A fight

But understanding was one thing. Rokuya had always followed just one simple, brutally direct rule of conduct.

"Your name's Tengen Uzui, right?"

Rokuya finally spoke. His voice was quiet, yet carried a world-weariness and coldness utterly at odds with his age.

"That's me! The god of festivals who presides over flamboyance!" Tengen Uzui raised his chin and declared arrogantly.

"You talk too much."

Rokuya's gaze sharpened, and the air around him seemed to drop to freezing in that instant. He slowly lowered the three-hundred-jin Shura from his shoulder, gripping its long hilt in one hand.

Boom!

He did not draw the blade, merely drove its sheath heavily into the ground, making the ground throughout the Ubuyashiki Estate shudder.

Rokuya raised his head. His deep eyes betrayed not a ripple of emotion, only absolute confidence in his strength. "Flamboyance, seasoning-I don't understand any of that. All I know is that in this damned world, a blade that can cut a demon's head off is a good blade."

He paused, his lips curving into an arrogant smile, the kingly Kai's disdain for all beneath him.

"Since you think I'm not qualified for this position and worry I'll die at the hands of the Twelve Kizuki... spare me all the grand lectures. Draw your blades, Sound Hashira. See if you can take one strike from me first."

The moment he said this, the temperature in the courtyard seemed to ignite.

Tengen Uzui's eyes widened slightly before he burst into wild, unrestrained laughter. "Hahahahaha! How entertaining! That arrogance of yours is flamboyant to the extreme! Fine, since you asked for it, I'll show you what true Hashira-level strength looks like!"

"Master!" Tengen Uzui abruptly turned and dropped to one knee. "Please allow me to give this brat who doesn't know his limits a practical combat assessment! I'll hold back. I absolutely won't kill him!"

Gyomei Himejima also stopped turning his prayer beads, his vacant eyes "looking" toward Rokuya. "Namu Amida Butsu... only in a clash between life and death can one see a person's true heart. Master, this is for the child's own good as well."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki smiled and nodded, his gaze moving between Rokuya and Tengen Uzui, his eyes full of indulgence and anticipation. "In that case, stop short of serious harm. Tengen, be sure not to damage Rokuya's foundations."

"As you command, Master!"

Tengen Uzui sprang to his feet. Rather than drawing the two signature cleavers on his back, he clenched his fists and assumed an extremely open stance that concealed deadly intent.

"Brat, today I'll teach you that beyond brute strength, the rhythm of combat and flamboyant footwork are the keys to survival!"

Before he finished speaking, Tengen Uzui vanished from where he stood!

Bang!

With a faint burst of air, Rokuya's vision blurred, and a fierce rush of wind was already closing on his left temple.

So fast!

As expected of the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui's movement speed undoubtedly ranked among the best of all the Hashira. That instantaneous, explosive propulsion made his short-distance sprints almost like teleportation.

Yet there was not the slightest panic in Rokuya's eyes.

On his retinas, the numbers on the system panel flickered wildly. Ever since his Gratitude Points had exceeded 5,000 and he had redeemed the [Shadow Battle Axe], his physical abilities had undergone another qualitative leap under the baptism of the laws of magic. More importantly, the [Shadow Battle Axe] provided not only an armor-piercing effect but also an enormous boost to his agility and reaction speed.

Most crucially, at this moment, only he and Tengen Uzui stood in the center of the courtyard.

There were no villagers to protect, no swarms of small-fry demons obstructing his vision.

A one-on-one duel.

This was precisely Kai's domain!

[Single-Target Critical Strike Rule (passive) triggered: only one hostile target exists within your field of vision. All attack, defense, and reaction capabilities forcibly increased by 50%!]

Just as Tengen Uzui's rock-shattering punch was about to slam into Rokuya's head, Rokuya moved.

He did not retreat or attempt to block with his sheath. Instead, in a move that defied all common sense, he turned his body slightly in the direction the punch was coming from.

Whoosh!

Tengen Uzui's fist skimmed past the tip of Rokuya's nose, its wind severing a lock of hair over his forehead.

"He dodged it?!" Tengen Uzui's pupils abruptly contracted, and shock filled him.

Though he had held back the force of that punch, its speed had been genuinely Hashira-level. Never mind a rookie who had joined the Corps a month ago-even battle-hardened Kinoe-ranked swordsmen could never have evaded so precisely at such close range! Moreover, there had not been a single wasted motion in the boy's dodge, as though he had predicted his trajectory!

"I did more than dodge."

Rokuya's icy voice sounded beside Tengen Uzui's ear.

With it came a hair-raising sound of something tearing through the air!

At some point, Rokuya's right hand had closed around the hilt. He did not draw the blade. Instead, using his waist as a pivot, he swung the three-hundred-jin Shura, black sheath and all, like an enormous iron club straight at Tengen Uzui's waist and abdomen!

Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!

But this time, there was no thunder, no lightning-only violence in its purest extreme!

With the explosive power of Thunder Breathing poured into a three-hundred-jin weight, compounded by the single-target passive's 50% power boost, this sweeping blow could have instantly leveled even a small hill!

The air shrieked, and the sheath left a translucent white wave of air in its wake!

"Danger!"

Standing in the covered corridor, Gyomei Himejima abruptly opened his eyes. Though he could not see, his extraordinarily keen hearing and perception allowed him to clearly detect the terrifying destructive power contained in Rokuya's strike.

"Such monstrous strength... Tengen will be badly injured!"

The instant the sheath swept toward him, every hair on Tengen Uzui's body stood on end. His battle-hardened instincts frantically warned him of death.

I can't take this head-on! Absolutely not! It'll smash me clean in half at the waist!

"Sound Breathing, First Form: Roar!"

At the critical instant, Tengen Uzui gritted his teeth and rapidly formed hand seals, smashing two specially made black gunpowder bombs into the ground between them.

Boom!!!

A violent explosion erupted between them, blinding flames and thick gunpowder smoke shooting skyward. The powerful shock wave spread outward like a tsunami, sending the courtyard's wisteria petals flying everywhere.

Using the explosion's thrust, Tengen Uzui forcibly twisted his body and flew backward like a kite with a severed string. After tumbling several times in midair, he landed firmly atop an artificial rock formation more than ten meters away.

Drip.

A bead of cold sweat slid down Tengen Uzui's forehead and fell onto the stone.

He looked down to find a long tear in the left waist of his Corps uniform, ripped open by the wave of air that had just grazed him. Had he not decisively detonated the explosives to create distance, that strike might have squeezed even his intestines out.

"What a terrifying guy..." All contempt had vanished from Tengen Uzui's eyes, replaced by unprecedented gravity and excitement. "With strength like that, he probably doesn't pale even beside Himejima!"