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Kaito looked down at Muzan, who had burrowed underground, and let out a scoff.
He formed seals again.
"Emergence!"
With his light shout, countless gleaming Nichirin sword tips pierced upward from the bottom of the barrier, pointing skyward from the ground.
"The barrier I set has no flaws." Kaito smiled.
When arranging the barrier, he had divided the Nichirin swords into two parts.
One part hung around the perimeter, the other hidden underground.
At the same time, the eight torii blazed with golden light once more, instantly infusing all the blades protruding from the ground.
"Aaaaaah..."
Muzan, hiding underground, let out another scream, bursting out from the earth and swiftly dodging into the collapsed buildings.
"You all stay put here for now."
The paper clone in the protective barrier glanced at the blade tips covering the ground and said to the swordsmen.
"There's no foothold for you outside anymore."
At this point, the blade tips protruding from the ground also began cracking, with various colored blade arcs soaring skyward again, converging into the flaming Nichirin sword above.
Then, the flames enveloping that Nichirin sword began intertwining and transforming, gradually forming a human shape bit by bit.
The flame-composed figure extended its right hand to grip the Nichirin sword, slowly descending to the ground.
At the same time, the rough flame-constructed form refined itself little by little.
By the time its feet touched the ground, its appearance was indistinguishable from a real person.
"Mr. Yoriichi..." Tanjuro, watching the figure's back, murmured involuntarily.
Red hair tied in a ponytail, flame-like red markings on his face, and sun-shaped earrings dangling from his ears.
His expression was calm and waveless, yet his eyes held hidden compassion.
Outside the gate, Kagaya, gazing at the inverted back, asked: "Have you summoned the swordsman of the original breathing, Mr. Yoriichi?"
"That is not the real Tsugikuni Yoriichi."
Kaito leaped down from the torii, standing beside Kagaya.
"Those who exhaust the path return to the same place." He too watched the back, saying, "All breathing styles derive from the original breathing, so when the memories and thoughts preserved in all Nichirin swords converge in one place, the original breathing appears in the image of its founder."
"That sword."
He stared at the blade in "Tsugikuni Yoriichi's" hand.
"When it was forged, it was personally colored by Tsugikuni Yoriichi himself.
In the long years afterward, it hid within the Yoriichi Type Zero, sparring with countless swordsmen's different techniques.
Thus, when all sword forms unite as one, it becomes the perfect vessel!"
"He's moving!"
Inside the barrier, the swordsmen watched the figure with burning eyes.
"Yoriichi" extended his left hand to grasp the scabbard.
"Sun Breathing..."
In the ether, a gentle yet firm voice seemed to echo in everyone's ears.
"Thirteenth Form..."
"Yoriichi" drew the sword from its sheath.
Blinding light flared, a massive arc-shaped slash pulverizing the collapsed building.
"Second Form: Clear Blue Sky!"
"Yoriichi" leaped high, the slash forming a rapidly spinning fire wheel, grinding toward Muzan on the ground.
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi!!!" Muzan's arms were suddenly severed; he looked up at the figure identical to his memories, plunging completely into madness.
"Fifth Form: Fire Wheel!"
"Yoriichi's" body descended, a deep crimson smooth slash tearing the air, severing most of the fleshy whips around Muzan.
Muzan's face twisted ferociously; his arms regenerated swiftly, turning into piercing whips that lashed continuously at speeds invisible to the eye.
"Third Form: Raging Sun!"
"Yoriichi's" body dissipated like an illusion.
Then reappeared like an illusion in midair beside Muzan.
"Fifth Form: Fire Wheel!"
He flipped rapidly in the air, the flame blade arc turning into a fire wheel again, grinding across Muzan's back.
"Ah!!!" Muzan bent low to dodge the neck strike, but his arms detached from his shoulders once more.
"Scorching Bone Blaze!"
"Yoriichi's" body landed, spinning rapidly; the slashes formed a massive flame vortex rotating around Muzan.
"Aaaaaah..."
Muzan roared in fury, his limbs and the long whips growing from his body constantly severed.
"Sixth Form: Burning Bones, Summer Sun!"
"Seventh Form: Sunflower Thrust!"
"Eighth Form: Solar Heat Haze!"
"Ninth Form: Setting Sun Transformation!"
"Tenth Form: Beneficent Radiance!"
"Eleventh Form: Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance!"
"Twelfth Form: Flame Dance!"
The first twelve forms of Sun Breathing were unleashed endlessly by "Yoriichi"; his onslaught was relentless and seamless, trapping Muzan completely in slashes like successive suns.
"First form: Dance!"
The twelfth form seamlessly connected back to the first in an instant.
"I see." Tanjuro suddenly understood. "Releasing continuously from the first to the twelfth form, forming a smooth cycle—this is the thirteenth form of Sun Breathing!"
Faced with "Yoriichi's" storm-like continuous attacks, Muzan gradually lost the power to resist.
Worse still, the Nichirin sword in "Yoriichi's" hand had turned red-hot, causing the areas struck on Muzan to lose regenerative ability.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it..." Muzan's heart filled with infinite anger and panic.
This scene was like a replay of his encounter with the real Yoriichi over three hundred years ago.
Only this time, the "Yoriichi" before him did not stop his Nichirin sword to ask questions.
If this continues, he really would die here!
At this thought, Muzan's eyes nearly split with rage.
He had never imagined that a single adventure to obtain the Blue Spider Lily would truly lead him into a dead end.
Before coming, he hadn't even considered it an adventure.
Though the deaths of several Upper Ranks made him aware that Kaito possessed the ability to threaten him, this action went against his usual behavior.
But it was the Blue Spider Lily he had pursued for a millennium, confirmed real his demon.
He had to obtain it no matter what!
He had already overestimated this unknown Kaito as much as possible and prepared thoroughly.
With the new Upper Rank Four Nakime's space manipulation assisting, even if he couldn't seize the Blue Spider Lily temporarily, he was fully confident in retreating unscathed.
He just hadn't expected that Kaito, who had helped the Demon Slayer Corps defeat several Upper Ranks before, was still hiding strength.
Not only trapping him in a bizarre barrier but also transforming into a giant to shatter the Infinity Castle.
And now, using a pair of broken swords to recreate the only one who had ever defeated him—Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
'As long as I escape!' Muzan glared viciously at the distant Kaito through the dense crisscrossing blade arcs.
I will...
I will kill everyone with the Uchiha name!!!
Next, he sacrificed one leg to block the Nichirin sword in "Yoriichi's" hand.
Then his body abruptly exploded, turning into countless tiny flesh chunks that drilled swiftly in all directions toward every corner.