Kokushibo stopped looking at him, as if he had lost interest.
"So, next..."
The Kokyū Shinku raised the blade again. This time, the crescent moon patterns appearing on the blade were more intricate, eerie, and several times more numerous!
The cold moonlight converged wildly, not only on the blade, but also spreading outwards from him throughout the courtyard, forming a gradually solidifying moonlight domain filled with countless rotating crescent-shaped blades!
Moon Breathing ★ Sixth Form ★ Everlasting Night Lonely Moon ★ Infinite.
Countless crescent-shaped blades seemed to come alive, transforming into wave after wave of endless moonlight tides, carrying a beautiful yet absolutely deadly trajectory, sweeping towards the now despondent Shinjuro Rengoku!
As Shinjuro gazed at the tide of moonlight that engulfed his vision, he felt as if all the strength had been drained from his arms.
Despair is that heavy.
Just as the first wave of crescent-shaped blades was about to touch his body—
"Water Breathing ★ Eleventh Form ★ Nagi."
Giyu Tomioka's voice remained steady and calm, like stagnant water in a deep pool, clearly echoing in the destructive tide of moonlight.
He had somehow managed to completely shield Shinjuro behind him.
The trajectory of Azure Tide it was unsheathed was a deep blue, like an abyss in the middle of the night.
The knife moved.
Countless dark blue slashing trajectories exploded instantly in front of, beside, and behind Giyu!
Each strike precisely blocked the trajectory of the crescent-shaped blade of light, severing it completely!
Ding ding--!
The azure blade light didn't create any exaggerated light screen; instead, it shrank into a somewhat blurry spherical water wave field centered on Giyu, with a radius of about two meters.
On the surface of the domain, water rippled wildly as countless crescent-shaped blades crashed in, creating blinding sparks of energy and billowing white mist!
The entire area was shaking violently, as if it were about to be torn apart at any moment!
Giyu's arms were bulging with muscles to their limit, and his sleeves tore open inch by inch, revealing bulging veins and taut tendons underneath.
His feet sank deep into the ground, and the cracks in the stone slab beneath his feet spread and deepened like a spider web.
However, that seemingly fragile water ripple field is like the most resilient deep-sea whirlpool, remaining unbroken no matter how the moonlight and tides impact, cut, and strangle it!
All the crescent-shaped blades were eventually weakened, deflected, and disappeared in the deep blue water!
The moonlight tide slowly subsided.
The courtyard fell into an eerie silence once more.
Only the rising white mist slowly dissipated, and Giyu's slightly rapid but still steady breathing could be heard.
For the first time, Kokushibo's six golden eyes truly and completely focused on Giyu Tomioka.
The previous indifference and spectator's mood in his eyes were replaced by a more genuine surprise.
"... oh?"
A deep voice rang out, this time with a distinct hint of inquiry.
"It wasn't just 'blocking'... but using pure 'technique' to almost perfectly neutralize the 'form' of the attack."
His gaze swept over Giyu's grip on the knife, his posture, and the rhythm of his breathing.
"State your name, swordsman."
Kokushibo's tone remained as condescending as ever.
Giyu Tomioka slowly adjusted his breathing, his sword-wielding posture remaining unchanged.
The rising white mist dissipated in front of him, revealing his expressionless face and his deep blue eyes, which, though as cold as an abyss, now faintly shimmered with a glassy luster.
He stared through the slowly clearing air at Kokushibo's six inhuman eyes.
There was a few seconds of silence.
I have no obligation to tell you.
Giyu spoke, his voice cold, flat, yet resolute.
Kokushibo stared at him Kokushibo. Time seemed to stand still again.
"The new Water Hashira. At a human age, he set a record for the fastest ascension to power. He slew Lower Rank One... So that's how it is."
His gaze shifted back and forth between Giyu's sword and his eyes.
"Those eyes... the nascent stage of Transparent World? To reach this level at such a young age..."
"And that Eleventh Form just now... isn't that a form that Water Breathing already has? Did you create it yourself?"
Kokushibo's tone became increasingly appreciative, but behind that appreciation lay a colder, more discerning gaze, as if he were looking at an excellent experimental subject.
"Genius... Occasionally, such unreasonable beings emerge among humanity."
His voice gradually turned cold, carrying an almost fatalistic declaration.
"What a pity! The more brilliant a genius is, the more poignant their fall is, and the more it proves... that humanity ultimately has its limits."
The Kokyū Shinku sword again, and this time, countless smaller, denser, and shimmering fragments of moonlight, like moon dust, gathered around the blade!
The concentration of moonlight in the entire area increased again, and cold frost began to form on the ground, walls, and ruins in the courtyard. The temperature dropped suddenly.
"How many rounds can your style last?"
Kokushibo's six eyes were lowered, their merciless light locking onto the Water Hashira below.
"Struggle slowly through this long night."
Anyway, the outcome was already decided long ago.
A larger, more sophisticated, and more deadly form of the Moon Breathing is brewing.
Giyu Tomioka simply gripped the Azure Tide even tighter.
Deep within his deep blue eyes, that azure hue, under the continuous stimulation and life-or-death pressure of the higher-level, Transparent World brought by Kokushibo, flowed, collided, and evolved in an unprecedentedly active manner.
The world he "sees" is revealing more and more patterns that were previously imperceptible!
The patterns in the flow of those moonlight fragments, the nodes where energy condenses, even... the faint "connection" between Kokushibo's breathing and this moonlight domain.
The battle has finally entered the truly despairing depths.