Wisteria and the Broken Blade: Battle of the Water Veil Substitute

Pale moonlight passed through gaps in the layers of wisteria blossoms, casting broken patches of light across a clearing in the woods.

The air was thick with the overpowering stench of blood and the rot peculiar to demons.

The Hand Demon's enormous body occupied nearly half the clearing. Arms of every shape grew from his neck, shoulders, back, and torso, like an evil tree of flesh writhing madly.

His face, wedged between layers of arms, was twisted and hideous. Grinning so widely that the corners of his mouth seemed ready to split, he stared fixedly at the figure standing straight as a pine before him.

Sabito stood a few meters from the Hand Demon, gasping for breath.

His distinctive yellow-orange haori had long since been torn to shreds, stained so heavily with blood and dust that its original color was unrecognizable.

The Nichirin Blade in his hand was in even worse shape, its surface dull and covered in fine, spiderweb-like cracks, as though it might shatter at any moment.

But a fierce, steadfast fire burned in his eyes as he met the Hand Demon's malicious gaze.

"Water Breathing—Second Form—Water Wheel!"

With a low shout, Sabito sprang into motion.

Even though he was exhausted, his movements still carried the fluidity and sharpness unique to Water Breathing.

His blade traced a perfect arc, like a rapidly spinning water wheel, severing several demon hands reaching for him from the side at their roots!

Slash! Slash!

The severed arms fell to the ground and swiftly turned to ash.

But more demon hands immediately filled the gaps, surging toward him like mad.

"Water Breathing—Third Form—Flowing Dance!"

Sabito's movements became elusive, like a fish darting through a stream. He slipped lightly through the gaps between the arms, his blade flashing again and again, severing one or several demon hands with every movement.

Phantom currents of water swirled around him, a stark contrast to the wildly thrashing demon hands.

"It's useless!! Useless!!!"

The Hand Demon let out a piercing, unhinged laugh, his voice like rusty sheets of iron scraping together.

"Go on! Cut all you want, Urokodaki's brat! How many more times can you swing that blade?"

"How much longer can your body hold out? But I... am immortal!"

More demon hands regenerated, even thicker and stronger than before, their attacks growing denser and more violent.

"Sakonji Urokodaki... that damned bastard in the Tengu Mask!"

The Hand Demon's voice was full of venom.

"How many years has he kept me in this cage of wisteria?"

"Forty-one years? Or forty-two? How many people have I eaten?.."

"Let me count... I've eaten eleven brats in fox masks! You're the twelfth! What a lucky number!!!"

It deliberately licked its lips, as though savoring the memory.

"Each one tasted a little different~~~ Some were afraid, some were angry, some were despairing... but their flesh was all equally 'delicious'!"

"Especially that lovely sound when I finally crushed their bones—"

"Shut up."

Sabito's voice was quiet but emphatic, cutting off the Hand Demon's endless prattle.

He swung his blade, slicing through two arms reaching for his head, sending water splashing in every direction.

"Your hatred, your appetite, the lives you've taken... today, I'll cut through all of it."

His gaze did not waver in the slightest. His resolve only deepened.

"For the people you killed, for Master Urokodaki's hopes, and for... all my comrades who want to live."

He remembered the fellow candidates he had saved, Murata, whom he had entrusted with taking Giyu away, and above all, his junior disciple, who rarely spoke but valued his comrades more than anyone.

"Comrades? Hahaha!"

The Hand Demon seemed to have heard the greatest joke in the world.

"On Mount Fujikasane, there are only hunters and prey!"

"And in the end, you're nothing but my food! Just like the ones before you!"

The battle continued.

The moonlight slowly shifted, and time passed with every breath, every slash.

Sabito's breathing grew heavier, his arms felt as though they were filled with lead, and every swing of his blade tugged at the wounds all over his body.

His wounds were bleeding, his strength was draining rapidly, and even his vision had begun to blur.

The cracks in his Nichirin Blade seemed to have grown larger. Each time it struck the bones of a demon hand, it let out an agonizing, grating groan.

The Hand Demon, on the other hand, had lost countless arms, but his regeneration had not slowed in the slightest.

The demon's superhuman recovery and endurance had created a gap that now inspired despair.

The Hand Demon's taunts came without pause, slithering into Sabito's ears like venomous snakes, trying to break the last of his will.

"What's wrong? You're slowing down! Is that all Urokodaki's disciple can do?"

"Your blade's about to break, isn't it? Once it does, I'll slowly crush every bone in your body!"

"..."

Sabito clenched his teeth and shut out all the noise.

His gaze locked onto the Hand Demon's neck, the fatal weak point he could just make out beneath its layers of protective arms.

He could not drag this out any longer. His body was nearing its limit.

A sharp light flashed in his eyes. He deliberately exposed an opening, dodging to the side a fraction too slowly.

