Moon Breathing.
Flame Breathing.
Third Form: Flame Moon Eradication!
Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun—!!!!
The wooden sword arcs in a circular trajectory, meeting the consecutive strikes of the flickering flames with the fury of a raging inferno. Because the strike ascended at an angle rather than a vertical path, the two crescents of blade energy were deflected away.
Flame Breathing.
Third Form: Blazing Universe—!!!
Rengoku followed through instantly from the Second Form, seeking an opening with a massive downward cleave.
Moon Breathing.
First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace.
I countered with a horizontal sweep of my own. As a clash between two possessors of the Slayer Mark, our raw destructive power seemed to be on equal footing... yet, Rengoku's skill clearly eclipsed that of Shimotsuki, the Wind Hashira currently sprawled on the ground over there.
"Enough of that."
It was time to raise the stakes.
"I did not expect to see this much with my eyes closed."
Round two begins.
***
'I did not expect to see this much with my eyes closed.'
The youth, Michikatsu, suddenly closed his eyes. In a battle between masters, where victory and defeat are decided in a heartbeat, a single moment's opening can cost one's life. To shut one's eyes in the heat of a duel is the height of folly! I do not know what Michikatsu-shonen intends, but I doubt it is carelessness... Perhaps he means to show me something?
If that is the case!
Flame Breathing.
Fifth Form: Flame Tiger—!!!
I shall meet his resolve!
A massive tiger wreathed in flames roared and lunged. The sweeping slash, designed to tear flesh like a beast's fangs, aimed directly for Michikatsu's wrists. However—
Clack—!!!
The wooden swords collided, and the tiger was hunted down. Was it a fluke? Or perhaps...
Flame Breathing.
First Form: Unknowing Fire—!!!
Transitioning smoothly from the Tiger's momentum, I pivoted into a horizontal strike. Yet—
Clack—!!!!
With a twist of his body, Michikatsu blocked it again. It was as if...
"It is as if you are predicting the very future!"
His defense was remarkably precise, acting as if he knew exactly how I would strike before I even moved. Then can you avoid this?
Flame Breathing.
Fifth Form: Flame Tiger's Maw—!!!
The great tiger pounced once more. Michikatsu-shonen retreated slightly, evading the strike with ease. But this was not the same Fifth Form I used earlier!
Flame Tiger's Maw is a feint; it lures the eyes with a heavy slash before delivering a hidden, second strike in rapid succession. A tiger does not hunt with its teeth alone. Even if you evade the bite, the claws remain! I swung the 'claws' of the Flame Tiger toward the opening he left after dodging the fangs.
Clack—!!!
!!!!!!
But again, he parried it effortlessly. Pushing his wooden sword against mine in a test of strength, Michikatsu-shonen finally opened his eyes.
"Rengoku Tenjuro. Do I look like a prophet to you now?"
What did he say?
He shoved my blade back to create distance.
"The Transparent World. One must look through the flow, see within the body, and take it all in."
The Transparent World! That was the domain Michikatsu-shonen claimed to have reached! The state where one can feel every sense of both themselves and the opponent, peering through the inner workings of the physical body!
"If you can see the interior of the body—the alignment of bones, the contraction of muscles, the flow of blood..."
"Then seeing through the flow of my attacks would be simple indeed!"
Michikatsu-shonen nodded and took a stance.
"The Demon known as Upper Rank Zero I fought previously was stronger than a Hashira. If there are twelve more entities of that caliber out there right now..."
Moon Breathing.
Ninth Form: Wolsa, God-Killing Spear.
"The Demon Slayer Corps is finished."
He closed the gap with terrifying speed, reminiscent of Thunder Breathing. It was too fast! He was coming in a straight line, yet he was invisible to the eye! In that case—!
Flame Breathing.
Fourth Form: Blooming Flame Wave...
Clack!
I attempted a wide defensive sweep to shield my front and sides, but I could not block it entirely. Had I not tilted my neck by pure instinct, I don't know what would have happened!
