[Inorin's Note:
Hey everyone, so sorry for the lack of updates these past few days! Four days ago, I randomly got the idea to build my own novel website, and I immediately hyperfocused on it. I got so caught up in the process that I completely forgot to queue up the scheduled chapters on Webnovel and only just realized it now. The good news is, my 78-hour coding binge wasn't for nothing—the website is already 50-75% done!]
Chapter 53: Storm of Pear Blossoms
The month that followed settled into a comfortable, productive rhythm. During the day, Akira dedicated himself to his own rigorous training, though he would occasionally venture out to inspect the abandoned buildings in his territory, ensuring no demons had taken up residence. At night, he patrolled the district, a silent guardian under the moon. He would sometimes respond to the distress signals of other Corps members, but the city remained surprisingly quiet.
In fact, an entire month slipped by without Akira encountering a single demon on his nightly rounds. He answered only one call for aid, arriving to find a handful of Kinoe-ranked slayers struggling against a demon wielding a troublesome Blood Demon Art. For Akira, it was a simple matter. He dispatched the creature with casual efficiency, earning the wide-eyed admiration of the younger swordsmen before vanishing back into the shadows.
Meanwhile, at the Butterfly Mansion, the collaborative research between Shinobu and Dr. Kochou Sawaki was yielding its first tangible results. The initial batches of their anti-demon wisteria poison were distributed to a select group of slayers for field testing, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Weaker, common demons were killed almost instantly upon injection. Stronger ones found their formidable power greatly diminished. The poison's efficacy faltered against demons with potent Blood Demon Arts, but it was a remarkable start that proved their concept sound.
Akira had also offered them a new line of thinking. "Instead of aiming for an immediate kill," he had suggested one afternoon in their lab, "why not focus on control? A powerful paralytic agent, a toxin that saps their physical strength, or something that specifically inhibits their regenerative abilities."
The idea sparked a new wave of innovation. When the successful field reports, coupled with Akira's new suggestions, reached Ubuyashiki Kagaya, the Master of the Corps waved his hand and immediately doubled the research funding Akira had initially requested in his capacity as the Sound Hashira. The Kakushi's procurement lists were updated, now including a vast and exotic array of poisonous plants and animals from across the country.
Ever since that night she had poured out her heart, the bond between Akira and Shinobu had deepened into something truly special. While Shinobu still wore her sharp-tongued, tsundere armor most of the time, there were moments when it would fall away. In the quiet of the evening, she would show him a tenderness she usually reserved only for her family, a soft smile or a gentle touch that spoke volumes more than words.
Under the capable management of Kochou Hanako, the other affairs of the Butterfly Mansion proceeded in perfect order, a well-oiled machine of healing and support.
One matter of great importance during this time was Akira's visit to the Ubuyashiki Estate. After securing Kagaya's consent beforehand, he brought Dr. Kochou Sawaki to examine the master's ailing body.
The atmosphere in the room was heavy with unspoken hope. Unfortunately, faced with the unmatched nature of Kagaya's condition, even a doctor of Sawaki's caliber was helpless to find a cure. He could only prescribe a regimen of medicinal formulas designed to regulate the body and slightly bolster Kagaya's constitution. It was a treatment for the symptoms, not the root cause. As time wore on and the curse's erosion deepened, the medicine's effects would inevitably wane until they vanished completely.
The Ubuyashiki family had long been prepared for such an outcome, as had Akira, though a quiet dejection still settled in his heart. The one most devastated by the diagnosis was Dr. Sawaki himself. The brilliant physician, who had dedicated his life to healing, fell into a spiral of self-doubt. It took the combined efforts of everyone present a great deal of time to console him and help him regain his composure.
The truth of the Ubuyashiki family curse was a secret known only to them and now, to Akira. It had not been disclosed to anyone else. Even Akira had only known because of the fragmented memories of his past life. It was only after the consultation ended, when Akira proactively asked, that Kagaya, trusting in their friendship, finally confirmed the details.
After all, the revelation that the Demon King, Muzan, was the ancient progenitor of the very family that led the Demon Slayer Corps was a truth that could shatter the organization's morale and sow seeds of devastating instability.
