Chapter 22 : 22nd Stance
The two stared at each-other for a couple of minutes, both of them had their hands on their blade, ready to draw it when needed.
"You must be one of the Hashira~", Takeo mockingly stated.
"What does that have to do with you....", Giyu replied coldly, before he asked...
"What's your name?"
"Takeo Yasushi...", he replied.
'Is that so..', Giyu thought, before he continued observing Takeo.
Not wanting to say anything more.....Takeo drew his blade and went into his stance....his expression took a drastic change, looking serious and cold at Giyu.
"No hard feelings.....", he stated, before steam escaped from his mouth....purple lightning covered his whole body, before his sword was engulfed in flames...
'Two Breathing Styles?!', Giyu was surprised to see such a sight...and he realised if he didn't give everything, he'd succumb to life-changing wounds....
VOOOOSHHH!!!
Catapulting himself at Giyu, Takeo appeared on his left, before he swung his sword in a wide arc, aiming to slash Giyu on the chest utilising his flames....
The Honō-Kaminari no kokyū (Flame-Thunder Breathing Style) has 5 Forms :
Ichi no kata (1st Form) : Unknowing Thunder = The swordsman unsheathes their blade, dashes forward at blinding speeds that mimic lightning ripping through the air, before he decapitates the opponent or multiple opponents with the destructive force of Flames, burning the corpse and it's surroundings.
SWOOSHHHH!!!!
However, Giyu avoided the attack, as he unleashed multiple consecutive slashes whilst he twisted his body in a flowing fashion, like he was dancing around the flames...
After he danced around the flames, Giyu took the initiative, and rushed Takeo.....
VOOOSHHH!!!!
Travelling at frightening speed, he appeared on Takeo's right.....and using his momentum, he created a powerful single concentrated slash aimed at Takeo's arm...
SLASSSSHHHH!!!!!
Seeing the attack coming, Takeo fired his own attack to counter it....
Raising his sword over his shoulder, he whipped around and collided with Giyu's attack with tremendous speed and the explosive power provided with the flames....
< Honō-Kaminari no kokyū Ichi No Kata : Unknowing Thunder>
SWOOSHH!!!!
CLANNGG!!!!
The two collided causing a loud metallic ring to echo throughout the forest...
< Honō-Kaminari no kokyū Ichi No Kata : Unknowing Thunder VS Mizu no kokyū Ichi No Kata : Water Surface Slash>
CRACK!!!
The two swords were being pushed together for more than a few seconds now...it was then that both of them began to turn Crimson Red due to two Nichirin Blades Colliding.
However, the two didn't notice the change, as they just stared at each-other's cold eyes....
After a couple of more seconds, the two were still stuck in their clash....having enough Takeo, lowered his centre of gravity....diving to the ground, before he slashed at Giyu's legs..
SLASH!!!
However, Giyu jumped into the air at the last second...
Not being distressed that his attack didn't hit Giyu, he quickly tried to get back onto his feet...but directly above him, Giyu turned his body in the mid-air and primed his blade.....before he thrusted his sword towards Takeo, sending a torrent of water at him...
WOOOOOOSH!!!!
Feeling danger above him, Takeo raised his sword above his head and entered a defensive stance...swinging his sword around in a circular motion with his blade engulfed in flames, dissipating most of attack....
However, some of strikes landed on Takeo, covering his arms in wounds as blood dripped down onto the floor..
DRIP! DRIP! DRIP!
As soon as the attack dissipated, he completed the 3rd Form as he slashed the air with his blade, sending numerous lightning strikes at Giyu...
SWOOOSHH!!! SWOOOOSHH!!!
Still mid-air, Giyu quickly put all of his weight into his legs, making him reach the ground quicker, avoiding the attacks....
However....Takeo didn't stop his onslaught....he darted forwards with shocking pace, appearing before Giyu as soon as he landed.....lightning covered his blade before he raised his arm high up, taking one swift step forwards to gain more power from his legs that were covered in flames, before he unleashed a vicious downward slash packed with lightning....
SWWWWOOOOOOSHH!!!!!
Unknowingly, through the heat of the battle, Takeo made his own Breathing Form, repaying Giyu for causing him wounds.....The speed the slash contained was monstrous, as the air was seemingly cut due to his speed....
Giyu raised his sword in an attempt to block the attack.....but he couldn't.....
DRIP! DRIP! DRIP!
A large gash appeared on Giyu's chest....spanning from his shoulder-blade to his waist-line.
The strike cut through his uniform, however, it could've been worse if he didn't raise his blade to block it...it even pushed him a few metres back....
Seeing some blood on his blade, Takeo swung his blade in the air, which made it splatter onto the floor...
SPLAT!
After that, he lowered his mask before he spat out some blood and wiped his mouth, before he looked at Giyu and raised his sword in-front of him.....in response, Giyu also raised his sword before him....the two seemingly signalling for a round two.
However, ruining their 'fun', Tanjiro appeared right in-front of them....
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A few minutes prior,
Watching their whole fight, Tanjiro was left in shock, 'They're both strong'...however, after the two started succumbing dangerous injuries, he knew it would get dangerous, and so after laying an unconscious Nezuko on a tree....he stumbled towards them slowly...
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"You two shouldn't be fighting with each-other!", he shouted, before he clutched his wounds and fell onto his knees.
Both Takeo and Giyu looked at each-other....silence passed for a few minutes, before Takeo sheathed his blade....he looked at Giyu one last time before saying, "I'll look forward to next time~"
When Takeo disappeared, Giyu muttered, "Me too~", under his breath, before he took a look at his scar he acquired.
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Takeo didn't continue the fight because, after so long, the enjoyment of a real fight had overcome him.....and so he discontinued the battle as a favour.
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Not long after, the Kakushi appeared.
The Kakushi are a brigade responsible for different tasks, which can range from providing services to Corps members to cleaning up the battlefield after Demon attacks.
They cleaned up the aftermath of the battle, taking the injured Inosuke and Zenitsu with them.
Whilst Tanjiro and Nezuko were forcibly taken to the Demon Slayer headquarters, Takeo wasn't too far behind, as he began to follow them on the way.