The air in the snowfield suddenly grew wild. Around Shinazugawa Sanemi, the wind aura surged violently.
Dark red marks, shaped like small windmills and cracked rock, spread across his cheeks—signs that the power of his Mark had been fully unleashed.
His breathing quickened sharply. The Nichirin Sword in his hand blurred into afterimages, its edge slicing through the air with a shrill, solid sound.
"Wind Breathing, Tenth Form: Whirling Sandstorm!"
As the words fell, Sanemi swung his blade madly, the storm centering around him.
Layers of green wind blades overlapped, forming a storm vortex several meters wide. Snowflakes were drawn into it, transforming into sharp ice shards that shredded nearby pines until broken branches flew everywhere.
The storm carried the force to devour everything, roaring toward Giyu. The ground split open with deep gouges, cracks spreading like spiderwebs across the snow.
Giyu's pupils narrowed. Pale blue water aura gathered around him in rippling layers.
"Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm!"
He turned his body, spinning slightly, using the "softness" of Water Breathing to deflect the storm's force—but the range was too wide.
The edges of the icy blades still grazed his shoulder and arm—
Two sharp slashes split through his deep blue uniform. Black blood seeped from the wounds, dripping into the snow and melting small dark pits.
"It's not over yet!"
Sanemi roared, forcing the storm to turn direction and strike again toward Giyu.
He knew full well how quickly Giyu could recover—if he didn't keep pressing, he'd give his opponent time to breathe.
Seeing this, Tanjiro immediately swung his blade to assist.
At the same moment, Giyu raised his own Nichirin Sword, channeling his breath into the wind. A tornado rose from the ground, and the orange-red aura of the Sun Breathing ignited along Tanjiro's blade like a coiling fire dragon.
"Hinokami Kagura: Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance!"
The blazing blade slashed straight for the vortex's weakest point—he remembered what Giyu had said earlier: "Find the node of the airflow," and he aimed exactly at the edge of the vortex's flow.
"Keep your rhythm steadier!"
Giyu's voice cut through the roar of the storm. A pale blue water arc swept in from the side, striking the back of Tanjiro's blade.
"Your attacks are too rushed—your fire dragon lost its momentum! Imagine your sword as a living dragon. Every swing must carry a spiraling force!"
Tanjiro blinked in realization and immediately adjusted his breathing.
The once-scattered fire dragon reformed, becoming denser and sharper.
With a resounding crash, his flaming blade struck the core of the vortex.
The storm froze for a split second—Sanemi's rhythm faltered.
Tō seized the opening and released Storm Breathing. Pale blue blades shot out like a rain of arrows.
"Storm Breathing: Modified—Reverse Swirl Slash!"
He tried to use reverse airflow to disrupt the storm, but with one arm, his control still lagged.
The moment his blades neared the vortex, they were caught and shredded.
"Use your waist!"
Giyu sidestepped Sanemi's follow-up strike, his pale blue blade drawing an arc that brushed against Tō's sword.
"You rely too much on your arm. With one arm, you must channel strength from your core! Feel the wind rise from your waist and flow through your arm to the blade!"
Tō immediately did as told, taking a deep breath, focusing the energy of his Storm Breathing into his waist.
When he swung again, the pale blue slash became far sharper, slicing cleanly through a gap in the storm—aligning perfectly with Tanjiro's fiery arc.
The storm vortex cracked. Green wind energy scattered into the air.
Sanemi gritted his teeth and forced more strength into his swings, but the Mark's side effects had already begun—his hands trembled slightly, and his breathing grew ragged.
Giyu caught the tiny falter. His pale blue blade instantly withdrew, shifting targets—
He swept low, his strike gliding along Sanemi's sword path. The water edge carried a soft but firm twist, redirecting Sanemi's attack off-course.
At the same time, Giyu's footsteps traced three shallow lines in the snow. "Sanemi, can you match my rhythm?"
