Snap!
Without giving the big man a chance to explain, Yoriichi exerted a slight force.
Instantly, his shoulder made a sound like a thin pancake breaking.
The residual force penetrated his flesh and blood, and the bones inside instantly shattered into powder, as if trampled heavily by a giant beast; the pain was indescribable!
"Ah...!"
An ear-annihilating wail suddenly echoed through the sky.
Accompanying this wail...
It was a distorted expression mixed with countless tears and snot, and the pain that emerged from his limbs and bones almost reached his soul.
Amidst his copious tears and snot,
He had just caught a glimpse of the man behind him out of the corner of his eye, and before he could turn around or resist, his other arm was dislocated again.
"Hoo hoo..."
The pain, like a tsunamcompromisedyed his sanity.
A pair of invisible large hands seemed to tightly grip his throat, making it difficult for him to breathe.
The moment he fell to his knees,
Yoriichi clenched his fist with one hand.
A brief charge.
Then...
Bang!
The Izakaya collapsed with a roar.
Amidst the rising smoke and dust, he coldly swept his gaze over the big man's subordinates.
In an instant,
"Ah!"
They scattered like birds and beasts.
...
Not far away,
Seeing this situation,
Sangishima Jigorō froze in place.
—What... happened?
The smile on his face slowly disappeared.
He felt as if he had seen an illusion.
Fighting in the street...
Is that okay?
By the way, who is that kid?
To be able to send a two-hundred-pound adult flying dozens of meters away, the explosive power of his shoulder would require at least ten tons.
Such strength is difficult for even ordinary Demon Slayer Swordsmen to achieve...
A sense of confusion arose in his heart.
Sangishima Jigorō hesitantly walked forward.
At this moment,
Tsugikuni Yoriichi pulled Azuma Zenitsu up.
Azuma Zenitsu hadn't recovered from the fear he had just experienced; he kept his eyes tightly shut, listening to the suddenly vanished sounds around him, and then slowly opened his eyes.
However, the moment he opened his eyes...
"Hiss—!"
"Monster!!!"
He shrieked, his pupils instantly shrinking to pinpricks, as if he had heard some unspeakable hellish symphony from Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
That sound was extremely heavy, like a great mountain pressing on his heart, causing the colour that had just barely returned to his face to rapidly fade.
Accompanying it was a sudden, approaching sense of crisis that almost crushed his internal organs!
—Is this, death?
Until he could no longer bear the pressure...
Zenitsu instinctively screamed for help.
Then,
A string in his heart snapped instantly.
He rolled his eyes and fell straight to the ground.
He lost consciousness in an instant.
"..."
Tsugikuni Yoriichi fell silent.
...
Two hours later,
Inside a quiet guest room,
Azuma Zenitsu slowly woke up.
His memory stopped at the moment he saw Tsugikuni Yoriichi and heard the sound inside him, as if from hell.
"Hoo hoo!"
He suddenly sat up, breathing hastily, a large amount of sweat seeping from his pale face.
After his breathing stabilised, he carefully lifted the quilt and slowly looked around.
Although it was an unfamiliar room,
He didn't hear any sound that made him uneasy...
—Good!
—Safe!
He patted his chest.
"It was just a dream!"
He let out a long sigh.
However, the next moment,
"Hiss!"
His palm accidentally touched his bruised cheek, and the intense pain it caused made Azuma Zenitsu gasp.
His mind instantly cleared.
He remembered.
The girl he secretly loved.
The lost property.
The debts he owed.
For a moment, he even felt like dying.
"It's not a dream..."
"Waaah!"
His eyes stung slightly, and tears once again welled up in his eyes.
"Why is my life so bitter!"
"Saoriko!"
Bang!
"Stop making noise!"
The door suddenly opened, and a short old man walked in, leaning on a staff.
He interrupted Azuma Zenitsu's wailing.
"Ah..."
Azuma Zenitsu choked, looking towards the sound.
He saw.
The old man had little hair on his head, and the scars on his face gave him an air of authority without needing to be angry.
Sangishima Jigorō stood on the tatami, staring at Azuma Zenitsu, who would burst into tears at the slightest provocation, and instantly felt a surge of anger.
This child...
Thud!
The tatami was pierced.
"How long are you going to cry?"
"Quickly get up for this old man!"
"I've already paid your debts for you."
"Now, immediately, at once, come with me and apologise. Tsugikuni!"
"How outrageous! He saved you, and you called him a monster to his face..."
"If it weren't for your decent talent, I wouldn't bother with you!"
"..."
"Bother with me?" Azuma Zenitsu wiped the tears from his face, and although he didn't understand, he still followed his instinct and asked,
"Old man, who are you?"
...
...
"No, don't hit me!"
"Old man, I know I was wrong!"
A few minutes later, in another room,
Azuma Zenitsu was chased by Sangishima Jigorō, who was wielding his cane, scurrying around with his head in his hands.
"Rebellious disciple!"
"Call me master!"
After a sharp rebuke,
Thud.
Sangishima Jigorō brought Azuma Zenitsu, who had a alumpedhelumpheadTsugikuni Yoriichi.
He forcibly pulled him and made him aapologapologiseuto ni Yoriichi.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi was sitting in a corner of the room, listening to their conversation, taking a sip of the tea in his cup, his brows slightly furrowed.
"You don't have to apologise to me."
Yoriichi raised his hand.
"In a sense, this child wasn't wrong."
"Old man."
"Put him down."
"I just helped out when I saw injustice."
"..."
"This..." Sangishima Jigorō didn't understand the meaning of Yoriichi's words.
In his opinion, Azuma Zenitsu was extremely rude.
A few dogeza wouldn't even be too much.
However... since he said so.
Then let him off for now.
Sangishima Jigorō exhaled.
Looking at Azuma Zenitsu, who was trembling and curled up beside him, he said with some exasperation,
"Oh, you, I don't even know if my choice was right or wrong."
"It's late now, so rest here tonight, and come with me up the mountain tomorrow morning."
"Starting tomorrow, you will officially become a disciple of my Thunder Breathing lineage, and I will surely teach you to become a qualified swordsman!"
"Be prepared, if you don't want to be looked down upon!"
Bang!
He slammed the door and left.
His disciple was too timid.
Although he didn't know why he was afraid the moment he saw Tsugikuni Yoriichi, leaving him here should help him gain some courage.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.
Sensing a change in atmosphere,
Azuma Zenitsu slowly lifted his head from his curled-up knees.
His dark, jade-like eyes cautiously observed his surroundings, and then...
He met Tsugikuni Yoriichi's gaze.
The atmosphere solidified in an instant.
"Ah!"
"Eh..."
After a startled cry, he suddenly realised that the sound inside Yoriichi was gone, which utterly perplexed him.
Sangishima Jigorō heard the sound and burst in.
"Idiot!"
Realising it was just a false alarm, he tapped Azuma Zenitsu's head to indicate he shouldn't make a fuss.
The old man didn't want to die suddenly in the middle of the night.