"Flame Breathing... That's the fifth style you've used. Can you really not tell me your name? At least tell me which Hashira you are."
Inside the heavily damaged Rime: Water Lily Bodhisattva, Doma, already repairing himself at full strength, still wore that same flippant expression.
"Now that you mention it, I forgot. I still haven't chosen which character to use for my Hashira title."
Suzuki Makoto skillfully executed the Eighth Form of Flame Breathing and landed in the courtyard, which had been utterly destroyed.
"Oh, that's right. The Stone, Water, Wind, and Flame Hashira positions are all taken. As for Thunder Hashira, that would be understating your talent."
Doma was actually giving serious thought to it on Suzuki Makoto's behalf.
"That's right. You see, I can also use this Breathing Style."
The man smiled and closed the distance again, unleashing a chilling, sharp slash that Doma had never seen before.
"Make the Rime: Water Lily Bodhisattva self-destruct!"
That voice doesn't sound like Doma.
Puzzled, Suzuki Makoto changed his attack to slash through the rampaging power of ice and snow, only to see a doorway suddenly appear in the ground beneath Doma's feet. It opened instantly, and Doma fell into it.
"A spatial Blood Demon Art?"
Suzuki Makoto had no intention of recklessly entering that doorway. When facing any ability related to time or space, he always made it a rule to assume the worst of his opponent's techniques.
However... if the other party thought they could get away alive just like that, they were far too naive.
Because he had already found this Upper Rank Two's 'thread'.
Doma only felt several gentle breezes brush past his body. The two iron fans in his hands instantly shattered, and his body began to crumble as well.
"You can't kill me like this, you know. You still have to cut my neck with a Nichirin Blade."
He teased with a smile, only to then realize that his crumbling limbs were turning to ash instead of regenerating.
"I made a point of not cutting your neck with the Nichirin Blade."
Suzuki Makoto replied with a smile of his own.
"Huh?"
"Why is this happening?"
"Why am I dying?"
"Why did he kill me when he didn't even sever my neck with a Nichirin Blade?"
Filled with confusion, Doma's ashes fell into the doorway, which didn't even wait for all of them to fall through before quickly closing and disappearing.
Suzuki Makoto suddenly flicked his blade, prying out a single eye that was already devoid of life.
The opponent's spatial ability was indeed powerful. At the very least, the moment the doorway closed, the vast space he had sensed was instantly relocated, and all paths of pursuit were deliberately severed.
Just then, a confused Tengen Uzui returned to Suzuki Makoto's side.
"The little demons I was chasing suddenly crumbled. What happened? Is that Upper Rank Two dead already?"
"I've killed him. But just before he died, a demon skilled in spatial abilities tried to save him. When the rescue failed, it left immediately. I couldn't catch a trace of it."
"A spatial Blood Demon Art? It shouldn't have gotten far. If we search for its aura, we might be able to catch up."
The Sound Hashira wasn't surprised; after all, demons like that had appeared before.
"No, it's already gone. This demon's Blood Demon Art is very strange. It seems its space is completely independent. Just now, it only opened a passage, rather than the entire space descending here."
Suzuki Makoto shared the conclusion he'd drawn from his brief glimpse. After all, he wasn't particularly skilled in this area; his master's spatial slash was a move he could never learn, no matter how many times he watched it.
"There's a guy that strange out there?"
Tengen Uzui's expression grew serious, but it quickly turned to excitement. He clapped Suzuki Makoto on the shoulder and burst out laughing.
"You can even take down Upper Rank Two all by yourself! It looks like the war between humans and demons might actually end at your hands!"
"I hope so. By the way, where's your blade?"
"It's so frozen I can't even hold it. Good thing I had some shinobi tools, or I would've been completely helpless."
The man walked towards his Nichirin Blade, cursing under his breath. Suzuki Makoto extended his own blade, picked up a relatively intact fragment of the iron fan, placed it in his personal pouch, and followed Tengen Uzui away..
But upon seeing Tengen Uzui's blades, Suzuki Makoto, surprised, picked them up before he could.
"What's wrong? You think my blades are weird?"
"No... it's just, why has the unique aura your blades contain faded?"
"'Unique aura'?"
The Sound Hashira was a bit confused, but since it was Suzuki Makoto saying it, he naturally wouldn't doubt him.
"Nichirin Blades are forged using a special ore, Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand. The swordsmiths say it contains the power of the sun, and I can feel that aura. But now, the aura emanating from your blades has become much weaker—in other words, your blades' lethality against demons has decreased."
This was an unprecedented situation. Even with broken blades, Suzuki Makoto had never seen anything like it.
"Is that a big deal?"
"I don't know. Let's take the blades and go back for now. This isn't the place to discuss it."
After all, this was a busy area. With such a huge commotion, people were bound to show up soon. The two of them immediately wrapped up the still-frozen blades and vanished into the night.
Meanwhile, Nakime, having closed the doorway, was kneeling tremblingly behind her master, praying that his wrath would not fall upon her.
Muzan Kibutsuji's expression was ugly, extremely ugly—ashen like a dead man's face.
"Sun Breathing... Why! Why is there still someone in the Demon Slayer Corps who can use Sun Breathing!"
Ever since Gyutaro's death, Muzan's surveillance of the Upper Ranks had intensified. He had begun monitoring the scenes they observed through their eyes, making no exception even for Doma, whom he detested.
And then he saw him—the man who could wield five Breathing Styles as if they were his own limbs, the man who couldn't be suppressed in the slightest even by Upper Rank Two's abilities specialized against the Demon Slayer Corps, the man who had delivered a one-sided beatdown!
Most importantly, and most infuriatingly—
This man could actually use Sun Breathing!
Although he hadn't allowed the man to fully execute it, for Muzan, who had Sun Breathing seared into his very being and mind, a simple lift of Suzuki Makoto's hand was enough to know which form he was about to use.
His rage quickly descended upon the Infinity Castle. Nakime fought back the urge to scream while rapidly repairing the damage.
"Nakime!"
"Your orders, Master."
"Summon Kokushibo and Akaza back to the Infinity Castle at once! Immediately!"
"Yes!"
Muzan Kibutsuji sat down, his face dark. He needed to think, to think very carefully about what to do next.
_____
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