"We got him!"
"As expected of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen!"
"That Black Lightning just now was Darui from our village. It's the pinnacle of single-nature Chakra Nature Transformation!"
The shinobi, who had been thoroughly shaken by Tanjiro's mercilessness, finally recovered when Darui, Chojuro, and Ringo Ameyuri successfully launched their sneak attack.
Looking at Tanjiro, who was burned black as charcoal and still had smoke rising from his body, Darui asked, "He should be dead, right?"
"His body was pierced by Lightning Fang. Even an Upper Moon One couldn't take that!" Chojuro said.
"Shh."
Ringo Ameyuri signaled for them to stay quiet.
The two hurriedly looked back toward the battlefield. The charred blackness on Tanjiro's body, which had made him look like a lump of charcoal, was rapidly fading before their eyes.
In just two or three breaths, Tanjiro had returned to normal—even the cold expression on his face was exactly the same as before.
"What!?"
It wasn't just Darui and the other two. The shinobi all around them, who had only just recovered, wore expressions as if they'd seen a ghost.
Huff.
At that moment, a faint cloud of vapor escaped Tanjiro's lips.
If Haku had been there, he would have recognized it at once as a sign that Tanjiro had activated his Breathing Technique.
In other words, throughout the entire battle just now, Tanjiro hadn't used his Breathing Technique at all. He'd fought using only his body's most basic strength and reflexes.
Then a conspicuous flame-like Curse Mark appeared on Tanjiro's forehead.
Ringo Ameyuri realized what was happening and cried out, "This is bad! He's getting serious!"
Darui looked exasperated. "What do you mean? Was he playing around before?"
Ringo Ameyuri couldn't be bothered to explain. She simply shouted, "Chojuro, get Muku out of here first. We'll hold him