The Pure Black Nightmare (Forty-Three) -- Twelfth Form: Storm!

"... Shut up."

Kokushibo: "!!"

All six eyes suddenly narrowed.

Having lived for over four hundred years, his combat experience was outrageously rich. He could sense a dangerous aura emanating from Giyu at that moment.

We can't delay any longer.

Without hesitation, Kokushibo gripped the grotesque longsword covered in fleshy growths with both hands!

"Moon Breathing - Fourteenth Form - Catastrophe, Tenman Crescent Moon!"

This is one of Kokushibo's most treasured techniques.

Countless enormous, deep purple crescent moons, like a crazed meat grinder, filled the entire dead-end alley without any regard for morality, and with a violent airflow that seemed to tear everything apart, they slammed down on Giyu's head.

For any ordinary pillar facing this level of full-screen ultimate attack, the only options are to defend with all their might or wait to die.

But at this moment, Giyu Tomioka felt only a nameless fire burning fiercely in his heart.

"My comrade is bleeding, and I'm still being dragged here by you two pieces of trash."

Giyu's deep blue eyes reflected a fierce light, and he completely abandoned his defenses.

He suddenly took a half step back with his right foot, and the mud and water on the ground evaporated instantly from his stomp.

The enduring nature of water and the domineering nature of the moon merged completely within him in a way that defied common sense.

The azure ripples and crimson light swirled wildly, eventually entangled and compressed on his blade, transforming into a pure, breathtaking azure.

"Water Breathing - Twelfth Form - Storm."

Giyu, almost violently, swung his Nichirin Blade wildly upwards.

The air was instantly sucked out.

A massive, azure-blue blade of light, powerful enough to cleave mountains, roared like an angry dragon, accompanied by a hurricane capable of upending the heavens and earth, and crashed head-on into the countless purple crescent moons in the sky!

The two collided without making any explosion.

Because that azure blade light was simply too domineering.

It was like an ancient behemoth that opened the gaping maw of an abyss, swallowing up, tearing apart, and crushing into nothingness the full moon sword aura that Kokushibo was so proud of!

"What?!"

Kokushibo's six eyes widened to their limit, filled with disbelief.

Before he could even retract his sword to defend himself, the azure blade light had already struck his seemingly indestructible body.

A violent and unparalleled impact force poured wildly down the blade.

The dignity of Upper Rank One was utterly shattered at this moment.

Kokushibo was violently thrown into the air by the force of the blade's light.

He had no control over his body at all, and all he heard was a loud bang that broke the sound barrier.

Upper Rank One thus embarrassingly transformed into a purple shooting star in the sky, flying backwards towards the mountaintop cabin and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The alley fell silent instantly.

Meanwhile, Zohakuten, who was preparing to control the wooden dragon to launch a sneak attack, was still holding the drumsticks.

His handsome face froze completely.

"One slash... and Kokushibo... flew away?"

The CPU of the Zohakuten almost burned out on the spot.

Before he could react, he only caught a glimpse of a light blue afterimage out of the corner of his eye.

Giyu Tomioka leaped across the distance of more than ten meters in one stride, appearing before Zohakuten like a ghost.

Those deep, still eyes stared coldly at him.

Zohakuten was terrified and was about to retreat to create distance when he saw him.

What came head-on was Giyu's unreserved straight punch.

"Bang!"

The fist slammed solidly into Zohakuten's face.

This physical attack, brimming with rage and amplified countless times by a special physique, is no less powerful than the Nichirin Blade.

Zohakuten's handsome face instantly contorted, and the crisp sound of his nose breaking could be clearly heard.

He flew backward like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the depths of the hard rock wall.

Pebbles fell down with a soft patter.

Zohakuten's body, which was supposedly in its strongest form, twitched twice, rolled its eyes back, and completely lost consciousness and combat power; it was impossible to pry it out.

The battle ended in a mere three seconds.

The ground was littered with deep craters and broken branches left from the battle.

Giyu Tomioka withdrew his fist, his breathing remaining steady.

The three people lying in the mud in the back row had their chins smashed through the ground.

Especially Obanai.

His heterochromatic eyes, one gold and one blue, were sparkling with adoration and awe.

That's amazing! That's so cool!

This is the height he has always dreamed of reaching!

This is the Water Hashira Lord who descended like a god in the face of dire straits!

Obanai felt no pain in the bones that had broken during the fight.

He endured the excruciating pain, gripped the muddy ground with both hands, and dragged himself up, spitting out blood and tears as he looked at Giyu.

"Water, Lord Water Hashira..."

Obanai's voice trembled with extreme excitement, like that of a die-hard fan who had finally met their idol.

Giyu heard the voice and turned around.

