Since becoming a demon, Gyutaro's demonic life had basically been spent by Michikatsu's side.
Among this, aside from the most recent twenty-plus years following Michikatsu through officialdom.
The remaining nearly two hundred years, he and Ume alike, had continuously trained at Michikatsu's dojo, honing their martial arts.
For Gyutaro, Michikatsu was both elder, master, and father figure.
By Michikatsu's side, he learned many things, including even Michikatsu's Moon Breathing.
To be honest, Gyutaro actually didn't possess much talent for Breathing techniques, but he had his Blood Demon Art.
Through combining with his own Blood Demon Art, he mastered a mutated version of Moon Breathing that belonged solely to him.
Different from Michikatsu's purple moon, due to the mixture of his own blood, the crescent moon slashes Gyutaro swung out were dark red in color.
While his slashes were far inferior to Michikatsu's in terms of the large crescents' killing power and the small crescents' density, they possessed one unique advantage—
Toxicity.
Gyutaro's Blood Demon Art granted his blood unparalleled venomous poison, and when he fused his Blood Demon Art with Moon Breathing, the two immediately produced quite a marvelous combination.
Any living being, as long as scratched even slightly by his slashes, would have toxins instantly invade through that wound and rapidly spread!
Therefore for Gyutaro, he didn't even need to directly kill his opponents—merely letting them suffer a tiny injury meant he had already won this battle.
Honestly speaking, Gyutaro had long felt that with his current strength, he was already sufficient to challenge the demons ranked above him in a Blood Battle for position.
Two hundred years of dojo training, only to discover after leaving how strong he actually was?
But Gyutaro didn't do this.
Among the reasons, besides the fact that he was already ranked among the Upper Ranks and advancing further held no special meaning.
More importantly, he had found his true life's goal as a demon—
Compared to the Twelve Kizuki and such, he preferred his current identity living like a proper human being even more...
The current Gyutaro, always following by Michikatsu's side as his secretary, dressed in impeccably pressed suits.
His clothes absolutely without a single wrinkle, his white gloves absolutely without a speck of dust, carefully grooming his hair, walking with straight posture, minding his words and conduct.
The work he handled daily were all major affairs concerning people's livelihood.
This kind of life where he lived with human dignity, respected wherever he went, was something the human Gyutaro couldn't have even dared to imagine.
Precisely because of this, he absolutely would not fall here tonight!
After all, on his shoulders now rested the great plans of this country's people's livelihood!
Town development planning, rural reform planning, Hokkaido development planning... these major matters one after another were still waiting for him to return and handle together with Mr. Michikatsu!
And there were still so many pitiful people like their sibling pair back then waiting for their policies to save them—how could he just fall here?!
BOOM!
"Could this be... Moon Breathing sword forms?!"
Under the night sky of the movie studio, Gyutaro planted his legs firmly in place, dual swords swinging continuously, sending wave after wave of crescent slashes toward Tanjiro and Himejima Gyomei opposite him.
The power of these blood-colored crescents was immense. With just several sweeps, the floor tiles of the open ground between them had been completely sliced apart, the earth fully exposed, with the crescents' blades carving out deep gullies upon it!
In the distance, one after another antique wooden buildings collapsed under the impact of these crescents, turning into ruins!
"Tanjiro! Retreat immediately! Get far away from here!"
"Y-yes!"
Both hands swinging his chains, continuously dodging and blocking the blood-colored crescents coming at him, Himejima Gyomei shouted loudly.
Although his eyes couldn't see, through wind sounds and contact from several blocks, Himejima Gyomei still accurately estimated the attack range of these crescent slashes.
The large crescents' sweeping range was enormous, each one covering nearly ten meters horizontally and vertically, accompanied by some fine small crescents.
This kind of terrifying attack was something that a mere ordinary Nichirin sword simply couldn't withstand.
Among everyone present, aside from himself, not a single person could withstand this fierce offensive!
[Damn it! Why can this demon use Breathing techniques?!]
Tonight's battle repeatedly refreshed Himejima Gyomei's understanding of demons.
Since joining the Demon Slayer Corps, this was the first time he had seen demons who could use Breathing techniques!
What kind of joke was this, how could this be... no, this might actually be possible!
After all, fundamentally, demons were also living beings—they also breathed, also had heartbeats, also had pulses... their body structures were not much different from humans.
Therefore, what humans could use, theoretically they could also use.
And due to demons' physical abilities generally far surpassing humans, once mastered, they could very likely use them even better!
Just like the Moon Breathing Gyutaro was currently displaying—its power already far exceeded that of another Moon Breathing practitioner in the Demon Slayer Corps, Tokito Muichiro!
Following this reasoning, Upper Rank One Tsugikuni Mitsuba, then wouldn't she...
[No, I can't think about so much right now, I must focus on the present!]
Gathering his mind, fully blocking Gyutaro's offensive, Himejima Gyomei began thinking hard about countermeasures.
Among everyone present, aside from himself, the most combat-capable was Kanae.
Her Flower Breathing Final Form · Crimson Lotus Eyes could greatly enhance her dynamic vision, granting her abilities approaching the Transparent World for a short time.
Under such circumstances, Kanae was fully capable of clearly seeing and predicting Gyutaro's moves in advance.
Then with him pinning from the front and her striking from the flank, the two coordinating to break through Gyutaro's offensive in one go!
Excellent! Just like this!
"Kanae, quickly..."
Having finalized the battle plan in his mind, just as Himejima Gyomei was about to call out to Kanae, Kanae who was treating Uzui Tengen in the distance also spoke at the same time.
"Mr. Tengen! Hang on a bit longer! I'll stop your bleeding right away! Genya! Hold this down for me!"
"Okay!"
Uzui Tengen seemed to be heavily injured, Kanae had been treating him there the whole time, and it looked like the current moment was critical.
Realizing this, Himejima Gyomei fell silent again.