Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for just $7 to get early access to all upcoming chapters!
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations
─────
Chapter 95: I Am Your Sister's Ex-Boyfriend
"How is this possible?" Shinobu blurted out, staring at Suyan, who stood bathed in sunlight without sustaining any damage whatsoever.
"Saeko-senpai, come back." Ignoring her question, Suyan called out to the purple-haired girl battling Giyuu nearby.
Upon hearing this, Saeko decisively abandoned her opponent and returned to Suyan's side, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him in the warm sunlight.
Suyan asked for her thoughts on the Breathing Style. "How does it feel?"
Saeko pondered for a moment before replying, "It's alright, but the attack patterns feel a bit rigid."
"Rigid, huh?" Hearing Saeko's assessment, Suyan couldn't help but agree. "Indeed."
From his own experience during the fight, Suyan had clearly felt the same limitation. Breathing Styles were far too restrictive. They only unleashed their maximum power when combining a specific breathing rhythm with its designated sword form. This completely stripped away the flexibility and adaptability that a real battle required, confining one's technique entirely to the rigid forms they had memorized.
Combat was supposed to be free. Especially for someone like Saeko, who genuinely enjoyed the thrill of battle and slaughter. Being bogged down by rote, step-by-step movements in the heat of a fight was undoubtedly an unbearable constraint for her.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni had managed to create a system that granted ordinary humans the power to stand against demons, transforming them from prey into hunters. He was, without a doubt, a peerless genius.
However, while creating this system, Breathing Styles inherently bottlenecked every swordsman who learned them later. Once they acquired a style, they were forced down a narrow path, passively drawing upon their life energy. The most they could achieve was modifying certain forms to better suit themselves. Beyond that, there was zero room for advancement.
Let alone freely manipulating their life energy like a Nen user. Throughout their entire lives, the absolute peak a Breathing Style swordsman could reach was likely nowhere near Yoriichi's baseline when he first invented Sun Breathing.
"Why?" Shinobu demanded, watching the two chat casually as if she didn't exist. "Why are you perfectly fine standing in the sun?"
"Because we aren't demons," Suyan replied softly, a smile playing on his lips.
Why had he stopped Tanjiro from explaining earlier? First, it allowed him to test the mechanics and power of Breathing Styles through actual combat. Second, dawn was fast approaching, and what better, more indisputable proof was there than literally bathing in sunlight in front of them? Third, regardless of the world, strength was the ultimate currency. Only by displaying a fraction of his power could he earn the necessary respect—especially from Hashira, who stood at the absolute pinnacle of human strength in this world.
Killing three birds with one stone—why wouldn't he?
Shinobu blinked in dazed confusion, completely at a loss for how to react. She eventually turned to the approaching Giyuu and asked, "Mr. Tomioka, could you please explain what is going on?"
Come to think of it, the only reason she had assumed Suyan was a demon was because of Giyuu's warning, right? Combined with Suyan deliberately using her sister's name to provoke her... otherwise, she never would have been so impulsive.
"Then what about them?" Giyuu ignored Shinobu's question and pointed to Kamado Kie and the others, who were bound by silver chains in the shade nearby.
"Oh, them." Suyan spoke calmly, as if discussing something entirely trivial. "Because they are demons."
Giyuu pressed on, "Then why haven't you killed them?"
Hearing this, Tanjiro and Nezuko hurried over from the sidelines.
"You can't!" Tanjiro protested vehemently. "Even if they've been turned into demons, they are my family!"
"Is that so? How tragic, having your precious family turned into man-eating monsters." Now that the situation was somewhat clarified, Shinobu's signature smile returned to her face. However, her deep-seated loathing for demons remained entirely undiminished.
She immediately spoke in a breezy tone, "Since that's the case, why don't I inject them with a gentle poison and let them die peacefully without any pain?"
With that, she took a step toward Kie and the others.
Tanjiro stepped out, physically blocking her path. "I will absolutely not let you harm my family!"
"Suyan-niisan~" Nezuko immediately latched onto Suyan's arm, fully weaponizing her cuteness as she looked up at him with big, pleading eyes.
Shinobu asked, "Sir, since you know how to use Breathing Styles, you should be fully aware of what demons are, correct?"
This was the reality of their power dynamic. Having witnessed Suyan's strength, even if Shinobu wanted to act, she was forced to gauge his reaction first.
"So what if I do?" Suyan replied dismissively. "Others might have the right to kill them, but the Demon Slayer Corps is the one exception that doesn't."
Giyuu questioned further, "Why do you say that?"
Upon hearing this, Suyan placed a hand on Tanjiro's back and gently pushed him forward to face Giyuu. "Because for over four hundred years, the Kamado family has preserved and passed down Sun Breathing—the original style created by Yoriichi Tsugikuni—on behalf of the Demon Slayer Corps."
"If you want to kill his family, shouldn't you first hear what the inheritor of Sun Breathing has to say?"
"That's right!" Nezuko declared proudly, clinging tightly to Suyan's arm. "Suyan-niisan and Saeko-neechan were just using Sun Breathing that they learned from my brother!"
"Is that so?" Giyuu's eyes widened slightly in shock. If it's the legendary, most powerful Sun Breathing, then everything makes sense.
While he, too, hated demons, he didn't share Shinobu's trauma of having his closest family member die in his arms. As a result, he remained far more rational and level-headed when handling situations like this compared to Shinobu.
Giyuu pondered for a moment before deciding, "This isn't something I have the authority to decide. If possible, I want you all to come back with me to meet the Master."
"The Master of the Demon Slayer Corps? Sure." Suyan didn't refuse.
While he had no interest in the Corps itself and cared even less for their so-called Master, he was highly interested in Lady Tamayo, the demon who eventually developed the cure that turned Nezuko back into a human. If he could bring her under his wing and have her work for him... paired with the Blue Spider Lily, she might even be able to concoct a drug that suppressed a demon's craving for human flesh. If that happened, the viability of using Muzan's demonic blood to grant immortality would skyrocket. At the moment, besides meeting the head of the Demon Slayer Corps, Suyan couldn't think of a better way to locate her.
"Is it already decided?" Shinobu sighed, sounding a bit disappointed. "It seems whatever I say now is useless?"
If Giyuu had sided with her, it might have been different, but alone, she had zero chance of winning. Moreover... the legendary strongest style, Sun Breathing. If the Demon Slayer Corps could secure such a thing, the day she could finally avenge her sister might not be far off.
At that thought, Shinobu looked at Suyan and asked, "Sir, there's one thing I've been incredibly curious about since earlier. Could you please answer it for me?"
"How exactly do you know my sister's name?"
"Miss Shinobu." Hearing her question, a wicked surge of amusement welled up inside Suyan. The corners of his mouth curled into a playful, teasing smirk. "If I told you I was actually your sister's ex-boyfriend... would you believe me?"
─────
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations