After resting for a night in an empty room at the Butterfly Mansion, Haruto felt fully refreshed.
He had gained an enormous amount from this battle. Besides grasping the complete Transparent World during the fight, the experience of slaying Gyokko had brought his understanding of Breathing Styles and swordsmanship to a new level.
Haruto believed he was not the only one. Everyone who had taken part in that battle would make great strides.
Mitsuri Kanroji in particular-Haruto felt she was not far from becoming a Hashira.
Finding life at death's door, breaking through human limits in battles where death loomed-this was the tragic, brutal path swordsmen followed to advance.
Near noon the next day, Haruto and the Kocho Sisters arrived at the Ubuyashiki estate at Headquarters.
The Hashira were unusually well represented today, including the newly appointed Serpent Hashira, Obanai Iguro. Yes, the boy with a white snake draped around his neck, whose "secret crush" on Kanroji was painfully obvious, had also joined the ranks of the Hashira recently.
Haruto had seen his swordsmanship. The fellow really did seem destined to have a connection with Kanroji-even his Nichirin Blade was similarly warped, and his swordplay could weave and shift like a snake.
Apart from Gyomei Himejima and Muichiro, everyone stared eagerly at the three Hashira who had taken part in the battle.
Sanemi Shinazugawa in particular looked as though his eyes were about to pop out.
Muichiro was lost in thought. A colony of ants was moving beneath his feet, and he watched in a daze as the tiny creatures hauled scraps of food out of their nest and carried them elsewhere...
"Still can't remember?"
Haruto patted the boy's thin shoulder.
Shinobu had told him that after the incident that summer, Muichiro had developed a memory disorder. He had locked