A single strike could be just an ordinary strike, or it could be... a One-Blade Asura!
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni held his sword, facing the youth from a distance. His old eyes narrowed slightly, gleaming with a piercing light as if trying to see through Roy from the inside out.
The exchange of dozens of strikes just now had happened in the blink of an eye.
But to Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, the visceral experience felt as long as a full ten years.
These ten years were not the youth's ten years, but his own... It was the swordsmanship experience he had painstakingly accumulated over ten years of bloody battles, compressed to the absolute limit by the youth and completely absorbed in the span of a single blink.
This unimaginable speed of improvement... this terrifying talent that was gradually catching up to his attack rhythm... was far beyond what a certain reckless Kenpachi, who liked to pick fights with him for no reason, could ever compare to...
"..."
"Just one strike away, only one strike!" With [Solar Eclipse] in hand, Roy used [Rebirth from a Drop of Blood] to rapidly heal his wounds. He took a deep breath, switched from a one-handed to a two-handed grip, and angled the blade downward in an Iai stance. Like an arrow of light... using the moonlight as a springboard, he charged at Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni once more. Following that...
Came the youth's low shout, deep and resonant: "Slash!"
A swordsmanship that integrated [Scorching True Intent], [Magnetism], and the thirteen forms of [Sun Breathing] revealed its formidable power.
Faintly, a figure with fiery red hair emerged from behind Roy.
He was born with the Mark, born with the Transparent World, a natural seed of swordsmanship. At this moment, though he had already passed into the netherworld, he entrusted his entire legacy of swordsmanship to this youth.
As the fighting spirit surged in Roy's heart, climbing to its absolute peak, the figure slowly grasped [Solar Eclipse] alongside the youth. With a seemingly ordinary Iai slash, he drew the blade in a diagonal upward sweep, aiming straight for Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's chest.
The old man paused slightly, narrowing his eyes. "Is this your former swordsmanship teacher?"
The man was gone, leaving only his legacy... Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni keenly caught the lingering scent of a departed spirit on Roy. Unhurriedly, he swung Ryujin Jakka in an equally ordinary parry, deflecting diagonally downward.
The overwhelming Spiritual Pressure, carrying an unmatched sword momentum, instantly deflected this strike imbued with the lingering resonance of Yoriichi Tsugikuni's swordsmanship... It even forced [Solar Eclipse] out of Roy's grip, sending it flying from his hands along with a spray of blood...
*Pfft!* The webbing between his thumb and forefinger tore open, exposing the bones of his right hand.
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni closed in on Roy's face, freed his empty left hand, clenched it into a fist, and struck directly at Roy's lower abdomen... [Ikkotsu]!
The brutal [Hakuda] technique that had once shattered Wonderweiss with a single punch made its appearance.
Roy felt as if he had been smashed head-on by a mountain peak. With a *crack* of breaking ribs, he was sent flying in the blink of an eye... shattering countless winds and clouds along the way. In the next glance, he plummeted viciously toward the surface, plowing a trench nearly a thousand meters long into the ground before finally coming to a halt with his back against a boulder.
"I will say it again,"
"Your sword skills are decent, but your Spiritual Pressure is far too weak."
A leisurely breeze picked up, blowing away the billowing dust.
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's figure flashed, arriving via [Shunpo]. He drifted down upon the moonlight, his feet touching the ground. With one hand clenched into a fist and the other holding his sword, he looked forward expressionlessly...
On a cracked boulder, the youth was embedded in the shape of a human figure, his chest visibly caved in. If not for... the faint sounds of his breathing and heartbeat, anyone else might have mistakenly thought he had been turned into a specimen or encased in amber, having long lost his life force.
"Is it over... is it finally over?"
The moonlight revealed itself in the sky. With the "fire" and the "sun" gone, it seemed to finally dare to show its form, releasing its lunar glow to declare... that this was still the night ruled by the moon.
In the Demon Slayer World, from south to north, from west to east, those prostrating on the ground silently praying to the gods, and those staring blankly up at the sky, all let out a collective sigh of relief as if it had been rehearsed in advance... Too many unbelievable things had happened tonight, so many that it had completely shattered the worldviews of countless people.
Even the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, who vaguely knew a bit of the inside story—including Giyu Tomioka, Gyomei Himejima, and Kyojuro Rengoku—had their nerves taut at every moment. Let alone... the general public of this world who had never learned [Breathing Style] or opened their [Aura Nodes]!
"Is it over?" This was Ubuyashiki Kagaya asking Kyojuro Rengoku.
"Is it over?" This was Makomo asking Sabito.
