Chapter 10: Wind vs. Wind
Within the Demon Slayer Corps, members are expressly forbidden from attacking one another without cause.
But Asuka wasn't a member of the Corps—
and Shinazugawa Sanemi had never been a Hashira who bothered much with rules.
The force transmitted through the scabbard was so overwhelming it nearly tore the wooden sword from Asuka's hands!
He clenched his teeth, veins bulging along his arms as he fought with everything he had to resist that inhuman strength.
"Hiss—"
A sharp, suppressed breath escaped his nose and mouth as he activated the Total Concentration Breathing taught by Arasaki Tetsushin, trying to use the bodily reinforcement it granted to hold down the white-haired man before him.
"Heh."
Sanemi snorted—and casually flicked his wrist.
HUM—
A violent green vortex surged through the scabbard!
Asuka's arms went numb instantly. His grip faltered, the heavy wooden blade nearly slipping free as his balance collapsed and his body staggered backward.
And in that same instant—
The tip of Sanemi's scabbard slammed mercilessly into Asuka's shoulder!
THUD!
The blow landed cleanly. Asuka was hurled off his feet and smashed into the cold, hard earth.
Sanemi strolled forward at his leisure, his tall figure blotting out the sunlight, the shadow he cast swallowing Asuka whole.
"What's wrong?" he sneered.
"Is this all Hayama's training produces? A weak-kneed runt like you? If that'd been a demon just now, you'd already be dead."
The words were cruel—but painfully real.
In a true fight, no one waits for you to set your stance. Everything happens in the blink of an eye.
But Asuka didn't lie there obediently, letting Sanemi's vicious laughter echo.
The moment he hit the ground, he instinctively circulated the Breath of Wind, wrapping the faint green current it generated around his wrist. Using the momentum of his fall, he planted a hand—
—and exploded upward!
BAM!!
Asuka slammed head-first into Sanemi's chin, knocking the Wind Hashira flat onto his back!
Without giving him a moment to recover, Asuka gripped his wooden sword tight and, riding that surge of momentum, brought it crashing down toward Sanemi's falling body!
"…This kid—"
From the shade of the trees, Arasaki Tetsushin watched the exchange, genuine shock flickering through his eyes.
Channeling the Breath of Wind around one's body—adding cutting force to barehanded or close-range strikes—was a technique only those who had already mastered the breath would even begin to touch.
It wasn't that Arasaki had been withholding instruction.
Asuka was still refining his Wind sword forms; Arasaki hadn't yet taught him this concept at all.
And yet—
Just from seeing Shinazugawa Sanemi use wind-infused scabbard strikes in combat, he'd grasped the method immediately?
"You little brat!"
Sanemi hissed, jaw throbbing as pain flared—but surprise flashed unmistakably in his eyes.
He didn't draw his blade.
Instead, wrapped in the currents of the Breath of Wind, Shinazugawa Sanemi surged forward with nothing but fists and feet!
BAM! BAM! BAM!
His body twisted through the air in an exaggerated arc—not only evading Asuka's full-force downward strike, but immediately entangling him in close combat!
Dull, heavy impacts echoed across the clearing. At first, Sanemi deliberately held back, intending only to test the boy's level. But Asuka fought like a desperate street brawler—every move vicious, every angle treacherous, strikes aimed straight for Sanemi's chest and abdomen without the slightest hesitation!
Forced to respond, Sanemi had no choice but to gradually increase his strength, and the balance of the exchange began to tilt sharply against Asuka.
At last, under a particularly tricky slash, Sanemi clicked his tongue and unwillingly swung his scabbard again, intercepting the blow with a ringing vibration.
"Hey! Kid—are you serious right now?"
"..."
Asuka didn't answer.
Sanemi's patience wore thin. This farce had gone on long enough.
CLANG—!!
In a blink, his Nichirin blade flashed free—its green, serrated wind-pattern gleaming as the engraved words "Slay Evil Demons" flickered with an ominous light.
"Let me see what you've really learned from the old man," Sanemi growled.
"Breath of Wind—First Form—"
No—!
From the shadows, Arasaki Tetsushin felt his heart jolt. His body blurred as he lunged to intervene.
That idiot—still as reckless and hot-headed as ever!
Two terrible tempers crashing head-on…
Asuka felt it too.
The white-haired man's presence changed instantly—an unmistakable sign that a terrifying strike was being forged!
The spiritual pressure around Asuka screamed in warning, surging wildly, urging him to flee—
But instead, he did something that made even Arasaki freeze in shock.
Asuka threw away the wooden sword.
He tore open the cloth bindings across his chest, and in the very instant Sanemi's thrusting wind blade began to condense—
CLANG!
Midair, he ripped free the battered long sword.
"Fang Thrust!"
A savage, gray-black vortex exploded along the edge of Asuka's ruined blade, howling with a tearing wind!
CLANG—!! BOOM!!
Gray blade-light and emerald wind pressure collided head-on!
The impact thundered like a bolt from the earth itself. Violent air currents detonated outward from the two of them!
Dust, grass, and shattered stone were hurled skyward, forming a murky vortex several meters wide. Birds burst screaming from the surrounding forest.
The ground shook violently. Cracks spiderwebbed outward, the shockwave rippling so far that even the disciples on Hayama's front slopes felt the tremor!
SHRRK! SHRRK!
Sanemi's tough uniform sleeve split open. Thin lines of blood traced across his bronze, corded arm!
Asuka fared no better.
The wind blades born of their collision ran completely wild, shredding clothes and flesh alike. But Asuka's injuries were worse—deeper cuts, more of them.
BOOM!
With a final explosive roar, the vortex collapsed.
Sanemi staggered a few steps but managed to stay upright.
Asuka wasn't so lucky.
His body was flung away like debris, slamming hard into the thick trunk of an ancient tree. Leaves cascaded down in a roaring shower.
Though he'd clearly overpowered the boy, Sanemi felt no satisfaction.
He frowned and looked down at his arm.
Getting injured by a trainee was one thing—fine, maybe the old man really had picked a worthy successor—
But this wound…
It didn't feel like an ordinary cut.
It burned strangely, as though countless tiny teeth were gnawing and tearing at the flesh from within. Along with the pain came a bizarre sensation—his blood flow felt impeded, as if something were feeding on it.
Sanemi raised his arm.
Around the wound, faint strands of gray-black energy flickered—barely visible, unmistakably not part of any breathing technique.
"What the hell is this…?" His voice dropped, the mockery and amusement completely gone, replaced by wary seriousness.
"Blood Demon Art…?"
He didn't understand it—but the thought alone put him on edge.
Tightening his grip on the Nichirin blade, Sanemi stepped toward Asuka—
Only for Arasaki Tetsushin to vault over his head in a single bound, landing squarely between them.
"That's enough, Sanemi," Arasaki said sharply.
"Show some restraint."
"..."
Sanemi clicked his tongue, then straightened.
"…Good day to you, Tetsushin-sensei."