"Kyojuro! Become a demon! You are a strong one chosen by the heavens!" In the midst of their clash, Akaza gained a deeper appreciation for Kyojuro Rengoku's mastery of martial arts and couldn't help but continue to persuade him.
"The fragile body of a human is a shackle that limits you! Becoming a demon will allow you to continue to pursue the pinnacle of martial arts, Kyojuro!"
"Impossible!" Rengoku shouted his response as he swung his blade at Akaza. "What you call fragile, aging, and death, are the very beauty of the human species! It is because we die, because we age, that we are all the more precious, all the more respectable! You could never understand!"
"Ah, Kyojuro, why are you so unreasonable!" Akaza leaned his body to dodge Rengoku's sword technique, then used the momentum to accelerate his spin, his hips swinging forward to drive his thigh in a whip-like kick towards Kyojuro Rengoku's waist.
'So fast! I can't dodge this attack!'
Rengoku caught a glimpse of Akaza's attack out of the corner of his eye, but the inertia of his own sword swing made it difficult for him to evade.
"Insect Breathing, Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter!"
A gentle voice was accompanied by the sudden arrival of a sword tip. In an instant, it diagonally pierced into Akaza's leg, stopping his whipping motion and pinning his thigh to the ground along the bone.
"Poison?"
The moment the sword tip pierced his leg, Akaza sensed something was wrong. He directly turned his fist into a palm, using it as a blade to sever his own attacked thigh, and then leaped away on one leg.
"A woman?"
Akaza's severed leg regenerated in an instant, and he stood firmly on the ground again.
He looked at the newly appeared woman and frowned.
'That speed just now and her uniform...'
'Is she also a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps?'
'And a woman...'
Akaza's brows furrowed even tighter.
He believed in the creed of the strong and never killed or ate women.
Even though it was clear that her strength was not to be underestimated, he still felt unaccustomed to dealing with a female Hashira.
"Are you alright, Mr. Rengoku?" Shinobu Kocho, who had rushed over at the Master's command, asked Kyojuro Rengoku with concern.
"Shinobu..." Kyojuro was clearly a little surprised by Shinobu's arrival. He replied to Shinobu, who was carrying a large wooden box on her back, "I'm fine. I can still fight."
Seeing the lingering traces of blood at the corner of Rengoku's mouth and his somewhat twisted left arm, Shinobu knew just how dire his battle situation was.
"Drink this, Mr. Rengoku."
And so Shinobu took out a bottle of restorative medicine from under her robe and threw it to Kyojuro.
"Thanks!" Kyojuro caught the medicine and poured it directly into his mouth. After feeling a warm current nourishing his injured areas, he stared intently at Akaza, who was standing in place, lost in some thought.
"Nezuko," Shinobu knocked lightly on the wooden box on her back and said to Nezuko inside, "Your brother is over there. Go and help him."
Clearly, the situation on Tanjiro's side was also not looking good; they were in the middle of a tough fight.
"Mmph, mmph!" a muffled reply came from within the wooden box. Then, the box was kicked open, and a figure leaped out, rushing towards Tanjiro's battlefield.
Afterward, Shinobu took off the wooden box, lightening her load, and stood together with Rengoku.
She looked at Akaza not far away, brandished her Nichirin Sword, and said with a light laugh, "Mr. Demon, I'm very sorry, but now it's two against one, you see."
Akaza showed no emotional response to this, only slowly getting into a ready stance.
'His strength is immense.' Shinobu could easily judge this from his aura and Kyojuro Rengoku's injuries.
'Upper Rank Three is two ranks higher than the Upper Rank Five, Gyokko, that Lexon captured...'
'And Lexon had specially emphasized the strength of the top three Upper Rank demons of the Twelve Kizuki.'
So Shinobu immediately decided to gang up on him, without the slightest hesitation.
"Insect Breathing, Dance of the Flower Butterfly: Withering!"
Shinobu started with the new sword form she had created during her duel with Gyokko, holding nothing back.
For a moment, illusory butterfly shadows fluttered about, and beautiful flowers bloomed. A colorful and magnificent picture instantly unfolded in Akaza's vision.
It made Akaza's spirit feel a moment of disorientation.
But the next moment, the fluttering butterfly shadows suddenly fell in droves, the beautiful flowers went from bloom to decay, and the colorful, magnificent picture instantly turned gray, filled with a sense of withering.
The thrust of Shinobu's Nichirin Sword seemed as if it would bring all things to decay, to erase all things.
'Dangerous!'
A loud warning went off in Akaza's mind. His hidden Compass Needle seemed to spin rapidly, sensing the intense fighting spirit contained in this move, and thus broke Akaza's state of mental disorientation.
'I can't take this head-on! I can't be touched by this blow!'
The now-clear-headed Akaza thought rationally. Although his vision was still obscured by the strange images, Akaza still followed the warning of his Compass Needle and narrowly avoided Shinobu's Nichirin Sword as it thrust towards his neck.
"Flame Breathing, Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun!"
However, just as he dodged Shinobu's killing move, Kyojuro Rengoku's fiery upward slash came right after.
'Damn it... I can only...'
Akaza realized that this move was absolutely unavoidable, so in that split second, he only managed to slightly raise his hands and tilt his body. Although both his hands were directly cut off and his right shoulder was diagonally sliced open, his neck was, after all, not severed.
'Since my neck wasn't cut, then these are all just "minor scratches"!'
Akaza quickly leaped back, putting a safe distance between himself, Shinobu, and Kyojuro Rengoku. Then his shoulder healed, and his hands regenerated.
"Kyojuro, do you really not want to become a demon? After becoming a demon, we can duel with each other, improve together, and walk towards the pinnacle of martial arts!" Akaza was still a little unwilling to give up and continued to persuade him.
"Impossible! Although we've just met, I don't like you! I don't want to be with you!" Kyojuro Rengoku said seriously.
Shinobu couldn't help but shoot a sideways glance at Kyojuro Rengoku. 'Mr. Rengoku, your choice of words is a bit strange.'
"I have killed many Hashira, and I have also invited them to become demons, but to this day, not a single one has agreed. I really don't understand. As people who are also climbing to the pinnacle of martial arts, why are you all like this?"
The repeated rejections seemed to have completely exhausted Akaza's patience. The aura on his body gradually changed. An immense demonic energy, almost tangible, displayed an even more extreme sense of pressure, making one's body tremble and mind waver even more.
"Be careful!"
Kyojuro Rengoku's face was solemn. He knew that the opponent was completely serious now, so he couldn't help but remind his partner.
"I understand, Mr. Rengoku."
Shinobu was also on high alert. She sheathed her Nichirin Sword, and after a special "ding" sound, she drew it again.
The poison clinging to her Nichirin Sword had changed.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]