The night was as silent and stagnant as cool water, and the red-black lightning was like a ladle of boiling oil poured into its depths. In a heartbeat, the thunderous light splattered in every direction!
As Izumi Kiyokazu lunged forward, the Nichirin Sword in his hand was already carving through the air. Unlike Minami Nao's strikes, Kiyokazu's attack did not consist of a mere five slashes. Wrapped in that red-black lightning that seemed to possess a life of its own, his blade erupted with a staggering twenty-seven intersecting arcs of thunderous steel!
Kiyokazu did not possess the transcendent physical constitution of Yoriichi Tsugikuni, but he possessed an understanding of Breathing Styles that rivaled—no, perhaps even surpassed—Yoriichi's own. Since he lacked the raw physical strength, he would use absolute, peerless technique to bridge the chasm!
The slashes flying from Kiyokazu's hand were no longer strikes that could be tracked by the human eye. In Rengoku Mujuro's sight, those flashes resembled a swarm of wild, living, red-black thunder snakes. They coiled and twisted together, and in the blink of an eye, the serpents bared their fangs, weaving a web of electricity that sought to swallow everything in its path!
The hiss of every thunder snake tore at the air. As they collided with one another, they grew even more violent, some even turning to lash back at Kiyokazu's own body. To save the Thunder Hashira, Kiyokazu didn't just need to increase the number of strikes; he needed the extreme velocity of Thunderclap and Flash. Having never seen that specific move, he could only rely on his own deductions and a self-mutilating method of exertion to force that level of speed.
Staring at the red-black thunder snakes roaring toward him, Akaza's eyes—which had grown dull following Nao's defeat—once again ignited with a brilliant, ecstatic light!
"Hahaha! Tonight is proving to be truly interesting!"
Minami Nao, who was still using her blade to pin Akaza in place, saw a technique far more refined than her own. No—as the Thunder Hashira, she understood better than anyone else present: the sword technique this stranger was displaying could no longer be classified as a mere technique. It was a miracle. Even if she trained for decades, she could never create something so magnificent. It was the silent sigh of an ordinary person witnessing absolute genius.
BOOM—!!!
With the snap of the thunder snakes' jaws, a deafening explosion rocked the battlefield. The red-black lightning collided violently with Akaza's destructive shockwaves. The sound of steel meeting flesh and bone was transformed into the roar of a celestial storm, and the two figures interlaced in a grotesque dance punctuated by the muffled thuds of breaking bones.
The stray sparks of lightning at this moment looked like the fireworks that should have bloomed before a certain snowflake hairpin a hundred years ago.
Rengoku Mujuro did not simply stand by. Almost the instant Kiyokazu charged past him, he had drawn his own Nichirin Sword and followed.
I told you to stay behind me, yet here I am, chasing your back. It's truly heartening... and a bit humiliating!
"Flame Breathing, Fifth Form: Flame Tiger!"
The moment his sword cleared the scabbard, it was enveloped in near-tangible flames. The scorching sea of fire solidified, manifesting as a roaring, giant beast of a tiger!
Within two seconds of Kiyokazu's blade engaging Akaza's fists, Mujuro's attack arrived in a continuous, relay-like succession. Yet, in those same two seconds, Kiyokazu and Akaza had already traded nearly a hundred blows!
Though Akaza was still suffering from the damage Nao had dealt him earlier, his raw stats were so far beyond Kiyokazu's that the advantage gained from extreme technique was being steadily eroded. Even though Kiyokazu tried his best to minimize the impact of each collision and maximize the efficiency of every strike, he was gradually being forced onto the defensive.
His right hand, which held the sword, was beginning to twist at an unnatural angle. The demon's strength was simply too great; it was crossing the limit of what technique alone could compensate for. Blood seeped from the webbing of his thumb and the corners of his mouth. The high-intensity use of Sun Breathing was pushing his body toward a total collapse. The current Kiyokazu, after all, could not yet face an Upper Rank demon's absolute power head-on.
But none of that mattered. Kiyokazu had achieved his goal.
The Thunder Breathing he had grasped and mastered in an instant had forcibly carved a path of survival out of Minami Nao's certain-death scenario. He hadn't just created a sliver of hope for Nao; he had provided Rengoku Mujuro with the perfect opening for a follow-up!
Kiyokazu twisted his body mid-air. Unlike Nao's agonizing method of snapping her own ankles, Kiyokazu caught her just as he flicked his blade upward. He utilized the momentum from Akaza's punch, dispersing the force through his entire frame and channeling it into his sword to propel himself.
As he caught the falling Nao, Kiyokazu spat out a mouthful of blood. Within his arms, the despair in the Thunder Hashira's eyes had been replaced by an unspeakable shock. She opened her mouth to speak but found she couldn't make a sound.
Akaza watched Kiyokazu land steadily. He looked down at the several wounds on his fists—wounds that were healing, but at a noticeably slower pace—and felt a surge of adrenaline! For the first time in his life, he had been utterly suppressed in terms of pure combat technique!
During that entire exchange, Akaza realized with horror and delight that Kiyokazu had seen through every one of his patterns and moves. Not a single one of his strikes had gained the upper hand. If their physical stats had been equal, he wouldn't have lasted five moves against this man!
Interesting! This is far too interesting!
The lingering excitement and appreciation in Akaza's eyes vanished, replaced by a greedy, burning intensity, as if he had discovered a peerless treasure.
But before Akaza could speak, the tiger of flames lunged before him, its jaws snapping shut!
Kiyokazu didn't wait for his breathing to stabilize. He gently lowered the Thunder Hashira to the ground, and his breathing style shifted violently once again. To the shock of the two slayers and the demon, he executed the exact same technique Mujuro had just used—but in a modified, superior form!
"Master Rengoku! Don't linger in the fight! Just force this demon off the cliff! Sever his limbs so he can't climb back up immediately!
"Now—please, trust me! Follow my lead, and clash your blade against mine!"
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Demon Slayer: Starting by Snatching Daki(95 Chapter- Ongoing)
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