"Sound Breathing, First Form: Roar!"
The tall young man descended from the sky, his booming voice echoing through the forest as he brandished his twin blades, slashing downwards.
Kamihara Tetsuya's Sharingan keenly caught the small black balls leaking from between the opponent's fingers.
The air was filled with a faint smell of gunpowder!
It was explosives!
Soul Manipulation: Divine Machine Transformation!
Kamihara Tetsuya's expression changed. He raised his hands, transforming them into a steel shield to block in front of him.
Boom!!
The incoming twin blades heavily struck the shield, producing a crisp sound.
The immense force made Kamihara Tetsuya's knees buckle.
At the same time, Uzui Tengen's twin blades brushed against the gunpowder balls, instantly causing an explosion accompanied by a tremendous sound, deafening like thunder.
Flames shot into the sky, illuminating the entire night.
The resulting air blast overturned everything around, and dust filled the air, obscuring the sky.
Muichiro Tokito, not far away, had to roll over and hide behind a large tree.
Kamihara Tetsuya, at the center, bore the full force of the explosion. He was covered in wounds, the shield formed by his Blood Demon Art shattered, and his hands were blown to smithereens.
However, this was already an extremely good outcome.
If he hadn't used Kamanue's Blood Demon Art in time, his body would have been blasted to pieces, and then Uzui Tengen would have finished him off in one move.
Looking around, the ground within a radius of twenty to thirty meters, centered on him, looked as if it had been ploughed.
Uzui Tengen, hailing from a ninja family, used specially made gunpowder balls whose power was enough to severely wound a demon. They could be detonated by creating a slight friction with a sword strike.
"Isn't it better to just die obediently? This is the blessing of the God of Flashiness!" Uzui Tengen laughed loudly, once again swinging his blade, accompanied by a strong whooshing sound.
"Soul Manipulation:Captured cavity: Shadow Wolf!"
Kamihara Tetsuya remained calm. The shadows beneath his feet transformed into five vicious wolves, opening their blood-filled mouths and biting tightly onto Uzui Tengen's twin blades.
Uzui Tengen's expression darkened. Yasuo had acquired the Blood Demon Art of Lower Moon Two; Rengoku Kyoujurou had already informed them of this intelligence.
The summoned shadow wolves held back Uzui Tengen, allowing Kamihara Tetsuya to retreat and create distance.
Soul Manipulation: Devourer!
Kamihara Tetsuya used his Blood Demon Art, devouring seven or eight souls in one go, gaining a continuous supply of energy, and greatly increasing his recovery speed.
In just four or five breaths, his shattered hands and the wounds on his body recovered as good as new.
"Such petty tricks are not flashy enough!"
Uzui Tengen said coldly, continuously pouring power into his twin blades. In no time, he unleashed sharp sword slashes, cutting the five shadow wolves into pieces.
However, these were only formed from shadows. After being shattered, they immediately receded back to Kamihara Tetsuya's feet.
The night wind blew, and the dust from the explosion dispersed.
Separated by more than ten meters, the two observed each other.
Uzui Tengen was tall, with silver hair and a handsome face adorned with unique makeup. His exposed muscles were firm and powerful, and he wore a diamond-studded headpiece.
He held twin blades connected by a chain, with the words "Slay All Demons" carved on the side of the blades.
"So this is Yasuo. What a troublesome feeling." Uzui Tengen stared at the opponent with a solemn expression. For some reason, he felt an inexplicable sense of dread in his heart.
No matter what method he used, he couldn't dispel this feeling in his mind.
This was by no means a small matter; this strange feeling would cause his reaction speed to slow down.
Both attack and defense would be affected, and in a battle with a strong opponent, this was a fatal weakness.
"Whew!"
Seeing that the person who arrived was Sound Pillar, Uzui Tengen, Kamihara Tetsuya actually breathed a sigh of relief. His luck was good.
He had naturally considered the implications of causing chaos at the Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection under the name of a demon.
Sanemi Shinazugawa and Rengoku Kyoujurou were injured, and Giyu Tomioka was still dealing with a mission that had caused many members to be injured last time, so it was unlikely they would appear.
The only Pillars the Demon Slayer Corps could send were Stone Pillar · Himejima Kyoumei, Obanai Iguro, and Sound Pillar, Uzui Tengen.
As long as it wasn't Stone Pillar · Himejima Kyoumei, Kamihara Tetsuya felt he could challenge the remaining two.
"Hey, you're not dead yet, are you?"
Uzui Tengen retreated to the side of the large tree. The Master had specifically mentioned this talented young man.
The heavily wounded Muichiro Tokito turned around and said calmly, "When he fought me, he used four Blood Demon Arts: his arm transforming into a blade, making people fall into illusions, his shadow turning into wolves, and a strange body technique."
"I see."
Uzui Tengen nodded. No wonder this talented young man was beaten to such a state.
With four Blood Demon Arts combined, swordsmen below Pillar-level basically stood no chance against Yasuo!
Of course, Uzui Tengen didn't believe that the opponent only had four Blood Demon Arts; he definitely had other tricks hidden.
"Second Form: Sonic and Ringing!"
Uzui Tengen charged out in one breath, every movement accompanied by a loud sound, like booming thunder.
Kamihara Tetsuya used his Sharingan to lock onto Uzui Tengen. The opponent had those little gunpowder balls, so continuing to transform his body into weapons and engaging in direct contact would put him at a disadvantage.
In that case...
"Then I'll use the power of the Demon Slayer Corps!"
Kamihara Tetsuya sneered. Since the information that he could steal others' abilities was already exposed, he flicked his toe, kicking up Muichiro Tokito's nichirin blade, which landed in his hand.
Soul Manipulation: Controller: Kaigaku!
Kamihara Tetsuya's mind conjured the techniques of Thunder Breathing. No need to familiarize himself; he would use them immediately!
Uzui Tengen swung his blade, attacking with sharp slashes.
"Hoo!"
Kamihara Tetsuya used the rhythm of Thunder Breathing, inhaling a large breath of air into his lungs. Fine lightning appeared on his body, and due to the Crimson Moon skin, the original golden lightning was tinged with a layer of blood red.
"Thunder Breathing, Fifth Form: Heat Lightning!"
Kamihara Tetsuya raised his nichirin blade, and the blade, wrapped in blood-red lightning, released high-heat, lightning-shaped slashes.
Bang!
Two astonishing sword slashes collided, sparks exploded, and as both sides continuously poured power into them, a terrifying sound of thunder reverberated, shaking the soul.
The ground beneath Kamihara Tetsuya and Uzui Tengen cracked, and both their lower legs sank deeply into the earth.
"Damn it, this guy actually knows Thunder Breathing!" Uzui Tengen's eyes widened.
The reason Uzui Tengen could recognize it at a glance was because his Sound Breathing was derived from Thunder Breathing, one of the five basic Breathing Techniques.
Like Thunder Breathing, Sound Breathing produced a sound like thunder when its techniques were activated.
Upon learning that Uzui Tengen had arrived, the new swordsmen mustered their courage and secretly crept closer.
Uzui Tengen remembered something and loudly questioned, "Hey, has this guy killed anyone?"
The new swordsmen exchanged glances.
A young boy, suppressing his fear, stepped forward and shouted, "Sound Pillar, he killed Kaigaku, who seemed to be a swordsman of the Thunder Breathing style."
Upon hearing this, Uzui Tengen's face showed surprise. This guy can not only steal demons' Blood Demon Arts, but also swordsmen's sword techniques and Breathing Techniques?!