The strength of Minamoto no Raikou and Shuten Douji was by no means comparable to the Heroic Spirit Swordmasters they had encountered before.
Hozoin Inshun's martial skill had indeed reached a divine level. Every move left no room to evade, forcing them to meet him head-on with equally refined martial arts—but in the end, he was still merely a Heroic Spirit who had once been human. No matter what, his destructive power could not be too overwhelming. As long as they won the frontal clash, there would be no problem.
Tomoe Gozen could command terrifying flames capable of burning down a nation, while her archery stood supreme among countless others. But she could not wield both freely at the same time. She had mostly used her flames to contend with the two swordmasters, until Sakumura and Musashi unleashed the flames together and successfully killed Tomoe Gozen.
Mochizuki Chiyome was probably the weakest of the three Heroic Spirit Swordmasters. If she had not summoned Yamata-no-Orochi's curse at the end, she would not even have been able to briefly clash head-on with Sakumura or Musashi. But curses and poison were troublesome in the end, and with Kotarou's assistance, Musashi had successfully killed her.
But these two before them—
One was the Demon King who had once brought calamity to an entire region and terror to a whole nation: Shuten Douji, whose single drop of sake could destroy an entire country.
The other was the superlative general of the Heian era who had personally slain Shuten Douji, a being who had reached the pinnacle in both individual martial prowess and commanding armies—a monster born for martial arts, more terrifying even than the Demon King.
Against enemies like these, there was simply no way to win quickly.
Sakumura was once again sent flying by