"Na… Naruto Hashira…-sama."
A childish voice sounded from the doorway as a small boy stood there looking at Sui.
"Hello. Because I came down with a fever, I wasn't able to go out and receive you in person, so I had to trouble Iguro-nii. I am deeply sorry." The boy bowed. "My name is Rengoku Senjuro. I am the second son of the Rengoku family. I have brought out the books kept in our house for you."
The three of them sat on the tatami. Senjuro and Obanai sat opposite Sui. Since Sui was both an elder and a guest, Senjuro's attitude was extremely respectful, while Obanai propped up his head with one hand and stared out into the yard, seemingly lost in thought.
Sui studied Senjuro's appearance. His flame-like golden hair tipped in red, along with his distinctive brows and eyes, made it obvious at a glance that he was of the same blood as Shinjuro-san, as though they had been cast from the same mold.
"I'm really useless," Senjuro said with some self-reproach. "I got sick and had to make Iguro-nii come back specially to take care of me."
"Didn't Iguro-san say he was temporarily staying at the Rengoku estate? What do you mean by 'come back specially'?" Sui asked.
"Don't speak as if you know me so well," Obanai said in a lowered voice, without the slightest politeness. "Even if you are a Hashira."
"Huh? Iguro-nii didn't tell you?" Senjuro said. He glanced at Obanai's expression, and seeing that while Obanai sounded unhappy, he didn't actually seem to resent the visiting Hashira, he quietly relaxed. "He's currently training in a breathing style. Water Breathing."
"Water Breathing…" Sui smiled faintly and lifted the tea Senjuro had poured for her, but did not yet open the books before her. "It must have been modified. Iguro-san doesn't look like a swordsman who uses Water Breathing."
Obanai narrowed his eyes. This woman's instincts were far too sharp.
Water Breathing truly did not suit him very well. What he practiced was Snake Breathing, a branch of Water Breathing. Yet without even seeing him draw his blade, she had already seen right through him? No—this Hashira's eyes were closed, and her face was so serene it was like she was asleep.
"Still," Sui said softly, "Iguro-san has probably been troubled lately. Creating your own breathing style is not an easy thing. Trying to find the right balance between Water Breathing and your self-created style, and figuring out what suits you best."
"That is true," Obanai answered.
If she had not been a Hashira, he would have stayed silent. But because of Shinjuro Rengoku's existence, Obanai had always been curious about the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Shinjuro had saved him and taken him to a distant female relative of the Iguro family, but because Obanai's escape had led to the massacre of the entire clan, that woman had refused to take him in and instead showered him with vicious abuse.
"It's all your fault! Everyone died because you ran away! If you'd just obediently let yourself be eaten as a sacrifice, none of this would have happened!"
Her accusations were completely unreasonable, yet they had still shaken Obanai to the core.
Because he himself had indeed thought about it—what kind of disaster would fall upon the rest of the family once he escaped…
And yet he had still run.
The descendants of trash were trash too, he had bitterly concluded.
Then a broad, solid hand had come down and rested on his head.
Shinjuro had laughed loudly and said, "If you've got nowhere else to go, then stay at my house! You're about a year older than my eldest son, so the two of you should get along just fine! Don't blame yourself. None of this was your fault. Those people had blood on their hands, and being killed by a demon was nothing more than the retribution for their sins!"
That was what a Hashira was. A man who stood tall enough to prop up the heavens.
Obanai had sincerely been grateful to Shinjuro. In a sense, Shinjuro had become a father-like figure in his heart.
The Rengoku estate was his home.
So when he learned that a Hashira would be paying a visit, Obanai temporarily stopped his training and returned to the estate to receive them.
Only, the Hashira who arrived was nothing like the figure he had imagined.
Obanai admitted that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Beautiful enough that he could hardly believe those delicate wrists, which looked as if they might snap with the slightest pressure, were truly capable of holding a sword. As a Hashira, she wasn't even carrying a Nichirin Blade. The only thing in her arms when they met was an exquisitely crafted biwa. More than a swordswoman, she looked like a musician.
"Do you have some advice for me, then?" Obanai asked.
Of course, it was only polite conversation.
This woman was the Naruto Hashira—a swordswoman who used Thunder Breathing. She had nothing to do with Water Breathing. At most, she could only offer the same generic advice anyone already knew.
"Did you bring your sword?" Sui asked.
"What?" Obanai turned his head toward her, checking whether she was joking.
"Let's spar," Sui said. "Or are you going to refuse, Iguro-san? The chance to cross swords with a Hashira doesn't come often."
"I did naturally bring my blade, but you, Naruto Hashira-sama, what—"
He cut himself off.
Because Sui lifted the biwa and drew a short sword from a concealed catch within it.
Golden lightning patterns flashed along the blade, illuminating the entire room.
In the snow-dusted rear garden, Obanai drew a deep breath. The white snake around his neck hissed.
He gripped his sword.
His Nichirin Blade was a winding, serpent-like double-edged weapon. The blade was violet, and its round guard was carved with a snake motif.
