Dead... Calm

"Tch! These bastards..." A tenryou doushin snarled as he held up his weapon. "To think they had more people..."

Currently, on the way to Byakko Plane, the group of doushins that were with Asakura encountered a merchant convoy being attacked by a group of vagrants.

And so, they quickly sprung onto action. However, what they didn't know was that there was another group of vagrants and they quickly became outnumbered.

Seeing the numbers, the doushins quickly fell to the defensive.

"Don't make this harder for yourselves." A treasure border smirked behind his mask. "You're outnumbered. Just throw us all of your belongings and we'll let you go."

Hearing this, the group of doushins looked at each other.

"Hey, I think what they're saying is true..." One doushin nervously said.

"Yeah, we only have our weapons as something important." Another doushin said. "We can just claim another one once we're back in the city."

"I know, but–"

Just when another doushin was about to respond, the treasure hoarders saw someone approaching from the distance. "Huh?"

"Hey, who's that?" The treasure border that negotiated earlier asked. "Looking at his clothing, it seems like another doushin."

The person that was approaching was indeed wearing a Tenryou doushin uniform, and his katana was on his waist as he calmly walked in their direction.

"Haha, well, well, well, looks like someone is late to the party." Another treasure hoarder laughed. "Why don't we welcome him?"

The treasure hoarders laughed amongst each other while their leader, a Kairagi, merely looked at the approaching Doushin while sitting.

The treasure hoarders finished their laugh and saw the doushin finally arrived.

"Hey, isn't that Asakura?" The doushins that were backed against a defensive instantly recognized who it was.

"Yeah– wait, is he intending to fight them all?!" Another doushin said.

"No way." The doushin that talked to Asakura earlier shook his head. "I've worked with Asakura for two months and I know that he's a very cautious person."

"He's extremely lazy but..." He looked at Asakura again. "He is VERY cautious."

"He won't just jump into random fights– no, he'll either swiftly escape or fight them with confidence."

Asakura who was calmly walking toward the treasure hoarders stopped a few meters from them.

"Well?" The treasure hoarder holding a crossbow said. "Are you gonna fight or not?"

He then walked towards Asakura confidently. He knows that his comrades would protect him from behind.

He then stood in front of Asakura and leaned down. "Come on, do it. Punch m–"

Click*

Click–"

"...Huh?"

For a moment the air froze. None spoke a single word. Be it the doushins, the merchants who were cowering in fear, or the vagrants.

All they heard was the sound of Asakura's blade unsheathing before entering the sheath again.

...Before seeing something dropping to the ground.

Then, one treasure hoarder broke the silence. "Did he just... slice Hitoshi's head off?"

"No way, that's impossible!"

In less than a few seconds, the vagrants became furious and started taking out their weapons, all aiming at Asakura.

The latter was calm during the predicament and merely breathed. But it was no ordinary breath.

"Huff..."

A visible concentration of wind and moisture was seen entering his mouth as he breathed.

Click*

He then took out his blade once more.

Almost instantaneously, Asakura disappeared from the vagrants' eyes and all they saw was his figure appearing beside them.

Click*

'Third Form: Flowing Dance.' Asakura thought as he appeared behind the group of vagrants.

In less than a few seconds, in the eyes of the watchers, Asakura had decapitated the head of the people one by one by swiftly moving past them in a water-like movement.

'Urgh...!' Asakura quickly caught the burden after performing a sword style above his limits.

It was understandable. Right now, with his 10% proficiency, he can only perform the first water breathing technique. Anything above that would put a strain on his body.

"Huff..."

However, with the help of the Total Concentration Breathing, he can temporarily stop the pain and reinforce his muscles and stamina to keep going.

'It was better to finish the fight quickly with the third move.' He thought with a wry smile. 'Or else I'll really die if I show off a lot of techniques.'

Clap*

Clap*

"I applaud your fight." Suddenly, Asakura heard someone clapping and turned his head to the side.

Approaching him was a Kairagi, their leader. He then drew his sword out. "I have seen your capabilities, would you care to fight with me?"

"..." Asakura looked at the Kairagi which was imbuing electro to his blade. After a few seconds, he replied: "No."

"...Why?" The Kairagi confusingly said.

"I've defeated all your lackeys and you're alone. I have nothing to gain from it." Asakura shrugged. "Furthermore, some of my friends here are bleeding and need medical help. So we really need to get going."

Hearing this, for a moment, the Kairagi was silent. All of a sudden, he started to laugh. "HAHAHA! You must be a delusional one."

"You're caught by me and no one can leave unless I say so."

"Who cares about your comrades?" The Kairagi said as the electro element started radiating from his blade. "Right now, your opponent is me!"

Right after saying this, he dashed toward Asakura with lightning speed.

Asakura saw this and his eyes widened. He then quickly dodged to his side, narrowly avoiding the deadly dash that was aimed at him.

'I guess I have no other choice.' He thought.

He then started using Total Concentration Breathing again. Wind and moist air appeared around his mouth as he heavily breathed.

Asakura fixed his position and unsheathed his blade.

The Kairagi finished his dash and turned towards Asakura while holding his blade. "Good! You're finally taking this battle seriously!"

Crackle–*

After saying this, more electro elements gathered on his blade, making it more deadly. "Come!"

The Kairagi shouted before flashing towards Asakura once more.

Asakura saw this and decided to finish this as quickly as possible. There was one technique in his mind but it would put a heavy strain on his body once used.

'Those guys better get me to the medical ward before I wake up.' He looked at the other doushins who were either watching or helping the injured people.

Asakura then focused on his enemy and decided to use 'that' technique.

"Water Breathing Technique..." He spoke under his breath as he slowly unsheathes his blade.

The Kairagi was dashing toward him with swift speed, and in Asakura's vision, he was entering chaotic waves. "Eleventh Form..."

When Asakura saw the Kairagi appear within his vision, he finally let it out.

"Dead Calm."

Ting–*

The chaotic waves in Asakura's vision instantaneously became calm the moment he unleashed the eleventh form that Giyu himself created.

Everything became tranquil, with nothing but the deathly silence of the calm waters.

And in less than a few seconds, the Kairagi that was dashing towards Asakura with all of his might– his blade imbued with Electro– got torn to many pieces.

This is the eleventh form of the Water Breathing Technique.

Anything or anyone that is within a few meters of Asakura would be swiftly cut into many pieces once the technique is done.

This not only requires a lot of precision but also stamina and agility.

As such...

Tud–*

Asakura fell to the ground, with all of his muscles aching. He quickly fell unconscious with all the numb pain present all over his body.

With his current abilities, this outcome was inevitable. He can use all eleven of Giyu Tomioka's techniques, yes, but can his body carry the burden, stress, and fatigue that comes after?

"Hey..." The doushins that were watching all looked at the scene with frightened eyes. "Did Asakura... did all that?"

They were looking at a scene with a man passed out on the ground, and a few meters from him is an unrecognizable pile of sliced meat, with blood everywhere.

It was a gruesome scene.

The doushin that talked to Asakura earlier then shook his head. "No, that's not important right now! Everyone, help me carry back Asakura quickly!"

The doushins immediately caught on and simultaneously nodded. "Yes!"

"Also," The doushin that spoke earlier turned his head. "Keep this a secret for now. I'm sure Asakura has reasons why he didn't show this power for a while now."

"We swear!" All of them nodded. It was not just them, but also the Merchant Convoy behind them.

"Alright, let's go!"

Brr–

Amidst all of these, none of them noticed the constant vibration coming from a rectangular box inside Asakura's pocket.