This feeling… it reminded him of the weakness he experienced when he was human.
Muzan suddenly froze, recalling the Nichirin Blades that had pierced him when the Yoriichi Puppet attacked earlier.
Was he poisoned?
And a poison that could turn a Demon back into a human, no less.
In the blink of an eye, Muzan and Qingshui exchanged several blows.
Himejima Gyomei also seized the opportunity and joined the fray.
Further out, several Hashira led groups of Demon Slayer Corps members, converging to surround the area.
Muzan's heart sank.
He was continuously weakening.
Muzan knew he couldn't let this go on, or he might actually meet his end here.
This Hashira before him—his strength was second only to Tsugikuni Yoriichi among all the humans Muzan had encountered in a thousand years. His power and speed were not far from Muzan's own, enough to pose a threat to him in his weakened state.
And there were other Hashira.
For instance, this monk gave him a feeling no less imposing than some of the top first-generation swordsmen from four hundred years ago.
This level was already qualified to participate in battles of his caliber, to restrict him, to provide support. They weren't mere cannon fodder anymore, but rather minor elite monsters that couldn't be instantly killed and required some effort to deal with.
If the remaining Hashira also possessed such strength, coupled with this unexpectedly powerful Hashira before him, then things would get troublesome.
However, the Twelve Kizuki had been fully replenished, so they should be able to eliminate the other Hashira.
And while this guy in front of him was very strong, if Muzan could just stall for some time and break down the toxins in his body, then it would be his turn to overpower the opponent!
Any existence that threatens me deserves to die!
It would be best to cripple, or even nearly wipe out, the Demon Slayer Corps, just like three hundred years ago.
"Nakime."
Muzan silently issued a remote command to Nakime in his mind.
*Thump~*
A mellow biwa strum resounded.
In an instant, centered around Muzan, within a one-kilometer radius, an open doorway appeared beneath everyone's feet, causing them to plummet instantly.
And in that very moment, Qingshui seized the chance and threw a dozen space kunai, forged from Scarlet Ore Iron, at Muzan.
Most of these kunai, which turned crimson the moment Qingshui threw them, were knocked away by Muzan, but two or three still struck his body.
Muzan merely sneered contemptuously at Qingshui.
In his eyes, Qingshui was simply acting out of impotent rage, venting his frustration at seeing Muzan about to escape.
These kunai, energized by solar power, were indeed very fast and powerful. If they were aimed at some Lower Rank Demons, they might be instantly killed.
But for Muzan, it was just a matter of taking a few more seconds to recover.
The next moment, the world spun.
At Muzan's command, Qingshui was teleported to the furthest possible location from Muzan.
Into a lotus pond.
*Bang!*
Large splashes of water erupted, but not from Qingshui.
His feet, imbued with Chakra, stood steadily on the water's surface.
But around him were countless Demons, and the two leading ones had "Lower Rank One" and "Lower Rank Two" written in their eyes respectively.
The current Lower Rank One, Mukago, and Lower Rank Two, Kamanue.
These two were originally ranked fourth and sixth among the Lower Ranks, considered among the weakest Lower Rank Demons. They only got their current positions because so many ahead of them had died.
After the current Twelve Kizuki reorganization, their rankings rose, and they each received a small amount of Muzan's blood, strengthening their abilities.
Qingshui merely scanned his surroundings indifferently, then swung his blade at the area.
"Separation Breathing, Seventh Form: Separation Mirror."
A sword energy flew out, spreading like a circular mirror.
Immediately after, the mirror shattered, and all the Demons present, including the two Lower Rank Demons, shattered into countless fragments along with the mirror in that single attack, eventually turning into dust and dissipating.
Even though these two Lower Rank Demons had been strengthened, in Qingshui's current eyes, there wasn't much difference between a Lower Rank Demon and a regular Demon; one move was enough to kill them instantly.
Upper Ranks might be able to withstand a few blows, and among all the Upper Rank Demons, perhaps only Upper Rank One, Kokushibo, was worth Qingshui taking seriously.
As for Muzan, he would have to go all out.
Looking at the lotus pond, which had turned into a blood pool and was now rapidly dissipating into dust, Qingshui extended his left hand and pressed a button on the mechanical watch on his right wrist.
Ever since he had mastered the method of creating summoning scrolls through Konoha's Sealing Jutsu knowledge, every Avatar of Qingshui in every world had one of these watches to summon Puppets at any time.
A puff of white smoke rose, revealing a suit of armor, half white and half blue.
This was the newly upgraded armored Puppet, extremely lightweight in design, covering only about half of the body.
Its function wasn't complex; it was essentially an exoskeleton battlesuit that could enhance one's strength, provide some defensive capability, and assist with offensive maneuvers. Limited by its materials, its overall rating was only A-.
Before his perfect demonification, this battlesuit could boost his strength by nearly half, with almost no negative impact on his agility or speed.
But now, with his physical condition greatly enhanced, it might only provide Qingshui with about a 10% boost.
Still, it was better than nothing, and some of its other features were quite practical. It just created too much commotion, which was why Qingshui hadn't used it directly when ambushing Muzan earlier.
With a step, and a thought, he instantly teleported away.
Muzan had just created a massive ball of flesh, attempting to break down the toxins within his body.
The next second, however, countless high-temperature plasma sword-qi erupted like a storm, tearing the flesh ball and his body to shreds.
"Uesugi Qingshui!"
Muzan, his upper body bare, roared. Countless bone whips and tentacles shot out from his body, striking towards Qingshui.
He didn't know how Qingshui had appeared here, but he knew the poison in his body hadn't been fully broken down yet.
Currently, he could only divert some of his power to block and suppress these poisons, to prevent himself from truly being turned back into a human.
Doing so would cause his power to continuously weaken, but it was still better than turning back into a human and losing his power entirely!
As long as he could kill this human, there was still time!
Qingshui leisurely dodged Muzan's attacks, the battlesuit on his body creaking as several openings appeared, shooting space Kunai in all directions.
At the same time, streaks of white light illuminated from the intricate patterns on the battlesuit, searing Muzan's skin.
Furthermore, Muzan also had Tamayo's specially developed aging toxin targeting Muzan's cells, which could continuously diminish Muzan's life force.
Every minute, the life force Muzan lost was enough to age a normal person by fifty years.
This could continuously reduce Muzan's speed, strength, and regenerative abilities.
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