You Have Talk-no-Jutsu Too?

The key lay in the means of raising body temperature and heart rate.

When ordinary humans engaged in prolonged, high-intensity exercise, their body temperature could rise to thirty-eight or thirty-nine degrees Celsius. Thirty-nine to forty degrees fell within the limits of what the human body could endure.

The same went for heart rate. During high-intensity exercise, or even extreme exercise, a person’s maximum heart rate could approach or reach two hundred.

A small number of elite athletes who had undergone extensive professional physical training could withstand such a state for a certain period of time.

But activating the Demon Slayer Mark required two other important factors besides pushing the body’s exertion to the human limit.

One was a Breathing Style that had reached an extremely high realm, practically the realm of Total Concentration: Constant.

Total Concentration: Constant allowed someone to use a Breathing Style continuously, twenty-four hours a day. Beyond that was fully excavating the potential of that Breathing Style.

The body’s condition had to reach its utmost limit, and the Breathing Style had to reach its utmost limit as well.

The last remaining factor was the person who first awakened the Demon Slayer Mark.

Four hundred years ago, it had been Tsugikuni Yoriichi. Now, it was Tanjiro.

For Shimizu, with his supreme control over his body, he could decide whether or not to activate the Demon Slayer Mark.

For ordinary people, activating the Demon Slayer Mark generally meant they would not live past twenty-five. Tsugikuni Yoriichi had been the sole exception.

Shimizu would not suffer that fate either.

It was simply that human bodies could not constantly bear such an extreme state. But for him, whose body had undergone Perfect Demon Transformation, this burden was entirely manageable.

There was nothing left to hesitate over.

After sending Muzan another Form Five: Wind-Lightning Severing Storm, Shimizu tightened his grip on his Nichirin Blade as his heart rate steadily climbed.

Air continuously flowed through his nose and mouth into his lungs. With Shimizu’s powerful lung capacity, a thick white mist had already risen around his body.

Sporadic sparks similar to those of Sun Breathing even appeared, though they were blue overall.

A faint, simple blue pattern quietly emerged where Shimizu’s shoulder met his neck.

The Demon Slayer Mark consisted of several lines. It resembled lightning formed from two slightly rigid cloud patterns, looking somewhat like two oracle bone script characters for lightning, one inverted, joined together.

Shimizu could feel a faint burning sensation from his Demon Slayer Mark. After the air around him was drawn into his body, it seemed to fill every inch of his meridians with incredibly abundant energy, strengthening his physical power.

As a result, Shimizu beat Muzan with even greater enthusiasm.

The other Pillars also noticed changes in themselves to varying degrees, and their strength rose by a considerable margin.

Before long, Rui of Upper Rank Five was killed by the Wind and Water Pillars, both of whom had activated their Demon Slayer Marks.

Of the Twelve Kizuki, only the strongest, Kokushibo and Akaza, remained.

Kokushibo was still being besieged by the original three, the three strongest among the Pillars.

At this moment, all three of them had activated their Demon Slayer Marks during the battle.

With the three-piece combo and daylight lamps, they were fighting Kokushibo at a four-to-six split.

The Pillars had four, Kokushibo had six.

The former were at a slight disadvantage, but they were enough to hold Kokushibo down and prevent him from joining the other battlefields.

The remaining Pillars had all, without prior coordination, joined the siege against Akaza.

So Akaza was getting beaten rather badly now.

Tanjiro and Rengoku Kyojuro alone had barely been enough to hold him back. After activating their Demon Slayer Marks, they had gained a few chances at victory. Then four more Pillars arrived to support them: Wind, Water, Mist, and Love.

Every one of them had activated a Demon Slayer Mark. Not to mention that Tokito Muichiro, just as in the original timeline, had awakened the Transparent World through the tempering of life-and-death combat.

But Tokito Muichiro was not the only one who had awakened the Transparent World.

Rengoku Kyojuro and Kamado Tanjiro had also awakened the Transparent World in this battle.

But there was bad news as well.

Though Akaza was being beaten terribly in this battle, under immense pressure and the threat of death, he had finally climbed to the pinnacle of martial arts in this world and comprehended the Transparent World.

The worse news was that after enduring countless hardships to finally cut off Akaza’s head, they discovered that even without a head, Akaza could continue fighting with his headless body. His head was even regenerating rapidly.

"So he has already overcome the weakness of dying when beheaded… Everyone, what do you think we should do next?"

After cutting off Akaza’s head, Tokito Muichiro drifted elegantly out of the clouds and mist, his expression grave.

"Tch, don’t tell me he has a real body hidden somewhere, like that demon just now?"

Shinazugawa Sanemi blocked one of Akaza’s punches and shouted.

"At least for now, I have not detected any traces of other demons."

Rengoku Kyojuro leaped out of the battle, took out a fresh battery and inserted it into the Daylight Lamp Flashlight strapped to his wrist. Then he pressed the scorching blade of his Crimson Blade against his still-bleeding eye, cauterizing it and stopping the blood.

"Mr. Rengoku is right. I haven’t found any other demons either."

Tanjiro answered as he used Flame Dance to cut off one of Akaza’s arms.

By now, all the remaining demons had been completely slain. Only Muzan and the final two strongest Upper Ranks remained—provided Tamayo and Yushiro were excluded.

To the senses of the swordsmen who had awakened the Transparent World, there truly were only these few demons left.

"Who cares? I don’t believe he can keep living forever! I’ll keep cutting until dawn, until the sun rises, and we’ll see whether he dies or not!"

Shinazugawa Sanemi spat out a mouthful of bloody froth, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and charged forward again.

Five Pillars, plus Tanjiro, who possessed Pillar-level combat strength. Every one of them had activated a Demon Slayer Mark and Crimson Blade, while half had mastered the Transparent World. Even though Akaza’s body was stronger as a demon, he was inevitably suppressed until he was beheaded once more.

"Akaza! I can sense that you have an unresolved obsession keeping you from passing on. What is it that you cannot let go of, even as a demon?"

Tanjiro shouted at Akaza, who was still throwing punches.

His sense of smell was special. Not only could he smell openings in battle, he could smell other people’s emotions as well.

"I will climb step by step until I become the strongest! I will ascend to the pinnacle of martial arts!"

Akaza roared with the mouth that had just regrown.

"But you’re already very strong. With such immense power, what do you intend to use it for? Even if you become the strongest, how will you use that strength?"

Tanjiro continued his talk-no-jutsu.

He was still using his ability to determine the true reason Akaza’s obsession had yet to fade.