Anime/Manga: Bankai Starting with Demon Slayer

"However, heaven does not exist." Asuka spoke the truth, shattering Kagaya's illusions.

"After a person dies, they become a wandering ghost in another world. Even if they live a normal life, their condition will not be much better than that of an ordinary person."

"This has nothing to do with whether you are a good person or what your current status or position is."

He didn't want to deceive Kagaya about how wonderful the other world was, and he didn't know whether Kagaya would go to the Rukongai he knew after he died.

He just wanted to advise him to give up his fantasies and start planning how to live in another world right now.

To be honest, if it weren't for the ghastly red mark around his mouth, Kagaya Ubuyashiki's smile would be quite sunny.

He waved his hand dismissively, "Knowing this is enough... Honestly, to have my family sacrifice their lives alongside me... I've wronged them. I hope in the world you mentioned, I'll have a chance to make amends..."

With Tianyin's help, he bowed slightly to the flying bird:

"Thank you, Asuka. Thank you for everything you've done for humanity. Please keep today's conversation a secret..."

"...I should be thanking you, Lord Kagaya. If it weren't for the Demon Slayer Corps, I might have died on that snowy night."

"Hehe...you're saying something different from Arashizaki; you're starting to use polite phrases..."

Even from this distance, the lord chuckled and patted the bird on the shoulder.

"I've heard Arasaki talk about your past... Asuka, everything you've experienced in this world will perhaps become your precious memories..."

"You are no longer alone. You have learned about human emotions. This belief in protection and the passion that burns in your heart will be more powerful than cold, hard battles..."

"You have found your own breath, and you have found your own path."

"You are no longer that stray dog ​​cowering in the winter night, Asuka, you are the majestic Arashi Column!"

Kagaya lay down again, his breathing much calmer than before, perhaps because the pent-up emotions in his chest had finally been swept away.

He closed his eyes contentedly; it was the first truly peaceful smile he had shown during his long illness and scheming.

"Goodbye, Asuka... If there is another chance, I hope to meet you in another world."

Asuka closed the paper door and silently left Kagaya Ubuyashiki's bedroom.

Outside the bedroom, the first winter thunder rumbled in the sky.

Winter nights have arrived, and this cat-and-mouse game that has spanned a thousand years is finally coming to an end.

Stepping out of the corridor, Feiniao looked at the churning dark clouds in the night sky and muttered to herself:

"They all seem to enjoy playing the self-sacrifice card so much..."

He touched his palm, where there was a scabbed scar, which looked like it had been caused by a sharp blade piercing deep into his skin.

He sighed softly, glanced back at the lifeless Ubuyashiki mansion, and gripped the hilt of the stolen sword tightly.

"I said, if my wish is for his dream to come true, can you do it?"

Apart from the sound of the wind in the courtyard, there was no other sound.

Chapter 100 The Ghost King Strikes

In the days that followed, tragedies continued to unfold outside, with the raven occasionally sending reports of evil spirits wreaking havoc in various places, slaughtering civilians, and attacking the Wisteria Pattern House.

But the entire Demon Slayer Corps displayed astonishing restraint.

Everyone has entered a state of pent-up madness—

All the anger, grief, and resentment were transformed by these young swordsmen into a near-self-torturous motivation for training.

In the courtyard, the sound of wooden swords striking each other continued from dawn until late at night.

Even the most mild-mannered team members wielded their knives with a ruthless, all-or-nothing ferocity.

Feiniao stood by the waterfall on the back mountain, watching the rushing torrents below.

Beside him stood two solemn-faced elders and colleagues.

Wearing a tengu mask, Rinta Sakonji's voice was hoarse yet powerful: "Your breathing and sword technique are almost perfect, Arashihashi. If you can master the flow and circulation of water breathing, you will be able to further tame the violent power within you."

Giyu Tomioka remained silent, wielding his Nichirin Blade under Rin's command, drawing streaks of azure light in the air.

"Military tactics are not fixed, just as water has no constant shape," said Linlong.

"Water can flow quietly, or it can split mountains and cleave rocks. Because it has no shape, it can take on any shape."

"Become water, bird, and learn the flow between softness and strength."

Asuka closed her eyes and gripped the scythe at her waist.

The longsword seemed to sense its master's state of mind and emitted a series of low hums.

He began to try to adjust his breathing in the way that Rintaru had taught him.

Now, his breathing technique is no longer just a martial art to strengthen his body, but more like a concept he uses to find ways to utilize his power.

By integrating spiritual energy into his breathing, his power is no longer limited to a single move.

"The force of fire must be strong; the roar of water must be continuous..." Birds murmured to themselves.

Strange phenomena began to appear around his body, with a spiraling energy mixed with deep blue and dark red surging forth, which made Lin Long, who had only learned mortal martial arts, look serious.

"Thunder surges forth, swift and decisive; wind rages, unrestrained and free..."

"And then there's the all-encompassing, stable rock..."

With the ancient book fragments left behind by Ubuyashiki, and the complete guidance of the rock pillars and water pillars, he is trying to integrate all the breathing power into a completely new breathing method.

Is this the Breath of the Sun? He didn't know.

But he could sense that his physical strength was now far beyond that of ordinary people.

The bird suddenly opened its eyes and swung its long sword horizontally.

