"Getting yourself into such a mess just for an Upper Rank Five? You couldn't even manage to keep him there?"
"A hard-fought victory, huh? Do you need a pat on the back?"
*Cough, cough—*
Kiyokawa Izumi coughed gently, the phlegm he spat out mixed with streaks of blood.
The mere slight rising and falling of his chest brought about a sharp, knife-like pain, even causing a bit of cold sweat to break out on his forehead.
"Being so sharp-tongued won't make the girls like you, you know."
Kiyokawa Izumi spoke in a weak voice. Reclining in a half-lying, half-sitting position, he was indeed in a rather pathetic state at the moment.
Iguro Obanai, wearing his black-and-white striped haori, looked at him with his heterochromatic eyes, his expression somewhat cold. It was hard to tell if his sharp tongue was acting up or if he was simply used to speaking in such a cynical manner.
In any case, Kiyokawa Izumi didn't hold it against him.
Though the words were a bit harsh, he surprisingly felt no malice—Kiyokawa Izumi wondered if it was just an illusion, but he felt that this person might not dislike him that much?
But when meeting that cold expression, Kiyokawa Izumi began to doubt if his intuition was a bit off.
He really hadn't expected that those who came to support him would be him and Sanemi.
With two powerful Hashira, the sense of security was truly maxed out.
As if!
Gyokko was only ranked fifth among the Upper Ranks—there are significant gaps even between Upper Ranks. The top three are truly monster-level.
In his base state, he shouldn't even dream of dealing with upper rank one; the gap was so large that numbers couldn't bridge it—in just a single exchange, a weak Hashira could be injured or even killed.
"How long will it take for your injuries to recover? Don't expect some excellent newcomer to take your place."
Iguro Obanai asked with an indifferent tone.
"It takes a hundred days for bones and tendons to heal. Even if my recovery is a bit stronger than average, it'll take at least two months, right?"
"As for whether someone can take my place... doesn't Big Brother Kyoujurou have a very good Successor? Perhaps she can temporarily fill in for me."
"If you're worried, why don't you go and check her out yourself?"
Kiyokawa Izumi spoke with a hint of mischief, his tone slightly playful.
Let's see if you'll still be so sharp-tongued after meeting her.
The cold-faced Serpent Hashira would probably fall in love with her at first sight, wouldn't he?
Just thinking about such a scene was amusing. If there was a chance, he definitely wanted to witness it personally.
"Kiyokawa Izumi, tell us about Upper Five's abilities. With your strength, was it really that hard to take him down?"
Sanemi suddenly walked into the room, interrupting quite rudely.
Compared to the Serpent Hashira, Sanemi was more familiar with Kiyokawa Izumi, so his way of speaking was more direct.
Sanemi frowned. After multiple sparring sessions with Kiyokawa Izumi, he acknowledged the man's strength.
Going all out, he could even withstand the combined assault of two Hashira for a short time. While his endurance, power, and speed weren't top-tier, his overall strength was not bad.
Sanemi had also personally seen the battlefield where the man and the demon fought.
His conclusion was that Kiyokawa Izumi had become stronger, with a very obvious improvement—but even so, he still fought so desperately. Were the Upper Ranks really that strong?
He was actually a bit envious of this bastard for being able to fight an Upper Rank.
He had rushed over as soon as possible and staked out for two consecutive nights without encountering an Upper Rank. It was truly infuriating!
"Then allow me to introduce that person's abilities in detail."
Kiyokawa Izumi slowed his speech and spoke slowly.
Whether it was the cold-faced Serpent Hashira or the irritable-looking Wind Hashira, both appeared very serious now, not even showing any intent to rush Kiyokawa Izumi.
"I'm suddenly a bit sleepy. How about we talk tomorrow?"
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as Kiyokawa Izumi, feeling mischievous, suddenly said.
"You bastard!"
Sanemi clenched his fist but didn't actually give the bastard a punch, fearing he might kill him.
Left with no choice, he could only stand up.
This guy's injuries were indeed not light; bothering him now was somewhat inappropriate.
A few days later then, so be it.
Just as they were about to leave, they saw Kiyokawa Izumi begin to introduce the details with a serious expression.
About ten minutes later, both Sanemi and Obanai were somewhat silent.
This intelligence was very, very important!
When fighting an Upper Rank without knowing anything, there is no room for trial and error; one wrong step could cost you your life.
Neither Sanemi nor Obanai had any intention of looking down on Kiyokawa Izumi. On the contrary, they admired him—if it were them, could they have done better than him?
Without knowing the abilities, would they definitely have won?
"The reason I survived was also because of a certain Breathing Technique."
Kiyokawa Izumi had no intention of hiding anything and spoke openly: "The breathing rhythm is very different, but the improvement is very obvious."
"The limit should be able to make the lung capacity reach four times the original."
"?"
"I'll go call the doctor!"
Iguro Obanai said expressionlessly, with a sense of mutual understanding.
Both of them suspected that Kiyokawa Izumi wasn't quite sober right now, that he might have injured his head.
In this era, the concept of lung capacity already existed.
To become a Hashira, being able to blow up a giant gourd was the basic requirement.
Their lung capacity was already several times that of an average person. To increase it by another four times... Was Kiyokawa Izumi, who could say such words, truly sane?