As expected of his goddess of luck—she always came through when it counted.
The animation continued. Ten multicolored streaks fell from the sky like meteors, and finally, ten character cards appeared.
One gold, two blue, three green, and the rest white.
The cards began to reveal themselves, starting from the lowest tier. The lowest was white—also known as cannon fodder. These were the unlucky nobodies in anime who flash by and die without anyone remembering their names.
One level above that was green. Still cannon fodder.
Above green was blue. Blue represented minor elites—like a mid-level ninja from Naruto. They might not even have any lines, but at least they had some strength.
Above blue was purple. This tier was already quite good. If you compared it to Naruto, that'd be a jōnin. In One Piece, it would at least be a pirate with a bounty over 100 million berries—or maybe even a Warlord of the Sea.
Above purple was the legendary gold tier.
In Naruto, that meant Kage-level and above. In One Piece, Admirals and Emperors. In Bleach, Captain-class.
Finally, the last gold card was revealed.
Kaien's eyes widened. "It's actually him!"
On the character card was a man dressed like a samurai, clad in a crimson haori. His long, deep-red hair was tied into a high ponytail. Crimson irises, red paper earrings with a sun symbol hanging from his ears, and most striking of all—a strange, jagged mark on his forehead. In his hand was a red katana. Just standing there, he exuded an overwhelming, oppressive presence.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
The absolute peak of Demon Slayer.
Kaien had watched a ton of anime. There were always powerful characters, but usually, someone existed to match them—or at least come close.
But Yoriichi was different. He was the absolute ceiling. In fact, when you mentioned "ceiling" in anime, he was the first name that came to mind.
From the moment he was born, he possessed unparalleled talent. He created the Sun Breathing style. The five foundational breathing techniques that followed were nothing more than crude imitations. No matter how many geniuses refined and created their own breathing styles, they couldn't even match him, let alone surpass him.
The strongest boss in Demon Slayer, Muzan Kibutsuji, was instantly overwhelmed the moment he encountered Yoriichi. He barely escaped by self-destruction. As long as Yoriichi was alive, Muzan didn't even dare show his face. Only after Yoriichi died did Muzan dare to reemerge.
At the end of the anime, the entire Demon Slayer Corps attacked Muzan with everything they had. The result? Massive casualties. In the end, it was the sun's rays that finally killed him.
Kaien had only one way to describe Yoriichi:
A mortal who slays gods.
Compared to other anime characters who could destroy islands or nations, Yoriichi clearly didn't have that level of firepower. But standing face-to-face with him—even a god would have to brace themselves.
You might be able to destroy the world.
But I can kill you.
Kaien tapped his finger, selecting all characters except Ulquiorra and Yoriichi to be recycled. To avoid accidentally recycling the gold-tier, he double-checked everything twice. If he lost that gold legend, he'd regret it for life.
[Confirm: Recycle all selected characters?]
"Confirm!"
[Ding! Recycle successful! Magic Power increased ☆!]
"System, I just recycled two blue elites! Why did I only get half a star boost?! Are you skimming off the top?!"
[The higher the magic star rating, the harder it is to increase. All gains are calculated fairly. If the host wishes to improve further, please recycle higher-quality characters.]
"You sly bastard!"
Still that same cold, official response. Only a fool would recycle a gold-tier character.
Kaien opened his personal status panel.
[Host: Kaien Blaze]
[Age: 18]
[Race: Human]
[Magic Power: ★★]
[Magic: Take Over Magic]
[Character Cards: Ulquiorra Cifer (Gold), Yoriichi Tsugikuni (Gold)]
"Full Take Over! Yoriichi Tsugikuni!!"
Kaien activated his Take Over Magic. His hair began to grow longer rapidly. His clothing transformed. In just a few seconds, Kaien now resembled Yoriichi—his face remained the same, but the rest was nearly identical.
Yoriichi's memories surged through Kaien's mind.
From the moment he was born, Yoriichi was different. The world he saw wasn't like everyone else's. He could use the "Transparent World"—people appeared translucent to him. He could see the movement of lungs and hearts, the flow of blood through vessels, the contraction of muscles. He could even read his own muscle tension, allowing him to predict an opponent's movements effortlessly. His speed in both attacking and evading skyrocketed.
He defeated trained swordsmen the first time he picked up a blade. He went on to invent breathing styles and joined the Demon Slayer Corps, where he passed on his techniques—giving them the power to fight demons.
When he faced Muzan, he dealt a fatal blow in a single strike, forcing the demon to blow himself up and flee.
Eventually, he met his brother, Michikatsu Tsugikuni—who would later become Kokushibo. In the end, Yoriichi held back out of brotherly love. He struck once… and then died standing.
"Whew...!"
After reliving Yoriichi's memories, Kaien took a deep breath—but his heart was still shaken.
He realized the anime had actually downplayed things. The real Yoriichi… was far stronger than what had been shown on screen.
A saying came to mind:
To those who know no swordsmanship, he is the moon glimpsed from the bottom of a well.
To those who do, he is the vast sky glimpsed by an ant.
Even if you're a once-in-a-million genius, genius is just the price of entry to stand before him.
Kaien began to use the Sun Breathing technique.
A powerful force surged through his body. It wasn't just magical energy—it was physical. He felt his raw physical stats increase significantly. At the same time, his magic power was rapidly draining.
Soon after, he released the transformation and returned to normal.
"Whew…"
A deep sense of loss filled Kaien's chest.
It felt like going from being a peerless genius… to a complete idiot.
His talent was nothing compared to Yoriichi's.
But just then, his body instinctively began to use the Sun Breathing again.
Inhale... exhale...
As he practiced the Sun Breathing, Kaien suddenly felt a powerful energy rising within him.
He blinked.
"Wait a sec... I've already exited the Yoriichi form. How can I still use his breathing technique?"
When in doubt, ask the system.
"System, why can I still use the breathing technique?"