"Is it over?" This was the murmured whisper of a blind monk beside that ancient temple in the western suburbs of Kyoto... On this unforgettable night, amidst the darkness that had been driven away several times, numerous questions accompanied by even more [Faith Power] crossed rivers and mountains, traversed lush grasslands, lingered in the mortal realm, and quietly surged toward Roy.
"Cough, cough..." A faint coughing sound emanated from the cracked boulder.
The youth, who had been instantly knocked unconscious by the immense power of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's punch, groggily woke up and spat out a piece of his internal organs.
Regaining his senses,
his body felt as if it had fallen apart. Everything hurt... causing him to furrow his brows deeply as the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably...
*'What a pity. [Rebirth from a Drop of Blood] can only heal injuries, it can't alleviate pain,'*
*'It's hard to imagine just how cowardly Muzan must have been in the original story to choose to blow himself up into over a thousand pieces when facing Yoriichi Tsugikuni!'*
*Tap, tap...* A series of unhurried, measured footsteps slowly drifted over on the breeze from the other end of the trench...
Feeling that extremely oppressive aura and the Zanpakuto hiding endless scorching heat in the opponent's hand, Roy struggled to pry himself out of the boulder. Then, with a *thud*, he fell miserably to the ground, struggling to lift his head and look up...
The distance of a thousand meters was condensed into a single step by the old man draped in a white haori over a pitch-black Shihakusho. In the next glance, he flashed right in front of Roy, looking down at him from above and asking, "Is there more?"
A rare gleam of deep appreciation appeared in Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's old eyes, which were weathered by wind, frost, and time. With a twist of his wrist, he planted Ryujin Jakka directly into the ground in front of him, just like... an elderly man leaning on a walking stick, quietly watching Roy.
Roy's long, fiery red hair swayed in the wind, scattering the dust that had settled between the strands. Tugging at the corners of his mouth, he endured the pain and smiled. "Of course."
Right on cue, a prompt sound rang out from the panel... [Prompt: "Swordsmanship" +100]
The youth's lips curled upward, the shallow arc growing wider and wider. At a certain moment, his smile froze, and his body stiffened. As the suns that suddenly ignited in his pupils slowly rotated, his consciousness flew straight up with the clear breeze.
In one second, it swept past Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
In two seconds, it soared over the mountains and forests.
In three seconds, it brushed past the moon... In four seconds, it exited the atmosphere and entered the endless void. Drawn by an unseen scorching heat and brilliant light, it flew toward the depths of the nebula. In a hazy trance, an unknown amount of time passed before he finally saw it—wrapped in the nebula, surrounded by countless planetary rings, a sun recklessly radiating light and heat into the universe!
"If you want to learn [Ren], you must first observe your heart... A person who doesn't even know what they truly desire cannot develop a [Nen Ability] and become a 'Nen User'."
The earnest teachings of his father, Silva, from the past surfaced in his mind.
Roy opened his eyes, staring blankly at the massive sphere of light surrounded by several planets in front of him.
Piercing through its surface, he saw solar flares, saw sunspots, and felt the solar winds... Then, penetrating the photosphere, he advanced deeper into the sun. For the first time in his life, he observed the sun from a negative distance!
So, why was the upgrade of his "Swordsmanship" related to the [Sun]?
*'That's right... Because my heart is my sword. Just as there are myriad types of swords—swords of gentleness, swords of slaughter, swords of loyalty, swords of justice... And I,'*
The youth broke away from the role of Eiichiro Kamado and reverted to his original appearance. As his beautiful silver hair spread out, he opened his arms to embrace the sun... Faintly, as the solar wind blew through the tips of his hair, it was plated with a dazzling, eye-catching layer of "gold"!
*'I am the sun, I am the sword of the sun. I am the sword that illuminates the world and grants life to all things... but equally, I am the terrifying, peerless sword that recklessly detonates and unleashes catastrophic energy!'*
Closer now, the streams of particles shuttled and collided, instantly submerging Roy.
In this instant, countless fusions erupted within his body, playing out inside him, repeatedly branding their mark upon him... ensuring he would never forget it for all eternity!
[[Atomic Fusion Slash]: Simulates the fusion reaction on the sun's surface. The slash is enchanted with [Nuclear Fusion]. A single strike can trigger a "nuclear explosion," followed by the generation of "ultra-high temperatures" and "ultra-high pressure" to obliterate the enemy.]
*Hum!* "Consciousness" and "body" separated. In the center of the [Sun], Roy melted into the fusion in his original appearance... In the Demon Slayer World, Roy, in the body of "Eiichiro Kamado," struggled to stand up in a daze. Facing Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, he reached out his hand and grasped...
*Whoosh!*
[Solar Eclipse] flew into his hand!
