Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey-Chapter 159: Seiji vs Kokushibo (2)

[Seiji's POV]

"An interesting technique. I'd never expect something like this from you considering you're perfectionist nature," Kokushibo commented easily like he knew me.

Maybe he did, considering his sight was comparable to mine. At this point in our fight, we had already figured out the other person, like we were done with our introduction.

"Controlled chaos was it? Or maybe chaotic order is a better term," he hummed as he continued walking with no faltering step.

Where every other demon - even Muzan himself - hesitated at the weight of my hatred and killing intent, Kokushibo acted like a gentle breeze blowing on him.

I've said this before and it happened to me too. When you master the art of violence, you don't fear or panic.

"You'll learn it on your own as you age but, there is no such thing," he said and his step finally faltered as a small branch slightly waved at him.

Under my technique, that simple movement felt like a blade at his neck.

"I beg to differ," I took that opening faster than a starved man taking food. My desperation was twice that of hunger.

"Thunder Wind Breathing : Third Form,"

The fastest breathing style worked to amplify the speed of the fastest Hashira. I was like a living meteorite. The sound barrier all but cried before it was left behind and abandoned. Sound was too slow to follow my speed.

"Skycleave,"

I could barely see the world around me as I moved almost too fast for even my eyes to handle. The technique was similar to thunderclap and flash but even faster and with the strength of Wind Breathing,

Kokushibo's eyes focused on me, all six of them. They gawked with a flicker of emotion as I abandoned all other dimensions and only attacked one.

Forward.

I had become an unstoppable force in every sense of the word.

Kokushibo's sword was held in front of him - his earlier response to block the moving branch which was mistaken for a deadly swing. The only movement he managed to finish during that instant was to tilt his head.

My blade sliced through his sword as easily as cutting paper. My sword continued sailing as I cut his head diagonally in half. Had he not tilt his head in time I would've chopped it right off his neck.

If he was being made to counter Yorrichi, then I just had to be stronger than him.

And in that moment, at least when it came to the dimension of forward, I was above Yoriichi in his absolute prime.

The aftermath was disastrous.

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I stopped ten meters behind Kokushibo. To the naked eye, I all but teleported. It was like skipping a cutscene as reality struggled to display my feat.

There was no streak of light, no blurring image nor a warp in space. Nothing witnessed my speed.

And then...

"Oh fuck," I was a statue as my body got stuck from sheer exhaustion.

*BOOOOOOOOM*

It was a literal explosion as the friction from moving at such speed created massive heat. The explosion lit up the atmosphere. My clothes too nearly burned away completely, leaving me bare and bruised all over with burn marks on my skin.

"Guhhh!!" Kokushibo made a guttural sound that I did not hear as he doubled over and grabbed his incomplete head.

His flesh moved like it had a mind of its own and in less than five seconds, they healed completely. He was trembling with a mix of shock and agony.

On the other hand, I was contemplating whether to activate the Demon Slayer Mark while I remained rooted in place.

Why was I contemplating and not giving my all in this fight you ask? It was because I was not sure what would happen if I did. I did not know how but I believe my body wouldn't be able to take the strain as it is now.

Although I was virtually healed when it came to doing normal things, it was different when I was in the second most intense battle of my life. When push came to shove, my body had not recovered to its prime.

I might just explode in a gore of flesh if I activate my demon slayer mark.

But in the end, I was left with no choice but to test my theory as Kokushibo swung his katana at my head in a fit of rage. His sword stilled the air around it and it painted a trail of moonblade in its path.

My mind went blank, I surrendered control to my body as my Demon Slayer mark materialized on my forehead. I ducked under the swing and painted a horizontal slash at his body while I turned.

My sword did not cut him as he stepped back just enough. The tip of my blade was a hair's breadth away but it never reached Kokushibo.

That was another way he was different from other demons. He refused to allow himself to be hurt in battle as if he was still a human. Most demons used their regeneration to their full advantage but Kokushibo used it as a safety measure only.

My sword missed and my arms turned into jelly as I manipulated the force behind my missed attack. I redirected the momentum into a diagonal slash as my sword clashed with his.

Nichirin Steel met Demonic Steel and I lost spectacularly. His sword had many other protruding blades on it and that cut through my sword as they grinded against each other.

I then proceeded to lose in a battle of raw strength too as I was sent flying away. I stumbled and rolled a few times before I caught myself with one knee on the ground. I slid for a few meters before I came to a stop.

That was also the end of another round as my eyes regained light and I leaned down to vomit blood. My body groaned in agony, every inch. There was no part of my body that was unhurt so it felt numbing. Pain became the new normal for me.

My heartbeat thumped in my chest and for a moment, I wished it stopped. Because every beat sent waves of pain throughout my body.

I...I didn't want to die. I can't die yet.

Not yet.

I sucked in huge volumes of air. I forced myself to welcome the pain that followed my action. I told myself, it was proof that I was alive.

And my undying will to live turned that pain into pleasure.

A wide grin spread my lips.

"Sun Breathing : First Form,"

The moment I regained consciousness I deactivated my Demon Slayer Mark to relieve the strain in my body. But still, I felt supernatural strength churning inside my body.

I glanced at my reflection on the katana which was only 2/3 its original length. I saw a small mark on my forehead that was akin to a tattoo. It was still there even after I had deactivated the Demon Slayer mark.

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

I need to survive.

"Sun dance,"

I waved my sword around and started moving in a dance-like fashion. The first form of Sun Breathing was a recovery technique as much as it was offence and defence. There was no sun in the sky so the effect was lessened but still, it helped me recover.

"There it is," Kokushibo said and a new glint of light flashed in six of his eyes.

"Although your own attacks were intriguing, this was what I came for,"

I abandoned all that was me at that moment. My body stopped the unconscious consideration for my style and possible mixed breathing. I threw away all that was me and gave myself into Sun Breathing alone.

I closed my eyes.

My own techniques and my own style of fighting would only work to injure me more so I only used Sun Breathing as a weapon. I threw away my very sense of self at the moment.

I was not Seiji Shigan.

I am Yoriichi Tsugikuni.

My brain worked overtime, my perfect memory came to help and I began reconstructing the first Sun Breathing user in my mind. I said it before but the Demon Slayers and the power system of Breathing Styles itself was the legacy of Yoriichi.

And I had mastered everything. I had owned his legacy.

Therefore, although I never met him, I knew Yoriichi Tsugikuni. I picked the scattered pieces of his being and legacy from the breathing styles, from Thunder Breathing, Water Breathing, Flame Breathing etc.

The concept of breathing forms, the Hinoki Dagura, demon slayer marks and even my own recollection from my past life where I read about him in the manga.

And so I became the perfect imitation of Yoriichi.

It was my most perfect imitation and would also be my last.

I rushed at Kokushibo, this time not like Seiji Shigan - who would no doubt prefer to speed-blitz his enemies - but like Yoriichi. The man who unhurriedly made his way to the enemy with all the confidence in the world.

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[IMAGE]

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