Just as Akaza was regenerating and had just finished unleashing his technique, the Flame Hashira appeared behind him. With fiery speed, he charged forward relentlessly, striking Akaza's neck with the most powerful form of Flame Breathing.
"Your neck will always be your weakness! If one slash isn't enough, then I'll slash it again and again! Your aura has already diminished by more than half; you can't fool me!" Rengoku Kyojuro laughed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"You—!" Akaza was enraged. The Flame Hashira was right. Surviving one decapitation didn't mean he'd survive two or three. His power had already dropped by more than half due to the first beheading and the intense battle. If his neck was cut once or twice more, he really would die…
Thwack!
With a sickening sound, something pierced through the Flame Hashira's chest. Akaza had thrust his hand, sharpened like a blade, straight through Rengoku's body.
"Rengoku-san—!" "Blondie—!"
In the distance, Tanjiro and the others, witnessing this, screamed in anguish and charged forward recklessly.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!" With his Susanoo dispersed, Uchiha Nagi used the fastest Thunder Breathing technique to rush towards them.
"Aaargh! Let go! Let go of me!!" Akaza, seeing Uchiha Nagi rapidly approaching, roared at the Flame Hashira, his teeth gnashing.
"I won't let go! Come to hell with me—!" The Flame Hashira's savage grin made him look more demonic than Akaza. One hand desperately tightened its grip, driving the blade deeper into Akaza's neck, while the other clung tightly to Akaza. At the same time, he burned his own life force, using his Breathing Style to lock Akaza's arm within his pierced chest, preventing him from breaking free.
That father and daughter… they're still waiting for me. I can't die. I still need to find my memories. I need to know who they are! Akaza despaired.
"I will never let go! Follow me to hell!" Rengoku Kyojuro snarled. Not only did he refuse to loosen his grip, but he used his Breathing Style to clamp his chest muscles around Akaza's arm, trapping it, while simultaneously applying even more force to the blade at Akaza's neck.
Damn it— Dawn is breaking!
At the critical moment, Akaza, with a ferocious expression, saw the faint glow of the rising sun behind Rengoku Kyojuro. In less than a minute, sunlight would flood the land.
Splurch—
Just as Uchiha Nagi arrived using the fastest Thunder Breathing First Form, Akaza severed his own arms and fled.
"Amaterasu—!"
Uchiha Nagi opened his Mangekyo, unleashing his strongest ninjutsu with the last vestiges of his chakra and eye power.
"The outcome is decided! It's only because the sun came out this time! Next time, I will definitely kill you all—!" Akaza's voice echoed from deep within the forest.
"Don't run! This isn't fair! We always fight you at night when you have the advantage! This isn't fair, coward! Don't run!" Tanjiro roared, tears streaming down his face, hurling his Nichirin Blade with all his might. It struck Akaza in the forest.
"Rengoku-san! Rengoku-san, how are you? Wuuu…" Tanjiro rushed to the Flame Hashira's side, weeping.
"I'm not going to make it… Listen to me… For you all to survive is the best outcome… Cough, cough…" The Flame Hashira coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.
Nearby, little boar Inosuke was also wiping away tears, looking utterly devastated.
"Stop crying. He's not dead yet…" Uchiha Nagi knelt and examined the Flame Hashira's chest. "I have two pieces of news. Which one do you want to hear first?" "The good news is, Rengoku-san avoided a fatal blow to his heart—"
"Then what's the bad news?" Inosuke asked foolishly.
"Idiot! Don't listen! There is no bad news!" Zenitsu smacked the little boar on the head.
Uchiha Nagi smiled mysteriously, his palm glowing with green chakra as he covered Rengoku Kyojuro's chest. "The other piece of good news is that I… know Medical Ninjutsu. I can treat Rengoku-san. Perhaps I can save his life."
"I… cough, cough…" Rengoku Kyojuro coughed up large clots of blood.
"Don't talk. Use your Breathing Style to cooperate with me. First, we need to reconnect the blood vessels around your heart, then your lungs," Uchiha Nagi said sternly.
Rengoku Kyojuro nodded gratefully. After all, who would choose death if they could live? The gaping hole in his chest had damaged his lungs and some of the blood vessels of his heart. This was the reason for his death in the original timeline—severe lung damage prevented him from using his Breathing Style to stop the bleeding, and the damaged cardiac blood vessels impaired his circulation. The heart, after all, is the body's second most critical organ after the brain; any problem with it can affect the entire system.
"You can save him, right? You can definitely save Big Bro Blondie, right?" Inosuke asked with a hopeful expression.
Uchiha Nagi took out a scroll and tossed it on the ground. With a puff of smoke, a package appeared, filled with various test tubes and potions. "Tanjiro, help me get that red potion over there. Fill a syringe with it and inject it into Rengoku-san. It's a concoction to replenish blood and nutrients. Also, bring those red pills from over there and give them to him."
"Oh, oh, okay!" Hearing that the Flame Hashira might be saved, Tanjiro wiped his tears and hurriedly began to help.
"Administer the green potion—" "Inject adrenaline—" "Give him a cardiac stimulant—"
After bustling about for a good while, Rengoku Kyojuro's condition finally stabilized. "Alright, some of the blood vessels around his heart have been reconnected, and one lung has been repaired. Rengoku-san, you can try using your Breathing Style now. Use it to control your body and help me repair the other areas," Uchiha Nagi said tiredly, wiping sweat from his brow.
Rengoku Kyojuro nodded gratefully and closed his eyes, concentrating. "Huuu…" His trachea burned with pain, but it couldn't deter this man of iron will. "Huuuu…" "Huuuu…"
After the third breath, he succeeded. The Flame Hashira began to mobilize his muscles and blood vessels to repair his own injuries. Uchiha Nagi swallowed another soldier pill and, while he was at it, fed one to the Flame Hashira to restore his stamina. Then he turned to the boys with a smile. "It worked. Rengoku-san's life is saved…"
"That's great!" Tanjiro started crying again. "That's really great, wuuu…" "Awooo… That's great! Everyone's okay! I'm gonna run a few laps…!" Inosuke raised his hands and yelled excitedly.
Rengoku Kyojuro panted for a while before he could finally speak weakly, a smile on his face. "I thought I was a goner. Thank you so much, Uchiha-bro."
"You're welcome. I still want to train with you, Rengoku-san. I'll figure something out for your eye later. My Medical Ninjutsu allows me to transplant someone else's eye for you, but different genes and compatibility issues might actually decrease your strength. So, we'll have to be patient for a while." Different people have different DNA; a transplant would cause rejection. Of course, it wouldn't be as terrifying as Kakashi's Sharingan, but an ordinary person's eye definitely wouldn't be able to keep up with the Flame Hashira's original eye. After all, he fought at incredible speeds; his original eyes possessed immense dynamic visual acuity. A normal person's eye wouldn't have that. Transplanting one eye that couldn't keep up while the other could would only be a hindrance. The ideal solution would be to use Orochimaru's cloning technology to create a genetically identical original eye.
"Hahahaha, it's just one eye! It doesn't matter. Cough, cough… I'm just incredibly happy to be alive!" Rengoku Kyojuro laughed heartily, but then accidentally aggravated his wounds, wincing in pain.