The roof of the city lord's mansion.
Having fought for a long time without success, the Dark Demon had completely descended into a state of madness.
His prized assassination skills and his prized Blood Demon Art couldn't even touch a single hem of this little girl's clothes!
The humiliation of being mocked caused his twisted, demonic heart to explode completely!
"You're just a bedbug that keeps crawling around everywhere!!"
"I'm done playing! I'm going to grind you into mincemeat!"
He recklessly overdrawn the energy of his ghost blood, and his originally withered body began to swell.
Black blood flowed from those eyes.
"Blood Demon Art: Shadow Imprisonment!!"
Rumble--!
With that roar from the Dark Demon.
The entire rooftop—no, the entire sky above the city lord's mansion—underwent a sudden and dramatic change!
Countless thick, inky black mists converged wildly from all directions.
These black mists are no longer chains or sharp blades.
They transformed directly into a semi-circular cage of black mist that blotted out the sky!
This completely enveloped Shinobu Kocho and the Dark Demon!
Inside the cage, the air was sucked out, and gravity seemed to increase several times over.
On the walls formed by the black mist, countless enormous, materialized black shadow claws simultaneously extended out!
No blind spots! No way out!
This is a full-screen attack designed to completely grind all living things inside the cage into mincemeat!
"Ha ha ha! Dodge! Dodge again!"
The Dark Demon roared madly in the center of the black mist.
"In this completely enclosed space, where do you think you're going to hide? Die!"
Thousands upon thousands of shadow claws, carrying a world-destroying force, simultaneously lunged at Shinobu Kocho!
Faced with this unavoidable, full-screen ultimate attack.
Shinobu Kocho's smile finally faded.
"It seems the only option is to force a breakthrough!"
She gripped her Nichirin Blade tightly, her muscles tensed to the limit, preparing to unleash the ultimate technique of Insect Breathing in a desperate attempt.
Even at the risk of serious injury, we must inject the toxin into this guy's body!
Just then,
A deep blue light, like a god descending to earth, erupted from the outside of the cage with overwhelming force!
"Water Breathing - Eighth Form-- "
"Waterfall Basin!!"
Boom--!
That arrogant black mist cage was as fragile as paper before this deep blue light of Water Breathing!
A massive waterfall cascaded down from above, tearing a huge rift in the black mist cage with tremendous force!
The water's shimmering light, as dazzling as sunlight, instantly illuminated the entire dark space.
"What?!"
Dark Demon stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Before he could react...
The deep blue figure had already cut in front of him like a ghost.
That's too fast!
It was so fast that the Dark Demon didn't even have time to think about defending!
"Water Breathing - Fourth Form - Strike Tide"
A flat, cold, and emotionless voice rang in Dark Demon's ears.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
The continuous stream of azure water and flashing blades instantly wove together into a web of death.
The Dark Demon's prized Shadow Armor was easily sliced into pieces like tofu under this relentless attack!
The final ripple cleanly and swiftly swept across the Dark Demon's neck.
"Pfft--!"
An ugly head, filled with extreme terror and disbelief, flew into the air.
"This... this is impossible... I am... ah..."
The Dark Demon's head uttered its final murmur in mid-air before turning into ashes in the aftershocks of Water Breathing, dissipating into the night wind.
Instant kill!
With the death of the Dark Demon, the cage of black mist that filled the sky collapsed instantly and vanished without a trace.
The cool moonlight shone again on the dilapidated roof.
Giyu Tomioka stood with his back to the moonlight, holding the deep blue Nichirin Blade in one hand, not a single drop of blood staining the blade.
His plain-colored casual clothes fluttered in the night wind, and he exuded a powerful aura that was extremely reassuring.
"Call..."
Shinobu Kocho a sigh of relief and sheathed her Nichirin Blade.
Although the crisis was over, this cunning little devil had no intention of letting Giyu go so easily.
She placed her hands on her slender waist and walked up to Giyu.
Her purple eyes were full of coquettishness, her small lips were slightly pouting, and she spoke in a cloyingly sweet yet slightly reproachful tone:
"Oh dear, Mr. Giyu, what are you doing?"
"They were clearly in the middle of a fierce fight, and it looked like they were about to inject the poison."
"You suddenly jumped in to steal the kill because you think I'm too weak to even handle this kind of guy?"
Shinobu Kocho deliberately pretended to be wronged.
"We clearly agreed that this prey would be mine, Mr. Giyu is such a heartless and wicked man~"
Faced with Shinobu Kocho's coquettish complaint.
Giyu turned his head.
His deep blue, dead-fish eyes stared silently at Shinobu Kocho's flawless face, which wasn't even a speck of dust on it.
I can't let you get hurt.
Forcibly ending the battle is the optimal solution.
Boom!
These words were like a missile coated in sugar, exploding precisely in Shinobu Kocho's heart!
Shinobu Kocho's purple eyes widened instantly.
The words she was about to say, intending to continue her whining and complaining, all got stuck in her throat.
Her delicate, doll-like face turned bright red in an instant, visible to the naked eye!
Even her small earlobes turned pink.
"This... this... this huge piece of wood!"
"Does he even know what he's saying?!"
"What do you mean by 'I can't let you get hurt'?!"
Shinobu Kocho's heart was pounding like a madman. The sweet feeling of being protected by an absolutely strong person made her instantly lose all pretense.
She bit her rosy lower lip, lowered her head, and nervously twisted her hands together.
"Mr. Giyu... he really is... always saying things that are so misleading..."
Shinobu Kocho's voice was barely audible, carrying a shyness that no one else could possibly see.
However--
Just as the ambiguous atmosphere was about to heat up, and the two were preparing to take their interaction further.
"Boom--!"
A terrifying, earth-shattering roar!
It suddenly erupted from outside the county town without any warning!
The explosion was so loud it sounded like dozens of tons of explosives detonating simultaneously.
Even the sturdy pavilion of the city lord's mansion beneath their feet trembled violently under the impact of this sound wave!
The tiles started falling down with a crash!
"What happened?!"
Shinobu Kocho's shy expression vanished instantly, her professional instincts prompting her to draw her Nichirin Blade immediately.
The two of them turned their heads at the same time, looking in the direction from which the loud noise came.
That's a quarry ten miles outside the city!
Even from such a distance, the overwhelming sense of oppression still made Shinobu Kocho feel breathless.
"This level of energy fluctuation..."
Giyu's deep blue eyes narrowed slightly!
"Is it almost at the Upper Rank?"
"What?! The Upper Rank is at the quarry?!" Shinobu Kocho's face turned deathly pale instantly.
The two of them simultaneously realized a fatal problem.
Not long ago, Obanai Iguro, the Serpent Hashira, went to that quarry alone out of spite!
"Mr. Iguro is in danger!" Shinobu Kocho exclaimed in alarm.
Facing such a truly terrifying monster, far surpassing even the Lower Rank, Obanai alone would definitely be in danger!
"Walk."
Without a word, Giyu instantly shattered the previous romantic atmosphere, transforming it into a chilling sense of crisis.
He grabbed Shinobu Kocho's wrist, and his entire body transformed into a deep blue whirlwind, rushing towards the quarry shrouded in dark purple light!