Older Brother, Experience the Pain of Defeat

When Kokushibo landed again, Yuko could see the markings that had appeared on his cheeks.

Aside from the markings below his cheeks, the markings on his forehead were very similar to Yoriichi's.

Before she could remind him, Kokushibo swung his Nichirin Blade and rapidly closed in.

Yuko struggled to parry Kokushibo's Nichirin Blade.

With his Markings awakened, Kokushibo's physical abilities had improved, and he had surpassed her in strength once more.

He repelled Yuko with a single strike, and Kokushibo saw the markings on his cheeks reflected in his blade.

Kokushibo, having never experienced such a strange sensation, felt his entire body surge with power.

"Good!"

He felt incredibly good right now.

Yuko retreated step by step under his fierce assault, on the verge of defeat.

Kokushibo, clearly feeling this immense power, roared inwardly.

"Yoriichi!"

"I'm getting closer to you!"

Yuko calmly defended against Kokushibo's assault, her breath misting in the air as her clear, cold voice spoke softly.

"Snow Breathing: Third Form: Frost Sky Wild Dance!"

Unlike the first form's defense or the second form's disorienting strike to defeat the enemy, the third form, Frost Sky Wild Dance, was a fierce sword technique like a blizzard.

It surged towards Kokushibo, covering the sky.

"What?!" Kokushibo's passionate heart froze under the fierce and dense sword strikes. The blizzard-like sword energy continuously battered Kokushibo.

Why!

Clearly, he was superior in both strength and speed...

"Older Brother," Yuko suddenly looked up.

Kokushibo looked over at the sound, only to see a faint sadness on Yuko's face.

In a daze, her expression overlapped with that of his perpetually calm younger brother in his eyes.

"Experience the pain of defeat."

Defeat?

Anger surged onto Kokushibo's face.

Besides Yoriichi, he would not lose to anyone!

"Moon Breathing! Third Form! Loathsome Moon! Erosion!"

Two crescent-shaped slashes, interspersed with dense, small moons, flew towards Yuko.

Yuko ignored the anger on her older brother's face. Her raised white Nichirin Blade gleamed brightly under the sun.

"Snow Breathing: Fourth Form: Warm Snow."

Dappled snowflakes suddenly swirled in the air. The snowflakes easily pierced through the two fierce crescent slashes, falling piece by piece onto Kokushibo's body and cheeks.

Kokushibo's eyes widened slightly.

Warm.

No... it was the heat of blood flowing out.

The dense, tiny slashes left countless small wounds all over Kokushibo's body.

Kokushibo lay sprawled on the ground, staring blankly at the clear blue sky.

"Cough... cough..." Yuko suppressed the discomfort in her lungs and put away her Nichirin Blade.

She wasn't as comfortable as Kokushibo thought. The impact on her lungs was indeed significant; after just a few swings, she felt utterly drained.

Her lungs couldn't keep up with her stamina consumption.

It felt like running five thousand meters at full speed, only to have your mouth and nose held shut when you tried to gasp for air – an agonizing experience that even blurred her vision for a moment.

Yuko endured the physical discomfort and knelt beside her older brother.

Even after twenty years, she still hadn't adapted to this sitting posture.

Yuko murmured, "Older Brother."

Kokushibo continued to stare blankly at the clear sky, as if he hadn't heard her call.

He had lost.

He had lost so thoroughly that he had no words.

Yuko knew exactly what her older brother was thinking at that moment.

Has Kokushibo never lost before?

After joining the Demon Slayer Corps, his sparring matches with Yoriichi almost always ended in Yoriichi's victory.

But besides Yoriichi, he had never lost to anyone else.

Yoriichi's talent was despair-inducing, making it impossible for Kokushibo to catch up even with all his effort.

Even so, he continued to strive forward.

Since Kokushibo was too focused on the figure ahead of him and never looked back, she forcefully entered his line of sight from behind.

Defeated by his almost dismissive, weak younger sister.

Kokushibo's mindset underwent a drastic change at this moment.

Yuko slightly lowered her head, forcing herself into Kokushibo's view. "Brother, what is your dream?"

Dream?

Of course, it was to become the strongest samurai in the country.

Is that so?

It was, originally.

But from some point on, he only wanted to surpass Yoriichi.

Those who never felt jealous of others simply hadn't encountered someone blessed by the gods, someone as blazing and dazzling as the sun.

Before Kokushibo could speak, Yuko raised her head again, facing forward, and spoke to herself.

"My dream is to surpass my two older brothers and become the strongest swordswoman."

Hearing this, Kokushibo's eyes finally moved, and he glanced at her.

You?

Kokushibo thought this subconsciously, but then he came to his senses. Yuko had already defeated him; what right did he have to mock her?

Kokushibo scoffed inwardly, only to hear Yuko's voice, tinged with disappointment, ring out.

"That's how it should have been."

Yuko paused and coughed twice. "Cough, cough..."

This lung disease, it insisted on acting up when she didn't need it to, and refused to appear when she did. She had to pretend.

"I was injured by a demon, and my lungs were left with a chronic condition. I may never be able to improve further," Yuko said dejectedly.

"Brother is different from me. You have more talent and are stronger than me."

Kokushibo finally reacted, mocking himself, "Strong?"

Yuko explained gently, "My victory over Brother was a fluke because Brother had never seen Snow Breathing before, while I knew Moon Breathing like the back of my hand."

"This is all thanks to Brother's diligent teachings every day."

Kokushibo's expression shifted slightly, but he still didn't react much.

Even so, the fact remained that he had lost to Yuko.

Seeing that she had laid sufficient groundwork, Yuko continued, "Therefore, I want to entrust my dream to Brother."

Kokushibo was stunned. A dream?

The dream of becoming the strongest swordswoman?

Yuko's statement actually carried a significant risk.

The resonance of the demon markings would allow countless strong individuals to break through their limits. With Kokushibo's talent, awakening the markings was only a matter of time.

However...

Awakening the markings meant not living past twenty-five.

Yuko had seen some fragmented rumors about Kokushibo online, suggesting he became a demon out of cowardice.

But Yuko felt that wasn't the case at this moment.

Kokushibo didn't become a demon out of fear of death; it was because if he awakened the markings, he wouldn't have the time to chase after Yoriichi. Without awakening them, Kokushibo couldn't improve further.

His daily training regimen was proof enough; he constantly yearned to surpass Yoriichi.

As long as Kokushibo's jealousy persisted, as long as he refused to slow down.

His becoming a demon was inevitable.

To solve this problem, strictly speaking, there was only one way.

It was to end Demon King Muzan's life in their generation.

Yuko hadn't read the manga; she only knew that Yoriichi had fought Muzan in his youth.

She had rewatched the scene of Yoriichi charging forward with his sword, the almost brainwashing line about what he considered life, countless times.

But even Yoriichi couldn't kill Muzan.

Yoriichi definitely had the strength to defeat Muzan. It's likely that Muzan's powerful demonic life force prevented Yoriichi from killing him, only managing to repel him.

For a creature like a demon, escaping isn't that difficult.

After all, losing an arm or a leg has almost no impact on their bodies.

With these conditions making it so hard to achieve, Yuko came up with a plan that wasn't much of a plan.

That was to awaken Kokushibo's pride, which had been trampled and reduced to almost nothing in front of his younger brother.

Kokushibo was a person with extreme inferiority complex and an overwhelmingly strong sense of jealousy.

I want to surpass my two older brothers and become the strongest swordsman.

The emphasis wasn't on becoming the strongest swordsman, but on surpassing his two older brothers.

To make Kokushibo realize that he too was a target others were chasing.

There is only one sun, and the moon is also unique.