Faced with Xia Xi charging at him ferociously once more.
Kokushibo parried while finally voicing the question in his heart.
"...I don't understand."
"How did someone like you, with none of the bearing of the strong... ever grow this powerful?"
Meanwhile, Xia Xi, who had already gained the upper hand.
Was having a grand time hacking away.
At those words, he replied with considerable swagger.
"Huh? Kokushibo, you're saying I don't have the bearing of the strong."
"That I lack a samurai's character and know nothing of rank or etiquette?"
Their Iaido strikes crossed once more.
This time, the one sent flying backward was no longer the Dawn Hashira, but the highest of the Upper Ranks.
Xia Xi shifted the slightly trembling Nichirin Blade in his hands.
Searing red light flowed continuously across it.
The smile on his face grew more pronounced.
"It's a ninja's spirit."
"Only after countless battles to the death did I finally understand one thing completely!"
"The more you cling to flashy but worthless rules like tradition, character, and etiquette, the more they constrain you."
"They'll slow you down when a real life-or-death crisis takes a turn."
"You'll hesitate. You'll leave openings."
"Unless..."
Xia Xi paused, his gaze sharpening.
"You transcend those ridiculous worldly frameworks completely."
Before his words had faded, that super-sized Great Tachi, [Three Nourishing Fire Feathers], taller than most people from the Far East.
Came crashing down on [Kokyū Shinju] with the force of wind and thunder.
An overwhelming force bore down, forcibly crushing the demon, who was about Xia Xi's height, beneath it.
He dropped to one knee, half his body sinking into the earth below.
He could even clearly see, reflected in Xia Xi's pupils mere inches away...
His own somewhat bedraggled appearance.
"So... don't get hung up on those meaningless