Even Flying Flowers and Plucked Leaves Can Injure.

Where should you go into seclusion?

"I don't know where the head of the family went either."

She asked the household servants but got no answer.

Originally anxious, she calmed down and sat quietly by Yuan's side every day, her sword heart becoming even clearer.

She suddenly had a premonition that her next encounter with her father would not end well.

And so, in the blowing cold wind, under the desolate night.

One night, the gate of the old house was pushed open.

"Yako, are you still sitting outside so late?"

Busujima Masao casually closed the door, then looked to the side with slight surprise.

"Father, you're finally back."

The crescent moon shone upon her, half of Busujima Saeko's body bathed in moonlight, the other half shrouded in darkness. The moment she opened her eyes, her sharp gaze was even more piercing than the cold moonlight.

"Yako, is there something you want to say to me?"

As a seasoned veteran, Busujima Masao keenly sensed the change in atmosphere and stood quietly in place.

"Why..."

The sighs could be clearly heard in the quiet courtyard.

"Father, do you know? The smell of blood on you is much stronger than the last time we met. Even I, sitting here, can smell it. There's even blood from not long ago... not just animal blood, there must be a lot more..."

At this point, Busujima Saeko stopped and fell silent.

"Oh? Yako, when did your sense of smell become so good? I've already washed up and even changed my clothes."

What surprised Busujima Masao somewhat was his daughter's keen insight, rather than a particular fact that had been exposed.

You should know that his sensitivity to Blood Qi is now extremely high; even he couldn't sense it, yet his daughter did.

Could it be a sense beyond the five senses?

"That kind of thing is not important at all. What's important is what you're doing in secret, Father! Why can you be so indifferent to it!"

Busujima Saeko stood up angrily, her eyebrows furrowed, and her mature and sexy voice became somewhat hoarse.

"What are you saying, Yako? Are you going to break ties with your father over something like this?"

Busujima Masao asked with a strange expression.

"To avoid any misunderstanding, Father, let me confirm first... were all those who died by your hand evil people?"

"Who knows? I have no interest in distinguishing between good and bad. I'll kill whoever I want."

This answer shattered her last remaining illusions.

"I say, Yako, why do you care so much about other people's lives? Yako, you clearly have a natural instinct to kill. I can see that you feel very happy and excited when you hit others. Didn't you beat someone half to death before because of excessive self-defense..."

Busujima Masao's expression was indifferent, yet also disdainful.

"Stop talking!"

This sentence touched her soul, revealing a dark side buried deep within Busujima Saeko's heart that she had always refused to acknowledge.

But the girl who had lost her composure quickly regained her composure.

"Huh, they recovered from their wavering so quickly?"

Busujima Masao, who thought he knew his daughter well, was very surprised.

"Because you've never truly understood me, Father."

Busujima Saeko slowly drew the long sword from her left side. The moonlight reflected on her face, and her gaze was even more desolate than the moonlight itself.

She changed the moment she met that man.

Her violent tendencies had long since become controllable with the improvement of her swordsmanship, and she was no longer afraid of her instincts.

"Very well! Are you going to use a knife on me? What an unfilial daughter!"

As Busujima Masao mocked, he drew the renowned sword passed down through the Busujima Family, his expression growing cold.

"This time, it's not a friendly spar, it's a real fight, and I won't hold back."

"I won't either."

Busujima Saeko responded coldly.

Today, she will use this knife to sever this kinship that is not worth cherishing and may never have existed.

6

Chapter 6: Falling flowers and plucked leaves can all cause injury.

His heart gradually cooled, but his grip on the sword tightened even more.

Busujima Saeko lowered her body slightly, and her first move upon drawing her sword was the first of the "Thirteen Sword Techniques to Steal Life"—

"Sword One!"

She had practiced the "Thirteen Sword Techniques to Steal Life" sword technique countless times, and after receiving guidance from Hasegawa, she had mastered the starting stance to a very high degree over the past few months.

The first one is the initial one, and the movements are simple and clear. The sharpness of its sword style is in no way inferior to other sword styles.

"Demon Sword Technique: Sword Thrust"

Seeing the oncoming slash, the blade's hidden sharpness, Busujima Masao straightened up slightly and used his self-created swordsmanship, stomping one foot on the ground, his body and the sword seemingly becoming one, to intercept the attack.

Speed against speed!

"Sizzle!"

The two were moving at almost the same speed, and the tips of their blades collided in the next second, scattering brilliant sparks.

As the distance closed, their expressions became clearly visible: one indifferent, the other cold.

Both applied force to the sword's edge again, each being forced back several steps.

"Sword Seven!"

