Gyutaro could accept a human Hashira fighting him to a standstill, but he absolutely could not accept a human casually blocking his Blood Demon Art barehanded and remaining completely unscathed.
He had watched the entire battle unfold. The ranged attacks from the mage demon had struck the black-clad man, yet failed to even pierce his skin.
If the opponent were a demon, Gyutaro could understand. Powerful demons possessed incredibly tough hides that could shatter a Demon Slayer's Nichirin Sword. But his senses screamed at him that this man... wasn't a demon.
Yet, he was equally certain that the biological entity standing before him was absolutely not human!
A human body was inherently frail. It was physically impossible for a human to tank a Blood Demon Art or shatter a steel sword with an empty hand. This guy definitely wasn't human!
"How rude."
Lu Li's expression darkened. "My name is Lu Li. I am a newly joined Mizunoto ranked swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps. I am a certified, pure-blooded human."
As he spoke, golden lightning coiled around his body with every breath. Empowered by [Shunpo], he dashed forward at hyper-speed. The roar of thunder and the screech of air friction echoed down the street. As he accelerated, rings of shockwaves and dust blasted backward. Like a bolt of lightning tearing through the long street, he vaulted toward a distant rooftop.
The sniper, who had just locked onto Lu Li through his scope, widened his eyes in horror. A moment ago, Lu Li was two hundred meters away. In less than a second, Lu Li's face rapidly expanded in the scope... he was already right in front of him.
What kind of monster are we trying to hunt?!
Driven by a hunger for souls, Qiu Mo cleanly sliced through the neck of the sniper, who hadn't even had the time to pull the trigger due to sheer shock.
Gyutaro arrived a fraction of a second too late. His blood sickle slashed through the space Lu Li had occupied, hitting nothing but lingering arcs of golden electricity.
Lu Li had already vaulted higher into the air. Descending with the force of a falling mountain, he brought his longsword down. Gyutaro barely managed to pull his arms back to block the strike, but the apocalyptic kinetic force hammered him straight through the roof and into the building below.
Lu Li stood on the edge of the newly formed hole, casually flicking the blood off his blade. The sniper's blood splattered across the wooden beams in a dark arc. Lu Li looked down at Gyutaro in the rubble. "Now that it's quiet, I'll send you to see your sister."
"Lu Li!"
Gyutaro roared, unleashing every ounce of his power. His Blood Demon Art generated a maelstrom of razor-sharp blood arcs, shredding the entire house into splinters. Riding the bloody cyclone, he launched himself toward Lu Li, his eyes burning with absolute resentment and unwillingness.
Am I really incapable of even avenging my sister?
I'm sorry, Ume. I'm a useless older brother!
BOOM—!
Fueled by grief and fury, Gyutaro clashed with Lu Li at full power. In mid-air, the blood sickles and the pitch-black Zanpakuto collided dozens of times in the blink of an eye.
Pulled down by gravity, the two landed on the street, continuing their vicious melee. Sparks showered from their clashing weapons, accompanied by the localized hurricane of blood sickles.
Hinatsuru, having just finished her initial evacuation sweep, rushed back to the scene. Her mouth fell open in shock as she witnessed Lu Li and Gyutaro locked in a death match amidst the corpses of the seven other demons.
She had only been gone for a few minutes. How did this entire group of powerful demons get completely wiped out?!
Furthermore, the demon currently fighting Lu Li on the street was undeniably an Upper Rank. A Lower Moon simply didn't possess this level of raw destructive power or presence.
She was incredibly thankful she had managed to evacuate the residents of Yoshiwara. Otherwise, given the speed and destructive radius of these two, dozens of innocent people would have been instantly slaughtered in the crossfire.
Hinatsuru's sister-wife, the black-and-gold-haired kunoichi Makio, landed on the roof beside her. Her eyes widened. "So strong... Is he a newly appointed Hashira?"
"Is this the power of an Upper Rank? It's terrifying. I can't even find an opening to intervene..."
The third wife, the black-haired Suma, joined them. Feeling the oppressive aura radiating from Gyutaro, she hugged her arms, trembling slightly.
"Did... did he do all of this?" Hinatsuru muttered to herself as she looked at the demon corpses, her mind buzzing with confusion. Why haven't their bodies turned to ash even though they're clearly dead?