A strange, hot, blackish-red sword aura burst forth from the tip of his blade.

The sword energies intertwined in the air, vaguely forming a burning sun with sharp edges.

In that instant, the waterfall's flow was abruptly cut off by an invisible force.

Even the continuously falling water was unable to dissipate the burning sword energy for a long time, and instead fell from both sides.

This sword strike did not unleash the power of the plunderer; it was entirely his sword energy that stirred the spiritual particles in the air.

Ryūrai Sakonji's pupils contracted sharply behind the mask.

He sensed destruction in this power, something purer than any demon he had ever seen.

Giyu Tomioka gripped his Nichirin Blade tighter, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

Asuka sheathed her sword and gently stroked her chest.

My lungs and internal organs were aching slightly; this breathing technique, which forcibly integrates spiritual energy, put a tremendous strain on my internal organs.

"It's still different after all." Asuka looked at her hands and muttered to herself.

In the past few days, he has watched Tanjiro Kamado demonstrate Hinokami Kagura on several occasions.

It was a sacred dance, like a divine dance, each move carrying a compassion and majesty that illuminates all things.

And that move I just made...

“It seems my Sun Breathing doesn’t have the warmth of sunlight,” Asuka said calmly.

But that should be enough.

Those who exhaust their paths will ultimately find the same destination.

Asuka doesn't care if her power is slightly distorted, as long as she can cut off Muzan Kibutsuji's head.

...

Three more days passed.

On this day, Asuka encountered Tanjiro, who was carrying a huge box and walking hurriedly, on her way to the training ground.

"Mr. Asuka!" Tanjiro stopped in his tracks, the markings on his forehead seeming to be deeper than they had been a few days ago: "Has your training progressed?"

"I guess I've found a direction." Asuka looked into the boy's clear eyes. "And you? Is your body able to handle it?"

"No problem! Mr. Rengoku gave me a lot of guidance, and I feel that Hinokami Kagura's movements are becoming more and more fluid!" Tanjiro was exhausted, but his eyes were unusually bright.

"But... Zenitsu...."

"What's wrong with him?" Asuka frowned.

Ever since news of Kuwashima Jigoro's seppuku came from Momoyama, that cowardly boy has completely changed.

“He’s been in the back mountains for three days and three nights now.” Tanjiro said with concern, “He won’t talk to us and won’t let anyone get close.”

“I could feel that the thunder there… had become very sad.”

Asuka was silent for a moment, then looked towards the direction of the back mountain.

There, one could indeed faintly see golden lightning flashing beneath the dark clouds.

Did that boy who once only cried and shouted for girls eventually grow into a true swordsman through blood and tears?

"Let him go." Asuka walked past Tanjiro and continued on her way: "Some mountains can only be climbed alone. Some grudges can only be avenged alone."

...

Late at night, at the Ubuyashiki mansion.

The moonlight tonight is exceptionally bleak, and the thick clouds are like a giant shroud, completely obscuring the starlight.

Since Shinobu Kocho was still recovering from her serious injuries, the task of coordinating medical care for the entire mansion fell to Aoi Kanzaki and several younger team members.

To avoid distracting the Pillars fighting on the front lines, news of the Lord's worsening condition and Shinobu's serious injuries is being kept strictly confidential.

Inside the house, Ubuyashiki Amane and her two children were quietly keeping watch over Kagaya.

Yaozai was so exhausted that he barely had the strength to speak.

His body exuded a faint smell of decay, and he was wrapped in bandages, yet he always faced the direction of the courtyard.

"They've arrived..."

Yaozai suddenly uttered two words in an extremely soft voice.

Tianyin, who was standing guard nearby, was startled.

She heard no sound and felt no breath.

But in the very next second, the entire wisteria grove of the Ubuyashiki mansion withered in an instant.

An unprecedented, nauseating urge instantly washed over Su Jun's mansion.

From the shadows of the courtyard, a man dressed in a suit and white tuxedo slowly emerged.

His movements were as elegant as a gentleman attending a dinner party.

But those scarlet vertical pupils were filled with a madness and violence accumulated over a thousand years.

The ancestor of ghosts, Oni Wu Tsuji Mukai.

"Finally... I've seen you... Wuchan... I knew you would come to kill me yourself..."

“Ubuyashiki…” Muzan spoke softly, her tone filled with arrogance: “I find it truly disappointing.”

His gaze swept over the tightly closed door and over the seemingly unguarded courtyard.

In his perception, there was indeed no trace of those annoying pillars here.

It seems the intelligence was correct; those self-proclaimed righteous guys have all been tied up in various places by the scum he sent out.

"Ugly...what an ugly posture..."

Kibutsuji Muzan stood in front of Ubuyashiki Kagaya.

He looked down at the terminally ill Kagaya, just as he looked down at himself when he was once terminally ill.

A surge of joy welled up inside me.

Chapter 101 The Roar of Hell Opening

Moonlight shone into the bedroom.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki lay there quietly, with only his wife kneeling beside him.

To Muzan, a monster who has lived for a thousand years, Ubuyashiki Kagaya is now like a broken light that could go out at any moment.

"You're so arrogant and ignorant, ruining my plans for thousands of years." Wu Can's tone was icy, and he didn't feel as furious as he had expected.