"That, senior... Moshi moshi?"
The girl inquired tentatively.
Only then did Kuguruma Natsunishi "return to his senses." He glanced at the remains that were gradually turning into fly ash before turning toward the girl.
He said, "You are the swordsman who sent out the call for reinforcements, Kanae?"
Kuguruma Natsunishi sized up her blood-stained uniform and slightly pale complexion. A trace of subtle doubt crept into his tone.
"Looking at your build and stats, logically speaking, you shouldn't have been pushed to a desperate dead-end by a demon of this level."
With her stats in the 80s and a Level 3 Breathing Style, even if she fell into a disadvantage, she shouldn't have been outright killed in battle. After all, the opponent was just a pure stat-monster with 120 points, whose only mechanic was adding some defense. She should have had the strength to put up a fight.
The girl, however, was stunned for a moment.
Eh? How does he know my name?
"Senior, you overestimate me far too much." Although she was confused, Kanae spoke with a bitter smile. "My strikes find it very difficult to break through its steel hide, and there were two of them..."
So, the focus of this Flower Breathing doesn't lie in strength?
Oh... looking at this panel, there's a high probability it was derived from Water Breathing. Furthermore, the [Body] attribute actually has many different specializations, such as agility or speed-focus. It turns out she was just being countered by the matchup.
As Kuguruma Natsunishi was pondering, Kanae raised her hand and pointed toward the other side of the dense forest.
"Senior, there is another swordsman and a survivor being hunted by the other demon. We must go and rescue them as soon as possible."
There's another experience pack?
Kuguruma Natsunishi's interest was piqued instantly. Just as he was about to set off, he saw the pitiful state of the girl swordsman. He paused his footsteps.
"You stay here and tend to your wounds. I'll go ahead."
Kanae replied, "Senior, I'm not some ordinary frail girl. I can still continue fighting."
Kuguruma Natsunishi said, "Suit yourself. I just think you won't be able to keep up with my speed."
Checking the traces in the dense forest, the youth roughly had a direction in mind.
"That's that. Don't push yourself; I'm heading out first."
Kanae was somewhat dazed. While this senior was indeed much stronger than her, Thunder Breathing ultimately emphasized short-range bursts. Compared to her [Flower] style derived from Water Breathing, it should actually be at a disadvantage for long-distance travel. Why did he think she couldn't keep up with him?
Besides...
The girl privately thought that in her current state, while she couldn't take the lead as the primary attacker, she should still be able to share some of the pressure for him. She pursed her lips slightly, a hint of grievance from being underestimated rising in her heart.
In the next moment, she noticed that Kuguruma Natsunishi's breathing rhythm had changed. It had turned into a cadence that bore several similarities to the Flower Breathing she practiced.
[Water Breathing]
As if invisible flowing water was rippling around the youth, his figure vanished from the spot. He transformed into an afterimage that Kanae found difficult to follow, darting toward the forest.
Kanae's pupils constricted.
This senior... isn't he a swordsman who practices Thunder Breathing? But that clear, flowing aura just now was clearly Water Breathing?!
Those purple eyes, which were usually filled with gentle smiles, were now brimming with confusion and disbelief.
Then, as if snapping back to reality, she shouted toward the direction Kuguruma Natsunishi had disappeared: "Senior! That demon's ability is also to mimic other things, and its strength is even greater than this one!"
Her voice trailed off. She found that Kuguruma Natsunishi's figure had completely disappeared from her sight; she didn't even know if he had heard her.
Kanae sighed softly and followed after him, leaning on her sword. But the moment she activated her Breathing Style, a heart-wrenching pain flared up from her chest. Her footsteps faltered, and her skirt brushed messily against a tree trunk; she nearly stumbled and fell.
As the adrenaline from the fierce battle gradually receded, the exhaustion and injuries of her body finally began to surface. It seemed she really couldn't keep up with that senior.
Despite looking roughly the same age as her, was his strength already this far ahead? Perhaps it really was as Mr. Himejima said—neither she nor Shinobu were swordsmen blessed with extraordinary talent...
But that thought only lingered for a moment. In the next instant, a spark of stubbornness rose between her brows.
"Since I don't have talent, I'll just work even harder to train until I can walk side-by-side with those reliable seniors, or even overtake them."
