"Three, two, one, start!"
The two seemingly quiet, delicate young women instantly put their strength into it. Even as Chinatsu exerted herself, her eyes flew wide open.
Mitsuri... she's getting serious!
Mitsuri's muscles tensed, revealing perfectly sculpted contours beneath her petite frame that would have stunned countless male fitness enthusiasts.
For a moment, Chinatsu almost saw an illusion. It was as though the person before her wasn't Mitsuri at all, but a towering rock face a thousand feet high.
This is ridiculous!
Chinatsu's arm buckled, and Mitsuri nearly defeated her on the spot. Fortunately, she steadied herself at the last instant. Losing before she could even bring her full strength to bear would have been far too embarrassing.
When Mitsuri saw Chinatsu produce enough strength at the critical moment to match her own, she paused, then her expression lit up with excitement.
She eats as much as me, and she's just as strong!
We really are alike!!!
Excited, Mitsuri immediately pushed harder. But now that Chinatsu had steadied herself, she increased her strength as well. Their clasped hands, which had initially leaned heavily to one side, gradually moved back toward the middle. After another minute or so of struggling, they reached a stalemate. Neither could force the other's hand even a centimeter closer to the stone tabletop.
Mitsuri: She's amazing! I'm already using all my strength!
Chinatsu: Eight times the muscle density... how terrifying. And this is strength she gained purely through natural talent. If she used that gift for targeted strength training, probably no one in the Demon Slayer Corps except the Stone Hashira could match her.
In terms of arm strength, Mitsuri, despite having eight times the muscle density, wasn't actually the strongest. She was only in the middle of the pack.
After all, Mitsuri was a girl who cared about looking pretty. In her younger years, she had even felt insecure about her immense strength. The power she possessed now truly came from natural talent alone; she had never done any targeted strength training.
Looking at her hand, which couldn't advance any farther despite her best efforts, Chinatsu secretly felt delighted. After all, she always defeated Tanjiro within seconds when they arm-wrestled. Now that she had someone close to her in strength, she could feel her blood boiling.
My strength... hasn't reached its limit yet!
Flames seemed to blaze in Chinatsu's eyes, and Mitsuri could clearly feel the pressure coming from her growing stronger.
Mitsuri pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. Unwilling to lose, she pushed harder too. Both kept increasing their strength, neither willing to yield, and under their combined exertion, an outcome neither could do anything about occurred.
The stone table beneath their elbows...
It cracked.
Crash!!!
Their elbows pressed a dense web of cracks into the stone table. Once it reached its limit, it shattered on the spot into countless chunks. With their support suddenly gone, Chinatsu and Mitsuri both lurched, stumbled a step forward, and knocked their heads together.
The two were strong, but their skulls weren't nearly as hard as Tanjiro's. That knock made both of them cry out in pain.
They landed on their bottoms and both raised a hand to cover the spot on their heads that had just been struck. Looking at each other, they couldn't help laughing.
"Chinatsu, you're amazing! With that much strength, you must eat even more than I do. Let's go out for a meal together sometime. I heard an All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant recently opened in the City District, where you pay a set amount and can eat as much as you want within a time limit!"
Little stars sparkled in Mitsuri's eyes, while Chinatsu replied, "Next time, definitely. Next time, definitely."
They got up from the ground and brushed the dust off their clothes. Although they had broken the stone table, damage on this scale only needed to be reported. Oyakata-sama wouldn't blame them over such a small matter.
During their arm-wrestling match, both Chinatsu and Mitsuri had surpassed their limits, even if only by a little.
Sure enough, competing against someone strong helped improve one's strength.
It wasn't that she looked down on Tanjiro. He had also mastered "Total Concentration Breathing: Constant" and could use both Water Breathing and Hinokami Kagura. They had the same set of abilities; the greater difference lay in their base stats.
In theory, even if their sparring couldn't immediately push them past their limits, both should have improved considerably over time. Instead, Chinatsu had hit a plateau.
The reason was that Tanjiro was simply too gentle.
When killing demons, Tanjiro could still give it his all. Against people, however, he unconsciously held back, which meant their sparring sessions usually ended with Chinatsu defeating him in an instant.
For basic training, where everyone worked toward a common goal, Tanjiro was a perfectly good training partner. He was cheerful and encouraging.
But when it came to a serious clash, the effect was the exact opposite.
As Chinatsu pondered this, she briefly fell silent. Just then, the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku, happened to pass by. Chinatsu was looking down in thought and didn't notice him, but Mitsuri raised her arm with a bright smile and waved to Kyojuro.
"Master Rengoku!"
Hearing Mitsuri call out, Kyojuro turned and noticed her and Chinatsu nearby. He stopped, changed direction, and strode over.
"Mitsuri, I've told you before. We're both Hashira now, so there's no need to call me 'Master,'" Kyojuro said with a smile.
"Hehe, I know... but... sometimes I just can't help it~" Mitsuri stuck out her tongue and answered playfully.
Before becoming the Love Hashira, Mitsuri had been the Flame Hashira's student and studied Flame Breathing. However, she lacked the aptitude for it. Ultimately, she used Flame Breathing as a foundation to create her own unique Love Breathing, and after becoming a Hashira, she was given the title "Love Hashira."
As Kyojuro came up beside Chinatsu, her train of thought was abruptly interrupted. She raised her head in surprise and looked at Kyojuro Rengoku standing to her left, her gaze trembling slightly.
The Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku, was twenty years old, stood 177 centimeters tall, and used Flame Breathing. Without anyone to teach him, he had mastered it through books alone. He was highly respected within the Demon Slayer Corps and immensely powerful. Even Upper Rank Three had described the fighting spirit he emitted in battle as "close to the supreme realm."
Chinatsu's gaze couldn't help growing eager, and naturally, Kyojuro noticed that eagerness in her eyes.
"Mr. Rengoku... are you free right now?"
"I still have a few minor matters to take care of, but if you'd like to spar with me, those can wait!"
Kyojuro smiled lightly and reached out to grasp the sheath of the Nichirin Blade at his waist.
He could sense the young woman's intentions, and of course he wouldn't refuse her. He also wanted to see just how strong this girl who had defeated a Lower Rank demon had become.
He had a faint premonition that Chinatsu might bring him-and perhaps the entire Demon Slayer Corps headquarters-a tremendous surprise...
Before you continue