From a young age, I was kind and clever,Dōma reflected.I always helped people in need and made them happy. Because that was my mission.

"There are rainbows in this child's eyes," Jōgen no Ni recalled his mother saying on the day that he was born.

"Pale-gray hair on the head is proof of innocence," his father had said. "This child is special."

"He probably hears the voices of the kami," his mother had added.

My parents were so dimwitted,Dōma continued to even created the ridiculous paradise faith religion. I felt sorry for them, so I always played along. But I never once heard the kami's voices. At first...it was awkward when everyone worshiped and prayed to me, as you might expect... Adults would come crying to me, a child, saying that they were suffering and in pain and that they didn't know what to do... I wondered if they were all crazy. After they shared their yawn-inducing life stories...they would bow and say that they wanted me to lead them to paradise. I cried. How sad...that paradise does not exist. It's a fairy tale that humans created with their imaginations.

The kami and the buddha do not exist either. These people had been alive for decades...yet they could not understand something so simple. When you die, you just become nothing. You stop feeling anything. Your heart stops and your brain stops. You rot and return to the earth. As long as you are a living creature, it is unavoidable. They could not accept something so simple. It must be difficult to be so dumb. I wanted to make the pitiful people happy and help them. That is why I was born.

滅

Taishō 5, January 2

Infinity Castle

"Hmm...that's the fifth time," Jōgen no Ni remarked as he held up his right hand, on the back of which was a newly inflicted wound that healed within a matter of seconds. Dōma was currently standing on a wooden bridge that met with the bridge that Kochō Shinobu was currently on at a forty-five degree angle. "And that was no good either. It didn't work! It's getting less and less effective. How many more times can you make poison?"

This is the strength of a Jōgen no Kizuki,the Mushibashira silently remarked, her brow furrowed and her teeth gritted as she gripped the hilt of her Nichirin-tō.The poison isn't working at all. His speed in building resistance is abnormal.

"You know, you're really lucky that that other Hashira...Tomioka, right?" Jōgen no Ni asked, but Shinobu remained silent. "Well, you're really lucky that he was able to deflect my Blood Demon Art with that incredible technique of his! Otherwise, you'd be having trouble breathing right now. I suppose it makes this more fun, though, since you can just keep trying to poison me until you pass out! Speaking of your friend, since he hasn't gotten up yet, I'm guessing that he's d-"

SHING

Insect Breathing, Dance of the Dragonfly...Boiling with rage, the Mushibashira lunged across the gap between her and Jōgen no Ni, striking at his head, neck, chest and abdomen. Dōma was able to block the strike meant for his heart with one of his tessen, but the rest of them landed.

...Compound Eye Hexagon!

Jōgen no Ni doubled over in pain as fresh blood sprayed from the newly-infected wounds while Shinobu front flipped over the oni and landed a few meters behind him in a low stance.

"You really are fast!" Dōma remarked as he stood up and looked back over his left shoulder at the Mushibashira. "Maybe the fastest Hashira I've met so far!"

GUSH

Shinobu's purple eyes widened as she suddenly saw a flash of deep-blue and gold followed by a spray of blood before hearing the thump of a body hitting wood. Shocked, she stood and turned around to see Tomioka Giyū standing right in front of her, his deep-blue Nichirin-tō drawn.

"Tomioka-san!" Shinobu exclaimed, relieved to see the Mizubashira.

"Are you all right, Kochō?" Giyū asked, turning to look back at her, a pattern of deep-blue water streams rippling down the left side of his cheek. It was a Kisatsu Mark.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the Mushibashira replied. "But what about you? You got thrown into a wall!"

"My back hurts something fierce," the Mizubashira said. "But, other than that, I'm okay."

"Ugh..." Jōgen no Ni groaned from where he now lay, having been sliced up and thrown back by the Water Breathing, Sixth Form: Whirlpool that had protected Shinobu from his attack.

Dōma had attempted to blitz the Mushibashira and slice her with one of his tessen, but Giyū had gotten up from where he'd crashed into the wall and quickly moved to defend Shinobu. Now the oni was lying in a pool of his own blood with deep slashes across his neck, chest and abdomen while his arms had been cut off at the elbows, his legs had been cut off at the knees and his black crown had been knocked off of his head.

"My poison isn't working against him," Shinobu informed Giyū as she stepped up next to him.

"I see," the Mizubashira muttered, pausing in thought for a moment, watching as Jōgen no Ni's severed limbs regrew. Eventually, Giyū came up with an idea and looked at the Mushibashira. "I have a plan, but it requires us getting on either side of him."

"What are you thinking, Tomioka-san?" Shinobu asked, looking up at the Mizubashira.

"When the time is right, we'll switch blades," he replied. "And then you'll cut off his head."

The Mushibashira stared at Giyū for a moment before opening her mouth to protest, wanting to point out that it felt like there were a few details missing in his idea and wanting to remind him that she wasn't strong enough to cut off an oni's head, much less that of a Jōgen no Kizuki. But she decided against it, closing her mouth and nodding in agreement.

