"Your sword techniques are powerful, yet they lack ultimate refinement. But I believe that with your talent and hard work, another few decades of tempering would surely bring you to an even higher realm!
"However, a human body cannot achieve such things! You lack inexhaustible stamina and energy; you will age, and you will grow weak! For martial artists like you and me, who seek the very end of the Path, this is the greatest tragedy!
"So, become a demon, Minami Nao! If you become a demon, you will have infinite time to grow stronger. You can hone your techniques as you please and fight me for eternity!"
Akaza clenched his fists, his face flushed with an almost uncontrollable excitement. To him, finding an opponent in the vast stretch of time who shared his singular pursuit was a blessing of the highest order.
However, Minami Nao's response was identical to every Hashira who had faced death before her. She simply wiped the corner of her mouth, her voice cold and unwavering.
"I will not become a demon. That is all!
"Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Rice Spirit!"
As she funneled the Breathing Style through her body, the pressure on her wounded abdomen caused blood to mist into the air. Sharp, searing pain threatened to tear her body apart, yet Nao's face remained expressionless, as if the bone-deep agony belonged to someone else entirely.
The essence of the Rice Spirit technique lies in delivering five strikes in a single instant, sealing off the opponent's escape routes and forcing them to endure at least two of the rapid slashes. In close-quarters suppression, it is a technique of peerless power.
However... while such a move might suffice against ordinary demons, its purpose was rendered moot by the terrifying regenerative abilities of the Upper Ranks.
Unable to dodge? Forced to take two or more slashes? As long as the head isn't severed, what does it matter if all five strikes connect? Wounds that heal in a heartbeat are meaningless.
Akaza watched Nao charge toward him, and a look of boredom gradually crept onto his face. He didn't kill women, but this exchange had to end.
"Destructive Death: Eight-Layered Demon Core!"
This was an eight-hit barrage launched from all directions toward a single point. Given Akaza's physical density, it was a direct, superior counter to Rice Spirit. With this blow, Minami Nao would lose all capacity to fight.
Excellent battle spirit, but this is the end.
Just as Akaza felt a twinge of regret, Nao's Nichirin Sword completed its five-strike sequence. But just when he thought the attack was over, Nao pivoted violently. She wrenched her body around in mid-air with such force it nearly snapped her ankles.
"Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Rice Spirit—Double Variation!"
A technique that should have concluded was suddenly reignited. At the cost of her ankles nearly shattering, she swung her blade again. The suicidal strain on her abdominal wound caused it to erupt in another mist of blood!
Akaza stared at the ten incoming slashes. Instead of fear, his lips curled into a grin, and he burst into a fit of ecstatic laughter!
"Hahaha! That's it! Yes, you definitely must become a demon! Thunder Hashira, you are the strongest Hashira I have seen in a century! It would be far too great a pity for you to fall here!
"Destructive Death: Crushing Type—Ten Thousand Leaves Flashing Willow!"
The price a human paid—sacrificing their ankles just to execute a move—was for a demon a negligible cost that would heal in an eye-blink.
It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all.
But there are no rematches in this war. From the moment one steps onto this path, haven't they already prepared themselves for this absolute inequality?
Minami Nao gritted her teeth. She knew she was likely going to die, but she had already spotted the two figures rushing toward them. Those two weren't Hashira; they couldn't possibly defeat the monster before her. Her goal in changing her technique wasn't to win, but to drag Akaza with her into the abyss of the cliff behind them.
If she could knock this demon off the cliff, the two behind her would at least have a chance to escape! That would be enough!
Akaza, however, had already snapped out of his battle trance. He sensed the sharp killing intent in Nao's sword style fade. In a heartbeat, he guessed her intention.
"Do not let the purity of this battle be defiled. Fight seriously! I disdain striking the weak—you don't need to do something so redundant!"
Nao ignored him. Her wrists bulged with veins as she thrust her blade toward Akaza's chest. She intended to use her momentum and weight to carry both of them over the edge.
Rengoku Mujuro watched this unfold, his teeth gritting so hard they threatened to shatter. Blood seeped from his gums from the sheer force of his desperation. Flame Breathing did not specialize in speed; at his current pace, there was no way he could reach her in time to save the Thunder Hashira.
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! If only I could be faster! DAMN IT!!!
Hatred and remorse coiled in his heart like venomous serpents. His loathing for demons reached a new zenith.
But just as everything seemed settled, Mujuro heard a heavy, ragged breath from beside him.
"Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Rice Spirit—Modified Variation!"
As Kiyokazu's voice rang out, the aura around him underwent a cataclysmic shift. Arcs of near-tangible red-and-black lightning began to flicker and crackle around his body. The lightning was vivid and pure, searing cracks into the darkness of the night.
The eternal black of the night, claimed by demons, was suddenly torn asunder by these red-black bolts!
From the moment the Thunder Hashira entered Kiyokazu's field of vision, every Thunder Breathing technique she demonstrated had been perfectly replicated within his mind.
Seeing the Hashira about to fall, and seeing Akaza radiating that terrifying, apex predator aura... Kiyokazu's body provided the answer before his brain could even process it.
In the next instant, under Rengoku Mujuro's utterly stunned gaze, Kiyokazu's silhouette catapulted forward amidst the shrill, piercing cry of a thousand thunderbirds!
The instant replication of Thunder Breathing: Second Form—Rice Spirit. Every minor adjustment possible within the breathing style was completed in a single second.
Kiyokazu's figure vanished.
No, he hadn't vanished. He had transformed entirely into a bolt of red-black lightning. The very air seemed to be torn apart by the force, accompanied by the explosive, deafening shriek of a thousand birds crying out at once!
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Demon Slayer: Starting by Snatching Daki(95 Chapter- Ongoing)
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