Busujima Saeko held her sword horizontally with her right hand and blocked her chest with her left, then slashed down, a sharp Sword Qi shooting out from the blade.

"Bang!"

Busujima Masao blocked with his sword, and the Sword Qi striking the blade produced a crisp, metallic clang.

"What brutal swordsmanship! It emits such sharp Sword Qi... Is this the swordsmanship you learned from that man? But it seems to be nothing special."

He said slowly.

It is always the person who is strong, not the swordsmanship.

Busujima Saeko certainly understood this principle, but for her personally, she was indeed more suited to this sword technique.

And...

"It's not over yet."

"Sword Five"

"Sword Ten"

Kenpachi.

The girl unleashed a barrage of attacks, her Sword Qi energy crisscrossing the air. Even a master of the Busujima Style School felt the pressure and cautiously adopted a defensive stance.

After ten rounds of fighting.

"Call."

"Can't I still do it now?"

Busujima Saeko took a deep breath, looking at her father who wasn't even hurt, and felt a little hard to accept.

"Incredible, truly incredible... It is indeed a powerful swordsmanship. You, Yako, have mastered it very well. If it were the old me, I might have lost. But Yako, can't your father become stronger? Hahaha..."

Busujima Masao praised him verbally, waved his hand, and the soreness in his hand quickly disappeared. He then laughed several times.

After obtaining the Stone of Killing, his physical abilities became stronger again, and even his regenerative abilities were greatly enhanced.

He even had a feeling that if he continued to improve like this, his vitality would soon reach a terrifying level.

Compared to that, my barely superb swordsmanship is really too bad; I can only be used as a foil in the future.

"Father, you are ill."

Busujima Saeko looked at the slightly deranged appearance of the person in front of her and said coldly.

"Where am I sick? I'm perfectly fine... Come on! One last strike, let's settle this once and for all."

Busujima Masao raised his arm, the sword pointing straight at him.

"Good."

Busujima Saeko, panting heavily, gradually calmed down, her eyes becoming exceptionally focused. Forgetting her physical exhaustion and clearing her mind of all distractions, she focused solely on delivering the next strike.

"Sword Thirteen!"

The destructive force that brought about the end—at this very moment, her spirit and energy surged to their peak once more, and she even faintly saw the fourteenth transformation to come.

"Um?"

Wu Busujima Masao's expression shifted, and he no longer held back. The power generated by the Stone of Killing overlapped with his own spiritual power, revealing a faint blood-red glow.

"The Demon Sword Technique is unpredictable and beyond human comprehension."

At that moment, he unleashed the most powerful sword strike of his life.

Both sword styles pursue change; at the moment the swords meet, several clanging sounds flash by, and the Sword Qi collide and dissipate.

Dark clouds obscured the moonlight.

"Hiss."

Busujima Saeko lay on the ground, her clothes stained red with blood, her hair disheveled with sweat, and her pale, beautiful face looking utterly tragic.

In the end, Busujima Masao was one step ahead, delivering a diagonal slash that landed on her.

"Yako, you have one last choice: come with me and become my right-hand woman, or else..."

Busujima Masao lowered his gaze and said in an icy voice.

The girl lying on the ground simply closed her eyes silently.

"Is this your choice? Then..."

"Farewell, Yako."

Just as he raised his butcher's knife to end it all, a streak of light suddenly shot in, closing in on him in an instant, captivating his entire being.

At that moment, he felt a crisis he had never experienced before in his life, which sent chills down his spine.

Surprisingly, the murderous intent that had been gripping him and his mind quickly dissipated.

"Slay him!"

Busujima Masao's blood boiled rapidly, and his heartbeat, stimulated by the [Stone of Killing], exceeded its usual speed by several times. He gripped the blade tightly with both hands and slashed at the streak of light that suddenly appeared before him.

The forces clashed violently, and after a few seconds of stalemate, the surrounding streams of light scattered, revealing their true forms as they drifted down.

"It's just a leaf!?"

Busujima Masao, picked up the fallen leaves and immediately recognized them as leaves from a tree he grew in his own yard. He was horrified.

Just a moment ago, he clearly felt that what was being shot at him was more like a sword— Hundred Paces Flying Sword!

"Such a level of swordsmanship."

He admired him greatly, yet also felt a deep sense of apprehension.

It was just a leaf, and he couldn't even see where the person was, yet it put so much pressure on him.

If it's a head-on confrontation, the outcome... is hard to say.

"Who is it? The Sword Saint? No... it's him!"

As Busujima Masao paced back and forth in thought, he couldn't help but recall his conversation with that man, whose statement that "all things in heaven and earth are swords" left a deep impression on him.