Chapter 23: Strange Affairs |
"Is it really just a single hair?"
Shinobu remained on high alert, prepared to shield her sister at a moment's notice the second Yeruashi moved his hand. However, contrary to her expectations, nothing terrible happened.
With a soft breath, the young man set the silver strand adrift. He simply watched them, waiting, making no suspicious moves.
Shinobu shifted her gaze to Kanae.
Swish!
With a graceful motion, the Flower Hashira drew her Nichirin Sword from its scabbard and gently caught the drifting hair on the tip of her blade.
Kanae scrutinized it intently.
Cutting a hair without a point of support was no simple feat. In mid-air, a nearly weightless and slender strand would usually just slide around the blade, no matter how sharp the edge might be.
But for a Hashira, this was no obstacle at all.
Throughout this, Yeruashi stood by with a carefree smile.
The Demon Slayer took a deep breath, focused her mind, and smoothly swung her Nichirin Sword.
A simple swing of the blade, even without the use of a Breathing Technique, could easily cleave through steel when executed by a Hashira and a disciple of Makomo!
And yet...
A moment later, Kanae and her younger sister Shinobu froze in their tracks, their eyes glued to the Nichirin Sword in utter disbelief.
The silver hair hadn't been cut; it simply continued to rest against the blade, despite the faint traces of pure swordsmanship visible on the edge.
And that was not all.
Had Kanae and Shinobu possessed the ability to perceive the world on a deeper, microscopic level, they would have realized that the particles of the blade hadn't even touched the particles of the hair, let alone damaged them.
Of course, it couldn't have been any other way.
It would have been far more surprising if the hair had been damaged at all.
A single drop of Muzan's blood could birth a powerful demon, and every one of his hairs possessed remarkable durability and immense research value for Kanae and the others.
In turn, to Muzan, the hair of a more perfect being—one who had achieved an evolution of life and no longer feared the sun—would be just as valuable.
And for that being, the hair of someone standing yet another step higher would hold the same significance.
The chain of evolution continued upward, higher and higher...
An ordinary person would have to spend several lifetimes just to trace the lineage of power all the way up to Yeruashi.
While Kanae and the others could study Muzan's hair and perhaps understand its secrets, the cells of a being at a much higher level would remain an uncharted and incomprehensible territory. After a few more evolutionary leaps, such a thing would transcend human understanding entirely.
As for cutting it... Kanae wouldn't have even been able to catch the hair if Yeruashi hadn't gone to the trouble of suppressing its power.
The Nichirin Sword would have simply shattered!
And that was only the beginning...
If it fell to the ground, the hair wouldn't have stopped; it would have plummeted through the Earth's crust, through the mantle, and all the way to the core, which would have resulted in the planet's destruction!
It should be noted that this refers only to its physical properties.
Yeruashi's hair also possessed spiritual properties. If these weren't held in check, the sheer spiritual pressure of the strand would instantly shred the souls of everyone around into pieces!
This applied even to the Hashira and Muzan; it made no difference.
"Sister!" Shinobu couldn't help but cry out in shock, seeing the silver hair perfectly intact on Kanae's blade.
"Shinobu, step back for a moment..." the Flower Hashira replied calmly.
The younger girl immediately and obediently retreated several meters.
With a flick of her Nichirin Sword, Kanae tossed the silver hair into the air before her. She took a deep breath, her expression turning deathly serious.
"Flower Breathing, Sixth Form: Whirling Peach!"
The Flower Hashira stopped holding back and unleashed her Breathing Technique without hesitation once she realized this was no ordinary hair.
From her Nichirin Sword, a crescent-shaped attack surrounded by swirling pink petals surged toward the silver hair.
Boom!!!
What happened next was even more staggering.
While a simple swing had only confirmed the hair's extraordinary nature, the current result truly shocked her.
In truth, nothing had happened. The hair continued its flight as if nothing had touched it. The full-force attack of a Hashira was completely absorbed and nullified upon contact.
What shocked Kanae most was that the hair hadn't even flinched or changed its trajectory!
A seemingly ordinary hair, which just a second ago had lain peacefully on her Nichirin Sword, was suddenly transformed into a mountain connecting heaven and earth in the eyes of the Flower Hashira!
No matter how sharp or durable the blade, it couldn't affect the curved, soft, drifting strand by even an iota.
When the force of the impact finally dissipated and the stunned Kanae relaxed her stance, the silver hair drifted down smoothly and hung over her blade once more. It looked like a perfectly normal hair, with nothing strange about it at all.
"That... that's impossible..." Shinobu muttered, her jaw nearly dropping.
It was impossible.
Completely impossible.
And yet, it had happened right before her eyes.
Kanae stared blankly at the silver hair on her blade for a long time, all thoughts having been swept from her mind.
Recovering from the shock, the Flower Hashira tossed the hair up again with a flick of her hand and gripped the hilt of her Nichirin Sword with both hands.
"Flower Breathing, Sword Form: Blade Dance!"
This attack did not belong to the standard forms of Flower Breathing; it was formed by combining the Breathing Technique with master-level swordsmanship.
Kanae had developed this technique after training under Makomo.
It was her ultimate attack!
Whish!
It was as if the air itself had been sliced open.
A piercing radiance gathered on the blade of the Nichirin Sword, surrounded by dancing pink petals. It cleaving through the air with a cutting force unimaginable to any ordinary person.
However, the energy didn't erupt into a massive pulse. Instead, it concentrated into a miniature blade of light that shot directly toward the silver hair.
Pop!
This time, the result was far more understated.
The miniature blade of light instantly burst and vanished like a soap bubble upon contact with the silver hair, which continued to float in the air as if nothing had happened.
Beads of cold sweat formed on the silent Kanae's forehead.
Shinobu's reaction was much the same.
It was unthinkable.
In the past, no matter how impressive or terrifying the Blood Demon Arts of the demons they encountered seemed, they always found a way to turn the tide and decapitate the monster, even if they were on the brink of death.
But now, everything was different.
This wasn't a Blood Demon Art. In fact, it wasn't a technique at all. It was simply something... utterly unfathomable.
Yeruashi's serene voice broke the heavy silence.
"I win."
"Take care of my hair. One day, it will change your destiny..."
By the time Kanae and Shinobu managed to regain their composure and looked around, Yeruashi had already vanished without a trace.
Only the silver hair remained, swaying gently in the breeze as if it were about to be carried far away...