Anime/Manga: Bankai Starting with Demon Slayer

On the contrary, these shattered ice crystals were strangely suspended in the air, and seemed to be trying to rush into his lungs along with the birds' breath!

"Three Forms - Rolling Rain!"

This is the Breath of the Wind that Asuka improved, and he now uses it as his own form.

Centered on him, sword energy roared out, slashing horizontally across the ground in a wide arc!

Click!

The ice crystals were swept away, shattered by the wind from the bird's sword.

But the monks behind them didn't follow suit.

Overwhelmed with tension, he inhaled a large amount of air containing tiny ice crystals, and his face turned extremely pale.

He collapsed to his knees, coughing up mouthfuls of blood, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

It seems his alveoli have ruptured without his knowledge; what a terrifying method.

After unleashing such a brief attack, the ice Buddha shattered completely, turning into dark water stains that melted into the ground.

Asuka frowned; he had encountered this situation before.

The waning crescent moon used to be able to create puppet ghosts from its own shadow, and it seems that this ice Buddha works on a similar principle.

The Eternal Bliss Sect seems to be quite extraordinary.

Chapter 76 The Butterfly's Wrath

The courtyard was so quiet you could hear each other's heartbeats; the Fujino family was gripped by immense panic.

It wasn't just the fear of these swordsmen who barged in with knives and caused a ruckus for no reason.

What's even more unexpected is that the seemingly kind-looking monk held such a deadly 'sacred object,' which is simply unbelievable.

Dr. Fujino's cousin-in-law, Saya, collapsed to the ground, her eyes staring blankly at the spot where the monk had fallen.

Her husband pulled his mother behind him, holding his wife and children tightly, his body trembling violently.

At that moment, Shinobu Kocho's figure gracefully swept past the birds and landed beside the monk like a butterfly flitting among flowers.

"Endure!" Asuka disagreed with her approach, warily waving her weapon to disperse the mist left behind by the shattered ice Buddha. "The mist is strange."

"Saving lives is the priority." Shinobu Kocho lifted the hem of her haori and quickly pulled out her medical kit from her waist, from which she took out a small metal syringe.

She pried open the monk's already bluish-purple and blackened lips and pushed the antidote for the Blood Demon Spell from the syringe deep into the monk's throat.

"Cough! Cough cough!!"

The monk was already having difficulty breathing, and most of the injected medicine was vomited out by his violent coughing, so it had little effect.

His skin was rapidly turning ashen before his very eyes, and pinkish blood froth with tiny ice crystals seeped from his mouth and nose with each cough, his condition becoming increasingly precarious.

When Fujino Genkuro first entered the courtyard, he was frightened by Asuka and the others' actions of pointing knives at him.

But now, looking at Shinobu Kocho's profile as she disregarded her own safety and focused intently on saving lives, he felt that things might not be as he had imagined.

"Miss, what can I do!" He gritted his teeth, his sense of responsibility as a doctor overpowering his fear, and rushed to Shinobu's side.

Based on his professional observation and judgment, he said with a livid face: "The blood vessels under the skin have turned blue, and the organs must have been affected by the extreme cold. The alveoli have ruptured!"

"Watch out! Mr. Fujino, this is Blood Demon Art! It's not just ordinary frostbite!"

Shinobu Kocho spoke at lightning speed, her hands moving without pause. She took out a stimulant from her medicine bag and precisely inserted it into the monk's chest: "Please elevate his chin to keep his airway open!"

Fujino did not hesitate at all and immediately did as instructed.

His steady, strong hands pressed rhythmically on the monk's cold, icy chest, trying to help him return to the world of men.

One of them was using a special medicine to counteract the Blood Demon Art, while the other was scoffing at Mio and saying that Mio was in danger, and that Mio was trying to save a dying life.

The bird's plundering never ceased.

The blade hummed, its faded edge warily sweeping across every corner and shadow of the courtyard, guarding against a possible second wave of attack. Kanao, too, stood quietly and vigilantly at a distance, her purple pupils sharply observing the surroundings, protecting the ordinary civilian weapons.

Time passed in suffocating oppression.

Large beads of sweat appeared on Fujino's forehead, and his arms ached from the continuous pressure.

