Chapter 169 — The Flame Hashira's Mark!
Tanjiro was startled, then immediately turned around to look at Zenitsu, who was still sleeping, and Inosuke, who had just awakened.
He made his decision at once.
"Inosuke, you and Zenitsu have to protect the passengers on the train!"
With that, Tanjiro rushed out.
Rumble—
Under the night sky, the train let out a mournful roar as it sped along.
Three figures fell from the speeding steel beast.
"Who are you? Why are you trying to kill Tanjiro?"
Kyojuro questioned Akaza, finally asking the question that had troubled him for so long.
Akaza sneered.
"I don't believe I have any obligation to tell you, do I? Do you really think forcing me off the train will get you the answer you want?"
"Fool!"
Akaza bared his teeth.
"You're going to die."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The instant they landed, the Flame Hashira launched the first attack.
"Flame Breathing, Fifth Form — Flame Tiger!"
As his voice fell, a massive tiger formed from flames instantly appeared behind the Flame Hashira.
Fortunately, Kyojuro had learned Flame Breathing from Ren.
He had a feeling that if he fought Akaza using Flame Breathing, his chances of victory would be extremely slim.
In a battle between humans and demons, humans were inherently at a disadvantage.
Unless a human possessed overwhelming strength, a demon could simply continue regenerating, turning the battle into a prolonged war of attrition.
As time passed, the human would inevitably lose to the demon.
More specifically, it was the demon's regenerative ability that made victory so difficult.
Furthermore, most demons had spent centuries evolving, while most Demon Slayer Corps members were still young.
Demons strengthened themselves by devouring humans.
Humans, meanwhile, had to train relentlessly day and night.
Even so, even if a human's strength caught up to that of a demon, when their physical abilities were roughly equal, the human still couldn't defeat the demon.
A demon would only die when its neck was severed.
A human, on the other hand, could die from severe injuries.
It had never been a fair fight.
Kyojuro knew that today's battle might very well be a one-way journey.
But as a Hashira, he had to possess the resolve worthy of one.
"I never expected you to be this strong!"
Seeing the Flame Hashira's Flame Tiger, Akaza finally began to feel fear.
That was extremely rare.
In the original battle between Akaza and the Flame Hashira, although the two had fought fiercely, anyone with enough insight could tell that Akaza was actually enjoying the battle.
Akaza had never suffered a serious injury.
Aside from Kyojuro's final desperate attack, "Flame Breathing — Rengoku," Akaza hadn't even been left with anything more than superficial wounds.
But now, he was facing Flame Breathing.
Akaza didn't dare lower his guard.
This was also the first time he had encountered a Breathing Style capable of producing actual flames.
It felt strange to him.
"Technique deployment!"
Boom!
Taking advantage of the opening created by their clash, Akaza instantly released his domain.
And then came his signature move.
"Destructive Death: Compass Needle!"
Once activated, a twelve-pointed snowflake pattern appeared beneath Akaza's feet.
This was the core of Akaza's Blood Demon Art.
Like a compass, it sensed an opponent's fighting spirit, allowing Akaza's attacks and evasive movements to become extraordinarily precise, as though drawn toward their target by a magnet.
The stronger an opponent's fighting spirit, the stronger the compass's reaction—and the greater the corresponding power and accuracy.
However, against someone without fighting spirit, or someone who had concealed their fighting spirit—in other words, someone who had activated the Transparent World—the Compass Needle couldn't sense them.
But that didn't matter.
Akaza had never encountered an opponent like that before.
The next moment—
When the Flame Hashira's Flame Tiger entered the range of the Compass Needle, the compass began shaking violently!
"Interesting!"
Akaza even roared excitedly.
"This is really interesting! It's been a long time since I've encountered such a powerful opponent!"
"Destructive Death: Annihilation Type!"
This was a long-range attack.
After activating it, Akaza unleashed six punches into empty space in rapid succession, moving so quickly that they were invisible to the naked eye.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A fierce barrage of six consecutive strikes erupted in rapid succession.
They were so fast that Kyojuro could hear only a single sound.
Yet six shockwaves attacked him simultaneously!
"So fast!"
Kyojuro couldn't help being shocked.
Their techniques collided, and an enormous explosion instantly erupted throughout the forest!
Under the terrifying heat of the Flame Tiger, even the residual force of the shockwaves was completely dissipated.
"I'm curious."
Akaza looked at him with great interest.
"As far as I know, I've lived for several hundred years, yet I've never seen a Breathing technique like this."
"Did you create it yourself? After all, even swordsmen who were extremely powerful in the past were injured by the residual force of my shockwaves."
"Throughout all these years, you're the first person I've encountered who has endured more than two of my attacks."
"Hmph!"
The Flame Hashira's eyes widened, his killing intent unmistakable.
"Then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. This Breathing Style wasn't created by me."
"Oh?"
Akaza's smile became even brighter.
"So it has another master?"
Akaza was a martial arts enthusiast.
Hearing that there was another martial artist of this caliber within the Demon Slayer Corps immediately excited him.
He spoke eagerly.
"Tell me who that person is. Tell me, and I won't kill you. How about it?"
To his surprise, Kyojuro merely shook his head coldly.
"You aren't worthy."
The instant Akaza heard those words, his expression turned icy.
If words weren't going to work—
Then they would fight!
After their brief exchanges, Akaza's interest in Kyojuro only grew stronger.
"Become a demon, Kyojuro! It's such a waste for someone as powerful as you to remain human! You're the most talented human I've ever encountered!"
Akaza's original mission had been to find Enmu.
His decision to kill Tanjiro had merely been an impulse after noticing the flame-patterned earrings he wore.
But he had never expected to gain something extra.
If he could turn Kyojuro into a demon, wouldn't he gain another opponent in the future?
Then he could join forces with Kyojuro to capture Ren.
What a perfect plan!
"I will absolutely never become a demon!"
Unexpectedly, Kyojuro rejected Akaza's offer once again.
"No matter what happens, I will always choose to remain human. I will never become a demon. If I had to describe my relationship with demons, it would be a battle to the death!"
At that moment, Ren's figure once again appeared in Kyojuro's mind.
The young man's actions and conduct had left a profound impression on him.
He remembered training together with Ren.
He remembered how, in order to protect the Butterfly Mansion of the Demon Slayer Corps, another person had willingly sacrificed himself and allowed himself to be captured by a demon.
With such resolve—
How could he, the Flame Hashira, possibly fall behind?
At that moment, Ren's image seemed to overlap with Kyojuro's own!
He understood.
Boom!
In an instant, an immense power erupted from Kyojuro's body.
A violent gust of wind swept through the entire forest.
Under the night sky, amid the cold wind—
Flames ignited in the darkness.
Like stars.
Like the sun.
Like the human heart!
In Akaza's eyes, Kyojuro's fighting spirit seemed to burn with tangible substance.
Then, a dazzling flame ignited at the base of Kyojuro's neck!
"What is that?!"
Akaza's eyes widened.
"A demon-like mark?!"