"Truly fierce, Michikatsu-shonen!"
"That is why you must reach the Transparent World as soon as possible, Lord Rengoku."
"The sentiment is mutual!"
Flame Breathing.
I would have it no other way!
First Form: Unknowing Fire—!!!!
***
We exchanged dozens of blows. When a wooden sword shattered, Shimotsuki threw us a spare. I focused on the path to the Transparent World while maintaining the dance.
Moon Breathing.
Sixth Form: Everlasting Night, Lonely Moon: Avici.
While the Slayer Mark has clear conditions—a heart rate over 200 and a body temperature above 39 degrees—this 'world' has no such map. I reached it naturally simply because I was on the verge of death.
Flame Breathing.
Sixth Form: Ryujin Jakka—!!!
It sounds absurd, but surely it is better than Yoriichi's 'I have had it since I was born.'
Is the condition to cross the border of death? I doubt it. If that were the case, every Hashira would have attained it by now. Though they haven't faced monsters like the prototypes of the Twelve Kizuki until now, the Corps is a gathering of humans so strong they hunted Demons with nothing but Nichirin Blades before I ever taught them Breathing. Crossing the border of death is a daily occurrence here.
Then what is it? Must one possess Sun Breathing? No, I use Moon Breathing and I have reached it. Then, must one cross the border of death while the Mark is active and a Breathing Style is mastered? That might be closer to the truth. When I faced Upper Rank Zero, I achieved it when staring down death while my Mark was manifested and my Breathing was at its peak.
The worst assumption would be that it is a realm reserved only for those like Yoriichi and myself, whose Marks are permanent. But a groundless intuition tells me that is not the case. I was missing something fundamental.
I have entered that world twice. Once, temporarily, when I manifested my Mark and used Moon Breathing, Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ring Tail with the resolve to shatter Yoriichi's sword. The second was permanently, during the fight with Upper Rank Zero when I used the Seventh Form: Kyoka Suigetsu in a do-or-die gamble.
I had to find the common thread. What I felt and what I did before entering that world. I watched Rengoku silently as our swords clashed, my Moon parrying his Flame. A commonality...
I faced his flames as they lunged at me with unyielding heat. Common...
Hooooo....
Haaaaaaa—!!!!
Moon Breathing.
Flame Breathing.
Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ring Tail.
First Form: Unknowing Fire—!!!!
And as I faced the very first spark of Flame he ever showed me, I remembered. Yes, that was it. The source of the dissonance. When I entered the Transparent World—whether briefly or permanently—there was a sensation I had overlooked.
I had discarded everything to focus solely on cutting Yoriichi's wooden sword.
I had discarded everything to focus solely on evading the Demon's strike.
Was it not the same back then? Seven years ago, when I discovered my own Moon Breathing within the Sun? Ignoring the gears that refused to click together, I wanted to find my own breath, yet I was paradoxically stubborn about wanting to use Sun Breathing as it was. In those three foolish years from age seven to ten, where I forced myself to walk a path that wasn't mine...
'Why don't you try swinging your sword however your heart desires?'
After forcing a body that had mastered Sun Breathing to discard its pride, discarding the unnecessary, and breathing and swinging as my heart dictated—that was how Moon Breathing was born. The Transparent World is the same.
It is not something you struggle to reach. It is not something attained merely by surviving death. It is not something granted just for mastering Breathing or manifesting a Mark. Those are merely the gates. If you have seen and absorbed much through countless deaths and experiences...
"One must discard."
You are used to that, aren't you? Not like me, who lived near the Sun but could not find my own Moon for three years. You found your own Flame within the Sun Breathing instantly. Just as you found your own path within the Sun, you must pare away the unnecessary. To draw maximum power from the minimum motion, keep only what is required and close off the rest.
Yes.
"The 'Transparent World' is not the power to 'see the flow.' It is the power to 'alter the flow.'"