The antidote and stimulant injected by Shinobu Kocho were completely ineffective, like throwing a stone into the sea.

The monk's breath was so faint it was almost nonexistent; with each inhale, a broken, rattling sound came from deep within his chest, like icicles scraping and tearing at his lungs.

Suddenly, the dying monk's body convulsed violently.

His dull, lifeless eyes suddenly bulged, staring intently at the sky, and he let out a series of hissing breaths.

"Ugh...ho..." The person's lips moved wildly, and blood mixed with icy shards kept gushing out.

"What does he want to say?" Fujino asked Shinobu Kocho anxiously.

Shinobu Kocho quickly bent down and pressed her ear to the monk's bleeding lips: "Name! Tell me, who is your leader! Where is he!"

The monk's pupils contracted violently at the edge of dilation, his body grew colder and colder, and he shivered more and more violently.

A broken, twisted name, soaked in blood and splattered with extreme fervor, was forced out by him with his last ounce of strength from the depths of his frozen throat:

"Lord Doma... Greetings..."

The moment the name was uttered, the monk's bulging eyes completely lost their last glimmer of light.

His withered claws gripping Fujino's wrist loosened weakly, his body jerked violently, and then immediately went limp.

All that remained was a cold, lifeless shell with crimson ice crystals frozen around its mouth and nose.

The autumn wind blew through the icy fog, dispersing the last trace of ghostly energy into the wind.

Butterfly slowly straightened up, the gentle, mask-like smile that usually graced her face vanished, replaced by a solemn expression.

She reached out and gently closed the monk's unseeing eyes.

Life is lost because of evil spirits, and every time she sees such a scene, it makes the fire in her heart grow stronger.

After confirming that there were no more ghostly spiritual pressure fluctuations in the courtyard, Asuka flicked her wrist and sheathed the tamaori.

Looking at the bruises on his wrists where the monk had scratched him, and then at the rapidly cooling corpse on the ground, Fujino Genkuro's gaze toward Asuka and her group became incredibly complex.

Shock, fear, lingering fear, and perhaps a touch of sudden realization.

"You...you're not journalists, are you?" he said hoarsely. "You know this sect is problematic, so you followed me here, right?"

"What did you just say? Ghosts? That's what I understood..."

“Yes, Mr. Fujino.” Shinobu Kocho turned to the Fujino family and bowed deeply, her butterfly hair ornament swaying gently with her movements. “I’m very sorry for not informing you in advance. But please understand, it’s never easy to believe that I’m fighting demons, and concealing my identity is not out of malice.”

Asuka bowed slightly under Shinobu's gaze, her movements a little stiff.

His gaze swept over the still-shaken, blood-stained figure. He looked at the horrified, disoriented crowd and said, "This is the cult of the world, a den of demons."

These words shocked the Fujino family, but no one dared to refute them.

Having witnessed firsthand the bizarre scene of a monk being devoured and killed by the evil spirit he himself brought, even if it seemed unbelievable to him, it was still real.

Saya, who was still immersed in the misty atmosphere brought by the ice Buddha, curled up in her husband's arms, her eyes vacant and trembling with despair.

“Then…then my cousin-in-law…” Fujino Genkuro looked at Saya, his voice carrying a last glimmer of hope: “You just said she was ‘corroded’…is there any hope for her? That damned thing…”

Shinobu Kocho walked over to Saya and knelt down again, gently placing her fingers on her wrist pulse, and carefully examining her pupils and the condition of her mouth and nose.

After a moment, she withdrew her hand, her delicate brows furrowed slightly, and she shook her head gently.

With helplessness and pity in her eyes, she spoke heavily, "I'm sorry, Mr. Fujino, I don't know."

"The power of the Blood Demon Art has already seeped deep into her internal organs. It's a miracle she's alive. As for what happens next... all we can do is try our best to nurture her body and leave the rest to fate..."

Shinobu Kocho didn't finish her sentence, but as a doctor, Fujino naturally understood what she meant.

“I understand… Thank you, swordsman.” Fujino Genkuro’s voice was filled with bitterness.

