"YES! That's it! Give me your despair!" the Hand Demon shrieked, its arms twisting together like an iron wall of death.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Constant Flux is the strongest offensive move in Water Breathing; the more it rotates, the more powerful it becomes. One arm! Five! Ten! Sabito pushed his body to the limit, certain he could break through to the demon's neck.
But in that split second, just as he reached the demon's throat—SNAP!
The Nichirin Sword, unable to withstand the absolute force of the Tenth Form after days of combat, shattered.
The blue dragon vanished. Sabito's momentum died instantly.
"HAHA! HEAVEN FAVORS ME!" the Hand Demon shrieked, launching a massive, demon-energy-infused arm straight at Sabito's head. Sabito barely had time to raise his broken blade in a futile block.
I'm sorry... Master... Giyu... I couldn't avenge them...
"Thunder Breathing, First Form—Thunderclap and Flash!"
Just as the hand was about to crush Sabito's skull, a streak of golden lightning rent the night!
SPLASH—!
The demon's massive arm was severed a hair's breadth from Sabito's face. Black blood sprayed like a fountain.
Standing before Sabito was a boy in a black haori embroidered with golden lightning. He stood steady, his blade pointed at the screaming Hand Demon, golden sparks still dancing on the tip of his sword.
Whew... that was close. I almost let Master's friend's student get wiped out!
Tatsuya flicked the blood off his blade and gave Sabito a casual look. "Yo, Pink Fox! Looks like I made it just in time!"
The Hand Demon fell into a mindless rage. Tatsuya just started trash-talking it while smoothly handing Sabito a fresh Nichirin Sword.
"Found this on the road. Figured no one wanted it. You can make do with this for now."
Sabito gripped the new blade, his heart still hammering. "Thank you...! Careful, this one is devious. It's been here for decades... it's eaten many people. Many of my comrades."
His fury flared again. "I'm Sabito. We met at the gate, didn't we?"
"Tatsuya. Izumo Tatsuya." Tatsuya declared his name, his sharp gaze sweeping over the disgusting "scarf of arms" around the Hand Demon's neck. "I'll take the lead on this ugly bastard. Sabito, clear out the auxiliary arms and block its retreat! Remember, don't lose your head! I'm going to create the opening for the killing blow!"
After exchanging names, a spark of unspoken battlefield chemistry was ignited.
"Hehehe... Urokodaki's little trash, you think finding a helper means you can sleep easy? Come on then... your brothers and sisters are waiting for you inside my stomach!" Infuriated by Tatsuya's trash-talk and the pain of its severed limb, the Hand Demon tried once more to rattle Sabito's mind. Its countless arms lashed out like a swarm of vipers, while the "scarf" of limbs tightly guarded its neck.
"Come on! Thunder Breathing, Fourth Form—Distant Thunder!" Tatsuya shouted. His figure became a golden bolt of lightning, slamming into the demon's massive torso. His goal was clear: draw the fire and force a defense!
Focus! Silent Listening! In the instant of his charge, Tatsuya's hearing expanded a hundredfold. He moved like a fish darting through a storm, the golden electricity tracing impossible zig-zag paths through the forest of arms, narrowly evading every lethal swipe.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The missed arms slammed into the ground, shattering rock. Distracted by this high-speed frontal assault, the Hand Demon instinctively diverted more arms to guard its body, causing the defensive layer around its neck to falter for a split second!
"Now!"
Tatsuya's eyes flared. Before the momentum of Distant Thunder ended, he pivoted from a point-attack to a wide-area strike. "Third Form: Thunder Swarm!"
The golden lightning shattered into countless rapid, stinging arcs, swarming the newly exposed gap in the demon's neck.
Slash-slash-slash-slash!
Over a dozen arms guarding the neck were pulverized, spraying black blood. The defensive perimeter was torn wide open!
"You damn little gnat!!" the Hand Demon shrieked in agony, frantically forcing its regeneration. Flesh began to writhe as it tried to fill the hole.
