Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began When I Became Yoriichi's Sister

Chapter 624 Strolling in the Garden

That was a posture of dodging with ease while being surrounded by a crowd.

Yuko's figure moved nimbly within the scene, and each time she was about to be hit, she would instantly appear in a safe place.

This place isn't too far away, and you'll basically never escape the crowd's encirclement, but you'll always be playing them for fools.

Even from an outsider's perspective, Hirako couldn't clearly see how Ikuko moved.

The only possibility is the power of the Zanpakuto.

but……

Even the Zanpakuto's power is astonishing enough; its power should have been put to use by now.

Yuko's current perspective should be completely reversed; up and down, front and back, left and right should all be upside down.

However, Yuko's movements and posture showed no signs of being affected in the slightest.

If Yuko only wanted to adapt and finish the battle quickly, he could understand. But Yuko was going to exhaust their energy and they needed to maintain this state.

This was the first time Hirako had ever seen someone walk on flat ground under the influence of his Zanpakuto's power; even he himself had taken a long time to adapt.

"Baldy! How much longer are you going to stand here watching?!"

At that moment, Hiyori, who had been knocked away by Ikuko, complained to Hirako.

"Sorry, sorry, I'll be right there." Hirako sweated and quickly grabbed his Zanpakuto and stepped forward.

As soon as Hirako entered the battlefield, Ikuko's figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

when! ! !

"That's not Shunpo, right?" A bead of cold sweat trickled down Hirako's forehead, and a smile crept across his face as he held Ikuko's Zanpakuto.

If he hadn't been prepared, he would have been seriously injured.

"Yes, it's my Zanpakuto's ability."

"I only affected the process of Shunpo, or rather, I removed the process."

"Interference?" Hirako narrowed his eyes. "To even do something like this, isn't that going too far?"

Hirako and the others had heard that Yuko suppressed the Hollow power within them, but they had never seen Yuko use it in battle.

It truly is a monstrous ability.

“Indeed, that’s what I think too.” Yuko accepted the praise without hesitation. “If we could master Bankai, we could probably fight our way back to Soul Society.”

"..."

Everyone else is trying to prove their innocence, but you're just adding fuel to the fire.

“Damn it! Damn it!!!”

Hiyori suddenly let out a scream of resentment. Her golden hair danced wildly as she was beaten by spiritual pressure. An ominous spiritual pressure, filled with Hollow energy, burst forth from her body, mouth, and nose, and quickly condensed into a hideous mask on her face.

"That is……"

Everyone instinctively stopped what they were doing.

"Roar!!!"

Hiyori let out a long howl, his aura of emptiness rippled outwards, and the intense roar even generated a strong wind that made everyone's clothes rustle.

Hirako looked at Hiyori's rampage with a face full of embarrassment: "Hey, Hiyori is way too weak, isn't she?"

It turns out I'm the first one.

Yu Zi said calmly, "Unlike you guys, this restless guy always comes with the strength to kill me."

"It's understandable that they would run out of energy first."

Risa Yagyuumaru, with her spear-shaped Zanpakuto slung behind her back, asked, "So what should we do now?"

Yu Zi glanced at it briefly before looking away: "It's alright, just a restless nobody. You can continue."

"But..." Hirako wanted to say something more, but Yuko slashed at him with her sword, leaving him only able to parry hastily.

“I told you not to worry, a beast that has lost its mind can’t hurt anyone.” Yuko supported Hirako with one hand, and began to form a hand seal with the other, aiming one hand at Hirako’s face.

"That stance is... Captain Hirako! Get out of the way!"

As the Vice-Chief of the Kido, Hachigen Ushōda's speed in judging the pre-cast animation of Kido techniques far surpasses that of ordinary people.

"Breaking Path No. 63: Thunder Roar Cannon!"

Having received instructions from Hideaki Hachigen, Hirako Shinji reacted quickly and narrowly avoided the attack.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Do you want to kill me?!" Hirako broke out in a cold sweat, her eyes wide as she stared at Yuko.

"Don't worry, I've stopped."

"Who would believe that?!" Hirako stared at the forest behind him that had been pierced through, showing absolutely no belief.

Yu Zi looked speechless: "They didn't stop, it was already at least ninety..."

Before she could finish speaking, someone shouted from the side.

"careful!"

