Sun Flame Snow

The might and range of this move were even more terrifying than Sun Breathing.

This was simply not a slash a human could perform.

Had he fused a Blood Demon Art into his swordsmanship?

Yuko looked at the blade in Kokushibo's hand. At some point, it had transformed into a bizarre Demon Blade, with several tiny blades extending sideways from its body like branches.

Though Kokushibo showed no anger, his expression had grown cold to the extreme.

His appearance made Yuko laugh instead. She tilted her head, the corners of her lips curling upward slightly.

"Are you angry?"

"I know, Iwa..."

"Ever since childhood, you've always been jealous of Yoriichi..."

"Shut up!" A trace of fury surfaced on Kokushibo's gloomy face, and the blade in his hand rose beyond his control.

"Moon Breathing: Seventh Form: Wicked Mirror Bloom!"

Several enormous purple shockwaves shot toward Yuko along the ground, interspersed with smaller shockwaves that nearly covered the entire attack range.

"Snow Breathing: Sixth Form: Snow Drifting Ten Thousand Miles."

A snow-white wave of sword energy split apart one shockwave, and Yuko tilted her body at a subtle angle to evade the remaining edges.

This couldn't be met head-on.

That was Yuko's first impression upon facing Moon Breathing.

Though she had always mocked Iwa mercilessly, she had to admit it.

The Moon Breathing sword styles Iwa had created after becoming a Demon had likely fused with his Blood Demon Art. They were no longer sword styles that humans could learn.

In terms of sheer power, they even far surpassed the Sun Breathing wielded by Yoriichi.

Of course, that did not mean he had surpassed Yoriichi. It merely meant that with the enhancement of his Blood Demon Art, he could unleash techniques no human could perform.

Iwa narrowed his eyes. Had Yuko already mastered the techniques of Clear Sight?

When both sides possessed the Clear World, what remained to be tested were their physical attributes.

Namely, speed and strength.

Leaving aside the inherent difference between men and women, after becoming a Demon, his physical abilities had been enhanced to such an extent that both his strength and speed far surpassed those of humans.

"Yuko, I'll ask you one last time." Kokushibo looked up at her. "Will you become a Demon?"

What answered him was a streak of white that was fast beyond measure.

Yuko's figure blurred, and her snow-white blade drew a slender line of snow through the air.

"Snow Breathing: Seventh Form: Snow: A Straight Line in the Sky."

This was a sword style she had created by combining Snow Breathing with Thunder Breathing. Among Snow Breathing's forms, it had the fastest rushing speed.

But because of that, it placed even harsher demands on the use of Breathing Techniques and required more from the lungs.

The normal use of Breathing Techniques benefited the human body. It was a technique capable of nurturing and conditioning the body.

But the Total Concentration Breathing used in battle, as well as the Constant Reduplication that followed, did indeed improve the swordsmen's physical abilities, but the toll on their bodies was equally real.

Cold sweat poured down Yuko's temples. She endured the pain in her lungs and clenched her sword grip tighter and tighter.

So fast!

Even faster than Thunder Breathing!

Kokushibo's eyes contracted slightly. A faint stinging sensation came from his neck, as though a needlepoint were pressed against it.

This move!

This was the very move Yuko had used to sever his arm in an instant.

That line of snow condensed into a point in Kokushibo's eyes, and it actually made him want to evade it.

Yuko's sword technique did surprise Kokushibo for a moment, but the gap between them had not vanished.

Kokushibo set his stance and raised his sword to block. The muscles across his body tensed as he forcibly stopped the attack.

Clang!

A crisp sound rang out.

The two blades collided.

The long sword in Kokushibo's hand actually showed signs of shattering, cracks spreading across it.

Kokushibo was not surprised. Vast Sorrows, God Forsaken had been formed from his flesh and blood, while a Nichirin Blade was designed specifically to slay Demons. It was only natural that it could not hold up against a skilled swordsman.

Fine beads of cold sweat covered Yuko's temples, and her lips had begun to turn pale.

