That afternoon, the Wind Hashira's small courtyard was covered in dust and debris from their intense sparring session. Seiichi countered every single move with precision, occasionally offering guidance and demonstrating techniques to help improve their skills.
Later in the session, even Mitsuri joined in on the fun, eager to test her own abilities against the others.
Several days had passed since that memorable sparring session. During these busy days, Seiichi had successively visited Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Hashira, and Giyu Tomioka, the Water Hashira. He gained tremendous knowledge and experience after sparring with both of these skilled warriors.
Giyu Tomioka was exactly as Seiichi remembered from his previous knowledge. He appeared cold and distant on the outside but was genuinely warm-hearted deep down, though he struggled greatly with expressing himself through words.
Seiichi's friendly visit had somehow seemed like a challenge or provocation when filtered through Giyu's awkward communication style. Fortunately, Seiichi understood his unique personality quite well. Otherwise, he might have truly thought that Giyu was being arrogant or dismissive.
"Open panel."
A familiar translucent screen appeared before his eyes, displaying his current statistics and abilities.
Name: Seiichi
Strength: Tier 1
Spiritual Power: 240 / 240
Basic Skills: Japanese Mastery (900 / 7500), Basic Swordsmanship - Masterful (40000 / 50000), Introductory Medicine and Poison (1000 / 10000)
Supernatural Abilities: Sun Breathing - Total Concentration (8000 / 10000), Water Breathing - Total Concentration (1656 / 10000), Sound Breathing - Total Concentration (1999 / 10000), Love Breathing - Total Concentration (56 / 10000), Thunder Breathing - Constant (600 / 1000), Wind Breathing - Constant (600 / 1000)...
Sun Breathing - Constant (10 / 10000), Red Nichirin Sword - Introductory (1000 / 10000)
Temporary Talent: Close to the Way
Evaluation: Tier 1 Elite!
It was an extremely luxurious and impressive status panel. Seiichi's overall strength had increased dramatically once again. One must understand that he hadn't even been in this Demon Slayer world for a full month yet, which clearly demonstrated just how incredibly powerful his "Close to the Way" talent really was.
I seriously suspect that this amazing talent might only be available during the beginner's protection period of the first world, he thought to himself with some concern about future adventures.
"Consolidate all Breathing Styles except Sun Breathing into a single unified technique."
The status panel blurred and became fuzzy for a brief moment, then gradually became crystal clear once again.
Supernatural Abilities: Void Breathing - Total Concentration (8000 / 10000), Sun Breathing - Constant (10 / 10000), Red Nichirin Sword - Proficient (1000 / 10000), Normal Breathing (Expand)
Temporary Talent: Close to the Way
The other Breathing Styles that had reached the Total Concentration level unfortunately did not bring him much additional increase in raw strength. However, this result was not entirely beyond his expectations, because if it were truly possible to stack beneficial effects like this indefinitely, then all demons would have been completely wiped out long ago.
The spiritual energy in this world should definitely have an upper limit, Seiichi reasoned analytically. The upper limit for ordinary humans should be approximately what I have achieved now. Well, Yoriichi Tsugikuni doesn't really count as a normal human being, so he's an exception.
For demons, the upper limit of power might be significantly higher than humans.
Seiichi carefully felt the surging, profound spiritual energy flowing within his body like a deep abyss or a vast, endless ocean.
The increase in power from Sun Breathing had been much higher than he had initially expected. It truly lived up to its legendary reputation as the original and strongest Breathing Style in existence.
Although his Normal Breathing had achieved higher proficiency levels through practice, its power increase wasn't quite as pure and concentrated as traditional Sun Breathing.
The experience points for Sun Breathing had been obtained by Seiichi through carefully reverse-engineering and analyzing more than a dozen different Breathing Styles. Compared to learning other Breathing Styles directly, Sun Breathing progressed much more slowly and required more effort.
Of course, this slow progress wasn't because his "Close to the Way" talent wasn't powerful enough. It was simply because there was no formal Sun Breathing technique manual or instructor available to him.
While his system claimed to be restoring the original Sun Breathing, in practical terms it was almost no different from completely reinventing a brand new Sun Breathing Style from scratch.
"Lord Sun Hashira, it's time for you to depart. You can proceed to the Hashira Meeting location now."
A Kakushi member outside his door politely reminded Seiichi of his important appointment.
Seiichi looked up at the position of the sun in the clear blue sky, secured his sword properly at his waist, and set off toward the meeting with determined steps.
In the elegant courtyard of the Ubuyashiki family residence, eight Hashira had already gathered and were waiting patiently.
Standing in formation from the entrance centerline was Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Hashira, followed by Sanemi Shinazugawa, the Wind Hashira, then Giyu Tomioka, the Water Hashira, Tengen Uzui, the Sound Hashira, Obanai Iguro, the Serpent Hashira, Muichiro Tokito, the Mist Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, the Love Hashira, and finally Shinobu Kocho, the Insect Hashira.
The eight powerful warriors stood together in perfect formation, their unique and intimidating aura as Hashira spreading throughout the entire courtyard. If there were any demon present in this place, it would likely be so completely suppressed by their combined presence that it wouldn't dare to move a single muscle.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat calmly and peacefully on the raised platform in the backyard, with his devoted wife Amane Ubuyashiki positioned respectfully beside him.
"I shouldn't be late, should I?"
Seiichi slowly and confidently walked in through the backyard entrance. Instantly, the focused gazes of all eight Hashira converged directly on him with intense curiosity and evaluation.
Human eyes also possess tremendous power and influence. If a person's mind isn't pure enough or their willpower isn't strong enough, they might reveal their true nature and hidden weaknesses under the collective, penetrating gaze of thousands.
Although there weren't thousands of people present here, each individual Hashira possessed the strength and presence to stand against a thousand ordinary soldiers, making their combined attention even more formidable and intimidating than facing thousands of regular people.
Facing everyone's intense and evaluating gaze, Seiichi only felt like a gentle breeze was flowing around him. His confident steps did not falter or hesitate for even a moment. Within just a few seconds, he was already standing proudly beside the other Hashira as an equal.
"No, you're not late at all. There's still some time remaining before we officially begin the meeting. It seems we were the ones who arrived early and rushed here. Cough, cough!"
Kagaya's gentle voice was interrupted by a brief coughing fit that showed his declining health.
"Hashira Meetings are only held when absolutely necessary and urgent. I have called everyone here today because there are two extremely important matters that I need to inform all of you about."
Amane gently and lovingly stroked Kagaya's back, helping to soothe his labored breathing and provide comfort.
All nine Hashira standing below listened with solemn attention and complete respect.
"First, through the combined efforts of six brave members—Seiichi-kun, Tengen-kun, Tanjiro Kamado, Nezuko Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, and Inosuke Hashibira—Upper Moon Six has been successfully slain! This represents a great victory that is completely unprecedented in hundreds of years of our organization's history!"
Even the usually calm and composed Kagaya could not restrain his genuine excitement and joy at this moment