Iai White Purity Style (
Summary[]
After seeing Chihiro send Ikura away with the key, Hiruhiko immediately clues on that Chihiro has a plan to help Iori escape, and presses the button for the elevator next to him. Refusing to let Hiruhiko head upwards, Chihiro speeds forward to attack, but Hiruhiko blocks him, Chihiro realising his speed is still insufficient.
It is revealed that many years ago, master swordsman Itsuo Shirakai held the view that the swordsman who was the fastest would be the strongest, developing specific stances to achieve the fastest movement and slashing speed possible. A Shirakai weathered with age comments that in the past, many people had mocked his ideas on the basis that Shirakai's Iai White Purity Style required holding a katana with the blade facing the wrist.
Demonstration of the blade rotation required to use the Iai White Purity Style
This was completely opposite to the standard position where the metacarpal knuckles (the knuckles where the fingers meet the palm) were aligned with the blade's edge. Thus a user of Shirakai's style needed to rotate the blade 180 degrees after unsheathing before meeting an attack target. Shirakai opposed his critics by proving his style's strength in combat against them and killing all of them.
During the night of the 13th of November, after Iori had fallen asleep, Chihiro trains in the style but finds difficulty. Ro asks about the problem he's facing, and Chihiro comments that he's losing speed and power due to the non-standard position the blade was held in. Ro notes that is a common difficulty associated with the style; sword fighters need to concentrate in order to charge their katana with spirit energy, and the rotation and regripping necessary with the White Purity style was liable to disrupt that concentration, causing the spirit energy to decrease and the user's striking speed and strength to wane.
Ro emphasises to Chihiro that he needs to merge with his katana using spirit energy, using it as an extension of his body without requiring additional awareness; something that requires extreme intuition, hence why so few people had mastered the style. Remembering his experience layering spirit energy over himself and his blade using Nishiki, Chihiro ponders that he understands Ro's point, but knows he's not quite there yet.
In the present, Hiruhiko attacks Chihiro, systematically moving his blade from his right hand lightning-fast to his left hand before his right hand snatches it and strikes. As the two engage in a flurry of strikes, Chihiro realises Hiruhiko is capable of maintaining the power of his strikes despite his constant blade regrips and repositioning.
It is revealed that Hiruhiko first killed a person at the age of three by biting to death a man who was assaulting him. With combat as a fundamental part of his life, manipulating spirit energy was second nature to Hiruhiko, a purely instinctual action to him. Hence Hiruhiko's elite survival instincts and spirit energy control paired with his naturally unpredictable movements in combat had led to an indescribably unique and free-flowing sword style driven off impulse and instinct.
Slashing from behind his back, Hiruhiko attacks and Chihiro blocks, Hiruhiko taking note that Chihiro is capable of expertly tracking his movements. Chihiro tells himself that while Hiruhiko is exceptionally talented, Chihiro has his own abilities as well; there was no reason he couldn't defeat Hiruhiko with his own method. He charges in again and Hiruhiko leaps up, criticising Chihiro's usage of kata and mocking the concept of tradition. Landing on the ceiling, Hiruhiko positions his blade in the same way Chihiro had been during their fight, speeding down. As he parries, Chihiro realises, shocked, that Hiruhiko had also managed to utilise the White Purity Style.
Chihiro is knocked to the floor by the force and Hiruhiko leaves for the elevator. Chihiro is panicked but the staff member shouts to him, pointing out an elevator he had prepared for Chihiro. The two ascend, Chihiro cooling himself down and focusing on his method, enforcing that he had to visualise the regrip method. Hiruhiko knows his usual free-flowing movements that worked against Sengoku won't work against Chihiro, and simple overwhelming speed would be necessary. Chihiro determines himself to think back to Samura's demonstration, picking apart every detail of the memory in his mind.
The elevator doors open at the roof and Chihiro and Hiruhiko stand, both with blades prepared and in the White Purity style's stance. The two begin to dash forward, and as Chihiro prepares to face the prodigy that is Hiruhiko, distinctly sensing the possibility of his death, he abruptly notices Iori in a fraction of a second, using her memories of the Iai White Purity Style that the seal had locked away.
Chihiro is momentarily taken aback by why Iori can use a sword but his mind shuts the thoughts down, purely focusing on Iori's usage of the style. Even as Iori had her eyes closed, she delivered a series of non-lethal but deathly precise slashes severing the fingertips of every yakuza nearby, rendering them unable to hold katana. Though her speed was not in the same tier as her father, her usage of the style served as a perfect model of the style for Chihiro, who instantly identified what was missing with his sword style.
Chihiro defeats Hiruhiko
All this happens in an instant, Hiruhiko and Chihiro still charging at each other, and Chihiro adjusts his grip. In a whirlwind of speed, Chihiro blitzes past Hiruhiko and delivers a devastating slash to his chest, severing his blade in two. As his mind calms down from the hyper-focus of the last few seconds, Chihiro turns to Iori, who opens her eyes.
Quick References[]
Chapter Notes[]
- Hiruhiko clues in to Chihiro's plan to assist Iori and calls an elevator down.
- The staff member, unseen to the two, does the same.
- Itsuo Shirakai thought process in creating the style is revealed; to maximise movement speed, both of the user and the sword.
- His peers were critical due to needing to hold the blade in the opposite fashion to a typical stance, therefore requiring the user rotate their blade 180 degrees before attacking.
- Shirakai proved his style's superiority in combat by killing his naysayers.
- Prior to the Hishaku's attack on the hotel, Chihiro had not perfectly adapted to the rotation-regrip necessary to the style, not managing to fully retain the spirit energy within the blade.
- Both Chihiro and Hiruhiko realise each other's talents; Hiruhiko's nature as a combat prodigy and Chihiro's observational abilities respectively.
- It is revealed Hiruhiko first killed a person at the age of three by biting to death someone who was assaulting him.
- Hiruhiko copies Chihiro's use of the Iai White Purity Style before moving into the elevator he had called down.
- The staff member hurries Chihiro into the elevator he had prepared.
- Upon the elevator door opening, Chihiro observes Iori's use of the Iai White Purity Style in a split second and realises how to perfect his use of the style.
- Iori, while closing her eyes, uses the decidedly nonlethal approach of severing her enemies' fingertips.
- With a developed use of the style, Chihiro defeats Hiruhiko.
- Iori opens her eyes.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
Author's Comment[]
| Author Comment | |
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Takeru Hokazono |
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