Fujino took a deep breath, his gaze towards Shinobu Kocho becoming unusually firm: "Please... kill that demon cult leader named Doma! I beg you!" He bowed solemnly.

"It's my duty." Asuka's answer was simple and powerful.

Shinobu Kocho nodded and replied, "Our Demon Slayer Corps exists in this world precisely to prevent tragedies like Saya-san from happening again and again, so don't worry!"

She turned to Kanao, who had been standing quietly to the side, and calmly ordered, "Kanao, escort this monk's body to the nearest Hidden Territory contact point as quickly as possible—"

"Inform the person in charge there that the Blood Demon Art that caused this person's death is very special. They must begin researching and analyzing it immediately, trying to find the key to its demise!"

"Yes!" Kanao answered without any further questions or emotions.

She quickly took off her white cloak, swiftly and solemnly wrapped the monk's body, and carefully carried it on her shoulder.

That frail body, burdened with the weight of death, appeared unusually composed.

She nodded slightly to Shinobu and Asuka, and with a few light leaps, her petite figure disappeared into the vast forest outside the courtyard.

The atmosphere in the courtyard did not lighten after Kanao's departure.

The monk's death, the family's despair, and the shadow of the Eternal Bliss Sect weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.

"It's time to go, Asuka." Shinobu Kocho looked at Asuka, a flame of anger burning deep in her eyes.

"Mr. Tomioka is on his way. Let's go to the station and meet him."

"Although it was a happy accident, the Lord's greeting was truly impressive."

Her words were soft, yet carried a chilling murderous intent.

As she said, she simply couldn't learn to get along with ghosts.

Chapter 77 Inosuke's Determination

Three months ago, when Tanjiro and his two companions rushed into the sanatorium carrying the dying Asuka and Kyojuro, Inosuke was deeply shocked.

He lived alone in the mountains from a young age, raised by wild animals, and created the Breath of the Beast, once considering himself brave and invincible.

But after encountering more and more powerful individuals, this arrogant mindset had long since disappeared; often, it was just a way to embolden himself.

Inosuke is reckless, rude, and unwilling to admit defeat, but he is not stupid.

The image of the Mugen train derailing three months ago kept replaying in his mind:

Kyojuro Rengoku was covered in blood, and Asuka's sternum was shattered... But even so, they did not give up and fought until the very last moment!

The blond older brother is very strong, and Toriotaro is also very strong.

But even such a powerful swordsman was seriously injured in front of the Upper Moon Demon Moon.

As for myself, I could only stand aside and wait for the opportunity to get help, spending most of the time in a daze!

"More! More!" He used all his strength to pull several boulders in the courtyard, desperately training his body's strength.

"...I can't even get involved in this kind of battle...I'm not strong enough!"

Frustration mixed with the desire to become stronger forced him to consider whether there was any possibility of further improvement in his Beast Breathing.

So when Toritaro was being treated at the Butterfly Mansion and was unconscious, he made a decision.

"Hey!" He grabbed a passing Demon Slayer Corps member and asked in a gruff voice, "Where did Toritaro train to become a Pillar?"

"Huh? What, Toritaro? And why are you wearing a pig's head?"

"Stop nagging! Toritaro is Toritaro! You idiot!"

He asked many people before finally learning from Shinobu Kocho, the woman he found hardest to deal with, that Asuka was practicing a sword technique called Wind Breathing, which was located at the Hayama Training Center in the north.

"Wind Breathing?" Inosuke had heard of this style.

When he first joined the Demon Slayer Corps, the members of the Hidden Division defined his Beast Breathing as a derivative style of Wind Breathing, which he was somewhat dissatisfied with.

How did my own Beast Breathing become someone else's subordinate, you bastard!

However, since the Breath of Wind was able to train Tootaro so well, it seems like it's worth trying.

He then bid farewell to Tanjiro and the others, and with his lord's permission, went to Hayama with the Hidden Division members.

Go there! Find a way to make Toritaro stronger!

On this day, he finally arrived at the gate of Yeshan.

"Mr. Inosuke, this is..."

"Pigs dart forward——!!"

Before the Hidden Unit members could finish speaking, Inosuke roared and charged inside!

"Wow! There's a wild animal!!"