Mist Breathing, Eighth Form—
Muichiro suddenly appeared, his voice whispering into Takeo's ear.
His blade sliced through the mist like an eraser clearing a white canvas, leaving behind only a fleeting, ethereal trace—impossible to capture, impossible to predict.
Takeo's beast-like instincts screamed danger, forcing him to whirl around and swing his blades. Both of his Nichirin swords slashed toward where he sensed the attack coming from.
But… they missed.
"!?"
An illusion?
—Mirage.
Muichiro's voice now came from the opposite side.
Takeo had no time to react.
Pffft—!!
The sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed clearly, followed by a burst of sharp pain in Takeo's back. The impact jolted his senses, clearing the fog in his mind.
Muichiro was serious.
Takeo finally understood—regardless of what he thought, Muichiro, aware of his high-speed regeneration, wasn't holding back at all.
Having already developed a unique Seventh Form to extend the original six, Muichiro had now created a dreamlike Eighth Form.
His figure in the mist was like a mirage—only Muichiro himself knew his true position.
That was how it should have been. But the moment his blade struck Takeo, it confirmed that it wasn't an illusion—this was his real body.
In an instant, Takeo counterattacked.
He no longer held back. Twisting his grip on his twin blades, he spun around and lashed out at Muichiro behind him.
Overclocking –
Wolf Breathing, Eighth Form - Bite of the Crippled Wolf!
It was a move Takeo had only theorized before, but now he unleashed it for real. A rare defensive counterattack technique within Wolf Breathing, it was built specifically for moments like this.
His two blades lashed out like feral wolves from opposite angles, twisting through the mist and snapping toward Muichiro's hands.
Rip—
Blood sprayed through the air. In a flash, several gashes of varying depth opened across Muichiro's hands.
He quickly retreated, and Takeo pivoted, ready to press his advantage.
But just then, a voice cut sharply through the tension: "Ara~ That's enough, you two!"
There was a note of restrained anger in the otherwise gentle tone. Kocho Shinobu, as graceful as a butterfly in flight, appeared from nowhere and inserted herself between them.
With a flick of her spare Nichirin blade, she deflected Takeo's twin swords off course, and turned her calm, unreadable eyes toward Muichiro, halting his next move.
The three of them froze in place. Under the quiet moonlight on the back hill, only the sound of their steady breathing remained.
The match was abruptly interrupted. Both Takeo and Muichiro stood in silence, staring at the suddenly arrived Shinobu Kocho.
She exhaled softly, a gentle smile on her face once again—but there was a trace of anger beneath it. A vein pulsed on her forehead as she spoke:
"Would either of you like to explain what's going on? If I recall correctly, there's a rule in the Corps that prohibits members from attacking each other, isn't there?"
"It was just a sparring match…" Muichiro, surprisingly, looked a little guilty. He sheathed his sword, glanced aside, and muttered under his breath.
The vein on Shinobu's forehead twitched again.
"Oh~~ I see, so it was just sparring. Funny, though—this is the first time I've seen a 'sparring match' where both participants end up seriously injured."
Even though her tone remained gentle, Takeo instinctively shrank back a little.
He sheathed his twin blades, offering no excuse. In a quiet voice, he said:
"I'm sorry. I couldn't hold myself back. I'll accept whatever punishment is appropriate."
"Kamado-kun seems to be the more seriously injured one... Huh?"
Shinobu turned to look at him, intending to check his wounds—but as he shifted sideways, he revealed smooth, unbroken skin.
"It's already healed," Takeo said, showing her his back where the injury had been just moments ago.
Shinobu Kocho showed a rare expression of surprise.
Although she had heard from the Master that Takeo's recovery ability was incredibly strong—almost on par with an ordinary demon...
A wound deep enough to expose bone had completely healed within just a few breaths. That far exceeded the regenerative capacity of a typical demon.
If she hadn't personally seen Takeo walking under the sun, Shinobu might have suspected he was a demon himself.
In truth, without inheriting 2B's abilities, Takeo wouldn't have been able to heal this quickly.
But thanks to 2B's built-in skill, [No-Injury Blood Recovery], when combined with Takeo's natural healing factor, his regeneration under certain conditions could rival the original version of Wolverine.
The specific condition was simple: not taking damage for a certain period of time.
Typically, this period was five seconds. As long as he remained uninjured during that window, his health would automatically recover.
So even though Muichiro's strike earlier had looked serious, for Takeo, all it took was a few seconds—and it was as if nothing had happened.
Shinobu studied him intently for a moment, then turned to Muichiro and asked:
"Did you know about this, Tokito? Is that why you attacked so seriously?"
"Mm." Muichiro nodded slightly.
Shinobu sighed.
"Even so, injuring a teammate is still against Corps rules. I'll report this incident to the Master and let him decide how to handle your punishment. For now… come with me. I'll treat your injuries."
"I don't need to…" Takeo started to protest, thinking he wasn't hurt enough to require medical attention.
But Shinobu Kocho cut him off directly and said: "No, no~ Kamado-kun~, you come too. I need to examine your body."
"…"
Although Shinobu spoke gently the entire time and used polite honorifics, Takeo still felt somewhat intimidated by her.
The main reason was that Shinobu Kocho served as the Demon Slayer Corps' doctor.
And it was said that doctors were often very interested in individuals with unusual physiques. Takeo couldn't help but worry that this gentle-seeming woman might, on a whim, try to dissect him.
But considering he had clearly broken the rules and was in the wrong, Takeo didn't have the courage to refuse.
In the end, he could only sigh and glance silently at Muichiro beside him.
Muichiro looked back at him—only to promptly avert his gaze and look elsewhere.
…Hey! If you're going to look, at least don't look away so quickly! Look me in the eye!
Takeo shot him a glare but ultimately followed behind Shinobu Kocho, walking side by side with Muichiro.
From a distance, they looked like two wayward younger brothers being scolded and brought home by their elder sister.
On the way, Takeo felt the silence becoming awkward, so he tried to start a conversation. He asked:
"Ms. Kocho, why are you here?"
"I came to have my sword maintained. And then I happened to see the two of you... 'sparring,'" she said with a faint, pointed smile.
Shinobu Kocho emphasized the word "sparring" and then turned her head to look at the two of them with a smile:
"It's good to train diligently, but if you end up hurting each other, then it's not worth it, right? Not to mention—it becomes a lot of trouble for me too."
She had already said something similar back when she interrupted their fight. Now, repeating it again, it was clear she wanted Takeo to truly reflect on the meaning behind her words.
Takeo nodded and said he understood. He really did understand. But… understanding was one thing. Sometimes, no matter how much he understood, certain things couldn't be avoided through sheer will alone.
Shinobu Kocho's words left Takeo without a comeback.
Silence returned between the three of them.
Fortunately, the walk from the open space on the back mountain to Shinobu Kocho's temporary residence in the Swordsmith Village wasn't far, and they arrived shortly after.
Once inside, Shinobu Kocho first prepared gauze and medicine to dress Muichiro's hands, which had been torn by Takeo's counterattack.
Then she picked up a syringe and walked toward Takeo.
"Kamado-kun, may I draw some of your blood?"
Looking at Shinobu Kocho approaching with a syringe and her usual bright smile, Takeo swallowed nervously and asked in a weak voice:
"It's really… just blood, right?"
"Don't worry, just blood. We won't be taking any other parts… of course—" her smile grew even sweeter, "if you were a demon, then it'd be another story~~"
"!"
Terrifying!
Takeo shuddered, then suddenly felt relieved.
Good thing I'm not a demon.
_________
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