Under Kokushibo's Clear Sight, Yuko was already at the end of her strength.

The cracks in Vast Sorrows, God Forsaken rapidly healed as flesh and blood surged through it. Kokushibo knocked aside the Nichirin Blade and slashed out.

Yuko lowered herself to evade, circling behind Kokushibo.

A dying struggle.

Kokushibo had not used his full strength to begin with. He turned around unhurriedly, only to see scarlet breath spilling from Yuko's mouth, while her blade seemed wreathed in crimson flames.

Sun Breathing?

Was she planning to make a last stand?

Kokushibo knew very well that Yuko could not perfectly wield Sun Breathing.

And when it came to understanding Sun Breathing, if he ranked second, only Muzan would dare claim first.

That opening stance was Sixth Form...

Hm?

Kokushibo was about to raise his sword and break the technique when his pupils suddenly shrank.

It was not Sun Breathing!

White was mixed into the scarlet breath Yuko exhaled.

Red and white flames blazed fiercely across her snow-white blade.

"Snow Breathing: Ninth Form: Sun Flame Snow!"

Yuko clenched her teeth, forcing herself to focus. Hold on a little longer... my body.

The Nichirin Blade in her hand carved a brilliant arc through the air, formed from interwoven red and white flames.

Not good!

This opening stance was almost identical to Sun Breathing's Sixth Form. Kokushibo's knowledge of Sun Breathing had led him to misjudge Yuko's attack.

By the time Kokushibo realized it, the blazing blade was already closing in on his neck.

At this angle, I can't evade it!

In his haste, Kokushibo could only raise his sword to his side, crossing his arms to firmly brace the long blade.

Clang!

Boom!!!

The roaring Flames cut through Kokushibo's long sword. Veins bulged on both his hands as the Muscles in his arms tightened, trying to slow the blade.

It's fine!

Yuko was already at the end of her strength. She could not sustain her power for long. As long as he focused on maintaining the regeneration of the flesh on his arms, she would give out first!

But just as he tried to gather his focus and accelerate the regeneration of his arms, he noticed that the regeneration had been slowed again... No, it could hardly be called slowed. It had practically been blocked.

Kokushibo suddenly realized something and stared in shock at the blade in Yuko's hand, now glowing red-hot.

A Scarlet Blade!

In her condition?!

Awakening the Clear World could still be explained as extraordinary talent, and the mark could be attained by surpassing the limits of life and death.

But a Scarlet Blade—if one's grip strength was insufficient, then one simply could not wield it.

Even he had only mastered the Scarlet Blade after awakening his mark.

Though he had abandoned this technique long ago after becoming a Demon, there was no denying it.

A Scarlet Blade was absolutely not an ability that could be mastered through talent alone!

It required hard physical conditions!

What Kokushibo could not understand was that the unyielding will of humans possessed the power to turn the impossible into possible.

Even a dying body could erupt with strength beyond its limits in an instant.

Kokushibo's arms were gradually shaved away, while a burning pain spread through his neck.

Kokushibo's eyes, fixed on Yuko, were filled with fury and panic.

Why?!

Why was it that both Yoriichi and Yuko...

He had abandoned his wife and children, even cast aside his identity as a human. Why was it still...

Yuko could no longer answer the question in Iwa's eyes. Every cell in her body was taut, and her mind was like a thread bearing a thousand tons of weight. Any lapse in thought would cause it to snap.

For a moment, that small, frail figure overlapped with another figure.

No!

He could not die yet!

He had yet to surpass Yoriichi!

Kokushibo could only helplessly feel his neck being carved away bit by bit. The anxious torment of waiting for defeat made him wish he were dead.

Just as two-thirds of Kokushibo's neck had been cut away and he was about to be beheaded—

Yuko, whose mind was stretched taut like a thread, suddenly changed expression. The Breathing Technique driving her lungs beyond their limit snapped the thread sustaining her mental strength.

"Bleurgh—" Yuko instantly lost all strength and collapsed to her knees, vomiting mouthful after mouthful of blood, as though she were about to vomit up her organs as well.