A demon hand shot out and caught the edge of his haori!

"Got you!"

The Hand Demon grinned viciously as more arms swarmed in, seeking to bind him completely.

But this was exactly the chance Sabito had been waiting for!

Instead of breaking free, he used the pull of the demon hand, kicking off hard and shooting forward along its arm like an arrow loosed from a bow. In an instant, he landed on another thick demon hand swinging toward him!

He pushed off again!

His figure traced a resolute arc through the air, breaking through the blockade of overlapping arms and reaching a point above and to the side of the Hand Demon's massive head.

Moonlight poured down, illuminating the Nichirin Blade raised high above him and the fire blazing at its fiercest in his eyes.

All his strength, all his resolve, his mourning for the dead and his desire to protect the living—he poured it all into this one strike!

"Water Breathing—First Form—Water Surface Slash—!!!"

The flash of his blade was like ripples suddenly rising as a fierce wind swept across a tranquil lake beneath the moon: cold, swift, and incomparably sharp!

This strike cast aside all flourishes, leaving only the purest speed and cutting power!

Sabito turned himself into a current that could sever anything, his blade heading straight for the Hand Demon's frighteningly thick neck!

Clang—!!!!!!!

It was not the muffled sound of a blade cutting into flesh, but the piercing, explosive crash of metal striking metal!

Sabito's pupils contracted sharply.

The blade had indeed struck the neck, but the sensation it sent back was like cutting into the hardest stone!

"Argh—!"

The recoil split the skin between Sabito's thumb and forefinger, and blood streamed out.

Then came a clear, heartbreaking crack.

The Nichirin Blade, already covered in cracks, finally gave way under the strike that had exceeded its limits and the force of the recoil. It snapped in two!

Half the broken blade spun into the air, reflecting Sabito's face as it went deathly pale and the Hand Demon's enormous mouth, stretched even wider in a cruel grin.

"It's over!!!"

The Hand Demon roared. Countless demon hands, their strength held in reserve, suddenly closed in from every direction, intent on tearing Sabito apart now that he was airborne, had nothing to push off, and had lost his weapon!

A dead end!

Sabito could even see the hideous nails and writhing muscles on those arms. The breath of death rushed toward him.

A trace of regret flashed through his heart. In the end, he still hadn't managed to...

At that critical moment—

A blue figure, colder than moonlight and faster than flowing water, cut into the battlefield like a ghost!

Whoosh—!

It was another "Water Breathing—First Form—Water Surface Slash!"

But this flash of the blade was more concentrated, more precise, and more... unstoppable!

It seemed to have truly taken on the form and power of flowing water. Accompanied by the phantom image and babbling sound of a stream, it struck after the hands moved but reached them first, severing the demon hands closest to Sabito and posing the greatest threat with unerring precision!

The severed arms turned to ash before Sabito's eyes.

A moment later, a firm, powerful arm wrapped around his waist and carried him swiftly backward.

The wind howled in his ears, and the shadows of wisteria blossoms blurred together at the edges of his vision.

Thud.

Both feet landed firmly on the ground, his back against the thick trunk of a wisteria tree.

The arm around him let go, and the figure moved in front of him.

Sabito coughed violently several times, then looked up in disbelief at the back of the figure shielding him.

"Giyu?!?!"

And yet he was completely different from the junior disciple Sabito remembered, the somewhat clumsy, quiet boy who had always needed his care.

He still wore the same red haori, but now it seemed to accentuate his straight back.

His long black hair was tied in a low ponytail, with a few strands scattered across his forehead by his swift movement.

The lines of his profile were still distinct and somewhat stern, but his sapphire-blue eyes, usually tinged with confusion or melancholy, were now fixed intently on the furiously roaring Hand Demon.

His bearing... had changed!!!

There was less hesitation and more resolve, less uncertainty and more calm, water-like determination.

Simply standing there with his sword, he looked like a wall of water no one could cross.

What shocked Sabito even more was the strike Giyu had just delivered.

It was the same "Water Surface Slash," but whether in speed, power, timing, or the effortless fluidity with which he wielded it, Giyu had far surpassed Sabito's previous understanding of him. He had even... reached a level Sabito could not hope to match.

Was this really Giyu?

The Giyu who, before the Final Selection, would still occasionally lose his rhythm while swinging a sword?

"Giyu... you..."

Sabito's voice was hoarse, weak from his injuries and filled with deep confusion.

"Why did you come back? Your injuries... and what you just did..."

Giyu Tomioka did not look back.

All his attention was focused on the Hand Demon, his gaze cold and sharp as a blade, as though it could freeze the air.

He merely turned his head slightly and gave a brief reply in a calm voice that nevertheless seemed to hold a thousand unspoken words.

"Sabito, rest."

With that, he stepped forward, shielding Sabito completely behind him.

"Now, it's my turn!"