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Kaito remained silent, his face an impassive mask as he gazed down at Kokushibō.
"Are you finally taking this seriously?"
Kokushibō tightened his grip on his sword, all six of his unnatural eyes fixed intently on Kaito.
"Ah, I've never been more serious."
Kaito spread his arms wide. Paper talismans streamed from his wide sleeves, arranging themselves in perfect formation in the air behind him until they formed a vast, hovering array.
The number of neatly arranged talismans quickly multiplied into the hundreds, then thousands, until they nearly blotted out the sky.
Seeing the overwhelming number of talismans, Kokushibō's composure finally broke. He swiftly raised his branched long sword.
"Moon Breathing, Tenth Form: Drilling Slashes, Moon Through Bamboo Leaves!"
The blade released two massive, rotating full-moon-shaped arcs of sword light that ascended in alternating patterns, carving deep gouges into the cliff face.
"Protect!"
Kaito formed hand seals. Several more talismans flew from his sleeves, spinning rapidly around him to create a translucent spherical barrier.
Crack!
A sharp shattering sound echoed as the barrier collided with the two gigantic moon-wheel slashes, both dissipating simultaneously.
"Since you're so determined to provoke me, you'll have to endure this. This represents my entire inventory accumulated over this period."
Then, the thousands of paper talismans behind Kaito began glowing with soft light. Maintaining his hand seals, he shouted, "Go!"
Dense clusters of talismans streaked downward like brilliant summer fireworks or a spectacular meteor shower, each leaving a trail of light.
Kokushibō's face lost all traces of calm. He swung his long sword upward at maximum speed.
A massive arc of sword light shot upward, destroying countless talismans before reaching Kaito.
The exploding talismans illuminated the valley as bright as daylight. Kaito ducked under the slash, his quickly deployed barrier again blocking the spreading crescent-shaped attacks.
Gigantic sword waves continued to rise alternately, their accompanying crescent slashes spreading incessantly.
While running horizontally along the cliff wall, Kaito maintained his barrier that repeatedly shattered and reformed. His eyes remained locked on Kokushibō below as he guided the remaining talismans to accelerate their descent.
Thanks to Kokushibō's own attacks, the valley now offered no shelter from the light.
He could only retreat rapidly toward the valley exit while continuously swinging his sword, using long-range slashes to destroy talismans from a distance to avoid direct exposure to their sunlight.
Yet light travels at impossible speeds. Even without direct contact, the flesh of this Upper Rank One demon began to char and peel away.
Amid his frantic efforts, Kokushibō had to constantly slice away sun-scorched portions of his body.
The endless stream of falling and exploding talismans overwhelmed his regeneration. Soon, the continuously moving, sword-swinging Kokushibō was reduced to little more than a skeleton.
"Sunlight remains a weakness even Kibutsuji Muzan cannot overcome. From the moment I could store sunlight for nighttime use, I became invincible."
Amid the continuous explosions, Kaito descended holding a light sword.
"As for swordsmanship, I'm truly not proficient."
Kaito stopped at the valley exit, blocking Kokushibō's sword wave with another barrier.
"But here I can borrow a technique from a junior clansman."
He raised the light sword toward Kokushibō.
As the barrier shattered, the light sword extended at light speed, piercing through Kokushibō's skull a hundred meters away.
"I will not lose!"
The skeletal Kokushibō, his head dust, remained standing. Both arms raised his long sword.
"I have not yet..."
"I'm not interested." Kaito's right hand swept down first. The sunlight spear split Kokushibō's body in two.
"Have not... surpassed... Yoriichi..."
"So this is your obsession?"
Kaito watched Kokushibō's bisected body crash down, shattering like clay in the continuing sunlight bursts before turning to ash.
"Truly terrifying jealousy..."
After this brief remark, Kaito discarded the remains of his light sword and rushed down the mountain.
Did I perhaps go too far?
Kaito's form streaked through the forest like a white phantom.
He realized Muzan would likely avoid confronting him directly after today.
But to save lives, there had been no alternative.
...
"Ha... Ha..."
Sanemi gasped heavily, drenched in blood yet wearing his characteristic wild grin.
"I told you!" He pointed his Nichirin Blade at the four demons. "Don't think you can kill anyone under my protection!!"
The attacking demon was Upper Rank Four, Hantengu.
But its Blood Demon Art proved unusually cunning - when attacked by the powerful Sanemi, it began splitting.
Now four distinct clones surrounded them, each with different appearances and the characters "Joy," "Anger," "Sorrow," and "Pleasure" on their tongues, while the main body hid elsewhere.
Sanemi had to protect the Tokitō family and Kakushi members behind him. Unable to hunt the main body, he could only maintain his defensive stance.
Under the four clones' assault, even his strength proved insufficient. To protect those behind him, he sustained wound after wound.
Initially, his rare blood effect had intoxicated the demons, but the Upper Rank had adapted over time.
Dammit!
Sanemi glared hatefully at the four clones, fury burning in his chest.
Without those miraculous talismans, I could never have protected everyone.
But...
He checked his pocket.
...the talismans were exhausted.
I can't fall! Not yet!
He steeled himself, using Breathing Techniques to stanch bleeding while gripping his blade.
If he fell, those behind him would perish!
"Hehehe, quite impressive," the Joy clone giggled.
The Pleasure clone added, "To last this long against us, you're strong, Wind Pillar!"
"How sad that you'd be less injured ignoring others," the Sorrow clone lamented.
"Enough talk! We've delayed too long! Finish them now!"
The Anger clone raised his metal staff, lightning crackling at its tip.
*****
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