Sanemi froze for a second, then adjusted his steps to follow. The previously uneven storm flow smoothed out again.
"Who the hell are you looking down on, bastard?!"
But before he could strike again, Shinobu's pale violet insect aura darted out from below.
"Insect Breathing: Dance of the Bee Sting – True Flutter!"
Thin as a strand of hair, the venom-laced insect trail shot straight for Giyu's knee joint—targeting the joint, just as she'd learned from medical texts, exploiting the blind spot in her opponent's guard.
"Good precision, but not fast enough!"
Giyu tapped his foot on the snow, body lifting lightly into the air as his pale blue blade swept downward. "The Insect Breathing must be like a needle—accurate, but also fast! You have to strike right as your opponent exhales! You were half a second too slow—that gave me time to dodge!"
Shinobu instantly memorized his words. As she landed, she steadied her breath and unleashed Insect Breathing again.
This time, her focus locked on Giyu's breathing rhythm. The moment he changed breath, her violet aura flashed like lightning, grazing his ankle—she didn't hit, but she was far faster than before.
Uzui Tengen and Kocho Kanae seized the moment and attacked together.
Tengen's golden Sound Breathing slashes twisted like vibrating strings, his strikes following the rhythm of his musical pattern. "Sound Breathing, Sixth Form: Fiery Arrow Burst!"
Kanae's pink Flower Breathing bloomed into a soft barrier, narrowing Giyu's range of movement. "Flower Breathing, Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo!"
"Your timing's off!"
Giyu weaved fluidly between the flashing blades and barriers. Black blood splattered through the air as two fresh wounds opened on his arms, but his voice stayed calm, giving direction even as he fought.
"Tengen, sync your rhythm to Kanae's barrier. When she steps back, you strike. Kanae, don't block head-on—leave a gap, an opening that tempts your opponent to step in. That's your kill zone!"
Both adjusted immediately.
Tengen slowed the tempo of his breathing, syncing perfectly with Kanae's shrinking barrier. Kanae then left a narrow gap on the eastern side of her formation—
Sure enough, Giyu instinctively dodged toward it, right into the arc of Tengen's golden slash waiting in ambush.
"That's it!"
A faint note of approval flashed in Giyu's eyes. His water aura exploded outward, his blue blade sweeping wide to block both attacks at once.
"Just a bit tighter coordination, and you'll be able to pin me completely!"
The battle in the snow grew fiercer.
Blades and Breathing techniques collided. The glimmer of different auras intertwined with splashes of black blood, carving complex streaks across the white ground.
Though Giyu now bore five fresh wounds and half of his dark uniform was soaked in blood, he still moved with poise—guiding everyone mid-fight.
Sanemi's Mark blazed darker red, his breath growing rough, but he continued to attack without pause.
Tanjiro's forehead markings glowed faintly red, his Hinokami Kagura burned hotter and brighter, and the wounds his blade inflicted on Giyu were taking longer to heal.
Tō's Storm Breathing grew smoother again, the pale blue blades now flowing in sync with Sanemi's gusts—sharpening into the perfect "assassin's" strike pattern.
"Push harder."
Giyu parried a combined strike from Tengen and Kanae, black blood dripping down his blade as he spoke.
The moment he did, Tanjiro's Hinokami Kagura erupted. The pale red marks on his forehead flared—his Demon Slayer Mark had awakened.
The orange-red blade gleamed with searing heat, slashing straight for Giyu's chest.
Sanemi and Tō also burst forward at once—green tempests and pale blue slashes closing in from both sides.
At the same time, Shinobu's Insect Breathing and Tengen's Sound Breathing locked onto Giyu's limbs.
A glimmer of pride flashed in Giyu's eyes. The pale blue water aura gathered to its peak around him.
He didn't dodge. Instead, he swung his sword head-on, meeting their blades directly.
—This intense training had finally pushed them all to their limits. But the true forging of strength was only beginning.
"Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm!"