"Moon Breathing, Ninth Form: Waning Moonswaths!"
After entering his third form, Kokushibo once again unleashed the Ninth Form of Moon Breathing. The only difference was that this time, every single twisted blade all over his body fired off crescent-shaped slashes.
In an instant, Ren's vision was filled with nothing but a deep, dense purple. The crescent slashes covered the sky and the earth!
"Dude, seriously? This is a bit too exaggerated, isn't it?"
Seeing the slashes crashing down like a raging tsunami, even Ren's expression changed abruptly, shock rising in his heart.
He could easily block a single strike of the Moon Breathing's Ninth Form, but now that all the twisted blades on Kokushibo's body were launching attacks simultaneously, the scale had instantly increased dozens of times over. This was becoming a bit hard to handle.
The slashes, arriving like a hurricane and tsunami, tore up the floor tiles of the entire street. The attack range was immense, leaving Ren with nowhere to hide and nowhere to flee.
'No choice then, I'll have to face it head-on!'
"Wind Combat Technique: Crimson Blade—Fire Dance Whirlwind!"
Ren swept his sword horizontally, whipping up a tornado of flames that shot into the sky. At the same time, Kokushibo's crescent slashes were close at hand.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The powerful slashes collided violently with the scorching flame storm. At first, the flame storm managed to deflect the crescent slashes using intense centrifugal force.
However, as Kokushibo's slashes attacked in succession—hundreds, even thousands of them—Ren's Wind Combat Technique clearly couldn't hold out.
Pfft!
Eventually, the flame storm Ren had whipped up was breached. Three slashes landed precisely on his shoulder and waist, instantly leaving three terrifying sword marks. Crimson blood sprayed out abruptly.
Pain instantly spread throughout his body, causing Ren to involuntarily suck in a breath of cold air.
"Hiss! It really has been a while since I felt pain like this. Since that battle with Muzan, I haven't suffered such heavy injuries."
Ren immediately retreated. Although he was injured, his constitution was superhuman, so wounds of this level wouldn't affect his mobility.
Moreover, even though the defensive barrier formed by the Wind Combat Technique had been breached, it had more or less weakened the power of those crescent slashes.
Ren's wounds looked frightening, but they weren't actually critical. The urgent priority now was to retreat as quickly as possible and maintain distance from Kokushibo. The opponent's next attack would undoubtedly be even more terrifying.
The surroundings were residential houses, which couldn't provide him with a geographical advantage like a forest could.
Furthermore, during the battle, Ren saw residents running out of their houses and fleeing into the distance; evidently, they had been startled by the fight between the two.
There were even many people inside the houses who hadn't had time to retreat yet. Fortunately, Kokushibo wasn't interested in these people; he only enjoyed his battle with Ren.
"Mmm, what a fragrant scent!"
Kokushibo took a deep breath. As Ren was cut by the slashes, his blood dripped onto the ground, and the thick scent of blood instantly filled the entire street.
"I didn't expect you to be a Marechi as well. But that makes sense; your constitution far exceeds that of ordinary humans, so it is normal for your blood to be a little special."
"How is it? The feeling of being injured isn't pleasant, is it!"
"Finally... I have finally wounded you favored children of the heavens. Next, I will completely erase you!"
Kokushibo thought of Tsugikuni Yoriichi again. Ever since Yoriichi learned the sword, Kokushibo had never won against him, not even once.
Even on the verge of death, Yoriichi had critically wounded him with a single strike before suddenly dying, leaving Kokushibo with no chance to ever surpass him.
But now, seeing Ren—who was even more special than Yoriichi—wounded by his slashes, Kokushibo's heart was instantly filled with a massive sense of satisfaction.
Hundreds of years of bitter training finally had meaning in this moment!
He could now hurt Ren, which meant killing him was only a matter of time.
"Loathsome favored child of heaven, today, I will surpass you all!"
"Hmph, you just left a few wounds on me, is it worth getting that excited?"
Although the two were separated by several hundred meters, Kokushibo still heard Ren's disdainful words.
He then saw Ren standing on the ground like a mountain peak. If not for the scent of blood, Kokushibo would have thought he was unharmed.
"It is always like this. You favored children of heaven are never willing to admit my strength, and you always like to hypocritically pretend to be ordinary people!"
Looking at Ren's confident expression, Kokushibo actually saw Yoriichi's shadow in him, and the jealousy in his heart rose another few notches.
"But it doesn't matter. Once I sever your four limbs, let's see if your mouth remains this stubborn!"
As he spoke, Kokushibo began to gather power. His muscles pulled taut, his entire person like a longbow drawn to its limit. The twisted blades all over his body began to emit a blinding purple light due to the condensation of power.
"Moon Breathing, Tenth Form: Drilling Slashes—Ivy Moon!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, the explosive sound of sharp blades tearing through the air shot into the sky. Another wave of crescent slashes swept over, and the power was far stronger than the previous Ninth Form.
The crescent slashes continuously cut through the air, causing a piercing hum to ring out. If an ordinary person were here, just hearing this sound would have given them goosebumps all over.
The fierce crescent slashes were extremely fast, attacking Ren from all directions. If he were hit, he would absolutely be chopped into mincemeat.
'No, I can't dodge this!'
'As expected, I have to find a way to get close to Kokushibo and attack his main body directly!'
Thinking this, Ren immediately drew his sword and rose, charging head-on toward the crescent slashes that could shear through iron like mud.
Seeing that he was actually charging straight in, Kokushibo frowned and snorted coldly. "Hmph, are you planning to give up and give yourself a quick end?"
Amidst the ridicule, Ren and the whistling slashes were already within inches of each other. He didn't slow down but swung his sword to attack forcibly.
Since he couldn't dodge, he would just chop them to pieces directly!
"Fire Combat Technique: Dragon Dance!"
As the flow of his blood accelerated, Ren's strength and speed reached an extremely terrifying level.
With just a casual slash, he completely tore apart the moon blades in front of him, then accelerated again, rushing toward Kokushibo.
"What? You were still hiding such a powerful combat technique?"
Kokushibo turned pale with fright and leaped backward simultaneously. He saw through Ren's intention: he wanted to close in for melee combat.
And Kokushibo knew very well that his Moon Breathing relied on large-scale long-range attacks. If Ren got close, he would undoubtedly lose.
"You want to get close to me? Fine then, let's see if you can pass through this storm of blades and shadows!"
"Moon Breathing, Fourteenth Form: Catastrophe—Tenman Crescent Moon!"
This was the sword form with the largest attack range in Moon Breathing. Countless horizontal slashes whistled out, dealing a devastating blow to enemies within a range of thousands of meters.
Until now, no one had been able to leave a whole corpse in the face of this move!
"Bring it on! There is nothing I cannot cut, nothing I cannot sever!"
"Fire Combat Technique: Crimson Blade—Fire Dragon Red Lotus Strike!"
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