"Muzan is an obstacle on your path to the supreme realm.""Hakuji, come back. Be yourself again.""No, not yet. I'm still not strong enough. I must become stronger, reach the supreme realm.""And what will you do after you reach the supreme realm? What then?""I...? Why am I so obsessed with pursuing the supreme realm? Right, I need to protect the ones I love."
In his dreams, Akaza repeated this sentence endlessly. Finally, he awoke, drenched in sweat.
"Hah... hah... What's going on? Another nightmare? How ironic. Even as a demon, I still have nightmares~"
He was in a cave, deep within a lush, primeval forest. Only a creature like a demon could survive in such harsh natural surroundings.
Since the decisive battle that day, Akaza had met with his master, Muzan, reported the situation, and then come here to train with redoubled effort.
But Uchiha Nagi's words persistently haunted his mind like an inescapable shadow.
So what if I have eternal life? My existence hangs on Muzan's whim. How can I pursue the supreme realm like this? Muzan is the greatest obstacle on my path forward...
Uchiha Nagi's words were like a needle, deeply embedded in his psyche. Was Muzan truly an obstacle to his progress?
The thought that his life was perpetually at Muzan's mercy made him extremely uncomfortable.
Moreover, there was another matter that puzzled and concerned him most: the two figures who had appeared in his spiritual world when he was on the verge of death, decapitated by the Mangekyo Genjutsu. That man and young woman, the father and daughter, evoked an overwhelming sense of guilt and heartache within him. He was certain it was connected to his memories as a human.
Hundreds of years had passed, causing him to disregard his human memories. After all, human memories spanned merely twenty-odd years, insignificant compared to centuries of existence. But this time, the surfacing memories brought him immense pain, as if… as if he needed to reclaim something.
"I'll set aside my human memories for now. But next time we meet, I will absolutely not let you decapitate me again. Absolutely, absolutely not..." Akaza gritted his teeth, relentlessly pummeling a Nichirin Blade embedded in a large tree until it shattered into fragments. His hatred for Tanjiro was just as intense, as Tanjiro was the target Muzan had assigned him. And that weakling had dared to throw a Nichirin Blade and stab him as he was escaping! If it hadn't been for the sun rising, he could have killed that pathetic whelp with a single punch.
"Damn it! How dare a weakling like him look down on me..." Akaza seethed, his teeth grinding.
"Destructive Death: Compass Needle—Technique Deployment!"
At the Butterfly Mansion, Uchiha Nagi was sparring with Tanjiro and the other two "little ones." He wasn't using his Sharingan, but rather the techniques he had copied from Akaza. This was his attempt to fight without relying on the Sharingan, even with his eyes closed. Akaza's Destructive Death: Compass Needle was a mode that sensed an opponent's fighting spirit, making eyes unnecessary.
The so-called "fighting spirit" was merely this world's term for physical energy. Since there wasn't much cultivation of spiritual energy here, most development focused on physical energy.
In their last battle, Tanjiro, having almost grasped the Transparent World, had nearly decapitated Akaza. This was because the Transparent World allowed one to merge with nature, devoid of killing intent or fighting spirit. For his future battle with Itachi, however, Uchiha Nagi desperately needed this ability. Faced with Itachi, who had mastered genjutsu to its peak, Nagi didn't believe his Mangekyo alone would be enough to counter him in the realm of illusions. The safest approach was to learn more skills, such as those that allowed him to perceive and fight opponents without relying on his eyes.
The Transparent World was clearly not something he could master in a short time. Uchiha Nagi had already copied the Hinokami Kagura breathing method demonstrated by Tanjiro, and he had also replicated all of Akaza's Destructive Death techniques.
Akaza's Destructive Death was entirely a martial arts system based on human fighting spirit; it didn't require demonic genes to perform. However, the final few forms demanded exceptionally high physical strength. Because Akaza was a demon and could regrow a severed hand in a second, the later forms were immensely powerful, and he had never considered the limits or burdens on a human body. The after-effects of explosive muscle and blood vessel exertion simply didn't exist for him.
It could be said that humans could use Destructive Death, but at the same time, they couldn't…
Uchiha Nagi could only unleash the earlier forms of Destructive Death. He would have to wait until his physical strength increased day by day, becoming strong enough to withstand the strain, before he could use the later forms. He estimated he'd need a body as resilient as Guy's to handle it. The final technique, Destructive Death: Annihilation Type, which could shatter a Susanoo, was even more formidable than Morning Peacock, if not superior.
"Here I come! Water Breathing~"
"Beast Breathing—"
"Thunder Breathing~"
Uchiha Nagi, with his eyes closed, continuously dodged the attacks of the three, then began to counterattack with other techniques, attempting to integrate these movements into his muscle memory.
"Destructive Death—Air Type."
This was a technique Akaza had used against them, a long-range attack executed by punching the air to create an air cannon. Its trajectory was invisible to the naked eye, and its power was substantial. Uchiha Nagi, however, substituted his Nichirin Blade for fists.
His Nichirin Blade danced rapidly, continuously unleashing powerful air cannons. The only difference was that one used fists, and the other used a blade.
Tanjiro and the others, encountering this invisible air attack for the first time, despite their eyes being capable of observing minute details, were all caught off guard and sent flying by Uchiha Nagi's "air blades."
Because this was a spar, neither side was using killing intent or lethal force; Tanjiro and the other two were merely knocked back.
"Amazing! Is that the technique that shirtless guy used that night? You can't see it with your eyes at all..." Inosuke exclaimed excitedly as he got back up.
"Mm. Rengoku-san was injured back then because he couldn't see it and was caught unawares," Uchiha Nagi nodded. "Let's end today's practice here. Tanjiro's injuries haven't fully healed yet."
Uchiha Nagi still needed to further familiarize himself with and modify Destructive Death, adapting it into techniques suitable for himself—his opponent used fists, while he would use a blade…
At the same time, whenever he had free time, he practiced the Hinokami Kagura, hoping that after a few years of practice, he could awaken the Transparent World, that state of no-self merged with nature.
Uchiha Nagi had tried the Hinokami Kagura. Its power was indeed immense, several times stronger than Water, Flame, or Thunder Breathing. But correspondingly, the moment he stopped using it, the backlash hit him, his body wracked with excruciating pain.
Currently, until his physical strength increased to a certain level, using the Hinokami Kagura in battle was tantamount to opening the Eight Gates—he'd be exhausted after just three minutes…
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