Maito's roar, filled with a killing intent and almost fanatical excitement, echoed across the battlefield.
He completely abandoned his fight with Uzui and Obanai, his golden eyes fixed solely on the figure wreathed in a green glow—Shinichi.
"Shinichi! You're finally here!"
Shinichi's response was a cold blade.
Perhaps they had been friends in the past, but today, facing the demon with "Upper Rank Four" carved into its eyes, he felt no hesitation, only the grim determination to slay him.
The thick stench of blood and the violent demonic aura clinging to Maito were proof enough that the man he might have known was long gone.
"You talk too much," Shinichi snorted, and leaped.
"Forest Breathing, Seventh Form: Wood Dragon's Slash!"
A brilliant green light erupted as a massive, roaring dragon of pure life energy coiled around his Nichirin blade, descending on Maito with earth-shattering momentum.
"Come on!" Maito laughed wildly, making no move to dodge.
Blood surged in his right palm, condensing with demonic energy into a spiraling, blood-red spear.
"Blood Demon Art, Spear Form: Army Breaker!"
He met the descending dragon head-on.
BOOM!!!
The green dragon and the red spear collided.
A violent shockwave exploded in a circular pattern, blasting back the lesser demons and slayers who had gotten too close.
Shinichi and Maito were thrown apart by the impact, sliding back several steps, the ground cracking beneath their feet.
"Good! Very good!" Maito bellowed, stabilizing himself, the golden light in his eyes burning brighter.
"Shinichi! Your strength has grown! It's almost caught up to Shunichi's!"
In the depths of his gaze, beneath the raw fighting spirit, there was a strange glimmer of… excitement.
"But this isn't enough! Not nearly enough! Let me see how far you can go! Can you surpass him?!"
Before he finished speaking, Maito charged again.
He had completely abandoned defense, embracing the pure, ferocious offense of his martial style.
"Blood Demon Art, Stance: Crushing Fist!"
"Blood Demon Art, Stance: Axe Kick!"
"Blood Demon Art, Stance: Rending Claw!"
Fists, feet, claws, and even the sheer impact of his body—every strike contained the force to shatter mountains, his blood-red demonic energy crashing against Shinichi like a raging tsunami.
He seemed tireless, ignoring his own wounds, his only goal to put more and more pressure on his opponent.
Shinichi pushed his own Breath of the Forest to its absolute limit, his blade work a dense and seamless green barrier.
"Forest Breathing, Fourth Form: Dandelion Dance!"
His green slashes were agile and swift, cleverly deflecting Maito's powerful blows.
"Forest Breathing, Fifth Form: Soaring Bamboo Slash!"
Seizing a momentary opening, his blade shot upward like a growing bamboo shoot, aimed at Maito's chin.
The speed of their battle was dazzling, a whirlwind of clashing steel and exploding energy.
Green and blood-red light flashed and collided wildly across the battlefield, cracking the earth and destroying what little remained of the ruins.
The sheer explosive force of their duel left even Tengen and Iguro momentarily stunned, unable to find an opening to intervene.
In the heat of the fight, Shinichi could feel it.
Maito was far stronger than before, his Blood Demon Arts more domineering, a destructive aura trying to invade his body with every blocked strike.
But he also noticed something strange.
Maito's seemingly crazed attacks… weren't aimed to kill him.
Several times, he could have used a more cunning, fatal blow, but instead chose a direct, easily parried confrontation.
Beyond the killing intent in his roars, there was a hidden… urgency.
An almost paranoid desire to force Shinichi to unleash his full power.
"What are you hesitating for, Shinichi?!" Maito roared, knocking Shinichi's blade aside with a brutal punch.
"Use all of your strength! Just like Shunichi did! No—be stronger than him! Otherwise, you will die here tonight, along with all those pathetic comrades of yours!"
His words were a goad, a desperate attempt to provoke Shinichi.
But they were also… a reminder.
In the high-speed clash, a memory surfaced.
When Moriki Mitsuyo teaching him the Breath of the Forest.
'The root of this style, Shinichi, is not merely the forest, but life itself.'
'The forest represents endless vitality, and vitality means more than just strength. It means creation, purification, and reincarnation.'
Maito's destructive, death-dealing attacks were the perfect antithesis to that philosophy.
And in that stark contrast, Shinichi suddenly found a deeper understanding.
He parried a bloody claw, using the force to create distance.
The turquoise light on his blade began to change, the pure life energy that wreathed it gaining a new, vibrant… activity.
"Hm?" Maito sensed the shift immediately. "Yes! That's it! Feel it! Understand it! Completely awaken the power sleeping inside you!"
He ignored the attacks that Tengen and Iguro were now launching at his back, gathering all his strength for one final, cataclysmic attack aimed at Shinichi.
"Blood Demon Art, Secret Technique: Blood River Burial!"
A torrent of pure, corrosive blood erupted from Maito's body, transforming into a raging crimson river that swept towards Shinichi, its aura promising to corrode and bury all living things.
'What is he doing?! Is he insane?' Shinichi thought, shocked.
Maito's attack was overwhelmingly powerful, but he had left his back completely exposed.
A single clean strike from Tengen or Iguro would be enough to take his head.
Why would he risk everything for this one attack?
.....
Miles away, the first of the reinforcements were finally arriving at the edge of the battlefield.
"Damn it! Are we too late?!"
"So… so many demons! How can there be so many?!"
"That… that's… Muzan!!!"
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