Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey

[3rd POV]

The Hashiras saw a new colour flash in the battlefield. If that was not enough to tell them someone had entered the battle, their instincts immediately came alive, their bodies knew that they had to perform their best against the new entity.

"There you are!! We have been waiting!!" Sanemi screamed and his arm blurred in an arc that created a wave of typhoon that ripped the ground to shreds.

Rengoku barely caught a glimpse, he only saw a streak of purple rushing at Sanemi which completely disappeared right before meeting against Sanemi's attack. It was like a ghost, an illusion.

In the very next instant, purple appeared behind Sanemi. This time, the colour was not in motion so he could see the full body.

It was the silhouette of a man with two glowing orbs in place of an eye. During battles, Seiji utilized his eyes to fight which made them glow an eerie purple and gave him a very distinctive feature.

Yet before Seiji could do anything, a swing of a blue sword came from his right side. The sword left a trail of blue and Giyu flashed a visible smile seeing Seiji.

"Welcome back," Giyu muttered.

Untrained eyes would believe that the sword successfully cut Seij, but the result would prove them wrong. There was not a single scratch on him, his flawless skin remained the same.

Seiji had dodged the swing with a mere centimetre away from cutting him. Such a close dodge seemed like pure luck, yet it was not.

Although it looked close, the distance between Seiji and the sword might as well be measured in lightyears. It was not luck, simply absolute mastery over swordsmanship.

...

Right then, Rengoku also took action. He exploded with the intensity of an inferno and swung at the left side of Seiji.

The sword came swiftly, slicing through the air with such precision that it produced a whistling sound.

Seiji's eyes never blinked and saw the world in its most simplistic state. He did not even pull out his sword yet, he merely sifted his entire weight on one leg and hit Rengoku's sword at the side with his finger.

The attack was precise, but it had only linear force. So when Seiji lightly tapped at the side of the sword, it changed trajectory and arc towards Giyu.

!!!

*CLING!!*

In the end, Rengoku and Giyu clashed instead.

"Stop playing with us!!" Sanemi bellowed and threw an upward slash that forced Seiji to leap high in the air. The force of the swing created a gust of wind that pushed him further than he expected.

"Okay.." Seiji muttered to himself, checking his body to make sure no wind blades left a scratch on him.

Finally, he pulled out his sword fully from the sheath. He held the sheath on his left hand and the sword on the right. He was using the weapon with only one hand.

There were three Hashiras in front of him, which would be Akaza level in terms of demons. But Seiji always did find human opponents to be easier to deal with.

"Aren't we going to stop? He just got here, maybe we should say hi or something?" Rengoku asked but the other two did not heed his words.

They only flashed a small knowing smile, as someone who had gone on long missions with Seiji, they knew action was the same as talking to him.

And even if they say their greetings, their; words would fall on deaf years anyway. Hence it was better this way.

Rengoku released a sigh before he pulled up his sword and got into position.

Then in a sudden action akin to lightning, the three shot towards him. They inhaled sharply and used their respective breathing styles.

"Wind Breathing : Third form,"

"Water Breathing : Fifth form,"

"Flame Breathing : Esoteric Art,"

Seiji was taken aback when he saw the intensity at which they came. His eyes saw the forms they were going to use before they even executed them. So by the time they came, he was already ready for a reply.

'Let's test this out,' Seiji thought to himself and a wide grin came upon his usually stoic face.

"Sun Breathing : Ninth form,"

The air turned into intense flames as Seiji burst forth with endless momentum. He was almost as fast as when he used Thunder Breathing.

But unlike thunder breathing, his movement was not only fast but also fluid and precise, like Water Breathing.

They also release an intense force that disrupts the air in the atmosphere, producing violent hurricanes, like Wind Breathing.

Each step he took was firm and unyielding. He didn't look like a feather that was moving fast, but a heavy boulder that was moving fast despite its immense weight. It was like Stone Breathing.

There was an unending heat in his movement, one that caused goosebumps to appear to those who faced him. It was burning, like Flame Breathing.

Yet it was unlike his unusual mixed breathing. Mix Breathing combines the best of breathing styles to their utmost limit.

But this was just a single style of breathing that happen to have the attributes of all breathing styles. It was not quite as fast as Thunder Breathing, not quite as precise as Water Breathing, nor as powerfullas Stone Breathing.

But it had everything.

That was the forms of Sun Breathing.

"Clean Storm Wind Tree,"

"Blessed Rain After Drougth,"

"Purgatory!"

The three Hashrias, the pinnacle of humanity, launched a consecutive attack on Seiji. Their fierce attacks turned cataclysmic upon combining.

Seiji replied to the attacks.

"Dragon Head Dance,"

A trail of brilliant red and yellow traced the hypnotic movement of Seiji. It was fast like Thunder Breathing but with the precision and finess of Water Breathing. So although it was moving so quickly, it looked like the attack was flowing slowly while the world stilled.

The three Hashiras looked upon the scene with wide eyes.

Seiji fully predicted every action they were going to take and had countered every attack before they even happened. It was like a cut scene in a video game, they followed the script while Seiji manoeuvred between them, like water, yet with the strength of a mountain.

The sound of scorching flame could be heard as the trail of of yellow morphed into a Dragon Head at the end.

All ended in an instant.

..

..

..

"What the hell was that?" Sanemi was the first to ask as he looked up. His eyes were shaking with veins popping in them.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like it before," Giyu remarked,

"....I think I know what that was," Rengoku said and they all turned around to look at Seiji who was not even looking at them but was gazing at his own sword.

They just had their attacks cancelled and suppressed before they could bloom into action but they had not time to linger on that thought. They stood up straight in silent awe.

"Sun Breathing," Rengoku said. He had read about it in the book his ancestors left behind. It didn't have the exact details but all the forms of Sun Breathing were described in vivid detail so Rengoku could recognize it immediately.

"...."

"So that's the 'key' huh," Giyu said in realisation.

They all looked upon the myth that came to life.

A Sun Breathing user.

..

..

[IMAGE]

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Author : Stones, please.

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