The rock under Yamada's feet exploded, and his figure turned into a black lightning bolt, instantly tearing through the dozen-meter distance and appearing directly in front of Sanemi.
The wooden sword carried a sharp whistle as it tore through the air, slashing straight at Sanemi's carotid artery at an extremely tricky angle.
So fast!
The alarm in Sanemi's brain blared wildly. The speed and power of this sword were a whole level more terrifying than all the previous sparring sessions.
This was truly intended to kill!
Wind Breathing, Second Form: Claws-Purifying Wind!
At the critical moment of life and death, Sanemi let out a roar like a trapped beast.
He didn't retreat. Instead, he gripped the wooden sword with both hands and swung four sharp green wind blades from bottom to top, attempting to clash head-on with Yamada.
However, Yamada's wooden sword paused strangely in mid-air. His wrist flipped, avoiding the strongest point of impact of the wind blades by a hair's breadth, and the sword body slid down the spine of Sanemi's sword, followed by the hilt slamming heavily into Sanemi's chest.
Crack!
The sound of two ribs breaking was clearly audible.
Sanemi spat out a mouthful of blood, his body uncontrollably flying backward.
"Namu Amida Butsu!"
Just as Yamada was preparing to press his advantage, accompanied by a dull sound of breaking wind, Gyomei swept in from the side with his giant flail and broad axe.
Although they were using wooden weapons for special training, the giant wooden ball carved from heavy ironwood in Gyomei's hands still had enough power to crush someone into meat paste.
Stone Breathing, Third Form: Stone Skin!
"Good physique, but your movements are too straightforward."
Yamada tapped his feet, his figure leaping lightly into mid-air, not only avoiding the sweep of the flail but also stepping directly onto the thick chain connecting the weapons.
Following the trajectory of the chain, Yamada instantly closed in on Gyomei's face, the tip of the wooden sword pointing straight at the blind monk's glabella.
Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm!
Seeing Gyomei in crisis, Giyu finally entered the battlefield.
A circle of calm, mirror-like blue water waves appeared around him. This technique, which could dissolve all techniques and physical attacks that entered its range into absolute defense, was pushed to the limit at this moment.
The moment the wooden sword pierced into the water waves, Yamada felt a slight resistance. But it was just a slight one.
"So-called absolute defense is only because you haven't encountered absolute power that can pierce through the limit."
Yamada chuckled, the muscles in his right hand gripping the sword exerting force suddenly.
Relying on his terrifying wrist strength, he forcibly pressed down on Giyu's wooden sword, along with that circle of blue water waves, slamming heavily onto Giyu's shoulder.
Bang!
Giyu groaned, kneeling on one knee, his shoulder bones letting out a moan.
In a brief exchange, the three strongest Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps were once again completely suppressed. And this time, they truly felt the shadow of death.
Sanemi, lying on the ground, spat out blood, his broken ribs piercing his lungs. He looked at Yamada's black pupils, which lacked any emotional fluctuation, and knew the other party's words just now were definitely not a joke.
He would die.
He would really be killed by this man.
"What kind of joke is this..."
Sanemi's hands dug into the gravel on the ground, his fingernails curling back and oozing blood.
That sense of powerlessness when facing an Upper Rank, that humiliation of watching his companions fall while being unable to do anything, churned wildly in his mind.
"How can I die here! I still have to tear Muzan into pieces!"
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Sanemi's heart began to beat wildly at an overloaded frequency.
One hundred fifty, one hundred eighty, two hundred!
Boiling blood surged through his blood vessels, his body temperature climbed sharply, and the surrounding air even became slightly distorted due to the high heat he radiated.
"Move!!!"
Sanemi let out a roar of fury that didn't sound human, forcefully enduring the excruciating pain of broken bones and leaping up from the ground.
The moment he stood up, on his right cheek, a Demon Slayer Mark resembling a rotating pinwheel appeared and quickly spread to the corner of his eye.
Demon Slayer Mark, awakened!
Accompanied by the appearance of the Demon Slayer Mark, Sanemi's speed and power underwent an explosive increase in an instant.
He cast aside his pain, turning into a cyan tornado, and killed his way toward Yamada again.
Wind Breathing, Seventh Form: Gale, Sudden Gusts!
Countless violent wind blades wove into an airtight net, its power more than double what it was just a moment ago.
Almost at the same time, Gyomei, who had been suppressed by Yamada, also felt a strange resonance.
The muscles in his arms bulged high, and his body temperature broke through the critical point. A Demon Slayer Mark, resembling cracks in rock, spread from his forearm to his chest.
"Namu Amida Butsu! Sever the karma!"
Gyomei, having activated the Demon Slayer Mark, saw his strength reach a terrifying level.
He yanked the chain, forcibly breaking free from Yamada's suppression, and the giant ironwood flail brought a sonic boom as it tore through the air, smashing down fiercely from behind Yamada.
A pincer attack, and a Hashira-level finishing move with the Demon Slayer Mark activated!
Facing this attack that looked like something, Yamada didn't act arrogant and resist head-on again.
His figure flickered like a phantom, and a second before the wind blades collided with the flail, he abruptly rose from the ground and leaped into mid-air.
Boom!
The wind blades and the wooden ball collided fiercely where Yamada had originally stood, and the violent shockwave blasted a huge crater into the flat rocky ground, sending gravel flying everywhere.
Yamada turned in mid-air and landed steadily on a boulder a dozen meters away.
He looked at the panting Sanemi and Gyomei, who had Demon Slayer Marks on their faces, and casually threw the wooden sword, which was already covered in cracks, onto the ground.
"Assessment over."
Yamada's voice returned to flatness, and the suffocating killing intent around him dissipated without a trace.
"Not bad. Finally forced this power out."
Hearing these words, the taut Sanemi and Gyomei finally relaxed.
The overdraft of power brought by the Demon Slayer Mark instantly backlashed.
Sanemi's legs went soft, and he fell backward onto the ground, panting heavily, having no strength left to even move a finger.
Gyomei also put down his weapon, sat cross-legged on the ground, his chest heaving violently.