"A very unique sword, Iguro-san," Sui said, lightly swinging the short blade.
It was a weapon crafted in the Warring States era, using materials of extraordinary rarity. Though it was only half the length of an ordinary Nichirin Blade, it was heavier than one, and felt like holding a solid piece of gemstone.
Obanai kept his eyes fixed on the wrist with which she wielded it.
Senjuro stood off to the side, watching.
Snowflakes settled on Obanai's lashes. He blinked.
Then—
"Whoosh—!"
Sui vanished.
"So fast!"
Obanai's eyes widened in shock.
Where?
His gaze swept all around, but there was nothing there except drifting snow.
"Behind you," her voice said softly, almost brushing his ear.
The snake-shaped Nichirin Blade traced a twisting arc through the air.
"Snake Breathing, Second Form: Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head!"
Obanai spun and thrust, the blade flashing through shredded snow toward her throat.
She was a Hashira. He had no need to worry about holding back. From the very first move, he struck with killing intent.
A sword form like a venomous serpent baring its fangs.
Yet halfway through, it smashed into a towering wall of water.
"This is… Water Breathing?"
Obanai's pupils contracted sharply.
The ancient blade in Sui's hand shimmered with flowing patterns. As she swung it, her sword seemed to become a stream. Every droplet of water she sent flying struck precisely at the points where Snake Breathing generated force. Though it was water—soft, yielding water—it pierced through the serpent's spine like nails.
"Your forms still aren't flexible enough," Sui said.
Her long skirt swirled as she moved, the motion like a serpent flicking its tail—but in truth it was closer to a river changing course.
The golden blade swept through the curtain of snow, tapping repeatedly against the snake-shaped Nichirin Blade.
Obanai saw a water dragon coiling around her sword. This was Water Breathing's Tenth Form, Constant Flux—a notoriously difficult form to master. And yet here it was, in the hands of a Hashira who used Thunder Breathing.
The golden blade flashed again.
The white snake hissed sharply.
Obanai instinctively leaned back to avoid the sweeping strike, then countered by flicking the tip of his blade toward Sui's wrist. That sudden attack carried the embryonic shape of another sword form, but the force and flexibility behind it were both insufficient, and the wave-like motion of her sword diverted ninety percent of it away.
"Water has no fixed shape. Snakes have no fixed form," Sui said.
"If you were truly a snake, you wouldn't clash head-on against a tidal wave. You would try to find the openings in the current and slip around them."
Her words fell into Obanai's mind like sweet rain.
It was a moment of sudden understanding.
The countless obscure repetitions of practice, the half-formed ideas he had been wrestling with, all became clear at once. He had already sensed it before, but because he had been practicing alone, he had never been able to refine it perfectly. Snake Breathing was drawn from the more supple aspects of Water Breathing. It was a breathing style of constant change.
"Very good."
Sui's blade came to rest before the boy's throat.
Only after the overwhelming pressure of her forms vanished did Obanai realize he had already begun moving within them with ease.
The way he looked at her had changed completely.
A supreme swordswoman of near-monstrous talent.
In only a few moments, she had pinpointed the flaw in his style.
"All breathing styles share the same roots," Sui said. Then she suddenly leaned closer and whispered, "And can you tell me now what exactly you sensed from me?"
Obanai's body stiffened. He glanced instinctively toward Senjuro in the distance, then turned his gaze back to the woman before him.
From this distance, Senjuro would not hear them.
So this was the real reason the Naruto Hashira had asked him to spar.
He met her gaze head-on, utterly unafraid. Beneath the bandages, his voice came out low and hoarse.
"You carry a scent similar to that serpent demon."
"Is it that obvious?"
"No. Not at all. I only noticed because of Kaburamaru. He's a perceptive partner. Sometimes his senses are sharper than a human's. He was the one who noticed it. But right now, even Kaburamaru isn't reacting anymore."
Obanai spoke frankly. His attitude had changed considerably. At the very least, it had softened.
"Naruto Hashira-sama, why did you ask me about something like that? If it were merely the lingering scent left by killing a demon, it shouldn't be something worth distracting you over, should it?"
"What keen instincts," Sui said, gently patting his hair. "You'll definitely become an excellent swordsman one day."
"But as for the reason… that is an adult matter. Iguro-san shouldn't pry."
She raised one finger lightly to her lips.
"Oh, and please keep this secret from the others."
"That doesn't really sound like a secret," Obanai said with a shrug. "Even if I told someone, what would I say? That the Naruto Hashira has a trace of demon scent on her? Isn't that perfectly normal?"
"No," Sui replied, her lips curving into a teasing smile. "What I mean is, keep today's practice between us a secret. Otherwise, a lot of Corps swordsmen will start giving you trouble."
Obanai Iguro froze.
He had just realized that this woman was even more dangerous than a demon.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 95
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 89
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 61
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 65
Uma Musume: From Beginner 61
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 37
Uma Musume: I Want All 35
I Can Copy Unique Skills 36
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
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