No—Gyomei quickly corrected himself.
More accurately, why was there only half of Kairo Retsu left?
Right now, Kairo looked as if he had been cleaved at the waist. His lower half had flown off somewhere unknown, leaving only his upper body beside them.
"Grandmaster, you…"
Tengen Uzui instinctively tried to help Kairo look for his lower half—but Kairo stopped him.
"No need. My butt's already gone. Doesn't even hurt."
Kairo's face was noticeably pale—a physical reaction to blood loss.
"I realized something: getting cut in half… actually doesn't hurt that much. The whole wound's gone numb… I can't feel a thing…"
As Kairo said this, Naofumi Iwatani was already drinking a healing potion in the distance.
The medicine's power once again took effect within the Infinity Castle, working on the humans present.
Sanemi's severed fingers and Muichiro's sliced wrist were fully regenerated, and even Kairo—reduced to just an upper half—began to regenerate from the waist down…
Not only did his body return, but even his strange equipment fully reformed.
"Such terrifying regenerative power…"
Kokushibo stared at the fully restored Kairo—but he realized something.
"You… deceived me?"
Kokushibo understood now—Kairo didn't possess the overwhelming combat ability he had imagined.
In fact, the slash that cut Kairo in half just now had simply slipped through Gyomei's defense. Kairo hadn't even reacted before being bisected.
"When did I deceive you?"
Kairo looked at Kokushibo in confusion.
"Where was the deception?"
"You can't even fight!!"
Kokushibo's blood surged to his head, his fury threatening to erupt skyward.
"You don't have the strength of Yoriichi at all! You're just some guy swinging a sword—a civilian!!"
"Yeah."
Kairo scratched his rear.
"What else did you expect? Didn't I trip and fall on my face the moment I showed up? Wait—"
Kairo suddenly realized something.
"'Don't have the strength of Yoriichi'? Hold up—you actually thought I was strong?!"
Kairo's expression lit up with amusement.
"Me, on the same level as Yoriichi? You serious?"
"You mean that Yoriichi?
Born with Transparent World, downed his sword master as a child, created Breathing Techniques from scratch, slashed Muzan into pulp with 1,300 strikes in an instant—only for some flesh chunks to escape…
The one whose sun earrings left such a psychological scar on Muzan he didn't dare resurface for centuries…
You're talking about that Yoriichi?"
Kairo pointed at himself.
"You're comparing me to him? You can't be serious."
"Silence!"
Kokushibo roared in fury, his hair standing on end.
"You are not worthy of being compared to Yoriichi!!"
"He was chosen by heaven! A man radiant like the sun! Flawless in both virtue and strength—a perfect human being!!"
Kokushibo shouted in rage.
"You—someone like you—has no right to be mentioned in the same breath as him!"
"?"
Kairo slowly held up a question mark with his fingers.
"You hype Yoriichi even harder than I do."
"But… do I look like someone who can fight?"
He pointed at himself and turned to the others.
"Don't I just look like a kind-hearted civilian from peacetime? Look at this clear, idiotic face of mine!"
"..."
Uzui and Sanemi fell silent.
Honestly, Kairo looked a bit older than them. They didn't really want to comment—and weren't sure why he was going on about being "pure-hearted."
Muichiro asked plainly,
"Were those words you said earlier also spoken from a place of… pure-heartedness?"
"Trash talk doesn't count as a problem…"
Kairo tried to downplay it with a hint of awkwardness.
But Gyomei spoke up.
"Grandmaster, I understand why."
He stood behind Kairo with his massive two-meter frame, still facing off against Kokushibo.
From Gyomei and Kokushibo's perspective, they could clearly see the flow of flesh, muscle, bones, even blood within all present through the Transparent World.
And here in this domain, even now—the one who emitted the strongest presence was still Kairo Retsu.
"You may not have noticed it yourself, but… among us, you are likely the one who poses the greatest threat to Kokushibo."
Though he couldn't see, Gyomei kept his attention locked on Kokushibo, ready to respond at any moment.
"Even now," Gyomei said,
"He is still wary of you. That's a biological instinct."
"…?"
Kairo blinked, then realized—
"You mean the Transparent World? You can see it too?"
"You're aware of it?" Gyomei was mildly surprised.
"So it's no secret to you, then."
"Nope. This is the first I've heard of it… So that's how it is, huh."
Kairo's face slowly twisted into a wicked grin.
"So, Kokushibo—you're saying that it's the threat you sense in the Transparent World that made you associate me with Yoriichi?"
"..."
Kokushibo didn't respond, but his reaction confirmed it.
Even Kairo himself didn't fully understand how this "threat level" in the Transparent World worked—but now he had a better grasp of the situation.
And as expected, if he wanted to shake Kokushibo's mind, he'd need to keep pushing!
"I believe you, Kokushibo."
Kairo smiled brightly.
"After all, I really am just a weakling. Glad we cleared up that misunderstanding—it'll help you fight us with a clearer conscience, right?"
With that same smile, Kairo walked toward Kokushibo with his longsword in hand.
"I do admire Yoriichi, actually. It's just… he had a pretty low opinion of himself."
As Kairo continued approaching, he said:
"As a child, he thought he was cursed. All he wanted was a quiet life with his wife and child.
In the end, he felt he was useless—a man who couldn't protect anyone important to him…"
"Shut up!!!"
Kokushibo snapped, rage boiling again.
"What do you know about Yoriichi?!"
"I know plenty!
Just like… I know your story, too."
Kairo smiled—like a devil whispering poison.
"Everything I've said—all of it really happened in the past.
Because…"
"You should know full well… whether I've been lying or not, right?"