"Roar!!!" Hiyori roared, her face completely covered by a mask, as she charged toward Ikuko.

Yuko leaned back slightly, avoiding the impact.

But Hiyori seemed to have locked onto her, flying to a distance before suddenly braking and turning back, leaping high into the air with her Zanpakuto in hand, and landing directly on her.

Hirako said gloatingly, "It must be because you were mocking her the whole time."

Yuko casually dodged Hiyori's next charge, glanced at Hirako, and said, "Instead of wasting time on idle talk, let's continue our attack."

Hirako retorted, "I'm just worried you won't be able to handle it."

"Roar!!!"

Hiyori steadied herself, and a point of scarlet light quickly condensed in her mouth.

“That’s it!!!”

Everyone's expressions changed.

A crimson, high-density spiritual pressure cannon, carrying a power that seemed capable of destroying everything, shot towards Yuko.

Yuko turned sideways to the void, raised her hand expressionlessly, and didn't even glance at it.

"You should think about how you're going to overcome the monsters in your hearts later."

"I am very worried about your strength and mentality."

A dark aura, tinged with faint white and red light, gathered in Yuuko's palm, and then...

boom! ! !

A larger and faster Cero shot towards Hiyori's Cero. Hiyori's Cero offered almost no resistance. The moment they made contact, the crimson Cero dissolved and then pierced through Hiyori.

boom! !

After a deafening explosion, a towering mushroom cloud billowed out, and a strong wind swept across the area.

"Hey, is he still alive, Hiyori?" Hirako struggled against the strong wind and looked in Hiyori's direction with difficulty.

When the strong wind dissipated, Hiyori, with some scratches on her body and her clothes torn in many places, appeared in Hirako's eyes.

"Roar!"

For some reason, Hiyori's roar carried a hint of fear, and she was even unwilling to attack Ikuko again.

Yuko pondered, "Was it maintaining one's own will?"

Hirako shook his head frantically: "No, no, no! He's just terrified of being beaten!"

Yuko's eyes flickered slightly: "Not bad, Hirako, you still have the energy to make a sarcastic remark."

"..."

The group's stamina seemed to be draining away like a burst dam. Every swing of their swords, every instant step, and every defensive maneuver accelerated the depletion of their strength.

Yuko's attacks seemed to have found the perfect angle, giving them opportunities but forcing them to be on high alert each time. They managed to dodge them by the skin of their teeth and withstand them each time.

This didn't feel like a battle at all; it felt more like a training exercise between different classes, almost like the scene when they were instructing their team members.

Although I didn't use my Bankai, the guy on the other side did too.

"Well……"

Shortly after Hiyori fell, a second person fell.

Yu Zi stopped and lowered her head, saying, "You really are useless now, Sixth Cart Captain."

You didn't say that when you talked about Hiyori!

Kensei Rokugaku gritted his teeth and forced out a few words: "You just wait..."

His face began to be covered by a white bone mask, which gradually coalesced into something that looked like a metal mask.

It's like when the first domino is pushed over, the subsequent collapse becomes unstoppable.

As time passed, the others' physical strength also began to wear off, their bodies began to be taken over by the void, and their minds gradually sank into their inner selves, entering a berserk state.

Rojuro Fūhashi's bird-beak plague doctor mask, Lisa Yagami's cross mask, Hirako's Egyptian pharaoh mask... one after another.

Everyone present, including Hakugen Ayatsuda, was affected by the Hollowfication and entered a Hollowfied state.

Each person's mask will have different styles depending on the power of the void and the nature of their individual spiritual particles.

However, it is essentially about strengthening existing abilities rather than creating new ones; it's about imbuing the Shinigami's spirit particles with Hollow powers.

"Are you sure it's okay?" At the mountaintop, Tetsuzai was struggling to maintain the barrier. The spiritual pressure fluctuations gathering in the valley had exceeded the barrier's limits. If the barrier were attacked, it would be destroyed in no time.

“No problem, trust Yuko.” Kisuke Urahara gazed intently down below, his expression unwavering. “I’m more worried about whether they can overcome their inner struggles than about Yuko.”

"Actually, I knew a long time ago that Yu Ziqiang was terrifying."

"Even without mastering Bankai, her strength is among the top in the captains. There may be those who can consistently defeat her, but even the Captain-Commander would have to go all out to kill her."

