First, Jigoro kicked Zenitsu away with his prosthetic leg, sending him clear of the battlefield. Then, with a swift strike, he aimed his Nichirin Blade at the neck of the black-robed figure before him.
Crack! The black-robed figure extended a non-human claw, seizing Jigoro's Nichirin Blade.
Slowly, he lifted his head, his hood falling back to reveal Hantengu's shriveled, terrifying face.
Hantengu's expression was a mix of a smile and a cry as he looked at Jigoro. "Where did I slip up?"
Jigoro stared sternly at Hantengu. "What a ridiculous question. How could an ordinary person navigate so many traps and climb this mountain at night? I didn't sense any human presence from you. You're clearly a demon, not a human!"
Behind him, the kicked-away Zenitsu had scrambled to his feet. When he saw Hantengu's horrifying face, he was terrified. "Th-This... is this a demon? I... I've never seen one before!"
Indeed, Zenitsu had never encountered a demon until now; this was his first time.
Jigoro didn't turn his head. The old man's aura was incredibly sharp at this moment. "Zenitsu, get away! This fellow is very dangerous!"
Without another word, Jigoro pulled his blade free from Hantengu's grasp. The Thunder Breathing he had cultivated for many years was unleashed in an instant.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
A blade shimmering with lightning arced towards Hantengu's neck! The speed was incredible!
However, this speed was still somewhat lacking for Hantengu.
Hantengu pushed off backward, rapidly retreating, easily dodging Jigoro's strike.
Jigoro missed, but he didn't lose heart. Instead, he continued to use Thunder Breathing, charging forward with his blade raised. In the large open space in front of the house, he engaged Hantengu in battle!
One human and one demon fought fiercely here, each move and technique containing immense power.
Though Jigoro was old, his use of Thunder Breathing, with bright blue lightning coiling around him, truly gave him an extraordinary aura, proving that he was still strong in his old age.
Hantengu appeared to be a timid old demon, but once he attacked, it was truly shocking. Each claw and punch seemed capable of tearing his opponent apart.
The two clashed many times in an instant, causing the air to reverberate and shockwaves to roar.
Inside the house, Zenitsu scrambled to his feet.
Was he scared?
Of course, he was terrified. The boy was practically paralyzed with fear.
Due to extreme fear, he wanted to run away, but his grandpa was outside. Although Zenitsu was timid, he couldn't bring himself to abandon his grandpa and save himself.
Zenitsu shakily ran to the doorway, hiding himself behind the doorframe, watching the great battle outside with terrified eyes.
His grandpa and the demon were both too fast; his eyes simply couldn't track them. Moreover, their power was too strong, each clash producing such loud noises.
Was this the battle between powerful individuals? It was too terrifying!
This was just the beginning. Neither Jigoro nor Hantengu had gotten serious yet!
Jigoro dodged one of Hantengu's attacks and immediately unleashed a technique.
"Thunder Breathing, Third Form: Thunder Swarm!"
Blue lightning arcs flickered around Jigoro as he moved at high speed around Hantengu. Simultaneously, ripple-like lightning appeared in his trajectory, and finally, he gathered these blue lightning bolts, slashing at Hantengu's neck!
Hantengu used both his claws to block Jigoro's strike.
Hantengu was truly peculiar. With the battle at this intensity, any strong individual should have felt a slight thrill, but he was different.
He maintained a terrified and panicked expression, yet the strength in his blocking claws was not weak at all. "How terrifying, how terrifying! Such terrifying strength! I'm really worried I'll be cut down by you! Judging by your strength, you're definitely not an unknown figure. Were you a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps before?"
Blue lightning flashed on Jigoro's Nichirin Blade as he vigorously aimed for Hantengu's neck. "So what if I was?"
Hantengu feigned terror and fear. "How frightening, it really is a former Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, such strong power! That yellow-haired brat in the house, is he your disciple?"
"So what if he is?"
"Do you have another senior disciple? The one named Horitake!?"
Jigoro fell silent, thinking to himself: Could this guy be after Horitake?
Seeing Jigoro's reaction, Hantengu knew he had guessed correctly and became excited. "Your senior disciple really is that guy! That guy is the Heaven Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps now! He's our demons' most troublesome enemy! He even defeated Doma-sama! He's absolutely terrifying!
What should I do?
As that guy's master, you must be extremely terrifying too! Oh no, oh no, I can't hold on any longer!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hantengu seemed to genuinely lose his grip. The strength in his two claws suddenly faltered, and Jigoro's lightning-infused Nichirin Blade directly slashed at Hantengu's neck!
Snap! Hantengu's neck was actually severed by Jigoro!
Jigoro was stunned. Was this guy's strength really that weak?
Inside the house, Zenitsu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed his grandpa was indeed still strong in his old age.
"Grandpa! That's amazing! You won!"
Zenitsu happily rushed out of the house.
With years of combat experience, Jigoro keenly sensed that something was wrong. He roared, "Go back! Don't come out! It's not over yet! It's not that simple!"
Sure enough, the subsequent anomaly proved Jigoro's suspicion.
Hantengu's body, its neck already severed, suddenly surged. Various tubes grew out of thin air on his body. Suddenly, his body split into two brand new forms!
This was Hantengu's Blood Demon Art, which had the ability to split. Moreover, each clone possessed different combat abilities and characteristics, making them difficult to deal with!
The two masses quickly finished growing, forming two complete clones!
These two newly split clones had similar appearances: black hair, fangs, and two horns, looking quite ferocious and terrifying. However, one had an angry face, and the other had a joyful face.
Upon closer inspection, words were carved on the tongues of these two clones.
The clone with the angry face had the character "怒" (anger) carved on its tongue, and the clone with the joyful face had the character "楽" (joy) carved on its tongue.
This was one of the characteristics of Hantengu's Blood Demon Art.
Hantengu could separate his intense emotions and transform them into clones, giving each clone unique abilities and thoughts, thereby greatly increasing their combat power!
These two newly split clones were named Sekido and Karaku.
Evidently, the angry-faced clone was Sekido, and the joyful-faced clone was Karaku.
Besides this, Jigoro also discovered another troubling matter.
Previously, when this demon maintained the timid appearance of an old man, there were no kanji characters in his eyes.
However, these two clones had kanji characters in their eyes.
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