Kagaya Ubuyashiki's voice was very soft.
Yet in the silent courtyard, it struck like thunder in the heart of every Hashira.
Thunder God.
The term had already exceeded their understanding of a "swordsman."
Yet, considering the Kasugai Crow that had already lost its mind and the report filled with fear and awe sent back by the Kakushi unit, they found that they could think of no term more fitting for that boy than "Thunder God."
Summoning lightning from the heavens.
Transforming into a divine beast.
Leveling the earth with a single blow, leaving a glassy crater behind.
This was already beyond what human strength could achieve.
"You've got to be kidding..."
The Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa, was the first to break the silence.
His voice no longer held its usual irritation, but a trace of dryness and bewilderment that even he failed to notice.
He was not questioning the report's truth.
He simply could not understand it, could not accept it.
Here they were, day after day, using their flesh-and-blood bodies to fight demons in the most primitive, most brutal struggles.
Yet that brat could already turn even the sky into his weapon?
What was that supposed to be?
"Namu Amida Butsu..."
The Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, turned the prayer beads in his hands faster.
"If such power is used for good, it will be a light of salvation. If used for evil, it will be a world-ending calamity..."
The Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, leaned against a veranda pillar, his arms folded across his chest.
The expression on his face was the one he himself hated most: pure gravity, not the slightest bit "flashy."
All his life, he had pursued flashy battles and grand festivals.
But the sheer destructive power described in the report, which annihilated everything, had no sound,