Fighting Rokuro

Kujo Tachibana watched Rokuro approach him slowly, his mouth covered in blood after finishing off the tofu pudding.

His heart tightened!

If I can't beat him, he'll eat me too, won't he?

As Rokuro drew closer, Kujo Tachibana steadied himself and drove the distracting thoughts from his mind.

He bent his knees, leaned forward slightly, stepped back with his left foot, and rested his right hand lightly on the hilt at his waist.

"Breathe..."

Once his breathing was steady, he assumed the opening stance of his family's sword technique—Iaijutsu.

He focused intently on Rokuro, who stood five meters ahead!

In the void, lines of interval connecting him to Rokuro emerged one by one. They danced through the air, clearly reflected in Tachibana's mind.

Rokuro frowned as he watched Kujo Tachibana stand with his sword in hand, and stopped in spite of himself.

The moment the human boy gripped his sword, Rokuro had actually felt a hint of danger!

It was as if, if he took one more step forward, he would be cut into a pile of pieces.

The absurd thought filled Rokuro with inexplicable rage!

"How could a bug-like creature possibly hurt me?!"

Rokuro cursed and charged at Kujo Tachibana!

His sharp nails, like a tiger's claws, swiped viciously at Tachibana's face!

Rokuro burst forward at incredible speed, reaching him in an instant. His raised claws seemed poised to rake across Tachibana's face the very next second.

"Breathe..."

At that moment, time seemed to slow in Tachibana's eyes.

Rokuro's attack, too fast for anyone to react to, now seemed so sluggish.

Tachibana fixed his gaze on the joint on the inside of Rokuro's elbow!

In the next instant, the line of interval emerged!

"Now!"

Years of training had honed Tachibana's Iaijutsu. Drawing his sword with the technique, he moved far faster than Rokuro in that instant.

The long blade in Tachibana's hand burst from its sheath like a furious bolt of lightning, slashing toward Rokuro's elbow in an instant!

The blade sliced through the flesh over the elbow like a hot knife through butter, meeting no resistance at all.

It precisely avoided the hard bone and cut through the ligaments and cartilage connecting the bones at the joint.

Kujo Tachibana let out a soft breath, sheathed his sword, and stepped back into a defensive stance.

The next second, Rokuro's arm fell from the elbow joint, landing where Tachibana had just been standing.

Strangely, though, the wound on the severed arm looked rather peculiar.

The flesh was cut perfectly smooth, while the bones inside had come away intact along the joint.

Rokuro's pupils contracted when he saw his severed arm on the ground!

Then the pain in his arm sent his fury surging.

By then, Kujo Tachibana had already stepped back, putting himself beyond the reach of Rokuro's arm.

Rokuro reflexively swung a side kick at Kujo Tachibana's head!

But before Rokuro had even raised his leg, Kujo Tachibana sensed the changes in his muscles as they tensed through Sword Heart Clarity.

Tachibana moved too, leaning his head back.

His long blade swept upward, slashing at the air before him!

Rokuro's kick struck first.

His ankle slammed hard into Kujo Tachibana's blade!

The long sword sliced smoothly into the flesh on the left side of Rokuro's ankle, met a little resistance, then came out through the right side.

Kujo Tachibana glanced at Rokuro's right arm, which had almost finished regenerating.

His gaze sharpened. That growth speed... it's almost as fast as the Upper Moons in the show, isn't it?

Could Rokuro's Blood Demon Art be like Akaza of the Upper Moon Three, enhancing his body to increase his combat strength?

With that thought, Kujo Tachibana didn't press his advantage. Instead, he turned and ran toward the woods outside Peace Town while Rokuro's foot had yet to grow back.

Though Tachibana seemed to have the upper hand for now, only he knew the truth!

With his speed and strength far inferior to his opponent's, he couldn't afford even one mistake!

Besides, Rokuro hadn't used his Blood Demon Art yet!

And aside from his last trump card, Tachibana had already given it everything he had—and then some.

Rokuro stared, stunned, as Kujo Tachibana fled.

"Did he run away?"

The veins on Rokuro's face began to bulge!

This kid, who couldn't even use the Demon Slayer Corps' Breathing Style and was so weak, had actually toyed with him?

Rokuro's fury burned away what little reason he had left.

He could see nothing else now. He limped along on his broken leg, hot on Tachibana's heels!

After Rokuro left, the sole witness to the battle, Fujiwara Naoto, finally came to his senses.

He stared at the severed hand and foot on the ground and gasped again and again!

"Incredible!!"

"What amazing swordsmanship! He cut through the joints connecting his enemy's limbs with his blade at such high speed!"

Though Kujo Tachibana's performance had stunned Fujiwara Naoto, he still didn't believe Tachibana stood a chance against this demon.

It wasn't just because Kujo Tachibana wasn't a member of the Demon Slayer Corps and didn't know a Breathing Style.

There was another, far more important reason.

"If I'm not mistaken, the sword that swordsman is holding isn't a Nichirin Sword..." Fujiwara Naoto thought.

Without a Nichirin Sword to cut off a demon's head, the demon wouldn't die!

Even if its hands and feet were severed, they would keep growing back!

Until the swordsman was completely exhausted.

At that moment, Fujiwara Naoto seemed to see how the swordsman's story would end...

He stood where he was, his expression shifting. Then he picked up the Nichirin Sword belonging to his fallen teammate.

Carrying both Nichirin Swords, Fujiwara Naoto set off in pursuit, his expression resolute as he headed in the direction Rokuro had gone!

Outside Peace Town, in the woods.

Kujo Tachibana took a deep breath, then turned resolutely to face the demon before him, gripping the sword his father had left him.

Tachibana had brought Rokuro here not because he truly intended to flee. Given Rokuro's speed, he had no chance of getting away.

His only chance of survival was to fight to the death.

He had two reasons for choosing these woods.

First, the trees would limit Rokuro's explosive speed and strength, giving Tachibana, who had mastered Sword Heart Clarity and could constantly sense changes in his surroundings, an advantage.

Second, it would keep their battle from accidentally injuring the townspeople.

As Rokuro slowly approached Kujo Tachibana, he taunted him in a voice thick with restrained fury:

"Run! Why aren't you running now?"

"You miserable life, no better than a crawling bug!"

"I'll crush you just like I'd crush a bug!"

But Rokuro was missing a shoe and part of a sleeve, leaving him looking rather disheveled. It hardly matched his fearsome threats.

Tachibana didn't like making threats in a fight. He simply gripped his sword in both hands, facing Rokuro in silence.