Yoriichi Tsugikuni

As expected of his lucky goddess—she really came through.

The scene continued. Ten meteors of different colors fell, and in the end, ten character cards appeared.

There was one gold, two blue, three green, and four white.

The character cards were revealed one by one, starting from the lowest rank. The lowest rank was white, simply called lackeys—unlucky nobodies who flashed by in anime and died without anyone remembering their names.

Above white was green. Green was one rank higher than white, but they were still lackeys.

Above green was blue. Blue belonged to the minor elite tier. For example, the Chunin he had drawn at the beginning might have been a character without even a single line, but he still had some strength.

Above blue was purple. This tier was already quite good. In Naruto terms, it should have been equivalent to Jonin. In One Piece, they would at least be pirates with bounties exceeding a hundred million, or one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Above purple was gold legend.

In Naruto, that meant above Kage level. In One Piece, it meant the Three Admirals or Four Emperors. In Bleach, it meant captain-class.

Soon, the final golden card was revealed.

Qi Yan's eyes widened. "It's actually him!"

On the character card was a man dressed as a samurai, wearing a red haori. His dark crimson hair was tied into a high ponytail behind his head, and his irises were red. Paper earrings bearing a red sun hung from his ears. Most striking of all was the strange patterned mark on his forehead. Holding a red longsword, he radiated terrifying pressure just by standing there.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni.

The absolute pinnacle of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Qi Yan had watched many anime. There were countless powerful characters in anime, but there were always others of equal or nearly equal strength.

But Yoriichi Tsugikuni was different. He was the absolute pinnacle. Even in the anime world, whenever people mentioned the pinnacle, he was the first character they thought of.

From the moment he was born, he possessed unparalleled talent. He created Sun Breathing himself, while the five basic Breathing Styles passed down later were merely crude imitations. Even though many geniuses refined the various Breathing Styles and created their own, they could not even fall one tier short of him, much less surpass him.

Muzan Kibutsuji, the strongest boss in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, was instantly defeated by Yoriichi Tsugikuni in a single exchange. In the end, he could only barely escape by blowing himself apart. As long as Yoriichi Tsugikuni remained alive, Muzan did not even dare show his face. Only after Yoriichi died did he dare move about again.

At the anime's conclusion, everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps surrounded and attacked Muzan, exhausting every method they had. Yet they still suffered devastating casualties. In the end, it was only the sunlight that killed Muzan.

Qi Yan had only one evaluation of Yoriichi Tsugikuni: with the body of a mortal, he slew a god.

Compared to the powerhouses in other anime who could easily destroy an island or even a country, Yoriichi Tsugikuni clearly did not possess that kind of power. But if he truly stood face-to-face with Yoriichi, even a god would have to focus with utmost seriousness.

You might be able to destroy the world, but I could kill you.

With a tap of his finger, Qi Yan reclaimed every character except Ulquiorra and Yoriichi Tsugikuni. To avoid accidentally reclaiming the gold cards, he carefully checked twice. If he reclaimed a gold legend by mistake, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

[Are you sure you want to reclaim all selected characters?]

"Confirmed!"

[Ding! Reclamation successful! Host's magic power has increased by ☆!]

"System, those were two blue elites! Why did my magic power only increase by half a star?! Are you skimming off the top?!"

[The higher the magic power star rating, the more difficult it is to increase. Everything is calculated accordingly. If the host wishes to gain more magic power, reclaim higher-quality characters.]

"You win!"

The system was still giving that official answer. He would have to be crazy to reclaim a gold character.

Qi Yan opened his personal panel.

[Host: Qi Yan]

[Age: 18]

[Race: Human]

[Magic Power: ★★]

[Magic: Take Over Magic]

[Character Cards: Ulquiorra Cifer (Gold), Yoriichi Tsugikuni (Gold)]

"Full Takeover! Yoriichi Tsugikuni!!"

Qi Yan activated Take Over Magic. His hair rapidly began to grow, and his clothes started changing as well. Before long, Qi Yan had transformed into Yoriichi Tsugikuni. Other than his face still being his own, there was little difference between him and Yoriichi.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni's memories also surfaced in Qi Yan's mind. From birth, Yoriichi had been different. The world he saw was unlike that of others. He could use the Transparent World. People appeared almost transparent in his eyes. He could see the rise and fall of his opponent's heart and lungs, the flow of blood through their vessels, and the contraction of their muscles. He could also perceive the contraction of his own muscles more clearly, allowing him to easily predict an opponent's movements while greatly increasing his attack and evasion speed.

The first time he touched a sword, he defeated a swordsman who had trained for years. Later, he created the Breathing Styles himself. After joining the Demon Slayer Corps, he taught the Breathing Styles to others, enabling the Corps to contend against demons.

When he encountered Muzan Kibutsuji, he severely wounded him in one move, forcing Muzan Kibutsuji to blow himself apart and flee.

In the end, he met his older brother, Michikatsu Tsugikuni, who later became Kokushibo. Ultimately, because of their brotherly bond, he held back. After swinging one final sword strike, he died.

"Phew~~~~!!"

After witnessing Yoriichi Tsugikuni's memories, Qi Yan let out a long breath, but the shock in his heart still would not subside.

He realized the anime had been far too restrained. The real Yoriichi Tsugikuni was far more powerful than what had been shown in the anime.

That reminded Qi Yan of a saying:

Those who knew nothing of swordsmanship saw him as a frog in a well gazing at the moon. Those who knew swordsmanship saw him as a mayfly beholding the blue sky.

Perhaps you were a genius in a million, but genius was merely the threshold for seeing him.

Qi Yan began using Sun Breathing.

A powerful force immediately surged through his body. It was not energy-based power, but power derived from physical capability. He felt his physical fitness rise dramatically, while at the same time, his magic power rapidly drained away.

Not long after, Qi Yan canceled the transformation and returned to his original appearance.

"Phew!"

A deep sense of disparity rose in Qi Yan's heart.

It felt as though he had gone from being a super genius to becoming an idiot.

The gap between his talent and Yoriichi Tsugikuni's was simply far too great.

Just then, his body instinctively began using Sun Breathing.

Breathe in~~~! Breathe out~~~!

As he used Sun Breathing, Qi Yan suddenly felt his body fill with tremendous power.

Qi Yan could not help but freeze. He had clearly exited Yoriichi Tsugikuni's transformation state, so why could he still use the Breathing Style?

When in doubt, ask the system.

"System, why can I use the Breathing Style now too?"