Chapter 317

Kanroji Mitsuri, with her peach-pink long hair and adorable round face, raised her hand and bounded toward the two of them with a bright, cheerful smile.

She looked up at Luo En and beamed at him: "Mr. Luo En, it's been a long time."

……

On the mountain path.

"Eh—!"

Kanroji Mitsuri—with her large pale-leaf-green eyes, flushed cheeks, and a beauty mark beneath each eye—turned her head toward Luo En and Kocho Shinobu beside her, exclaiming in delighted surprise: "Are you two also here looking for that secret weapon that can make a person stronger?!"

Luo En smiled and gave an "mm."

Kanroji Mitsuri tilted her head, puzzled: "But Mr. Luo En is already so powerful—does he still need that secret weapon to get stronger?"

"You'll understand once we get there."

Kanroji Mitsuri stole a glance at Luo En beside her.

Tall and upright, young and handsome, gentle with people, and so powerful on top of it all…

Her cheeks slowly turned red.

The most… ultimate marriage partner she had ever met!

But… would he ever like her?

Like someone with such a strange hair color, a huge appetite, and terrifying strength—nothing like a normal girl at all…

Kanroji Mitsuri recalled what she had gone through before, and couldn't help feeling a little inferior; shyly, she lowered her head.

Kocho Shinobu glanced at her.

Luo En naturally noticed the change in her mood as well, but he said nothing.

As a passerby who might leave at any moment, he had no intention of getting too deeply involved with the people of this world.

…………

Soon, the three of them arrived at a clearing in the mountain forest.

A boy wearing a Hi no Kami mask was standing in front of a mechanical puppet with six arms, completely absorbed in his research.

"Just how on earth was this thing built?"

"This technique…"

The three of them walked up behind him.

He didn't notice at all.

Kanroji Mitsuri sidled up next to him and patted his shoulder.

"Yo—little Kotetsu."

"Uwah!"

The boy got a fright, but once he saw her clearly, he raised a hand and mimed wiping his forehead: "Oh, it's you, Sister Mitsuri—you scared me."

"You're here again to borrow the 'Yoriichi Type Zero,' huh."

Kanroji Mitsuri scratched her head and gave him an awkward grin: "I came up with a new sword technique recently and wanted to test it out."

The boy in the Hi no Kami mask, named Kotetsu, said helplessly: "Then you have to be careful, okay? The Yoriichi Type Zero is already badly damaged—if it takes much more damage, it'll really break."

"Got it!"

As Kotetsu handed her the key, he noticed Luo En and Kocho Shinobu not far away.

His face immediately wary, he looked at the two of them: "You are…?"

Kanroji Mitsuri smiled: "Don't worry, they're Shinobu and Mr. Luo En—one is a Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, the other is the Demon Slayer Corps' most honored guest. Neither of them is an outsider."

"Is that so…"

Hearing this, Kotetsu's expression eased slightly.

He still trusted Kanroji Mitsuri a great deal.

Kocho Shinobu looked at the mechanical puppet gripping swords in all six of its arms: "So this is the mechanical puppet that helps people train their swordsmanship, the Yoriichi Type Zero… Yoriichi?"

She turned to Kotetsu and asked: "Kotetsu, why is this mechanical puppet called the Yoriichi Type Zero?"

"Why…"

Kotetsu tilted his head: "I'm not sure about that either. It's been called that ever since an ancestor of ours built this mechanical puppet several hundred years ago."

Kotetsu thought for a moment, then said: "But I heard from my father that this mechanical puppet seems to have been created based on a swordsman who actually existed during the Warring States period. These six arms exist to recreate that swordsman's swordsmanship, so the name probably has something to do with that swordsman."

Hearing this, Kocho Shinobu was certain.

This Yoriichi Type Zero had been created based on the very Tsugikuni Yoriichi who originated the Breathing Techniques!

The six arms were there to recreate his swordsmanship.

At this moment.

Kanroji Mitsuri used the key to activate the mechanical puppet.

In an instant, the mechanical puppet 'Yoriichi Type Zero' began to move, its six arms wielding sharp blades and slashing out in every direction.

Kanroji Mitsuri held her specially made Nichirin Blade and sparred with it, practicing her swordsmanship.

For a time, the forest clearing was filled with countless cold glints of blades.

"Even a puppet can unleash this kind of power—so this is the swordsmanship of that Tsugikuni Yoriichi…"

Kocho Shinobu felt more and more keenly the might of that once-strongest swordsman.

Luo En said to her: "Why don't you go try it out later too."

"No, that mechanical puppet can't be damaged any further."

Kotetsu hurriedly stopped her: "The technique used to build that puppet has already been lost—if it gets damaged again… it'll really break!"

Kocho Shinobu, her hand on her sword hilt, hesitated.

Luo En said calmly: "What I'm after is inside that mechanical puppet. Even if you don't go, I'll still smash this thing."

GLOSSARY:

【Kanroji Mitsuri, Kocho Shinobu, Luo En, Kotetsu, Yoriichi Type Zero, Hi no Kami, Tsugikuni Yoriichi, Nichirin Blade, Demon Slayer Corps, Pillar, Breathing Techniques】

Butterfly Shinobu froze upon hearing this.

Xiao Tie widened his eyes even further: "Y-you, y-you, y-you, what did you say?!!"

…………

Kanroji Mitsuji ended her training, wiped sweat from her forehead, and stepped aside.

"Using this to test sword techniques is truly exhausting."

"Huh? What's wrong with Xiao Tie?"

She turned to look at Xiao Tie, who lay on the grass beside her, curiously.

Luo En smiled: "He fell asleep."

"Is that so? Xiao Tie really is still a child."

Kanroji Mitsuji said with a smile.

Butterfly Shinobu walked past her, heading toward the mechanical doll.

"?"

Kanroji Mitsuji turned her head in confusion.

"Little Shinobu, are you going to practice sword techniques too? Your fighting style isn't suited for training with this…?"

"How can you know unless you try?"

Butterfly Shinobu drew her slender Nichirin blade and launched a thrust at the activated mechanical doll.

Dressed in her butterfly-patterned haori, she danced like a delicate butterfly caught in a storm, weaving through the glinting blades.

A series of lightning-fast thrusts, like flowing light, struck mercilessly at the mechanical doll "Enichi Zero-Type," leaving white marks on its hardened armor.

Kanroji Mitsuji was startled.

"It feels… like Little Shinobu has become much stronger than before?"

Luo En watched Butterfly Shinobu with a smile.

Indeed.

The Butterfly Shinobu before him now was far stronger than the one who first appeared before him.

It wasn't just her sword technique that had improved—her Full Concentration Breathing, bodily coordination, the spirit behind her swings, the calmness in her attacks…

After personally experiencing Luo En's swordsmanship and his suffocating aura, the attacks of the Enichi Zero-Type now seemed child's play to Butterfly Shinobu.

Shuuu!

Insect Breathing: Bee Fang Dance—True Slash!

With eyes utterly focused, Butterfly Shinobu thrust forward, piercing through layers of blade light at an impossibly sharp angle, like a venomous snake striking its tongue, piercing through the Enichi Zero-Type's armor and severing one of its arms.

"Oh no."

Kanroji Mitsuji's face darkened: "It's broken again—now Xiao Tie will surely scold me."