Following that... Roy abruptly caught it in his open palm. Raising his hand, he swung it lightly toward Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni in a chaotic haze... That "fusion strike," branded deep into his consciousness and replayed an unknown hundreds of millions of times, was executed in an instant!
A perfectly straight, thin golden line, carrying boundless light and heat, slowly reflected in Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's old eyes, which were weathered by wind, frost, and time.
Immediately, the old man's eyes narrowed. Under his shock, his expression became more solemn than ever before.
For the first time since crossing over through the [Gate of Cognition], he unleashed his... [Shikai]!
"..."
"All things in the universe, turn to ashes. Ryujin Jakka!"
*Ring—* Suddenly, a sharp sword cry soared into the sky!
Ryujin Jakka was released, his Spiritual Pressure was released, and his gray beard swayed fiercely... A sword intent unimaginably denser than before reemerged!
*Clang, clang, clang...* Having only been quiet for a short while, the Nichirin Swords belonging to Giyu Tomioka, Gyomei Himejima, Kyojuro Rengoku... and all the current and former Hashira uncontrollably began to tremble and rage once more!
The expressions of Giyu Tomioka, Gyomei Himejima, and Kyojuro Rengoku changed simultaneously. This time, they directly summoned their [Nen], each using [Ten] with all their might to painstakingly suppress their blades!
"My sword!"
"What's going on?! Again?!"
On Mount Sagiri, Shinsuke and Fukuda cried out in alarm as their swords slipped from their grasps, shaking them off in the blink of an eye and flying toward the horizon. After that... it was Watanabe, Shimizu... and all the disciples of Urokodaki Sakonji, along with the swords of thousands upon thousands of ordinary people. Just like before, summoned by the "King of Swords," they flew *swish, swish...* into the heavy twilight of the night...
"Don't chase them!"
"The battle isn't over yet!"
A sudden, stern shout abruptly halted Shinsuke, Fukuda, Watanabe, and Shimizu, who were about to chase their swords deep into the night.
Giyu Tomioka, his hands coated in [Ten] and his brows furrowed deeply, intuitively felt that this summons was even more violent than the previous two. He took a deep breath and looked far into the depths of the horizon as he spoke.
As his words fell, Sabito and Makomo struggled to press down on their swords, barely keeping the blades from flying away. They were already using every ounce of their strength!
"Giyu is right. What must go cannot be kept. Wait... let's keep watching..." The carving knife in his arms was firmly pinned down by Urokodaki Sakonji. The old man, his temples graying, comforted the group: "Stay calm and be patient."
Raising his eyes again, he looked far into the horizon alongside Giyu Tomioka, murmuring with undeniable worry: "Eiichiro..."
At the horizon, in front of that cracked boulder,
the youth's long, fiery red hair draped behind his head. His consciousness was still immersed in the rhythm of the sword intent. His hand rose and fell in tandem, an unconscious realization of a single strike... The boulder behind him silently began to...
1...
*Hum!* The thin golden line arrived!
The slash containing nuclear fusion lunged right in front of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni and instantly exploded!
The old man's gray beard, carefully braided into a twist that nearly dragged on the ground, swayed. At this very moment, he countered with a backhanded draw of his sword!
[Taimatsu]!
*Whoosh!* A tornado of flames soared into the sky, colliding head-on with the explosion!
Only to hear a—
*BOOM!* A massive explosion!
Following that,
the earth shook and the mountains trembled!
The tremors could be clearly felt even far away in Kyoto, at the ancient temple, at the Ubuyashiki clan's estate, and even... at Roy's home, the nameless mountain where Tanjuro and Aoi now lived with Tanjiro and Nezuko!
"Waaah..." In the middle of the night, Hanako was startled by the loud noise and burst into tears...
The elderly grandmother's eyes suddenly snapped open. She reached out and pulled the child into her arms, crying out in panic: "Aoi, Tanjuro!"
Inside the house, Nezuko,
Aoi, who was sewing clothes by the lamp,
Tanjuro, who was sitting on the wooden veranda drinking tea,
and Tanjiro, Takeo, and Shigeru, who were sleeping like logs in the side room,
either pricked their fingers on needles, bolted upright from their beds, stumbled out without even putting on their clothes properly, or grabbed the veranda pillars to stand up abruptly. They all pushed open their doors, scrambled outside in a disheveled state, and gathered in the moss-covered fenced yard.
Shocked, horrified, and dumbfounded, they looked toward the horizon!
At this moment... as the earth violently quaked, a surging tornado of flames enveloped a mushroom-shaped cloud, shooting into the sky and illuminating the entire night sky in a brilliant red!
Everyone, including the Kamado family, opened their mouths wide in unison. Some even fell flat on their bottoms, gasping and stammering... as if they had lost their souls!