"I won't fall for the same trick twice! Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!" Sabito was already in motion. Keeping Tatsuya's plan in mind, he suppressed his urge for a direct revenge strike. His blue silhouette moved like liquid, his new blade tracing arcs of pure cerulean light.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Every strike was calculated to sever the newly regenerating arms before they could fully form. Like the world's most efficient gardener, Sabito was ruthlessly pruning the demon's recovery!
"Second Form: Water Wheel!" Whenever a limb slipped through, Sabito blocked and parried with a circular strike, using the impact to reset his distance.
Stay calm! I must stay calm! Capture the opening Tatsuya created!
"Nice work!" Tatsuya's pressure eased. He moved like a blur, circling the demon as Sabito suppressed its defense. The golden lightning tore at the neck gap like a relentless parasite. The Hand Demon had become a massive, stationary target—every regeneration cut short by Sabito, every counter-attack easily dodged by Tatsuya. It could do nothing but roar in impotent fury.
The rhythm of the battle was theirs! The "scarf" around the demon's neck was being peeled away like an onion.
The moment is here! Tatsuya pushed his Thunder Breathing to an unprecedented peak. His muscles coiled, and the golden sparks around him turned into a blinding radiance.
"Sabito! NOW! GET READY—!" Tatsuya let out an earth-shaking roar, locking the demon's final shredded focus onto himself.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form—Thunderclap and Flash!"
The ultimate spark erupted, aiming straight for the final core barrier of the neck. Tatsuya's golden thunder became a concentrated, high-velocity drill!
"IN YOUR DREAMS!" The Hand Demon shrieked, sensing its end. It desperately crossed every remaining arm over its throat.
"BREAK—!!!"
Tatsuya's roar arrived with his blade. The god-speed Thunderclap and Flash pierced through the outer guard like a hot knife through tallow. The thick, tough layers of arms were forcibly rent and severed!
Rip! Crunch! Slash—!
The final protective limbs were tossed aside in a spray of gore. The pale, unprotected neck of the demon was finally exposed to the night air.
"SABITO—!"
Tatsuya's voice was the signal. Sabito, who had been coiled like a stalking leopard, released the peak of his power. His grief for his fallen seniors and his resolve to protect his friend transformed into raw strength!
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form..." Sabito's figure vanished into a rushing blue torrent. This time, there was only cold, pinpoint lethality. "...Constant Flux!"
He didn't waste time on excessive rotations. In the face of this fleeting, once-in-a-lifetime opening, any extra effort was a waste. The power of the Tenth Form was compressed into a single, perfect, rotating lunge.
A condensed trail of blue light, like a comet rending the night, flashed through the gap Tatsuya had torn open.
Squelch—!
The sound of the blade meeting flesh was crisp. The Hand Demon's massive, grotesque head flew into the sky, its face frozen in shock and disbelief. A fountain of black blood erupted from the stump!
"Urokodaki's... mongrel brat..." the head hissed a final raspy whisper as it fell, turning to ash along with its body before it even hit the ground.
Sabito stood in the clearing, his blade still extended. He looked at the spot where the demon had vanished, his eyes a complex mix of vengeful satisfaction and sorrow, finally settling into a deep calm. He sheathed his sword with a clean click.
Tatsuya deactivated his Breathing Style, the sparks fading. He walked over and patted Sabito's shoulder. "Beautiful final strike, Sabito! That was a satisfying revenge!"
Sabito turned to the black-clad boy who had saved his life and engineered the kill. He nodded solemnly. "Tatsuya, thank you for the support. And thank you for giving me the chance to settle this for my Master and the others... You are strong. Stronger than me or Giyu."
He could see the truth: Tatsuya had spent the entire fight in the danger zone to create openings for him. Tatsuya could have taken the head himself, but he had gifted the final blow to Sabito. That level of composure spoke volumes of his power.
"You're Master Kuwajima's disciple... My Master mentioned you. I have a favor to ask."
"Keep it a secret?"
"Yes. I don't want Master to know his 'warding masks' were treated that way."