"But I've already achieved that… I've caught up to you… Yoriichi…"
In Kokushibou's eyes, Musashi's body was also completely transparent.
Almost identical appearances, the same Breathing Technique, a crimson Nichirin Sword, and a talent that transcended mortals—all these qualities in Musashi made Kokushibou, who was in the midst of battle, mistake him for Yoriichi.
Now he felt as if he was fighting Yoriichi, and he wanted to prove that he had caught up to that figure, brilliant as the sun.
"Moon Breathing, Seventh Form: Mirror of Misfortune, Moon Reflection!"
The weapon in Kokushibou's hand suddenly grew more blades, transforming the entire sword into a shape resembling deer antlers. Then, he swung the evolved blade of vain cries, sending five shockwaves close to the ground rushing towards Musashi, while also emitting smaller shockwaves outwards along their attack paths.
Dust flew up from the ground, and the swaying tall grass was affected, its blades scattering.
It seems he also possesses this ability…
Kokushibou's words made Musashi realize this, but he didn't pay much attention to it. As someone who also possessed the Transparent World, and had it naturally since birth, he naturally understood this ability intimately and knew how to counter it.
If one's movements were fast enough, acting the moment a premonition appeared, then how could one rely on body state to predict?
"Sun Breathing, Third Form: Blazing Morning Sun."
A red glow, more vibrant than usual, emanated from Musashi's Nichirin Sword.
The next instant, Musashi's sword-wielding arm moved rapidly, even creating countless afterimages. A large number of flame-clad arc-shaped slashes flew out in a fan shape from Musashi, their quantity too numerous for the naked eye to estimate.
The night sky was dyed crimson at this moment, a spectacular sight like the rising sun revealing half its face to radiate its brilliance upon the world.
Kokushibou's shockwaves were instantly swallowed, and at the same time, a large number of flame slashes rushed towards him.
So fast!
Kokushibou's pupils dilated. The large range of his attacks was primarily due to the characteristics of his Breathing Technique. Moon Breathing didn't possess the same immense power as Sun Breathing, but it surpassed Sun Breathing in terms of attack range.
However, this move by Musashi completely shattered Kokushibou's understanding. He, solely by virtue of his attack speed, used Sun Breathing to unleash an attack that far exceeded the range of Moon Breathing.
Moon Breathing, Fifth Form: Lunar Spirit Calamity Vortex!
Facing this unavoidable move, Kokushibou continuously spun his body, creating a massive vortex-shaped blade wind around him. At the same time, his body and weapon released a large number of crescent blades outwards.
The whirlwind, carrying crescent blades, completely shielded Kokushibou's body. The flame slashes continuously struck the whirlwind, consuming the crescent moons within the flames, but the slashes were barely nullified.
The power of long-range attacks is indeed slightly lacking…
Seeing this situation, Musashi was slightly dissatisfied with the power of this move.
This was also why Yoriichi's thirteen sword forms had almost no long-range techniques. His physical prowess was exceptional; his speed and strength had reached extremely high levels. He only needed to rely on speed to approach his opponent and then slash, making long-range attacks unnecessary. Whether they hit or not was one thing, but their power would also be reduced.
Musashi, lacking experience, hadn't considered this when developing his sword techniques. Or rather, he considered too much, not being pure enough. He thought of many situations that might arise in battle and potential enemies, developing sword techniques to counter various scenarios.
However, in actual combat, the situations he envisioned almost never occurred. It was usually: approach the enemy, swing the sword, end.
He didn't realize that with his conditions, he didn't need these flashy techniques. Kyojuro, who was guiding him at the time, also hadn't considered this, because he couldn't have predicted that Musashi's body would be so powerful.
Knowing that long-range attacks were not very useful, Musashi directly closed in on Kokushibou. The wind blades around Kokushibou had not yet subsided, but Musashi ignored them. His Nichirin Sword ignited with flames and he directly slashed at the wind blades.
Sun Breathing, Sixth Form: Scorching Star Dance
Flame-clad slashes, at extreme speed, cut through the wind blades from all directions. Sparks scattered and fell, extinguishing in mid-air and vanishing without a trace.
Not a single one of the dense wind blades around him landed on Musashi. Musashi thus broke through Kokushibou's defense.
Kokushibou's figure reappeared before Musashi. Musashi, holding his Nichirin Sword, aimed a flame-clad slash at his neck.
However, the next instant, countless eye-covered blades grew out from Kokushibou's body again, blocking Musashi's attack for a moment.
Kokushibou took advantage of this moment to raise his blade of vain cries, intending to use offense as defense to force Musashi to retreat.
"Moon Breathing, Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ringtail!"
Kokushibou gripped his sword with both hands, took a half-step back, and slashed horizontally at Musashi's body. A massive horizontal slash appeared, accompanied by countless giant crescent blades.
Musashi had anticipated this and showed no panic. His Nichirin Sword cut off a section of the blade that had grown from Kokushibou's body. The flames on his blade surged dramatically, their tips gradually transforming into a dragon's head.
Sun Breathing: Sun Halo Dragon, Dance of the Head
A dragon's roar echoed between the two of them. The giant dragon formed by flames raised its head, roared, and then crashed into the massive slash released by Kokushibou.
The light of the flames illuminated the crescent moons, but in comparison, the crescent moons appeared dim.
"Have his techniques been inherited by you as well…?"
This move was incredibly familiar to Kokushibou; he had seen Yoriichi use it in the past. His own Moon Breathing, Eighth Form, was even created by imitating this very technique.
Back then, Yoriichi taught him Sun Breathing, but he couldn't learn it. He could only settle for less, using what Yoriichi taught him to derive Moon Breathing from Sun Breathing, and even many of the sword techniques were similar.
When Musashi first used Dance, he didn't recognize it, because there were too many techniques similar to Dance, and it was easy to think of such moves when creating one's own sword techniques. But the moment Musashi used this particular move, he immediately recognized it as Yoriichi's sword technique.
He didn't know how Musashi could still inherit Yoriichi's Sun Breathing and sword techniques, when all the swordsmen who knew Sun Breathing had clearly been killed by him and Muzan working together.
Kokushibou probably would never have imagined that Yoriichi would pass on his sword techniques to an ordinary charcoal burner, and that this charcoal-burning family would continue to pass down the sword forms. Even less would he imagine that Musashi, who had self-taught Sun Breathing at a young age, would become friends with the descendant of that ordinary charcoal burner and obtain all the Sun Breathing sword forms from him.
It was precisely such coincidences that led to everything now.
No sooner had Kokushibou's words fallen than the giant dragon formed by flames roared, completely devouring his slash. The scorching heat rushed towards him, and some flames had even splattered onto his body…