Gyomei Himejima looked at his own unfamiliar hands, still lost in the shock of having his sight restored.
He suddenly realized that this was what Shinobu had mentioned before—the miraculous healing ability Sukuna possessed.
But then Sukuna's threat pulled Gyomei's thoughts back to reality. His instincts told him that Sukuna was the kind of being who would follow through on such words.
Gyomei spun the chains in his hands once more and resumed preparing his attack.
With the chain severed midway, most of his original techniques could no longer be executed as before. Gyomei quickly began devising new offensive methods in his mind.
Sukuna did not rush him. He waited patiently for Gyomei to act again. His goal was to witness the limits of the Breathing Techniques, not to kill the man before him.
Shinobu, watching from the side, was not particularly surprised. She understood that this was simply Sukuna's method of obtaining what he wanted, not an act of mercy. It just happened that the outcome was beneficial for Gyomei.
And undeniably, after regaining his vision and adapting to it, Gyomei Himejima's control over his chains reached an entirely new level.
But this still was not what Sukuna wanted to see. There was still a clear gap between this and the full-power strike Kyojuro Rengoku had delivered back then.
Sukuna could see that Gyomei was not half-heartedly going through the motions. This was simply what he believed to be his limit.
While casually fending off Gyomei's attacks, Sukuna began to consider that perhaps, as Gyomei and Shinobu's reactions suggested, the markings were a skill that only a select few could master.
Sukuna understood the psychology of these self-righteous people very well. A threat of this magnitude was essentially equivalent to threatening their lives directly. In some ways, it might even be more effective than threatening to kill them outright.
Yet even such a threat could not force Gyomei Himejima to manifest the markings.
Sukuna chose not to kill Shinobu to provoke Gyomei into awakening the markings.
He had given up on expecting anything more from Gyomei Himejima. He decided to try simulating the technique himself.
Sukuna began recalling the battle with Kyojuro Rengoku, slowly reconstructing his movements, his breathing rhythm, and his physical state. Under Gyomei's watchful gaze, he drew the nichirin blade from his waist.
Sukuna attempted to divert a portion of the focus he used to control his cursed energy into the so-called Breathing Technique.
This was the material he had received from Kagaya Ubuyashiki the previous day—the introductory section on Flame Breathing among the five foundational Breathing Techniques.
As for why Sukuna, having already witnessed both Water Breathing and Flame Breathing, chose to use Flame Breathing despite experiencing both, it was simply because among the swordsmen he had killed, Kyojuro Rengoku was the strongest. There was no reason to choose the weaker one.
Taking advantage of Sukuna's moment of contemplation, Gyomei Himejima once again executed First Form: Serpentinite Bipolar, sending the axe and flail flying at Sukuna from two tricky angles.
"First Form: Shiranui."
Sukuna spoke calmly, replicating the movement from his memory of Kyojuro Rengoku almost perfectly as he swung his blade.
With a nearly simultaneous metallic clash, Sukuna intercepted and knocked away the swiftly approaching axe and flail with a single strike at a perfect angle.
But what shocked the two onlookers even more than Sukuna's swordsmanship was the faint flicker of flame that danced along the edge of his nichirin blade as he executed First Form: Shiranui.
"No way… Could it be…?"
Shinobu's jaw dropped in astonishment. As a witness to the battle between Kyojuro Rengoku and Sukuna, she knew very well that the two had been fighting to the death.
And yet, based on a single battle with Kyojuro Rengoku, Sukuna had managed to teach himself Flame Breathing and use it.
To replicate something perfectly after experiencing it just once in combat—and to use a Breathing Technique he had only skimmed through yesterday—what kind of terrifying talent was this?
On the other side, though Gyomei had been blind and never witnessed Flame Breathing First Form: Shiranui with his own eyes, he had felt it during sparring sessions with Kyojuro. Combined with Sukuna's quiet recitation, he understood the origin of the strike.
Before Gyomei could even marvel at Sukuna's talent, Sukuna was already analyzing the experience of that first strike.
He had a rough sense of the heat that the body experienced when correctly executing Flame Breathing, just as the manual described.
Seizing that feeling, Sukuna intensified its circulation. His body, already strengthened by dense cursed energy, adapted well to his still-unpolished Flame Breathing and amplified its effects, elevating them an entire level.
Sukuna exhaled a breath of air, and it seemed as if actual sparks emerged with it.
"Fifth Form: Flame Tiger."
As Sukuna's low voice faded, wild flames seemed to surge around him. The flames swiftly took the shape of a tiger. With a ferocity that threatened to burn everything in the world to ash, it stomped into the ground and lunged at Gyomei Himejima.
"How is this possible!"
Shinobu was rendered speechless with shock as she watched the flame tiger move faster than Gyomei could recall his axe and flail.
In Shinobu's eyes, the Fifth Form: Flame Tiger unleashed by Sukuna was far more terrifying than the one Rengoku had used.
The sheer force of that single stomp, shattering the earth beneath, was enough to demonstrate the overwhelming power of the strike.
It was less like a tiger and more like an ancient beast, carrying the ferocity of certain death.
So this is Flame Breathing Fifth Form: Flame Tiger.
Staring at the monstrous maw of the flame tiger, Gyomei Himejima realized that his speed was nowhere near enough to block this strike. At this speed, he could not even mount a proper defense. All he could do was cross the chains in his hands and brace himself.
He could never have dreamed that one day he might die at the hands of Flame Breathing—and a crude, improvised version at that.
The flame tiger's jaws closed on Gyomei Himejima. The blazing blade pierced easily through his chest.
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