Chapter 14: Yoriichi Tsugikuni
As expected of his lucky goddess, she truly delivered.
The scene on the panel continued as ten meteors of various colors fell. Finally, ten character cards appeared, fanned out across the screen.
Ren's heart hammered. He had one gold, two blue, three green, and four white cards.
The character cards were revealed one by one, starting from the lowest tier. The lowest tier was white, essentially cannon fodder—unlucky individuals in anime who flash by and die without anyone remembering their names.
The next tier up was green, one level higher than white, still cannon fodder. Ren's smile started to fade.
Above green was blue, which belonged to the minor elite level. These were characters with some strength, but ultimately forgettable.
'Nine cards... all trash...' Ren thought, his excitement turning to dread. His S-Class quest reward, his one ten-pull, had been a bust.
Above blue was purple. This stage was already very good. In Naruto, it would be the Jonin level. In One Piece, it would be at least a pirate with a bounty of over 100 million.
Above purple was the golden legend. In Naruto, this was above Kage-level. In One Piece, it meant the Three Admirals or the Four Emperors. In Bleach, it was Captain-level.
And his ninth card... was just another blue.
'It's over...' Ren's shoulders slumped. 'Nine pulls, and the best I got was blue trash. My luck...'
Then, the last golden card was revealed.
The one that had been hidden behind the others. The one he hadn't seen.
Ren couldn't help but widen his eyes: "It's actually him!"
On the character card, a man was depicted. He was dressed as a samurai, wearing a simple red haori over a dark hakama. He had long, dark red hair tied in a high ponytail, and his eyes held a profound, unshakable calm. Paper hanafuda earrings, depicting a rising sun, hung from his ears. Most strikingly, there was a strange, flame-like patterned mark on the upper left side of his forehead. He held a simple, red longsword, and just by standing there, he exuded a terrifying, absolute sense of oppression.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
[Akarin's Note: Tsugikuni Yoriichi is a legendary character from the anime/manga Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. He is the originator of all breathing styles and the only character to have ever nearly killed the series' main antagonist, Muzan Kibutsuji.]
The absolute, undisputed pinnacle in the Demon Slayer anime.
Ren had watched many anime, and there were many powerful characters, but there would always be others with similar or comparable strength.
But Tsugikuni Yoriichi was different; he was the absolute pinnacle. Even in the anime world, whenever the pinnacle was mentioned, he was the first character that came to mind.
From birth, he possessed unparalleled talent. He was the one who created Sun Breathing, the original technique from which the five basic Breathing Styles were merely crude imitations. Even with numerous geniuses improving various Breathing Styles to create their own, they couldn't even fall one tier behind, let alone surpass it.
Ren's mind raced as he remembered the lore. This was the man who faced the strongest boss in Demon Slayer, Muzan Kibutsuji, and instantly killed him in one encounter. Muzan, the progenitor of all demons, was so thoroughly terrified and overwhelmed that he was forced to self-destruct into over 1,800 pieces just to barely escape. Afterwards, as long as Yoriichi was alive, Muzan didn't dare show his face, only daring to act after Yoriichi died of old age.
This was the man whose power was so absolute that in the anime's grand finale, all members of the Demon Slayer Corps, fighting together, still couldn't do what he had done alone hundreds of years prior.
Ren had only one evaluation for Tsugikuni Yoriichi: with a mortal body, he slayed gods.
Compared to powerhouses in other anime who could easily destroy an island or a country, Yoriichi clearly didn't have that kind of destructive magical power. But truly standing face-to-face with Yoriichi, even a god would have to be on high alert.
You might be able to destroy the world, but he... he could kill you.
Ren lightly tapped his finger, recycling all characters except his two golds: Ulquiorra and Yoriichi. To prevent accidentally recycling a golden one, he double-checked carefully. If he were to recycle a golden legend, he would regret it for a lifetime.
[Are you sure you want to recycle all selected characters?]
"Confirmed!"
[Ding! Recall successful! Host's magic power has increased by ☆!]
"System, that was two blue elites and a pile of green and white trash! Why is it still only half a star increase in magic power?! Are you taking kickbacks?!"
[The higher the magic power star rating, the greater the difficulty of advancement. Everything is calculated. If the host wishes to increase more magic power, he can recall higher-quality characters.]
"You're ruthless!"
The system still gave such a formal answer. He would have to be crazy to recycle a golden character.