He lowered his head and looked at the wretched soldier at his feet, barely clinging to life, with his deep blue, expressionless eyes.

Giyu frowned.

Who are you?

Click.

A crisp sound, like glass shattering, seemed to echo in the air.

The fervent expression on Obanai's face froze instantly, and the gleam in her eyes vanished in a flash.

"You... you don't remember me?"

Obanai's voice trembled even more, but this time not from excitement, but from heartbreak.

I am that boy who was heartbroken by you on the cruise ship, yet vowed to learn the Water Breathing to show you!

I even consider you a ray of light on my life's journey!

As a result, they didn't remember my face at all!

Giyu carefully examined Obanai's distinctive pupils, and his severely underutilized brain finally began to function with difficulty.

After several seconds, he suddenly realized.

"Oh, it's you."

Obanai was just about to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that his idol had finally remembered him, and even a simple compliment on his bravery in the fight would have been appreciated.

Giyu, without any expression, casually delivered the final blow.

"Didn't you say you were going to learn Water Breathing? How did you end up in such a miserable state?"

This blunt truth, spoken without any malice, struck a heavy blow to Obanai's fragile self-esteem.

Miserable?

Not only did he fail to learn properly, he couldn't even defeat a slightly stronger demon, and he almost caused his companions to die.

Obanai lowered her head.

The emotion he had painstakingly built up vanished in an instant.

At this moment,

If Obanai her head, it would definitely be reduced to zero in the blink of an eye.

Obanai Iguro's affection level... reset to zero!!

Although Sanemi, who was lying next to him, was sweating profusely from the pain,

But seeing Obanai's resolve shattered by Giyu's single sentence, I inexplicably felt a little amused.

However, as a hot-tempered guy, Sanemi was genuinely impressed by Giyu's strength just now.

Although this bastard's emotional intelligence is lower than a rock, the style of that sword strike was truly exhilarating.

Sanemi gritted his teeth, forced himself to sit up, and glared with a wild and arrogant smile in his bloodshot eyes.

"Hey, you with facial paralysis! I admit you've got some skills!"

Sanemi exhaled a heavy breath, his tone filled with undisguised fighting spirit:

"But I, Sanemi Shinazugawa, have not given up yet!"

"I'll remember this score for now. Once I'm healed, I'll definitely have a fair fight with you!"

This is Sanemi's unique way of expressing gratitude.

A challenge means he considers you a worthy opponent.

Giyu's gaze shifted from the dejected Obanai to Sanemi.

His [Transparent World] not only did not shut down, but it also allowed him to see clearly the special blood flow patterns in Sanemi's veins.

Those rows of wounds, deliberately made with a knife blade, were glaringly obvious in my field of vision.

A rare hint of displeasure Giyu in Yi Yong's usually calm and collected eyes.

You have Marechi, don't you?

Giyu spoke calmly, revealing Sanemi's greatest secret in a single sentence.

Sanemi was taken aback, and was about to say that this expressionless man had a much sharper eye.

Unexpectedly, Giyu continued with a serious evaluation:

"In that battle just now, you bought time by cutting open your own wounds and using the smell of your Marechi to distract the demon."

Sanemi thought the other person was going to praise him, and the corners of his mouth hadn't fully turned up in a smile yet.

"This is not how Demon Slayer Corps swordsman should fight."

"Instead of studying swordsmanship, he relies on his physical constitution to injure himself."

Giyu's usually expressionless face surprisingly showed a rare sternness.

"Utterly foolish."

The veins on Sanemi's forehead suddenly bulged, and he didn't even feel the pain from the broken bone.

"Huh?! Who are you calling stupid, you bastard?! Are you lecturing me?!"

Sanemi coughed repeatedly in anger, coughing up blood clots from his lungs.

Giyu completely ignored Sanemi's murderous glare.

He straightened the mismatched haori that had been messed up during the battle.

"You idiot, you can't even recognize your own limitations. Go back to training, you fool."

Sanemi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

If Masachika from behind, Sanemi would have crawled over to bite Giyu Tomioka's neck off, even if he had to crawl.

"Let me go!! Masachika, don't stop me!!"

"Even if I die today, I'll take this expressionless man down with me!!"

Sanemi Shinazugawa's affection level... reset to zero!!

However, the culprit Giyu Tomioka, merely glanced at the enraged Sanemi before turning away without a second thought.

His thoughts were no longer on these messy social niceties.

Giyu raised his chin, his deep blue eyes peering through the layers of shadows in the trees, in the direction where Kokushibo had just flown away.

That's the summit of Mount Sagiri!!

[Too busy today, only one chapter!]

[One more chapter to go, okay? Mwah!]