"There shouldn't be any other Demon Slayers here..." Makio replied. Despite her words, her eyes were filled with disbelief. When she met up with Hinatsuru earlier, she was told there were multiple members of the Twelve Kizuki here.
She trusted Hinatsuru implicitly. That meant the seven demons lying dead below were all roughly at the level of the Twelve Kizuki.
Even if they were only at the level of Lower Moons, a Hashira single-handedly killing seven Lower Moons in a few minutes was considered monstrously powerful.
More importantly, the man was currently fighting an Upper Rank Six on equal footing. Did that mean he had fought an eight-on-one battle and successfully killed seven of them?!
"He's incredible. He might even be stronger than Lord Tengen," Suma exclaimed in awe. It was her first time seeing a Demon Slayer this powerful. Even though she practically worshipped her husband, she had to admit that if Tengen Uzui had walked into an eight-on-one ambush of this caliber, he would be lucky to escape with his life, let alone kill seven of them.
"What are you saying?! Lord Tengen is the strongest!" Makio slapped the back of Suma's head.
Suma rubbed her head defensively. "But... that Hashira down there is really strong..."
Hinatsuru ignored their bickering, focusing entirely on the battle in the street. She silently agreed; this Hashira fighting an eight-on-one was indeed terrifyingly strong.
Wait... eight-on-one?
She distinctly remembered that the Upper Rank demon they initially encountered was a woman. Seven demons had surrounded the Kyogokuya. She saw Daki's bisected corpse lying in the rubble. So where the hell did this new Upper Rank demon fighting Lu Li come from?
Don't tell me... he already killed one Upper Rank and is now fighting a second one?!
Since when did the Demon Slayer Corps have a monster like this?!
Down on the street, the collisions between Gyutaro's sickles and Lu Li's blade sounded like a blacksmith striking an anvil. The noise echoed endlessly beneath the artificial night sky. Both fighters possessed extreme speed and strength; the shockwaves from their clashes continuously ravaged the already ruined street.
Qiu Mo and the blood sickles locked once more. Through the shower of sparks, Lu Li looked closely into Gyutaro's eyes. There was absolutely zero desire to live in those pupils.
After another violent exchange, the two separated. Even as a demon, Gyutaro was beginning to pant heavily, a testament to how much energy he had expended.
Normally, demons do not feel fatigue unless they expend massive amounts of energy regenerating or using their Blood Demon Arts. Currently, Gyutaro was doing both.
He had suffered numerous deep cuts during his exchanges with Lu Li. Even with his mastered hyper-regeneration, closing the wounds was incredibly taxing. Furthermore, that pitch-black blade was bizarre; wherever it cut him, it felt as if a specialized venom was continually eroding his wounds, causing sustained damage.
Every time he took a hit, the lingering damage sapped a massive chunk of his stamina.
What drove him to absolute despair was that he had already unleashed every technique in his arsenal. He was fighting like a cornered beast, drenched in his own blood... yet the man across from him hadn't suffered a single scratch.
Although he had never received formal training in swordsmanship or martial arts, Gyutaro considered himself a natural genius at killing. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been feared as a debt collector in his human life, nor could he have killed formally trained samurai.
After becoming a demon, he had fought continuously for centuries to protect his sister. His combat experience and raw technique were magnitudes higher than when he was human.
Yet, despite all that, he couldn't even touch this man. His ever-reliable combat instincts felt utterly worthless against him. In terms of martial prowess and technique refinement, he felt like he was several leagues behind.
After Daki's death, he had reclaimed the power he had lent her. He distinctly felt that his raw strength was now higher than the man's. Yet, in direct, head-on clashes, he couldn't gain a single advantage. In fact, he was being actively suppressed.
The opponent was a swordsman using Thunder Breathing, meaning Gyutaro had absolutely no chance of matching his speed. The only question left burning in Gyutaro's mind was: Why hasn't he killed me yet?
Yes. After a few minutes of trading blows, Gyutaro had come to a grim realization. Despite his fury and unwillingness to admit it, he simply could not defeat this man. There had been several distinct openings where the man could have easily lopped off his head... but he hadn't taken them.
Realizing this, Gyutaro's grief morphed into a burning humiliation. "Are you mocking me?!"
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