"..." You don't need to tell me this; everyone knows it."

That's a monster that can survive even the Captain-Commander's Bankai.

The ethereal rampage made Yuko the target of everyone's attacks, and the others, also caught in the rampage, began to intensify their assault.

However, for Yuuko, losing her mind in order to increase her power does not count as becoming stronger, and she doesn't even know how to use her Zanpakuto's abilities.

Even a powerful monster wouldn't be allowed to touch the hem of her clothes.

Yuko did not harm their bodies; she simply strolled leisurely past them.

Yuko wasn't sure if their inner world could overcome the void; all she needed to do was save their lives.

Kisuke Urahara deceived them.

Failure does not result in death.

Yuko will use her power of intervention to pull their will out of their inner world, allowing the ethereal to return to a state of balance.

This tactic was only used to force them to fight with their backs against the wall.

……

The internal battle is unknown to others, but the external battle is becoming increasingly fierce.

The barrier emitted mournful cries of unbearable strain, and cracks appeared along its edges, resembling glass.

"Captain Urahara, the barrier is almost at its limit." Tessai Goriya's forehead was covered in sweat.

If this level of spiritual pressure were to erupt in the mortal realm, it would immediately attract the attention of the stationed personnel.

"Hang in there a little longer, Tessai-san." Urahara Kisuke maintained the hand seals, keeping the barrier in place with Tessai. "It should be almost done."

As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden change occurred in the scene.

Hirako, who had been relentlessly attacking Yuko, suddenly stopped, and a crack appeared on the pharaoh mask on his face.

Yu Zi's eyes flickered slightly, and she pulled him away from the crowd's encirclement.

"Hoo~" Hirako slowly exhaled a long breath and raised his hand to grab the mask on his face.

Click~

With a crisp crack, the bone mask shattered and dissipated into spiritual particles. Hirako gasped for breath, his body covered in sweat, but his eyes shone brighter than ever before.

"Phew~ really..." He grinned and looked at Yuko, "Thank you for the treat, Miss Yuko."

"We can express our gratitude later. Now that you've recovered, get up and help out."

"Huh?" Hearing the noise behind him, Hirako subconsciously turned around. "It really is... a chaotic mess."

The corners of his mouth twitched.

Yu Zi said calmly, "No problem, they're just a bunch of small fry. Even if there were twice as many, they'd still be useless."

Hirako's face twitched twice: "If I may ask, is this just a tactic you're using to win?"

"Why would you think that?" Yu Zi turned her head in confusion. "They've lost their minds, so I have no reason to lie."

"..." In some ways, it's even more painful.

Hiyori, Rojuro Otorihashi, Lisa Yagimaru, Rabu Aikawa... I guess you can't deny they're the lowest-ranking Shinigami captains.

One after another, everyone relied on their own willpower to successfully overcome the emptiness within their bodies and regain their self-awareness.

The violent spiritual pressure in the valley gradually subsided and receded.

Seeing the disheveled state of everyone, Yu Zi opened her mouth to speak when a figure descended from the sky.

clap~

Kisuke Urahara clapped his hands and said, "Welcome back, everyone."

"Congratulations on successfully mastering the blurring technique."

The surrounding barrier reached its limit and vanished into the air as fragments of spiritual particles.

Hiyori squinted, looking annoyed, and said, "What are you so excited about? Baldy? It's just so-so."

Hirako said, "You just thought it was wrong to swear."

Hiyori looked at her with displeasure: "Huh? Are you an idiot? Who would think that?"

"..."

Yuko slowly sheathed her Zanpakuto, her expression calm: "Thank you all for your hard work. Please forgive me for speaking during training."

Kensei Muguruma's eyes widened in fury: "Even if it's just a way to disrupt the enemy's Shinigami, I will never forgive you, woman!"

They say he's a unit for calculating combat power of six vehicles! Now everyone's stopped using spiritual pressure levels to calculate their strength and started using the number of vehicles instead.

Yuko looked at him calmly: "Others are indeed just disturbing their minds, but you are different."

"Whether on or off the battlefield, you have always remained the same."

"...What, what do you mean?" Kensei Rokusha was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding.

Hiyori looked up at him as if he were an idiot: "What Ikuko means is that you're a complete fool inside and out."

"Still asking all sorts of questions like an idiot."