for his collapsing body.
"Grandpa...?"
Zenitsu froze.
He knew his grandfather was already dead, having passed away alone through the painful act of seppuku.
But the warmth from those hands...
And the familiar scent of faint tobacco in the air...
All of it felt so real.
"...Well done, Zenitsu."
The old man's steady voice sounded beside him.
"You are not useless! You are the disciple I am most proud of in my entire life!"
Those powerful hands gently patted Zenitsu's head.
Just like countless times beneath that giant peach tree, when he had encouraged him to keep going.
"Wah... waaahhh!"
On this cruel battlefield, at the edge of the collapsing Infinity Castle...
The newly risen warrior who had slain an Upper Rank demon now clung to the old man's figure like a three-year-old child, crying with heartbreaking despair.
Time turned back several days earlier.
When Jigoro Kuwajima had made up his mind to commit seppuku, he once asked Asuka:
"...Storm Hashira, would you be willing to act as my second?"
"What does that mean?"
"The one committing seppuku suffers greatly. Even if my heart is made of iron, fear may still arise... I worry I may not be able to finish it. After I stab my abdomen, please cut off my head... and give me a quick end."
"...I refuse."
Asuka calmly rejected the proposal.
"I've made a promise. My sword does not kill humans."
"...I see. My apologies for troubling you."
Jigoro Kuwajima no longer insisted. He had already made his final decision.
Slash—!
The strike carried the resolve to die, swift and ruthless. He was confident it would pierce straight through his abdomen, leaving him no chance of lingering.
Yet the unbearable pain never came.
The blade's tip had only cut the surface of his skin.
Shocked, Jigoro Kuwajima looked down and discovered that Asuka had moved with astonishing speed, grabbing the blade at the instant he tried to stab himself.
Blood dripped continuously from Asuka's palm, quickly staining the ground before them.
Furious and stunned, Kuwajima glared at him.
"...Storm Hashira, what are you doing? Are you humiliating me?"
"Old man, I truly don't understand what you're trying to do."
Asuka's grip was incredibly strong. No matter how much Kuwajima struggled, he couldn't pull the blade free.
"Dying is the easiest thing in the world. Living is the real hell."
"Yes, your disciple became a demon. The Thunder swordsman you painstakingly trained turned into a nightmare for the Demon Slayer Corps. So you want to die and escape from it?"
"Because Thunder Breathing has been disgraced, you want to redeem it with your death? Don't make people laugh, old man. The dead have no right to define such things. Only the living can judge them."
Seeing Jigoro Kuwajima's eyes begin to waver, Asuka tightened his grip and snatched the sword away.
"Maybe your master will mourn your death. Maybe your comrades will praise your resolve. But the ordinary members of the Demon Slayer Corps who barely know you will treat it as nothing more than a passing story. No one will care about the so-called honor of Thunder Breathing."
"And what about Zenitsu? You would leave everything behind and die, but he would remember it for the rest of his life. Every time he thought of it, he would suffer. Is that really what you want?"
"I... I would never mean that!"
Hearing this and imagining Zenitsu crying uncontrollably, Kuwajima's face turned ugly as he hurried to defend himself.
Asuka tossed the sword aside and wrapped cloth around the wound in his palm.
"But the result wouldn't be decided by you—a dead man."
"Instead of running away through death, fulfill your duty as the Thunder Hashira and risk your life fighting Kibutsuji Muzan!"
"You only have one life. Don't let it disappear meaninglessly!"
That night, Asuka spoke at great length. Even he hadn't expected he could say so many things.
But thinking about it carefully, those words were simply his honest thoughts after seeing Jigoro Kuwajima treat his precious life so lightly.
The two spoke face-to-face for a long time. In the end, he convinced Kuwajima to abandon the idea of suicide.
However, he proposed a plan.
"Zenitsu has tremendous potential, but he has never truly had the determination to fight. I think he needs a push."
According to Asuka's plan, Jigoro Kuwajima would secretly report his "death" to the Master, who would then announce the news of his passing to Zenitsu.
Faced with such a powerful shock, Zenitsu would either sink into despair or undergo a complete transformation. Kuwajima would observe from the shadows.
If Zenitsu truly could not bear the blow, he would appear and explain everything. At worst, the master and disciple would fight side by side to the death within the Infinity Castle.
But now, seeing Zenitsu battered and wounded, having personally slain an Upper Rank demon...
Tears streamed uncontrollably down Jigoro Kuwajima's face.
"It's over... child. You are my pride!"
At the same time, outside the Infinity Castle.
The former Flame Hashira, Rengoku Shinjuro, stood together with Uzui Tengen—who had recovered from deadly poison but lost one eye—guarding the door of the new Master, Ubuyashiki Kiriya.
"Did it succeed? Another Upper Rank has been slain!"
Kiriya's excited voice came from inside the room, catching Uzui Tengen's attention.
"Ah... it feels like this batch of Upper Ranks is surprisingly easy to kill... Two of them died in such a short time. I really want to join the fight in a flashy way..."
He tilted his head toward the silent and neatly dressed Shinjuro.
"Which rank do you think it was? Upper Rank Five just died earlier. Could this one be even higher?"
Before Shinjuro could answer, the Kakushi messenger inside released a crow to announce the news to the surrounding guards:
"Zenitsu Agatsuma! Upper Rank Six! Defeated!!"
Who?
Uzui Tengen suddenly felt as if the world had become unreal.
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