Gaze Perception

Water Breathing: Astonishing!

Following his usual habit, Kurozawa loudly narrated his own actions in his mind.

He felt that doing so made his punches hit harder.

Though it was merely an ordinary grappling throw, Kurozawa somehow gave it the imposing air of unleashing an ultimate move.

While still in midair, Kurozawa's body twisted as he shot upward. One hand reached into a spot in the tree canopy, then his waist drove his body into a turn, dragging out a black shadow and spinning it along with him before he pinned its head and smashed it heavily into the ground.

Boom! A heavy object struck the earth, violently shaking the ground. Dust flew everywhere, blocking Hanada Shizuka's view.

Hanada Shizuka narrowed her eyes and blew hard, as though that could somehow clear away the dust.

Several breaths later, a fierce gust scattered the dust, revealing two figures within.

One was half-crouched on the ground with one hand pressing down on something. The other lay flat on the ground, its head seemingly gone—forced into the earth beneath the other figure's hand.

The half-crouched figure was Kurozawa.

Beneath his right hand was a head crushed into an unbearable mess.

Where the head had landed was a pit over half a meter wide and more than ten centimeters deep.

Yes, Kurozawa had descended from above, spun in midair, converted gravitational potential and biological energy into tremendous kinetic energy, and punched it into existence.

The demon lying on the ground twitched its legs unnaturally a few times. Then they suddenly bent backward at the joints, and sharp nails on its pitch-black feet stabbed toward the back of Kurozawa's head.

Seeing such a grotesque scene, Hanada Shizuka raised a hand to cover her face. Yet her fingers were spread wide apart, exposing her pair of watery eyes.

"Senior Disciple, watch out!"

Hanada Shizuka was startled by the sudden attack, but she did not forget to warn Kurozawa. At the same time, she drew her Nichirin Blade and lunged over, intending to help him out.

Kurozawa merely raised his head and smiled faintly at Hanada Shizuka. Then, as if he had foreseen it, he swung his left hand behind him in a brutal sweep!

Water Breathing: Crushing Might!

Crack! Crack! Two merciless punches snapped the ambushing legs in half.

The pale shinbones were violently broken free from the flesh by his fists, jutting out into the open air.

Seeing the demon's horrifying head wound—with its brains exposed—heal at a visible rate inside the pit, Kurozawa raised his hand and unleashed a dense barrage of punches.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Every blow rang out like an iron hammer striking bells and drums, full of force.

At the same time, screams rang out beneath Kurozawa's right hand.

"It's still putting up quite a fight."

Under that merciless hail of punches, the demon that had intended to launch a sneak attack was beaten into collapse.

Whenever its wounds recovered, before it had a chance to counterattack, another dozen punches came down.

After several cycles, the demon no longer wanted to regenerate its head. It lay on the ground in utter despair.

Tattered clothes. Messy hair. Blue-black Demon Marks all over its body. And eyes that looked as though they had seen through the vanity of the world. If not for its horrific injuries constantly regenerating, Hanada Shizuka would have almost thought her Senior Disciple was beating up a homeless man.

After staring blankly for a while, Hanada Shizuka realized that Senior Disciple seemed to have smashed its head apart eight or nine times already. Along the way, he had casually broken both its arms and legs whenever it tried to fight back.

All at once, Hanada Shizuka's fear of demons vanished. She even felt a little sympathy for it.

"Um... Senior Disciple, being too violent isn't good."

"It's not resisting anymore."

After reminding the excited-looking Kurozawa, Hanada Shizuka continued covering her face while peeking through her fingers at the horrifically wounded demon.

Flesh splattered everywhere, shattered bones scattered about, and red-and-white fluids mixed together. The grotesque, terrifying sight made her feel nauseated, yet strangely thrilled as well.

After stopping his attack, Kurozawa licked the corner of his mouth with lingering satisfaction, then gave a soft snort.

"Can you understand human speech?"

He was speaking to the demon, which resembled a broken doll.

When no answer came, Kurozawa frowned and raised his fist, making as though to continue beating it.

"Don't... I can. I can!"

Demons were capable of communication. They would not refuse such friendly, harmonious conversation.

With a kindly smile on his face, Kurozawa said, "There's a Mutated Demon in Mount Fujikasane covered all over in hands. Where is it?"

Passively waiting for the other party to come to him was not Kurozawa's style.

The masks and Sakonji Urokodaki's haori were merely a layer of insurance.

"I know. It usually lives in a mountaintop cave it made itself, at the summit of Mount Fujikasane."

Kurozawa's description had been extremely detailed, and the Hand Demon was the strongest demon on Mount Fujikasane. Many demons knew of its existence, so Kurozawa received his answer immediately.

With a sharp flick of his hand, he shook off some of the crimson stains on it. Kurozawa's eyes turned thoughtful as he casually drew his Nichirin Blade and gave the demon beneath him a swift end.

The moment its head was severed by the Nichirin Blade, an expression of relief appeared on its face. Then it turned to ashes and vanished.

Even the red-and-white residue left on Kurozawa's hand scattered into ashes along with it.

Potential Points +10. Nice.

Listening to the exchange between the human and demon, Hanada Shizuka only felt utterly confused.

Senior Disciple seemed to be looking for another demon. Never mind—wherever he went, she would follow. Her little head did not want to think about it.

The mountaintop had the best view.

No wonder Mount Fujikasane was so vast, yet in the original story, Sakonji Urokodaki's disciples were always precisely found and killed by the Hand Demon whenever they took part in the trial.

So that fellow had been overlooking Mount Fujikasane from the summit. The moment it saw someone wearing a mask, it would come after them.

"Shizuka, let's go. Stop looking."

Hanada Shizuka was amazed that the demon had turned to ashes and completely dispersed into the air. She looked all around, trying to find proof that it had ever existed.

"Oh, Senior Disciple, you were amazing just now. But how did you know where that demon was?"

The moment she turned around, Kurozawa looked at Hanada Shizuka with a wary expression.

"Speak. Who are you? Shizuka can't possibly be this smart or notice such details."

"You're awful! I'm telling Master that you bullied me." Hanada Shizuka scrunched up her little face, huffing angrily.

Kurozawa burst out laughing, then said, "I can only tell you that your Senior Disciple is exceptionally gifted."

In truth, after Kurozawa raised his Constitution to 0.5 and spent some time adapting to it, he discovered that not only had his endurance increased and recovery improved, but he had also gained some rather useful sensory abilities.

In everyday life, people could occasionally sense when someone was staring at them. Kurozawa discovered that for him, that sensation no longer came only once in a while.

As long as someone looked at him, he could detect it.

Moreover, whether the gaze was malicious, friendly, or emotionless, Kurozawa could keenly perceive it.

The exact reason this ability had appeared was unknown, but Kurozawa vaguely remembered that the Demon Slayer World seemed to have two abilities for perceiving the world. One was called fighting spirit, while the other, a more advanced one, was called the Transparent World.

Perhaps once his Constitution reached a certain level, he would be able to master those two miraculous abilities.

For now, sensing the attention of others' gazes was only the beginning.