"Okay."

Jōgen no Ni, meanwhile, was pushing himself up to his knees as the deep slashes that Giyū had inflected across his neck, chest and abdomen healed. Then, he got back up to his feet and turned around to look at the Hashira, a seemingly frustrated expression on the rainbow-eyed oni's face.

"You're still alive," Dōma said as he glared at the Mizubashira, his ornate tessen reforming in his hands. "I'm surprised, since I sent you flying pretty hard. Oh well, I'll soon remedy that..."

"I'd like to see you try, Jōgen no Ni," Giyū replied coldly.

Jōgen no Ni dashed at the Mizubashira and slashed at him with one of his tessen, only for Giyū to block it with his katana. Dōma swung at him with his other tessen, only to be blocked as well.

Blood Demon Art, Barren Hanging Gardens!

Jōgen no Ni continued to swing at the Mizubashira with his tessen, spraying ice shards with each strike. Some of the ice shards cut Giyū, but he managed to block Dōma's tessen every time.

Water Breathing, Fourth Form...While Jōgen no Ni swung at him, the Mizubashira twisted both his body and his sword, slicing Dōma's arms off at the elbows again...Striking Tide!

Jōgen no Ni's forearms regrew almost immediately, but Shinobu was on him before either of his tessen could reform, striking him six times as she targeted his face, throat, chest and abdomen.

Insect Breathing, Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon!

Dōma stumbled back but managed to stay standing. Then, realizing that he had no real room to attack the Hashira and that trying to fight them from close up was pointless, he leapt back.

Blood Demon Art, Scattering Lotuses!

As soon as they reformed, Jōgen no Ni swung his tessen at the Hashira, unleashing a blizzard of petal-shaped ice shards. The blizzard surged towards them and Giyū stepped forward to meet it.

Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm.

Just like earlier with the volley of ice shards that Dōma had flung at them with Frozen Lotus, the imperceptible speed of the Mizubashira's personally-created technique immediately shredded the Scattering Lotuses into millions of tiny pieces that fell around the Hashira like snowflakes.

"That technique again..." Dōma grumbled. "You're really getting on my nerves, Tomioka."

Insect Breathing...Shinobu took a deep breath and charged at Jōgen no Ni, leaping into the air as she unsheathed her Stinger Nichirin Katana. The gray-haired oni waved one of his tessen toward the airborne Mushibashira, causing frozen lotuses to grow and bloom all around him.

Blood Demon Art, Lotus Vines!

From the icy lotuses, vines made from frost shot out, targeting Shinobu.

Water Breathing, Third Form...Giyū charged in underneath the Mushibashira, slicing down each of the Lotus Vines before any of them could come close to touching Shinobu...Flowing Dance!

...Butterfly Dance: Caprice!

Dōma almost fell over backwards as he was suddenly stung in the face, in the throat, in the chest and in the abdomen by the unimpeded, diving Mushibashira. Shinobu, meanwhile, landed on the bridge a few meters behind Jōgen no Ni and whirled around, locking eyes with the Mizubashira.

It was time.

"Now, Kochō!" Giyū called out, and the two Hashira blitzed Dōma from either direction, cutting either side of his neck with their Nichirin Katana but without decapitating him. The Mizubashira was now behind the rainbow-eyed oni while the Mushibashira was now in front of him.

Then, they both sheathed their respective Nichirin Katana before turning around and charging.

My poison gets broken down in seconds, so it can't kill him,Shinobu silently reflected as Dōma turned around to face Giyū, grinning as he swung one of his fans at the ...

Water Breathing...Giyū took a deep breath and unsheathed 'his' Nichirin Katana first, revealing it to actually be the Mushibashira's lavender-blue Nichirin-tō.Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust!

Giyū thrust his right arm forward and plunged the katana through the base of Jōgen no Ni's neck.

That's the girl's Nichirin Katana,Dōma realized with a look of shock on his how? When?

Behind Jōgen no Ni, Shinobu unsheathed 'her own' Nichirin Katana, gripping the hilt with both hands as she revealed the weapon to actually be the Mizubashira's deep-blue Nichirin-tō.

The blades were swapped!Dōma gritted his teeth and looked to his right without moving his head.

The poison should've started to weaken him,the Mushibashira strength alone isn't enough, but with this opportunity that Tomioka-san has created, I can't afford to miss. Just line it up with his neck, and...Shinobu took a deep breath and swung Giyū's Nichirin Katana at Jōgen no Ni's unprotected neck as a purple marking in the shape of a butterfly appeared on the left side of her cheek. This washerKisatsu Mark.I'll cut you!

The Mushibashira tightened her grip on the hilt of the Mizubashira's Nichirin Katana.

The blade is glowing...Giyū noticed as Shinobu drove the blade into the side of Dōma's neck.

To fall to such a little girl...Jōgen no Ni thought to himself.I'm a fool.

With a single motion, the Mushibashira sliced through Dōma's neck and sent his head flying.