After whispering words of encouragement to herself, the girl propped herself up with her scabbard and hobbled into the dense forest.
On the other side.
Passing through a dense cedar forest, continuous, dull explosions and the sharp clang of metal clashing rang out from ahead!
Kuguruma Natsunishi pushed aside the last of the bushes, and the sight before him made him startle slightly.
It wasn't that the [Kanoe]-ranked swordsman of the same grade as Kuguruma Natsunishi had been killed. On the contrary, the demon Kanae had mentioned was now at death's door. It had been completely suppressed by the demon-slaying swordsman.
To be more precise, it was breathing more out than in.
The demon had already lost both arms, and its sturdy giant axe had fallen who-knows-where. At this moment, it was leaning its tall, burly body against a tree trunk, panting heavily. On its body, on the ground, and even on the surrounding tree trunks, there were massive amounts of strike marks and explosion scars. Its regeneration speed was completely unable to keep up with the offensive of the swordsman before it.
The one responsible for this result was, naturally, not Mitsujiro, whom a demon could turn into a pancake with one slap. It was another swordsman who had arrived.
He was a tall swordsman wearing an unusual headpiece, with strange patterns painted on his face. Compared to Kanae, who was not even 1.5 meters tall, this nearly two-meter-tall male swordsman was almost two or three heads taller. In this game with a Far Eastern setting, he could almost be called a small giant.
Moreover, he wasn't just tall; his build was also quite sturdy. Those bulging biceps made Kuguruma Natsunishi wonder if he would burst his two gold armlets in the next second.
Currently, he was wielding two specially made giant Nichirin blades, creating streaks of magnificent light. He continuously cleaved through the opponent's defense, drawing large sprays of sparks and black blood from the demon's body.
The demon's body, like the previous one, gleamed with a metallic luster, clearly possessing extremely high defensive properties. But right now, in the hands of that swordsman, it was like a piece of scrap cloth on a sewing machine. After two or three slashes, its defense was broken. Even the demon's occasional over-performing counters were directly interrupted by the opponent's extremely tricky strikes and explosives from God-knows-where.
Very strong. Kuguruma Natsunishi made his evaluation.
[Uzui Tengen]
[Power Level: 157 (Body: 79, Skill: 41, Spirit: 37)]
[Thunder Breathing LV.2]
[Sound Breathing LV.1]
[Ninjutsu LV.7 (Exclusive Skill)]
Clearly his Breathing Style level is low, but his momentum is quite high. So he's a ninja; that explains it.
Ninja???
Kuguruma Natsunishi stared and reopened the panel to look again. This was the first time he had seen a skill on someone's panel that wasn't a Breathing Style. This exclusive skill... it seemed to be a skill that only existed in the story's background lore.
It sounded very cool, honestly. Kuguruma Natsunishi also wanted to quickly form a few hand seals and then deal explosive damage to a demon. Even if it didn't use chakra, but instead used secretly thrown bombs.
Looking at the battle between the man and the demon, whose conclusion was already set, Kuguruma Natsunishi temporarily couldn't find an opportunity to intervene. After making eye contact with the Kanoe-ranked swordsman on the side, Kuguruma Natsunishi even had the leisure to lean against a nearby tree trunk and watch.
Different from the crisp, sharp strikes of Thunder Breathing, the swordsman named Uzui was using a [Creative Combat Style] that clearly had its own flavor.
Derived Breathing Style + Ninjutsu.
He didn't pursue the ultimate efficiency of a typical Thunder Breathing swordsman, but rather a sense of [Fluid] combos and [Magnificence]. When facing certain attacks, where one clearly should have avoided or parried cautiously, this swordsman would rather take risks and expose himself to the opponent's attack range just to ensure his fluid combo was completed.
Rather than a battle, it looked more like an improvised execution that continuously showed off technical skills.
Kuguruma Natsunishi pondered. Is this a ninja? Do they just seek this thrill of dancing on the edge of a blade?
Uzui Tengen seemed to have had enough. He crossed his twin blades, striking a charging starting posture. A trace of sharpness flashed in his eyes. The next strike would surely be a thunderous decapitation.
Kuguruma Natsunishi's expression suddenly changed!
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