Ren opened his personal panel.
[Host: Ren]
[Age: 18 years old]
[Race: Human]
[Magic Power: ★★ (2-Star)]
[Magic: Take Over Magic: Anime Soul]
[Character Cards: Ulquiorra Cifer (Gold), Tsugikuni Yoriichi (Gold)]
He was now a 2-Star Mage. The power boost felt small but significant. He was in his new, empty house. There was no one around. He couldn't wait.
"Full Take Over! Tsugikuni Yoriichi!!!"
Ren braced himself for the overwhelming, cold, and hollow spiritual pressure of Ulquiorra. He expected that feeling of emptiness, of becoming something other.
But nothing happened.
Instead, he felt a change from within. His heart, which had been beating normally, suddenly gave a calm, powerful thump. His lungs expanded, and the air he drew in felt cleaner, richer. His muscles, his bones, his very blood vessels—he could feel them all shifting, aligning into a state of absolute, perfect physical harmony.
It was not the application of an external power. It was the sensation of his own human body being elevated to its theoretical, biological peak.
His hair quickly grew long, tying itself into a high ponytail. The red haori settled over his shoulders, and he felt the light, almost weightless brush of the hanafuda earrings against his neck. He held a simple red longsword. Except for his face, which remained his own, he had become Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
Then, the memories emerged in Ren's mind.
It was not the cold, vast emptiness of Ulquiorra's existence. It was a life of profound, quiet sadness.
From birth, the world was different. He could see through everything. He saw the "Transparent World." He saw his mother's sickness spreading through her lungs long before she knew. He saw his twin brother, Michikatsu (the future Kokushibo), and felt a deep, wordless love for him.
He felt the memories of his wife, Uta, and the simple, profound joy of their life together. Then... the crushing, world-ending grief of returning home to find her and his unborn child slaughtered by a demon.
He felt the cold, burning duty as he joined the Demon Slayer Corps. He felt the pity and compassion as he taught his Sun Breathing, only to watch others struggle to create lesser, "crude imitations" from it.
He felt the encounter with Muzan Kibutsuji, the cold disappointment as he unleashed his Thirteenth Form, and the lack of any emotion as he "instantly killed" the demon king, only to watch him escape.
Finally, he felt the memory of his last encounter: his elder brother, Kokushibo, now a demon, his face twisted by six eyes. He felt the overwhelming, profound sorrow and pity for what his brother had become. And at last... the quiet, anticlimactic release of dying of old age, standing on his feet, holding his blade, his long, lonely life finally over.
"Hoo~~~~!!!"
Ren fell to his knees in his new living room, gasping for breath, tears streaming down his face. Not tears of fear, but of an immense, inherited sadness. After watching Yoriichi's memories, Ren's heart was still filled with shock.
He found that the anime had been too conservative; the real Tsugikuni Yoriichi was far more powerful, and far more tragic, than what was shown.
This made Ren think of a saying:
Those who don't know swordsmanship see him as a frog in a well observing the moon in the sky. Those who know swordsmanship see him as an ant observing the clear sky.
Perhaps you are a once-in-a-million genius, but genius is merely the threshold to see him.
Ren stood up, still in the Take Over. He had to try. He took a stance, his body moving with an innate, perfect grace.
Ren began to use Sun Breathing.
A powerful force instantly surged within his body. This was not magic power, not Ethernano. It was a pure, clean energy derived from physical fitness—from the perfect circulation of blood and oxygen. He felt his physical abilities greatly improving, but at the same time, his 2-Star magic power was rapidly depleting, burning away just to maintain this state of physical perfection.
A short while later, Ren released the transformation and returned to his original appearance.
"Hoo!"
A profound sense of disparity arose in Ren's heart.
It felt like going from a super genius to an idiot. The difference between his own talent and Yoriichi's was simply too vast. His body felt clumsy, his breathing shallow, his senses dull.
Just then, as he lamented his weakness, his body remembered. His lungs instinctively contracted.
Exhale~! Inhale~!
His body, on its own, performed the breathing pattern. As he used Sun Breathing, Ren suddenly felt his own body fill with a small, but immense, surge of power.
Ren couldn't help but be stunned. He had already exited Yoriichi's transformation state. Why could he still use the Breathing Style?
When in doubt, ask the system.
"System, why can I still use the Breathing Style now?"
[Akarin Note:
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