The shadow of death had never been so concretely pressed against Sanemi Shinazugawa's nose as it was now.
"Boom--!"
The air was ignited by the abnormally high temperature, emitting a sharp, uncontrollable crackling sound.
In Sanemi's view, all he saw was a vast, overwhelming sea of fire, as if it were going to drag the entire Ubuyashiki garden into the deepest hell!
"Damn it..."
His current condition is absolutely terrible.
His spleen was bleeding severely, and the three broken ribs were stabbing at his lungs with every breath.
The blue Nichirin Blade gripped the ground tightly, trying to stand up straight.
But it's impossible.
Under the terrifying pressure released by that monster, Sanemi's legs felt like they were filled with lead.
It's a physiological tremor etched deep into the genes, an uncontrollable tremor in lower organisms when facing their absolute predator!
"How could I possibly die at the hands of this charcoal-selling brat?!"
"I'm going to kill every single ghost in the world!!"
Sanemi let out a hysterical roar.
His bloodshot eyes stared intently ahead, his back teeth clenched so tightly he forced out the last bit of strength from his body.
However, it was too late.
That demonic claw, wreathed in crimson flames, had already torn apart the sound barrier!
The heat from the explosion even scorched the few white hairs on Sanemi's forehead, making them curl up and burnt!
"The Shinazugawa--!"
Sabito, Tengen, and Kyojuro, who were in the distance, were staring wide-eyed.
They tried to rush over to save the people, but the powerful gust of air was so strong it could blow people away, they couldn't even stand still.
They could only watch helplessly as their colleague was about to be slapped into a pile of charred mincemeat.
Even Sanemi himself closed his eyes in despair at this moment, and his mind began to flash back like a movie, showing the image of his younger brother Genya calling him "brother" with snot running down his face when he was a child.
"Is this the end...?"
This was the last thought that flashed through Sanemi's mind.
However...
"Call--"
A very light, yet eerily clear breathing sound suddenly rang out.
The sound was calm, like blowing away tea leaves on the surface of water while drinking tea in the afternoon.
Then, Sanemi felt everything go black.
It wasn't that his head was smashed.
It was because... the same figure, as if appearing out of thin air, stood completely blocking his way!
It was a strangely colored haori that was fluttering wildly in the wind!
Half of it is a vibrant burgundy, and the other half is a simple silver-white!
"Tomio... Tomioka?!"
Sanemi's eyes snapped open, his pupils instantly shrinking to the size of pinpoints.
No one saw how Giyu Tomioka got there!
Compared to the swift and Giyu, distance, this concept of physics, is simply a joke that can be easily manipulated.
Facing Tanjiro's powerful Heat Haze punches capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks.
He simply opened his palm, his fingers slightly bent, and casually... went to meet her.
"Bang--!"
"Boom--!"
Rings of transparent shockwaves, centered on the point where the fist and palm met, surged outwards in all directions!
"Snap! Snap, snap!"
The bluestone slabs beneath Giyu Tomioka's feet, at this moment, seemed like fragile blocks of tofu, emitting a pitiful scream as they could no longer bear the weight.
Centered on him, the ground within a 30-meter radius sank a full half-meter deep!
Countless enormous rocks defied gravity and flew backwards into the sky!
"Ugh!"
The surrounding pillars were thrown back by the devastating aftershocks, barely managing to regain their footing by planting their Nichirin Blades into the ground.
However, Giyu Tomioka was at the very center of the storm.
His right hand, which looked thinner than Tanjiro's arm, was now as steady as a mountain, firmly pressed against Tanjiro's furious fist!
"This... this is impossible?!"
Sanemi, who was being protected behind Giyu, had completely forgotten how to breathe.
He collapsed to the ground like a fool, looking up at the scene before him that defied all logic.
One person, without drawing a sword or using Breathing Style, managed to withstand a full-force attack surpassing that of Upper Rank Demon using only one hand?!
"Roar--!"
It attacked the Demon Tanjiro, who was being blocked, and let out an extremely ferocious roar.
His blood-red vertical pupils were filled with rage. He frantically channeled the Demon King's Blood within him, and the muscles in his right arm grew even larger, as if... he wanted to crush the man before him with pure brute force.
"The power is truly astonishing!!"
"It has already exceeded the limit of the Upper Rank..."
Giyu Tomioka's deep blue eyes calmly, even coldly, scrutinized the Demon Tanjiro before him.
"But a beast that relies solely on brute force is, in the end, just a beast."
Giyu's lips curled into a rare smile.
"Who do you think you're competing with in terms of strength?"
The words had barely left his mouth.
Giyu's right hand, which was pressing against Tanjiro's fist, suddenly flipped over!
The five fingers gripped Tanjiro's wrist joint tightly.
"Water Breathing - Variant - Unloading."
Giyu silently recited a sentence in his heart.
Then, his arm sank down at an extremely tricky angle, and then suddenly pulled upwards!
Use their strength against them!
"Boom!"
Tanjiro's terrifying forward momentum was instantly redirected by Giyu's exquisitely precise movement!
His body lost all balance in mid-air, like a rag doll that had been carelessly thrown away.
Go back to your pit.
Accompanied by a few simple words: Giyu.
His right leg, clad in wide-legged trousers, slammed into Tanjiro's completely exposed chest with a sharp, whistling sound!
"Bang--!"
Tanjiro looked like a cannonball fired from a heavy artillery barrage.
He flew backward at a terrifying speed three times faster than when he charged at him!
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Splash--!"
He smashed through three artificial hills behind the courtyard, and finally crashed into a Wisteria grove a hundred meters away, carving a deep trench a hundred meters long with his bare body!
The air was filled with dust and wood chips, blocking out the sunlight.
The entire Ubuyashiki garden fell into that eerie, deathly silence once again.
"Gulp..."
Lying on the ground, Tengen Uzui swallowed hard. He touched the slightly crooked diamond headband on his forehead and said in a trembling voice:
"This is... this is too extravagant... it's practically a one-sided beating of a kindergarten kid by an adult..."
"Amitabha..."
Gyomei forgot to shed tears.
"Has Mr. Tomioka's physical strength actually reached such an extraordinary level?"
And at the eye of the storm.
Giyu Tomioka retracted his long legs and casually patted a speck of dust off his trousers.
His perpetually expressionless face remained completely devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
He put his hands back into the sleeves of his haori, his deep blue eyes fixed on the billowing smoke and ruins a hundred meters away.