In the pitch-black forest, Aomori and Giyu stood still on opposite sides.
Since Demons only appear in the darkness of night, this environment provided Demon Slayers with a more effective training ground.
Aomori's Spirit was higher than normal, allowing him to easily track his opponent's movements.
Giyu drew the sword from his waist. The blade was sea blue and etched with the words "Destroyer of Demons."
This was the Demon Slayer Corps' most essential equipment: the Nichirin Sword, which possessed the properties of sunlight. Chopping off a Demon's head with a Nichirin Sword was the primary method for Demon Slayers to kill Demons at night.
He noticed Aomori's empty hands and asked in surprise, "Aomori-san, where is your Nichirin Sword?"
"My blade shattered last night."
"It shattered last night?" Giyu recalled the battle and suddenly understood. Muzan was indeed difficult to handle.
"Then?"
How could they spar without a sword?
Aomori casually picked up a dead branch of suitable length from the ground. "I'll just use this."
A look of astonishment crossed Giyu's usually expressionless face. He immediately moved to sheathe his Nichirin Sword, intending to find a dead branch like Aomori to use as a sword.
Since it was just sparring, a real sword wasn't necessary.
However, a dead branch was brittle, and many forms could not be performed with it.
Aomori shook his head, unwilling to waste words on an explanation. He took a single stride to appear before Giyu. With a flick of his right hand, the dead branch chopped straight down.
'So fast!' Giyu's heart tightened. His unsheathed Nichirin Sword instinctively blocked in front of him.
Clang!
The dead branch and the Nichirin Sword collided, actually producing the sound of metal striking metal!
"What is this?" Giyu glanced at the dead branch. Even in the darkness, he could see a faint, shimmering glow covering it.
"It's my ability," Aomori waved the branch in his hand. "Don't worry about it breaking. Come at me with everything you've got."
'An ability? Is Aomori-san a user of Marechi, then?' As the Water Hashira, Giyu had encountered many people with strange abilities, so he didn't find it unacceptable. He nodded and simply said, "Understood."
With his Nichirin Sword pointed diagonally behind him, Giyu immediately entered a combat state. In his mind, Aomori had become the Demon he needed to vanquish.
He would use his full power and see the gap between himself and Muzan!
Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!
As the Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka naturally used Water Breathing.
Giyu charged at Aomori at high speed like flowing water, the rotating Nichirin Sword in his hand slashing mercilessly toward Aomori's neck.
All his attacks aimed for the neck—a veteran Demon Slayer, indeed!
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
The Nichirin Sword was easily deflected. Giyu showed no dejection, as he was mentally prepared. He took a deep breath, engaging Water Breathing at full power.
Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!
Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash!
Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!
...
Giyu was so familiar with the ten forms of Water Breathing that he could unleash them casually.
With no worries for his own safety or fear of injuring his opponent, he poured himself into his swordsmanship, giving his absolute all.
The different forms flowed together seamlessly, their transitions becoming smoother, and their power was significantly stronger than his previous self. In a trance, he even felt a fleeting delusion that he could cleave Muzan beneath his blade.
In reality, however, he couldn't graze a single hair on Aomori. The opponent, armed with a dead branch, defended himself flawlessly, like a massive mountain. Giyu's techniques were to him like tiny streams flowing past, unable to damage a single grain of sand or rock.
Giyu gritted his teeth and once again swung his sword at Aomori's neck. Just before it was blocked once more, he suddenly changed the direction of his sword, rotating the blade to cut toward Aomori's arm.
In certain situations, cutting off a Demon's limbs makes it easier to kill them. The initial pattern of attacking the neck was a trap set by Giyu!
Will I land the hit?
Just as Giyu thought to follow up, he saw the glowing dead branch block the Nichirin Sword yet again.
It was still not enough.
He had exhausted all his strength, yet he couldn't even create a momentary difficulty for Aomori, let alone kill Muzan.
The stark contrast between reality and his imagination shattered Giyu's confidence. He was indeed an ordinary man who only survived thanks to others. If it were Sabito, he would surely be stronger than him.
'Why is the one who survived the useless me? If only it had been my sister and Sabito.'
The moment his heart wavered, a flaw appeared in his movements. Aomori keenly sensed it. He raised an eyebrow, used force to deflect the Nichirin Sword, and leaped back to create distance.
Giyu was a step too slow to follow and stayed where he was, breathing heavily.
"Out of strength? Then it's my turn."
Giyu pursed his lips and remained silent, simply raising his Nichirin Sword into a defensive posture.
Aomori, familiar with the plot, knew that Giyu Tomioka, the closed-off youth, was once again suffering from psychological issues, but he had no interest in moonlighting as a therapist; he had the warm-hearted protagonist, Tanjiro, for that.
He was currently focused on swordsmanship.
His ability to defend against Giyu's attacks was entirely thanks to his monstrous dynamic vision and Physique. As for swordsmanship, Aomori was actually completely clueless.
After observing Giyu's swordsmanship closely, he had gained some insight.
Filtering out the flashy special effects, Giyu's swordsmanship, or rather the ten forms of Water Breathing, primarily mimicked the characteristics of water, such as cutting, rotation, and persistence.
In contrast, the six forms of Thunder Breathing had the quick and powerful characteristics of lightning.
In summary, good swordsmanship must possess certain mastered traits. For instance, Atomic Samurai from the One Punch Man world pushed the traits of speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness to the extreme. It was simple, crude, but effective.
Knowing the key points, Aomori still couldn't execute them easily. This involved using force from his fingers, wrists, arms, and even his feet and torso—it wasn't something that could be simply imitated.
It had taken the efforts of dozens of generations for Water Breathing to develop its current ten forms.
Currently, Aomori only had expertise in the "speed" aspect. He frequently used Thunder Breathing's First Form: Thunderclap and Flash.
Among all martial arts under heaven, there is nothing unbreakable, only the fast remains undefeated!
Pushing "speed" to the limit could solve most enemies.
Although he was vulnerable to enemies faster than himself, Aomori didn't rely solely on swordsmanship. He also had Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, Absol and Pidgeotto, and his Monster Slaying System.
All-round development was Aomori's future path, and for now, speed was sufficient for his swordsmanship.
With this realization, Aomori specifically focused his energy on his legs and hands to increase his movement speed and draw speed.
In his test run, Giyu was predictably left completely disoriented.
The moment Aomori struck, Giyu only saw a flash before the tip of the dead branch was already resting against his neck.
"I lose," Giyu sighed softly, his expression even gloomier.
"You're very good," Aomori said sincerely. In the original work, Giyu Tomioka's strength was in the middle tier among the Hashira.
"Mm." Giyu thought Aomori was only comforting him, and the weight in his heart remained undiminished.
"You should head back first. I'll practice here for a bit." Aomori's basic swordsmanship skills were nearly non-existent, and he needed more practice, so he decided to start with 1,000 swings.
"Alright." Giyu sheathed his Nichirin Sword and walked back along the path, dragging his weary body and mind.
When he reached the end of the path, he turned around and could vaguely make out Aomori's silhouette and the steady swing of his arm wielding the dead branch.
The fingers grasping the sword hilt tightened, then loosened. Giyu lowered his head and resumed his steps.