Yet, while Dr. Sawaki had failed to solve the ancient curse, the fact that he could provide any palliative effect at all was a proof of his extraordinary medical skill. Kagaya, ever the wise leader, intentionally let it be known throughout the Corps that a doctor from the Kocho family was personally overseeing the master's health. In doing so, the Kocho family's prestige and influence within the Demon Slayer Corps rose several notches, their name now associated directly with the well-being of Oyakata-sama himself.
Beyond these grave matters, Akira also took the time to visit his other homes: Mount Sagiri and Peach Mountain.
On the misty slopes of Mount Sagiri, he found everything progressing smoothly. Kanae's training with her unique Breathing Style was advancing at an impressive pace. Makomo's recent missions had been successful and without incident; she had earned a promotion to the rank of Hei and was already closing in on Kinoto.
Sabito had achieved complete mastery over Water Breathing. Spurred on by Akira's example, he had even begun trying to develop his own forms, only to earn a stern scolding from Urokodaki for not being grounded enough in his fundamentals.
Akira wisely kept his opinion to himself. Sabito's current mastery of Water Breathing, while impressive, was not yet at the level Akira's Thunder Breathing had been during the Final Selection. It was indeed a bit premature to be creating new styles.
Giyuu's progress was a shade slower than Sabito's. He could execute the ten forms of Water Breathing perfectly in isolation, but when faced with dynamic situations that required fluid adaptation, his performance was somewhat lacking.
And, of course, he was still as "good with words" as ever. Even the gentle Kanae couldn't help but complain to Akira in private. "His ability to express himself is worse than Kanao's," she'd sighed, "and she's only just learning how to speak."
To this, Akira could only offer a helpless smile. It wasn't that Giyuu didn't know how to speak; he just didn't know how to do it to someone's face. When he tried to communicate, the vast majority of his thoughts would swirl around in his own mind, a complex internal brainstorm that never saw the light of day. Paired with his nearly expressionless face and his calm, slightly cold tone, the few words that actually emerged often had the uncanny effect of making people want to throttle him.
However, as long as it wasn't a face-to-face conversation, he was perfectly capable. On paper, he could articulate his exact meaning with clear and appropriate wording. After discovering this, Kanae was left at a loss for how to even evaluate him.
One could only conclude that with a temperament like Giyuu's, only a mind-reader could hope to communicate with him effectively. For anyone else, it required long-term interaction and careful observation to even begin to decipher his psychological state. Akira, relying on his powerful vision to catch the micro-expressions that were invisible to most, could combine those subtle cues with his experience to make a rough judgment of the boy's thoughts.
For this very reason, Sabito had even pulled Akira aside, earnestly seeking advice on how to read his own junior brother's mind.
As for Peach Mountain, Master Kuwajima was the same as ever. He said little to Akira, offering only a quiet but firm reminder to stay safe. Zenitsu, for his part, was enjoying his remaining days of peace. The moment Akira returned, the boy clung to him, his face alight with admiration, begging to hear stories of his demon-slaying exploits.
But of all the developments over the past month, the one most significant to Akira was the completion of his new technique.
He had named it Thunder Breathing, Eighth Form: Storm of Pear Blossoms. It was a technique designed for a single, specific purpose: to counter large-scale, high-density attacks.
To achieve this, he sacrificed the piercing power of a single thrust for an almost unbelievable frequency of strikes. The Nichirin Blade would shoot out and retract at a speed invisible to the naked eye, leaving behind a dense, shimmering cluster of golden sparks. The afterimage looked like a blizzard of electrified snowflakes, a beautiful and deadly flurry that filled the air.
It was a move that, on the surface, seemed to push offense to its absolute limit. In truth, its primary function was defensive. When faced with a barrage of projectiles or a wide-sweeping attack, Akira could use his superior vision to capture the trajectory of every incoming threat. Then, with a storm of fast and precise thrusts, he could shatter them all before they ever reached him, creating an impenetrable zone of destruction.
Of course, its efficiency at clearing out hordes of weaker enemies was also exceptionally high.
The technique had perfectly achieved the goal Akira had set for it. Now, all that remained was to polish it through practice until it became second nature.
And with that, the matter of visiting the Rengoku family was officially placed on his agenda.
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