Night fell, and Mount Momo was shrouded in a thick fog.
This was not the kind of light mist commonly seen in mountains, carrying moist water vapor. It was more like a heavy, oppressive grey fog, as if lead powder had been scattered through the air.
But Taka, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation indoors, had not yet noticed this strange phenomenon.
He closed his eyes, and his breathing rhythm began to change.
Through his continuous attempts, he could now skillfully switch between the two Breathing Styles, Flame and Water, merging them into his Storm.
Now, he felt the scorching hot airflow surge through his trachea into the deepest parts of his lungs, and used the power exertion method of Thunder Breathing to spread it to his limbs, quietly experiencing the changes in his body.
Crackle.
In the quiet night, a faint, weak black-red electric spark actually flickered at the tip of Taka's nose.
It was the resonance produced when his Reiatsu was highly compressed and merged with the Thunder Breathing method.
"I see...." Taka opened his eyes, a glimmer of understanding flowing through his pitch-black pupils. "Looks like it's time to go back."
With these past few days of insights, he had basically grasped the true meaning of Thunder Breathing.
Although there was still a gap from reaching its peak, his purpose was not to train Thunder Breathing, but to find the commonalities between the Breathing Styles.
"Next, I just need to consult with Tomioka and Himejima, and I should be able to...."
A nauseating, stinking, bloody demonic Reiatsu was surrounding them, coming from all directions through the mountain fog.
The presence of demons.
And not just one or two.
Taka instantly became alert. Grabbing Tonan, he rushed out of the house.
Standing in the center of the sandy ground, he tightly gripped the sword's hilt, feeling the thick malice welling up from all around, puzzled in his heart.
'How could there be so many demons?'
Although he was no expert in demonology, he knew that demons did not operate on such a scale. They each had their own territories and ways of behaving.
'Could it be... Muzan's command?'
"Old man, wake up." Taka called softly towards the house.
"Tch, what are you doing in the middle of the night? I was already asleep!" Jigoro's voice came from inside the house, tinged with the displeasure of having his peaceful dreams disturbed.
Pushing open the door, the old man's originally somewhat sleepy eyes became as sharp as an eagle's the instant they sensed that malice in the air.
Although he had lost a leg, although he had retired for many years, that instinct of a Hashira had long been engraved into his bones.
In the shadows of the thick fog, grotesque figures were slowly emerging.
They dropped down from the treetops, crawled out from behind earthen slopes. A rough count showed there were actually over fifteen of them.
Jigoro's brow furrowed into a knot. "Although their presences aren't strong, what's with this number? The location of Mount Momo is extremely secret. For so many years, no demon has ever infiltrated it."
The strength of these demons was not top-tier, and most couldn't even reach the threshold of the Lower Moons. But their movements were uniform and coordinated, their objective extremely clear… they were coming for Jigoro.
"Hehehe... so you are here after all..." A demon with three eyes emerged from behind the old peach tree, greedy saliva dripping from its mouth. "That retired Rumble Hashira.... Oh? An unexpected bonus, a young swordsman?"
"Kill them! Kizuki-sama will reward us!"
The horde of demons let out shrill roars, and the stinking, bloody scent instantly filled the entire courtyard.
Jigoro snorted coldly, threw down his cane, and his right hand was already on the hilt of the Nichirin Sword at his waist. "I may be aged, but not so aged that I'll let scum like you run wild in my yard!"
"Old man, you rest." Taka stepped forward, blocking Jigoro.
The instant the words fell, Tonan was drawn from its sheath.
Twang—!
"Total Concentration: Storm Breathing."
Taka didn't use any complex sword forms. He just wanted to test the burst techniques of Thunder he had just comprehended over the past two days.
One step forward.
Boom!
The stone tiles underfoot instantly shattered. Taka's figure transformed into an afterimage that the naked eye could not capture.
This speed, before this, he could only achieve by converging his Reiatsu at the tips of his toes.
The three demons charging at the front hadn't even had time to see their enemy's position before their vision began to spin wildly.
Thud thud thud!
Three ugly heads flew up in unison. So fast was the speed that the cut surfaces at the wounds were still suspended in mid-air before black blood began to spray.
"What?!"
The remaining demons halted in terror.
They had never seen such violent and cruel swordsmanship. The wind pressure brought by that serrated blade as it cut through the air was as if countless invisible wild beasts were madly tearing and biting all around.
"Damn it! It's a Hashira!"
They had only received orders to kill the old man. How could there be such a strong swordsman here!
Taka's figure vanished again.
He wove through the demon horde. With every swing of Tonan, he carved out a spray of stinking demon blood.
Some demons were cut in half at the waist, some had half their bodies shredded, and others had their throats torn apart by the serrated blade as they screamed.
To maximally test the effect of Thunder Breathing, he did not choose to directly sever the demons' heads. This behavior on the contrary made him seem somewhat like a demon himself.
But even so, these weak demons could barely withstand the devouring power of Tonan. Even those only cut at the waist would wail and die.
Watching this scene, Jigoro found it almost unbelievable. "Are young people these days all like this? Old folks like us really should retire..."
Less than three minutes.
Of the originally arrogant and overbearing dozen or so demons, only one remained alive.
Its legs had been severed at the roots, and it was now frantically crawling through the dirt with its hands, trying to escape this slaughterhouse that Taka had single-handedly created.
Taka walked behind it, the tip of his Zanpakuto pressing against its back.
"Don't.... don't kill me...." The demon trembled, extreme fear in its eyes.
"Don't joke around. I'm definitely going to kill you. The only difference is whether it's quick or painful." Taka coldly inserted the tip of the blade bit by bit into its flesh. "Who gave you the information? How did you find this place?"
"I don't know.... I really don't know...."
Tonan's Reiatsu surged into its body, making the demon scream incessantly. Its psychological defense soon completely collapsed.
"It was.... it was Nakime-sama who teleported us directly to the foot of the mountain with her biwa! I really didn't mean to come here looking for trouble!"
Jigoro glared, his beard bristling. "What is Nakime? A demon? Why target a useless old man like me?"
"Because.... because of that newly appointed Kizuki!" It seemed to finally remember key information, reporting hurriedly through tears and snot, begging only to stop being tortured by Tonan's Reiatsu. "That newly joined Lord! That lord who inherited Thunder Breathing! It was him in the Infinity Castle who told our master that the Rumble Hashira is the last foundation of Thunder Breathing, and that as long as you were killed, this school's lineage would be broken...."
The air froze in that instant.
Jigoro's hands began to tremble violently. His pupils became bloodshot from extreme shock.
"That person you speak of.... who is he?" The old man's voice was terrifyingly hoarse, as if squeezed from the depths of his lungs.
"His name.... his name is Kaigaku!" The demon viciously spat out this name, carrying a satisfaction of having its revenge. "He is the new Upper Rank Six! He doesn't just want you dead, he wants the entire Mount Momo to become a grave! That bastard tricked us into coming here to die.... You have to kill him! Hahahaha!"
Squelch!
Taka didn't hesitate for a moment. He cut off its head with one stroke.
He turned his head to look at Jigoro.
That Rumble Hashira, who always showed a quirky humor and was a bit like an old rascal, now seemed to have aged decades in an instant.
His already hunched back completely collapsed. His entire figure swayed unsteadily in the cold autumn fog.
"Kaigaku...."
Jigoro murmured this name. What flowed from his eyes was not anger, but a deep, bottomless despair and sorrow.