Hardy's height in the Demon Slayer world wasn't considered short.
Though only seventeen, he was already 182 cm tall. He might grow a bit more in the coming years, but he was basically fully grown.
Yet this puppet, modeled after Yoriichi Tsugikuni, was so much taller—nearly 195 cm.
Yoriichi himself must have been quite tall three hundred years ago.
"Can I take it apart to have a look? Or would you rather demonstrate it first?"
After inspecting the puppet's joints and finding nothing amiss, Hardy asked Kotetsu.
"I'll demonstrate it first!"
Kotetsu struggled to bring over a small stool, climbed on top, and reached behind the Yoriichi Type Zero to find a switch. Using all his strength, he pulled out a chain and wound it around a disk, twisting it.
Hardy looked on curiously.
Is that... a spring mechanism?
Back then, craftsmen didn't have access to modern power sources. The most likely power for Yoriichi Type Zero was a spring-driven mechanism.
A spring device is powered by manually winding it up, storing mechanical energy, and then gradually releasing it to drive complex machinery and sustain motion for a while.
Seeing how much Kotetsu struggled, Hardy stepped up to help, using the strength granted by his breathing techniques and chakra to turn the crank.
At Kotetsu's pace, he'd probably wind it for an hour and the puppet would only move for a few seconds.
Hardy could hear the chains being pulled inside the puppet.
It must be a multi-spring drive system.
This puppet was extremely heavy and had multiple arms. The crank at its back must be connected to several spring systems.
*Click!*
When a mechanical sound rang out, Kotetsu immediately cried, "That's enough, that's enough!"
The kid then activated another mechanism to temporarily lock the crank in place.
"In the past, when fully wound, the Yoriichi Type Zero could operate for a quarter of an hour. It's said that long ago, a full wind could keep it moving for nearly half an hour. But now, even if I—"
After replacing the mainspring according to the blueprint, it still only lasts for ten minutes. Oh, right! There's also the blueprint—I'll go get it!"
With a clatter, Kotetsu dashed back into the house.
By the time he came out again, Hardy had already drawn his Nichirin Blade and was exchanging blows with the Yorichi Type Zero.
"As expected, it's using Sun Breathing techniques—just as I guessed. Though he claimed that 'those who exhaust the path will reach the same end,' in reality, Kokushibo was still worried that Sun Breathing would be lost. Besides the Kamado family, he left his legacy in other places as well."
Hardy silently recited this in his heart, gripping his already notched Nichirin Blade in his right hand as he fought the Yorichi Type Zero.
After several exchanges, Hardy had thoroughly observed all of Yorichi Type Zero's movements.
They were indeed the twelve forms of Sun Breathing. However, Sun Breathing's techniques are so swift and fierce that even someone with Hashira-level physical ability cannot fully execute them. This puppet needs six arms just to mechanically perform the Sun Breathing forms.
Hardy estimated that for the more difficult techniques at the end of Sun Breathing, people in the Demon Slayer world would need to awaken their Marks to reach the necessary physical standards.
But even meeting the physical requirements isn't enough. One must also have a high degree of compatibility with Sun Breathing to truly learn its breathing methods.
No wonder, even after three hundred years, no one has managed to learn Sun Breathing from this puppet.
Most swordsmen who see the Yorichi Type Zero probably assume at first glance that it's a sword style requiring six arms, so naturally, they don't even try to learn it.
As for Sun Breathing, Hardy didn't insist on mastering it. At least he believed that the Breathing of Separation he developed himself suited him better. If one day he became stronger than Kokushibo, his Breathing of Separation might not be inferior to Sun Breathing.
For now, he was mainly using the Sun Breathing forms displayed by Yorichi Type Zero to compare and refine his own Breathing of Separation, cross-referencing them with the Hinokami Kagura he learned from Tanjiro.
Ten minutes later.
After swinging its blade, Yorichi Type Zero suddenly froze, standing motionless in place.
Hardy also sheathed his now further-notched Nichirin Blade.
Yorichi Type Zero's combat ability probably isn't inferior to that of past Hashira, but compared to the current generation—the second strongest in history—it's still a bit lacking.
It can't defeat the current Hashira, but it's still more than enough for training most of them.
"Second and third arms on the left, first arm on the right—movement is blocked. Footwork is noticeably uncoordinated. Upper body rotation is stiff…"
After the fight, Hardy had figured out many of the puppet's surface-level problems.
Once it's disassembled, he could perform targeted repairs.
"Master Hashira, the blueprints!"
Kotetsu handed two yellowed sheets of paper to Hardy.
"The original from three hundred years ago is long gone. Back in my great-grandfather's time, the Swordsmith Village was attacked, and even the traced copies were lost. This one was traced by my great-grandfather, and the other was drawn by my father, imitating my great-grandfather's version."
Hardy took the blueprints and examined them carefully.
The first blueprint was badly damaged, patched together with some kind of paper glue; otherwise, it would have fallen apart into pieces.
The second was slightly yellowed but still legible.
Just as he suspected, the main power source was a mainspring—but not only that.
Gravity and springs were also utilized.
Hardy even spotted a structure similar to a pendulum system.
Were there pendulums three hundred years ago?
The timeline seems about right, meaning that with the technology of the time, it was indeed possible for the ancients to make such things—it just wasn't publicly known.
Oh well, no need to dwell on that.
Clearing his mind, Hardy continued to study the blueprints.
With his experience, he could tell that about twenty percent of the content was missing from both blueprints.
Given his expertise in puppetry, he could roughly guess what that missing twenty percent was.
But for the specifics, he'd have to take the puppet apart and see.
The tools here were fairly complete. In less than half an hour, Hardy had disassembled the Yorichi Type Zero.
"This sword…"
Tetsujikokorogane raised the black, rusted sword found in the puppet's spine in surprise.
Tetsuhagane also craned his neck over and snatched the sword away.
"The forging technique of this sword is definitely from three hundred years ago, and it must have been made by one of the top swordsmiths of the time. Judging by its weight and shape, the wielder must have had incredible arm strength—very likely the powerful swordsman who served as the model for this puppet."
The village chief, a master swordsmith, made his judgment.
...
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